Chapter 297 Folk Tales
"Why has the price of spirit stones suddenly dropped so drastically in recent times?"
"Yes, it has started to fall sharply, which is really unexpected. If I had known this, I would not have hoarded it earlier."
After the New Year, the excitement suddenly faded, the Lantern Street was demolished, and the East and West markets resumed operations.
During these quiet days, the ice and snow in Shengjing began to melt, and the city was covered in mud in recent days.
On the upper floor of Zuixian Tower where the underground fire was still burning, the idle young men from the capital gathered together and sat opposite the invited guests to chat.
Last year, due to the rare heavy snow, the production of Snow Demon Stone was suspended. In addition, due to the small inventory in Yunzhou and Zhongzhou and the inability to mine in winter, the supply of spirit stones in Qingyun World was almost cut off.
Unexpectedly, not long after the new year, the spirit stone shops reopened and a large number of spirit stones began to flow into the market.
The price of spirit stones, which had soared before the new yuan, has dropped by more than half, and the trend is even unabated, with the price changing every day.
Zhao Yunyue took a cup of tea and couldn't help but speak up when she heard the voice: "After the ice and snow thawed, Yunzhou's Spirit Stone Chamber of Commerce immediately resumed work and mined a large number of spirit stones in a short period of time, hoping to take on the high price of the Snow Region Demon Stone."
"A large amount of Zhongzhou stone has entered the market. How can it be sold at such a high price?"
"The Spirit Stone Chamber of Commerce in Yunzhou is not that stupid. They have been controlling the speed at which spirit stones flow into the market. There was even a period of time when they stopped selling them for a few days in order to suppress the price drop."
"Why is the price of spirit stones so discounted?"
"Not long after Yunzhou Spirit Stone appeared on the market, Snow Region Monster Stone began to pour in, pushing the price back down. The quality of Yunzhou Stone is not as good as Snow Region Monster Stone, so the price naturally plummeted."
Princess Changle turned the teacup in her hand and said calmly: "The Yunzhou Spiritual Stone Chamber of Commerce was not very knowledgeable and immediately sold off its inventory, causing the current price of spiritual stones to continue to fall."
After hearing this, a young man from an aristocratic family pursed his lips and said, "Aren't the Lu sisters closely related to Ji You? Why..."
"Ji You does things without scruples, so this is not surprising."
"Why are there so many Snow Region Demon Stones?"
"This is hard to understand. It means that the Snow Region Demon Stone has been transported in a long time ago, but it has been hoarded by someone with ulterior motives."
A young man from an aristocratic family who was watching the dancer twist her waist turned around and said, "What did I say? Those Snow Region Demon Stones that appeared from time to time before the new era are definitely problematic. Now it seems that Ji You is here to make money. I also heard that he bought spiritual seedlings from Liangzhou and brought them back to Fengzhou to plant."
The young man from the capital who had spoken earlier raised his eyebrows in surprise: "There is such a thing?"
“No lies.”
"He wants to cultivate spiritual seedlings in Fengzhou?"
"It is so."
"This Ji You has already established a firm foothold in the Immortal Sect, but he acts like a villager. He goes back and forth, covered in mud, but I don't see him ever taking the trouble to practice."
"Perhaps his bloodline is really different from ours. The descendants of mortals are still mortals after all. Their Taoism may not be so firm and they are easily disturbed by worldly affairs."
The speaker was a young man wearing a royal blue shirt and looked very young.
He was a new student at Tianshu Academy and one of the most talented young men in the Elders' Pavilion. After arriving in Shengjing last autumn, he was pulled into their circle by these young men from the capital to drink and have fun.
This kind of treatment is just like what Chu He, Fang Jincheng, Peng Yu and others received back then.
They haven't been in the hospital for long, but they have heard a lot about Ji You. Although they have never seen him, he is not unfamiliar to them.
For children of immortals like them who have been placed high hopes by their families since childhood, seeking immortality and asking for the way are the must-do things. However, Ji You is only concerned with making money and farming, which easily makes people associate his identity with it.
In order to prohibit common people from practicing Taoism, Daxia began to consciously preach the theory of bloodline hundreds of years ago.
To put it simply, it is to constantly solidify the idea that only the descendants of immortals are immortals, and the descendants of mortals can only be mortals, and to eliminate the emergence of private cultivation from the cognition.
This method is actually not very clever. Not to mention smart people, even people with some brains can understand the purpose.
