Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 195 Exchange
The next day.

The clamor of Monkey Valley rose and fell, surging into Taibai Restaurant like a tide.

Countless rogue cultivators flocked to the scene, their eyes filled with curiosity and shock, eagerly exchanging the latest gossip.

Although Ge Yi was not a top figure in Puyin Mountain, the Lion Demon Hunting Team he led was one of the largest demon hunting teams in Puyin Mountain, and also the most senior demon hunting team in Puyin Mountain.

However, this demon-hunting team, which had weathered many storms, was wiped out overnight. How could this not be terrifying and intriguing?

"It's Lü Mao!"

When everyone caught sight of Lü Mao and his group, who had been leisurely enjoying themselves in a corner of the tavern since early morning, all their doubts seemed to vanish.

Once upon a time, Lü Mao was suppressed by Ge Yi and could only eke out a living in the shadow of Puyin Mountain. Monkey Valley was a forbidden land that was out of reach for him.

Now, Lü Mao has appeared before everyone in a grand manner, while Ge Yi and his gang have vanished as if they had disappeared from the face of the earth. The implications behind this are self-evident.

"I knew that Lü Mao and Ge Yi would have to fight, but I didn't expect this battle to come so quickly."

Someone sighed.

"Indeed, who could have predicted that Lü Mao, who was like a stray dog ​​just a few months ago, would be able to wipe out the Lion Demon Hunting Group in one fell swoop today?"

Another person quickly echoed this sentiment.

"I wonder where Lü Mao recruited such skilled fighters? That woman's cultivation is quite remarkable..."

Some people turned their gaze to Tang Xueyan, a hint of apprehension flashing in their eyes.

Although there are many cultivators in Puyin Mountain, most of them are low-level rogue cultivators who have come here out of necessity to make a living, and there are not many among them who have the cultivation level of late Qi Refining stage.

"That kid surnamed Lin is ruthless, I've seen it with my own eyes. And that guy surnamed Chi is no pushover either."

Another person whispered among themselves, their gaze shifting uncertainly between Lü Mao and his group.

"Uncle, it seems like they're talking about us."

Yang Yun pricked up his ears, his face full of excitement, and muttered, "I should have gone last night."

"Just you?"

Lin Hao scoffed: "Ge Yi could send you back to your mother's womb with one punch."

"How could this be?"

Yang Yun blushed and started arguing with Lin Hao. Their conversation drew snickers from the other members of the demon-hunting team.

Just then, Zhao Jindou, dressed in a yellow robe, strolled leisurely into the tavern. His mustache swayed gently with his steps, making him particularly eye-catching.

"It's Zhao Jindou."

Someone gasped in a low voice, their voice tinged with surprise and disbelief.

Many people know about the close relationship between Ge Yi and Zhang Mazi, as well as the fierce business battle between Zhao Jindou and Zhang Mazi.

Now that Ge Yi has died in battle, and Zhao Jindou has appeared before Lü Mao, everyone can't help but have all sorts of wild thoughts.

Zhao Jindou seemed oblivious to the whispers. He walked with ease, a confident smile on his face, and opened his arms to greet Lü Mao like an old friend.

"The Mad Lion Demon Hunting Team is exceptionally strong, truly a blessing to our Puyin Mountain. I wish Boss Lü a resounding victory in this hunt for the White-spotted Demon Wolf."

Zhao Jindou's voice was loud and clear, and he did not try to hide it, so everyone present could hear it clearly.

"White-spotted wolf?"

"The lowest cultivation level of this kind of demonic beast after it reaches adulthood is the late stage of Spirit Awakening, so it's not easy to mess with."

"Some time ago, someone died at the hands of the White-spotted Wolf."

Everyone whispered.

Zhao Jindou turned around and looked at everyone: "Everyone here must recognize me. I just happen to have an announcement. Starting today, our Puyin Mountain Guild will focus on buying the hearts of the White-spotted Demon Wolves. We will give 20 spirit stones for each heart, and we will stop buying when we run out."

