Qinghe Immortal Clan.

The reason why the group returned to their own sacred mountain and wore masks to change their appearance was intentionally done by Song Qingming.

One reason was to cover up the news of Song Qingyu's return, in order to prevent the news of her conception from being leaked.

Another purpose was that Song Qingming wanted to see how much change had occurred at "Chiyun Mountain" during the thirty years he had been away.

Previously, in the Song family territory, because Song Yuanfang, whom he knew quite well, was in charge, Song Qingming was not worried that if he left for too long, the people under his family would be difficult to manage.

However, the situation at "Chiyun Mountain" is more complicated.

Chiyun Mountain was originally jointly controlled by the "Xiaoyao Sect" and the "Tianji Sect". Not only were the cultivators from both sects stationed in the market, but also many cultivators recruited by Song Qingming after his arrival, as well as other small sects such as the "Tianxing Sect" from the surrounding area.

When Song Qingming and Huang Siyuan left, in order to prevent any unforeseen circumstances after their departure, they specially invited Chen Xuanxin, a peak Golden Core expert, from the sect to help oversee things.

It remains to be seen whether those now in charge of management can effectively keep these people in check in the city.

After leaving the "teleportation platform" and entering the market, Song Qingming glanced ahead and found that the streets were bustling with people, and the number of cultivators seemed to be even more lively than when they left.

Upon seeing this scene, the slight worry that had been lingering in Song Qingming's heart immediately dissipated, and he walked forward with a smile.

"Seventh Brother, I remember that there were hardly any people in the shops here before. I didn't expect that Chiyun Mountain would be so prosperous now."

It's a rare opportunity to come here with you, so you'd better show me and my sister-in-law around today!

"Since it's so rare, then of course we can't refuse!"

Seeing that Song Qingming readily agreed, not only was Song Qingyu overjoyed, but even Huang Siyuan, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but show a smile.

Even if one's cultivation reaches the Golden Core or Nascent Soul realm, one will still inevitably have some personal hobbies.

Just like Song Qingming, wherever he goes, he can't help but look around and taste his favorite food. Strolling through the market is also something that most female cultivators in the cultivation world love.

Seeing the two women in front of him, their faces filled with excitement as they rushed into the market, Song Qingming, who was following behind, could only shake his head and smile as he followed.

Fortunately, as a Nascent Soul cultivator, he was already quite experienced in accompanying female cultivators shopping, and he was no longer as resistant as he had been back then.

Of course, there are always exceptions, and this does not include everyone around you.

Thinking of this, a white-clad figure quickly appeared in Song Qingming's mind, and he couldn't help but shudder slightly.

The group, who had just returned, were in high spirits. As soon as Song Qingyu and Huang Siyuan entered the market, their eyes immediately lit up with excitement.

The two women walked along the street near the "teleportation platform," going into almost every shop that came into view.

In just the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the two of them had already spent thousands of spirit stones at more than a dozen shops, almost filling half of Song Qingming's "storage bag".

Fortunately, they are all now Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators, so this amount of spirit stones is nothing to them.

Otherwise, if this had happened a few hundred years ago, Song Qingming would probably have given these two spendthrift women a good scolding.

“Sister-in-law, look here, there’s a shop that specializes in custom-made Buddhist robes. We can each choose one first, and we can also bring one back for Senior Sister Li.”

"Yes! I happen to know her measurements."

".."

Seeing that the two people ahead were happily entering a shop selling custom-made Buddhist robes, Song Qingming knew that they probably wouldn't be out for a while, so he simply stayed at the shop entrance and waited patiently.

Fortunately, the shopkeeper was very experienced. He had prepared tables and chairs at the entrance for waiting customers and thoughtfully had a waiter serve Song Qingming a cup of spiritual tea.

Although the spiritual tea served by this waiter was very ordinary, its quality was incomparable to what Song Qingming usually drank.

However, he didn't mind too much. He picked up the spiritual tea on the table, took a sip, and then looked through the window to the bustling market street outside!
Just as Song Qingming was scanning the street outside, his divine sense suddenly detected a very intense argument breaking out in another shop not far ahead.

Shortly after, a man and a woman tried to run out of the shop, followed by a large group of fierce-looking shop assistants who quickly blocked them at the shop entrance.

"Stop right there! You have some nerve, eating and drinking so much in this restaurant and trying to leave without paying!"

