Chapter 144: Unprecedented Prosperity

"The notice at Ye Clan Immortal Village states that they have established a partnership with the Lu Clan Trading House."

"Which one is the Lu Clan Trading House?"

"You've never even heard of the Lu Clan? Although the Lu family isn't a major cultivation clan of Qingyun Immortal City, they possess substantial influence and are quite reputable within the city. They own a vast number of shops and trade in all sorts of goods!"

"If the Lu Clan is opening a branch in Ye Clan Immortal Village, their inventory must be very comprehensive, more than enough for us Qi-refining stage cultivators."

"The beast tide erupting in the Aolai Archipelago is likely enough for us to make a fortune. Why don't we head over there and try our luck?"

"With a sea beast tide of this intensity, having an immortal village to rely on should keep the danger to a minimum."

Among the crowd of cultivators in the tavern lobby, low murmurs and discussions filled the air.

"Let's go. Everyone, head back and prepare; we'll go to Ye Clan Immortal Village today. Since we're going, we might as well go early to familiarize ourselves with the situation and make it easier to hunt sea beasts."

A burly man listened intently for a while before making a decision, speaking in a deep voice to his companions at the table.

Several cultivators nodded with excitement and hurried out of the tavern. They were all Qi-refining stage cultivators who made their living by hunting beasts; naturally, they wouldn't easily pass up such an opportunity.

In a secluded corner of the tavern, a young cultivator and an old man sat at a table. The young cultivator was none other than Ye Mo.

Having just arrived at Qingyun Immortal City, he had posted the notice at this tavern and stayed behind to gauge the reaction. The moment the notice was posted, it attracted the attention and discussion of quite a few rogue cultivators. This helped soothe the pain he felt earlier—he had spent a full one hundred spirit stones to pay the tavern owner for the right to post that notice on the lobby billboard. However, in order to attract rogue cultivators, he had no choice but to pay the fee.

The old man at the table, dressed in spirit-silk satin, looked more like a wealthy merchant than a cultivator. This was Lu Tong, the manager of one of the Lu Clan's shops in the city and a member of the Lu family.

"Brother Ye, the effect is quite good. It seems our shops in Ye Village will soon have plenty of customers. Ye Clan Immortal Village should become lively very soon." Lu Tong stroked his beard and chuckled.

Through Lu Tong’s mediation, the Lu family had already opened several shops in Ye Clan Immortal Village. The elixir shop and the general store were operated independently by the Lu family. The spirit artifact shop, however, was a partnership with Ye Mo; Ye Mo exclusively supplied the Red Fire Spirit Swords, while the Lu family provided other spirit artifacts. Combined with Ye Mo’s own general store and inn—used for selling spirit grains, purchasing beast materials, and providing lodging—it was enough to satisfy the basic needs of rogue cultivators and maintain the normal operation of the entire immortal village.

"I must thank Brother Lu for your help," Ye Mo replied with a smile. If the Lu family hadn't opened shops in Ye Clan Immortal Village, it is unlikely anyone would have been willing to go there.

"Brother Ye is being too modest. It’s not really help, just mutual benefit. City Lord Ye has also granted my Lu family many favorable terms. Haha, would you like to have two more drinks at my shop?" Lu Tong asked with a smile.

"Next time. The teleportation array has just opened, and there will likely be many rogue cultivators arriving; I need to head back and keep an eye on things," Ye Mo thought for a moment and shook his head.

"Very well. Brother Ye has many matters to attend to, so I won't keep you."

Lu Tong understood Ye Mo’s predicament. Ye Clan Immortal Village didn't have much manpower, so Ye Mo had to make decisions on many things personally. The official opening of the teleportation array was a major event, and the City Lord needed to be present at the village.

***

Ye Clan Immortal Village.

Four or five rogue cultivators emerged from the small teleportation array. Upon exiting the stone chamber, they looked around the village. They were the first to arrive at Ye Clan Immortal Village after seeing the notice at the Qingyun Immortal City tavern.

"This Ye Clan Immortal Village is actually built in a small valley. It looks small, at most a few miles across. With such a small size, do they really have the strength?" a young cultivator looked around and asked in surprise.

"A valley is actually better—easy to defend, hard to attack. This is great. The surrounding area is enclosed by steep mountain peaks, and it seems there is only that one small section of city wall to enter or leave the valley. Defending it must be easy; there's no need to worry about being overrun by sea beasts."

"I have heard that this City Lord Ye comes from a background as a rogue cultivator. It seems he is very cautious, unlike the city lords of other immortal villages who build on a massive scale as soon as they arrive," a middle-aged cultivator observed for a few moments before speaking with a hint of approval. "Let's go. We'll check out the various shops in the village. If it’s suitable, the goods are complete, and the city defenses are sound, we’ll stay at the inn in this village and prepare to hunt beasts."

The others nodded in agreement. Although they had teleported from the main city of Qingyun as soon as possible, it didn't mean they had already decided to hunt beasts at this specific village; they still needed to observe further. After all, if the defenses of Ye Clan Immortal Village had too many loopholes or showed signs of being unable to hold, they would have to leave. Otherwise, if the city defenses collapsed, it would result in a massacre of the villagers by the sea beasts. These rogue cultivators were shrewd and wouldn't risk their lives lightly. If this village wouldn't work, they would simply go check out another.

