Lonely Elder Ling Rushui (Please Bookmark, Please Vote)

The five shops in the depths were also the only five shops in the market. The one occupying the central position and the largest area was Cloudmist Hundred Weapons Hall.

The two shops on the right were Sunset Glow Formation Shop and Azure Bamboo Talisman Pavilion.

The two shops on the left were Lingxiao Rice Hall and Tiger's Roar Hundred Beasts Pavilion.

These five shops had each been opened by one of the Five Great Clans of Huai River County. The same was true of the markets independently established by the other Foundation Establishment Families of Huai River County: they all had shops opened by the other clans.

Since Huai River County was newly opened human territory, its five Foundation Establishment Families had all come from different regions across the four great states under the Hundred Spirits Sect. Their foundations were weak, and their clan strength was inferior to the Foundation Establishment Families of other counties. Moreover, they bordered the territory of Serpent Dragon Lake, with only the Huai River Market Town established by the Hundred Spirits Sect lying between them.

Thus, the Five Great Clans of Huai River County had formed a united front. Their relations were extremely good, far from the mutual hatred found among the clans of other counties.

That was why, even in markets independently opened by one clan, there could still be shops opened by the other clans.

Of course, this was also done to expand each clan's interests across different counties.

It could be considered a win-win cooperation!

Ling Pengyun entered Lingxiao Rice Hall and respectfully called out to the white-haired elder behind the counter, who wore a Ling Clan Daoist Robe and looked like a manager as he flipped through account books.

"Fifteenth Great Grandfather!"

Hearing the call, the white-haired elder hurriedly raised his head toward the shop entrance. When he saw that familiar face, his eyes immediately lit up.

It truly felt like meeting family after traveling a thousand miles from home.

A smile spread across his face as he kindly asked, "Little Pengyun, aren't you still under eighteen? How did you get permission to leave the mountain and come here?"

The white-haired elder was named Ling Rushui. He ranked fifteenth among the Ling Clan's Rushui Generation and was already ninety-six years old. He had devoted much of his life to the Ling Clan, bearing hardship and rendering great service.

Ling Rushui's life had also been tragic. He was a lonely old man. He had once had a wife, and she had even been about to give birth to his child. Yet while his cultivator wife was pregnant and returning to her maternal home to visit relatives, she encountered a Heretical Cultivator and met a fate where both body and Dao perished, her bones not yet cold.

Ling Rushui had never emerged from the shadow of that incident over the past several decades, and so he had never remarried or had another child.

Ling Pengyun first explained how the Lineage lacked manpower and had dispatched him and four other members of the Peng Generation to guard Spirit Veins. Then he laughed. "I mainly came because I missed you, Fifteenth Great Grandfather, and wanted to visit you. There is also one other matter—I came to buy Yellow Sprout Pills from this shop!"

Ling Pengyun, as well as his parents, had always been quite close to Ling Rushui.

Back when Ling Rushui was young, he had managed the Lingxiao Sundries Shop in Cloudwater Market Town, Cloudwater County, where the Ling Clan had originally been located. Ling Pengyun's parents had worked under this elder of the Lineage in their early years. Later, as Ling Rushui grew older and the Clan Mountain relocated, he handed the shop over to Ling Pengyun's parents, who had always worked diligently and conscientiously.

Ling Rushui had also followed the Lineage to Huai River County. Though he was old, he could not sit idle, so he asked the Lineage for the job of managing this Lingxiao Rice Hall in the Cloud Mist Market opened by the Wen Clan.

"You brat, if you came to buy Yellow Sprout Pills, then just say you came to buy Yellow Sprout Pills!" Ling Ruda scolded, though the smile on his face had already betrayed how delighted he was by Ling Pengyun's words.

Although Lingxiao Rice Hall mainly sold the Ling Clan's three kinds of spirit rice from the Jade Series, it also sold other items, including magical items, spirit talismans, and medicinal pills. Their grades were simply not high.

The other four shops in this market were the same.

"Little Pengyun, these are the seven remaining bottles of Yellow Sprout Pills the Lineage sent to this rice hall half a year ago. Each bottle contains two pills, all of middle quality, at five Spirit Stones per pill. As a Ling Clan member, you receive a twenty-percent discount off market price for anything you buy. How many Yellow Sprout Pills do you need?" Ling Rushui took out a Storage Bag from his robes and summoned five bottles of Yellow Sprout Pills from within.

Ling Pengyun had long decided how many Yellow Sprout Pills he wanted to buy, and immediately answered, "Ten!"

Ling Rushui was somewhat startled by the number of Yellow Sprout Pills Ling Pengyun wanted. But when he remembered that Ling Pengyun's parents gave him quite a few Spirit Stones every month to purchase cultivation resources, he understood.

Still, as an elder, Ling Rushui warned Ling Pengyun about the dangers of taking too many medicinal pills.

