Monopoly

Qingyang Market.

Qin Ming walked down the street somewhat absentmindedly, replaying Manager Liao's words from earlier.

Once the price of Spirit Rice dropped, it meant his income would be slashed as well.

It directly concerned the speed at which he could earn Spirit Stones.

His mind kept turning it over, and he gradually began to feel restless and agitated.

Just then.

A large circle of cultivators had gathered around the notice wall ahead, pointing and discussing something.

Cultivators usually came here to read the notices, but this was the first time he had seen so many gathered together.

"Could something have happened again?"

Curious, Qin Ming also squeezed over to join the crowd.

On the wall was an especially eye-catching red wanted notice, its sheet twice the size of those around it.

There was no portrait on it. It described a gang of five Marauder Cultivators, their appearances unknown.

This band of thieves had been outrageously bold. In broad daylight, they had used a scheme to capture the biological son of an elder from Goldcloud Valley, then extorted an astronomical ransom from them.

And with exceptionally brutal methods, they had torn up the hostage ticket!

But that was not even the end of it.

Even more shocking was that the bandits had ultimately escaped successfully from the pursuit of a Foundation Establishment Realm elder of Goldcloud Valley.

What they had done.

Was no longer simply a matter of kidnapping and killing the hostage.

They were openly provoking the dignity of Goldcloud Valley's entire sect!

It was a downright heinous incident!

Goldcloud Valley had suffered a complete loss of face this time and was offering huge rewards to hunt down the bandits. They swore to dig three feet into the ground—no matter the cost, even if they had to turn the Cloud Marsh Great Wilderness upside down, they would find their trail.

The notice stated that anyone who captured or killed any one of the five would be rewarded with a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Anyone who provided specific clues about the bandits would be rewarded with a chance to enter Goldcloud Valley's inner sect, along with a Marrow Cleansing Pill.

Anyone who knew of the matter but failed to report it would be treated as an accomplice of the bandits—killed without mercy!

"Damn, they're absolute beasts."

"They even dared to kill a Goldcloud Valley elder's son!"

Qin Ming stared at the notice, utterly dumbfounded.

After seeing the tempting rewards on the notice, quite a few of the onlooking cultivators began itching to try their luck.

"A Foundation Establishment Pill is nice, but you need to live long enough to take it. Sigh!"

"Anyone who could escape unscathed from a Foundation Establishment Realm elder definitely isn't some harmless character."

He shook his head soberly, then silently left the place.

"Could this gang be the same one that killed Fellow Daoist Long?"

"They're so lawless, daring to provoke the dignity of an entire sect. Their methods are awfully similar."

As Qin Ming walked, the thought suddenly struck him!

Back at the Secluded Cool Abode.

He secretly rejoiced that choosing to move into the market had truly been a wise decision.

Though the cost was indeed rather high, it was at least much safer than outside.

With things so chaotic around Qingyang Market now, even a sect elder's son could be killed at will without the slightest hesitation. What wouldn't these Marauder Cultivators dare to do?

Early the next morning.

Knock, knock, knock!

Qin Ming was using the Greater Spirit Rain Technique on the Withered Blood Poison Vine.

The courtyard gate outside was knocked upon.

Qin Ming withdrew his technique and walked over to peer outside through the viewing hole.

To his surprise, the person outside was Cai Lao Jiu.

He opened the gate's restriction and welcomed Cai Lao Jiu in.

"Lao Jiu, what brings you here today?"

"What is it? You sold your Spirit Rice and are planning to treat me to drinks at Juxuan Pavilion?"

"Come on, have a cup of tea first."

Qin Ming asked with a smile.

"Never mind the tea."

"Little Qin, could you lend me a hundred Spirit Stones?" Cai Lao Jiu kept his head lowered, stammering and not daring to look at Qin Ming.

Qin Ming was taken aback.

They had worked together as Spirit Farmers here for so many years, yet this was the first time Cai Lao Jiu had ever asked to borrow Spirit Stones from him.

