Liu Family

The two sides in the courtyard stood as clearly divided as the Jing and Wei Rivers.

On the left, more than a dozen uniformly dressed cultivators surrounded an elderly man, their manner aggressive. Among them were two early Qi Refining cultivators and one Mid Qi Refining Stage cultivator. They were clearly powerful guests bullying their host.

On the right stood the Ning Family. They were slightly fewer in number, with Ning Yongrui as their sole Mid Qi Refining Stage cultivator. Everyone else wore expressions of stifled grievance and unease.

Yun Long's gaze locked onto the elderly man leading the other side almost instantly.

The old man was not tall and looked somewhat lean. His grizzled hair was casually pinned up with an ordinary wooden hairpin, yet his face bore a flush that did not match his age. His cheeks in particular carried a faint glow like firelight.

He was Liu Yunpeng, the Liu Family's Great Elder.

At eighty-four years old, he was not considered especially long-lived among cultivators. Yet he had remained at the peak of the Mid Qi Refining Stage—the Sixth Level of Qi Refining—for a full twenty years.

Thirty-six strands of Qi Refining, neither more nor less, precisely matched the Number of Heavenly Spirits.

This Number of Heavenly Spirits was the enormous threshold between the middle and late stages of Qi Refining, one that had trapped countless cultivators.

Liu Yunpeng cultivated four-inch Mid-Grade Qi Refining Fire Cloud Flying Rosy Cloud Qi. By all reason, its quality was decent, yet he had still been firmly stuck at this threshold, unable to advance an inch in cultivation for twenty years.

Yun Long could clearly sense the pressure radiating from Liu Yunpeng, the pressure belonging to a peak Sixth Level of Qi Refining cultivator. It surged toward the entrance as though tangible, making even the air seem several degrees thicker.

This old bastard had no intention of concealing his strength.

Clearly, he intended to use this pressure to give Yun Long, who had just stepped through the gates, a show of force.

After all, Yun Long's age was right there for all to see. No matter how one looked at him, he did not seem capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with a veteran Sixth Level of Qi Refining cultivator like Liu Yunpeng.

Yet this aura, enough to make ordinary Mid Qi Refining Stage cultivators tremble in fear, was like a spring breeze brushing willow branches before Yun Long, raising not the slightest ripple.

His expression remained calm and his breathing long and steady, as though he had merely entered an ordinary courtyard.

Even Ning Shaojie behind him, whose aura had already been somewhat unstable, felt no additional pressure under this suppression, as if an invisible barrier had shut it out.

Yun Long's cultivation had improved again since before.

The Vajra Primordial Qi condensed within his body had already reached twenty-four strands.

Even after leaving behind nine golden bells formed from Primordial Qi in the ancestral hall, he still possessed fifteen strands of incomparably pure Qi Refining within him.

These fifteen strands of superior Vajra Primordial Qi were far beyond Liu Yunpeng's thirty-six strands of mid-grade Fire Cloud Flying Rosy Cloud Qi.

(As for the quantity of the two, it could be understood as 15*7=105 and 36*4=144. So while there seemed to be a gap in numbers, the actual difference was very small. Factoring in quality, those thirty-six four-inch strands were merely so-so.)

Not to mention the profundity and power of the two spells, Golden Bell Shield and Great Arhat Fist.

Yun Long had absolute confidence that, even without using all his strength, he could easily defeat this Liu Yunpeng who relied on age to lord it over others.

When Liu Yunpeng saw that Yun Long remained composed, and that even Ning Shaojie behind him had not been affected, a trace of barely perceptible gravity flashed through his cloudy old eyes.

The muscles on his face twitched. The aura he had released immediately withdrew, and he then put on an expression of heartbroken anguish. His voice became hoarse as well, carrying a deliberate hint of grievance.

"Yun Family Head, you've finally arrived!"

"You must judge fairly for us old customers!"

