Evil-Faced Flying Eagle

That evening.

The shopkeepers of the Marketplace's major stores went to Maple Leaf Estate atop Bamboo Leaf Mountain to attend a discussion assembly convened by the Huang Family.

An hour later.

Mu Xiuyun returned to the shop and immediately sought out Lan Chang'an to explain the situation.

"The robber cultivator who attacked me is called the Evil-Faced Flying Eagle. He ran rampant through other marketplaces years ago. He was once pursued by a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, then went into hiding for several years after being injured. Who would have thought he would appear near Bamboo Leaf Mountain?"

The first piece of news Mu Xiuyun mentioned was precisely what Lan Chang'an cared about.

"Evil-Faced Flying Eagle?"

Lan Chang'an committed the name to memory. Anyone who could escape alive from the pursuit of a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator was no ordinary Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivator. No wonder he had driven Mu Xiuyun into such desperate straits.

Mu Xiuyun then mentioned the second matter.

"For the two merchants whose shops were attacked, the Huang Family will provide compensation and waive their management fees for the next ten years."

Ten years' worth of management fees was no small sum.

The Maple Leaf Huang Family had shown at least some gesture of goodwill.

After all, the attacks had not taken place inside the Marketplace, but some distance away.

Lan Chang'an thought to himself, The merchants receive compensation, while those rogue cultivators who died miserable deaths are simply gone for good.

Such was the law of the jungle in the Cultivation World.

Most merchants in the Marketplace had powerful backers. Some were not people even the Maple Leaf Huang Family dared offend lightly.

"Furthermore, the Huang Family intends to strengthen the Marketplace's formations and law-enforcement cultivators, actively rooting out robber cultivators. Because expenses have increased, they will raise merchants' management fees by thirty percent starting next year."

A trace of mockery colored Mu Xiuyun's pleasant voice.

Raise the management fees?

Lan Chang'an could not help admiring how well the Huang Family knew how to seize an opportunity.

During the Marketplace's first two years of operation, its management fees had been very low in order to attract customers.

Now that the Marketplace's foot traffic had increased and most shops had begun turning profits, the Huang Family used the threat that "robber cultivators" posed to the Marketplace's safety as an excuse to raise merchants' management fees.

The situation truly was different now.

In the past, the Marketplace had just opened and had to beg people to come do business.

Now, its popularity rose year by year, and people were scrambling to squeeze their way in.

The Huang Family publicly declared that anyone dissatisfied with the increased management fees could sell their shop to them at the current market price and receive compensation.

This showed just how optimistic the Huang Family was about the Marketplace's future prospects.

After returning to his room, Lan Chang'an fell into deep thought.

He recalled how, a year ago, Shopkeeper Xu and Madam Zheng in the Marketplace had tried every possible means to lure him outside.

After Lan Chang'an and Mu Xiuyun joined forces, the Spirit Talisman Shop's business had steadily improved. Both the quality and variety of its Talismans were highly competitive.

Besides the Jade Moon Lake aquatic products and the Purple Copper Mine Area, the Mu Family had gained another money tree. Its development was becoming increasingly smooth.

As long as either one of them was removed, this momentum could be curbed somewhat.

Lan Chang'an was impervious to every approach and simply refused to leave the Marketplace, leaving no opportunity at all.

Mu Xiuyun was different. She occasionally traveled between the Lineage and the Marketplace.

Mu Xiuyun's cultivation was relatively high, and she possessed a Flying Boat artifact, making her difficult to target. Still, at least there was an opportunity.

At the summit of Bamboo Leaf Mountain.

Inside a hall at Maple Leaf Estate.

"Yu'er, you went a little too far this time."

An elderly man in his seventies with prominent cheekbones sat cross-legged on a Meditation Cushion at the head of the hall, his expression displeased.

"None of the merchants doing business in the Marketplace are easy prey. Targeting them is truly a poor move. For one little girl, was it necessary for you to personally target her and make the Marketplace risk bearing a foul reputation?"

"Uncle-Grandfather Ling is right."

Huang Yu wore a respectful expression as he explained, "I did not personally participate in this matter. I merely provided the Evil-Faced Flying Eagle with intelligence. That fellow took an interest in a beautiful female cultivator of substantial worth like the Mu Family's Eldest Miss and acted on his own initiative."

At the mention of this matter, a trace of sinister gloom flashed through Huang Yu's eyes.

He had originally intended to plan everything thoroughly, capture Mu Xiuyun, and use the name of robber cultivators to gain leverage over the Mu Family and Lan Chang'an.

Yet the Evil-Faced Flying Eagle had acted with excessive confidence, misjudging the quality of the Talismans in Mu Xiuyun's possession. He suffered a small loss at the start, and the flying eagle was injured by her Talismans.

In a fit of humiliation and rage, he had actually struck ruthlessly at a flower.

It would have been one thing if Mu Xiuyun had been killed, but she had survived and incited the merchants to join forces and pressure the Huang Family.

The elderly man snorted coldly and said indifferently, "Take care of yourself. The prosperity of this Marketplace concerns our Huang Family's grand plan for the next century."

After Mu Xiuyun was attacked, the Huang Family strengthened patrols and law enforcement around the Marketplace, even handling several incidents of murder and robbery.

The security environment around Bamboo Leaf Mountain improved.

The Marketplace's foot traffic grew steadily.

The businesses of every shop became increasingly prosperous, and they were no longer so resistant to the raised management fees.

Three years later.

Lan Chang'an advanced to the Qi Refining Sixth Layer, taking his cultivation another step higher.

It was roughly as expected. It had taken a total of six years.

The wood spiritual qi within the Marketplace merely improved his cultivation efficiency.

