Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World-Chapter 1258 - 558: Shut Out, Nine Mountains Department Store (Part 2)
"Doesn’t the Jiushan Sect have the Nine Nether Emperor?"
"The Nine Nether Emperor, ha, he’s at odds with all the Dao Fruits in the world."
Lady Qian Ji nodded slightly. It wasn’t that she didn’t know this; she had already figured out the character of Gu Hong Taoist and liked to ask a few silly questions.
She asked again, "Why does the City Lord want me to be so polite to this group of disciples?"
"Did it wrong you?"
"Not really. When the City Lord gives an order, how can there be any grievance?" Lady Qian Ji said with a frown, "I’m just afraid I’ll lose the prestige of No Struggle City."
"If the Pure Land can be restored, I originally intended to submit to Leiyin Temple and avoid causing any trouble," Gu Hong Taoist said, "Especially since the Jiushan Sect and Leiyin Temple are at odds, and Leiyin Temple is now locking down the West Continent. Even if we wanted to join them, there’s no way."
Saying this, Gu Hong Taoist’s face showed a bit of bitterness: "And yet, the Sun-shooting Divine Bow of the Jiushan Sect really doesn’t follow reason; we can’t neglect it."
Lady Qian Ji nodded silently and reported again, "They asked about two other things."
"Oh?"
Gu Hong Taoist looked at Lady Qian Ji.
"The envoy from Jiushan couldn’t see you, so he asked about Suspended Island and Heavenly Mountain."
"Ha, they think like me; as long as the Pure Land is restored, we would immediately pledge loyalty, it’s impossible to join the Jiushan Sect."
"But the envoy from Jiushan asked about another matter."
"What is it?"
"They want us to carve out a place for them in No Struggle City."
Gu Hong Taoist’s expression became somewhat serious: "For what?"
"They said it’s for doing business," Lady Qian Ji said, "I thought it’s a small matter, so I agreed."
"It’s fine, it doesn’t affect the overall situation."
...
A year later, in the southeast corner of No Struggle City, there was a huge crowd, with over a hundred cultivators gathered at the entrance of a new building.
This is a complex of ancient-style buildings, surrounded by four towers with the tallest main building reaching seven stories high. The eaves curve upwards, and the buildings are connected by corridors, lit brightly in between.
A plaque hangs over the main entrance of the main building inscribed with four large characters: "Nine Mountains Department Store."
Han Qi stood at the entrance, smiling at the cultivators from all directions: "This is our Jiushan Department Store’s first store in the Northern Continent. Within half a month of opening, all products are 20% off!"
"All our store products are clearly marked with their prices. If you have any issues or are unsatisfied, as long as there is no damage, we offer a return and exchange policy!"
Upon hearing this, the surrounding cultivators couldn’t help but stir—this was the first time a store in the Xuanwei Realm made such a promise.
Some even recognized this person as the Jiushan Sect envoy from that day.
Although this place is far from the East Continent, and most cultivators have not been there, the name of the Jiushan Sect by now is quite famous in the minds of Xuanwei Cultivators.
Those who slightly understood the situation in the Xuanwei Realm knew that the Jiushan Sect was one of the three major powers, and naturally felt curious.
Han Qi did not say much more, instead stepping aside to let these cultivators enter and explore for themselves.
...
He visited the Hidden World Three Immortals, and although their subordinates were very polite, they always dodged the main point, saying they didn’t dare to decide, resulting in him facing three tangible rejections.
Han Qi did not give up. Instead, he reported back to the sect, sharing his observations and applying to return to No Struggle City.
There are two purposes for this:
First, because No Struggle City is indeed the city in the Northern Continent where information flows most freely, he could gather more intelligence here.
Second, for this Jiushan Department Store.
Having managed trade caravans for many years, Han Qi actually understood Jiushan Sect’s current problem very well—the production capacity is too strong, leading to a perpetual shortage of resources.
Although there is the Spirit Material Transformation Skill, this method doesn’t necessarily offer a cost advantage.
Many spiritual materials are actually very cheap, and using the Spirit Material Transformation Skill would be a waste. The most important function of this method is to address the issue of availability in extreme situations.
So by opening the Jiushan Department Store, he wanted to exchange the accumulated magic artifacts, pills, and even spirit talismans in the sect for resources in the Northern Continent.
He actually took a bit of initiative with this matter, as it wasn’t his most important task.
He just thought he saw an opportunity.
