Starry Sky Professional Directory 30
Chapter 30: Settling Down (Seeking Collections)
June 29, 2024
Chapter 30: Settling Down (Seeking Collections)
“According to the rules of independent cultivators, the final blow that killed the demonic tiger was delivered by Brother Fang. You can take a share. What do you think?” Chen Yi’s somewhat cloudy eyes swept over Fang Xing before he suddenly spoke.
“Big Brother!”
Chen Hongtian, upon hearing this, couldn’t help but become anxious.
How much effort had they expended for this demonic beast? How could they just give a portion to an outsider!
This was a considerable amount of spirit stones!
The Azure Mountain Five Virtues weren’t known for their kindness in the cultivation world!
Chen Yi shook his head, using his eyes to stop his third brother from speaking.
Instead, Hua Feiyue chuckled sweetly: “That’s right…this young brother was able to kill the demonic tiger with one blow, clearly demonstrating considerable skill. I wonder which renowned master you studied under?”
She was subtly probing Fang Xing’s origins and background.
“I have no sect or school…”
Fang Xing chuckled: “As for the materials from this demonic tiger, I can forgo my share. I’ve been delayed outside for a while, and I didn’t expect the market town to have changed so much. I wonder what the situation is like in Qinglinfang City now?”
Having a drone for gathering herbs, he didn’t care about the materials from this first-order demonic tiger.
His main purpose in appearing was to gather information.
“The market town is fine…it’s just that various supplies have increased in price. An elder from Qingxuan Sect issued a ‘Demon Hunt Order,’ and now you can get more spirit stones for killing demonic beasts…”
Chen Yi let out a long sigh, his somewhat aged face bearing a wry smile: “We’re simply overwhelmed, so we went out to take the risk of hunting demonic beasts…”
“I see…”
Fang Xing nodded knowingly, then asked a few more questions. After a moment, he bowed: “May we meet again someday!”
His figure flashed, disappearing into the dense forest in a few quick movements.
“Big Brother, why be so polite to that kid?” Chen Hongtian watched Fang Xing’s movements, his eyes flashing: “I don’t think he’s a cultivator; he’s not even at the Innate stage…”
“Heh, Third Brother, you’ve misjudged him…could an ordinary Post-Heaven martial artist kill the ‘Crimson Flame Tiger’ in one blow?”
Hua Feiyue’s voice was soft and alluring.
Meng Yi and Shen Yuxin went to the Crimson Flame Tiger, taking out their knives and other tools to collect the beast’s materials.
As they turned the tiger over, they exclaimed: “Big Brother, look!”
Chen Yi came over and saw that the tiger’s snow-white belly was now completely charred black.
“This is…thunder magic? A thunder attribute talisman?”
Chen Hongtian’s eyes narrowed.
“No, I’m afraid it’s…a blood-refined artifact!”
Chen Yi thought of the silver-clad youth’s stick pointed at them, and a sudden chill ran down his spine: “This person…is not to be trifled with!”
A blood-refined artifact!
Even in Qinglinfang City, these were extremely rare and precious.
The owners were all Innate Peak existences. Combined with a blood-refined artifact, even ordinary Qi Condensation Mid-stage cultivators would treat them as equals.
But this one appeared on a Post-Heaven martial artist!
What did this mean?
Unless the person got it by lucky looting, he must have a powerful background and was extremely difficult to provoke!
And judging from their conversation, the youth was definitely not a lucky and arrogant person.
“Big Brother and Second Sister are always the best at judging people…”
Chen Hongtian scratched his head: “It’s good that he didn’t take the demonic beast meat. Let’s quickly collect the materials and leave…”
“Yes, Third Brother’s the most practical. We shouldn’t stay here long.” Chen Yi nodded and directed the four of them to begin skinning and butchering the Crimson Flame Tiger. Each carried over a hundred jin of meat, as well as the tiger skin, bones, and other parts, before quickly leaving…
From afar, Meng Yi’s slightly excited voice could be heard: “All the materials from this demonic tiger are worth at least dozens of low-grade spirit stones. We made it big this time!”
“Heh…it’s a pity that demonic beasts have increased, and the price of demonic beast meat in the market town has recently dropped…otherwise we would have earned even more.”
After everyone left, the bloody remains attracted several hungry wolves, who excitedly licked the remaining scraps of meat.
In an unobserved treetop, a kingfisher pecked at its wing and flew away.
…
“It seems those five didn’t lie to me, nor were they driven by greed…”
Not far away, Fang Xing looked at the drone footage and nodded.
“Qinglinfang City doesn’t seem to consider this beast tide a big deal, so it’s worth a visit. I’ll rent another house…”
It has to be said, housing was a fixation for Fang Xing.
His previous self had always longed to buy a house on Blue Star, but it remained a distant dream.
“If houses are cheap, maybe I can buy some land in Qinglinfang City?”
Fang Xing stroked his chin, lost in thought.
…
Qinglinfang.
The place was much the same as usual, perhaps even a little livelier.
This was likely due to the array that enveloped the entire market town, giving a strong sense of security.
Fang Xing entered the market town as usual, heading straight for a Qingxuan Sect office.
The Qingxuan Sect manager in charge of the shantytown was surnamed Zhang, his Daoist name was Qingyangzi. He had a goatee and a perpetually smiling expression.
