245: Chapter 245 Spirit Mine Dispute

A few days later, Chen Changqing and Li Qingling rented a shop in a city. Having just arrived, there were too many things they needed to understand, and they also needed to adapt to life here.

As for the whereabouts of the ziyu pill, they could only search for it slowly.

Fortunately, Li Qingling was only seventy years old now, still far from the end of her lifespan.

The shop they rented was divided into two floors. The first floor sold various Talismans and Magical Artifacts, the second floor sold Medicinal Pills, and the back courtyard was where the two lived.

Having just opened the shop, they attracted many Cultivators to buy due to reasonable prices and good quality. Chen Changqing would occasionally inquire about news.

Most of it was useless, but there was one matter that caught his attention.

Some time ago, the fire-attribute Spiritual Qi in the Fire Domain suddenly went out of control, heading toward Yanhuo City.

Fortunately, most of the time, the power of such Spiritual Qi riots was not that terrifying. Furthermore, the Cultivators of Yanhuo City had prepared long ago, so those violent fire Spiritual Qis only destroyed some less important buildings and Spiritual Veins before being suppressed again.

Although such disasters occurred every time, after each disaster passed, a large number of fire-attribute Spirit Medicines and Ores would emerge in the areas near Yanhuo City.

Some were swept over from the depths of the Fire Domain, while others slowly transformed into treasures under the scouring of massive amounts of violent fire Spiritual Qi.

Just a few days after arriving in Tang Country, Chen Changqing and Li Qingling could always hear about novel things that did not exist in Yan Country at all.

"Fellow Daoist, what Magical Artifacts do you have here?" A gray-robed Foundation Establishment Cultivator walked past the shop on the street, looked at the newly opened store, and approached curiously.

"I wonder what Magical Artifact Fellow Daoist is looking for? The Tier-1 and Tier-2 Magical Artifacts in the shop are all here. Or if Fellow Daoist wants a custom order, that is also fine," Chen Changqing explained with a light smile, inviting him inside and pouring him a cup of spiritual tea.

"I see. Fellow Daoist, if it's a custom order, what would the specific price be?" the gray-robed Foundation Establishment Cultivator inquired.

"If Fellow Daoist provides all the main Materials, I will only charge twenty percent of the Magical Artifact's value. But if all Materials are provided by my shop, the custom price will exceed twenty percent of the Magical Artifact's value. What are Fellow Daoist's thoughts?"

"Fellow Daoist, I have a piece of Nether Ocean Ore here, obtained from the East Sea of the Five Dynasties. I need a Tier-2 Magical Artifact that can both attack and defend. May I ask if Fellow Daoist can refine it?"

"Of course, I will also provide the other Materials," the gray-robed Foundation Establishment Cultivator said.

Chen Changqing took it, scrutinizing it carefully with an evaluating look in his eyes.

Only then did he speak, "No problem. As long as Fellow Daoist can hand over the Materials today, you can come pick it up in a month."

"Then I shall trouble Fellow Daoist."

The other party nodded. He was very satisfied with Chen Changqing's Artifact Refining speed; if it were any other Tier-2 Artifact Refiner, it would take at least two to three months to complete the refinement.

The two chatted for a bit longer before the gray-robed Cultivator departed. Before leaving, he said, "Fellow Daoist, I am Luo Zhen."

"I am Chen Changqing."

Looking at the other's receding back, Chen Changqing held the Nether Ocean Ore given by Luo Zhen and returned silently into the shop.

"Brother, what is this?" Just then, Li Qingling came down from the second floor and saw the Nether Ocean Stone in Chen Changqing's hand glowing with a deep blue light.

"A customer asked me to refine a Magical Artifact for him," Chen Changqing explained.

"I'll probably start refining the Magical Artifact during this period. Qingling, I'll trouble you with the first floor for now."

"Mhm, go ahead and refine without worry." Li Qingling nodded.

...

Qingyang Mountain.

More than half a year had passed since Chen Changqing and Li Qingling left, and during this time, nothing noteworthy happened to the Chen Family.

Chen Family Ancestral Hall.

Chen Yuanwen sat in the primary seat. After several decades, he had once again become the Clan Chief—or rather, the Family Head. After the Family became a Purple Mansion force, both externally and internally they no longer used the title Clan Chief, but referred to him as Family Head instead.

