Shen Lie and Junior Sister Arrive [Please Follow]

Three months later.

Lin Chang'an sat cross-legged, letting out a long breath. Looking at his status panel, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

[Realm: Qi Refining Fourth Layer (11/100)]

"Sure enough, with Spirit Stones to support me, my cultivation speed has improved quite a bit."

In just three short months, his progress had risen from 2 to 11. At this rate, he would break through in less than three years.

"Spirit Stones... at the end of the day, I still have to earn Spirit Stones."

Lowering his head to look at the Spirit Stone in his palm, its spiritual energy completely drained and its surface somewhat whitened, Lin Chang'an smiled. With a squeeze of his hand, the Spirit Stone instantly crumbled into powder.

A complete low-grade Spirit Stone was incomparably hard, but now it was nothing more than a worthless stone.

He rose and straightened his Daoist robe, then cleared away the Spirit Stone dust in the room so no one would notice anything.

After all, even ordinary cultivators from great clans could not afford the luxury of cultivating with Spirit Stones every day.

"If I went all out and could maintain three Spirit Stones a day for cultivation, my cultivation speed could double again."

However, Lin Chang'an immediately shook his head. In that case, he would have to earn over a hundred Spirit Stones every month. It was not that he lacked the ability.

Rather, there were certain risks. His recent lavish cultivation had only been possible because the Market had become increasingly chaotic, giving him such a fine opportunity.

"Big Brother Lin."

Stepping outside, Lin Chang'an saw Li Erniu, who had already packed up, and went over to greet him.

"I never expected Little Marquis Shen Lie and Junior Sister to actually organize a Chamber of Commerce together."

Li Erniu sighed endlessly along the way. How long had it been? Their former friends were already coming to Green Bamboo Mountain Market.

Lin Chang'an smiled and nodded, though he felt somewhat envious inside.

First Er Niu, then Shen Lie.

They had all been low-grade Spiritual Roots who failed the assessment, yet Er Niu had married into a family, and Shen Lie was clearly about to make things happen with Junior Sister as well.

Of the three who had failed the assessment back then, he had looks if looks were needed, and as for Spiritual Roots, they were all six of one and half a dozen of the other. Yet things turned out this way every time. Lin Chang'an had even begun to wonder whether a face was utterly useless in the Cultivation World.

Now, Lin Chang'an could only comfort himself. Fortunately, he had awakened his talent, and his future would not be bad either.

"Although Shen Lie and Junior Sister's Chamber of Commerce isn't large, it was organized under Little Princess's lead."

Some time ago, Shen Lie had sent them a letter, informing them that they had organized a Chamber of Commerce and were preparing to come to Green Bamboo Mountain Market.

Now that Lin Chang'an was also attached to the Zhou Family, letters could naturally be delivered to the Zhou Family for him. Unlike before, he had to pass letters through Er Niu.

"Yes, Little Princess truly is a genius."

Even Li Erniu sighed with envy, and Lin Chang'an nodded in agreement. This Little Princess possessed no small amount of courage.

Clearly, the Chamber of Commerce Shen Lie and Junior Sister had organized was backed by Little Princess Yun Yao. It was all to gather the resources needed for Foundation Establishment.

Once Little Princess Yun Yao succeeded, she would become a mighty Foundation Establishment cultivator. Their status would rise with the tide, and everything they had invested over the years would return many times over.

A win-win situation.

After exchanging a few sighs, the two made their way to the Market gates to await them.

Yet as time ticked away, it was not until noon that they finally spotted the familiar caravan in the distance.

"It's Little Marquis and the others."

Li Erniu had waited for a long time, and the moment he saw them, a smile broke across his face.

Lin Chang'an, however, frowned. He noticed that the long caravan seemed somewhat disorderly, as though it had gone through a series of mishaps.

"Brother Lin, Brother Li."

Seeing the people waiting for him from afar, Shen Lie smiled as well. He swung down from his horse and stepped forward to give them a great big hug.

This time, the Little Marquis had remembered Er Niu's surname instead of calling him Brother Er Niu.

"Little Mar... Brother Shen, why do you look so dusty and disheveled?"

