Born with immortal seed

Chapter 366 Strange Shoulder Bone
"They do have some strength; even the manager of one of their shops has late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation..."

When Bai Zichen stepped into Guanghui Trading Company, a silver light scanned him from head to toe.

This level of spiritual testing is certainly not enough to reveal his true cultivation level.

His concealment technique wasn't particularly sophisticated; his main strength lay in his exceptional control over his physique, ensuring that his cultivation level remained perfectly consistent.

Bai Zichen, regarded as a cultivator in the early stage of Foundation Establishment, was led to the third floor by the clerk of Guanghui Trading Company, where dozens of spiritual artifacts and various spiritual pills were displayed.

In terms of product variety, it is much better than Wanbaoge back then.

Of course, this does not directly mean that Guanghui Trading Company is stronger than Wanbaoge.

The Qingfeng Sect of today is not the same as the Qingfeng Gate of yesteryear; the level of importance these merchants place on it is completely different.

Bai Zichen casually picked out two spiritual artifacts and asked about their prices, then compared them with the exchange prices in the sect's weapon refining hall to get a clear idea of ​​the costs.

'The spiritual artifacts in the Refining Hall are no cheaper to exchange than those in the Guanghui Trading Company, no wonder disciples come here to buy spiritual artifacts...'

At this moment, on the third floor of Guanghui Trading Company, several disciples of Qingfeng Sect were selecting spiritual weapons, still wearing their new magic robes.

"Let's try another shop."

Bai Zichen browsed the shops owned by the Qingfeng Sect, the Danxia Sect, the Five Elements Sect, and even saw a shop belonging to the Bai family.

Because of the Qingfeng Sect's current status, it has attracted a large number of sects, merchants, and cultivation families to compete for shops in the market.

These unique shops attracted even more cultivators.

To date, Qingfeng Sect does not have a single flagship product that can achieve a unique advantage and gain a significant market lead.

However, the market and residential areas experienced rapid development through a different approach.

A large number of cultivators from outside Black Mountain flocked to the area, as evidenced by the birthplaces of the cultivators who came to register when the mountain gates opened.

Nowadays, among the disciples of the Qingfeng Sect, in addition to those from Heishan and Hejian counties, there are quite a few disciples from other states and counties.

As a Nascent Soul sect, its influence has spread throughout the entire Liang Kingdom and even further.

The presence of two legendary ancestors made it easier to attract the attention of cultivators.

In the market, the original stalls and independent cultivators were gone, replaced by carts piled with all sorts of miscellaneous items.

Some are worthless, while others can be asked for hundreds of spirit stones.

There are often rumors that a certain cultivator, with his keen eye, picked out a hidden gem from a cart and made hundreds of times his initial investment.

This resulted in the carts being filled with miscellaneous and broken items worth only a few spirit stones, yet countless cultivators still harbored dreams of getting rich, believing in their exceptional eyesight and the ability to find hidden treasures, and the carts were always crowded with people.

Bai Zichen watched with great interest as several cultivators spent hundreds of spirit stones to buy a pile of broken and useless items, not to mention that they couldn't find any way to recycle them.

Even if someone were to buy it, it would only fetch around twenty spirit stones at most.

What about failed alchemy, excessive toxicity in the pills, and the "breakthrough pill" that looks like a piece of charcoal?

It's just a fragment, a magical artifact that, when infused with magic, can only emit a faint light and strange sound; otherwise, it's useless.

A thin, yellowed booklet, mysteriously told that it was brought out from an ancient secret realm, but no one has ever been able to decipher its contents.

With his divine sense, how could he possibly hide the peddler's secret movements? He could see every single detail.

Every so often, these people would discreetly slip an item worth dozens of spirit stones into the pile of junk, so that the cultivators who came to shop would discover it.

Buyers might think they have a keen eye and have found something good among a mountain of clutter, and they'll brag about their Taobao experience to their friends and family.

This would attract their relatives and fellow disciples, who would then spend dozens of spirit stones to buy a bunch of useless and defective items.

"How much does this bone cost?"

Just as Bai Zichen was about to leave, he noticed a dark-skinned young man stuffing a flat bone into the space in front of him and shaking the cart twice to expose a corner of it.

With a sway of his body, the bone was already in his hand, and it felt heavy and substantial when he lifted it.

"If you like it, senior, just take it for fifty spirit stones."

The dark-skinned youth looked bitter. He recognized the person as a Foundation Establishment cultivator and said dryly.

Their greatest hope is that the items they put in for a bargain will be bought by ordinary Qi Refining cultivators, preferably disciples of the Qingfeng Sect or members of a family of cultivators.

These people have a wide circle of friends and relatives, and they can only bring in follow-up business by showing off their connections back home.

It was bought by a Foundation Establishment cultivator, so there's no chance of any repeat business.

"Where did you find this bone?"

Bai Zichen tossed a mid-grade spirit stone over, while turning the bone in his hand. It seemed to be the shoulder bone, and its shape suggested it came from some kind of humanoid monster.

"It was passed down from my ancestors and has been lying around for a long time. This time, I searched the whole house to gather enough spirit stones to buy a Foundation Establishment item."

The dark-skinned youth excitedly grasped the mid-grade spirit stone, realizing he had encountered a generous senior cultivator, and truthfully recounted the events.

"I have a few other good things here. Would you like to take a look and see if any of them catch your eye?"

