As Yan Han mentioned, the number of shops in the market town would be equally divided between the dignitaries and common people.
What was the significance of the market town, then? Well, it was to give everyone an open, safe, and reliable platform to trade. Since we were talking about trade, we had to focus on the volume of commodities and the audience.
Under current circumstances, it was impossible for the common people to take up a significant market share, for most of the resources were in the hands of the middle and upper classes.
It was like that auction Gu Yu had attended in Spring City. The information had only gone public for days, yet those people were able to get their hands on creatures such as mutated peacocks and even dared to auction them.
One could imagine that if the country connived in the legitimacy of market towns, how much would such people all over the country be able to bring to the trade?
As for the common folk, at the current stage, they would be merely a complement to the main scene. Phoenix Mountain would not try to earn their money for the time being, but would evaluate them on the value they could generate in the future. Dai Han, for instance, had brought with him a pair of baby big-toed thickshell turtles and his ample experience in raising them. That would be counted as his value.
Naturally, Yan Han reported the news to Patriarch Sky-turning.
The patriarch might be a little moron every now and then, but with proper supervision, she was capable of doing smart and sensible things. She instructed Dai Han to hand in his specific requirement of setting up the aquaculture pond, then communicated with the authorities, who gave her 300 mu of land in a suburban village by a river for a soft-shelled turtle pond.
Phoenix Mountain then reached an agreement with the Dai Family that if the big-toed thickshell turtles were successfully bred, the Dai Family would be granted a shop in the market town under the condition that they would provide Phoenix Mountain and the government with a certain number of turtles every year.
Thanks to the existence of Phoenix Mountain, the government had left Bai Town out when planning for the new urban agglomeration. While the surrounding towns and counties were busying setting up installations to take in more people and rapidly expanding towards small-scale cities, Bai Town remained as carefree as always, building an ecosphere of its own.
The authorities had no problem with that at all. There would be loads of good stuff, and for every portion Phoenix Mountain received, the government would have its share as well.
***
Noon, snowy.
Before they realized, the Dai Family had moved in for three days. Grumpy her words might be, but Mother Dai adjusted to the environment quickly and was arranging everything in their daily life in good order.
Dai Han was born and raised in Hunan Province—a southern kid through and through. This was his first winter in the Northeast. Wrapped in the thickest down jacket he could find and covering his face with a scarf, he ventured out of the residential area, trodding through the thick snow. Hopping on a bus, he headed right for the mountain gate.
He chose to use public transportation instead of driving on purpose to fit in better. Taking a seat in the last row, he looked out of the window while going through a scene from the previous day in his head.
Sweet mother of Jesus! So the videos were real! Wherever the seal landed, it made a dent in the ground as deep and as big as she wanted!
Although that feature sounded a little wrong, the spectacular results shocked everyone present. They were all trying to find out who that girl was—the one that had skin so fair that it reflected sunlight and a face so pretty that she could get away with loan sharks targeting her.
No one knew. All they could tell was that she was from Phoenix Mountain.
The impression they had on the girl was somewhat conflicted as well. They had expected a fairy-like figure with her long dress flapping in the wind and dainty ornaments dangling from her loose hair bun—you know, very ancient style. As it turned out, the one that showed up wore a thigh-length trench coat, slacks, and had black, long, and straight hair. With a wave of her hand, whoosh! A treasure as big as a building flew into the air just like that.
Tsk! Talking about a ruined fantasy!
Wincing, Dai Han cut short his recollection. Another quarter of an hour later, the bus finally arrived at the front gate of Phoenix Mountain.
'!!!'
The moment he got off the bus, he felt as if a bucket of hot water had been poured over his head. The big square was completely taken up by the crowd, and everywhere he turned, he could see nothing but people. Every accent of the country filled his ears, and the square was so cramped that the air felt stifling.
Such a scene did not surprise him at all. He walked around the crowd and reached the left side of the square.
"Come have a look. Fire minerals from Huo Zhou! The purest fire spiritual essence you can find that'll turn you on in no time!"
"Spiritual spring water all the way from Laoshan. Carried here all by myself—just to raise some money for my journey back!"
"Pine nuts from Mount Huang. 1000 yuan for 50 g. One price for all!"
The market town had yet to open, but the common people could always make do with something less. They simply set up makeshift stalls outside the mountain gate. There was no guarantee of the authenticity of the goods, but it was not like they had anything better to do.
Dai Han had been here once already, and was now wandering around aimlessly. He was soon attracted by one of the stalls. The owner wore glasses and had a receding hairline. In his
He was selling one type of goods only—a few odd-looking salted fish, which he picked up from god knew where. The fish had been frozen solid in this weather.
"What fish is this?" asked Dai Han curiously.
"One night stand!"
"What?"
Well, well, thanks... but no, thanks.
Dai Han waved his hand and left the stall promptly. He wandered on for a while, and when the sun had risen to right above their heads and the warmest hour of the day had arrived, a hubbub suddenly ran across the crowd.
"That kid had come down again. Go check it out!"
"Hey, wait for me! I must go up the mountain today!"
"Damn it! I just don't buy it! I'm well over thirty and a kid cannot stop me!"
Shouting and yelling, everyone was rushing towards the mountain gate. Dai Han was carried away by the packed crowd towards the same direction, his feet barely touching the ground.
When they reached the gateway, they saw a child about six or seven years of age walking down the stairs. He wore plain clothes and had an ordinary face. He carried a wooden sword across his back, and the hilt jutted out from behind his shoulder.
Descending the stairs on his short legs, he forced himself to remain level-headed despite the knot in his stomach. It seemed forever when he finally reached the crowd.
