Chapter 651 Rejected at the Door, Jiushan Department Store
Seeing the Northern Continent cultivators and Wuzheng City disciples looking at him with surprise, Han Qi straightened his back even more, and his expression became even more arrogant.
He also remembered a conversation he had with Zhang Taishang before he came:
Do you know why you were sent?
Han Qi was a little confused at the time: "I have been in charge of caravan affairs for many years..."
“That’s one reason, but another reason is more important.” Zhang Taishang glanced at him, his expression strange. “You stole Zheng Fa.”
To be honest, even now, when he thinks about those words, he feels a pang in his heart and is extremely frightened—how could you still remember something from a past life?
Zhang Taishang further explained, "It's not about settling scores later; it's about how you're a talent in this area, understand?"
A look of understanding flashed across Han Qi's face: "I understand... I understand!"
...
Looking at the Wuzheng City in front of him, Han Qi still felt a little disdainful—"I'll take over the sect leader position!"
A moment later, the main gate of Wuzheng City opened wide, and a female cultivator rushed over with three Nascent Soul cultivators. She was incredibly voluptuous, and when she walked, her chest seemed to shake the earth.
She walked up to Han Qi, her smile both warm and charming: "Distinguished guest, you have come from afar. I am truly sorry for not being able to greet you properly."
Han Qi couldn't discern the other party's cultivation level, but he knew it was far higher than his own. Given the other party's polite attitude, he naturally couldn't be impolite, so he cupped his hands and asked, "May I ask your honorable name, Madam?"
"My name is Qianji, and I am now in charge of the mundane affairs of Wuzheng City on behalf of the city lord."
"So it was Immortal Thousand Machines in person." Han Qi's expression turned serious, and he replied solemnly, "We were impolite."
Lady Qianji also had some reputation in the Northern Continent, especially in Wuzheng City, where she was the Grand Steward of Wuzheng City. She was highly trusted by Daoist Guhong and held a high position of power.
More importantly, she possesses the cultivation level of a Loose Immortal.
With such a status, such cultivation, and such enthusiasm, Han Qi couldn't help but restrain his bandit-like nature.
As for the rumor that she was a concubine of Daoist Gu Hong in her early years, and that she was naturally charming, knew how to please others, and had high aptitude, and that she gradually cultivated into a loose immortal with the help of Daoist Gu Hong, this was irrelevant to Han Qi.
Lady Qianji led them to a main hall in Guanlan Palace. After exchanging a few pleasantries, she sighed:
"I have long heard of the Nine Mountains Sect's reputation, but the journey is long and it is rare to meet them. Now that you have come from afar, you are indeed outstanding talents that are hard to find in my Wuzheng City. You have lived up to the reputation of the Nine Mountains Sect and have fulfilled my long-cherished wish."
Hearing her say this, the disciples of the Nine Mountains Sect delegation couldn't help but smile. Han Qi seized the opportunity and said, "The sect sent me here because we have long admired Daoist Gu Hong and hope to form an alliance."
"Oh? How should we form an alliance?"
"Madam, you may not know this, but my Nine Mountains Sect has two close allies: the Jade Dragon Lord of the sea and the Nine Nether Emperor of the underworld."
"You want me to submit Wuzheng City to the Nine Mountains Sect?"
"Of course not, Madam, you are wise. Nowadays, our Nine Mountains Sect doesn't really get involved much in the sea and the underworld. The Dragon Lord and the Emperor are the ones who manage most of it. At most, the sect coordinates with them on economic and military matters."
Lady Qianji lowered her eyes, as if hesitating.
"If Wuzheng City is willing to emulate the Dragon Lord and the Nine Nether Emperor, my Nine Mountains Sect is also willing to grant Wuzheng City a certain degree of freedom, and even help Wuzheng City occupy the Northern Continent."
