Chapter 37 Qinghe Market
Qinghefang Market is located at the intersection of several rivers in the west of Qinghe County, on a second-level medium-grade spiritual vein. It is the only market in Qinghe County. It was established a thousand years ago by a Jindan cultivator of Xiaoyao Sect and several major foundation-building families in Qinghe County.
There are more than 100 shops of various sizes in Qinghefang, most of which are rented to local families of large and small immortals in Qinghe County, and some are rented to casual cultivators who have been doing business in Qinghe County for many years.
Most of the shops are engaged in raw materials and supplies such as first-level monsters, spiritual herbs, talismans, magic tools, and elixirs. There are also a small number of bookstores and grocery stores that sell various low- and medium-level exercises, as well as restaurants and inns that are convenient for visitors to the market to eat and live.
Xiaoyao Sect occupies 40% of Qinghefang, and the remaining 60% of the market share belongs to other foundation-building families in Qinghe County.
For this reason, Xiaoyao Sect also has to appoint a foundation-building cultivator to guard this market all year round, and the four major foundation-building families in Qinghe County that have obtained the remaining market shares also need to appoint cultivators to help guard and manage this place.
According to the rules set by Xiaoyao Sect at the beginning of the establishment of the market, any immortal cultivation family in Qinghe County, as long as there is a foundation-building cultivator in the family, will automatically be promoted to the foundation-building immortal family, and can share the shares of Qinghefang with other foundation-building families, but they must also appoint foundation-building cultivators to take turns to help guard the market.
If the foundation-building immortal family loses all the foundation-building cultivators, it will also be downgraded to the Qi-refining immortal family. If it is unable to send foundation-building combat forces to guard the market, it will also automatically lose this share in Qinghefang.
Among the four major foundation-building families in Qinghe County today, the Huang family is the strongest and occupies the largest share of Qinghefang City. The Qian family, which has just become a foundation-building family, can naturally get the smallest share now.
In order to maintain order in Qinghe Market and prevent people from making trouble, Xiaoyao Sect specially relied on this second-level middle-grade spiritual vein to set up a second-level defense formation in the market. In addition, there are two foundation-building cultivators guarding here all year round. Even if three or five foundation-building masters come at the same time, it is impossible to break through the defense formation of Qinghe Market in a short time.
Once a large number of foreign enemies come to attack the market, the Huang family and the major immortal cultivation families nearby will also come to rescue quickly. After all, the major immortal cultivation families in Qinghe Market now have more or less rented shops, and the rise and fall of the market is also related to the direct interests of the major families in Qinghe County.
After advancing to the fifth level of Qi Refining, Song Qingming came to Qinghe Market for the first time. This time he came here to purchase some intermediate-level talisman materials and elixirs to increase the speed of cultivation.
Although he got a source of talisman making materials from Taoist Pinglu in Caolu Mountain, the number of casual cultivators coming to Caolu Mountain was limited after all. Taoist Pinglu collected more talisman making materials in the first few times, and the talisman making materials sent to Song Qingming later became less and less, and now it is completely insufficient for Song Qingming.
For this reason, Song Qingming had to choose to come to Qinghefang. Fortunately, his cultivation has improved now, and Uncle Jiu is more relieved about his going on a long journey. Lingyuan Mountain is hundreds of miles away from Qinghefang. Song Qingming set out in the morning and didn't arrive in Qinghefang until the afternoon of the next day.
Although he had come here several times in the past, he mostly followed the elders of the clan to transport or purchase materials needed by the family. He didn't stay in the market for too long, and he was not so familiar with Qinghefang.
When he arrived at the gate of Qinghefang Market, he saw several cultivators in the Qi Refining period guarding the gate of the market. The leader was a cultivator in the late Qi Refining period. Judging from his clothes, Song Qingming also knew that this was a Qi Refining disciple of Xiaoyao Sect.
The disciples of the big sects were naturally arrogant when facing the low-level cultivators or independent cultivators from small families. Song Qingming also felt this in Guiyunfang a few months ago.
After carefully registering his identity at the door, Song Qingming received a token that could prove his identity and successfully entered Qinghefang Market.