However, time is also an extremely terrifying magic. After hundreds of years of instillation, this simple idea has not only become unbreakable, but also has become traceable.
Therefore, not only mortals believe that cultivating immortals is something that the descendants of immortals can do, but even the immortal cultivators themselves think so.
But what they are discussing here is true.
After the new year, Zhongzhou's Lingshi Chamber of Commerce began to order the resumption of work, and all major spiritual mines began to urge miners to speed up mining.
However, when they resumed work, the snow was thick and the ice had not melted, so the risk was extremely high. Faced with the high pressure and coercion, the miners had no choice but to obey.
Unexpectedly, not long after, the Snow Demon Stones began to enter Jiuzhou on a large scale, disrupting the rhythm of the Spirit Stone Chamber of Commerce.
This was the result of discussion between Ji You and Si Xian Jian.
As winter returned, it no longer made much sense to control the sales of spirit stones, and it would likely cause indirect oppression to the miners in Yunzhou and Zhongzhou, so he handed over all transportation rights to the Sixianjian.
Spiritual stones are very important to immortal cultivators, otherwise the Spiritual Stone Chamber of Commerce would not be able to operate it into its own century-old business, but Ji You has no interest in this.
He just wanted to take advantage of the right time, place and people to make some money, and at the same time transfer some of the suffering caused by the snowstorm to those high-ranking immortal cultivators.
As for Lu Qingqiu, the Yunzhou Chamber of Commerce did ask her to come forward because of the price of spirit stones, hoping that she would influence their side.
However, the eldest lady of the Lu family did not discuss with Ji You about controlling the quantity and raising the price together as they had instructed. She only asked to what extent the price would fall.
Because she knew in her heart that Ji Youzhi was not interested in this.
Whether it was establishing an aristocratic family, going on a diplomatic mission to the Snow Region, or cutting off the supply of spirit stones, he was just doing what he wanted. He was not planning to establish a private family, nor was he trying to establish an aristocratic family that dominated one side.
In response to Lu Qingqiu's question, Ji You's answer was that the original price would be fine.
Spiritual stones are extremely important to the immortal cultivators in Qingyun World. If they are too expensive or too cheap, it will cause disputes.
What Ji Hanfei hopes for is stability. This is a subconscious behavior, because for orphans who are displaced, stability has always been important.
As for the cultivation of spiritual seedlings, Fengzhou is indeed making preparations.
Replacing crops with higher prices and greater demand can also be considered a form of industrial upgrading.
The most important thing is that Ling Miao can earn back the taxes from the immortals...
In the following days, the snow in Shengjing melted quickly, and the price of spirit stones gradually fell to a stable level.
Gradually, no one cared about it anymore.
The spring ploughing in Fengzhou began during this period.
Last autumn, a batch of magical instruments that Ji You customized at Qionghua Pavilion were delivered on time and transported back to Fengzhou by the Wuyou Trading Company's carriage.
Those were plows driven by spirit stones that could assist farmers in their work. As a result, there were many more scenes of spiritual energy overflowing between the farmlands in Fengzhou, which left the immortal cultivators passing by speechless.
However, Qingyun is so big that things worth noting do not only happen to Ji You.
After Shanhai Pavilion announced that the holy weapon would be passed to the direct disciple Huo Xingzhong, the news came from Wendao Sect that Shang Xiyao would take over the holy weapon, which caused a lot of discussion.
Including the young master of Lingjian Mountain and Yuanchen, the direct disciple of Dan Sect, there are now four immortal sects in this world that are about to usher in a change of dynasties.
There was another thing they heard from the disciples of the Immortal Sect.
It is said that many elders who had been in seclusion for many years came out of seclusion around the same time. When they were chatting, they heard many names that were only recorded in books...
Spring thunder roared and a drizzle of rain fell.
There was a hint of spring in the world, and the biting cold began to gradually fade away.
Ji You was sitting in a teahouse in Zhongzhou at this time, reading two letters carefully in his hands.
After visiting several immortal villages in Fengzhou last year, everyone was obviously much more harmonious, and this year's spring ploughing was easily attended by many immortal cultivators.
Ji You just went to check on the situation of Ling Miaotian and left, without paying much attention or intervening in other matters.
The development of Fengzhou is the business of the people of Fengzhou. He hopes that life can become better and there will be fewer things that he doesn't like, but he doesn't really want to be the lord of Fengzhou who controls everything.