Liu Yunpeng beat his chest and stamped his feet, as though he had suffered a grievance as great as the sky.

"In the past, when we came to Wanfang Lake to purchase these Dragon Whisker Golden Tail Spirit Fish, even a ten-year-old fish cost no more than three low-grade spirit stones apiece."

"But now? Commander Ning, he... he has suddenly raised the price to ten low-grade spirit stones per fish!"

"Isn't this plainly bullying people? Are you determined not to let old patrons like us survive?"

Liu Yunpeng's voice echoed through the courtyard, thick with accusation.

Yun Long watched him calmly.

Raised the price?

Ning Yongrui was no fool. Though Dragon Whisker Golden Tail Spirit Fish were precious, their market price was relatively transparent. If he had truly raised the price drastically, it would be no different from cutting off his own sales routes.

The corner of Yun Long's mouth curved into an almost imperceptible arc.

Liu Yunpeng's excuse was truly infuriating. He was not even bothering to put on an act.

Ning Yongrui stood to one side, the veins at his temple twitching faintly. He was clearly furious, yet with Yun Long present, he forcibly held himself back.

He took a deep breath, his voice steady.

"Elder Liu, that is not quite right."

"Surely Elder Liu knows the value of these Dragon Whisker Golden Tail Spirit Fish."

Ning Yongrui's gaze swept over the Liu Family cultivators behind Liu Yunpeng, whose expressions varied, then over his own Lineage members, who held their breaths in tense concentration.

"The previous prices were indeed too low."

"Now that the spiritual resources of Wanfang Lake are jointly managed by the Yun Clan and the Ning Family, the prices must naturally be reassessed."

"Ten low-grade spirit stones per fish is already a fair price, given our past ties."

Ning Yongrui's words struck the ground with force.

This explanation had naturally been discussed and agreed upon with Yun Long long ago.

The resources of Wanfang Lake could no longer be left for these surrounding Lineages to take and demand at will as before.

If the Yun Clan wished to gain a foothold and the Ning Family wished to develop, they could no longer remain soft persimmons for others to squeeze as they pleased.

And the confidence behind all of this came from Yun Long, who looked young but was unfathomably deep.

He was the true pillar that steadied the seas of Wanfang Lake.

At those words, the "grief-stricken" expression on Liu Yunpeng's face stiffened, and a sinister glint flashed through his eyes.

He had thought that Yun Long was young and might be bluffed by a few words, or that he might care about his reputation and make some concessions.

He had never expected the other party to be so direct.

"A fair price?"

Liu Yunpeng sneered, his voice abruptly rising.

"Yun Family Head, Commander Ning, you are clearly using the power of a large shop to bully your customers!"

"When have Dragon Whisker Golden Tail Spirit Fish ever sold for such an astronomical price within Sanshui County?"

"Do you think that, just because you have latched onto the Yun Clan's great tree, you can freely squeeze old patrons like us?"

His words had already taken on the flavor of a threat.

Yun Long's gaze was indifferent, as though he had not heard the hidden meaning in Liu Yunpeng's words.

"Elder Liu misunderstands."

He spoke slowly, his voice calm, yet carrying an unquestionable strength.

"Among first-rank spiritual creatures, Dragon Whisker Golden Tail Spirit Fish have always been considered treasures."

"It is only that their numbers were scarce in the past, and their reputation had not spread far."

"Even outside Sanshui County, finding this fish would not be easy."

Yun Long paused, shifting his gaze from Liu Yunpeng's face to the golden fish swimming leisurely in the water vat.

"Ten low-grade spirit stones is already a price offered out of consideration for Commander Ning."

"To be frank, I had originally intended to keep all of these Dragon Whisker Golden Tail Spirit Fish and take them to Nanchuan Market to sell later."

"The price there would only be higher."

The moment those words fell, the courtyard became utterly silent.

A look of understanding and excitement appeared on the faces of the Ning Family members.