The shopkeeper, already dissatisfied due to the booming business of Cloudtop Pavilion which had plunged his own inn into misery, now seethed with rage after being mocked to his face by those cultivators, who reduced the Welcoming Immortals Inn to nothing but dirt. At that moment, he almost wished he could smash Cloudtop Pavilion's storefront right away.
Fortunately, the shopkeeper had a sliver of rationality left in him and did not act on impulse. However, the thought of taking action against Cloudtop Pavilion had already taken root.
As soon as the Welcoming Immortals Inn closed for the night, the shopkeeper hurriedly left the marketplace and flew towards his family's ancestral land.
This shopkeeper's surname was Qin, and his family was a Foundation Establishment clan that swore fealty to the Yuanming Sect. Their ancestral land was located three hundred li outside the marketplace.
Before long, Manager Qin returned to his family's estate and went straight to knock on the door of the Clan Leader.
"Why on earth have you rushed back tonight?" Patriarch Qin frowned, his face full of irritation. After all, anyone's mood would sour if their cultivation were disturbed.
Manager Qin hastily relayed the situation of how their inn's business had been snatched away by Cloudtop Pavilion, causing dismal earnings, and lamented, "Patriarch, if this continues, the Welcoming Immortals Inn will have to close its doors!"
"Bang!"
Patriarch Qin slammed his hand on the table and shouted angrily, "In past years, the Welcoming Immortals Inn did great business, so how did it come to this under your management? Now you even dare to make excuses for yourself?!"
"Patriarch..." Manager Qin's body trembled, almost ready to kneel, as he cried out, "I'm not lying to you, Cloudtop Pavilion really has taken away many of our customers!"
There were indeed no other inns in the marketplace, but the business of these inns did not suffer greatly because of Cloudtop Pavilion.
These inns were mostly accommodations, catering to cultivators passing through for rest, with Spirit Food being just an added service, unlike the Welcoming Immortals Inn and Cloudtop Pavilion, which were places solely for dining.
"What's the background of Cloudtop Pavilion?" Seeing that he was not feigning, Patriarch Qin suppressed his anger and asked seriously.
The Welcoming Immortals Inn was Qin Family's main source of income. If the business deteriorated, it could affect the entire clan's development!
"It is said to be an inn opened by the Li family from that Da Rong Island overseas."
"The Li family?" Patriarch Qin quickly caught on and asked, "Is that the same Li family selling those Water Refined Spirit Pills?"
Seeing Manager Qin nod, the expression on Patriarch Qin's face grew much more solemn. It had been a year since the Li family arrived in this territory, and even without much promotion, many people were aware that the Li family boasted four Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Aside from the frequently traveling Li Shiren and Li Shilian, the stages of the remaining two Foundation Establishment cultivators were unknown to outsiders.
Even so, under the rule of the Yuanming Sect, among the nine vassal forces, the Li family was ranked among the powerful, making them not a family the Qins could afford to offend.
Although the Qin family had a powerful patron, their relationship had diminished considerably over the years, and if he bothered them again, perhaps their affection for the Qin family would be completely exhausted.
Seeing his own Clan Leader fall silent, Manager Qin became anxious, worried that the Patriarch would not dare to act due to fear of the Li family's strength, and so he immediately added, "The three major clans near to the Li family also have the intention to take action."
"Are you referring to the Zheng, Zhang, and He families?" A glint flashed in Patriarch Qin's eyes as he said, "Have they sent someone to contact you?"
These three major clans were located to the east of the Li family, the closest territory to the Outer Sea under the Yuanming Sect. Due to beast tides that broke out every few years, these three clans had powerful cultivators but few clansmen.
Now that the Li family had shown such formidable strength, how could they rest easy?
Manager Qin was shocked; he hadn't expected the Patriarch to guess this matter. But he should have known better—after all, how could one sit firmly as a Clan Leader without some intelligence?
"Hmph!" Patriarch Qin snorted disdainfully and said, "Fools! They don't even realize they are being used as pawns!"
