Eternal Life: I Can Control My Essence Qi-Chapter 78: Qingyunfang City

The cultivation realm of Wei Kingdom has witnessed many changes over time.

Now, the forces dominating the cultivation realm of Wei Kingdom are two major sects, two great noble families, and the Independent Practitioner Alliance.

The two major sects are "Jingu Sect" and "Qinglian Sect," one in the south and one in the north; the two great noble families are the "Ouyang Family" and the "Chu Family," which jointly control the Qingyun Marketplace.

The last, the Independent Practitioner Alliance, although formidable in numbers, occupies the most spirit veins, but due to loose organization, is actually the weakest in power.

These five major forces are the most renowned in Wei Kingdom’s cultivation realm, each having Foundation Establishment cultivators holding ground, attracting many cultivators. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"Boom!"

A yellow stream of light sped past, and from afar, the Qingyun Mountain Range that stretched for thousands of miles came into view.

"This cultivation realm of Wei Kingdom is indeed vastly different..."

Zhang Yao flew along the way, noticing numerous escape lights, some solitary, some in groups of three or five, all heading towards Qingyun Marketplace.

The cultivation realm in Wei Kingdom roughly consists of one or two thousand cultivators.

Although much stronger than Lu Kingdom, within the Hundred Countries of the Central Plains, it only ranks at the bottom.

With shallow pools and small temples, the five major forces have basically divided up various cultivation resources within Wei Kingdom, hence standalone loose cultivators are rare and mostly rely on the five major forces.

Moments later, Zhang Yao had flown over half of the Qingyun Mountain Range, and discovered a gorge enveloped in mist.

Above the gorge, there were more than ten escape lights coming and going, very conspicuous, visible from afar.

"I should be here."

Zhang Yao’s spirit lifted, promptly operating the Spiritual Eye Skill, and after discerning the pulse of the Cloud Mist Array, he flew straight down.

Silently and without a trace, he passed through the mist, descended from the flying sword escape light, and landed on a small path in the valley.

Looking around, on both sides of the road were vast spirit fields, lushly planted with spirit rice, appearing vigorous under the nourishment of abundant spiritual qi.

"The environment here is so much better than Celestial Capital Mountain..."

Zhang Yao sensed slightly, a hint of joy surfaced in his heart.

The spirit vein where Qingyun Marketplace is located is the largest spirit vein within Wei Kingdom, this marketplace has been established for at least a thousand years and has changed many owners.

The gorge where the marketplace is established should be surrounded by a Spirit Gathering Array, making the effect of spiritual qi gathering beyond his expectations.

"Excuse me, please."

Another escape light descended, a cyan robed swordsman bypassed Zhang Yao, hurriedly heading deeper into the gorge.

Zhang Yao smiled, and also began to move his steps, proceeding along the small path in the valley, instead of hastening to enter the marketplace, he enjoyed the scenery on both sides.

"This small spirit vein extends at least over ten miles."

"The spirit rice harvested from the thousands of acres of spirit fields in this gorge probably exceeds the yield of Kongqing River by hundreds of times."

Zhang Yao estimated in his heart, unable to help but marvel at how Qingyun Marketplace is truly affluent, just the income from spirit rice alone is enough to make people envious, not to mention the major profits from marketplace trading.

No wonder it takes both the Ouyang Family and Chu Family working together to maintain this marketplace.

"Here."

After walking along the small path in the valley for a while, Zhang Yao finally reached the marketplace.

The cultivation realm of Wei Kingdom is not large, and the scale of Qingyun Marketplace is limited too, consisting merely of three streets named South, Central, and North.

The South Street hosts fixed shops; the North Street hosts unfixed idle stalls where one can set up a stall by just paying spirit stones, a mix of good and bad, selling everything.

The best positioned Central Street, with only a few shops occupying vast areas, is the branch stores of major outside commerce associations, universally recognised and admired.

"It seems, although there is a desolate zone, the cultivation realm of the Hundred Countries of Central Plains is not closed."

"After all, the higher the cultivation, the lesser the influence of the desolate zone. Even in a small pond like Wei Kingdom, there are crocodiles coming to do business..."

Zhang Yao first went to the South Street, blending in with the crowd, and toured it from beginning to end.

There are over twenty shops on South Street, offering spirit pills, talismans, array banners, magical artifacts, spirit rice, cultivation technique scriptures, spirit tea, and spirit wine... all abundant and diverse.

Those able to open a shop on South Street in the marketplace certainly have real skills, with cultivation at least in the late stage of Qi Refining.

Turning around from South Street, he arrived at Central Street.

Paved with green jade, glazed tiles, forming a stark contrast with South Street, the entire street has only five buildings.

Four are large shops, the remaining one is the marketplace’s management institution "Qingyun Pavilion," which has late stage Qi Refining cultivators patrolling and guarding throughout the year, responsible for maintaining marketplace order.

"No rush."

Zhang Yao took a glance at Qingyun Pavilion, then leisurely left Central Street, heading to the bustling North Street.

On both sides of North Street, there were cultivators setting up stalls everywhere, selling all sorts of miscellaneous items, and even shouting about fragments of magical treasures, though the spectators were scant.

After touring the North Street, Zhang Yao arrived at the end of it, looking towards the depths of the gorge.

There resides the residential area of Qingyun Marketplace, distinctly divided east and west:

On the west side, densely packed houses belong to the spirit farmers, tributors, and shop owners dependent on the marketplace; the east side hosts large palaces and pavilions belonging to the two great families.

"In the land of spirit veins, every inch of land is precious, packed tightly, with no vacant land."

After touring the marketplace, Zhang Yao returned to Central Street once more and entered the Qingyun Pavilion.

A cyan robed steward received him and lazily asked:

"Are you here to file a complaint, or looking for work?"

Zhang Yao spoke up, "I have just cultivated to the middle stage of Qi Refining and am ready to join the marketplace, to live as a spirit farmer."

The cyan robed steward glanced at him, his eyes glittering, and slowly said:

"Middle stage Qi Refining, cultivation acceptable."

"Since you don’t want to engage in fighting, can you tend to the spirit fields using magic?"

Zhang Yao honestly replied:

"I practice earth attribute cultivation method, proficient in Fertile Soil Spiritual Technique, and in addition, I can perform ’Spring Breeze and Rain Technique’ and ’Small Cloud Rain Skill.’

The cyan robed steward heard this and nodded in satisfaction, saying:

"That’s not bad, no training needed."

Soon, after the cyan robed steward tested Zhang Yao’s three magic spells, he declared Zhang Yao had passed.

When entered into the roster, Zhang Yao used his real name, yet casually fabricated a place of birth, claiming to be from a state in Wei Kingdom, as he had already altered his appearance so nobody could recognize him.

After receiving a jade talisman in the pavilion and leaving a mark of magical power, Zhang Yao became an honored spirit farmer in the Qingyun Marketplace.

Spirit fields are precious, requiring meticulous cultivation, even though there are already over a hundred spirit farmers in Qingyun Marketplace, it continually recruits people externally, with rather lenient criteria.

"You won’t need me leading the way to where the spirit farmers reside, right?"

The cyan robed steward lounged into the chair, lazily saying:

"Go there yourself, and after activating the jade talisman and leaving a mark of magical power, you can choose an unowned residence."

"The monthly task targets, annual regular assessments, and some rules spirit farmers must abide by will naturally be told by the steward to you."

"Thank you, Steward"

Zhang Yao nodded, bowed, and left Qingyun Pavilion.