Collecting Protection Money

Back at Bitter Bamboo Peak, Zhou Feng cultivated through the night.

To be honest, compared to other places, Bitter Bamboo Peak's only advantage was probably that there were no mandatory assignments.

Elsewhere, nearly all new disciples were forcibly assigned all kinds of tasks.

Even if you were an elder's son, it was the same, because the Three Gu Sect was a sect where the strong preyed on the weak.

As long as you were not strong enough, you had to handle all sorts of matters.

Use an elder's name to pressure Inner Sect disciples?

That would only make more people reject you, or even secretly get rid of you.

The environment within the Inner Sect was so cutthroat that a single misstep could mean sudden death.

Under such circumstances, who cared whether you were an elder's son?

Compared to the Outer Sect, the Inner Sect had far fewer formalities.

Of course, having connections was still very important.

Having connections meant access to plenty of additional resources, allowing one's strength to improve quickly.

Like Lin Xiaojiao and Liu Yan, whom Zhou Feng had encountered before, both had an elder standing behind them.

That was precisely why they could become outstanding figures in the Inner Sect.

"Lime definitely won't be enough! I have to start mixing poisons!"

Zhou Feng was now considering teaching himself how to concoct poisons.

The stronger the opponent, the less effective something like lime powder became.

If you scattered a handful of lime, they could block it all as soon as they raised their spiritual power.

And against experienced opponents, they would understand what was happening the moment your hand moved.

That was why he had decided to teach himself poison-making.

There were quite a few books on medicinal properties and poison formulas in the Scripture Repository on the main peak.

But they required Sect Merit to exchange for them, and the best way to earn merit was by completing sect assignments.

Or one could directly exchange cultivation resources for Sect Merit.

He had none of those things.

"Looks like I can only go to the market and collect protection money!"

Zhou Feng had previously asked around about how the senior brothers of Bitter Bamboo Peak collected protection money.

In truth, those who paid protection money were all outsiders to the sect.

These outsiders came to the Three Gu Sect's market to do business.

If they wanted to operate peacefully, they had to find someone from the Three Gu Sect to back them.

Thus, nearly every merchant in the Mountainside Market had an Inner Sect disciple supporting them.

When Inner Sect disciples fought among themselves, aside from competing for the right to manage the Meat Gu Cave, they also fought over the support of these merchants.

The stronger you were, the more merchants would notice you, take the initiative to join you, and offer protection money.

But correspondingly, the more merchants under your protection, the more people would set their sights on you.

Thus, within the Inner Sect, the stronger one was, the more shops one had behind them.

Once your strength proved insufficient or you were injured, others would seize the opportunity to cause trouble and snatch away the merchants under your protection.

The moment Zhou Feng heard this information, he immediately felt a strange sense of familiarity.

Wasn't this basically the same as street punks fighting over turf and collecting protection fees?

Zhou Feng planned to visit the Mountainside Market early the next morning. Besides, he had not really explored the market before.

He could take the chance to see what useful things it had.

Early the next morning, Zhou Feng left Bitter Bamboo Peak and headed for the Mountainside Market.

The sky had only just brightened, yet there were already quite a few people in the market.

Many people had set up roadside stalls, most of which displayed ordinary goods.

Things like medicinal herbs and demon beast meat.

This demon beast meat also contained a substantial amount of vital energy, and some Inner Sect disciples ate it to replenish their blood and vitality.

However, because these demon beasts were too low-ranked, their meat was mostly used as feed for Flesh Gu.

Inner Sect disciples with sufficient means consumed all kinds of medicinal pills every day.

As for hunting high-ranked demon beasts, one had to leave the Gu Mountain Range.

That was because nearly all high-ranked demon beasts in the Gu Mountain Range had already been cleared out.

Sect assignments to exterminate demon beasts above the Qi Induction Realm were posted year-round as well.

He passed over these street stalls without a second glance.

Only those with actual storefronts could afford protection money.

After wandering around for a while, he suddenly noticed someone making trouble outside a shop.

"Well? Have you considered it? Our Young Master Zhao Wu is about to break through to the Qi Condensation Realm and will soon reach the Spirit Platform Realm!"

"Choosing our Young Master Zhao Wu is absolutely the right choice!"

"Jia Ju was injured just a couple of days ago. He probably can't protect you anymore!"

"..."

Several lackeys who had not even reached the Qi Induction Realm were loudly spouting nonsense in front of the shop.

Zhao Wu again?

What a coincidence!

When Zhou Feng heard the name Zhao Wu, his brow rose slightly.

He seemed to have quite the connection with this Zhao Wu. He had not expected to run into Zhao Wu's subordinates here again.

Faced with the threats in their words, Qian Shang wore a bitter smile.

What terrible luck. He had only just moved to this market, yet he had already encountered something like this.

It turned out that Qian Shang had just relocated from elsewhere to the Three Gu Sect's market in order to escape his enemies.

He possessed a method for breeding insects and could continuously raise all kinds of venomous bugs.

And the Five Poisons Gu branch of the Three Gu Sect happened to require a large number of venomous insects and toxic substances to feed the Five Poisons Gu.

If the Bloodthirsty Gu needed blood and vitality, then the Five Poisons Gu needed all kinds of deadly poisons.

Thus, Qian Shang had thought that settling down in the Three Gu Sect's market should not be too difficult.

Not long ago, Qian Shang had spent most of his fortune to rent this storefront, while also finding an Inner Sect disciple named Jia Ju as his backer.

Unexpectedly, not long after he had paid the protection money.

Jia Ju was beaten and injured, and Qian Shang's shop was immediately targeted by Zhao Wu's subordinates.

Since Jia Ju was also protecting several other shops, he was currently somewhat overwhelmed.

He could not offer Qian Shang the slightest help at all.

"You should discuss this with Young Master Jia Ju instead! After all, if I agree here, it will be hard to explain things to Young Master Jia Ju!"

Still wearing a bitter smile, Qian Shang intended to push the problem directly onto Jia Ju.

But the lackeys on the other side refused to play along.

"That's fine! As long as you agree, even if Jia Ju has objections, our Young Master Zhao Wu will take them all on!"

Faced with the lackeys' confident assurances, Qian Shang could only continue smiling apologetically.

He had already investigated this so-called Young Master Zhao Wu.

He was merely a newly promoted Inner Sect disciple from Purple Bamboo Peak. Though his talent was excellent, his combat strength was still questionable.

Qian Shang did not want to pay protection money again, only for this Young Master Zhao Wu to be beaten flat by someone else.

So he had to be cautious about this choice.

"Boss! Has your backer fallen through? Why not consider me?"

At that moment, Zhou Feng, who had been hiding and listening for a long while, suddenly stepped out.

"You?"

"You are..."

His sudden appearance instantly drew everyone's attention.

Qian Shang immediately looked at Zhou Feng.

"Qi Induction Realm?"

The instant he discovered that Zhou Feng was merely at the Qi Induction Realm, the hope in his eyes vanished.

Clearly, someone at the Qi Induction Realm could not possibly protect this shop.

After all, Zhao Wu and Jia Ju were at least in the Qi Gathering Realm. Though cultivation level did not represent everything.

A higher cultivation level at least guaranteed a certain degree of strength.