Do you even know what kind of place Fengruitang is? How dare you dine and dash here?

I advise you to settle your bill right now, or don't blame us for being impolite.

Hearing the angry rebuke from a shop assistant beside him, the handsome-looking man in white standing in front, seeing a crowd gathering outside the shop, immediately and angrily explained loudly:
"Who said I was going to dine and dash? How can you run a business like this? It's just a bottle of ordinary spirit wine that costs no more than five or six spirit stones outside, but you're charging me a hundred. Isn't this obviously ripping people off?"
"If I had known you'd charge such high prices, I would never have come here to eat. I've already put the spirit stones I owed on the table, what more do you want!"

"Hmph! Kid, you're obviously ignorant. Do you think our Fengrui Hall's spirit wine can compare to those ordinary spirit wines outside?"
The wine you just ordered is a top-grade spirit wine that our shop specially imported from Shangyang Kingdom and meticulously brewed over thirty years.

This is the only jar of this spirit wine left in our shop. It's not something you can just buy whenever you want. One hundred spirit stones is already a bargain for you.

Our prices are clearly marked. If you couldn't afford the food, you shouldn't have come in. Now that the food is in your stomach, you can't back out.

"If you don't give me the spirit stones, believe me, I'll have the enforcement team send you all to Treasure Bottle Mountain to mine iron ore for the rest of your lives to pay for it."

"Fine, then let the enforcement team come and judge. I want to see if this spirit wine is as good as you say."

Despite the verbal threats, the man in white remained unmoved and insisted on reporting the matter to the market enforcement team.

Seeing this, a woman in purple robes standing behind the man in white quickly stepped forward and tugged at his arm.

"Young Master Li, perhaps we should just forget about it!"

Anyway, these things add up to less than two hundred spirit stones, so why bother the enforcement team?

I think the shop owner and the enforcement team have a close relationship. If we wait for them to arrive, we won't get any advantage.

"Hehe! This young lady has some discernment."

Young man, for her sake, I can give you a 20% discount, charging you only 120 spirit stones. This is the biggest concession my shop can make.

Otherwise, when the enforcement team arrives, don't blame me for not giving you a chance.

The leader of the innkeepers, while speaking, glanced at the woman in purple behind the man in white and gave her a rather appreciative look.

The other waiters standing nearby immediately spoke to the head manager with concern, reminding him, "Manager, the boss has instructed us not to give discounts to customers casually."

"Yes, shopkeeper, if you give him a discount, the boss will deduct our wages when he finds out."

"It's alright, I've taken care of this. The boss will explain it to him, and I guarantee he won't make things difficult for you."

Kid, this shop isn't mine. This is all I can do for you, so don't be ungrateful!

Seeing that more and more people were gathering outside, the shopkeeper remained calm and reminded the other party again.

"Hmph! He's already reached the late stage of Qi Refining, yet he still has over a hundred spirit stones on him when he comes out to eat. He's really shameless."

"tui." (PS: This means spitting. Forgive my lack of knowledge, I don't know why I can't type this character!)

Whether it was the shopkeeper's "well-intentioned" reminder, the companion's advice, or the constant ridicule from the other employees, it didn't matter.

Unexpectedly, the man in white remained unmoved, standing there with an angry expression.

Normally, by this time, the other party would have already been willing to pay the spirit stones. Seeing how stubborn the other party was, the shopkeeper's face began to look a little unpleasant.

A dispute suddenly broke out in the market, and with so many curious people gathered outside "Fengrui Hall," the enforcement team of cultivators stationed in the market was quickly alerted.

Before long, a group of cultivators dressed in uniform black robes appeared outside "Fengrui Hall" and then passed through the crowd to enter the shop.

"Who's causing trouble here? What's going on?"

"Hehe! So it's Senior Zhang. These two people are eating at our restaurant and trying to leave without paying. They want to freeload."

We desperately hope that you, senior, will help us!

Upon seeing the "enforcement team" cultivators arrive, the shopkeeper hurriedly went up and bowed obsequiously to the Foundation Establishment cultivator in charge. Then, he pointed at the white-robed man in front of him and launched into a disdainful and angry tirade.

Seeing this, the man in white quickly spoke up to explain:

“Senior, it’s not that I intentionally didn’t want to pay the spirit stones, but their shop charges us a hundred spirit stones for a bottle of spirit wine. That’s just outrageous.”