Li Erniu habitually started to call him Little Marquis, but immediately caught himself and changed his form of address. Still, seeing how dusty and disheveled the group was, he could not help looking curious.

"Don't mention it. We've had nothing but rotten luck along the way."

It would have been fine if the matter had not been mentioned, but as soon as it was, Shen Lie irritably flicked his sleeve.

"We hired a group of Li Fire Palace outer disciples as guards, and everything had been smooth along the way. Who could have expected that, with only three days left on the road, we would run into demonic beasts one after another? We even encountered a Golden Light Leopard."

At those words, Lin Chang'an's heart leaped, and he stared at Shen Lie in shock.

"A Golden Light Leopard? Isn't that a demonic beast that lives deep within the Cloud Mist Mountain Range? How did it appear in the outer regions?"

Just then, the carriage curtain was lifted, and Lu Qingqing stepped down. Looking at their familiar laughter, she smiled and said,

"Along the way, we also discovered many traces of demonic beasts from deep within the Cloud Mist Mountain Range. The Market's land reclamation is about to begin, so too many cultivators have arrived and disturbed the demonic beasts' territory."

"Junior Sister."

"Junior Sister Lu."

Lin Chang'an and Li Erniu both smiled and cupped their hands.

Clearly, they were the ones who had studied together, yet this Junior Sister seemed no less close to them.

"That makes sense. This kind of thing has happened before land reclamation at the Market in the past."

Li Erniu nodded in agreement. Demonic beasts generally had fixed territories, but the sudden appearance of increasing numbers of cultivators would also affect them.

"Alright, let's hurry into the Market. Er Niu and I prepared a welcoming feast for you long ago."

Lin Chang'an suppressed the unease in his heart and, smiling broadly, extended a hand to welcome Shen Lie's group into the Market.

Though Shen Lie was somewhat dusty and disheveled, the bustling Market before him filled his face with irrepressible delight.

They had brought quite a lot of goods this time. Wasn't Green Bamboo Mountain Market precisely what they had set their sights on? The more outside Rogue Cultivators there were, the more Spirit Stones they could earn.

As for the demonic beast disturbance, wasn't that an excellent opportunity for a Chamber of Commerce to earn Spirit Stones?

Gathering Immortal Pavilion.

Lin Chang'an, Li Erniu, Shen Lie, and Lu Qingqing sat in a private room.

As for the caravan guards, their Spirit Stones had naturally been settled after they entered the Market. Little Marquis Shen Lie had also warmly hosted a table for those cultivators at Gathering Worthy Pavilion.

The five Qi Refining Mid-Stage Li Fire Palace Disciples led by one Qi Refining Late Stage cultivator treated Shen Lie, Lin Chang'an, and the others with smiles as well.

After all, no one disliked a generous employer.

And they also knew who the real employer was.

"Come, let's have a drink. I never expected that we would gather again so soon after our last meeting."

As the Spirit Wine and Spirit Meat were served, Shen Lie wore a broad smile. With his natural knack for making connections with anyone, it was no wonder Yun Yao had taken a liking to him and made him the person in charge of the Chamber of Commerce.

At the wine table, Shen Lie smiled as he brought up once more what he had mentioned in his letter.

After all, Lin Chang'an and Li Erniu could be considered local snakes. They knew this Market far better than Shen Lie's group did.

Lin Chang'an set down his wine cup and nodded lightly.

"Er Niu and I have looked over quite a few possible hires for you these past few days. They're all people with clean backgrounds, whose parents are cultivators in the Market, or whose children are all here in the Market."

Since they were establishing a Chamber of Commerce, they naturally needed to recruit some people. Hiring cultivators from the local Market would allow them to quickly blend in and understand the place.

Lin Chang'an naturally understood that ordinary cultivators burdened with families and children were relatively more settled and dependable.

"In that case, thank you, Senior Brother Lin and Senior Brother Li."

At the wine table, Junior Sister Lu Qingqing was gentle and gracious as she raised her wine cup in a toast.

This sight made Lin Chang'an and Li Erniu both mutter to themselves. Junior Sister's way of treating others was like a spring breeze bathing the face; she and Shen Lie truly were the same sort of people.

After one feast, the four of them had grown even more familiar with one another.