Xiuxian: I use magnetic fields to prove my truth

Chapter 123 The situation is clear

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qing immediately felt that something was amiss.

Although it was somewhat rash, Mu Zhuosha was, after all, his senior master and a Golden Core cultivator. If he spoke in this tone in front of other Golden Core cultivators, it would be considered extremely disrespectful.

Fortunately, Mu Zhuosha didn't mind.

Mu Zhuosha is someone who admires geniuses and believes that one genius is better than countless mediocre people. As long as someone is recognized by her as a genius, she will treat them equally regardless of their status or cultivation level.

In her eyes, Zhou Qing was clearly a top genius, so she didn't mind his impudent tone at all, but asked curiously, "What do you plan to do?"

Zhou Qing said, "It's hard to say right now. We'll have to wait until the people from the Array Court come out of seclusion before we can be sure."

The shops of the Qingyun Sect don't just sell anti-Qing and restoration-Ming formations; all the formation diagrams and talismans sold there are produced by the Formation Court.

Zhou Qing intends to optimize the talismans produced by the Array Court. The optimized talismans will have a significantly improved performance compared to the original versions, and will naturally have a greater competitive advantage.

Master Mu Zhuosha's move to have Uncle Chen revoke the management rights of some affiliated families under a pretext and appoint his own people in their place was a brilliant one.

Although it caused some temporary trouble, it provided a base for his people. With these shops controlled by his own people, Zhou Qing could use the optimized talisman array to dump his goods there and strike at other shops.

Without these shops controlled by his own people, even if Zhou Qing possessed the optimized talisman, it could only be sold by those affiliated families, greatly diminishing his bargaining power and causing them to erode a significant portion of his profits.

All of this depends on his future relationship with the Array Court.

The Qingyun Sect's trading model has always involved the masters of the Qimen Hall being responsible for research and development, while the formal array masters and alchemists are responsible for leading their apprentices in production, which is then delivered to shops for sale.

Of the sales proceeds, after deducting costs, three-tenths go to Qimen Hall, five-tenths go to the sect, and the remaining two-tenths go to the shop itself.

If Zhou Qingruo successfully enters the Array Academy as an array master, he will be able to organize a group of apprentices to inscribe his arrays and talismans.

If this matter is not resolved, then we will have to find another way.

Zhou Qing asked, "Uncle-Master, I heard that Bai Muyun has a grudge against you. What's going on?"

Mu Zhuosha said, "It was actually a matter of official business of the sect, but he insisted on making it a personal vendetta, so you can't blame me for that."

"So... what exactly happened?"

Mu Zhuosha said, "About thirty years ago, when Bai Muyun had just become the head of Qimen Hall, he suddenly applied to the sect that Qimen Hall would only recruit disciples from affiliated families and would not allow disciples of mortal origin to transfer into Qimen Hall."

“At the sect meeting, I strongly opposed his views and made a few sarcastic remarks, which made him hold a grudge against me.”

Zhou Qing felt that the situation within the Qingyun Sect was truly complex and complicated.

Judging from these words, Bai Muyun and many others from Qimen Hall must be from affiliated families. However, they must be wary of these affiliated families stealing their technology. Although they are wary of these affiliated families, they will protect their interests when it matters.

This relationship of both struggle and unity, seeking unity through struggle and not forgetting struggle while maintaining unity, is truly peculiar.

Zhou Qing asked, "Why is Bai Muyun so hostile to disciples of mortal origin, to the point of forbidding them from entering the Qimen Hall? Won't this cause us to miss out on many geniuses?"

Mu Zhuosha said, "He believes that disciples born of mortals are not loyal enough, and there is a reason for that."

"When Bai Muyun was just a formal array master, a major event occurred at the Array Academy. A disciple of mortal origin entered the Array Academy to study and actually harbored evil intentions." "He secretly took the runes from the basic array runes out of the sect to sell in exchange for spirit stones to support his own cultivation."

"By the time the sect discovered it, he had already sold more than a hundred runes."

"While the sect sent people to hunt down this disciple, it also tracked down the sect that bought the runes, attempting to retrieve them. Naturally, the result was far from ideal. Once the runes were leaked, how could they be retrieved? After all, we can't erase other people's memories."

"In the end, the Qingyun Sect had a very unpleasant falling out with several related sects. Even now, when they meet while traveling, they still can't stand each other."

"This incident caused a great stir at the time. A voice began to emerge in the sect, saying that disciples from mortal backgrounds had no foundation in the sect and their loyalty to the sect was limited, while disciples from affiliated families would never dare to betray the sect because their families and the sect were inextricably linked."

"Bai Muyun is a strong supporter of this idea."

Zhou Qingdao said, "So, it seems I'll have to face quite a few obstacles if I want to obtain the title of Array Master?"

Mu Zhuosha said, "Bai Muyun will do his best to stop it. Not to mention array masters, even ordinary array apprentices are subject to much stricter scrutiny when they want to enter the Array Academy than disciples from affiliated families."

She paused for a moment, then asked, "Does this significantly impact your plans?"

Zhou Qing shook his head and said, "It does have some impact, but it's not a big problem. I'll think about it when I get back."

Mu Zhuosha was very curious about Zhou Qing's plan, but seeing that he was keeping his mouth shut, she figured she wouldn't get any information out of him, so she gave up.

Zhou Qing continued, "Uncle-Master Qingxuan, how many shops does the sect have outside in total?"

Chen Qingxuan said, "Currently, there are 1,030 recorded cases."

Zhou Qing was somewhat surprised and said, "So many?"

Chen Qingxuan smiled and said, "Although there are many of them, not many are actually profitable. These shops also serve as intelligence points for the sects. They are mostly located not far from other sects, in places where cultivators often gather. On the one hand, they sell goods for the sects, and on the other hand, they keep an eye on the situation in the cultivation world."

"Therefore, some shops may not actually make money, but the sect will still use spirit stones to keep them running."

"The shops that are truly profitable, apart from those in Sanwan City, are the shops in the markets near the sixty-seven Golden Core sects in the Western Continent."

Zhou Qing asked curiously, "Other Golden Core sects have markets near them, but our Qingyun Sect doesn't?"

Chen Qingxuan smiled and said, "Of course there are. The Three Mountains of Qingyun are the core of the Qingyun Sect, so outsiders are not allowed to approach. There is a market three hundred miles east of these three mountains, and there are also shops set up by other sects in the market."

Zhou Qing nodded and asked, "Of these sixty-seven shops next to the Golden Core sects, how many are currently managed by our people?"

Chen Qingxuan said, "There are six families."

Six companies are a bit few, but they're enough.

After discussing the matter, Zhou Qing did not linger and returned to his home in Ziyun Mountain.

He considered all the information he had gathered that day and felt that the current situation was not bad for him.

(End of this chapter)