I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

Tongxin Market is located in the heart of the five Foundation Establishment forces within the Chuyang City area. It was jointly created and operated by these five forces.

The five Foundation Establishment families surrounding Chuyang City have their residences distributed in an irregular "pentagon".

The closest families to Chuyang City are the Li family, who make talismans and are adjacent to the Stone Forest Maze area, and the Zhao family, who make arrays and are about fifty miles away from the outer edge of Shattered Star Lake. Both families are between one hundred and one hundred and fifty miles away from Chuyang City.

About a hundred miles southeast of the Zhao family lies the Sun family, who established their weapon-refining business on the Red Flame Ridge.

About two hundred miles southwest of the Li family's residence lies the Spirit Herb Valley, where the Chen family is based.

As for the Zhou family of beast tamers, their location was the most dangerous, about a hundred miles south of the Chen and Sun families, adjacent to the perilous Black Tooth Swamp, and they established their clan on a relatively high hill.

This place is only a hundred miles away to the south from another dangerous and secluded forest.

The five families thus formed a mutually supportive and interdependent structure.

At the geometric center of this pentagonal region, they jointly established the "United Marketplace," aiming to provide services to independent cultivators, other Foundation Establishment families, and even Qi Refining families active in the vast surrounding area, and to earn spirit stones from them.

After all, both the Silent Forest and the Blacktooth Swamp are quite far from Chuyang City.

In comparison, it is undoubtedly much more convenient for monks to travel to and from this centrally located market town.

For Foundation Establishment cultivators, traveling to and from Chuyang City on a sword might not be too troublesome.

However, for the much larger number of Qi Refining stage cultivators, being able to quickly sell their resources after an expedition, or rush here to buy healing pills as soon as they are injured, is undoubtedly a vital convenience that concerns both their lives and their profits.

Lin Che already knew about this place, but he had never had the time to come before.

We don't need to buy much this time, so we'll just stop by and check it out.

There are only two major trading points around Chuyang City. The family's future development will inevitably involve these places, so it is appropriate to take this opportunity to inspect them.

He did not deliberately conceal his whereabouts, but directly took off on his sword, the Azure Star Sword transforming into a striking stream of light.

This move also had a testing element, wanting to see if the Zhao family would still dare to openly monitor him after he announced the establishment of his clan.

However, from the moment he left the Shattered Star Lake area until he arrived at the market, Lin Che's keen divine sense did not detect any signs of being followed.

It seemed as if the Zhao family had all left overnight, whether they had temporarily abandoned their target or were secretly plotting something else.

Before long, Lin Che arrived in the sky above Tongxin City on his sword.

The market town had no city walls, but a second-tier defensive array covering the entire area was constantly in operation. From afar, one could see thick, earth-yellow spiritual energy ripples flowing in the sky, like an inverted, transparent giant bowl, exuding a calm and protective aura.

The bustling atmosphere in the market was no less than that of Chuyang City, and in some aspects even surpassed it.

All this is due to the Black Tooth Swamp, the Silent Forest, and the precipitous cliffs deep within the Spirit Herb Valley.

These three areas, which have not yet been fully explored, contain several first- and second-tier spiritual veins, which naturally nurture a wide variety of spiritual herbs and demonic beasts. Recently, there have even been reports of second-tier spiritual herbs maturing.

This greatly stimulated the adventure enthusiasm of independent cultivators. In contrast, those who only operated in relatively safe areas such as Shattered Star Lake and Stone Forest Maze were mostly cultivators with insufficient strength or little ambition.

This place is the true paradise for adventurers and powerful independent cultivators.

Lin Che landed at the entrance of the market.

The monk guarding the entrance immediately noticed him.

Flying on a sword is the most striking symbol of a Foundation Establishment cultivator's identity.

A tall, thin cultivator dressed in a gray-blue steward's robe, with a capable-looking face, narrowed his eyes and quickly whispered a few words to the Qi Refining disciple beside him who was in charge of collecting the entrance fee. Then, he straightened his robe, put on a warm but respectful smile, and strode forward to greet him.

