As they approached the vicinity of the Wu Clan's Market, Lu Xuanji and Ye Feixue sensed that there were some cultivators harboring ill intentions. They became even more cautious.
Rogue cultivators were very poor, and killing and snatching treasures were common occurrences when it came to rogue cultivators.
Many rogue cultivators had rich combat experience, and their killing ability was formidable. They were extremely savage.
Without much hesitation, Lu Xuanji went forward and paid two spirit stones. After receiving an iron token, he entered the Wu Clan's Market.
The Wu Clan's Market was situated at the foot of a spirit mountain. There was a tier-2 spirit vein here that could support ten Foundation Establishment cultivators.
After entering, Lu Xuanji took a deep breath and felt the dense spiritual energy.
The density of the spiritual energy here was more than three times that of the spiritual energy in the outside world, but it still could not compare to Mount Ziyang. After settling down in the Wu Clan's Market and absorbing the spirit vein here, his cultivation speed would increase greatly.
He estimated that with the density of the spirit veins here, he would need eight years to advance one level.
He could see that there were cultivators scattered all over the place. In the market city, there were shops, restaurants, and all kinds of trading places. There were cultivators here, low-level cultivators here, and many cultivators were only at the first level of the Qi Refinement stage. It was very lively.
In the market city, killing was forbidden. Even the most daring people would not commit murder here.
As they walked, on the left side of the square, there was a large stone tablet. On it was written the market's rules, which were about 18 of them.
On the right side was written the price of the Immortal's Cave (housing price). The Immortal's Cave price was divided into three tiers. The tier-1 Immortal's Cave price was 10 spirit stones a year, the tier-2 was 20 spirit stones a year, and the tier-3 Immortal's Cave price was 30 spirit stones a year.
There were also some advertisements and missions below.
One of the advertisements read: Come rent a spirit field near the market city. Not only will we provide a free tier-3 Immortal's Cave, but also a salary of ten spirit stones per year. 30 percent of the spirit rice in the spirit field will be used as rent, while 70 percent will belong to the cultivator.
Another one read: Pill concoction class by a Master Alchemist. Money back if you fail to learn.
Another one read: Talisman creation class by a master alchemist. Money back if you fail to learn.
Another one was: Recruiting excellent alchemists, array formation masters, Qi trainers, and so on. Not only would he be given a salary of 30 spirit stones a year, there would also be other kinds of subsidies. He would also be given a beautiful maid.
Another one read: A team is recruiting members to hunt Demon Beasts together. Members would be given 100 spirit stones in advance as a guaranteed salary.
There were all kinds of attractive advertisements on the stone tablet. It was especially attractive for cultivators. Not only was food and accommodation included, but there were also all kinds of preferential policies.
A hundred years ago, when an ancestor of the Wu Clan carried out this policy, many people were laughing.
The Wu Clan actually taught the independent cultivators different arts and skills for free. They gave the itinerant cultivators a free cave abode and even gave them spirit fields. They were idiots. Before they went out to hunt Demon Beasts, they would pay them 100 spirit stones as a deposit. It was truly a waste of time.
A year later, those who saw the Wu Clan as a joke were dumbfounded.
After implementing these policies, the flow of people in the Wu Clan Market was increasing.
These policies attracted many independent and unaffiliated cultivators. Even those cultivators at the bottom level had a living guarantee. With an increase of people, the production of spirit rice was increasing.
These bottom-level independent cultivators at the bottom level learned how to refine pills, refine artifacts, make talismans, and so on. Although their level was very low, they had a skill. They started to earn spirit stones, and their purchasing power was increasing.
Every time a cultivator went out and formed a group to hunt Demon Beasts, due to the existence of a 100 spirit stone deposit, the number of people robbed or killed decreased, and the security of the nearby area increased.
In just a short year, the profits of the Wu Clan's Market had increased significantly.
Not long after, other markets followed suit, and the profits increased by a lot.
"That Wu Clan's Patriarch is really amazing." Lu Xuanji sighed.
In the past, independent cultivators and aristocratic families were in opposition. Those cultivation clans often exploited independent cultivators, and independent cultivators often killed the clan cultivators, so their relationship was tense.
However, after the Wu Clan Patriarch treated independent cultivators well, the relationship between them eased up a little.
As the relationship eased up, it became more orderly. In an orderly environment, it was easier to make money.
As for the various preferential policies, although it seemed like independent cultivators benefited, the Wu Clan benefited even more.
To harvest the wool, one had to wait for the sheep to grow fat.
...
After taking a few glances at the stone tablet, Lu Xuanji strolled along the main street.
The shops here were very prosperous, but the difference was that each shop only sold one type of medicinal pill.
