Spirit Bee Honeycomb

Let's set idle chatter aside for now.

Within Changning Guard City, the liveliest areas were the East Market and West Market. The East Market mainly consisted of all manner of street-front shops, selling mostly local specialties from the villages and towns beneath the Citadel City—fruits and vegetables, livestock and poultry, firewood, rice, oil, salt, daily necessities, and so on. The Ping'an Wang Clan's fish stall was located in the East Market.

Leading their horses through it, Wang Shouzhe and the others felt as though they had entered an enormous farmers' market. Every kind of agricultural product and handicraft was available. Besides the large shops owned by wealthy merchants or aristocratic clans, numerous scattered vendors occupied corners throughout the market, selling all sorts of strange and curious goods. These stalls had been specially designated by the Changning authorities for independent cultivators, so they would not set up shop everywhere and become difficult to manage.

Independent cultivators generally had little of value on them. However, they usually roamed from one end of the world to the other, so the things they sold were a mixed bag, and occasionally something novel would appear.

"Second-tier top-grade Fierce Beast Black-Backed Violent Bear gallbladder. Only one available. Fifteen Qian Gold. No bargaining." A scar-faced independent cultivator clad in beast-hide armor had set up a stall. A thick bearskin served as his display cloth, with a dried gallbladder hanging from a branch above it. A sign stood beside it, and he wore an air that warned strangers to keep away.

"The fur is black on the back and white on the belly, thick and sturdy. It truly is the hide of a Black-Backed Violent Bear," family retainer Wang Zhong said quietly from the side. "The gallbladder core inside is golden and of decent quality. Fifteen Qian Gold is not expensive. Selling it on to an alchemy workshop would net at least four or five Qian Gold in profit."

Wang Shouzhe had studied illustrated catalogs of Fierce Beasts since childhood and could identify most common Fierce Beasts and the materials harvested from them. He merely smiled. "Let us not covet this bargain." With that, he left without even turning his head.

"Does the Family Head think he is a swindler? That gallbladder's color and quality both look excellent. It cannot be fake." Wang Zhong was somewhat unwilling, yet he obediently followed. His gaze still lingered longingly behind him. "If the Family Head does not care to earn such a small sum... perhaps..."

"Idiot. The Family Head must have spotted something suspicious," Wang Yong snapped, glaring fiercely at him.

"Hehe. The inner flesh along the edge of that bearskin is dry and blackened. It clearly has some age to it. Though that gallbladder has been dried in the shade, its sac still has a fresh look to it. It could not have been removed more than three months ago," Wang Shouzhe said with a smile. "If you want to buy it, Wang Zhong, I can lend you the money. You need not share any profit with me."

He could not help secretly finding it amusing. Compared with Earth, even the stall-side swindlers of the Profound Martial World seemed so crude. They did not even make up some bizarre story. Far too unprofessional.

"No, no. Thankfully, I came out with the Family Head today." Cold sweat broke out on Wang Zhong's brow as lingering fear filled him. He said indignantly, "Independent cultivators truly cannot be trusted. There are far too many who flaunt themselves and deceive others."

"We Profound Martial Aristocratic Clans have families, businesses, roots, and foundations. As long as we guard this foundation well, we will have a never-ending supply of cultivation resources," Wang Shouzhe said calmly. "Independent cultivators are rootless drifters, wandering everywhere without any foundation. They have to fend for themselves for every resource, so their lives are naturally difficult, and it is easy for them to stray onto crooked paths such as fraud, trickery, robbery, and theft. And once they commit a crime, they can simply dust off their backsides and leave. Altering their appearance and changing identities is nothing to them. If independent cultivators could casually obtain resources, why would our ancestors have needed to establish achievements, build clan industries, and sacrifice their lives to protect the family foundation?"

The Family Head's words made perfect sense.

The two family retainers, Wang Zhong and Wang Yong, gradually grew even more respectful of Wang Shouzhe. They had already sensed the differences between the new Family Head and the former one. With just a few words, he had clearly distinguished the circumstances of independent cultivators from those of aristocratic clans.

From then on, they became even more vigilant toward those independent cultivators by the roadside, dressed in all sorts of ways and displaying heaps of miscellaneous goods. The moment they saw an independent cultivator, they felt he was a swindler.

"How much is this honeycomb?"

Just then, Wang Shouzhe suddenly crouched before a stall. The stall owner was a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, somewhat disheveled in appearance. At a glance, he seemed to be only at the peak of the third level of the Qi Refining Realm.

Yet this was the normal state for most independent cultivators. Poor talent, a lack of systematic cultivation techniques, no elders to provide careful guidance, extremely unstable cultivation resources, and countless other factors made it difficult for most of them to amount to much.

The stall owner saw that Wang Shouzhe was dressed richly and had two fully armed, formidable family retainers behind him. He was clearly no ordinary man.