“This is top-quality spirit wine, and it’s a fair trade. If you can afford it, then eat it. What’s unreasonable about that?”

".."

"Alright, what kind of behavior is this, arguing like this!"

Seeing the two sides arguing, the Foundation Establishment cultivator from the enforcement team immediately shouted to stop them, then looked at the white-robed man not far away.

“Since you came here to eat, you should have asked about the prices before entering. How can you wait until you've finished eating to complain about the high prices? There are rules for buying and selling in the market. Since you've eaten this meal, you should pay with spirit stones.”

"this,.."

The Foundation Establishment cultivator from the "enforcement team" criticized the man in white for a while, then turned his gaze to the shopkeeper beside him and said:
"And you guys, no matter how good this stuff is, you should have reminded the guests beforehand. If you had done that earlier, there wouldn't have been so much noise."

"Hehe, senior is right. It's all the fault of the people below who don't know the rules and forgot to remind this fellow Daoist. I have already reprimanded them just now."

"This is a bit wrong on our part, and I'm willing to give him a 20% discount, but he still won't."

Compared to the white-clad man who looked utterly unwilling, the shopkeeper maintained a fawning smile and hurriedly nodded in agreement.

Upon hearing the shopkeeper's words, the Foundation Establishment cultivator from the "enforcement team" nodded with satisfaction and loudly proclaimed:

"Considering that you are new here and do not know the rules, we will not pursue the matter further. This time, we will pay the bill at 20% of what they asked for!"
Please be more careful next time you visit the store. Our market enforcement team is very busy and doesn't always have time to deal with such trivial matters.

The Foundation Establishment cultivator from the "enforcement team" arrived and finalized the matter in just a few words, then gestured for the white-robed man to pay 20% of the spirit stones.

Seeing that this "enforcement team" cultivator had no intention of investigating the matter and had already given his conclusion, it was clear that he was on the other side.

Although the man in white was displeased, he could only lower his head reluctantly and dared not say anything more.

"and many more!"

Just as the man in white reached into his "storage bag" to retrieve spirit stones, an untimely voice suddenly rang out from the crowd.

The next moment, a cultivator from the "enforcement team" who was also dressed in black robes took the initiative to come to the front of the group.

"Senior Brother Zhang, there's nothing wrong with paying for meals with spirit stones."

However, our enforcement team can't be so hasty. We should investigate thoroughly before drawing conclusions. Since you have other matters to attend to, how about I handle this for now?

"Hehe, Junior Brother Wei, what do you mean by that? Do you think I did something unfair?"
If you have any objections to us, junior brother, you can go to Uncle Zhou of the Enforcement Team to report this matter.

But if I remember correctly, this area is our responsibility to patrol today. Junior Brother, isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to be here?"

Upon seeing the person suddenly appear before him, the cultivator surnamed Zhang looked somewhat surprised, but immediately replied with displeasure.

Seeing this, the man surnamed Wei quickly waved his hand and explained, "Senior Brother Zhang, you misunderstand. I wasn't on duty today; I just happened to be passing by when I came across this."

To be honest, this isn't the first time this has happened at this store. A few days ago, someone even took it to the enforcement team and almost alerted Uncle Song.

I also felt something was amiss, which is why I wanted to investigate this matter. I had absolutely no intention of targeting you, Senior Brother Zhang, and I hope you won't take offense.

"Oh! I see. But since this matter has been settled today, I think Junior Brother Wei doesn't need to get involved anymore. If you feel there's anything wrong later, you can investigate it yourself."

What are you all doing? Why are you letting so many people gather here? What's so interesting about this? Just scatter them all!

And you, hurry up and pay the spirit stones and get out of the market. You have absolutely no manners.

Although the Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Zhang was verbally reprimanding the others around him, his words were clearly directed at the man surnamed Wei in front of him, and his displeasure was evident on his face.

Faced with such a confrontational response, the man surnamed Wei hesitated for a moment before gritting his teeth and speaking again:

"Senior Brother Zhang, there's clearly something wrong with this shop. Didn't you notice anything at all?"

"This, Senior Wei, our shop is operating legally. You've wronged us."

"Yes, this is a miscarriage of justice."

".."

