Mortal: I am the young sect master of the Thousand Illusions Sect

Chapter 78 Jade Flower Tower

After giving Qin Lian her instructions, Su Mixin turned her gaze to Qin Zhou beside her.

"Go to the market in Tianxing City to investigate and find suitable candidates."

"Find a small shop in a prime location with a spacious layout of three or more floors. The layout should be regular and there should be a steady flow of people. It doesn't need to be luxurious, but it should be practical and in a good location."

"Carefully verify the ownership of the store and past contracts, ensuring there are no disputes or hidden dangers."

Qin Zhou's expression grew even more solemn as he bowed and accepted the order: "Understood. I will immediately go to the city to investigate, screen through layers of officials, find out the details, and find a suitable shop for the young master."

Su Mixin nodded slightly, her eyes calm and unwavering: "Steadiness should be the priority in all matters. There's no need to rush. Better to have nothing than something of poor quality. Once you've made your selection, come back and report to me."

"yes!"

The siblings responded in unison, their posture respectful and proper.

The two bowed again, then quietly retreated from the courtyard in turn, each accepting their orders and setting off. One went to the market to select maids and prepare spiritual plants, while the other went into the city to find suitable shops on the street.

The cave courtyard returned to silence, with only Su Mixin sitting alone by the stone table.

After watching the Qin siblings leave, he concealed the faint ripples in his eyes, calmed his mind, and silently pondered his next move and future plans.

Since breaking through to the Core Formation stage, his cultivation has reached a new level, but he is also well aware that his foundation is still lacking in many ways. He urgently needs to refine and polish his skills, improve his abilities, and enrich his foundation.

Of all the matters, the most important is to refine one's natal magic weapon.

He had already decided that his natal magic weapon would be the Voidless Sword, but the sword was complicated to forge and was currently missing two core materials: Bitter Yin Spirit Water and Void Crystal.

Among them, the Void Crystal is extremely rare and precious. Even the Nine Slaughter Master, who has been wandering in the Spirit Realm for many years, has searched for it in many ways but has not found it. It is still unknown whether this item exists in the lower realm. Su Mixin will not have any extravagant hopes for the time being.

However, the Bitter Yin Spirit Water is different. Master Jiulu once explicitly mentioned that he had discovered traces of this substance when he stayed in this world, so there is a high probability that it exists in this world.

His stone incarnation remained at the Thousand Illusions Sect. With the sect's resources and his father, Su Yunluo, in charge, he would do his best to find and collect the relevant spiritual materials, so he didn't need to worry about it personally.

Therefore, his main body came to the Star City of Chaotic Star Sea with the core task of gathering intelligence everywhere, tracking down the whereabouts of the Bitter Yin Spirit Water, and replenishing the key main materials for refining the Void Formless Sword.

Even without the Void Crystal, a semi-finished product is still a top-tier magic weapon. It can be perfected later if the Void Crystal is obtained.

Aside from gathering the main materials, Su Mixin also needs to systematically study the art of weapon crafting in order to be able to start crafting her own weapon once she has all the materials.

In addition, one needs to learn the art of formations, acquire various supernatural abilities and secret techniques, and delve deeply into one's own swordsmanship.

He had already made a plan, with his main body and his avatar each fulfilling their respective roles and proceeding along two parallel tracks.

His plan to open a shop in Tianxing City is part of his overall strategy.

In the future, the shop can sell handcrafted magical artifacts, array plates, and array flags. It can also take advantage of the shop's business to gather information on spiritual materials from all sides and collect the necessary cultivation materials nearby.

In addition, with the Hearthstone at his disposal, he could freely travel between the two major cultivation regions of Tiannan and Luanxinghai, engaging in cross-regional trading and exchanging goods, thus accumulating spirit stones and materials continuously.

The next day, Qin Lian brought back five girls at the first or second level of Qi Refining, all of whom had signed a contract.

In the Chaotic Star Sea, such acts of selling oneself are quite common. There is not only open human trafficking, but also a large black market. Even in Tianxing City, which is strictly controlled by the Star Palace, it is difficult to stop.

With these maids in charge, the cave dwelling became much more organized, and the once empty garden gradually blossomed with flowers. Su Mixin simply let Qin Lian and the others cultivate a few small medicinal herb gardens on the edges, and let them manage the harvest themselves.

