Although the Wang Clan had become an affiliated lineage of the Netherworld Sect, it was not part of the direct line. Over the past three hundred years, it had suffered no small amount of oppression from the Netherworld Sect's direct descendants. Its sphere of influence had also been steadily gnawed away by the Liang Clan, established by Netherworld Sect Elder Liang Liang. In Qingli Market, only one shop remained—the Jade Spring Grocery Store.
It was only in the past thirty years, when the Three Great Sects fell into internal strife and the Netherworld Sect became busy fighting for territory, that the Liang Family Ancestor, the main force suppressing the Wang Clan, had been transferred to the front lines. With the pressure on the Wang Clan eased, its business had finally begun to improve somewhat.
The Wang Clan now had more than sixty cultivators and over a hundred thousand mortals, and it had also recently taken over another shop.
The Jade Spring Grocery Store occupied an excellent location, right upstream of the three-way river junction. To its left was the Qingli River, to its right a clear stream, and behind it lay the meeting point of the two waters, while a broad avenue stretched across its front. To facilitate cargo transport, the Wang Clan had built a small dock on the left side of the shop.
The spirit ship sailed into Qingli Market and docked at the small wharf. Everyone disembarked.
Wang Zhide introduced the place. "This is our lineage's only shop. There are over a thousand shops in Qingli Market, yet none is larger or better located than our Jade Spring Grocery Store."
Hearing this, Wang Daoyuan looked around and saw that the entire Qingli Market was divided into three sections by two rivers. The section containing the Jade Spring Grocery Store was the earliest developed and the most prosperous part of Qingli Market. It held more than six hundred shops and was known as the Old Market.
Downstream from the three-way river junction, the left side was called the Left Market, while the right side was the Right Market. Each had around two hundred shops.
The Left Market and Right Market had been newly built by the Netherworld Sect after the Wang Clan declined, and every shop there belonged to the Netherworld Sect.
More than three hundred shops in the Old Market had been seized by the Netherworld Sect during its purge of Zhao Clan-affiliated forces. There were only a little over three hundred shops not belonging to the Netherworld Sect.
The Netherworld Sect occupied seventy percent of all Qingli Market, while the remaining forces shared the other thirty percent.
Wang Zhide continued, "The new shop our Wang Clan has taken over is right next to the grocery store. In the future, the lineage will move Jade Spring Grocery Store's talisman, pill, and spirit herb businesses to the new shop. The Jade Spring Grocery Store will specialize in stone materials, ores, and spirit wood. Wang Zhihe will serve as shopkeeper for now, and all of you must follow the shopkeeper's arrangements."
Everyone voiced their assent, and Wang Zhide directly led them to the new shop.
The new shop's doors, windows, beams, and pillars had all been given fresh paint, while a plaque above the entrance was covered by red cloth.
A man came out from inside to welcome Wang Daoyuan and the others.
This man was Wang Zhihe. He ranked tenth among his generation and possessed Qi Refining Layer Seven cultivation. He truly lived up to his name, treating everyone with great harmony and kindness.
Wang Zhihe handled matters by the book. Whether managing transported goods or receiving customers in the shop, he left no loose ends, but neither did he make any outstanding contributions. Only after toiling away for fifty or sixty years had he become a shopkeeper.
He appeared to be in his forties, but his true age was already over eighty.
Everyone addressed him as Tenth Uncle or Tenth Uncle, then offered their greetings. After the group entered the shop's back courtyard, they found that compared with the somewhat cramped storefront, the back courtyard was extremely spacious, covering roughly ten mu of land.
After exchanging pleasantries with Wang Zhihe for a while, Wang Zhide took his leave.
Afterward, Wang Zhihe assigned everyone their duties and living quarters.
As a Talisman Master, Wang Daoyuan received better treatment. He had a spirit-energy-rich cave dwelling to himself. With the clear stream behind it, it was quite a fine place for fishing.
Outside the cave dwelling was a mu of Spirit Field. Compared with the Spirit Fields in the Spirit Pearl Space, its spirit energy was slightly denser.
To avoid drawing attention, he planted Yellow Cloud Grass and Crimson Blood Ginseng in the Spirit Field. That way, when he took out Talisman Paper or Crimson Blood Brew in the future, it would not seem too abrupt.