The group of four or five cultivators came out of the City Lord’s mansion, walked through the only street in Ye Clan Immortal Village, visited several shops, and finally arrived near the village gate.

"The spirit-wood city wall is quite sturdy. Six arrow towers, and there are even several bronze cannons mounted on the high cliffs on both sides. It looks like the defense is quite good; it should have no problem resisting a large-scale beast tide," the middle-aged cultivator said, nodding after passing through the gatehouse and examining it carefully.

"Ah Yun, you go to the inn and book a few rooms; we'll stay here for today. The rest of you, come with me to the island to see where the dock is. Tomorrow, we will take a boat out to sea to get a clear picture of the sea conditions in the surrounding area."

"Huh? Why is it me again?" Amidst the boisterous laughter of his companions, a young cultivator complained with a bitter face, then turned and ran back.

The port of Ye Clan Immortal Village combined the functions of a shipyard and a dock. After being expanded, the dock was no longer as crude as it once was, capable of providing berths for at least ten large sea vessels at once. However, Ye Village did not yet have that many ships. The shipyard was in an inner area of the port, separated from the outside by rows of spirit-wood walls and guarded by immortal guards. As the village's manpower increased, the defenses around the shipyard had been reinforced with thick spirit-wood walls and arrow towers, with three immortal guards stationed there permanently.

Docked at the pier were an old pirate ship and a brand-new light armored warship. There were also two warship keels under construction to build more light armored warships. In addition, there were some smaller boats for the use of cultivators.

The arrival of the few rogue cultivators at the dock immediately drew the attention of many.

"Those people—I don't recognize them. They aren't cultivators from the village. How did they get in?" On the deck of the light armored warship, a group of sailors were practicing martial arts, while others were resting. Seeing the strangers, some were surprised.

"I heard from Boss Chang that the village was opening the teleportation array these few days. They must be the newly arrived rogue cultivators," another person said, slapping his forehead as he recalled the news he had heard earlier.

"The teleportation array is open? Heh, that's great! Our village is slowly becoming lively; there are more and more people." The man became instantly happy. These people were the veterans of the sea ships who had followed Ye Mo to the village and considered it their home. Seeing Ye Clan Immortal Village become more vibrant naturally made them very excited.

"What's there to be excited about? You should focus on raising your cultivation to the ninth layer of martial arts peak. That’s what’s important. Don't you see 'Salted Fish'? He became a cultivator, was selected as an immortal guard, and is so prestigious now. Do you want to be a martial artist sailor your whole life?" A burly sailor scanned his companions and said in a deep voice. He was the boatswain of the current warship and held high prestige. As for "Salted Fish," he was the former boatswain of the pirate ship who had successfully forged his primordial spirit not long ago.

"Uh, we have to call him Master Salted Fish, or Lord Salted Fish now. There is a distinction between the immortal and the mortal; we can't be careless," a sailor muttered under his breath, but before he could finish, he received a knock on the head.

"You're the smart one, aren't you? Hurry up and practice your martial arts. In less than a month, we can break through to the primordial spirit stage too." The burly sailor glared at him and led the group of sailors to practice martial arts on the deck.

Recently, these sailors and guards had been holding their breath. Watching their former companion leap over the dragon gate and become a cultivator overnight, there wasn't one who wasn't envious. Ye Mo had even declared that among these brothers who followed him earliest, anyone who reached the peak of the ninth layer of martial arts would be gifted a first-order Vitality Pill. Once the news broke, the enthusiasm of the martial artists for training surged. Even the newly recruited sailors and guards, as well as the shipwrights working in the shipyard, were tempted; aside from their work, they pushed themselves to the limit in their training.

Martial arts training depends on talent; it’s not something that can be raised just because one wants to, but Ye Mo’s incentives were truly effective. Coupled with the fact that the various rewards within Ye Clan Immortal Village included high-grade body-tempering herbs and Vitality Pills, their breakthrough to the primordial spirit stage was something they could truly look forward to. Recently, more than thirty martial artists had broken through their barriers, and nearly ten had risen from the eighth to the ninth layer. As long as they tempered themselves a bit more to stabilize their cultivation, they could attempt to take the Vitality Pill to break through.

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, more than ten days went by. The anticipated sea beast tide erupted on a large scale, and hundreds of immortal villages throughout the Aolai Archipelago were attacked by numerous sea beasts. The villages had long been prepared to defend against the incoming surge.

In the process of defending against the sea beasts, it was easy to see the disparity in strength between the various immortal villages. The villages with foresight and great strength easily repelled the beast tides that had been hitting them for several days, with almost no casualties. Conversely, some weaker or ill-prepared villages suffered significant losses. Fortunately, these newly appointed city lords had all come through fierce competition in their respective cities; although their strengths varied, no village had been wiped out by the beast tide.

The appearance of a large number of sea beasts delighted the many Qi-refining stage rogue cultivators who had come to hunt them. Over a hundred thousand Qi-refining stage cultivators poured into the Aolai Archipelago from the teleportation arrays of the thirty-six main cities to participate in this great battle against the sea beast tide.

The previously empty waters of the Aolai Archipelago became unprecedentedly lively and prosperous. Many rogue cultivators even decided to settle down long-term. These were all newly built immortal villages, and although they were not yet mature, it meant they contained huge opportunities. Almost every immortal village was recruiting personnel, and as long as one was a cultivator, there was definitely an opportunity to earn spirit stones here.