Chongming Xianzong

Chapter 272: Market Affairs Completed
Kang Dabao didn't know that his junior fellow apprentice had picked up another good thing for him. Before leaving Chongming Market, he asked someone to call Deng Baichuan, who was in seclusion, to come and meet him.

"Since you have already made an agreement with the Yue family, what else can I say? Many patrolmen of the Anti-theft Office have left over the years, and most of the remaining ones were recruited by you. You can choose them, and there is no need to say anything more to me."

Just as Master Kang had expected before he came, there was no reason for Deng Baichuan, as his disciple, not to support what Sima Gun hoped the New Yun League would accomplish.

However, although he supported her, there was still some resentment in his tone.

Obviously, this person was very dissatisfied with the fact that he did not come to Chongming Market to help him deal with Yue Feng.

However, even though he was dissatisfied, Deng Baichuan still knew the seriousness of the matter. He knew that Kang Dabao was no longer the same person he used to be, so he never said anything unpleasant in public.

It would be fine if the latter was just a foundation-building person in a border state. Although Deng Baichuan, a good family man in the capital, was only a minor Qi-cultivating cultivator, he thought he could afford to offend him.

Didn't the Taoist Fire Dragon stand out among the casual foundation-building cultivators? Didn't Deng Baichuan, Xu Yingshi and the others still not even give him a good face? !

However, after being scolded by Fei Shuhe in the market last time, Deng Baichuan's attitude towards the head of Kangda has improved a lot. That woman really didn't show any mercy to herself, she deserved to marry so badly!
"Should the mayor set a number? If Kang brings too many people, will it affect the operation of the market?" Kang Dabao, a pragmatic person, didn't care about Deng Baichuan's attitude at all and just asked pretendingly.

"It's okay. Lord Lan's injury has healed a bit, and he's able to take charge. Also, isn't the guy named Yue here too?"

Deng Baichuan responded stiffly, and Kang Dabao just nodded after hearing it. He thought that the injury of Lan Gongsheng, who was harmed by Chen Ye, healed so quickly.

Unexpectedly, his fighting skills are average, but his ability to recover from injuries is quite good. If I see him next time, I will probably ask him for advice indirectly, because this is a great skill.

Deng Baichuan talked to the head of Kangda about the matter, then turned around and left without staying, obviously still brooding over what the latter said and did.

Kang Dabao didn't want to sit alone and drink tea with the old cultivator Feng En, the market accountant, so he came to check the on-the-job roster.

As Deng Baichuan said, the number of patrol officers in the once large-scale anti-theft station was reduced by at least half.

Fortunately, the old men recruited by Master Kang in the past, such as the Shao brothers and sisters and the Feng brothers, are still in office. Oh yes, they probably haven't paid off the spirit stones they owed for their medical treatment.

This is a good thing. With these elderly people around, Kangdabao will be easier to use.

However, Xie Liusheng had not left yet, which surprised Kang Dabao. He was too lazy to guess the reason and just checked his name first. This man would be placed in the first row of the battle formation as a striker, no room for negotiation.

He circled the people he saw need one by one and handed them to Feng En, asking him to gather them within ten days and be ready for use at any time. Then, Master Kang got up and left.

He rode his old donkey around the market again, hoping to see if there were any spiritual objects that might be useful.

He had originally planned to give it a try, but unexpectedly he actually found five first-order array-breaking beads.

This item is rare. Even Master Kang, who loves to take advantage of others, was happy to pay 20% higher than the market price to buy it.

Kang Dabao had only seen the formation-breaking bead twice before. The first time was when Sima Fei and Sima Gunjia worked together to sacrifice it to break the Wuxiang Sect's mountain protection formation; the second time was when the Lin family's Jinyi foundation-building cultivator broke through his own formation on the top of the Jiazixu Mountain.

The formation-breaking bead that the Lin family used to build their foundation was obviously of a much lower grade than the ones used by the two Simas, but it must also be a rare and good thing. Otherwise, they would not have been willing to use it until the very last moment.

However, these two times left a deep impression on the head of Kangda, and he knew that this array-breaking bead was a good thing. With it, destroying the enemy's array formation would be twice as effective with half the effort.

Even this level of formation-breaking beads is of no use against a large sect like the Changning Sect.

But the second-level array-breaking beads were extremely rare even in the hands of a true foundation-building cultivator. Not to mention that Chongming Market was not big and difficult to find. Even in large cities like Hancheng and Xuanwei City, only a few of them would occasionally come out during large auctions.

After walking around like this for a while and not finding anything to buy, Master Kang returned to Chongming Tower. Jin Shilun and his wife also came back at this time. Kang Dabao planned to have a good meal, then tell his disciples and go to Pingrong County to take a look.