Han Qi wasn't just making empty promises; there were actually significant disagreements within the Nine Mountains Sect regarding their strategy for the Northern Continent—everyone agreed on acquiring the Northern Continent's resources, but how to acquire them was another matter entirely.
Radicals, like Senior Sister Zhang and Uncle Huang, might be thinking of directly occupying the Northern Continent.
The moderates, such as Uncle Pang and Elder Yuan, tended to view war as a last resort. The most important issue was the lessons they learned from attacking Haori Mountain:
They conquered it, but apart from the Haori Mountain treasure vault, their resource gains weren't that high—because of the Gu God's machinations, the governance of the Haori Mountain territory was very expensive, and they've only recently broken even.
Uncle Pang's opinion was that resources, unlike territory, can be acquired through diplomacy and commerce, while war is the most costly method.
This idea gained the upper hand in the Nine Mountains Sect's Supreme Elder Council, and Senior Sister Zhang had no choice but to concede.
The Nine Mountains Sect's goodwill lies in granting the Three Immortals of Wuzheng City and even overseas the same status as the Nine Nether Emperor, or even more freedom.
After listening to Han Qi's explanation, Lady Qianji nodded slightly, seemingly somewhat tempted.
Seeing this, Han Qi felt a little happy. Was the trip to Wuzheng City going so smoothly?
But Lady Qianji's words immediately dampened his joy: "I really cannot make this decision; only the city lord can decide."
"That is only natural," Han Qi agreed, then asked, "May we have the honor of paying our respects to the Immortal Gu Hong?"
"Unfortunately, the city lord has gone out of the city."
Han Qi stared at Lady Qianji: "When will you be able to return?"
"This is difficult for me. What kind of person is the city lord? How could I possibly know his whereabouts?" Lady Qianji smiled charmingly. "He might be back in ten days or half a month, or he might not show his face in the city for a hundred or eighty years."
As Han Qi looked at the smiling Lady Qianji, the joy in his heart quietly slipped away like sand through an hourglass.
...
After seeing Han Qi and the others off out of the city, Lady Qianji put away her smile and slowly walked deeper into Guanlan Palace.
She walked to the outside of a Taoist temple, lowered her head, and looked very serious.
"City Lord!"
"Come in."
Upon entering the Taoist temple, we found the Taoist Master Gu Hong meditating on a futon with his eyes closed.
"They've left?"
"They've been seen off." Lady Qianji recounted the entire conversation they had just had.
"An ally? Just the Nine Mountains Sect?" Daoist Gu Hong opened his eyes, his smile turning cold. "They want me to pledge allegiance?"
"Doesn't the Nine Mountains Sect have the Nine Nether Emperor?"
"The Nine Nether Emperor, ha, he has a grudge against all the Dao Fruits in the world."
Lady Qianji nodded slightly. It wasn't that she didn't know this, but rather that she had long understood Gu Hong Dao Ren's personality and liked her asking a few more silly questions.
She then asked, "Why does the city lord instruct me to be so polite to these disciples?"
"Did you feel wronged?"
"No, it's not. The city lord gave the order, so how could I feel aggrieved?" Lady Qianji said with a frown. "I'm just afraid of losing the prestige of Wuzheng City."
“If the Pure Land can be restored, I would have already submitted to Leiyin Temple and would not want to cause trouble,” said Daoist Gu Hong. “Especially since the Nine Mountains Sect and Leiyin Temple are irreconcilable enemies, and Leiyin Temple is now closed off in the Western Continent, we have no way to seek refuge with them.”
At this point, Daoist Gu Hong's face turned somewhat bitter: "But the Sun-Shooting Divine Bow of the Nine Mountains Sect is quite unreasonable and cannot be neglected."
Lady Qianji nodded silently, then reported, "They also asked about two other things."
"oh?"
The Lonely Goose Taoist looked at Lady Thousand Machines.
"The Nine Mountains Envoy couldn't see you, City Lord, so he asked about the Floating Island and the Outer Heaven Mountain."
