Spirit Hornet's Hive

…

Digressions aside for now.

In Changning Wei City, the two most lively regions were the East Market and West Market. The East Market was mainly composed of various stores along the streets, which sold mostly native products from the various villages and towns under Wei City. Things like melons, fruits, vegetables, livestock, poultry, firewood, rice, oil, salt, daily necessities, and so on were all sold in the East Market. The fish stall of the Wang Clan of Ping'an was also located in the East Market.

Wang Shouzhe and the others led the horses into the middle of the market. It was as if they had entered a huge agricultural market. There were all kinds of agricultural products and handicrafts. Apart from the large shops owned by rich businessmen and noble clans, there were also many scattered vendors who occupied the corners of the market and sold strange things. This was a stall specially set up by the Changning government for the freelance cultivators to prevent them from setting up stalls everywhere, making it difficult to manage.

Freelance cultivators basically had nothing good on them, but they usually roamed the world. The things they sold were very mixed, and occasionally, some novel things would appear.

"Gallbladder of Black-backed Tyrannical Bear, Class Two dire beast. This is the only one in stock. The price is 15 gold. No bargaining." A scarred freelance cultivator in beast skin armor was manning a stall. The stall was paved with a thick layer of bear skin. On top of it, a shade dried bear gallbladder was hung from a branch and a sign was erected. He looked unapproachable.

"This bear skin is black-backed and white-bellied. It has a rich texture, and is indeed the skin of a Black-backed Tyrannical Bear." Wang Zhong, who was standing by the side, said in a low voice, "The inner kernel of this bear gallbladder is golden and is of good quality. The price of 15 gold isn't expensive. We can earn at least four or five gold by selling it to the Alchemy Workshop."

Wang Shouzhe had been studying the dire beast catalog since he was young. He could distinguish most ordinary dire beasts and the materials on dire beasts. He only smiled and said, "We shouldn't take advantage in this case." With that, he left without looking back.

"Does Patriarch think he's a swindler? The bear's gallbladder appears to be of very high quality to me. There's no mistake about it." Wang Zhong was a little unwilling, but he still followed obediently. However, his gaze was a little reluctant. "If Patriarch doesn't see the need to make a little money… Why not…"

"Idiot, Patriarch must have noticed something amiss." Wang Yong glared at him fiercely.

"Heh… The edges and the internal flesh of the bear skin is dry and black. It's obviously quite old. Although the bear's gallbladder is already shade dried, the color of the sac is still fresh. It's no older than three months when peeled," Wang Shouzhe said with a smile. "Wang Zhong, if you want to buy it, I can lend you money. You don't have to share the remaining profit with me."

He could not help but secretly find it funny. Compared to Earth, the street vendors in this Arcane Martial World all seem so unrefined. They didn't even come up with an outlandish story or something. That's just too unprofessional.

"No, no. Fortunately, I came out with Patriarch today." Wang Zhong broke out in a cold sweat and said angrily, "Freelance cultivators are indeed untrustworthy. There are too many swindlers among them."

"Our Arcane Martial Clan has a family, a business, and a foundation. As long as we guard this foundation well, we will have an unending stream of cultivation resources," Wang Shouzhe said indifferently. "Freelance cultivators are all itinerants who have no foundation and travel everywhere. They have to be self-reliant for all their resources. Their lives will naturally be difficult, and so it's very easy for them to take the wrong path, such as swindling and stealing. Moreover, once they commit a crime, they can just up and leave. Changing their identities isn't a problem at all. If freelance cultivators can obtain resources easily, why would our ancestors have to make contributions, expand the clan's assets, and risk their lives to protect the clan's foundation?"

Patriarch's words made sense.

The two clan guards, Wang Zhong and Wang Yong, admired Wang Shouzhe more and more. They had already sensed the difference between the new patriarch and the previous patriarch. With a few words, he clearly distinguished the situation of freelance cultivators and the noble clans.

At this point, they became even more vigilant as they looked at the freelance cultivators by the roadside, who were dressed bizarrely and whose stalls displayed a jumble of miscellaneous items. They felt that any freelance cultivators they came across were swindlers.

"How much is this beehive?"

Right at this moment, Wang Shouzhe suddenly crouched down in front of a stall. The stall owner was a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties. His appearance was a little unkempt, and at a glance, he was only at the peak of the third level of the Qi Refining Realm.

However, this was also the normal state of most freelance cultivators. Factors such as poor aptitude, lack of systemic cultivation techniques, lack of guidance from elders, extremely unstable cultivation resources, and so on caused most freelance cultivators to find it difficult to make a name for themselves.

