…

 

Let's not talk about irrelevant things for now.

 

In the Longningwei City, the liveliest areas are the Dongji and Xishi districts. Dongji is mainly various street shops that sell mostly local specialties from the towns and villages under the jurisdiction of the Wei City, such as fruits, vegetables, livestock, meat, oil, salt, and other daily necessities. The fish stall of the Wang Clan of Ping'an is also located in Dongji.

 

Wang Shouzhe and his companions led their horses into the area, feeling like they had entered a huge farmer's market. There were all kinds of agricultural products and handicrafts, and besides the large shops of wealthy merchants or aristocratic families, there were also many scattered vendors occupying corners of the market, selling all kinds of strange things. The Wei government had specially designated these stalls for scattered cultivators to avoid them setting up stalls everywhere and being difficult to manage.

 

Scattered cultivators didn't usually have good things on them, but they usually roamed around the world and sold a variety of things. Occasionally, some novel items would appear.

 

"A second-tier top-level fierce beast, Blackback Rampaging Bear's gallbladder, only one left, sold for fifteen gold coins, no bargaining." A scar-faced man wearing animal skin armor was selling at a stall made of a thick bear skin. On it hung a pair of dried bear gallbladders with a sign that looked like it was warning people to stay away.

 

"The bear skin is black on the back and white on the belly, and the texture is solid. It is indeed the skin of a Blackback Rampaging Bear." The family general Wang Zhong whispered, "The gallbladder's inner core is golden yellow with good quality, and fifteen gold coins are not expensive. If we sell it to the alchemy workshop, we can earn at least four or five gold coins."

 

Wang Shouzhe had been studying the beast atlas since he was young and could identify most of the common beasts and the materials on their bodies. He just smiled and said, "Let's not be greedy for this cheap thing." With that, he left without looking back.

 

"Does the young master think it's a scam? I think the gallbladder's color and quality are excellent, and there's no mistake." Wang Zhong was somewhat unwilling but obediently followed, with a lingering look in his eyes. "If the young master doesn't want to make a little money… why not…"

 

"Fool, the young master must have seen something wrong." Wang Yong glared at him fiercely.

 

"Hehe, the core of the bear skin around the edge is dry and black, obviously it's been a few years, and although the gallbladder has been dried, the color of the sac is still fresh, it's been no more than three months since it was peeled." Wang Shouzhe smiled and said, "Wang Zhong, if you want to buy it, I can lend you the money, and you don't have to share the interest with me."

 

He couldn't help but secretly laugh in his heart. Compared to Earth, the scammers in our Xuanwu world are so rough, they don't even make up a fantastic story or something, they're too unprofessional.

 

"No, no, luckily I came out with the young master today." Wang Zhong was cold with sweat and said indignantly, "Scattered cultivators are really untrustworthy, there are too many frauds."

 

"Our Xuanwu family has roots and a foundation, as long as we guard this foundation, there will be a continuous stream of cultivation resources." Wang Shouzhe said calmly, "Scattered cultivators are all rootless and wandering, and all resources have to be self-sufficient. Naturally, life is difficult, and it's easy to go astray, such as cheating, stealing, and robbing. And once they get into trouble, they can just walk away with a change of identity. If scattered cultivators can easily get resources, why did our ancestors work hard to build a foundation and develop family property, even sacrificing their lives to protect the family's foundation?"

 

The young master makes sense.

 

Wang Zhong and Wang Yong, the two family generals, gradually became more and more respectful of Wang Shouzhe. They had already felt the difference between the new young master and the previous one, and in a few words, he clearly distinguished the situation between scattered cultivators and aristocratic families.

 

From then on, they became more alert to scattered cultivators, who dressed differently and set up stalls selling all kinds of random objects by the roadside. Whenever they saw scattered cultivators, they felt like they were scammers.

 

"How much is this beehive?"At this moment, Wang Shouzhe suddenly squatted down in front of a stall. The stall owner was a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, with a somewhat sloppy appearance. At first glance, he seemed to be at the peak of the third level of Qi Refining.

 

However, this was also the normal state of most wandering cultivators. Factors such as poor talent, lack of systematic cultivation techniques, lack of guidance from elders, and extremely unstable cultivation resources caused most wandering cultivators to have a hard time making a name for themselves.

 

When the stall owner saw Wang Shouzhe dressed in luxury and followed by two heavily armed guards, he immediately realized that he was not an ordinary person.

