Chapter 65, Shop Crisis and Lotus Gate Opening

Translator: Raznick

 

The two artifacts Zhou Daoyi awarded Zhou Chun had their Divine Sense mark removed. When he returned to Ganoderma Peak, he bound the two artifacts and added them to his collection. Now he had four first-grade artifacts.

 

To be honest, given Zhou Chun’s current level of spiritual power, it was impossible to control four siuperior first-grade artifacts.

 

Especially with Thousand Hills Seal being too draining.

 

Therefore, under normal circumstances, he would primarily use the Shooting Moon Edge and Augur Pendant as his regular artifacts. Only in specific situations would he employ the Thousand Hills Seal and Binding Golden Hoop.

 

Of course, while Zhou Chun gained significant benefits for himself, he would not forget Liu Shiyun’s contributions. After all, she had discovered the herb valley and deserved a cut.

 

Conveniently, Zhou Chun also needed to deal with several artifacts that he no longer used. He therefore gave Liu Shiyun his previously used silver short sword and copper gourd.

 

Additionally, he waived the more than one hundred spirit coins debt she had for helping her out earlier.

 

Both of these artifacts were average first-grade in quality and in good condition. If sold, they would fetch over a hundred spirit coins, which would not be an unfair deal for Liu Shiyun.

 

As for Liu Shiyun, she had merely guided Zhou Chun during this journey and had not exerted herself beyond helping him collect herbs later on. Yet Zhou Chun allocated a fifth of the income to her, which filled her with surprise and gratitude. She harbored only feelings of appreciation and thanks, without any trace of discontent.

 

After spending more than a day at Nine Peaks, the two left for Red Cliff Market.

 

Since he was traveling with someone, he had to use the usual way in spending over a day to reach the Spirit Beast Pavilion.

 

In the shop, Zhou Chun followed Zhou Daoyi’s advise in laying low and focusing on cultivating.

 

Because Liu Shiyun was helping with the shop, Zhou Jiasheng didn’t worry about it. Only when he wasn’t in the store would he have him keep watch.

 

Meanwhile, Zhou Chun had contacted a few regular customers at the market through his connection with Liu Qingshan and set up long-term orders for demon beast meat supplies, receiving fresh shipments every month or so.

 

Of course, he didn’t neglect to visit the stalls daily, hoping to scoop up some valuable herbs.

 

Currently, Zhou Chun still had quite a few herbs in his possession that he hadn’t found the right chance to sell. If he could sell them all, it would bring him a decent profit.

 

Time dragged on slowly, and before long, another six months had passed.

 

During this period, Zhou Chun rarely left the market, while his cultivation, aided by pills, steadily progressed.

 

Meanwhile, the United Cloud Alliance, which had once caused quite a stir in Mist Province, suddenly dissolved. Its elite forces, led by the leader and two deputies, retreated to Ridge Province to Heaven’s Mirror Villa.

 

The remaining rogue cultivators found themselves without backing and wandered the province, never mention their past association with the United Cloud Alliance.

 

Additionally, the Scarlet Glow Iron ores mined by the five cultivating clans began to supply various buyers on a steady basis, generating a substantial amount of spirit coins for the clans.

 

For Zhou Clan, this vein of Scarlet Glow Iron was not only their most profitable revenue source but also the foundation for their alliance with the other cultivating clans.

 

After the battle with the United Cloud Alliance, the Zhou Clan’s reputation in Nine Peaks had been firmly established and received more recognition from local powers in Mist Province, securing their foundation.

 

The next step was to strengthen ties with the other four cultivating clans and build connections with more local factions. Within two or three decades, no one would question where the Zhou Clan originated from.

 

However, there was one thing that particularly annoyed Zhou Chun and Zhou Jiasheng, who were stationed at the Red Cliff Market.

 

About a month ago, the Spirit Beast Manor, which had also split off from the Three Absolute Sect, finally opened a shop in the Red Cliff Market. Its name, Spirit Beast Edifice, was remarkably similar to the Spirit Beast Pavilion.

