sinovels Chapter 159 - 137: Flesh and Blood Mill
Chapter 159 - 137: Flesh and Blood Mill
Half a year later, within the Immortal Mansion Space, thirty Iron-Seeking Rats were tightly bound in individual wooden cages in a flat clearing.
These wooden cages were all made from Thousand-weighted Vines. Even with their sharp incisors, capable of gnawing through steel, the Iron-Seeking Rats could not easily chew through these vines.
Not far away, Fang Qingyuan stood to the side, his eyes closed as he recovered his depleted Soul Power. After a long moment, his eyes snapped open. With a single thought, his solidified soul form abruptly vanished.
A few breaths later, the Gold Spirit Power that permeated the Immortal Mansion began to flood wildly into the Iron-Seeking Rats. Amidst miserable squeals, their bodies began to undergo an astonishing transformation.
Their once-yellowish incisors began to gleam with a cold light, and their sleek fur took on a metallic sheen.
After a long while, when the influx of Gold Spirit Power from the Immortal Mansion finally ceased, most of the Iron-Seeking Rats had perished, unable to withstand the overwhelming power. Only a few survived.
Just then, Fang Qingyuan’s soul form reappeared. Without pausing to check the results, he waved his hand, drawing the souls of the twenty-odd recently deceased Iron-Seeking Rats before him. He began to activate the Yindu Black Law Soul-Binding Spell to replenish his own depleted soul.
A quarter of an hour later, his form having grown somewhat ethereal, Fang Qingyuan muttered to himself,
’Iron-Seeking Rats are, after all, unranked Spirit Beasts. Even though "spirit" is in their name, their souls are weak. More than twenty of them combined don’t even equal the soul of a single Early-stage Qi Cultivation Cultivator. This absorption barely replenishes my own soul’s consumption. As for making my soul stronger, it’s just a drop in the ocean.’
With that thought, Fang Qingyuan rose and walked over to the wooden cages to tally his gains.
After removing the rats’ incisors and fangs, which had now become spiritual materials, Fang Qingyuan patiently began to skin them.
Infused with Gold Spirit Power, the Iron-Seeking Rat pelts had changed, taking on a more metallic quality. In the Marketplace, this type of pelt was a superior medium for crafting Talismans, and its properties were an especially perfect match for the Golden Bell Talisman.
Once he had the teeth and pelts, Fang Qingyuan had no use for the remaining flesh. Perhaps some Spirit Beasts enjoyed the metallic-tasting rat meat, but he didn’t want to bother making jerky out of it. He simply dug a large pit and buried all the skinned carcasses in the Black Land.
This would also help replenish some of the Gold Spirit Power consumed within the Immortal Mansion. After all, the Gold Spirit Power in the Immortal Mansion didn’t just appear out of thin air. If he used up too much, the quality of his Gold Spirit Root might even decline.
After disposing of the carcasses of the rats that hadn’t survived, Fang Qingyuan turned his attention to the survivors. These rats had greater potential. The fact that they had survived the same level of Gold Spirit Power infusion was proof enough that they were worth cultivating further.
There were four Iron-Seeking Rats left. Fang Qingyuan carried them, cages and all, to a treehouse woven from vines and set them down inside.
Inside the treehouse were not only these four newcomers but also over a dozen other Iron-Seeking Rats in the same situation. They too were locked in wooden cages, and at the sight of their new companions, they all began to squeak wildly.
After setting down the Iron-Seeking Rats and leaving the treehouse, Fang Qingyuan wiped the old number from the sign by the entrance and wrote a new one: nineteen.
This number represented how many surviving Iron-Seeking Rats were in the treehouse. At the end of the month, they would have to endure the same trial again. Fang Qingyuan planned to use this process to select a true Iron-Seeking Rat King from among them.
When Fang Qingyuan withdrew his consciousness from the Immortal Mansion and returned to his physical body, he willed the teeth and pelts he had just harvested into his storage bag.