After all, he is a county magistrate. If he hasn't been there for such a long time, he will definitely be found guilty by some people with ulterior motives.

When Kang Dabao stepped into the Chongming Building, there were not many guests. Only Zhou Xinran was introducing a low-grade long sword to a young monk with a young face with a friendly smile.

The long sword seemed to be a little rough due to its refinement. Master Kang only needed to take a glance with his Dharma eyes to tell that it must have been made by Ye Pingshui.

It was a little worse, but it was cheaper. But even so, the boy was still a little short of money, and he hesitated for a long time before making up his mind to buy it.

"Hello, Uncle Kang." The young man was surprised and delighted when he saw Kang Dabao coming in. He carefully put away the long sword in his hand and then bowed respectfully.

"Oh, it's Xiu Ming? How is Uncle Xiu these days?" Master Kang was stunned for a moment before he remembered who was in front of him.

This is Uncle Xiu’s grandson Xiuming. When Kang Rongquan and Zhou Yixiu went to Xiu’s house to move the big elm tree back, this kid followed them back to pay their respects and became familiar with Kang Dabao.

"Thank you for your concern, uncle. Grandpa is in good health." Xiuming was surprised to see that Kang Dabao recognized him.

"Oh, you want to buy magic tools? Xinran, this is your younger brother from the Xiu family. You must recognize him when he comes again in the future." Master Kang turned around and gave another instruction.

After Kang Dabao finished speaking, before Zhou Xinran could reply, Xiuming said with gratitude:
"Uncle Kang, Sister Zhou recognized me. My ancestor ordered me to follow the He family's caravan to the market to sell puppets. I couldn't sell any for a long time, so I wanted to try my luck in the store. If Sister Zhou doesn't accept me, I'm afraid I won't even be able to earn back the money for the trip."

"He is quite sensible," Kang Dabao couldn't help but look up to Xiuming after hearing this. Zhou Xinran beside him added at the right time:

"Uncle Master, please allow me to report this. It's not that I am using the public funds as a favor. My little brother Xiu is good at making puppets, but I lack experience in setting up a stall. Those independent cultivators in the market are all cunning and the prices they offer are really too low.

Fortunately, my younger brother Xiu was smart and didn’t want to sell it. He even knew to come back to his family, so he didn’t suffer any loss.”

A trace of approval flashed across the eyes of the head of Kangda, and he secretly said:

"This girl is really good at dealing with people, and she's also good-looking, so you have to keep an eye on her! Don't let her be married off to another family in the future. This matter should be put on the agenda, and see if any of the disciples below are suitable. Well, it's better for her to marry into my Kang family. Rongquan is about the same age."

Kang Dabao smiled after hearing Zhou Xinran's words, and then asked, "Master Xiu was able to refine an advanced puppet back then, and Xiu Ming has learned the skills of his ancestor."

Xiu Ming was embarrassed when he heard this. "It's not easy to make an entry-level puppet. My nephew is not good enough now, and I can't even make a profit. So the puppets I sell are low-quality ones. They are only at the Blood Refining level. They are only useful for cultivators to protect their relatives and clean the courtyard."

"Oh?" Master Kang showed a hint of surprise on his face. He had just said it casually, but he didn't expect that Xiu Ming, who looked only eleven or twelve years old, could actually refine an entry-level puppet.

Although the yield rate is indeed not high, being able to refine it and not being able to refine it are two different concepts, which proves that this kid has great talent in this area.

No, is the Xiu family really short of spiritual stones? How could they be willing to send such a precious treasure alone?
"Tsk, Master Xiu really has good intentions. Why does this old man care so much about his reputation?" Thinking that Xiu Ming was still there, Kang Dabao stopped shaking his head and sighing subconsciously, and turned to Zhou Xinran and said, "Xinran, bring me the puppet that Xiu Ming made."

"Hey, uncle, please check if your niece has made any mistake." Zhou Xinran was more confident than Xiuming. He took out a human-shaped puppet that was a foot tall from his storage bag.

He has a sturdy figure, bright armor, and a good appearance.

With such a large body, it is impossible to make a low-quality puppet of this level with spiritual wood. If you do that, you will probably lose everything.

Therefore, Xiuming chooses sandalwood that has grown for sixty years as the main material. After soaking it in Vajra Grass liquid, it is dried with yang fire and coated with Qingling lacquer to enhance its hardness while also being able to ward off ordinary water and fire.

Afterwards, spiritual grooves were engraved all over the body and a spiritual absorption array was constructed. The various components were hiddenly connected with black gold threads, one for the transmission of spiritual power, and the other for improving the appearance.

The long-handled machete in the puppet's hand was forged from the residue of spiritual ore, but the person who refined it coated the machete with a light layer of gold after it was formed, making it look more majestic.

