Mysterious mirror hanging high

"This is too dark!"

Li Sheng couldn't help but say, "Master, when I was begging in Zhao State, the beggar who was in charge of my disciples was extremely mean, yet he still kept 30% for his beggars..."

"Dark? Not really dark!"

Mu Shan shook his head and said, "Our Wushan Market is originally under the Xiaoyao League, so we only collect a 10% rice tax, which is considered low. Those sects and families collect more, and the rice tax is generally 20% to 30%."

"As for the security tax in Wushan Market itself, there's nothing we can do about it. Why would someone in the shantytowns of the outer market dare to charge you one spirit stone per year for rent for a shabby wooden house? Why is it that cultivators can open up their own spiritual fields outside, and keep 100% of the harvest for themselves? Yet no one goes there?"

"Isn't it because there are so many robber cultivators outside the market? Without the patrols and protection of the market guards, we independent cultivators can't even guarantee our personal safety, so how can we have time to practice peacefully?"

"Actually, the only thing that's really expensive is the 50% spiritual farm rent."

Mu Shan blinked his eyes. "But this tax is not like the rice tax of Xiaoyao League or the security tax of Wushan Market, which have a fixed deadline. It is actually negotiable."

"Friend Mu, you mean..." Jing Yu's expression changed.

"That's right. If you have connections, you can go around and negotiate to give less."

"After all, our Wushan Market is also expanding its workforce, so we're open to recruiting as many monks as possible. Everything is negotiable, unlike a hundred years ago when everything was so rigid and strict."

"Fellow Daoist Mu, you said that Wushan Market is in need of people. I wonder if the [Xiaoyao Immortal City] where Wan Lingjun went also has an induction ceremony for new cultivators?" Jing Yu asked with interest.

"There are definitely people with such talent as Wan Lingjun, but if they are just Qi training cultivators with talent below the lower grade spiritual roots, there will be no preferential treatment."

Mu Shan sighed, "If you want to become a citizen of the first-level Immortal City, ordinary cultivators may have to spend some spirit stones."

"To put it bluntly, Wushan Market is just a market after all. It's not worth mentioning in the world of immortal cultivation. If the cultivators here have reached the late stage of Qi training and want to seek the opportunity to build their foundation, they have to find a way to go to a place like Xiaoyao Immortal City to try their luck!"

"If we want to keep people here in Wushan Market, we naturally have to offer more benefits. Otherwise, they'll all be eager to go to the major immortal cities. It would be better for Wushan Market to disband!"

Jing Yu and the others looked at each other in bewilderment. According to Mu Shan, the status of a place like Wushan Market in the world of immortal cultivation was actually no different from that of a remote and poor place in the mortal world.

"Don't think Wushan Market is failing," Mu Shan said with a smile. "There are now over 2,000 registered cultivators in the entire Wushan Market, plus over 1,000 mobile cultivators. That means there are over 3,000 cultivators practicing and trading in Wushan Market every day! This puts us in the middle of the pack among all the other markets!"

"The Xiaoyao League once stipulated that any market town with more than 10,000 registered cultivators could establish a city. Don't be fooled by the fact that there are only over 2,000 people now. That's because they've only been going out to collect spiritual roots in the past few decades. If they keep doing this, in just a few hundred years, this place might become the [Wushan Immortal City]!"

As they talked, they soon arrived at the gate of Lingshifang.

The Lingshifang is much larger in scale than the place where immortal registration was previously held at the junction of the inner and outer markets. It can practically be called a palace.

The interior of the hall was decorated magnificently, with hundreds of spirit stones cut into square shapes neatly arranged on the display shelves on the walls. However, when Jing Yu used the Zhiming Treasure Mirror to investigate, he felt a fluctuation of spiritual energy, which made him think that there must be a protective formation.

In the center of the ornately decorated, spacious and bright hall, before an exquisite counter, stood a middle-aged man who appeared to be rather well-off. He was slightly overweight, but he gave off a sense of stability and steadiness, and a gentle smile on his face made him seem quite appealing.

"Manager Wen, it's been a long time since we last met!" Mu Shan walked up to the middle-aged man and started chatting with him.

"So it's Deacon Mu who's here." Shopkeeper Wen smiled slightly. "The next three must be Fellow Daoists Zhao Mingjing, Li Sheng, and Hu Yiming."

"Manager Wen, have you received the spiritual contract?" Mu Shan asked in surprise.

"Yes, the spiritual contracts of the three fellow Taoists have just been delivered from the Immortal Registration Office. The spiritual stones for registration are ready, and the Immortal Guides for the three fellow Taoists are also ready."

Shopkeeper Wen stretched out a hand and tapped the counter, as if triggering some mechanism. Three secret compartments popped out from it. In each compartment were five standard-sized low-grade spirit stones, a pocket-sized leather bag, and a jade plaque with each person's name printed on it.

"My fellow Daoists, this storage bag is one cubic meter in size. It's a small, inexpensive gadget. It's a welcome gift from Wen to you."

Shopkeeper Wen said with a smile, "Since you are new to the immortal path, it's not good to hold all the odds and ends you have on you. A storage bag is more convenient. When you have achieved success in the immortal path, you can exchange it for a bigger one."

"Thank you, Manager Wen!" Jing Yu and others thanked him, picked up the storage bag, and knew how to operate it almost immediately after getting the hang of it.

This storage bag is the simplest kind in the world of immortal cultivation. It can be used without refining. Just stuff things into the bag. Even a three-year-old child can understand it. Since it does not require spiritual power to activate, most mortals in the market use this type of storage bag. However, the disadvantage of not requiring spiritual power is that the space inside is too small to hold too many things. If it is a large storage bag that contains the universe, it cannot be opened at all without spiritual power.

Jing Yu put the five low-grade spirit stones into the storage bag, then picked up the jade token with the three big characters "Zhao Mingjing" written on it.

"Do you need to exchange some spiritual money in the market?" Shopkeeper Wen asked when he saw the three people putting their things away.

Mu Shan understood and said quickly, "I haven't had time to tell my fellow Taoists yet."

"I see." Shopkeeper Wen suddenly realized, "It's okay, I'll tell you about it."

The wealthy shopkeeper took out a jade coin with a round outer surface and a square inner surface from the storage bag at his waist and showed it to everyone.

"This jade coin is called [Xiaoyao Tongbao], and it's a currency specially issued by our Xiaoyao Alliance for circulation. It's made of [Cold Spring Jade], which is as strong and durable as gold and stone, and extremely difficult to counterfeit. Within the Xiaoyao Alliance's sphere of influence, it's also known as spirit money or jade money. One standard-sized spirit stone can be exchanged for one hundred spirit coins."

"Can this spiritual money only be used within the territory of the Xiaoyao League?" Jing Yu asked.

"That's true in principle, but our Xiaoyao Alliance is now very powerful. Our leader, Master Baoding, broke through a few years ago and became a Great Master in the late Jindan stage. All the major sects and families in the surrounding areas have to give him some respect. If he were in another realm, they might even recognize him."

When the shopkeeper mentioned "Master Baoding", he seemed to be proud and couldn't help but straighten his chest.