Something was off.

"Didn't I tell you yesterday to secretly sell all your Spirit Rice?"

"What happened?"

Seeing that Cai Lao Jiu had kept his head bowed the entire time, Qin Ming frowned. "Lift your head when you're talking to me!"

At that, Cai Lao Jiu raised his head to look at him.

In an instant, his bruised and swollen face was revealed, and he looked utterly miserable.

Qin Ming froze at the sight.

"Lao Jiu, what happened to you?"

Only then did Cai Lao Jiu let out a wronged sigh. "Sigh! After I received your Message Talisman yesterday, I was going to sell all my Spirit Rice to Manager Liao."

"But who knew that halfway there, I'd be stopped by Jiang Kun and his group from the Spirit Feather Sect."

"They said I had privately sold Spirit Feather Sect's Spirit Rice to outsiders. Not only did they beat me up, they confiscated all my Spirit Rice."

"They also said I had to pay a fine worth double the Spirit Rice—two hundred Spirit Stones."

"If I couldn't pay within three days, they would... they would send me to the War Camp..."

Qin Ming's brows furrowed into a deep frown. It was Jiang Kun again! Last time at the Hall of Affairs, he had nearly caused trouble for him too.

"What do you mean, privately selling it?"

"After we pay the Spirit Rice tax, the remaining Spirit Rice belongs to us. The Spirit Feather Sect has no right to interfere!"

"What right do they have to fine you?!"

Cai Lao Jiu said hesitantly, "Th-they said that inner sect disciples like Jiang Kun had also opened some place called Mingzhen Pavilion in the market."

"Their number one competitor is Juxuan Pavilion in the market."

"They never expected the profits from opening a restaurant in the market to grow so enormous, and part of the Spirit Stones earned through Mingzhen Pavilion would be sent back into the sect."

"So even the upper ranks of the Spirit Feather Sect have tacitly approved it."

"They said that when the Spirit Fields are plowed in a couple of days, Elder Gu will announce the matter."

"From now on, Spirit Farmers under the Spirit Feather Sect's jurisdiction will be strictly forbidden from privately selling Spirit Rice to any shop other than Mingzhen Pavilion."

"Violators will be severely punished."

"Also, several Spirit Farmers were selling Spirit Rice from stalls in the market yesterday. One of them even had his leg broken alive by Jiang Kun's group of inner sect disciples."

By this point, Cai Lao Jiu's voice had turned hoarse.

Qin Ming's mind buzzed.

"They're trying to create a monopoly!"

Setting everything else aside.

He himself had signed an agreement with Juxuan Pavilion!

If he violated the Spirit Feather Sect's ban when the time came, he definitely would not get off lightly.

But if he broke his contract with Juxuan Pavilion, he would likewise face astronomical compensation in Spirit Stones.

And Spirit Stones were one thing.

The crucial part was that if he angered Gu Qingzhao, Mirror Snow Pavilion likely would not let him off either.

He knew perfectly well the price of breaking the contract.

"Sigh, that bastard Jiang Kun!"

"Of all things to mess around with, he just had to open a Mingzhen Pavilion?!"

"Those Marauder Cultivators should have kidnapped him too and torn up his hostage ticket!"

Qin Ming's teeth itched with hatred.

This move had left him caught between a rock and a hard place.

He pondered for a while.

Then he immediately took out one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones from his Storage Bag, along with two healing pills, and handed them all to Cai Lao Jiu.

"Take these for now and deal with it. Heal your injuries first."

"We'll talk about the rest later."

Cai Lao Jiu accepted the Spirit Stones and pills from Qin Ming, and his eyes immediately reddened.

For a moment, he was too choked up to speak.

In this cruel world of cultivation, not just anyone would be willing to casually lend out Spirit Stones.

PS: Thank you to all the honored readers for every recommendation vote. There were too many to thank individually, so I'll thank you all here!