Sensing the growing pile of Iron-Seeking Rat teeth and pelts in his storage bag, Fang Qingyuan rose to his feet and headed for Yuanling Square Marketplace with Jinbao.
Half a year had passed, and Yuanling Square Marketplace was much livelier than before. The Marketplace, which had hosted just over a hundred people six months ago, was now thronged with visitors—a rough count put the number at well over a thousand.
Furthermore, the Beast Taming Sect’s campaign in the Wilderness Forest had concluded. Countless Loose Cultivators were now rushing to the newly opened Land Realm, hoping to unearth their own treasures. As the last Marketplace closest to the Wilderness Forest, Yuanling Square Marketplace was bound to prosper.
According to inside information from Zhao Liangde, that cunning Golden Core Demon Turtle had made a beeline for the Death Swamp after breaking through the encirclement. However, at the last moment, it was heavily injured in a joint attack by Lechuan and several others and had nearly been killed on the spot.
But in the end, the demon turtle escaped through an unknown spatial passage deep within the Death Swamp, bringing the matter to a close.
Although the demon turtle had escaped, Zhao Liangde said its injuries were so severe that it wouldn’t be able to stir up any trouble for at least a century while it recovered. For Fang Qingyuan, a hundred years was a distant future, so the matter wasn’t worth his worry.
Upon arriving at the Marketplace, Fang Qingyuan found Zhang Yuan and handed over box after box of Iron-Seeking Rat teeth and pelts. Watching Fang Qingyuan pull an endless stream of boxes from his storage bag, Zhang Yuan couldn’t help but protest,
"Senior Brother, can’t you hire a few more people to help? Running this huge Spiritual Material Store all by myself is just too much."
In response to Zhang Yuan’s complaint, Fang Qingyuan said,
"I know, Junior Brother. Just hang in there a little longer. We’re in a transitional period right now, and the younger disciples aren’t ready to take on the responsibility. As soon as I find a suitable person, I’ll have them take over for you."
Zhang Yuan’s personality wasn’t suited to being a Shopkeeper, even if it was for the largest Spiritual Material Store in Yuanling Square. He was a free spirit by nature. The only reason he was managing the store now was that Fang Qingyuan couldn’t find a suitable replacement and had asked him to step in temporarily.
Of course, if it were a Spirit Wine tavern, Zhang Yuan would have been more than happy. But alas, that wasn’t an option.
Fang Qingyuan wasn’t just placating Zhang Yuan; he genuinely wanted to find capable people to help him. Before the Marketplace, life on Yuanling Mountain had been relatively quiet, sustained by the Crimson Iron Ore. But once the Marketplace opened, hands were needed everywhere. As the Mountain Master of Yuanling Mountain and the master of the Marketplace, Fang Qingyuan was even busier than Zhang Yuan.
Even She Xi Yu, the She Family Patriarch, had to neglect his family’s affairs to personally oversee operations here. With Yuanling Square Marketplace booming and the number of Loose Cultivators growing, She Xuanyan and the other She Family Qi Cultivation Disciples alone couldn’t keep things in order. Only She Xi Yu’s personal presence was enough to keep those with ill intentions in check.
A moment later, Zhang Yuan looked at the boxes of spiritual materials on the floor with a pained expression and asked,
"Senior Brother, did you wipe out an entire clan of Iron-Seeking Rats or something? How did you get your hands on so many of their materials?"
Fang Qingyuan waved his hand.
"Don’t worry about that. Just give me the gold- and fire-attribute Spirit Ores you’ve collected. I’m in a hurry to meet with the people from the Vast Collection Pavilion. Seeing how well Yuanling Square Marketplace is doing, they want to open a branch here, and I need to negotiate with them personally."
Seeing Fang Qingyuan’s haste, Zhang Yuan didn’t press the issue. He brought out several boxes of gold- and fire-attribute Spirit Ores and said,
"These are the Spirit Ores I’ve collected recently. At a fair exchange rate, their value should cover the spiritual materials you brought. Why don’t you take a look, Senior Brother, and make sure the ore is up to your standards?"