"In addition, if you find evening primrose, Ganoderma lucidum, or other medicinal herbs, you can come to the guild hall to find me."

At this moment, another person stood up and spoke loudly.

"It's Zhang Zhi'ang."

"Old Wu and Madam Feng are here too."

Merchants from the Puyin Mountain Guild Hall appeared one after another, each saying only a few words, mostly about collecting certain materials and spiritual herbs, yet everyone felt that Puyin Mountain had become unfamiliar.

The demon hunters hadn't noticed yet, but several traveling merchants in the crowd had already changed their expressions drastically.

They realized that this so-called Puyinshan Guild Hall was actually a tool used by Zhao Jindou and others to eliminate dissidents.

If everyone follows the instructions of the Puyin Mountain Guild Hall to hunt specific monsters and collect specific medicinal herbs, Zhao Jindou and others will naturally not lack materials, but what about the other traveling merchants?
Someone couldn't help but question Zhao Jindou.

However, by this time, Zhao Jindou and his group had already established their power, and all the dissenting voices were drowned out by people's curiosity about the Puyinshan Guild Hall.

What exactly is the Puyinshan Guild Hall, and where is it located?

People whispered among themselves, discussing the matter.

Zhao Jindou replied with a smile, "The Puyin Mountain Guild Hall is located in Monkey Valley, next to the Taibai Restaurant. We have already rented a spacious bungalow from the Li family, and someone will be stationed there permanently from now on."

"The association will regularly update the needs of our itinerant merchants, and everyone is welcome to come and check it out."

"As for transactions, given the limited manpower at the guild hall, we have partnered with the Li family to establish a special exchange."

“All demon-hunting teams that accept our orders can deliver their goods directly to the exchange and receive spirit stones without having to meet with us.”

Zhao Jindou's words revealed a hint of pride. The exchange was something he and Li Xiangming had finalized overnight, and this move would surely attract countless traveling merchants.

"Sigh~"

Sure enough, many people gasped in surprise.

Puyin Mountain has always faced difficulties in transactions.

Because itinerant merchants are mobile, the transaction went smoothly today, but the demon-hunting team will be unable to find them tomorrow.

To avoid this situation, larger demon-hunting groups are willing to offer discounts to establish long-term cooperative relationships with some traveling merchants, meaning that the two parties agree to conduct transactions within a certain time period.

For example, Ge Yi and Zhang Mazi had this kind of relationship.

Even so, it was still impossible to avoid itinerant merchants breaking their promises.

If a transaction fails to be completed as scheduled, the Hunters Guild has to find a new buyer, and different merchants often have vastly different prices for the same material.

Often, when the demon-hunting team urgently needs to distribute money to its members to boost morale, they have no choice but to sell off the demon beast materials they have at a low price.

In addition, the demon-hunting teams themselves frequently break their promises.

Once they encounter traveling merchants willing to buy their materials at high prices, they sell their goods without hesitation.

The consequences of this were obvious: the traveling merchants had come all this way, only to leave empty-handed.

The cooperation between the two parties naturally came to an end.

Overall, the trading environment in Puyin Mountain is quite chaotic.

The demon-hunting groups control the materials from demon beasts and are at the upstream of the industry chain, while itinerant merchants are closer to the consumer market and are at the mid-to-downstream.

In the process of trading, the monster-hunting team is often the one who suffers a loss.

They had to rely on itinerant merchants to sell their materials, but the number of merchants they could contact was very limited.

In this context, the appeal of a transparent and fair exchange to the demon-hunting team would be self-evident.

Moreover, this exchange does not require the demon-hunting team to meet with the traveling merchants in person, greatly saving the cost of finding and communicating with them.

Everyone present was excited, and some even exclaimed, "Zhao Jindou has finally done something good this time!" "Don't be too happy yet."

One of the traveling merchants sneered repeatedly: "The exchange is acting as an intermediary, using its own money to pay you in advance. How much must that be? I don't doubt that the Li family has the strength to do so, but if the guild hall doesn't have the money to pay, won't the Li family suffer a huge loss?"