The stall owner saw that Wang Shouzhe was wearing luxurious clothes and that there were two armed, valiant clan guards behind him. This was obviously not an ordinary person.

He immediately swallowed the rip-off price and gave a fawning smile. "Young Master, this is the Spirit Hornet's hive. I risked my life to get it after I found it in the mountains. Look, there's still quite a lot of spirit honey and bee chrysalis in this beehive. I want to exchange it for two Small Essence Enhancing Pills."

At the mention of the Small Essence Enhancing Pill, his throat gurgled.

"Are you trying to rob us?" Wang Yong's expression changed. He pressed his hand on the handle of his saber and said menacingly, "This beehive of yours is only the size of a head. Only 200 grams of spirit honey can be filtered from it at most. A few chrysalises are not enough to make even a plate of stir-fry. At most, this is only worth a few gold."

"Hey, Sir, don't be mad," the stall owner said with a slightly fearful expression. "My beehive is newly harvested. Many of the chrysalis inside are still alive. If your clan has a Spirit Insect Master, they might be able to cultivate a Spirit Hornet colony."

Many freelance cultivators roamed the world. They might not be strong, but they were knowledgeable.

"You're overthinking things. I've never heard of any Spirit Insect Masters in the entire Changning Wei region. I merely think this item is exotic and want to stir-fry it for a change of taste." Wang Shouzhe took out ten gold. "It's enough for you to buy a Small Essence Enhancing Pill. Do you want it or not? I'll leave if you add even a dime to the cost."

The stall owner hesitated for a long while before reluctantly trading, "Young Master, it is really worth 20 gold in the county. It's a pity that all these chrysalises will die if I bring them to the county."

If not for the fact that the chrysalises could not live for more than a few days, the stall owner would really be willing to travel all the way to the county to sell it. After all, there was a price difference of ten gold. Once most of the chrysalises died, the value of this Spirit Hornet's hive would plummet.

After the transaction, Wang Shouzhe got Wang Yong to pack it up and carry it back. He couldn't be bothered to waste his breath with the stall owner.

This item underpaying for a valuable item, but it wasn't a loss either. If he gave it to his Fifth Sister, Wang Luojing, to play with, there was a possibility that a miracle would happen. If she really managed to cultivate Spirit Hornets, it would be an additional specialized business for the clan.

Spirit Hornets had almost disappeared in the wild. They were only occasionally encountered in places where people were scarce. One might not even be able to find one after searching for a year.

After that, he strolled through the stalls of the freelance cultivators and didn't encounter anything of interest again until the end. As he walked, he unconsciously walked to the center of the East Market, where one of the clan's businesses, the fish stall in the East Market of Changning, was located.

Wang Clan of Ping'an's Fish Stall.

The six words stretched across the three shops. Compared to the messy stalls, the cleanliness and classiness of the fish stall were clearly much better.

As he watched the fish stall of Wang Clan, Wang Shouzhe's memories surged, and turmoil rose in his heart.

The residence behind these three shops were already the last assets the Wang Clan had in Changning City.

Ever since the two great battles 50 years ago, the prestige of the Wang Clan of Ping'an had plummeted. In order to quickly nurture a new Spirit Tower Realm expert to support the clan, the Wang Clan steeled their hearts and sold many of their fixed assets in Changning Wei City.

Unfortunately…

Second Uncle Wang Dingtian, who had high hopes placed on him, died at an untimely age of 20, without even leaving behind his bloodline.

Sixth Grandfather Wang Xiaohan reached the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm when he was in his forties. He had attempted to break through to the Spirit Tower Realm, but after consuming a massive amount of resources, he failed. Wang Xiaohan, now already 65 years old, still remained at the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm.

And Wang Shouzhe's father, Wang Dingyue, was even more tragic. When resources were insufficient for breaking through to the Spirit Tower Realm, he actually took the risk to enter the Outland to seek fortuitous encounters, and even lost his life in the end.

In truth, if they continued to sell off the family's assets, such as selling all three major farms, they would definitely be able to amass the resources needed for Wang Dingyue to break through to the Spirit Tower Realm. However, this way, it would be all or nothing. If he failed, the Wang Clan of Ping'an would be completely broke overnight.

Wang Shouzhe had a faint feeling that when he reached the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refining Realm, the entire clan might make a move to sell all the assets to let him make a gamble for the last time.

However, if things really had to go that far, it could only prove Wang Shouzhe's failure as a transmigrator.

"Fourth Brother, why are you here?"

Just as Wang Shouzhe was lamenting a little inwardly, a surprised voice sounded.

…