Understanding

Qiu Junsong looked at her, smiled and shook his head, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepening even more.

"We can't hear what's around us, and what's around us might not hear us either, but that doesn't mean this private room is completely soundproof and private. Look at the waiter who greeted us just now; he spoke very carefully, but he never mentioned once that this private room was completely isolated from the outside world."

Hearing this, Jiang Sisi was puzzled, but hearing her sect leader say this, she switched to telepathy and said, "Master, didn't you just tell me that the attendant was a mortal? It's normal that mortals wouldn't think things through when it comes to the methods of these cultivators, isn't it?"

Upon receiving the telepathic message, Qiu Junsong smiled and shook his head at her, but instead of sending her a telepathic reply, he spoke aloud:

"I've always taught you not to look down on people. The minds of mortals aren't necessarily any less capable than those of cultivators. Besides, when you're out and about, being cautious and respectful of people and things can help you avoid many unforeseen problems."

"If the information we've gathered is correct, the mortals in Xiushui City are different from other mortals. Their contact with cultivators is far greater than that of ordinary mortals. Since we don't know the extent of their contact, we naturally cannot presume to judge the knowledge and thoughts of the mortals here."

"We cannot rely solely on habitual perceptions to think and act; we must consider various variables..."

Upon hearing her sect leader and master begin lecturing again, Jiang Sisi inwardly cursed, especially Elder Yu, who was supposed to stop the sect leader today, had been arranged to stay outside by the sect leader!

Fortunately, at that moment, the lights in the previously pitch-black center of the venue suddenly came on, and bright light streamed in from the windows of the private rooms, silencing the various topics being discussed in each room.

All the lights above the venue were focused on the center.

"This auction is the first auction held by the Xiushui City Trade Center. Thank you all for attending today." Liu Yunan appeared under the spotlight and bowed to the windows of the surrounding private rooms.

Who knows how many times he'd practiced that bowing gesture with Sun Yigao these past few days?

"First of all, I must inform you that all items auctioned in this auction are guaranteed by the Xiushui City Trade Center. We guarantee that the items will match all descriptions in the auction, and we will provide buyers with a corresponding inspection process upon delivery. Any discrepancies will be accepted for returns and exchanges."

"Secondly, future auctions will be held regularly, with different venues opened according to the level of the auctioned items. Sects can also bring their valuable items to the auction."

"Furthermore, I believe you all saw the ' Trade Affairs Center ' sign hanging outside before you came in. In the future, different commercial districts for cultivators will be built in Xiushui City according to their categories, and various shops will be opened there to sell all kinds of items closely related to cultivation."

"Furthermore, every sect and member of the royal family present today will receive a shop with a one-year rent-free period. You may sell any items you have here. If you wish to cancel the rent after the one-year period expires, you can simply do so."

These words surprised all the cultivators present.

Unexpectedly, there are subsequent plans for commercial areas and other facilities.

It seems this auction will be a normal one.

They were immediately tempted by the shop that Liu Yunan had mentioned, which offered a year's rent-free period. However, when they realized that their own clan didn't have any goods or supplies that could be sold long-term, their enthusiasm quickly waned.

Although there are no large trading markets in the Mortal Realm, there are quite a few scattered small markets.

But basically, one market would appear for a few years, be bustling for a while, and then gradually disappear; another market would be bustling for a few years and then disappear as well.

Moreover, what was described as a lively scene was actually just a few small stalls set up by several surrounding sects and royal families, selling a few leftover products from their own sects.

These items were not numerous, and they were all accumulated over many years. In addition, the various sects were unwilling to spare manpower and energy to maintain this market, which had almost no profit. Therefore, it was impossible to maintain the market in the long term.

The best instance was a market organized by a dozen or so sects working together.

However, the duration did not exceed ten years.

Many factors contribute to failure, but no one is willing to step forward to summarize the lessons learned and lead everyone to persevere.

Of course, even if such a thing were true, no one would agree with it if they were the first to speak out.

After all, none of them have particularly outstanding resources, and no one wants to be the one being assigned tasks and following orders.

In short, upon hearing Liu Yunan's words, the people from various sects and royal families present understood what the Lingxian Sect wanted to do.

Some people secretly scoffed at this; their sects hadn't even managed to establish a market town in all these years, so how dare the Lingxian Sect do it?

Some people, though not mocking, silently sighed and were not optimistic.

Some, like the leader of the Clear River Sect, quickly connected the dots and made some connections.

For example, in recent years, resources that suddenly appeared in their Pusi Kingdom from the Li Imperial Clan were resources that they had never owed in full or in any way in the past few years...

There were also various orders from the Li Imperial Clan. As far as he knew, whether it was their Clear River Sect, the Cloud and Mist Sect, or the Shangyang Sect, all three sects submitted their talisman orders on time every month. Over time, the accumulated quantity was quite substantial.

But those talismans were all obscure talismans that would be considered quite useless in the Mortal Realm!

Previously, because the Li Imperial Clan had always been able to provide sufficient Spirit Stone, people selectively avoided thinking about where the Li Imperial Clan would sell these talismans.

It now seems that the Li Clan had a long-standing partnership with the Lingxian Sect, and the sales channels and sources of goods were actually from the Lingxian Sect, not the Li Clan.

If the Clear River Sect could think of it, Cloud and Mist Sect and the Shangyang Sect certainly could too.

Not only them, but also other sects present who usually had frequent dealings with them—the three major sects obtained cheap supplies from the Li Clan family, and naturally they couldn't help but sell some of it to others.

And so, almost immediately, all the sects present knew the source of the suddenly abundant supply of goods in recent years.

Li Zhanying sighed silently in his heart.

It seems that the glory of the Li Clan's dominance is coming to an end today. With Xiushui City, the Lingxian Sect will no longer need them.

Li Zeyuan, the only Golden Core cultivator in the Li Clan, was naturally aware of the deal between his Lineage and the Lingxian Sect. Seeing his ancestor sigh, he also felt somewhat dejected.

"Ancestor, does this mean the Lingxian Sect will no longer trade with our Li Clan?"

Seeing his expression, Li Zhanying smiled:

"There's no need for that. We've already benefited from these past few years, and the clan's accumulation in these years far surpasses that of the previous decades. My sigh is merely a slight regret that we may never again have such a close relationship with the Lingxian Sect."