"The Li family has shifted the risk onto themselves; do you think they wouldn't expect anything in return?"

These words caused another stir among the crowd.

Both the Puyin Mountain Guild Hall and the exchange are beneficial to the demon-hunting group and independent cultivators.

But there's no such thing as a free lunch; that's a truth everyone understands.

No one wants to sell themselves for a moment's convenience.

Seeing the suspicious looks on everyone's faces, Zhao Jindou cursed under his breath and raised his voice, "Everyone, our guild has a share in the exchange. Our guild will keep enough spirit stones to buy the materials you have. Of course, the Li family has also contributed a lot. They manage the exchange, so they will take a 10% tax from each transaction, but this tax will be paid by our guild and has nothing to do with you."

"The spirit stones you get at the exchange are the same prices quoted by our guild, so you don't need to worry and can trade at the exchange with peace of mind."

Upon hearing this, the tavern gradually quieted down.

They didn't care about the guild cooperating with the Li family, as long as they didn't lose any of the spirit stones they received.

Zhao Jindou wiped the sweat from his forehead. In his original plan, the exchange would naturally have to collect taxes from these people in front of him, otherwise why would the guild do good deeds for no reason?

However, Li Xiangming firmly disagreed. He believed that the Puyinshan Guild Hall had just been established and was at the right time to gain people's trust, so they should not kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

If you want to make money, there will be countless opportunities once Puyin Mountain becomes a major player.

Upon first hearing these remarks, Zhao Jindou scoffed.

If that's the case, why does the Li family want to collect taxes from the stock exchange?

Are the traveling merchants from the guild halls not trustworthy?
However, Li Xiangming carried the prestige of killing Ge Yi, and also had the favor of Lao Wutou and others. Zhao Jindou was left with no choice but to reluctantly accept the 10% transaction tax.

However, judging from the reactions of the demon-hunting group and the independent cultivators, Li Xiangming's opposition has some merit.

Taking a little money from these people is like taking their lives.

What a troublemaker!
"Xiang Hong, these demonic beasts are yours to handle."

On Beast Breeding Peak, Li Xiangming waved his hand, and Li Xiangguang and the others put the demonic beasts off the cages one by one.

According to the agreement, the Li family is required to deliver one late-stage Spirit Summoning beast, three mid-stage Spirit Summoning beasts, and ten early-stage Spirit Summoning beasts to Yuyuan every three months.

Fourteen demonic beasts are a considerable number, but with the strength of the Beast Capture Center, it's naturally not a problem.

However, the beast-catching house has now split up, and even Li Xianghua and others have been ordered to go home to take over the guard hall. Currently, only the Tianzhu Demon-Hunting Team is stationed in Monkey Valley.

Li Xiangming wasn't worried about not being able to complete Yuyuan's order, after all, he still had the Golden Light and Divine Wind demon-hunting teams under his command, in addition, Lu Mao's Mad Lion demon-hunting team could also take on the important task.

However, it is an indisputable fact that Monkey Valley is unable to guard against too many monsters.

Li Xiangming had no choice but to personally escort some of the more powerful demonic beasts in the valley back home.

Of course, that wasn't his purpose.

After completing the transaction with Li Xianghong, Li Xiangming immediately returned to Tailai Peak to visit Li Qianxiong and inquire about the Daishan Maojing Mine.

Li Qianxiong remained silent for a moment, seemingly weighing how to answer.

"Did there be an accident?"

An unease welled up in Li Xiangming's heart.

Li Qianxiong shook his head, a hint of surprise in his voice: "On the contrary, things went incredibly smoothly."

"Master Duyin lured away the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Mountain Moving Sect, and Xiangren and his group quickly took control of the mine with almost no resistance. Currently, we and Flying Fox Cave are working hard to set up formations in the mine."

"What about the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Mountain Moving Sect?"

Li Xiangming couldn't help but press for more information.

"Escaped."

Li Qianxiong frowned: "According to Feihu Cave, as soon as the other side realized they had been tricked, they immediately withdrew without even glancing back at the mine."