 

Due to Spirit Beast Edifice, Spirit Beast Pavilion’s business suffered.

 

The reason for this was that the Spirit Beast Edifice not only sold the same variety of secret pills as the Spirit Beast Pavilion but also offered many special products currently unavailable to the Zhou Clan.

 

For example, the honey produced by the Jade Spirit Bee, the goat milk from the White Jade Goat, and the antler of the Yang Blood Deer…

 

These were all high-quality items that had been discovered, cultivated, and passed down by the ancestors of the Zhou Clan and the predecessors of the Three Absolute Sect. They used to be one of the key export products of the Three Absolute Sect.

 

However, with the dissolution of the Three Absolute Sect, these spiritual beasts, which were once bred by Zhou Clan cultivators, were forcibly seized and taken to the Spirit Beast Manor by Yu Jinghua, the damn traitor.

 

Now, they had become the signature products of the Spirit Beast Manor, used to undercut and snatch market share from the Zhou Clan’s Spirit Beast Pavilion.

 

This kind of behavior infuriated Zhou Chun and his uncle Jiasheng, who muttered curses under their breath about Yu Jinghua and his entire family countless times.

 

“Thirds of our revenue this month are gone compared to what we made before the opening of the Spirit Beast Edifice!”

 

Inside the Spirit Beast Pavilion, after calculating the latest monthly turnover, Jiasheng—who was holding the account book—had his hands trembling and his face as pale as paper.

 

Zhou Chun listened to him with a worried expression on his face but remained silent.

 

As for this matter, Zhou Chun didn’t have any better ideas either. After all, in the world of cultivation, products were the foundation of a shop.

 

Now, Spirit Beast Edifice had everything that their shop did, and more—they even occasionally sold rare items that no one else could find to keep customers coming back. How could they possibly compete with that?

 

In the end, Zhou Chun sighed and said, “This isn’t our fault. Once Clan Leader and the rest of the clan learn the details, I’m sure they’ll understand and won’t blame us.”

 

“I’m not worried about the Clan Leader blaming us,” Jiasheng snapped back.

 

“It’s these things that were originally ours—now they’re being used against us to undermine our clan and cut off our roots!”

 

“I’m so pissed!!” Zhou Jiasheng said, slapping the account book down onto the table with a loud “Crack!” His face was flushed with anger and frustration.

 

Zhou Chun felt the same way. After all, he truly considered himself a part of the Zhou Clan now and sincerely wanted what was best for it.

 

However, unlike Zhou Jiasheng, Zhou Chun managed to keep his temper in check. After thinking for a moment, he suggested, “The only way to compete with them for customers is to come up with our own unique products—something they can’t easily replicate.”

 

“Then, Zhengchun, do you have any ideas?” Zhou Jiasheng asked, fixing his hopeful gaze on him.

 

Zhou Chun shook his head, disappointing him. “Not yet.”

 

Seeing this, Zhou Jiasheng couldn’t help but sighed and said, “Well, think about it more. I will also report this to the Clan Leader and ask him to have the cultivators in the clan to think about it as well!”

 

However, before Zhou Jiasheng could think of any good strategies to regain lost market share, Mist Province—or rather, the southern provinces of Jing Kingdom—was hit by a major event.

 

It turned out that Green Lotus Monastery, which effectively ruled over the southern provinces of Jing Kingdom, was once again planning to open its doors and recruit disciples on a large scale. This time, the number of disciples they aimed to recruit would be more than half of what it had been in previous instances.

 

Typically, major sects like Green Lotus Monastery only conducted large-scale recruitment every few decades. And whenever they did so, it was always a significant event in the cultivation world.

 

For example, this time around, it was rumored that they planned to recruit over seven hundred disciples in one go.

 

Based on past examples, however, only one out of every ten cultivators who met the eligibility criteria would actually make it into Green Lotus Monastery. This ten percent acceptance rate highlighted just how valuable it was to become a disciple of a major sect.

 

Zhou Chun also received a message from Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi via a swift messenger falcon, asking whether he intended to participate in this grand event.