"no need."

Bai Zichen glanced at the scattered items poured out of the man's storage bag, each worth between forty and fifty spirit stones. One palm-sized copper piece did not appear to be a fragment of a spirit weapon, but rather part of a magic treasure.

Even if it were used to refin and recycle spiritual materials, it would still be worth at least three or four hundred spirit stones. Perhaps even the dark-skinned youth himself didn't realize the secret behind it.

But nothing could give him the special feeling that this bone brought him; such a bargain worth a few hundred spirit stones was not worth Bai Zhenren's effort.

The person's claim that the bones were inherited from his ancestors is largely credible. They lacked the earthy aura of bones freshly unearthed from the ground, indicating they had been placed in a normal environment for hundreds of years.

"Your ancestors were always Black Mountain monks?"

"That's not the case. My grandfather's generation moved here from Yongzhou, and many things were lost along the way..."

The dark-skinned youth is considered a representative of the new Black Mountain cultivators. He was born in Black Mountain and had Foundation Establishment elders to take care of him in his childhood, so he did not join the Azure Maple Sect.

Later, the elder who had reached the Foundation Establishment stage passed away, and the family fortune declined. Several uncles in the clan used up all their family wealth to try to reach the Foundation Establishment stage.

He was too old and unwilling to join the Qingfeng Sect as a low-level fire-working Daoist; he just wanted to try his luck at reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.

At that time, they will have the option to either join the Qingfeng Sect or rebuild their family.

"Gan Congju, why are you still in the market? Didn't you hear my warning last time to leave as soon as possible? Don't embarrass the Gan family here!"

A boy of similar age came out of a shop, saw Gan Congju standing in front of the cart, rushed over and pointed at his nose, scolding him.

Gan Congju was being pointed at and scolded, his eyes lowered, and he remained silent.

"Xiao Ganzi is my hired guide, so please don't disturb my journey."

Bai Zichen straightened his shoulder bone. He could see that the man's face was somewhat similar to Gan Congju's, and he knew that it was probably another old story about family infighting. He didn't want to listen anymore.

"I apologize for offending you, senior. I am Gan Rixin of the Gan family of the Nine Talismans... This young man comes from a family with a bad reputation. You should be more careful when shopping in the market, lest you be cheated and waste your spirit stones."

The young man surnamed Gan respectfully performed the ancient ritual of paying respects to his senior before leading his two attendants away.

"Are you from the same clan?"

Having visited several large shops in the market and even obtained a bone that gave him a strange feeling, Bai Zichen lost the motivation to continue wandering around.

In an ordinary market town, to encounter a rare item that could attract a Core Formation cultivator was already considered a great stroke of luck.

"By all accounts, Gan Rixin is my cousin of the same generation..."

Gan Congju, who had been silent all along, raised his head and said with pursed lips.

"Senior, you don't need to feel that the Gan family is heartless and doesn't give me a way out. It is my family that has tarnished the reputation of the Jiufu Gan family and brought this suffering upon ourselves."

When the Qingfeng Sect conscripted cultivators to form a large army to attack the Guiling Sect, the Gan family of Jiufu, as a renowned immortal cultivation family in the Black Mountain, was naturally among them.

An elder from the Foundation Establishment clan and twenty members of the Qi Refining clan followed the main force to Hejian County.

Gan Congju's father was a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator who became a squad leader on the battlefield, leading a dozen or so rogue cultivators to patrol a mine that had been captured.

Unexpectedly, two Qi Refining Grand Perfection Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators remained underground in that mine.

One day, they suddenly attacked, catching the rogue cultivators off guard, and their formation was thrown into chaos.

Gan Congju's father not only failed to organize a group of independent cultivators, but also became fearful and fled the battlefield.

As a result, only three of the twelve rogue cultivators survived; the rest were all killed by two Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators and then fled.

"This incident enraged the upper sect, and all the merits of the Gan clan in conquering Hejian were wiped out, causing the world to look down on the Gan clan... In order to wash away the shame, the clan elder in charge of the team risked his life and took on several extremely dangerous missions from the upper sect. In the end, he died in the pursuit of a fleeing Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Ghost Spirit Sect, and his body was separated from his head."

Gan Congju spoke calmly, as if he were recounting something that had nothing to do with him.

"My father fled back to Black Mountain, and because the Gan family took on most of the punishment for him, he survived after being sentenced to thirty years of hard labor... The clan elder who died in battle was Gan Rixin's grandfather, so it's normal for him to have resentment towards me."

“My lineage was expelled from the Gan family and was not qualified to become a disciple of the Qingfeng Sect, but I refuse to accept my fate… I am different from him; I want to reclaim the lost glory of my lineage.”

Bai Zichen sighed softly, not expecting that this energetic young man, who regarded him as his idol, had such a complicated background.

“If Benshan won’t take you, go to Hejian. Some places there don’t care about your background, but you have to risk your life. A lot of cultivators die there every year.”

Bai Zichen tossed away a mid-grade spirit stone, flew away on his sword, and didn't look at Gan Congju kneeling behind him and kowtowing repeatedly.

Whether the young man takes the spirit stone and stays in Black Mountain, or heeds his advice and heads to Hejian to seek a chance to change his life, is up to him.

The gift of the spirit stone was not because the boy idolized him, but as a reward for his positive attitude and high spirits despite coming from such a family.

(End of this chapter)