Because with his personality, he would not do anything to exploit others. If he really became the so-called lord of Fengzhou, he might even be exhausted to death.
At this moment, Yuan Caiwei's beautiful handwriting and Yan Shuyi's sharp brushstrokes appeared in the letter that Ji You unfolded.
It has been a month since the two of them left Shengjing together.
A few days ago, the two of them sent him a letter, which was delivered to Shengjing, and then was forwarded from Shengjing by Wuliu Trading Company.
The letter from the daughter of Danzong talked about Yuanchen's control of the holy weapon after returning to the mountain, and said that her father had become more strict for some reason.
But between the lines, Ji You could see two words - not pregnant.
As for Yan Shuyi, he also drew a female villain holding a long sword and stabbing a male villain to death to show his majesty.
However, this painting is different from the previous ones. The difference is that the little man who was pierced through the heart by a sword is kneeling on the ground.
It seems that the young master of Lingjian Mountain still has some resentment for the chaotic talk that night...
At this moment, a servant came out of the teahouse, carrying a teapot to his table.
"Sir, would you like more water?"
"No, thank you."
Ji You put the letter into his sleeve, handed a few copper coins to the waiter, then stood up and walked into the drizzle outside the teahouse.
As he walked, the air currents surrounding his body lifted the falling raindrops and shook them off, so that his clothes did not get wet.
Soon, he left the town and came to a muddy mountain path in the wilderness.
Although the mud on the ground was isolated by his spiritual energy, some mud spots still fell onto his boots.
However, Ji You didn't care. Instead, a golden color appeared in his eyes. He looked around for a long time and then walked south.
After Xin Yuan, the world of Qingyun was very peaceful, and the disaster that Xin Yuan worried about that night did not happen.
So he put all his energy into practicing.
On the one hand, it was because he still couldn't beat Yan Shuyi, and on the other hand, the murder of Bu Qirong and the cut-off of the supply of spirit stones made him make too many enemies, and they were all old guys with high levels.
If you want to survive in this world without being constrained, strength always comes first.
Because if he didn't have the ability to injure Elder Fang, cutting off the supply of spirit stones for disaster relief would not have been so smooth.
But after several attempts at body refining, he found that he encountered a shortage of spiritual energy every time, so that the body refining process came to an abrupt halt.
It’s not that there is something wrong with his practice, but that the outside world is different from the holy land of sages after all.
He had been keeping the spiritual fire in his body burning wildly in the holy land of the sages, so that he quickly broke through two major barriers.
But he didn't realize at the time that the amount of spiritual energy he consumed each time he practiced body refining was constantly increasing.
After all, the spiritual energy in the holy land far exceeded his needs, so he had no concerns.
In other words, if he had not been able to take the top spot and enter, he might not have been able to reach the threshold of the physical body until now.
And now the amount of spiritual energy he needed for body refining was even more terrifying, so that even though he had survived to the first level, he did not have enough spiritual energy to pass the level in one breath.
So he had been looking for a place with abundant spiritual energy during this period of time, trying to improve the efficiency of his body training, and after going around in circles, he ended up here.
Zhongzhou is the place where the human race revived, and it was influenced by the existence of the holy places of the ancient sages. There are indeed several places with rich spiritual energy.
Ji You has been exploring back and forth these days and has found several places in the mountains and forests.
After the light rain, the dense mountain forest was filled with a damp smell.
There was crystal dew on the leaves, and your clothes would get wet when you passed over them.
Ji You followed the capture of divine consciousness and came to a wild valley in a dense forest. He found the location he had locked on before, and then began to breathe in spiritual energy.
When the spiritual energy accumulated in his body, he ignited it with his mind, and the raging spiritual fire instantly began to burn his body from the inside out.
This process is like forging iron. The burning is to break the shackles of the flesh itself, while the collision is like hammering.
While the spiritual fire continued to burn, his Qi continued to breathe in and out to continue to replenish the burning of the spiritual fire.
This process continues from noon to dusk, alternating continuously.
The forest, which had just experienced a light rain, was originally very wet, but at this moment, it was slowly evaporating to dryness with him as the center.
The billowing white smoke drifted around like mountain fog with the breeze, constantly filling the forest.
Until the early morning of the next day, a cluster of faint blue flames flashed across his body, and the spiritual energy he slowly took into his body began to dissipate between strong and weak.
“It’s much better than before.”
"But, this is also the limit..."
"Unfortunately, this is not my limit, but the limit of the world."