As for the jade armor on the puppet, it is even less worth mentioning.

Xiuming cut the ordinary jade into the same size, spread it out in sequence and wove it with bright silver thread, forming twelve horizontal and vertical lines, and that was it. This was also just for the sake of appearance, and its actual defensive effect was almost zero. When facing the enemy, this jade armor might not be able to withstand a single blow, and it still depends on the hardness of the sandalwood itself.

Master Kang is a man who knows how to do business. After taking a quick look, he realized that although the puppet refined by Xiu Ming was only of a low level, he must have put a lot of thought into it.

He took some trouble to make this humanoid puppet look so good. Compared with other similar puppets, it is not only easier to sell, but the price will also be higher. This kid is really smart.

"How much is the selling price? How much is the cost?" Kang Dabao became interested. He gently pinched the puppet's shoulder with two fingers. The wood made a crisp sound and a palm-wide crack appeared on the spot.

"The craftsmanship is really good." The expected scene of puppets exploding and wood chips flying did not appear. The head of Kang Da praised in his heart, and then heard Zhou Xinran replied softly: "Brother Xiu was very generous. He sold twenty puppets for only eight broken spirit seeds."

"Is it still a fair price?" Kang Dabao suddenly felt a little useless when he thought of this. He was a real foundation-building cultivator, why was he still fighting for such a small amount of spirit stones? He was secretly happy.

However, the price Xiuming offered was quite realistic. After receiving these sixteen spirit stones, he might not have earned half of it.

The price paid by Chongming Xiaolou is not high, but if it wants to sell it outside, the price may increase to one spirit stone and one or two broken spirit particles.

The poor independent cultivators would think it was too expensive, but those with some wealth would be willing to buy something they could afford in Chongming Tower. From the perspective of Sect Leader Kang, the sales would not be too bad.

And this is Xiu Ming.
An idea just popped up in Kang Dabao's mind, but Zhou Xinran said it with a smile:

"Uncle Master, you have come at the right time. My niece was just saying that the elders in the sect are busy and the shop is running short of goods. I am afraid that only one weapon maker will not be able to supply them. So I want to hire Brother Xiu to stay in the shop permanently and be our puppeteer."

"This girl is really smart," Kang Dabao praised in his heart. Seeing Xiuming's face turned red with excitement and fear, he comforted him, "This is a good idea. Xiuming, just come and don't worry. I will write to Master Xiu."

Without waiting for Xiuming's reaction, he threw the long sword that the latter had been looking at back onto the table, and took down a much brighter ancient broad sword from the shelf, and said softly:
"Your brother Ye Shi's craftsmanship is not up to par yet, so he will just use the one made by your uncle Yuan as a makeshift weapon. When his skills improve, he will forge another magical weapon for you."

"This..." Xiu Ming's fair face showed a flattered expression. He was about to refuse, but Zhou Xinran took it for him very coolly: "It is a gift from the elders, I dare not refuse it. Xiu, there is no need to be polite, just keep it."

"Thank you very much, uncle, and thank you, sister Zhou." Xiuming was quite flattered and thanked them immediately.

"There's no rush for this. Xiuming, go home and settle down first, inform the elders in the clan, and then come back." Kang Dabao asked, "Are you here with the He family's caravan?"

"The Yi-character caravan of the second branch of the He family." Xiuming saw that Master Kang couldn't remember, so he added: "The one in charge is He Bingen, the nephew of He Degong, the head of the He family. He treats people kindly."

"Oh," Kang Dabao still had no impression after hearing it. He thought that he must be a rising star in the He family in the past one or two years.

In recent years, He Degong has taken advantage of his friendship with Emperor Chongming to start a drastic blood transfusion project in the He family. Many old people who used to be idle have been replaced, and the redundant caravan structure has also been streamlined.

Thanks to this, the He family seemed to gradually recover from the impact of He Dezong's death.

He Degong's abilities were far inferior to his brother's, but he accomplished what He Dezong wanted to do but had never been able to do. It's really a pity to say that.

If He Dezong could have accomplished this at that time, he could have accumulated enough food earlier and found a good cave to rent during his retreat.
"Xinran, when you are free, go with Xiuming to look for the nephew of the He family. Ask him to take good care of him on his way back and forth." Sect Leader Kang was very busy at the moment and had no time to go there in person, so he only asked Zhou Xinran to go.

After finishing Xiuming's business, he walked to the middle of Jiansu's bedroom. Upon hearing the news, Jin Shilun hurriedly brought in a lunch box with ten meat dishes and no vegetarian dishes. He filially set the table and took up a pot of mellow and rich first-grade spiritual wine on the table, intending to pour it for Master Kang.

But the latter stopped him and said bluntly: "Keep it and sell it, it will be more economical."

"Let's eat together." Master Kang pulled his disciple, who already looked a little plump, to sit down.