Wang Daoyuan's task was to provide Talismans. Each month, the lineage supplied him with three hundred sheets of Talisman Paper and sufficient Spirit Ink. As long as he handed over one hundred and twenty Tier One Low-Grade Talismans, he would have completed his assignment.
This task was rather easy. An ordinary Tier One Low-Grade Talisman Master could produce over a dozen Talismans a day without much pressure. For a Mid-Grade Talisman Master like him, even making thirty a day was no difficult matter.
Upon completing his monthly task, he would receive five Spirit Stones as monthly pay.
For every Talisman beyond one hundred and twenty, the lineage would purchase them at a rate of six Talismans per Spirit Stone. If he failed to complete the task, the losses would be deducted from his pay.
That purchase price was quite decent. Early-stage Qi Refining cultivators used whatever Spirit Stones they had to improve their cultivation, and few were willing to buy Talismans. Tier One Low-Grade Talismans were not worth much either; the shop sold five for one Spirit Stone.
The next day, the new shop opened for business. Several lineages on good terms with them sent people to offer congratulations. Wang Zhihe naturally received these guests himself, while Wang Daoyuan merely needed to serve as a background wall.
Once nearly all the guests had arrived, Wang Zhihe personally pulled away the red cloth covering the plaque. The words "Jade Spring Pill Talisman Pavilion" were written upon it in five bold characters, their strokes strong in bone and sinew yet concealing their edge. One glance was enough to tell that it was Ninth Uncle's work.
Talisman Masters generally had good calligraphy, or at least Wang Daoyuan thought so.
In the cultivation world, shops relied on reputation accumulated over long years. There was no such thing as grand opening sales or opening ceremonies.
Once the plaque had been unveiled, the shop was officially open. The host then held a banquet for the guests who had come to offer congratulations, and that was the end of it.
Such matters were arranged by the shopkeeper and greeters. As technical talent, Wang Daoyuan had no need to participate.
Just as he was preparing to return to his cave dwelling, a young master arrived outside. He wore a brocade robe and a jade crown, held a large yellow dog on a leash, and had several servants following behind him.
The young master was rather handsome, but he looked at people through his nostrils, utterly contemptuous and arrogant.
The group walked down the street, and the pedestrians hurriedly moved aside.
The brocade-robed young master led his dog through the entrance. As the Pill Talisman Pavilion's first customer, he loudly shouted, "Bring my young master's dog some spirit pills."
He was plainly here to make trouble. If he had truly come to do business and buy pills for a spirit beast, he would have directly specified what pills he wanted instead of merely saying to bring his dog some spirit pills.
For the first customer to come and buy pills for a dog was both a slap in the Pill Talisman Pavilion's face and an insult implying that all later customers were dogs.
Though he was an unwelcome guest, he was still a guest, and they could not simply sweep him out the door. Yet if they received him normally, it would mean the Wang Clan had admitted defeat.
This brocade-robed young master was no more than eighteen or nineteen. Among the Wang Clan members in the Pill Talisman Pavilion, aside from Wang Daoyuan and Wang Daocheng, all were from the older generation. If they stepped forward, it would appear that they were bullying the young.
As a greeter, Wang Daocheng was the appropriate person to step forward now. Yet he had never encountered such a situation before and could not grasp the proper measure. If his counterattack was too weak, he would disgrace the Wang Clan; if his reaction was too fierce, the Wang Clan would seem intolerant.
Wang Daocheng's goal was to become a shopkeeper. If something went wrong at this moment, it would be difficult for him to rise in the future. Sweat poured from his brow in anxiety.
As Wang Daocheng's biological grandfather, Wang Zhide naturally could not stand idly by. He sent Wang Daoyuan a voice transmission. "Daoyuan, that youth is Liang Zilong, the son of the Liang Clan head. He is an out-and-out wastrel, and he has come to make trouble for us.
"Your fourth brother is the greeter, so he should be the one to handle this. But this matter is difficult; whether he goes too lightly or too heavily, there will be trouble. His future path is to become a shopkeeper, and what he needs is connections and reputation. If he mishandles this, his prospects for the rest of his life will be finished.
"You are still underage. Whether you suffer a loss or gain an advantage, it can be treated as a child making a fuss. Afterward, a single phrase—young and reckless—will cover it all. If we elders step forward, it will become bullying the young.
"You have been clever since childhood. Step forward in your fourth brother's stead and resolve this matter. When we return, I will permit you to exchange for two Tier Two Low-Grade Talismans."
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