Ji You opened his eyes, felt the energy around him, and couldn't help but mutter to himself.
But it doesn’t matter, a little bit adds up.
He stood up and left the woods, and his mind began to explore the surroundings.
The flow of spiritual energy is slow. After some places have been used, they cannot be used again within a short period of time and need to be found again.
Ji You walked through the mountains and forests, continuing to look for the next place, and then continued to breathe, light the fire, and calcine.
Three days later, in the early morning, he left the mountains in the misty drizzle and came to a county town called Guangming County in Zhongzhou, where he stayed in an inn.
Then the spiritual mind flew into the sky, unwaveringly following the path of adding water when there was too much flour, and adding flour when there was too much water, to ensure that the spiritual mind was not restricted by the physical body.
When I opened my eyes again, it was already dusk.
Ji You got up and left the inn, going to the largest teahouse in Guangming County.
A shadow play was being performed in the front hall of the teahouse. The master, sitting behind the screen, used the pole in his hand to make the shadow puppets move around constantly, which looked quite interesting.
This play tells an ancient legend of Qingyun, telling the story of a great virtuous person who slayed an evil spirit.
It is said that there was a lake in Qingyun, in which lived an evil ghost, causing trouble everywhere. Finally, he was killed by Dade and sealed in the lake.
This story is essentially praising the cultivators of immortality, especially the scene in which the old master holds a horizontal pole with many puppets of different shapes strung on it, including old people and children, representing all the people in the world. They are often asked to prostrate themselves on their knees to thank the immortals for protecting peace in all directions.
Ji You was not interested in this kind of drama at first, but gradually began to pay more and more attention to it.
Because he found that some of the stories in the performances were true events that had not even been recorded in Qingyun historical materials and had been lost for many years. However, they were passed down orally through the adaptations of these folk artists and could be seen as another form of unofficial history.
Although some of them are indeed wild, some scenes are still very intriguing.
For example, in a drum book performance, he heard the legend of an immortal who guarded the mountain.
In the story, a stranger came to an ancient remote town. He wore a bamboo hat, his hair and beard were all white, but he was strong and his face was rosy.
He doesn't live in a town, but in a mountain.
The hidden identity of this old man from another place in the story is actually an immortal who guards the mountain. He guards the four directions and kills many demons.
Ji You also heard a piece of sanxian singing and playing, and the story included a legend about ghosts appearing in the dark night.
These stories sounded like they had been exaggerated countless times, but Ji You felt that some parts of them were very similar to the legends of the Night Watchmen.
Ever since he read the book "Night Watchmen" in Tianshu Academy, Ji You has been paying attention to this kind of thing.
Because he really didn't know what he would become in the end after completing the body training, nor did he know whether his current way of practice was correct.
He wanted to find someone who knew the answer, but unfortunately, he checked the county annals in various places and asked Kuang Cheng to get the information from the Sixianjian, but he found nothing.
Unexpectedly, he had heard some clues in folk teahouses.
He didn't know where these stories came from, but he knew that the ancestors of these folk artists might really know about the existence of the Night Watchmen.
That's why he would come to the teahouse to listen to stories whenever he had time, to see if he could hear anything.
As for the current shadow play, it sounded a bit hazy, but "evil ghost" was a word he had never heard of before. He thought that if it was not made up, there must be an explanation for it, so he couldn't help but tapping the table and listening to it from beginning to end.
When the shadow play was over, the waiter came to refill the tea. Ji You took out a piece of silver and handed it to him: "I want to meet the gentleman who performed the shadow play."
"You mean Old Man Zhao?"
"That's the one who was singing the shadow play just now."
The servant took the silver and immediately bowed: "Sir, wait a moment, I will go and fetch it for you."
Ji You shook his head: "Just take me to see him."
"Then... Sir, please come this way."
"Thank you very much."
Ji You followed the servant downstairs and arrived behind the stage.
The old shadow puppet artist was leaning against the doorpost backstage, supporting himself with one leg, and eating his meal.
Upon hearing that someone was looking for him, Old Man Zhao immediately put down the coarse porcelain bowl in his hand, and then listened carefully to Ji You's questions.
"Night Watchman...? I have never heard of this title before."
"Our librettos were all passed down by our elders. Why are you interested in them, young master?"
"I don't know the origin of shadow puppetry. The one I sang today was originally a selection from a string book. There are not many people among us who can make up stories, so most of the pieces are borrowed from each other."
(End of this chapter)
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