"Heh, they think the same way I do. As long as the Pure Land can be restored, we will immediately surrender. There is no way we will submit to the Nine Mountains Sect."
"But the envoy from Jiushan asked another question."
"What?"
"They want us to allocate a place for them in Wuzheng City."
The Lonely Swan Daoist's expression became slightly more serious: "What are you doing?"
"They said they wanted to do business," Madam Qianji said. "I thought it was a small matter, so I agreed."
"It's alright, it doesn't affect the overall situation."
...
A year later, in the southeast corner of Wuzheng City, a huge crowd of hundreds of cultivators gathered at the entrance of a new building.
This is a quaint and antique architectural complex, consisting of four buildings surrounding each other. The tallest main building has seven floors, with upturned eaves on the roof. The buildings are connected by corridors, which are brightly lit.
Above the main entrance of the building hangs a plaque with the four large characters "Jiushan Department Store".
Han Qi stood at the entrance, looking at the cultivators around him with a smile on his face: "This is the first store of my Jiushan Department Store in the Northern Continent. For the first half month after opening, all goods will be 20% off!"
"All items in our store are clearly priced. If there is a problem or you don't like using them, you can bring them back. As long as they are not damaged, we will accept returns and exchanges!"
Upon hearing this, the onlookers were somewhat agitated—this was the first time in the Xuanwei Realm that a shopkeeper had made such a promise.
Some people have already recognized this person as the envoy from the Nine Mountains Sect that day.
Although this place is far from the Eastern Continent and most cultivators have never been there, the name of the Nine Mountains Sect is now well-known among Xuanwei cultivators.
Anyone with even a slight understanding of the situation in Xuanwei knows that the Nine Mountains Sect is one of the three major powers, and they are naturally curious.
Han Qi didn't say much, but simply stepped aside to let the cultivators enter and tour the place.
...
He visited the three reclusive immortals in succession. Although their subordinates were very polite, when it came to serious matters, they all made excuses and said they dared not make decisions. He was truly turned away three times.
Han Qi did not give up. Instead, he reported to the sect, shared his observations, and applied to return to Wuzheng City.
This serves two purposes:
Firstly, because Wuzheng City is indeed the city in the Northern Continent with the smoothest information flow, he can find out more intelligence here.
Secondly, it was for the Jiushan Department Store.
Having been in charge of caravans for many years, he was well aware of the current problem of the Nine Mountains Sect—its production capacity was too strong, making it seem like resources were always in short supply.
Although there is a method for converting spiritual materials, this method may not necessarily have an advantage in terms of cost.
Many spiritual materials are actually very cheap, and using spiritual material conversion methods would be a waste. The most important function of this method is to solve the problem of whether or not one has the material in extreme situations.
Therefore, he opened Jiushan Department Store in order to exchange the magical artifacts, pills, and even talismans accumulated in his sect for resources in the Northern Continent.
He actually acted on his own initiative in this matter, since this wasn't his most important task.
He just felt he saw an opportunity.
As the cultivators filed in, one disciple remained worried: "With such high prices, will we really be able to sell them?"
"Didn't you see what's going on in Wuzheng City? They dare to sell even the most worthless junk for more than we do!"
"This price is more than ten times higher than it was at the Nine Mountains Sect!"
"Remember this," Han Qi said seriously, "We're here to make money. We're selling better products than those here in Beizhou. Do you think they don't know whether they're expensive or not?"
The cultivators of Wuzheng City thought it was too cheap!
Upon entering the main building, they first saw a sign on the ground.
"This is the Treasure Trove Pavilion, the Elixir Pavilion is on the right, and the Rune Shop is on the left..."
Everyone understood the other three buildings, but the last one left everyone somewhat confused: "What is this money exchange?"
"Why don't you just take a look and see?"
Someone shouted.
The group scattered like birds and beasts, with most choosing to visit the Treasure Pavilion first.
