Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 10 The beam is not straight
Song Xian walked straight up to the fat, big-eared man and asked tentatively, "Fellow Daoist, I'd like to buy some materials for making talismans. Do you have any in your shop?"

The fat, big-eared man looked up at him and said, "Talisman-making materials! They're in the third row of cabinets on the left. Take a look, fellow Taoist! Just let us know if you need anything."

"I have only a limited understanding of the art of talisman making. I wonder if your shop could send a girl who is familiar with the market to accompany me and introduce these materials to me?"

"Ke Yun, please follow this fellow Taoist!"

A young woman next to him stood up and said, "Master, please follow me."

Song Xian smiled slightly, putting on a lighthearted and joking look, and took out the sect token from his sleeve. "I was just chatting just now. My name is Song Xian. May I ask if you are Senior Brother Zhang Quan?"

The fat, big-eared man took the token and recognized it as the identity token of an inner sect disciple. His eyes lit up, and his originally lazy expression immediately disappeared. A smile appeared on his face, and he became very enthusiastic. "Oh! It turns out to be Junior Brother Song. My apologies. I am Wang Qian. I wonder what Junior Brother Song wants from Senior Brother Zhang?"

"Oh! I'm here to find Senior Brother Zhang on the orders of the Sect Master."

"Junior Brother Song, please wait a moment." The fat-headed and big-eared man stood up and walked to the left, pushed open the stone door and walked in.

Song Xian followed behind and saw a group of young women and several men gathered together and talking in a loud voice. It turned out that they were playing flower cards.

The sound insulation of this room is really good. It is very lively inside, but you can't hear any sound from outside.

It turns out that the shop is not empty, but people are hiding here to play cards.

Seeing this scene, Song Xian couldn't help but be stunned. It was still the normal business hours of the shop, but this group of waiters who were supposed to entertain customers were hiding here and gambling. Wang Qian seemed to be accustomed to it and didn't care at all.

"Hua Rui, come here." The fat and big-eared man shouted.

A woman inside came over upon hearing the noise, while the others continued playing cards as if they didn't see anything.

"What's the matter, Master Wang?"

"Take Junior Brother Song to the backyard to find Senior Brother Zhang."

"My good fortune has just arrived!" The woman looked somewhat reluctant.

"Go just as I told you to." The man glared at her and shouted.

The woman responded reluctantly.

"Junior Brother Song, I still have to look after the business of this shop, so I won't accompany you."

Song Xian shook his head secretly and followed the woman away.

The two of them walked through the hall and came to the backyard. They walked through several corridors and courtyards and came to a large courtyard. The woman knocked on the wooden door and whispered, "Master Zhang, is Master Zhang here?"

"What's the matter?" The person inside shouted, seeming very angry.

The woman shrank her neck, looking a little frightened. “There’s a Master Song here, a fellow disciple of yours. Master Wang sent me to bring him to see you.”

"Go, go, go. I have something urgent to do, let's talk later." A man's furious voice came from inside.

"Master Song, how about we…" Before the woman could finish her words, Song Xian shouted, "Brother Zhang Quan, I'm Song Xian, and I've come to see you on the orders of the Sect Master."

Suddenly, a woman screamed from inside, followed by the sound of someone dressing and hurried footsteps.

Soon, the door opened, and a middle-aged man with a pointed face and monkey cheeks walked out. He looked wretched, but with a smile on his face, he said, "So it's Junior Brother Song. I'm honored to have you here. I apologize for not welcoming you."

Seeing him like this, Song Xian guessed a little bit about what was going on, but he didn't expect that he, a shop manager, would do this in broad daylight. It was too outrageous.

No wonder those men and women in the front hall hide together playing cards and no one cares. The root of the problem lies with the manager. As the saying goes, if the upper beam is crooked, the lower beams will be crooked. If the manager is like this, how can the subordinates be serious and responsible?

"I have something important to ask Senior Brother Zhang. Could you please move over and discuss it?"

"Please come in."

The two men entered the house and saw two beautiful women walking out quickly with their heads down shyly. Their hair was disheveled and their clothes were untidy, and it was obvious that they had just put them down.

Zhang Quan showed an awkward yet polite smile and invited him to take a seat. "Excuse me, Junior Brother Song. I've heard of your name a long time ago. Not only do you have dual spiritual roots, but you've also been accepted as the headmaster's last disciple. Your future is limitless!"

Song Xian had no intention of chatting with him, so he got straight to the point and stated his purpose: "Senior Brother Zhang, I'm going to Xianxia Mountain in Guangxing City to handle some matters under the orders of the Sect Master. Since this is my first time down the mountain, I'm not sure about everything. The Sect Master specifically instructed me to come here and ask you for advice if I have any questions, so I'm sorry to bother you."

"Junior Brother Song wants to go to Xianxia Mountain in Guangxing City. That's easy. I know there's a merchant ship that goes directly there. I'll take you to buy a ticket later."

"Then I'll have to trouble Senior Brother Zhang."

"It's just a small favor, not worth mentioning. Besides, we are all family. If you have any problems in the future, Junior Brother Song, just come to me."