As for Qin Zhou finding a suitable storefront, it took quite some time before he finally succeeded.

Tianxing City is under the jurisdiction of Xinggong. All shops and buildings within the city belong to Xinggong and are only for lease, never for sale. There is no possibility of private purchase of ownership.

Prime locations are scarce and highly sought after, with either exorbitant lease terms and strict regulations, background checks required (leaving no chance for ordinary contractors), or short remaining lease terms that make them easy to be reclaimed later.

Qin Zhou spent several days traveling to various markets and districts within the city, carefully selecting more than ten potential candidates, and then reporting them all back to Su Mixin.

Su Mixin personally inspected each one in person, but was not satisfied with any of them. Some were too complicated and restrictive, while others were too cramped and lacked room for expansion. She rejected them all.

After several rounds of screening and comparison, Su Mixin finally settled on a four-story commercial building facing the street.

After negotiating with the original seller, I paid a transfer fee of 1,500 low-grade spirit stones.

He then applied to the Star Palace again for long-term lease rights, spending five thousand low-grade spirit stones to lease the entire property for a hundred years.

This shop is located on the edge of the core area of ​​Tianxing City, with a relatively high flow of people and abundant spiritual energy, making it an excellent location.

The overall layout is neat and grand. The front building faces the street and can be used as a shop for business and open to the public for transactions. The backyard is spacious and quiet, forming a peaceful little world that can be used as a warehouse or a resting place. The separation of active and quiet areas is just right.

The four-story building is spacious with distinct layouts on each floor.

The first floor is open to the public as a regular shop, specializing in selling various finished magical artifacts and purchasing various spiritual materials, especially valuable demon beast materials. The second floor specializes in array-related items, displaying various array flags and array plates. The third floor has been completely renovated and divided into several exquisite and elegant independent tea rooms, quiet and elegant with a high degree of privacy, specifically for receiving high-level cultivators and wealthy guests. The fourth floor is reserved for Su Mixin's private use.

This shop building was named "Yuhua Building".

Just as Yuhua Tower was fully prepared and about to open, Su Mixin activated her hearthstone and made a brief return trip to Tiannan Qianhuan Sect.

The stone avatar remaining at the sect had already, through telepathic communication, sifted through the Su family's private treasury, the sect's public warehouse, and various markets surrounding the Thousand Illusions Sect, gathering a batch of finished magical artifacts and array formations, totaling a value of 50,000 low-grade spirit stones. Su Mixin paid for all the supplies in full at market price, clearly separating public and private matters, and not taking advantage of the sect or the Su family in the slightest.

This large-scale stockpiling exhausted his inventory, and after all accounts were settled, he only had a little over two hundred mid-grade spirit stones left.

This batch of goods, transported from Tiannan, was comprehensive and covered a wide range of categories. Magical artifacts ranged from low-tier to common top-tier, while array plates and flags were also plentiful, and finished arrays of trapping, killing, defensive, and support types were all available. Su Mixin transported all these supplies to Yuhua Tower in Tianxing City, completing the initial full-scale distribution and laying the foundation for the shop's opening.

However, he knew perfectly well that the finished magical artifacts and formations from Tiannan entering the Chaotic Star Sea market would not actually generate much profit, and might even result in a slight loss.

The Chaotic Star Sea is teeming with monsters and monster materials are plentiful, resulting in an extremely high output of finished magical artifacts and formations. Their market prices are already far lower than those in Tiannan. Even though the spiritual materials he uses are all high-quality minerals and spiritual materials from Tiannan, making them of superior quality and justifying a slightly higher price, it is still difficult to reverse the price difference.

The real way to make huge profits is exactly the opposite: buy rare spiritual herbs and precious spiritual minerals from Tiannan, transport them to the Chaotic Star Sea and resell them, and you can make many times the profit.

However, Su Mixin was not in a hurry. His primary purpose in opening Yuhua Tower was to establish a foothold in Tianxing City, make a breakthrough, accumulate connections and intelligence, and steadily take root in the Chaotic Star Sea. Some losses were not a big deal, and it was acceptable to postpone making profits.