Walking into the shop, Lu Xuanji inquired and examined the medicinal pills. These medicinal pills were all Jade Emperor Pills, Fasting Pills, Pulse-opening Pills, Blood Qi Pills, and other low-tier medicinal pills. However, they were all top-grade.
There were many of them, and their prices were cheap.
These medicinal pills were all refined by itinerant or independent cultivators.
When clan cultivators refined medicinal pills, they mainly focused on the grade. They focused on increasing the grade of the medicinal pills. A high-grade medicinal pill could be sold for thousands or tens of thousands of spirit stones.
However, itinerant cultivators focused on the quantity and quality of the medicinal pills. They would refine one type of medicinal pill, and they would do it frequently to raise the pill formation efficiency and Dan Yang grade of this type of medicinal pill to the extreme.
The quality of the low-grade pills refined by these itinerant cultivators was something that even some high-grade alchemists felt inferior to.
Lu Xuanji made a move and bought the Jade Emperor Pill, Blood Qi Pill, Blood Circulation Pill, and so on. He bought a total of eight bottles, and there were ten pills for each bottle. The price was only five spirit stones.
After leaving this place, he went to find an Immortal's Cave to live in.
The land and spirit fields here belonged to the Wu Clan. They could not be bought or sold, and could only be rented.
They walked until they reached a shop in the center of the market.
The shop here was not luxurious, but it was extremely grand. There were three big words on the door plaque: Wu Clan's Shop.
When they entered the shop, there was a woman wearing white palace clothes on the counter. She was calculating something on the counter, but her aura was already at the seventh level of the Qi Refinement stage.
"Fellow Daoist, do you have any vacant Immortal's Caves for rent?" Lu Xuanji went forward and asked.
"Of course I do," the woman in palace clothes said. "The Wu Clan Market is full of spiritual energy and has opened up many Immortal's Caves. However, what tier of cave abodes do you want? If you want the spirit field, you can rent the cave abodes for free. If you don't want the spirit field, you have to pay the rent of spiritual stones once every ten years. If you choose to tend to spirit fields, you must maintain at least 100 acres of seeds. You must constantly care for the spirit field."
"I want an Immortal's Cave with a spirit field," Lu Xuanji said.
"Fellow Daoist, you're already at the seventh level of Qi Refinement stage. You should choose a tier-2 cave abode." The woman in the palace dress continued, "Fellow Daoist, what occupation do you have?"
"I'm a spirit farmer," Lu Xuanji said.
"A spirit farmer?" The woman in the palace dress was stunned, she asked curiously, "It's very difficult to become a spirit farmer. Usually, it requires a cultivator with Two Spiritual Roots of earth and wood, who can clearly sense the fertility of the soil, and who is familiar with the growth of spirit plants. Excellent spirit farmers are even rarer than alchemists and array formation masters."
"For example, the yield per acre of White Yang Rice is 200 tonnes. How many catties do you have per acre?"
"My yield per mu is 230 catties," Lu Xuanji said.
His actual yield per acre was 250 catties. He mentioned 230 catties just to avoid scaring the woman.
"230 catties. That's amazing."
A hint of shock flashed through the woman's eyes as she said, "Next, you will maintain 300 acres of spirit fields. Can you take good care of them? If you don't take good care of them, you'll be punished. There will be a special Foundation Establishment cultivator to check the yield of spirit rice."
"If the yield doesn't meet the standard, you'll be punished. However, if the yield does meet the standard, or even exceeds a certain standard, you'll be rewarded."
Food was the most important thing for the people.
Agriculture, which was mainly based on spirit land, was the most important industry of the cultivation clans.
Pill refining, artifact refining, talisman-making, array formations, and so on were all based on spirit fields. Without the increase in the production of spirit rice and spirit herbs, these industries would not be able to expand and grow.
"This is the land deed. Keep it well." The palace-dressed woman immediately took out the land deed. On it was the location of the Immortal's Cave, the area, and the furnishings inside. There were also three hundred acres of spirit fields.
There were two copies of the land deed. The Wu Clan would keep one copy, and the guests would keep one copy. If there was a dispute, it would depend on whether the land deed was right or wrong.
Taking the land deed, Lu Xuanji looked at it carefully. The time of the land deed was ten years, and there were all kinds of rules and regulations in it. It could be considered to be quite reasonable, and there were no slave clauses.
He signed his name on it. 'Lu Xuanji'.
In the other corner, there was the name of the lady in palace clothes, Wu Yueqin.
Looking at the name on the contract, the woman in the palace dress frowned slightly. Could it be that this person was from the Lu Clan?
She only hesitated for a moment and did not ask anything.
It was her duty to do more and talk less.
Many people got into trouble because they talked too much.