Watching the cultivators stream in, one disciple still looked worried: "Are we really going to sell at such high prices?"
"Didn’t you see the situation in No Struggle City? Everything sells for more than we do, even the garbage!"
"The prices are ten times higher than back at Jiushan Sect!"
"You have to remember," Han Qi said seriously, "We are here to make money, and we sell better things compared to what the Northern Continent has. Would they not know?"
The cultivators of No Struggle City might find it too cheap!
They entered the main building and first saw a sign on the floor.
"This is the Treasure Tower, the right side is the Spirit Pill Tower, the left side sells runes..."
Everyone understood these three towers, but only the last one was somewhat confusing: "What is this bank?"
"Why don’t you take a look?" someone shouted.
A group of people scattered like birds, with most choosing to browse the Treasure Tower first.
At a closer look, they found that Jiushan Department Store was quite different from the spiritual artifact stores they had visited before.
In traditional spiritual artifact stores, most spiritual artifacts hung on the walls or were placed on counters, sometimes even crowded.
But in Jiushan Department Store, nearly every type of spiritual artifact was placed on a stone pillar, surrounded by fluctuating lights, making these spiritual artifacts appear mysterious and noble. It made people feel that they were of a higher grade compared to other magic artifact stores.
Each spiritual artifact was spaced far apart, which inexplicably made them seem more precious and the prices marked below appeared even reasonable.
Beside each spiritual artifact stood a woman, who were not disciples of Jiushan Sect but local female cultivators hired by Han Qi, barely trained before starting, and still a bit nervous.
"What are these? Do you only have one of each spiritual artifact?" someone asked, puzzled.
"No, there are more in the storehouse; these are for guests to see. Oh, and you can try them out in our store."
"Try out?" Many Northern Continent cultivators were taken aback, as if they didn’t understand, "How do you try them out?"
The receptionist took out a Comprehensive Records, tapping on it, causing specks of light to appear on it: "Manager Han said, seeing is believing, saying more is not as good as letting guests try for themselves."
"How to try?"
"This is a Jiushan Sect... play?" The receptionist seemed to struggle to remember the name, a bit stammering, "It allows everyone to enter the Illusion Realm and try out these magic artifacts."
They understood the Illusion Realm.
But using it this way left these Northern Continent cultivators in awe—what kind of minds do Jiushan Sect have, using the Illusion Realm like this?
"Illusion Realm, who knows what’s inside..." someone muttered.
"We’ve all tried it!" The receptionist rushed to explain, "I’m a local from No Struggle City!"
After a few explanations, some recognized her, and a man stood out, eager to try.
"Which magic artifact would you like to try, guest?"
"I’d like to try the Flying Sword!"
This seemed to be a sword cultivator, hence the boldness.
"Then you must try our Jiushan Department Store’s flagship product, the Qingyun Sword!" the receptionist introduced, "This was crafted using the secret technique left by Tianhe Venerable, available nowhere else but our Jiushan Sect!"
The Qingyun Sword was actually one of Jiushan Sect’s standardized lifebound magical artifacts and not truly crafted using Tianhe Venerable’s secret technique, but of course, that’s the sales pitch.
As expected, at the mention of Tianhe Venerable, the sword cultivator’s eyes brightened, his expression eager with impatience.
The receptionist tapped on the Comprehensive Records, and a light enveloped the sword cultivator, whose eyes became dazed.
After about half a stick of incense’s time, the receptionist tapped on the Comprehensive Records again, and the sword cultivator shouted, "Kill! Refreshing!"
The surrounding cultivators burst into laughter.
The sword cultivator, awakened by the laughter, looked around and didn’t even bother with others, urgently asking the receptionist: "Why didn’t you let me continue? I was just getting into it!"
"Everyone’s trial time is limited, after all, we need to let other guests try too, right?"
The sword cultivator seemed about to get angry but quickly calmed down, remembering Jiushan Sect was behind the store: "Is the Qingyun Sword really as powerful as it is in the Illusion Realm?"
"Earlier our Manager Han mentioned, if there’s any falsehood and you find anything wrong, just bring it back for a refund."
Upon hearing this, the sword cultivator stomped his foot and said: "I’ll buy one!"
Others looked at each other in disbelief; the Qingyun Sword wasn’t cheap, what had this sword cultivator experienced to make him decide to buy immediately?
The receptionist, having made a sale, felt more confident and looked at the other observing cultivators, saying: "Who wants to try? A trial... doesn’t cost any money, right?"