As for Chen Yuanqing, he had already abdicated. He was getting old and didn't have many years left to live.

"Family Head, among the Unicorns we bred this year, two have reached Tier-2. As for the Black Bear Demons, another one has advanced to Tier-2, so now we have a total of four Tier-2 Black Bear Demons."

Chen Yuanwen nodded.

"This year, the Qinghe Alliance had a total revenue of four hundred and fifty thousand Spirit Stones, with a total profit of two hundred thousand Spirit Stones."

"Among those, one hundred thousand Spirit Stones were submitted to the Chen Family, and another one hundred thousand Spirit Stones were used for internal development within the alliance."

"Meanwhile, the Chen Family's income this year totaled one hundred and eighty thousand Spirit Stones, with a net profit of seventy thousand Spirit Stones."

Chen Yuanwen picked up his teacup, took a sip, and nodded. The Chen Family's development was getting better and better. Nowadays, the annual Spirit Stones alone were enough to purchase nearly ten foundation establishment pills.

Decades ago, he wouldn't have dared to imagine this.

Thinking back to the beginning, the Chen Family was still struggling to survive under the Zhao Family, facing joint pressure from the Wu Family and Xu Family.

Back then, the Chen Family was on the verge of destruction at any moment. But in the blink of an eye after many years, the Chen Family possessed a Purple Palace Cultivator, and the Foundation Establishment Cultivators under its banner exceeded twenty.

Now, even the top Foundation Establishment Families were respectful and deferential toward the Chen Family, not daring to encroach in the slightest.

If Qingling were to break through to the Zifu Stage as well, even the former giants like the Song Family and the Xuantian Sect wouldn't dare say they could oppose the Chen Family.

Just as the Chen Family was holding its annual Family council meeting, within the region controlled by Wuyue Mountain, two Foundation Establishment Families—the Fan Family and the Feng Family—discovered a Tier-2 spirit mine.

This spirit mine was originally discovered by the Fan Family first. However, as the two Families lived close to each other, and the Fan Family had acted too low-key in recent months, the Feng Family became suspicious, originally thinking the Fan Family was planning something against them.

As a result, the Feng Family sent people to investigate and inadvertently discovered that the Fan Family had found and occupied a spirit mine.

Moreover, according to their exploration of this spirit mine, there were no fewer than two hundred thousand Spirit Stones under it.

However, after mining for several months, the Fan Family had already transported away several thousand Spirit Stones.

The Feng Family immediately dispatched a Foundation Establishment Cultivator and a team of Qi Refining Cultivators to this Tier-2 Low Grade spirit mine to demand an explanation.

Seeing this, the Fan Family's Qi Refining Cultivators immediately reported to their Family.

However, the Fan Family only had two Foundation Establishment Cultivators. One of them was less than ten years away from the end of his lifespan, while the other had only reached Foundation Establishment fifty years ago, with his cultivation only at the third layer of Foundation Establishment.

But the Feng Family, also a Foundation Establishment Family, was different. Their Family possessed a total of five Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Aside from one Late Stage Foundation Establishment, two of the other four had reached Middle Stage Foundation Establishment.

It could be said that within the Chen Family's sphere of influence, the Feng Family was considered one of the top three Foundation Establishment Families.

"Fan Lianheng, get out here! Your Fan Family actually dug a spirit mine in secret under our Feng Family's territory! You must give us an explanation!" Feng Chengqian looked at the middle-aged man in a brownish-yellow robe, his tone somewhat aggressive.

"Fellow Daoist Feng, this is our Fan Family's territory. When did it become yours? Furthermore, you broke our Formation and injured our clansmen. Shouldn't you give us an explanation instead?" Fan Lianheng did not take the bait, rebutting instead.

"Hmph! Your Fan Family has crossed the line! We have also investigated this spirit mine clearly: at least half of the area is on my Feng Family's territory. Since you crossed the line, it is only right that your Cultivators got injured, otherwise other Families would think our Feng Family is easy to pick on!" Feng Chengqian sneered disdainfully.

If not for the fact that the opponent still had a Foundation Establishment Cultivator near death, and that the Chen Family was suppressing them from above, after discovering this spirit mine, the Feng Family might have already dispatched people to occupy it rather than standing here trying to reason with them.