Without even a glance, Fang Qingyuan swept the ores into his storage bag. "No need to look," he said.
"I have faith in your work, Junior Brother. I’ll let you get back to it. I’m off to meet the people from the Vast Collection Pavilion. By the way, keep collecting gold- and fire-attribute Spirit Ores—the more, the better."
Fang Qingyuan planned to bury these Spirit Ores in the Immortal Mansion. His main goals were to replenish the consumed Gold Spirit Power and to improve the quality of his Fire Spirit Root. Their specific quality and type were secondary; as long as their value was equivalent to the materials from the Iron-Seeking Rats and he didn’t have to spend any of his own Spirit Stones, it was good enough.
After giving his final instructions, Fang Qingyuan left in a hurry with Jinbao. Zhang Yuan watched his departing figure, sighed, then took the newly acquired spiritual materials to deposit them in the underground Storage Room.
Fang Qingyuan left Zhang Yuan’s store and walked at a brisk pace. Flying was forbidden within the Marketplace, and as its master, Fang Qingyuan couldn’t break his own rule. By the time he arrived at the Marketplace’s meeting hall, several Cultivators had already been waiting for quite some time.
The Marketplace’s meeting hall was situated on a side street two blocks away. Beneath it was a heavily guarded vault where all the Spirit Stones collected each month were stored. Unauthorized personnel were generally forbidden from approaching, but the people from the Vast Collection Pavilion were clearly an exception.
Upon entering the hall, the people inside saw Fang Qingyuan and all rose to their feet to salute him.
"Master Fang, you certainly kept us waiting."
Fang Qingyuan offered an apologetic smile as he took the head seat. After mortal Servants served Spirit Tea, he took a moment to size everyone up.
Two Cultivators had come from the Vast Collection Pavilion: one at Foundation Establishment and one at Qi Cultivation. To his right were the guests from the Treasure Pavilion—also a pair, but both were Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
It seemed the two groups had already clashed before his arrival; they now regarded each other with open disdain. Seeing this, Fang Qingyuan was secretly delighted.
He had deliberately arrived late precisely to let them butt heads a little. The Vast Collection Pavilion and the Treasure Pavilion both specialized in Magical Artifacts and Cultivation Techniques; there was no love lost between the two.
Although their respective owners were both high-ranking members of the Qi Yun Sect—the Vast Collection Pavilion was backed by Gao Guangsheng, an Elder of the Miscellaneous Affairs Peak, while the Treasure Pavilion was backed by Wan Tiangang, another Elder from the same peak.
Both men were Elders of the Qi Yun Sect’s Miscellaneous Affairs Peak, serving together under Elder Chen, but their relationship was far from amicable. This, in turn, led to fierce and constant competition between their respective businesses.
Zhao Liangde had been the one to provide Fang Qingyuan with all this information. The arrival of these two stores in Yuanling Square impacted the interests of both Zhao Liangde and Lechuan, so they naturally wanted Fang Qingyuan to negotiate favorable terms. If Zhao Liangde could have shown his own face, he would have wanted to handle the negotiations himself. As it was, feeding Fang Qingyuan some intelligence to engineer the current standoff was a trivial matter.
The Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Vast Collection Pavilion was an old man named Gao Shouli, at the Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivation level. The leader from the Treasure Pavilion was named Wan Bochong; he appeared younger but his cultivation was higher, at the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment.
These two businesses were truly major enterprises, to be willing to dispatch Foundation Establishment Cultivators just to open a branch in a new place like Yuanling Square. It was a clear sign of how much potential they saw in the Marketplace.
After exchanging pleasantries, Fang Qingyuan got straight to the point.
"Yuanling Mountain warmly welcomes both of your businesses to open up shop in Yuanling Square. The only issue is that there are no suitable locations left in our initial phase of development. And I assume neither of you would be interested in an ordinary, small storefront. So, the question is: how many Spirit Stones are you willing to offer for a new location?"