Upon hearing the other party speak so frankly in public, the shopkeeper and his employees, who were already extremely anxious, hurriedly knelt down and repeatedly cried out that they were innocent.

The man in white was so frightened by the two Foundation Establishment cultivators arguing over him that he stood rooted to the spot, not daring to utter a single word.
When the Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Zhang from the "enforcement team" heard the other party say this in public, a hint of anger flashed across his face.

"Hehe! Junior Brother Wei says there's something wrong with this shop, but do you have any evidence? Isn't that going a bit too far?"

Our enforcement team is here to maintain the operation of the market and to make these people follow the rules. Why is my junior brother making such a big deal out of such a small matter today?

Regardless of whether there's a problem with the shop, paying for meals with spirit stones is a rule set by the market, and everyone must abide by it.

I know you are the patriarch's personal disciple, but you can't just ignore the rules of our market and publicly tarnish the reputation of the merchants.

If this leads to broken rules and problems in the future, who will take responsibility?

"If you can't bear the responsibility, then I will!"

Just as the Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Zhang finished speaking, another voice suddenly appeared not far away, followed by an ordinary-looking man in a green robe walking in from outside.

Upon seeing the somewhat familiar face before him, Wei Yunlong, who was standing to the side, immediately showed a look of surprise.

"You are... Master!"

The next moment, before anyone could react, Wei Yunlong, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, knelt down before the man in the green robe.

Meanwhile, the Foundation Establishment cultivators surnamed Zhang and the others were stunned by what they saw, looking at the person in front of them with disbelief.

Wei Yunlong was one of the three disciples that Song Qingming took in before he left. Although not many others knew about this, the Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Zhang was very clear about it.

Seeing the other person kneel down and call out "Master," he sensed something was off about the newcomer's aura and quickly knelt down as well.

This also prompted the other cultivators around to quickly kneel down as well.

"I'll wait to see my ancestor!"

With his gaze sweeping over the crowd, Song Qingming first waved gently to Wei Yunlong, signaling him to stand up first, and then turned his gaze to the white-clad man beside him.

"What kind of spirit wine did you just drink? The wine jar should still be there, go and get it!"

"Don't be afraid, this is our Old Ancestor Song from Chiyun Mountain, hurry up and go!"

Seeing that the white-robed man beside him, who was only at the late stage of Qi Refining, was already trembling with fear at the scene, Wei Yunlong quickly helped him up and reminded him.

Before long, the wine jar, which had been mostly drunk from, appeared in Song Qingming's hands, and his gaze had already turned into a cold frost.

"I remember tasting this kind of spirit wine a few times in Qinghefang when I went down the mountain. It only cost less than five spirit stones to buy a jar."

I never imagined that this item would be sold for 100 spirit stones a jar here today in Chiyun Market. Is this how things are traded in our market?

Are you people standing here blind, or have you lost your conscience?

After he finished speaking, Song Qingming suddenly unleashed an extremely powerful aura, instantly pressing the kneeling crowd to the ground, making them unable to move.

"Please forgive us, Ancestor! We were negligent. We beg you to spare our lives!"

"Ancestor, spare your life!"

".."

Just as Song Qingming unleashed his powerful aura, several Golden Core cultivators stationed in the market immediately sensed it and rushed toward the "Fengrui Pavilion".

Before long, Zhao Youxuan, Luo Qingyun, and Zhou Yuquan arrived at "Fengrui Pavilion" almost simultaneously with their entourage.

Upon seeing Song Qingming suddenly appear before them, his face filled with anger, the crowd, still unaware of what had happened, quickly bowed and knelt on the ground.

"Greetings, Uncle-Master and Ancestor!"

Upon seeing Luo Qingyun and the others who had come upon hearing the news, Song Qingming simply placed the wine jar in his hand lightly on the spot, then ignored them and left Fengrui Pavilion without saying a word.

Seeing this, Luo Qingyun and the others were filled with confusion and could only turn their gaze to Wei Yunlong standing to the side.

Zhou Yuquan then turned his gaze to the Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Zhang, who was kneeling on the ground, too terrified to move, and a strange look flashed in his eyes.

"Tell me quickly, what exactly happened?"

".."

While Luo Qingyun and his companions were angrily questioning everyone present, Song Qingming had already left and turned to a small alley not far from the market.

(Sorry I had something to do today and wrote less, I'll make up for it tomorrow!) (End of this chapter)