Big Fish Eat Small Fish

The marketplace.

Lin Chang'an had been here for nearly half a month, but this was his first time entering the inner city of the marketplace. The moment he passed through the formation, the scene before him changed, and he couldn't help but show surprise.

The sounds of lively hawking echoed in his ears, people coming and going on the bluestone streets, the fresh air, and the surrounding environment truly gave a feeling of birds singing and flowers fragrant. No one could mistake the marketplace before him for a black market.

"Junior Brother Lin, the inner city of the marketplace not only has dense spiritual energy but is also safe. You need to pay spirit stones to reside here..."

Along the way, Zhang Qing, familiar with the route, introduced the situation to him, and Lin Chang'an nodded frequently as he listened.

"Let's go, let's go. Junior Brother, you broke through today, we'll go to a restaurant."

While Zhang Qing took Lin Chang'an to celebrate his breakthrough at a restaurant in the marketplace, Elder Lu in the alchemy room of the Great Sword Sect's headquarters outside the marketplace had a gloomy expression.

Inside the only alchemy room protected by a formation, the flame of the crimson pill furnace slowly extinguished, and the alchemist in front of the furnace had a pale face, his lips trembling.

"Elder Lu, refining this pill is not difficult, but it's too hard to reconcile two completely opposite medicinal properties."

The alchemist with the grim expression looked at the ten pills floating out of the pill furnace. Eight of them were already pitch black, clearly ruined.

The remaining two, although successful, had a dim luster, clearly indicating low quality.

Seeing Elder Lu's displeased expression, the chief alchemist gritted his teeth and said, "Elder Lu, although it's the first attempt, this pill recipe is clearly designed to be difficult."

As he spoke, as if finding the reason for his own failure, the alchemist complained indignantly, "It's clearly such an unrefined pill, yet it insists on merging these two medicinal properties, which clearly increases the difficulty of alchemy."

It was as if this pill, despite not being of high grade, was difficult to refine, making it not worth the effort.

Elder Lu narrowed his eyes as he looked at the ten pills suspended in his palm.

"The refining difficulty is high, how high?"

When he said the latter half, Elder Lu even looked up and met the other's gaze. The chief alchemist gritted his teeth after being asked, "The greatest difficulty in refining is the compatibility of the two medicinal properties, which requires extreme control..."

With the chief alchemist's explanation, Elder Lu's lips slowly curved upwards, and a smile appeared on his face.

"In this way, anyone who can refine this kind of pill has a greater talent for alchemy than you!"

Although it sounded like a question, it was filled with affirmation at this moment. The chief alchemist showed a bitter smile, sighed softly, and nodded helplessly.

"I understand now."

Having obtained the answer he wanted, Elder Lu, in a rare good mood, nodded with a smile. As he turned to leave, he suddenly paused.

"Elder Lu." Seeing this, the chief alchemist bowed respectfully, but he didn't expect Elder Lu to calmly say a sentence that made him break out in a cold sweat.

"You must have guessed who refined this pill recipe. Lin Chang'an is my disciple."

Elder Lu left calmly. However, in the hot alchemy room, the chief alchemist was sweating profusely. The last sentence was clearly a warning to him not to seek revenge.

"Damn it, he's gotten me into so much trouble!"

He truly didn't want to deal with the trouble caused by his cheap brother's beautiful concubine this time. He didn't even dare to feel a shred of jealousy.

It was clear that Elder Lu had taken a liking to this person's alchemy talent and had taken him as a disciple, which clearly meant he intended to cultivate him. At this time, being jealous and clashing with him was simply asking for trouble.

In the restaurant.

The dining table was undoubtedly the easiest place to foster camaraderie. In the time it took to finish a meal, their relationship had clearly become more intimate.

"Junior Brother, don't worry, it will only take half a year for the marketplace to stabilize, it won't be chaotic. Don't listen to the nonsense from the people below."

Zhang Qing said casually with a smile, but he was subtly referring to the gossip from the lower ranks. Lin Chang'an naturally understood and smiled ingratiatingly.

"Senior Brother, what's going on with this?"

Seeing Lin Chang'an's curious and confused expression, Zhang Qing smiled, picked up his wine glass, and they clinked glasses. He then began to explain the current situation of the marketplace.

"Junior Brother, don't look at our chaos here. Underneath the chaos, there are its own rules. The Purple Copper Spirit Mine is indeed very tempting, but it's not something one family can monopolize. No one is foolish enough to fight to the death at this time, and they don't know who will benefit. It's better to join forces and mine according to our respective strengths."

After Zhang Qing's explanation, Lin Chang'an showed a look of sudden realization, "So that's how it is. No wonder Senior Brother isn't worried at all."

"Heh heh, what's there to worry about?" Zhang Qing looked out the window at the hurried figures in the marketplace and sneered, "Junior Brother, do you see these people?"

"These are all rogue cultivator gangs and small forces who think they can take advantage of the situation and are waiting for the major powers to fight so they can pick up the scraps. They don't know that before the tigers fight, they will first sweep away the jackals around them."

"However, it's also true that these jackals who smell meat will flock here. We just need to periodically release some so-called opportunities to the marketplace and the outside world."

As he said this, Zhang Qing chuckled, his eyes filled with amusement.

"These people are like pigs we've raised. Whether they fight or scheme has nothing to do with us. On the contrary, our talismans, magic items, and pills sold in the marketplace are several times more expensive than before."

Although Lin Chang'an on the side wore a smiling and relaxed expression, he was secretly shocked. Indeed, no matter in which world, these people were the blackest.

It was likely that the news about the Purple Copper Mine was also released by these forces. Otherwise, who would hoard such a thing and instead release rumors to attract countless cultivators?

Here, these major powers could sell pills, magic items, talismans, etc., and make profits, while these miserable rogue cultivator gangs had to risk their lives.

"Senior Brother, that's brilliant. This way, it not only stimulates the marketplace but also continuously attracts more cultivators."

Lin Chang'an, who was well aware of the attraction of Purple Copper to cultivators, couldn't help but sigh with emotion. Indeed, every place had its own rules, even the most chaotic Miaowa Kingdom.

Seeing Lin Chang'an's sigh of emotion, Zhang Qing gave a self-deprecating smile, "Aren't we also pigs raised by those above?"

Under Lin Chang'an's confused gaze, Zhang Qing said indifferently, as if accustomed to it, "No matter how much we fight here, even if we fight like dogs, those above won't care. They only need us to regularly pay a certain amount of resources."

"As for who pays, who cares!" Zhang Qing laughed heartily at this point, raising his wine glass and saying, "Come, come, these things have nothing to do with us anymore."

"Come, come, Senior Brother."

Lin Chang'an also smiled and clinked glasses, understanding in his heart. Indeed, it was like this everywhere, the big fish eat the small fish, and the small fish eat the shrimp.

Thank you, fellow Daoists, for your support.