The entire Qinghefang was like Mujiao Town, with a street across the middle and dozens of tall and short buildings and shops on both sides. There were also many houses where mortals lived on the north side of the street. In addition to the cultivators, there were also some ordinary mortals who lived here all year round.
The mortals living here are all under the jurisdiction of Qinghefang by Xiaoyao Sect. Once there is a cultivation family in Qinghe County that can no longer protect the mortals under its jurisdiction, or if they want to move away from here, the large number of mortals that cannot be taken away will generally be uniformly assigned to Qinghefang by Xiaoyao Sect and directly under the jurisdiction of the Xiaoyao Sect's garrisoned cultivators. Once the mortals here have spiritual roots, except for those with outstanding spiritual roots, they will be sent directly to Xiaoyao Sect for training, and most of them will become casual cultivators. Many casual cultivators in Qinghe County come from here.
There is also a large flat open space on the south side of the street, which is specially left for those casual cultivators who want to set up stalls on a whim. As long as they hand over a low-level spiritual stone to the cultivator who manages this place, they can set up stalls in the open space for a whole day, and during this period they will be protected by the market, without having to worry about others making trouble or enemies seeking revenge. It is almost dark, and there are still many casual cultivators on the open space who are reluctant to leave.
Qinghe Market has always been relatively peaceful and friendly to all kinds of independent cultivators. It has a good reputation in the northeast of Wei State. Although most of the spiritual objects in the market are first-level spiritual objects, there are occasionally some second-level spiritual objects flowing out, which also attracts cultivators from nearby counties to come.
The Song family also rented a shop in Qinghefang, which is currently managed by the fourth uncle Song Changqiu. Song Changqiu is the fourth in the Song family and has been helping the family run the shop in Qinghefang for many years.
The Song family has only one shop in Qinghefang. They usually sell some spiritual talismans, spiritual medicines, magic tools and other items. They also purchase monsters, spiritual herbs and other first-level materials from various casual cultivators. With this shop, the Song family can once again make a profit of about 100 spiritual stones every year. This item is also one of the important sources of income for the Song family.
Song Qingming went directly to the Song family shop on the south side of the street. As soon as he entered the door, he saw several mortal servants of the Song family busy greeting a casual cultivator who was shopping in the store. Song Qingming was about to ask when he saw Song Changqiu coming out of the back hall and greeted him with a smile.
"Qingming, meet your fourth uncle"
"Oh, Qingming is here. Last time I returned to Funiushan, I heard that your cultivation had broken through the fifth level of Qi Refining. I didn't believe it. I didn't expect that you would catch up with me so quickly at such a young age. You and Qingze are among the younger generations in the family. The young are really formidable."
Song Changqiu was also a little surprised to see Song Qingming coming in. Seeing that Song Qingming's cultivation had now caught up with him, he was also happy for him from the bottom of his heart.
Fourth uncle Song Changqiu was just a cultivator with five spiritual roots. He was not very interested in the way of cultivation. He gave up his own cultivation early and came out to manage the family's industries outside. Now he is over seventy years old and his cultivation is only the fifth level of Qi Refining.
However, after Song Changqiu took over the family's store in Qinghefang, he had a lot of experience in business. He was also very smooth in the market. The family store was much better in his hands than before.
More than a decade ago, Song Changqiu met a female cultivator in the market. The two have become Taoist couples. Now they have several children. The family has been living in this market and is very happy.
"Fourth uncle, don't tease me. My talent is not comparable to that of my third brother. I can break through my cultivation just by chance." Song Qingming shook his head and said modestly.
Song Changqiu smiled and continued, "Aren't you still stationed at Lingyuan Mountain? This time I came to the market because my family sent you here for something."
"Nothing happened at home, I came here by myself. My nephew has been learning to make talismans recently, and I want to buy some talisman-making materials in the market. I don't know which store in the market sells talisman-making materials. My nephew wants to buy more at a time, please give me some advice, uncle."
After listening, Song Changqiu frowned and said, "Qingming, you are still young, you should put more attention on cultivation, and you must not neglect your own cultivation because of talisman making."
Song Qingming bowed his head and smiled bitterly, "Uncle, you also know that cultivation also requires spiritual stone resources. I am learning to make talismans so that I can have more room for cultivation in the future."