"Master Duyin chased them for nearly a thousand miles and confirmed that they had indeed escaped, but the Moving Mountain Sect has not made any move so far." Li Qianxiong's voice was filled with doubt.

Li Xiangming was equally baffled.

Logically speaking, the Maojing Mine should be valuable enough for the Moving Mountain Sect to protect it with all their might.

Moreover, they are sworn enemies with Flying Fox Cave, so how could they willingly give up the prize they had already obtained to their enemy?

"Could it be that they did this on purpose?"

Li Xiangming offered his own speculation.

"If that's the case, then the Mountain Moving Sect must have known about our plan long ago. But this matter is extremely confidential, and only a few high-ranking members know about it. Even the team led by Xiang Ren only learned about the real objective after entering Dai Mountain."

“If the Moving Mountain Sect knew the news in advance, the source of the news could only be the Flying Fox Cave. That makes even more sense. Last year, the Moving Mountain Sect went to great lengths to besiege Master Duyin, but ultimately failed. Now that Master Duyin has made his move again, they remain indifferent, which is illogical.”

Li Xiangming understood Li Qianxiong's meaning; compared to a mine, the Moving Mountain Sect clearly preferred to kill Master Duyin.

However, this time, the Li family's cooperation with Feihu Cave not only allowed them to successfully take over the mine, but also left Master Duyin unharmed.

This is sufficient proof that the Moving Mountain Sect did not have prior knowledge of the information.

The two pondered for a long time but could not resolve their doubts, so they had to put it aside for the time being.

Li Xiangming then reported on the matter of the Dizang Stone vein.

"A vein of Earth-treasure Stone has been discovered outside Puyin Mountain?"

Li Qianxiong looked surprised and hurriedly asked for details.

Li Xiangming described in detail what he saw at Ge Yi Cave and put forward an application to develop the Dizang Stone vein.

However, Li Qianxiong shook his head with a wry smile: "Your third uncle insisted on mining the lapis lazuli vein in the north, and the Maojing mine in Daishan is also in dire need of development. Now there's another vein of earth-gathering stone. Although the Li family possesses a gold mine, we are helpless due to a lack of manpower."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangming also felt it was a difficult situation.

He then asked, "How is the development of Xulong Township?"

"So far, things are going smoothly. According to your plan, there are already more than 5000 miners, most of whom are working in ordinary mines," Li Qianxiong replied.

The Li family had little experience in mining and smelting, and having just moved to Danggui Mountain, they didn't have many professional miners.

The miners in Xulong Township were originally prepared for the lapis lazuli vein when Li Xiangming was in charge of the accounting office.

The original plan was for the Li family to spend decades, or even centuries, slowly excavating these mineral veins.

Therefore, there is no rush to train miners.

The Shangjifang government is still converting the surplus labor force in Su'an Township into farmers in order to alleviate the food shortage problem.

However, with the emergence of two new mineral veins, Maojing and Dizangshi, the number of miners was clearly insufficient to cope.

"The head of the household should instruct the accounting department to organize the farmers of Xulong Township into the mining workforce, allowing them to gain experience and prepare for the development of the Ling Mine. We need at least 20,000 professional miners."

Li Xiangming continued, "Of the three mineral veins, the Maojing vein is the furthest and located in someone else's territory, so it should be developed first; the Dizangshi vein is the next best, and can be developed together with the Maojing vein once there are enough miners; as for the family's existing mineral veins, they should not be considered for the time being."

After listening, Li Qianxiong nodded, which was considered as his approval of Li Xiangming's suggestion.

Seeing this, Li Xiangming added, "Regarding the Daishan matter, we cannot yet be certain whether there is any bait. We should recall our elder brother and Xiangyu."

Lee Sang-in and Lee Sang-yu are both the future of the Lee family, and their safety is of paramount importance.

Li Qianxiong knew this well. Although he hesitated for a moment, he finally nodded slowly: "You're right, they can't stay in Daishan any longer."

(End of this chapter)