He stopped about three steps in front of Lin Che, cupped his hands in a respectful bow, and said in a clear and respectful voice, "This junior is Zhou Chunxian, the market keeper for today. Welcome, Senior Lin, to our Tongxin Market!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Che raised an eyebrow slightly, revealing a perfectly timed hint of surprise: "Oh? You recognize me?"

The tall, thin cultivator named Zhou Chunxian maintained a slightly bowed posture, his smile widening.

His tone became increasingly serious: "Senior is joking. You overpowered the Zhao family on the arena and then quickly established your clan in Shattered Star Lake. Now, in this Chuyang region, anyone with even a little bit of information knows your true face."

To be frank, elders, your portrait has already been circulated among all families, and they have repeatedly instructed their members to treat you with respect and courtesy when encountering you outside, and never to be disrespectful.

His words were half flattery and half a revelation of the truth.

In fact, ever since the Lin family rose to power, all the forces in Chuyang City had already imprinted Lin Che's appearance and figure and distributed them to the clansmen who went out.

The core instructions were nothing more than two: never offend them easily, and seize the opportunity to befriend them in order to obtain as much information as possible about the Lin family.

After all, nearly two months had passed, and their understanding of the Lin family remained superficial.

Aside from knowing that the patriarch Lin Che is incredibly powerful and possesses at least one late-stage Foundation Establishment spirit beast, crucial information such as the exact number of members in the Lin family, their overall strength, and how many more Foundation Establishment spirit beasts they are hiding remains completely blank.

Before fully understanding the situation, there's no point in discussing whether to court or cooperate, or to secretly suppress or resist.

This intelligence vacuum is the fundamental reason why all parties are currently holding back and remaining on the sidelines.

Lin Che hadn't expected that these families had so many ulterior motives behind the scenes.

At this moment, all he could rely on was his own strength, a few spirit beasts, and the group of armored crocodile turtles in the lake.

To outsiders, the so-called "Lin family heritage" is only revealed by him, which makes him seem mysterious.

After exchanging a few brief pleasantries with Zhou Chunxian and getting a general understanding of the market's rules and recent situation, Lin Che paid a low-grade spirit stone and strolled into the market.

According to Zhou Chunxian, each entry into Tongxin Market requires paying one low-grade spirit stone.

If you want to rent a shop or set up a stall in the market, you will need to pay a higher fee.

It's likely that the Chuyang City authorities, having allowed them to establish a city here, will extract a significant share of the profits. It's just unknown how much will ultimately end up in the hands of the five families.

Upon entering the market, one finds it to be quite well-organized.

Three main roads crisscross the area, and as far as the eye can see, there are shops lining both sides, roughly estimated to be over a hundred. There are also designated areas for street vendors. Although the overall scale is half the size of the commercial district in Chuyang City, it is bustling with activity and is in no way inferior.

The streets were teeming with people, shoulder to shoulder.

The demon-hunting cultivators, who had just returned from dangerous territory, still carried a faint trace of blood and malevolent energy.

The shrewd merchants shouted loudly, displaying all kinds of monster materials, spiritual herbs and ores;

Buyers seeking specific resources stopped at various booths to inquire about prices and negotiate.

The place was bustling with people, noisy and full of life.

Lin Che's main objective for this trip was clear. He quickly found a set of "Complete Book of Civil Engineering" in a shop that specialized in selling miscellaneous books and jade slips. It included several practical low-level earth-based building spells.

This kind of knowledge is not rare and its price is quite reasonable, costing only one hundred low-grade spirit stones for a set.

After completing his main purchases, Lin Che did not rush to leave. Instead, he strolled around the streets of the market to further experience the atmosphere and commercial vitality of the place.

Finally, he stopped in front of a shop with impressive decor and an eye-catching sign.

Looking up, five large characters were written on the plaque in a vigorous and elegant style: Zhou Family Spirit Beast Shop.