He immediately swallowed the price he had intended to fleece him for and put on a fawning smile. "Young Master, this is a Tiger-Headed Spirit Bee honeycomb. I encountered it by chance in the mountains and risked my life to bring it back. Look, there is still quite a bit of spirit honey and bee pupae inside. I would like to trade it for two Lesser Foundation-Cultivating Pills."

At the mention of Lesser Foundation-Cultivating Pills, his throat bobbed.

"Are you robbing us?" Wang Yong's expression changed. His hand pressed against his saber hilt as he spoke with imposing ferocity. "Your honeycomb is only the size of a head. At most, it can yield two taels of spirit honey. Those few bee pupae would not even fill one plate when stir-fried. It is worth no more than a few Qian Gold at best."

"Sir, please do not be angry." The stall owner looked faintly fearful. "My honeycomb was freshly harvested, and many of the bee pupae inside are still alive. If your esteemed clan has a Spirit Insect Master, perhaps you may be able to cultivate a swarm of Tiger-Headed Spirit Bees."

Many independent cultivators wandered far and wide. Their strength might not amount to much, but they were still quite knowledgeable.

"You are overthinking it. No clan in the entire Changning Guard region has ever been heard to possess a Spirit Insect Master. This thing is merely rare, so we will stir-fry it and try it for a taste of something fresh." Wang Shouzhe took out ten Qian Gold. "That is enough for you to buy one Lesser Foundation-Cultivating Pill. Take it or leave it. Add even one more Jiao, and I walk away."

After hesitating for a long while, the stall owner finally accepted the deal with helpless reluctance. "Young Master, this would truly be worth twenty Qian Gold in a prefecture or commandery. It is just that if I took it there, these bee pupae would all be dead by then."

If the bee pupae could have survived more than a few days, the stall owner would indeed have braved wind and dust to travel to a prefecture or commandery to sell it. After all, the difference was ten Qian Gold. Once most of the bee pupae died, the value of this Tiger-Headed Spirit Bee honeycomb would plummet.

After the deal was completed, Wang Shouzhe had Wang Yong wrap it up and carry it away. He could not be bothered to say any more to the stall owner.

This did not count as finding a hidden bargain, but it was not a loss either. If he gave it to his fifth sister, Wang Luojing, to play with, perhaps a miracle might happen. If she truly managed to raise Tiger-Headed Spirit Bees, it would add a special industry to the clan.

Tiger-Headed Spirit Bees had become nearly impossible to find in the wild. One could only encounter them occasionally in places rarely visited by people. Even if one spent half a year or a full year searching diligently, one might not find any.

Afterward, they strolled through the rest of the independent cultivators' stalls, but ultimately found nothing else that interested them. As they walked, they unknowingly arrived at the center of the East Market, at the Changning East Market fish stall, one of their own clan's businesses.

Ping'an Wang Clan Fish Stall.

The six large characters stretched across three storefronts. Compared with those chaotic, disorderly stalls, the fish stall was clearly far cleaner and more upscale.

As Wang Shouzhe looked at the Wang Clan Fish Stall, memories surged forth, and waves rose in his heart.

These three storefronts, together with the Branch Residence behind them, were already the Wang Clan's last remaining assets within Changning Guard City.

Ever since those two great battles fifty years ago, the Ping'an Wang Clan's prestige had plummeted. In order to quickly foster a new Spirit Platform Realm expert to support the clan, the Wang Clan had ruthlessly sold off many fixed assets in Changning Guard City.

Unfortunately.

His second uncle, Wang Dingtian, in whom great hopes had been placed, died young at only twenty years old, not even leaving behind any descendants.

His Sixth Granduncle, Wang Xiaohan, had reached the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm in his forties and attempted to break through to the Spirit Platform Realm. After consuming a vast amount of resources, he failed in his attempt. Now sixty-five years old, Wang Xiaohan still remained at the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm.

Wang Shouzhe's father, Wang Dingyue, had been even more unfortunate. Before the clan had gathered sufficient resources to support his attempt to reach the Spirit Platform Realm, he had risked entering the Outer Domain in search of a fortunate opportunity. In the end, he had lost his life there.

In truth, if they had continued selling clan assets—for example, selling all three major farms—they could certainly have gathered the resources Wang Dingyue needed to attempt the Spirit Platform Realm. But if they did so, it would be success or death. Once he failed, the Ping'an Wang Clan would be impoverished overnight.

Wang Shouzhe vaguely felt that when he reached the peak of the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm, the clan as a whole might sell every asset it possessed and let him gamble on one final chance.

However, if it truly came to that, it could only prove that Wang Shouzhe, as a transmigrator, had failed.

"Fourth Brother, why are you here?"

Just as Wang Shouzhe was feeling somewhat emotional, a delighted voice came from nearby.