Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-88

Although the human and monster waters were separated by borders, there was actually a separation zone in the middle. Neither race could station any cultivators in the separation zone and the cultivators were also restricted from entering. This also served as a buffer zone for the North Ocean Alliance and the North Ocean monsters.

Obviously, the border was heavily guarded by both races. But the cultivators were too numerous, it was simply impossible to stop all of them behind the border. Therefore, a lot of human and monster cultivators were still roaming in the separation zone.

These cultivators were adventurers and were considered risk takers for them to sneak through the border and enter the separation zone on their own. They were dangerous, hostile to anything in the zone, and the only thing they adhered to was the law of the jungle.

The rogue cultivators Lu Ping encountered in Zhen Ling Side Hall were such people.

The so-called sea ban restricted cultivators from both races from entering the separation zone. All unpermitted intruders would not be recognized and the officials wouldn’t shelter the cultivators in the zone. No one would avenge the cultivators if they were killed, even by their own siblings, inside the zone.

Therefore, lifting the sea ban simply meant that the North Ocean Alliance would provide protection to the cultivators in the zone. However, this was only effective if cultivators from a higher realm chose to intervene in the lower realm battles.

In other words, when the kids were fighting, the adults shouldn’t interfere!

On the first day of the tenth month, the sea ban was officially lifted.

The cultivators that had been waiting for a long time swarmed into the zone with the dream of slaying monsters, getting rich, and improving their prowess.

They gradually arrived on Huang Li Island but most of them were only in the Blood Refining Realm. They were not as powerful as Blood Condensation cultivators and so they couldn’t go out to the distant sea to slay monsters. They could only roam in the nearby waters to slay Blood Refining monsters. Therefore, Huang Li Island, which was closest to the zone, became their leading operating base.

Lu Ping rented a shop in his own name immediately after the completion of Huang Li Island’s marketplace. His action surprised Li Zi-Ming and the others as they didn’t expect him to have enough wealth to rent a shop. Zhen Ling Sect’s rental fee for a shop in the marketplace was 300 spirit stones a month, to be paid once every six months. Lu Ping paid 3,600 spirit stones upfront and rented the shop for a year’s time.

Li Zi-Ming and the others secretly mocked Lu Ping for wasting his spirit stones on a shop and even Hu Lili came to persuade him out of it. However, Lu Ping only smiled back at her and said, “It’ll be too late if I wait longer.”

He even tried to persuade her to rent a shop herself. But Hu Lili didn’t have as many spirit stones and she wasn’t confident about Lu Ping’s financial decision. In the end, Lu Ping could only rent a second shop using Hu Lili’s name.

Lu Ping would have liked to use his own name, but Zhen Ling Sect was clearly experienced. It only allowed each disciple to rent one shop. Lu Ping couldn’t help praising the sect’s knowledge and experience. At the very least, his previous life’s 5,000 years of civilization was no match to the 10,000-year-old Zhen Ling Sect.

Lu Ping also asked his close friends, like Yao Yong, Shi Lingling, and the others if they were interested. Sadly, none of them were interested and they also didn’t have sufficient spirit stones.

Lu Ping then wrote to Chen Lian, who responded positively. Old Man Chen would only retire some years later. Although Chen Lian was slowly starting to take over Old Man Chen’s smith shop, most customers were there specifically for Old Man Chen.

Chen Lian’s talent was overshadowed by his old man and he didn’t have much opportunity to train his smithery. This was torturous for Chen Lian who was obsessed with smithery. Hence, he discussed with Old Man Chen about going to Huang Li Island.

Old Man Chen was also decisive; he knew that this was a great opportunity for Chen Lian. He didn’t hesitate much and gave Chen Lian 10,000 spirit stones to start his own smith shop in Huang Li Island.

Other than cultivation, most cultivators would also practice one or more professions. For example, Lu Ping chose charm-crafting and alchemy, Hu Lili’s profession was array formation, and Chen Lian’s was naturally smithery.

The three shops were next to each other. On the left was Little Chen’s Smith Shop owned by Chen Lian, on the right was Lu Ping’s Charm and Pellet Pavilion, and the middle shop was temporarily used to buy goods such as monster skins, spirit herbs, spirit materials, and more from cultivators.

Lu Ping connected the three shops together so it would be easier for them to do business together.

Chen Lian was naturally in charge of the smith shop. For the Charm and Pellet Pavilion, Lu Ping hired a middle-aged outer disciple called Fang Tao, paying him a salary of 50 spirit stones a month.

After some thought, Lu Ping increased Fang Tao’s salary by another 30 spirit stones and put him in charge of the middle shop as well. Lu Ping and Chen Lian both made a list of herbs and materials they wanted with the desired purchase price and gave it to Fang Tao.

Lu Ping didn’t know and didn’t really care how Chen Lian arranged the smith shop.

When Lu Ping went to Di Kun Island to buy some spirit herbs, he also bought a batch of Late Blood Refining medicinal pellets and charms. He then bought every Blood Condensation medicinal pellet available. Even when the store gave him a discount for his bulk purchase, they still cost him nearly 10,000 spirit stones altogether, accounting to almost half of his wealth.

After returning, he placed the purchased goods in his shop and raised their price by 20% from their original value.

Lu Ping also put to sale the Blood Essence Pellets he made. Since he started practicing alchemy, he still had yet to earn a single spirit stone with this profession.

On the contrary, his charm-crafting had improved a lot thanks to his strong divine sense. Lu Ping’s success rate for crafting Early Blood Condensation charms had increased to 50%. The quality of the charms had also improved.

There was also a Multi-Treasure Pavilion set up by Zhen Ling Sect in the marketplace. Naturally, its location was the best in the market.

But because Huang Li Island was small, even with the sea ban lifted, its capacity was still limited. Hence, the Multi-Treasure Pavilion in the island was just like a large grocery store that sold everything in one place.

After the sea ban was lifted, strategic places like Xuan Qi Island were the first to prosper. There were many trades taking place every day and the volumes were high. As the intermediary, Zhen Ling Sect naturally benefited a lot from the trades.

Half a month after the sea ban was lifted, Huang Li Island gradually appeared in the eyes of the cultivators. It was the nearest island to the separation zone, even though the facilities on the island were slightly old, they were relatively complete.

It was a good place for the cultivators to resupply and regroup before entering the separation zone again. This saved a lot of their time which they could use to obtain greater gains in the zone. Gradually, Huang Li Island began to attract a crowd.

Lu Ping rented two shops and in addition to the goods he bought to sell, he already invested more than 16,000 spirit stones. Not just that, but he also left behind 4,000 spirit stones in the shop to buy goods from cultivators. In total, Lu Ping already used 20,000 spirit stones and his wealth had shrunk a lot.

At this time, Lu Ping was not even in a hurry and Hu Lili was already feeling anxious. Once every few days, she would come over and ask how the shops were doing.

Chen Lian found it funny and joked, “What should I call you? A friend wouldn’t come and ask about the businesses so often, but if you are his girlfriend, you would already be handling the businesses yourself instead of letting Lu Ping do it!”

Hu Lili blushed shyly and after that, she didn’t appear for several days.