But when Fang Xing inquired about land prices, his expression became unusually serious: “Although our sect owns a lot of land, none of it is for sale…the houses in the shantytown are only for rent!”
“I see, I was presumptuous.”
Fang Xing apologized repeatedly, but inwardly he muttered: ‘Not for sale? Then what about that huge Zheng family estate? Aren’t they just bullying us independent cultivators because we’re weak?’
‘But with such a good business, I’d do the same. You can’t sell the goose that lays the golden eggs…’
Independent cultivators and martial artists who rented houses had to pay monthly, and the turnover rate of tenants was extremely high, with people dying unexpectedly.
In such cases, Qingxuan Sect could reclaim the houses and make another profit.
“Then how about renting a house?”
He compromised and asked.
“Let me inform you, this market town’s rental houses are divided into upper, middle, and lower grades. Upper-grade houses are inside the market town, over a mu in area, with exquisite architecture…middle-grade houses are on the outskirts of the market town, with abundant spiritual energy and small courtyards…lower-grade houses are at the foot of the mountain, those shacks you’ve seen.”
Qingyangzi resumed his smiling expression, stroking his beard: “You needn’t ask about upper-grade dwellings. Middle-grade dwellings cost ten spirit stones a month. Generally only Qi Condensation Late-stage experts and Qi Condensation Mid-stage cultivators with unique skills can afford them…”
At this point, he looked at Fang Xing, his eyes seeming somewhat challenging.
But Fang Xing remained expressionless, knowing that if he got carried away, he’d fall into a consumption trap and be taken advantage of: “Just a lower-grade shack!”
“Lower-grade shacks, one spirit stone a month, plus another spirit stone as a deposit. These are unclaimed, you can choose one.”
Qingyangzi’s smile diminished, and he took out a thick book and handed it to Fang Xing: “Those without a red pen mark are unoccupied. Choose any one you like.”
Fang Xing carefully examined it, comparing it to the shantytown map in his drone footage.
There wasn’t much to choose from, as the environment was the same—equally poor and dangerous!
However, Fang Xing still tried to choose a more secluded spot, convenient for escape: “This one.”
“Hmm.”
Qingyangzi accepted two spirit stones and gave Fang Xing a brass key, adding: “Due to the beast tide, some unruly independent cultivators have also entered the market town. The market town is currently unsafe, so take care…”
“Thank you for the warning…”
Fang Xing bowed and left the office: ‘Hmm, Qingyangzi is greedy…but he doesn’t seem like a bad person.’
With the brass key in hand, he didn’t rush to his house, but instead wandered around the market town.
This stroll revealed something different.
“Sure enough, the prices of various demonic beast materials have plummeted…but the prices of daily necessities have risen sharply…after all, the farmers either fled to the market town or were eaten by demonic beasts, who will farm or do odd jobs?”
“With most of the market town still operating on a barter economy, if it encounters the financial tools of the interstellar era, I wonder how badly it will be exploited? Uh…no, that’s wrong, some people can overturn the table, like those three major forces. They’ll probably watch me make a lot of spirit stones with a smile, and then send experts at the last minute to rob me and even use my head to appease the resentment?”
“Indeed, in this chaotic land, talking about revitalizing commerce is nonsense; the strongest fist prevails.”
With that thought, Fang Xing gave up any idea of making money from business and decided to buy some Spirit Rice.
Then, he found that due to the large amount of abandoned spiritual fields, the price of Spirit Rice had increased sharply, reaching two spirit sand per jin, double the previous price!
“Damn robbery…no, even robbery doesn’t make money this fast.”
“In that case, I might as well buy some demonic beast meat to try.”
Fang Xing lingered among the various stalls, and suddenly his eyes lit up. He saw Ding Hongxiu and her grandfather!
The grandfather and granddaughter were guarding a Spirit Rice stall, Ding Hongxiu timidly soliciting business, while Ding Bushan lay beside, occasionally taking a sip of wine.
‘No, I’m showing my true appearance now, they don’t recognize me…’
Fang Xing had an idea, and went to the Spirit Rice stall: “How much is this Fragrant Lotus Spirit Rice?”
“One spirit stone for six jin!”
Ding Hongxiu replied; the price of independent cultivator stalls was always cheaper than shops, otherwise they wouldn’t attract customers.
“A bit expensive…”
Fang Xing frowned: “It used to be one spirit stone for ten jin. If I buy more, can you give me a discount? Otherwise, I might as well buy some demonic beast meat!”
“A big deal!”
Ding Bushan quickly put down his wine gourd, coming over with a smile on his wine-stained nose: “If you buy fifty jin or more, I can give you a discount, fifty jin for eight spirit stones, how about that?”
“Fine, let’s do that.”
Fang Xing waved his hand, knowing there wouldn’t be a better deal.
After the transaction, watching him leave, Ding Bushan said to his granddaughter: “See? This is what a young and handsome man looks like! Just look at his robe, you know it’s not ordinary. He’s generous and wants to buy Spirit Rice to eat, his spirit stones must be plentiful…Sigh, Little Hongxiu, you need to open your eyes wider. When you find a grandson-in-law for Grandpa, you need to look for someone like him. Don’t associate with those poor stall owners like last time…”
(End of Chapter)
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