"Ahem…" The child cleared his throat and looked into the thousands of pairs of eyes. 'Sh*t!' He had forgotten the lines he had used for the past two days! He was going into panic when a soft and tiny (more like loud and noisy) voice rang out in his head.
"Same as the past two days…"
"Same as the past two days…"
He repeated the words in a hurry. "I will make three strikes only. Those that can dodge my first strike can enter the mountain; those that can dodge two strikes in a row can enter the inner mountain; those that can dodge all three three strikes get to meet the immortals. But, one has to back out right away if they are hit by the first strike!"
The child was none other than Zheng Kaixin himself. After the lengthy announcement, he gradually calmed down, and no longer needed any reminders. "Phoenix Mountain is a blessed land, where the real immortals dwell. You clamorous lot have not only disturbed the quietness, but also tried to willfully break in. We should have banished you all from here, but since nature has the virtue of cherishing life, we will give you a chance. Anyone wants to go through this mountain gate? They have to go through me first. Should any unruly behavior occur and anyone tries to break in again, they will be executed!"
The words came out more smoothly as he spoke. When he reached the last few words, there was even a formidable aura.
The crowd had all seen what he was capable of in the past two days, and none dared to treat him lightly. Only those that had just got here today remained ignorant and were asking around quietly.
Someone explained right away. "We're all here to see the master and learn skills, right? But no one ever showed up, and someone got impatient. A few people then formed a team and tried to break in. A guy called Li Dong threw them out almost right away. Gosh, how they screamed! They were lucky that the masters were not merciless. The kid then showed up with this rule. Why, bro, you look quite strong. Why don't you have a go?"
The man explaining was a little up to no good by now, but the newcomer did not realize that. For all he knew, that was just an ordinary kid. He shouted right away, "Do you mean what you said?"
"Of course!"
"Ok. I'll have a go!"
Buzz!
The crowd erupted right away, and people made way to let the man pass.
The fellow soon reached the front of the line and made a visual comparison: a 180 cm adult versus a, um, needed he say more? He was suddenly ashamed of himself, as if he was picking on a little kid. "Kiddo, are you sure about this?"
Zheng Kaixin drew his wooden sword right away. It was a little under 70 cm and looked like a toy. "Are you ready?"
"Bring it on, then. Be careful. I'll have to pay for the medical bill if you get hurt."
The man turned out to have been trained in martial arts. Clenching his fists and putting one leg in front of the other, he stood there with a posture that was the starting stance of some free-hand boxing of the Northern School.
'Wow!'
The crowd grew even more excited. Those that had come forward before were all useless common people. Not a single of those dozens of people managed to make it through the first strike. However, none of them dared to make any noise, and they only watched quietly.
"..."
With his sword in hand, Zheng Kaixin soon quieted down, as if he had obtained the most reliable power.
Starting from the end of last year, he had been learning swordplay for five months. Long Qiu's teaching was very methodical. Starting from the abstract concepts, she let him to have an impression of the sword at first, then moved onto basic methods.
Moreover, Xiao Qiu was a gentle teacher that was generous with her encouragement, which made the kid all the more interested in his study.
"The first strike!" Pursing his lips, Zheng Kaixin opened his eyes widely. The words had barely left his tongue when he raised the sword and thrust out at the man's thigh.
The fellow let out an exclamation. He was trained in traditional martial arts, and could tell how this exchange of blows would go: the kid had short arms and a short sword, and neither were his movements very fast. By the time the sword reached his leg, he'd have time to strike three times already.
Therefore, he strode out to the left unhurriedly, thinking he could easily evade the sword. However, the next second...
Whoosh!
The wooden sword that was moving slowly sped up all of a suddenly as if a propeller had been switched on, charging right at him, leaving a streak of blurry images behind.
Sh*t! The man felt his heart skip a beat. Switching his balance to his left, he dived to the ground and rolled away. It was not a pretty picture, but he dodged the sword successfully.
Buzz!
"Wow, that was awesome, man!"
"Keep at it! We're counting on you!"
"Two more! Two more!"
The onlookers erupted. That was a first after all this time.
Zheng Kaixin was mildly surprised as well, but there was no time to think. Striding out with his right leg and tensing up his left leg, he swiped the blade down at an angle, then brought it forward. The movement of the sword was light and had a harmless feeling to it.
The fellow was about to leap up after the rolling, but while he was still in a crouching position with his back lowered, the wooden sword reached out and landed on his shoulder.
Sigh!
The crowd sighed with pity. Another failure!
Zheng Kaixin withdrew the sword as soon as he made a successful hit, then bowed politely. "It was a pleasure to fight with you."
"Thank you!"
Various feelings flashed across the man's face as he tried to find the right words. He finally cupped his hands, then returned to the square with his head lowered.
***
Up on Phoenix Mountain.
A breeze seemed to blow across the old tree, and the leaves swayed slightly. A man then appeared out of nowhere. Gu Yu stood under the old tree and looked into the distance at the rolling mountains along the horizon, sighing. "The formation plates are finally set up. I hope I got everything right."
In his hand was the last round plate made of one single piece of green jade stone. On it were three oval indentations, where the spiritual stones would be inserted.
Gu Yu put the three Grade Three stones in place and glanced at a spot where a very conspicuous clump of long leaves stood; at their top was a ball of red seeds. It was none other than that spiritual ginseng.
It was because of this plant that Old Gu was confident about setting up this great defensive formation for the mountain.
Activating the Small Moving Technique, the formation plate disappeared from his hand and was buried beneath the root of the spiritual ginseng. The ball of red seeds swayed right away, as if the plant was protesting.
"You've been living on my mountain and drinking my liquor. It's time you do your job." Gu Yu sent a streak of his mental force into the plant and grinned. "Let's begin!"