Jing Family Main Store

The waters of the Muddy River became gentle here, forming a barrier lake within the cave.

A large port and dock were built relying on this lake, providing berths for passing ships.

Jing Qian looked around and saw at least close to five hundred ships of various sizes anchored in this large lake.

The small boat under his feet was just the most inconspicuous one among them.

He steered the boat forward, docked at an unoccupied pier, and stepped onto the shore.

Feeling the solid ground beneath his feet, he was momentarily lost in thought!

The days of drifting at sea were novel and exciting, making him quite immersed.

But this sense of security from having his feet on solid ground was something he couldn't refuse no matter what!

On the dock, there were many porters who served the incoming and outgoing ships.

Jing Qian casually called one over and said:

"Go to the Xu Family Shipyard and tell them to come and take this boat. Make it clear to them that the repair costs will come out of my deposit."

With that, he casually tossed out a Red Copper Knife Coin to the porter.

The other party accepted it with profuse thanks and scurried away towards another direction on the dock.

In this world, the labor of ordinary people was worthless. This single Knife Coin was worth almost half a year of his income.

After arranging for the broken boat, Jing Qian walked towards the depths of the dock without looking back.

For the Jing Clan, a dignified Dragon Elephant family, the descendant of a warship commander in the Maritime Affairs Office, to be so down and out!

Going out to sea and even having to rent a boat was also beyond Jing Qian's expectation.

He walked at a leisurely pace, observing the surroundings as he went.

Although it was his first time coming to HunZhou Island, he acted like a local.

He had confirmed the environment of the dock and the route of travel with A Bao no less than ten times.

Now, the descriptions in his memory were gradually matching the reality, helping him successfully find his destination.

At the exit of the dock, there was a checkpoint made of black stone, separating the dock from the outside world.

Within the checkpoint, there were four pavilions handling the customs procedures for entering and leaving HunZhou Island.

Jing Qian randomly chose a pavilion, walked up to it, took out a bronze plaque engraved with the character "Well" (Jing), flashed it at the person sitting in the pavilion, and then walked straight through the pavilion and out of the cave dock.

The bronze plaque in his hand came from Jing Ran's storage hairpin!

No matter how down and out the Jing Clan was, they were still descendants of the navy, the direct lineage of the former warship commander.

To these ordinary people serving at the dock, they were important figures not to be provoked!

Therefore, no one came forward to stop Jing Qian.

However, after Jing Qian left, the person in the pavilion called over a porter and said:

"Quickly go and inform the Qian Family that the masked boy from the Jing Family has returned to the island!"

The porter nodded and then left.

Jing Qian continued forward. Just as A Bao had said, there was only one tunnel connecting the dock to the surface.

Everyone who came to HunZhou Island had to pass through this thirty-li tunnel to see the light of day again.

For Jing Qian, when he first saw this tunnel, he was also incredibly shocked!

A Bao hadn't explained it clearly, only saying it was just a tunnel.

But what was presented before Jing Qian was far beyond what a tunnel could describe.

This was clearly an incredibly massive sinkhole!

He saw a huge tunnel with a diameter of five li, slanting upwards.

Because it was so wide, even from thirty li away, the daylight could penetrate through this tunnel and illuminate the cavern.

Jing Qian walked slowly along this massive tunnel. The inner wall of the tunnel was made of hard black stone, but it was polished incredibly smooth, appearing exceptionally sturdy. Occasionally, a few faint points of fluorescence flickered on the wall.

He walked on a neatly carved black stone staircase, surrounded by a constant stream of people, all with hurried expressions.

Jing Qian blended into the crowd and climbed out of the sinkhole.

A thirty-li tunnel was not considered very long in this world where everyone cultivated Yuan.

The various people walking on the stairs were all moving swiftly, taking three steps as five.

Jing Qian controlled his speed, keeping up with the flow of people, and it only took him a little over half an hour to climb out of the tunnel.

And what appeared before his eyes was another strange sight!

This underground passage had actually pierced through the ten-thousand-meter-high mountain that Jing Qian had seen when he first arrived on the island.

Stepping out of the passage, he found himself on the back of the high mountain.

And before him was a dry riverbed, as wide as the underground passage, extending into the main island of HunZhou Island. The end of the riverbed was out of sight.

Jing Qian looked along the riverbed. On the main island was the boundless Hun Zhou Plain and lush rainforest vegetation.

And at the junction of the tunnel and the riverbed, a small village was situated.

This small village was the first stop for everyone who landed on HunZhou Island, and it was also Jing Qian's primary destination for this trip!

According to A Bao's introduction, in the land of Hun Zhou, islands were scattered like stars, but only fifteen islands had lit their Destiny Hearths and were truly inhabited by humans.

The various Destiny Islands were far apart, independent of each other, and not subordinate to one another.

Communication between islands was poor, and the exchange of goods and personnel relied entirely on this small village before them.

In Jing Qian's understanding, the black stone checkpoint just now belonged to the customs of HunZhou Island.

This village before him was the bonded area or duty-free shop of HunZhou Island.

Under the isolation of the Hun Zhou Government Office, this small village existed independently from the main island of HunZhou Island.

Ordinary people on the island were not allowed to reside permanently in the small village without permission.

Most of the activities of people from other Destiny Islands, after arriving at HunZhou Island, would also be restricted to the small village before them.

The small village known as the Hun Zhou Sea Market monopolized all trade and exchange between fifteen Destiny Islands, making it renowned throughout the entire Hun Zhou island.

On these fifteen Destiny Islands, there were tens of millions of humans living.

A simple calculation would reveal the immense wealth contained within this Hun Zhou Sea Market, which covered the trading needs of tens of millions of people.

And all of this was artificially designed.

Within Hun Zhou Island, only the top twenty-four families were qualified to participate in the wealth distribution process within the Hun Zhou Sea Market.

This was reflected in the fact that there were only twenty-four isolated buildings in the entire sea market.

Each building was a store with a single, fixed scope of business, each monopolizing a specific industry, collectively known as the "Twenty-Four Main Stores."

These main stores covered twenty-four industries, including people's livelihoods, industry, cultivation, and commercial services.

Each main store was a large establishment that handled a massive volume of trade, and behind each one stood at least one great cultivator at the Dragon Elephant level or higher.

Moreover, this great cultivator was very likely a prominent figure within the three offices and two inspectorates of the Hun Zhou Government Office!

Strong foundations, deep heritage, and accumulated wealth were the images each main store projected to the outside world.

Among these, only one Jing Clan main store was struggling the most.

Not only was it because the family supporting this Jing Clan main store had completely declined.

It was also because it monopolized the high-risk, high-reward niche industry of "Ocean Shipping," yet couldn't even produce a single ship!

Therefore, within the Hun Zhou Sea Market, the other twenty-three main stores were brightly lit and bustling with visitors.

Only this Jing Clan main store looked dilapidated.

Jing Qian walked through the sea market and arrived in front of the Jing Clan main store. He looked up at the somewhat faded plaque, sneered, and stepped inside.