For the next few years, Su Mixin remained in the Chaotic Star Sea, deeply cultivating Tianxing City.

He relied on Hearthstone to freely travel between the two major cultivation regions of Tiannan and Luanxinghai from time to time, steadily building up his cross-domain trade.

The vast quantities of monster materials, finished magical artifacts, pills, and local specialties from the Chaotic Star Sea were continuously transported back to Tiannan; in turn, large quantities of rare spiritual herbs, spiritual ores, and other spiritual materials from Tiannan were transferred to the Chaotic Star Sea for sale, creating a two-way exchange and allowing for buying low and selling high.

He acted with great discretion, selecting people from within the Su family to help set up a small chamber of commerce. He always kept the scale under control and proceeded step by step, never dumping large quantities at once, so as to avoid disrupting the market in both places and attracting unwanted attention.

Furthermore, the fact that he was the young master of the Thousand Illusions Sect was enough to suppress most of the criticism and prying eyes, and avoid countless unnecessary troubles and attention. Even though a large amount of demon beast materials flowed into Tiannan, no one dared to investigate or obstruct it.

Over the years, with the steady accumulation of trade, Su Mixin's net worth quietly skyrocketed, increasing by more than 300,000 low-grade spirit stones, making her cultivation resources increasingly abundant.

This matter did not take up much of his time. The collection and sale of goods were handled by his subordinates. He only occasionally traveled between the two places for transportation, so he never neglected his cultivation.

He pursued both his physical body and his stone incarnation in parallel, devoting all his spare time to studying weapon crafting and formation techniques, honing his skills day and night.

After years of arduous training, his weapon-refining skills have improved by leaps and bounds. He is now proficient in refining high-level magic weapons, and even with top-level ordinary magic weapons, although he occasionally makes mistakes, he still has a considerable success rate.

He is also well-versed in the art of formations, mastering all kinds of formations such as trapping formations, killing formations, defensive formations, and bewildering formations. The formations he creates and sets up are quite powerful, enough to meet the needs of Foundation Establishment cultivators for self-protection, defense against enemies, and guarding their homes.

At the same time, Yuhualou's business got back on track, establishing a firm foothold in Tianxing City and becoming increasingly prosperous.

With Su Mixin, a Core Formation cultivator, behind the shop, it was powerful enough to intimidate everyone in Tianxing City. No one dared to cause trouble or come looking for problems.

The daily operations were all handled by Qin Zhou, who served as the chief accountant, overseeing the income and expenditure records and managing manpower.

To support the scale of the store, Yuhualou also hired a professional manager to coordinate the operation and recruited more than a dozen cultivators to be responsible for reception and store management.

Furthermore, they have established long-term partnerships with several independent low-level weapon refiners and array masters, undertaking customized, repair, and setup services, resulting in a more stable customer base and a growing reputation.

Having spent several years in Tianxing City, Su Mixin, leveraging her status as a Core Formation cultivator and her background as the owner of Yuhua Tower, accumulated connections among the high-level cultivators in Tianxing City and made acquaintances with a group of Core Formation cultivators who resided there.

The Chaotic Star Sea is a complex place where opportunities and dangers coexist. Having connections allows for the exchange of information and resources, saving a lot of trouble and providing Su Mixin with considerable convenience in her search for spiritual materials.

The main purpose of all these actions over the years has always revolved around the two main materials of the Voidless Sword.

Ever since she made up her mind to refine this natal magic weapon, Su Mixin has never stopped searching for its whereabouts.

He deliberately posted a high-priced purchase list at Yuhua Tower for a long time, publicly offering a reward for all clues about the Bitter Yin Spirit Water and the Void Crystal. No matter if it was just a few rumors, the place where it appeared, or any trace in the world, as long as the information was true, it could be exchanged for a generous reward of spirit stones.

Yuhua Tower was a high-end shop in Tianxing City that was becoming increasingly prosperous. Cultivators came and went in an endless stream, and the bounty list was always displayed. Naturally, it attracted countless wandering cultivators to actively hand over intelligence clues.

Not only did Su Mixin wait for news, she would also make time to attend any mid-to-high-end trade fairs, private exchange meetings, or large-scale cultivator auctions that she heard about in the city.