Upon closer inspection, they realized that Jiushan Department Store was very different from the spirit weapon stores they had visited before.
In traditional spirit item shops, most spirit items are hung on the wall or displayed on the counter, sometimes in a rather crowded manner.
However, inside Jiushan Department Store, almost every kind of magical artifact is placed on a stone pillar, surrounded by flickering light, which makes these magical artifacts appear even more mysterious and noble, making them seem to be in a different league from the other magical artifact shops.
Each magical artifact was spaced far apart, which inexplicably made them seem more precious, and the prices listed below even seemed quite reasonable.
Beside each magical artifact stood a woman. They were not disciples of the Nine Mountains Sect, but female cultivators hired by Han Qi locally. They had been given only a brief training before starting their jobs, and were still somewhat nervous.
"What are all these things? Is there only one type of each magical artifact?"
Someone asked, puzzled.
"No, we still have some in the warehouse. This is for the customers to see. By the way, you can also try them out in our store."
"Trial use?" Many cultivators from the Northern Continent were taken aback, seemingly puzzled. "How do we try it out?"
The female cultivator in charge of reception took out a compendium and touched it. Points of light appeared on the compendium: "Steward Han said that seeing is believing. No matter how much we say, it is better to let our guests try it for themselves."
How do we test it?
"This is a play by the Nine Mountains Sect...?" The female cultivator seemed not to remember the name either, and stammered a bit, "It allows everyone to enter an illusion and try out these magical artifacts."
They understood the illusion.
But the cultivators of the Northern Continent had never heard of using illusions like this before—what kind of brains did the Nine Mountains Sect have that they could use illusions like this?
"An illusion, who knows what's inside..."
Someone muttered.
“We’ve all tried!” the female cultivator quickly explained. “I’m a local from Wuzheng City!”
She explained for a few moments, and indeed someone recognized her. Immediately, a man stepped forward, eager to try his luck.
"Which ritual implement would you like to try, guest?"
"I want to try flying swords!"
This looks like a sword cultivator; no wonder he's so bold.
"Then you must try our Jiushan Department Store's flagship product, the Azure Cloud Sword!" the female cultivator introduced. "It was crafted using a secret technique left behind by Venerable Tianhe. You can't buy it anywhere else except through our Jiushan Sect!"
The Azure Cloud Sword is actually one of the standard natal magic weapons of the Nine Mountains Sect. It was not forged according to the secret method left by Venerable Tianhe, but when it was sold to outsiders, it was of course given a different name.
Sure enough, upon hearing the name of Venerable Tianhe, the sword cultivator's eyes lit up, and he became even more impatient.
The female cultivator touched the compendium, and a beam of light enveloped the sword cultivator, instantly making his eyes look confused.
About half an incense stick's time later, the female cultivator who was receiving them made another mark on the compendium, and the sword cultivator suddenly shouted, "Kill! That's exhilarating!"
The surrounding cultivators burst into laughter.
The sword cultivator was startled awake by the laughter. He opened his eyes and looked around, completely ignoring everyone else, and anxiously asked the female cultivator who was receiving him, "Why can't I continue? I was really getting into the swing of things!"
"Each person's trial period is limited, after all, we still need to let other customers try it out, right?"
The swordsman seemed about to get angry, but then he remembered that the Nine Mountains Sect was standing behind the shop, and he immediately became obedient: "Is this Azure Cloud Sword really as powerful as it is in the illusion?"
"Our manager Han said before that if there is any falsehood or if you find anything wrong with what you are using, you can just take it back and return it."
Upon hearing this, the swordsman stamped his foot and exclaimed, "I'll buy one!"
The onlookers exchanged bewildered glances. This Azure Cloud Sword was no cheap item; what had this sword cultivator seen that made him buy it so readily?
Having successfully booked a female cultivator, he became much more confident and looked at the other observing cultivators, saying, "Who wants to give it a try? Trying... it's free, right?"
(End of this chapter)
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