However, this did not mean he had no intention of acting against the Li family. After all, the Welcoming Immortals Inn was too important to the Qin family.
"Go tell those cultivators from the three families that we will not get involved in this matter! Whatever they want to do, they can do. Our competition with the Li family is only in business, there is no need to create a deadly feud."
"But the Spirit Food of Cloudtop Pavilion indeed has its superior aspects; we are not their match..."
Patriarch Qin's face darkened as he said, "I will think of a way to solve this issue! All you need to do is pass my words on to those three cultivators from the families!"
Upon hearing this, Manager Qin briefly acknowledged, his voice faltering, but his heart surged with joy. As long as the business at Welcoming Immortals Inn recovered, he would be able to continue scraping off Spirit Stones!
When dawn broke and he returned to the Marketplace, Manager Qin immediately contacted the three family cultivators and conveyed his clan leader's message to them.
"Hmph!" sneered the Zheng Family cultivator, "Who would've thought the Qin Family is a bunch of good-for-nothings!"
Manager Qin remained silent, rising and leaving of his own accord. What did a few taunts matter to him? They wouldn't cost him a single Spirit Stone.
"Now, what should we do?" the He Family cultivator asked, "If the Qin Family doesn't want to get involved, should the three of our families still make a move?"
"Of course, we have to make a move," the Zheng Family cultivator said with a malevolent tone, "and we'll even push the blame onto the Qin Family!"
After night fell, the bustling streets of the day slowly sank into silence, but a shop hidden away in a secluded corner of the Marketplace quietly opened its doors at this time.
Soon, Manager Qin, dressed in black to conceal his true identity, slipped inside.
Manager Qin walked straight to the side hung with Jade Tokens, used his Divine Sense to engrave the task he was about to undertake, then approached the elderly man behind the counter and asked, "I would like this mission to be issued."
"A thousand Spirit Stones," the elderly man glanced at the Jade Slip and quoted a price casually.
Manager Qin knew the rules and honestly handed over the Spirit Stones, then turned and left.
...
Li Zhirui woke up early that day, performed a Cleanse Spell with a flick of his hand, and hurriedly flew westward.
Today, he was to go to the Marketplace with Li Shilian, who was in charge of delivering materials and collecting debts, and Li Shiting, who was replacing Li Shiren.
Li Zhirui's purpose in going to the Marketplace was to sell the large amount of Spirit Pills he had on hand.
Since he taught his clan to refine Jade Spirit Pills, he hadn't been producing this pill in large quantities, instead starting to refine other types of Spirit Pills.
Although the family also purchased these Spirit Pills, they were not as universally accepted as the Jade Spirit Pills, so Li Zhirui had no choice but to find buyers in the Marketplace himself.
However, this was too dangerous, and Li Zhirui dared not act alone, so when he learned that Li Shilian and Li Shiting were going to the Marketplace that day, he made up his mind to ride on their coattails to protect himself.
Li Shilian and Li Shiting didn't object at all, and Li Shilian even wanted to accompany Li Zhirui.
But since Li Zhirui had his secrets, he naturally wouldn't agree and brushed off the suggestion.
"Let's go!" Once the three of them were together, they directly activated the Spirit Boat and flew towards the Marketplace. As soon as Li Shiting boarded, she exchanged a few words with them and then entered the cabin.
Li Shilian and Li Zhirui both knew she was aloof and resistant to socializing, so they didn't mind.
"They've set off! There's only one Foundation Establishment cultivator!"
The moment the Spirit Boat departed from Da Rong Island, a Communication Talisman flurried out, promptly delivering the news to several cultivators lying in ambush on the way.
As for Li Zhirui, standing right beside Li Shilian, because of his cultivation level, he was not yet eligible to be included in such communication.
Alas, they were unaware that this time, there was more than one Foundation Establishment cultivator coming out!
"Bang—"
When the Spirit Boat had reached the midpoint of its journey, a massive column of water suddenly surged up from the seafloor. The tremendous force nearly flipped the Spirit Boat, and before Li Zhirui and Li Shilian could steady themselves, three masked assailants in black appeared outside.