"Little Pengyun, pills may be good, but taking too many will inevitably leave many impurities in your meridians, perhaps affecting your future Dao Path. Half a year ago, along with this batch of Yellow Sprout Pills, the shop also received five First Rank Middle Grade Azure Silk Spirit Peaches. These spirit peaches have the same effect as Yellow Sprout Pills, yet contain no impurities and do no harm whatsoever to cultivators! They are simply more expensive, at six Spirit Stones each! But you know their benefits as well. How you choose is up to you!"

Ling Pengyun hesitated over buying the Spirit Peaches. After all, they cost one extra Spirit Stone each. Buying five Azure Silk Spirit Peaches would cost him five additional Spirit Stones, enough to buy another Yellow Sprout Pill.

His thoughts churned like storm clouds. Ling Pengyun glanced at Ling Rushui's furious gaze, shuddered, and said helplessly, "Great Grandfather, can't I just buy these five Spirit Peaches?"

"That is more like it. Then you will buy five Yellow Sprout Pills and five middle-grade Azure Silk Spirit Peaches! After the discount, the Yellow Sprout Pills will cost twenty Spirit Stones, and the Spirit Peaches twenty-five Spirit Stones, for a total of forty-five Spirit Stones!" Ling Rushui's expression eased somewhat as he calculated the cost.

Ling Pengyun obediently summoned forty-five Spirit Stones from his Storage Bag and handed them to Ling Rushui.

Money changed hands, and goods changed hands.

After Ling Rushui gave Ling Pengyun the five Spirit Peaches and Yellow Sprout Pills, he asked, "It is already late at night outside, the best time for Heretical Cultivators to ambush and kill cultivators. If you return to Azure Stone Mountain tonight, you may encounter danger. Stay the night. You can keep me company and chat with me as well!"

Ling Pengyun immediately agreed.

But it was not because of safety. He feared that after Ling Rushui's lifespan ran out, he would be ashamed that he had not spent more time with this elder to whom he was so close.

In his previous life, when his grandfather and grandmother's lifespans had run out, Ling Pengyun regretted for a long time that he had not properly kept them company while they were still alive.

His relationship with Ling Rushui was also as close as that of a true great-grandfather and great-grandson.

That night, though Ling Rushui and Ling Pengyun ate simply, they talked merrily. They spoke until midnight before bidding each other farewell and going upstairs to rest in the rooms on the second floor of Lingxiao Rice Hall.

Early the next morning, Ling Pengyun absorbed First Sun Power for a while, then made rounds through Cloud Dream Hundred Treasures Hall, Tiger's Roar Hundred Beasts Pavilion, and Azure Bamboo Talisman Pavilion.

As the host of Cloud Dream Market, Cloud Dream Hundred Weapons Pavilion had indeed displayed quite a few fine First Rank middle-grade magical items. There were even several Flying Magical Items. Even Ling Pengyun, a disciple of a great Foundation Establishment Family, coveted them, but sadly, he could not afford them. He only had twenty-eight Spirit Stones left in his pocket, not enough even for the cheapest First Rank Low Grade paper-crane Flying Magical Item.

Unless he bought a secondhand Flying Magical Item, but there were no good goods among secondhand magical items.

Ling Pengyun had gone to Tiger's Roar Hall of Hundred Beasts hoping to see whether there were any Spirit Beasts with decent potential. Unfortunately, though Tiger's Roar Hall of Hundred Beasts had many Spirit Beasts, their aptitudes were all poor. At most, they could only advance to the Qi Training Middle Stage.

His only gain came from Azure Bamboo Talisman Pavilion. To increase his combat strength, Ling Pengyun spent twenty Spirit Stones to buy four First Rank Middle Grade Fire Arrow Talismans.

Afterward, he ate breakfast with Ling Rushui before bidding him farewell and leaving Cloud Mist Market.

The middle-aged man of the Cloud Mist Wen Clan stationed at the market entrance watched Ling Pengyun's departing figure. A strange light flickered in his eyes as he muttered to himself.

"So he is a member of the Lingxiao Ling Clan. I was wondering how someone so young could break through to the Qi Training Fourth Layer—how could he possibly be a Rogue Cultivator?"

"At such a young age, he should be a member of the Lingxiao Ling Clan's Peng Generation!"

"His cultivation is only at the Qi Training Fourth Layer, so he should not be Ling Pengxing, that young genius of the Ling Clan's Peng Generation. According to rumors, Ling Pengxing's cultivation should already be close to the Qi Training Late Stage!"

"Then this person should be Ling Pengyun—the Ling Clan member who, despite having False Spirit Roots, senses spiritual qi so strongly that his cultivation speed rivals that of ordinary cultivators with Three Spirit Roots!"

"The Ling Clan truly produces talent. With two promising young clansmen, they may be able to continue the Ling Clan's line in the future!"

"Only, my Wen Clan..."

"Ah!"

Thinking of how the Wen Clan was likewise a great Foundation Establishment Family, yet had a gap between generations and had not produced any talents, the middle-aged Wen Clan man could not help but sigh softly. His expression gradually darkened as well. He withdrew his gaze and stopped watching any longer.