Jin Shilun didn't find it unusual. Although the rules of the Chongming Sect were strict, the relationship between master and disciple was extremely close, and it was common for them to eat and sleep together in the past.

However, in recent years, the disciples have become successful and scattered everywhere, and Master Kang has become increasingly busy, so the master and disciples seldom eat together.

Kang Dabao was a very traditional master. He hadn't eaten with Jin Shilun for a while, so he naturally wanted to nag him: "Do you still want to practice your sword skills?"

Jin Shilun put down his jade chopsticks, sat properly, and then said, "I have practiced the 'Golden Scale Sword' that my master taught me, but I have not made any progress. A year or two ago, I used my merits to exchange for a 'Selected Spiritual Sword Techniques' from the Sutra Library. The grade is only middle-grade, but I have already practiced it to a small degree."

"It's not bad. At least you didn't give up on yourself, but it's far from enough." At this point, Master Kang even put down his elbow and said:
"After getting married, don't just dwell on the romance. Forget about your poor swordsmanship, and improve your cultivation as soon as possible. You have earned so much as a chef, but after so many years, how come your cultivation is only stagnant at the fourth level of Qi training?"

After Kang Dabao finished speaking, he sighed. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he always felt that Jin Shilun's sharpness had faded a lot over the years. There seemed to be a big gap between him and the heroic young man who had single-handedly fought off a group of thieves and saved the market in times of crisis.

I don’t know if it’s because I spend every day in the kitchen, and my edges have been softened by the fire.

"Disciple, I know I was wrong," Jin Shilun showed some embarrassment on his face and bowed his head to admit his mistake.

"It's not a question of right or wrong. Master, I have already established my foundation, and I hope that my disciple can live a good life according to his own wishes. It's good that you don't regret it." Kang Dabao didn't blame him too much. He left Jin Shilun, who was still ashamed, and took the old donkey from the yard.

As Chongming Zong became more and more prosperous, the food standard of this evil beast also rose, and even white alfalfa could not satisfy its appetite.

What he ate was a bowl of small Qingling Valley, which contained nine broken spirit seeds. This was a good thing that many casual cultivators could not even eat during their longevity festivals. Jin Shilun was really a nostalgic person, though he was a bit of a spendthrift.

However, seeing that the old donkey was eating happily, Master Kang was generous for once, and he waited until the old donkey was full before he climbed onto the donkey.

Before leaving, he asked Zhou Xinran to bring out a puppet made by Xiuming. The one that Xiao Sanzi had used had been used for more than 20 years and it was time to replace it.

Now they had just left Chongming Market, and Pingrong County was not far away. The old donkey's speed had increased a lot, so he could arrive there within a day.

Deng Baichuan has indeed done something in recent years, and the public security around the market has improved a lot compared to before. Kang Dabao used his foundation-building consciousness to explore, but he only found a group of three evil cultivators hiding in the forest, waiting to do business.

There is something going on at this moment, otherwise Master Kang might have to play the pig and eat the tiger with him.

However, when he scanned again with his spiritual sense, he felt something was wrong.

Among the evil cultivators, a skinny old cultivator with white hair hid in the forest and could not find the true cultivator of foundation building beside him. Seeing that there was no business coming to him, he shouted bad luck and actually took out a naked baby boy from the animal skin tent behind him.

The skinny old cultivator was holding a butcher knife with a numb look in his eyes, as if he was really holding a chicken or a duck. Without any burden, he was about to cut the baby boy's throat and let the blood, not knowing whether it was for drinking or not.

Kang Dabao was careless for a moment and did not notice that there were more than ten children under the age of three in the tent which was slightly isolated from spiritual detection.

He suddenly became anxious, abandoned the old donkey, flew into the air, and shouted, "You bastard! Stop it!"

At this moment, a skinny old hand covered with fuzz was one step faster than Master Kang. He grabbed the butcher knife in the hand of the white-haired old cultivator and cut it with his backhand. A huge head flew into the sky.

His other two accomplices were so frightened that they ran away in a panic, but they were unable to escape. Kang Dabao and his two companions each caught one of them and beat them to death.

Kang Dabao looked back and saw that all the children in the tent were fine. He breathed a sigh of relief, walked quickly to the visitor, straightened his clothes, bowed and said, "Junior greets Mr. Shan!"

　Thanks to the book friend 20230410202626163 for the points

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　　Thanks to Hiya Xiaodaren and Book Friend 20220326173013000 for their two monthly tickets.

　　感谢五行闲鱼、书友尾号6163、书友尾号2195、书友尾号7300、尺素寸心寄云崖、元婴期老祖、不抛弃不放弃100、理想来了、书友尾号0895几位老哥的月票

　　
　
(End of this chapter)