 

He immediately swallowed the price he was about to charge and showed a pleasing smile: "This young master, this is a tiger-headed spirit bee hive that I risked my life to bring back after encountering it in the mountains. There is still a lot of spirit honey and bee pupae in this hive. I want to exchange it for two Small Foundation Building Pills."

 

As soon as he mentioned the Small Foundation Building Pills, he gulped.

 

"Are you trying to rob me?" Wang Yong's face changed, and he put his hand on the hilt of his sword, looking fierce. "This bee hive is only the size of a head, and it can only filter two taels of spirit honey at most. The few bee pupae in it are not even enough to fry a dish. At most, it can be sold for a few Top Gold."

 

"Hey, sir, don't be angry." The stall owner's face showed a slight fear. "This bee hive was just picked. There are still many bee pupae alive inside. If your noble family has a spirit insect master, you might be able to cultivate a tiger-headed spirit bee colony."

 

Many wandering cultivators may not have strong abilities, but they do have some knowledge.

 

"You're thinking too much. There is no family in the entire Changning Commandery that has a spirit insect master. Even if it's a rare item, I just want to fry it and try it." Wang Shouzhe took out ten Top Gold. "This is enough for you to buy a Small Foundation Building Pill. Whether you want it or not, add another angle and I'll leave."

 

After hesitating for a while, the stall owner finally agreed to the deal with some reluctance. "Young master, if this were in the county, it would be worth twenty Top Gold. Unfortunately, if you take it to the county, all the bee pupae will die."

 

If the bee pupae could live for a few more days, the stall owner would have been willing to go to the county to sell them, after all, the price difference was ten Top Gold. But once the bee pupae died, the value of this tiger-headed spirit bee hive would plummet.

 

After the transaction was completed, Wang Shouzhe asked Wang Yong to pack it up and carry it away. He didn't bother to talk to the stall owner any longer.

 

This item could not be considered a bargain, but it was not a loss either. If he gave it to his fifth sister Wang Luo Jing to play with, there might be a miracle. If he really managed to cultivate a tiger-headed spirit bee colony, it would be a special industry for the family.

 

Tiger-headed spirit bees were almost extinct in the wild. They could only be occasionally encountered in places where human activity was rare. Even if one searched hard for half a year or a year, they might not be able to find any.

 

After wandering around all the wandering cultivator stalls, he didn't come across anything else that interested him. As he walked, he unconsciously walked to the center of the East Market, where one of his family's properties, the Ping'an Wang Clan Fish Stall, was located.

 

Six large characters spanned three storefronts. Compared to those messy stalls, the cleanliness and high-end feeling of the fish stall were much stronger.

 

Looking at the Wang Clan Fish Stall, memories flooded Wang Shouzhe's mind, and his heart was also in turmoil.

 

These three storefronts and the villa behind them were the last assets of the Wang Clan in Changning Commandery.

 

After the two major wars fifty years ago, the prestige of the Ping'an Wang Clan plummeted. In order to quickly support a new Spirit Platform Realm expert to support the family, the Wang Clan ruthlessly sold many fixed assets in Changning Commandery.

 

But unfortunately…

 

Second Uncle Wang Dingtian, who was placed with high hopes, died young at the age of twenty, leaving no bloodline behind.

 

Sixth Grandfather Wang Xiaohan did reach the ninth level of Qi Refining in his forties and attempted to break through to the Spirit Platform Realm. However, after consuming a huge amount of resources, he failed in his breakthrough attempt. Now, at the age of sixty-five, Wang Xiaohan is still stuck at the ninth level of Qi Refining.But Wang Shouzhe's father, Wang Dingyue, had an even more tragic fate. When resources were not enough to support his breakthrough to the Lingtai Realm, he took the risk of entering the Outer Territory to seek opportunities, and ended up sacrificing his life.

 

In fact, if they continued to sell off the family's assets, such as the three major farms, they would definitely be able to gather enough resources for Wang Dingyue to break through to the Lingtai Realm. But if they did so, it would be a case of success or death. Once they failed, the Wang's Clan would become as poor as beggars overnight.

 

Wang Shouzhe had a vague feeling that when he reached the peak of the ninth layer of Qi Refining Realm, the family as a whole might make the decision to sell off all their assets and let him take the final gamble.

 

However, if they really had to go that far, it would only prove the failure of Wang Shouzhe, the time traveler.

 

"Fourth brother, why are you here?"

 

Just as Wang Shouzhe was feeling a bit emotional, a surprised voice came.

 

…