But it could not change the turning of the years.

Lan Chang'an had plenty of free time each day: cultivating, drawing Talismans, body refining, pill refining, feeding his Spirit Pet...

Besides that were his personal pastimes—tasting tea and wine, playing chess, wandering the stall district, and trying his luck at finding overlooked treasures.

His days were both fulfilling and leisurely.

During his four or five years at Bamboo Leaf Mountain, Lan Chang'an had stubbornly never left the Marketplace.

No one knew who it was.

But someone had given him the nickname "Turtle Talisman Master," making him a topic of conversation over tea and wine for some cultivators in the Marketplace.

Lan Chang'an did not care. When he someday stood at the pinnacle of the Golden Core Realm and Nascent Soul Realm, those who mocked him would probably have long become piles of yellow earth.

Over the past two or three years, apart from cultivation and hobbies, Lan Chang'an's life had undergone a few changes.

That day, Lan Chang'an rose from bed full of vigor and got dressed.

A pile of female cultivator's clothing lay scattered beside the bed.

An emerald gauze dress, a blue undergarment, white silk stockings, delicate embroidered shoes...

A faint fragrance filled the bedding.

From within the covers emerged a section of a long, slender leg, white as congealed snow, belonging to a beautiful body with icy skin, jade-like flesh, and undulating curves.

Oh, this was the Eldest Miss's bedroom.

Mu Xiuyun opened her starry eyes. A trace of exhaustion showed on her face as she looked at the lively Lan Chang'an with a somewhat resentful gaze.

There was an old saying: only oxen are worked to death; no field is ever plowed to ruin.

Yet for Lan Chang'an, who cultivated the Evergreen Art, this saying did not apply.

"Brother Lan, I need to get dressed. You're not allowed to peek!"

The rustling sounds of the beauty getting dressed came from behind him.

Lan Chang'an walked to the window, his thoughts drifting as he felt that these nourishing two or three years had passed so quickly.

Three years earlier.

After that recovery from the brink of death, the Eldest Miss gradually let go of her reserved airs. At times, her eyes conveyed affection as she took the initiative to discuss talisman arts.

Once, while they were drawing Talismans together, she revealed her true feelings: Lan Chang'an had given her life back to her. Even if he wished to leave someday, she would do so willingly.

With matters having reached that point.

If Lan Chang'an continued to refuse, he would not be a normal man—not even as good as a eunuch.

After many years of a lone man and a lone woman spending time together, with dry firewood meeting blazing flames, the two of them, who held mutual affection, naturally ended up sharing a bed.

Every corner of the Eldest Miss's bedroom bore traces of their entwined bodies.

Of course, no matter how deep their affection.

Lan Chang'an remained calm within. He used a secret art from the Dragon Locking Secrets to preserve his dragon essence without loss, ensuring that he would never leave behind offspring.

Early morning.

On the first floor of the shop, Mu Ershun and Mu Shan arranged goods on the counters.

By now, both apprentices could refine some First-Order Talismans, though their success rates were not high and hovered around the break-even point.

Mu Xiuyun patrolled the shop, filling in gaps and correcting omissions.

Lan Chang'an did not concern himself with shop affairs and prepared to wander through the rogue cultivators' stall district.

In his Previous Life, Lan Chang'an had heard of cultivators finding overlooked treasures in stall districts, purchasing magical artifacts or rare curios sealed away or concealing their true nature.

Thus, throughout his years at the Marketplace, he often visited the stall district to see whether he could find any overlooked treasure.

He had plenty of time anyway, so he might as well try his luck.

Over the years, he had actually found something overlooked: a magical artifact fragment the size of a handkerchief.

It resembled a piece of cowhide, impervious to water and fire, with a tough and flexible texture.

A magical artifact corresponded to at least the Golden Core Realm.

Even as a fragment of a magical artifact, it was unusable with Lan Chang'an's cultivation. He simply used it as a Heart-Protecting Mirror, attaching it to the inner lining of his outer robe.

After making a round through the stall district, he found nothing.

He then went to sit idly at a Tea House, where he heard many cultivators discussing something.

"I heard that Bamboo Leaf Mountain's upcoming auction will put a Foundation Establishment Pill up for sale?"

"A Foundation Establishment Pill? Is that true?"

"Not just a Foundation Establishment Pill. There will also be top-grade spirit artifacts, Longevity Pills..."

Early in the morning, the Tea House was far livelier than usual.

As Lan Chang'an sipped his tea, he was not the least surprised by the discussions about the auction and the Foundation Establishment Pill.

The Marketplace's merchants had learned of the auction a month in advance.

The Huang Family had sent an invitation to Mu's Spirit Talisman Shop, hoping the shop could provide a batch of High-Grade Talismans for auction.

The Maple Leaf Huang Family had decided to hold a large-scale auction at Bamboo Leaf Mountain three months later.

There truly were rumors of a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Furthermore, the Beast Taming Zhou Family would be selling a batch of high-quality spirit beasts in one concentrated sale.

For a time, cultivation lineages in the vicinity, as well as rogue cultivators and sect cultivators from even farther away, received word of it.

"A Foundation Establishment Pill..."

Lan Chang'an took a sip of tea and sighed inwardly.

After several rounds of preparation, Bamboo Leaf Mountain Market would become the center of the tide.

This was also what the Huang Family wanted to achieve: to make Bamboo Leaf Mountain Market truly flourish!

As the auction drew near.

The flow of people into Bamboo Leaf Mountain Market increased by the day.

Recently, Lan Chang'an had even received letters of inquiry from Zhao Siyao and Lin Yi.

Upon learning of the grand auction at Bamboo Leaf Mountain, both friends planned to come participate.