Song Xian understood what he meant. The Qingyun Sect was divided into two factions: one led by Chang Jinmian, and the other led by Zhang Shilin. Zhang Quan was a descendant of the Zhang family, so he naturally belonged to Zhang Shilin's faction. It was no exaggeration to say that he was one of them.

"Brother Zhang, when I came in, I saw that there were very few customers in the store. I wonder how business is usually like here?"

"Ah! Business is tough! Junior Brother Song must know that Yunxifang is the largest market in this city. Major forces from Pingyuan County and even Xishu County have their shops settled here. Compared to their resources, we are simply not enough."

"Plus, the Yuanyi Sect has always been deliberately targeting our sect, spreading bad things about us everywhere in the market. And they happen to be the managers of the market."

"Others will naturally not come to our shop if they listen to them, and we can only swallow our anger. Our business is getting worse day by day."

"I wonder how many years Senior Brother Zhang has been managing this shop?"

"It's been almost twenty years."

"A lean camel is bigger than a horse. Senior Brother Zhang guarding this money tree is definitely better than the people in the mountain gate."

"Don't mention it." Zhang Quan said with a gloomy face. "Although I manage this huge shop, it seems glorious on the surface, but in fact, I am bullied by both sides. Business has been declining over the years. People from the sect are constantly challenging me and accusing me of incompetence. In the market, the Yuanyi Sect often comes to cause trouble. I am really exhausted."

"If there really were such great benefits, that would be fine. I'd just put up with it. The problem is, I didn't gain any personal benefit at all. Junior Brother Song, you don't know that the sect keeps records of every item sold in the shop and sets fixed prices. There's no room for me to profit at all."

"And every year someone comes to check the accounts, one for incoming goods and one for outgoing goods, and everything has to match. If there's even a slight mistake, I'll have to pay for it."

"If the headmaster hadn't insisted on me staying in this position, I would have quit long ago."

The two chatted for a long time, and Song Xian asked him a lot about the market.

Afterwards, Zhang Quan led him to a large shop in the market town called Baoshen Pavilion. The interior was magnificently decorated and very grand, and the entire shop covered a very large area.

Compared with this pavilion, the Qingyun Sect shop is like a roadside convenience store.

"Baoshen Pavilion is the largest chamber of commerce in Xishu County. They have branches and shops in the main markets of all cities in Xishu County. If there is no Baoshen Pavilion in a market, it only means that this market is not up to standard." Zhang Quan introduced to him.

“In addition, Baoshen Pavilion is also one of the largest owners of Xiyunfang.

"The reason why this market is so safe and no one dares to cause trouble is because it has these powerful forces backing it up. Otherwise, who would take the Yuanyi Sect seriously?"

Song Xian saw a crowd of people in the lobby of the shop. Inside, there were rows of counters. In front of each row of counters, there were two beautiful women standing with smiles on their faces. Whenever someone asked them about something, they would immediately lead the person to the corresponding item.

The service attitude alone is much better than that of the Qingyun Sect shop.

There are two long corridors on the left and right sides of the hall, leading to other places. There are also young women standing in front of the corridors to guide the way.

Zhang Quan led him through the hall and came to a corner where a staircase was revealed. The two of them went up to the second floor of the attic. The layout there was the same as that downstairs, with cabinets and cabinets displayed.

The two came to a separate area in the corner, where there was a large desk, behind which sat two men and women dressed in Baoshen Pavilion uniforms.

"Fellow Daoist Zhang, what do you need?" One of the men seemed to know Zhang Quan and asked.

"My brother is going to Xianxiafang in Guangxing City. Fellow Daoist Luo, please check for the nearest spirit ship heading to Xianxiafang."

Upon hearing this, the man pulled out a book from under the desk, flipped through a few pages, and said, "Coincidentally, there's a third-level cargo spirit ship heading to Guangxing City at midnight today. The price is eighty first-level spirit stones. It will arrive in two hours."

"No, no." Song Xian was shocked when he heard the price and waved his hands repeatedly. His total net worth was only about a hundred spirit stones. "Is there anything cheaper?"

"In two days, a second-level merchant ship will leave for Xianxiafang. The price is fifteen first-level spirit stones. It will only take two or three days to arrive."

"Okay, let's take this ship!" Song Xian took out a storage ring from his sleeve, took out a blue cloth bag from it, counted out fifteen first-level spirit stones and handed them to the man.

Spirit stones are the basic currency in the cultivation world.

A first-level spirit stone can be exchanged for ten taels of gold, which is equivalent to one hundred taels of silver.

For an ordinary family, ten taels of silver would be enough for a year.

This one spirit stone is enough to provide food and clothing for a family of three for ten years.

Gold and silver are widely used in the spiritual world, hence the conversion price.

Whether it is construction, refining, robes, or formations, gold and silver are very common materials.

The man took the spirit stone, handed him a round number plate, and asked him to sign an agreement, telling him to come here before noon two days later, otherwise no one would be waited for after the time.

(End of this chapter)