In Qinghe Market, not all are cultivators; many mortals live here as well.
These mortals mostly serve as labor, transporting goods for cultivators or managing daily meals in exchange for compensation to support their families.
Within the market, cultivators are prohibited from using violence against mortals, as there are specific rules and systems in place. As long as mortals do not cause trouble, their safety within the market is generally guaranteed.
Cyan Mountain Residence has hired a few mortals to serve as shop clerks, performing tasks within their capability.
"Yecheng, how's the shop's business been lately?"
After the unloading was complete, Lu Changfeng asked.
Xu Yecheng sighed, a bit embarrassed, and said, "Elder, to be honest, the shop's business has been bleak in recent years, with no improvement. We've been relying solely on selling the sect's homegrown spirit medicine and spirit rice. Continuing like this isn't a sustainable solution..."
After all, the Cyan Mountain Residence is managed by him and Qian Yingcai together, and poor business naturally is somewhat tied to them.
Hearing this answer, though not unexpected, Lu Changfeng said nothing more, following Xu Yecheng into the inner hall to discuss the sale of this batch of spirit rice and the items that needed to be purchased this time.
In the coming month, they will remain at Qinghe Market until the spirit rice is all sold and the listed items purchased before returning to Cyan Mountain Sect.
In the meantime, during his stay in the market, Lu Changfeng would monitor the Cyan Mountain Residence's business situation to form a clear understanding, so upon returning, he could discuss how to expand the shop and what changes to make.
All things considered, these require time for observation.
As Lu Changfeng busied himself in the market, far away at Cyan Lotus Mountain, Lu Ping was not idling either.
When Lu Changfeng returns, it will be time to plant the spirit rice. During this period, reputation points must be accumulated to redeem [Resource Optimization] to better optimize the spirit field.
Do not forget that redeeming [Resource Optimization] requires fifty reputation points.
Having completed the external affairs of clearing the Tree Cave Fox, Lu Ping had previously redeemed [Steadfast Dao Heart], [Moon Grass Seed], [Moon Grass Pill Formula], and [Diligent and Studious], spending a lot of reputation, leaving him with only 31 points.
A single [Resource Optimization] requires 50 reputation points for redemption, and 31 points is obviously insufficient, so acquiring more reputation urgently is necessary.
To this end, after thinking for a while, Lu Ping decided to spend five reputation points to use [Doorway Affairs] once.
After deducting the five reputation points, the exploration map appeared.
Observing the map for a while, Lu Ping chose a hilly area southwest of Cyan Mountain Sect, more than three hundred miles away from the sect.
Once the location was selected, the exploration began.
Ripples spread out in circles, unfolding the exploration, which quickly yielded results.
[Doorway Affairs: Downstream region of Lingxi, there's a group of Cyan-tailed Spirit Fish currently in their migratory spawning period, migrating toward their spawning grounds. You could try to catch them]
[Quantity: 190 to 539]
[Combat Power: Weak]
[Status: Migrating, expected to reach their spawning grounds at Little Cloud Lake in thirty-six days]
[Completion Reward: 165 reputation, Exorcism Divine Thunder Talisman ×1]
...
Cyan-tailed Spirit Fish, a rare Tier One fish species, is renowned for its silver-white tender flesh and delicious taste, making it a great nutritional supplement for cultivators.
They rarely travel in groups, only gathering during the annual spawning period to migrate toward a spawning ground.
This spirit fish lays few eggs. A single female Cyan-tailed Spirit Fish can only lay a few eggs.
And each year's spawning ground is random, with no fixed location, making them difficult to capture.
If this group of Cyan-tailed Spirit Fish can be successfully caught, in the short term, even if not cultivated, directly selling this group of spirit fish could yield a substantial income, bringing nearly six hundred spirit stones to the sect.
There is no shortage of market demand for Cyan-tailed Spirit Fish, so there's no worry about not being able to sell them. Such a premium ingredient is very popular with restaurants.
In the long run, during this group's spawning period, if uniformly farmed to raise fry, the fish population will inevitably grow larger in the future.
If farmed well, it could completely become a new sect industry, marking a significant water-based specialty.
Whether short-term or long-term, getting hold of this group of spirit fish will significantly improve the sect's situation.
There's really no need to think too hard about whether to catch them.
A group of Cyan-tailed Spirit Fish doesn't possess cultivation, and no matter how fast they are in water, can they withstand a group of Qi Cultivators?
Moreover, we even know the spawning grounds well. It is entirely feasible to prepare early and lie in wait at Little Cloud Lake.
No fool would pass up the fatty meat delivered right to their door, and Lu Ping is no fool.
"Compared to the earlier Tree Cave Fox, the value of this group of Cyan-tailed Spirit Fish is much higher, and the reputation gained is significantly greater. There is Yanyang Lake on Cyan Lotus Mountain where farming can be attempted to open a new revenue stream for the sect."
"As for the reward of the Exorcism Divine Thunder Talisman, it is a Tier One High-grade Talisman. The power it unleashes in battle is equivalent to a full-strength strike from a Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation Cultivator and holds an innate restraining advantage against demon cultivators and ghosts."
After reviewing the information on the Exorcism Divine Thunder Talisman, Lu Ping made a note of this affair.
A team needs to be sent to Little Cloud Lake to catch the fish promptly.
Before having the capacity to cultivate Foundation Establishment Cultivators, making money for the sect is particularly important.
Continuing to check the map, Lu Ping pondered whether to spend another five reputation points to perform another Doorway Affairs exploration, given how practical this function is and the generous rewards upon completion.
With the mindset of hitting two birds with one stone and executing two Doorway Affairs simultaneously, acquiring reputation points and opening new resources for the sect could be accelerated.
With this in mind, his gaze traversed the map, first toward Guangde County.
Adjacent to Cyan Mountain Sect, Guangde County is the only mortal town under the sect's protection, and over the years, Cyan Mountain Sect has come to know it like the back of their hand.
Its area on the map is fully illuminated, allowing unrestricted viewing of the city's appearance and geographical environment.
Toward all directions, extending ten thousand miles from Cyan Mountain Sect as the center, all are fully illuminated.
This is the limit of the system map's selectable range. Beyond this, those edge areas appear gray and unlit, and inaccessible for exploration.
At the same time, Lu Ping is unable to choose to explore those regions.
He's only able to choose to conduct Doorway Affairs exploration within the fully illuminated map area.
In the past, during the sect's peak, with him as the Golden Core Ancestor overseeing it, the Cyan Mountain Sect's sphere of influence extended over tens of thousands of miles.
The entire Lushan County was Cyan Mountain Sect's territory, and even parts of the cultivation realm in the Chu Kingdom were under Cyan Mountain Sect's jurisdiction.
But now, Cyan Mountain Sect's sphere of influence has drastically shrunk, and the control they maintain is only within a ten-thousand-mile radius around the sect.
Looking at the limited map range, Lu Ping couldn't help but sigh. Over the thirty years of his absence, Cyan Mountain Sect had declined severely.
But irrespective of how much the sphere of influence reduces, at least there are still areas to explore.
Within a ten-thousand-mile radius, there's always room for a hundred times of explorations.
To want a broader exploration range, focus on developing the sect in the future and expanding the territory will suffice.
Hesitantly choosing which section to probe next, Lu Ping soon noticed a conspicuous little red dot had appeared on the map, in the western part of the Cyan Mountain Sect.
The small red dot twinkled like a breathing light in the night, exceptionally eye-catching on the map.
Beside the small red dot, the geographical name was marked.
"Hidden Nether Mountain."