Casting immortality in the furnace

Chapter 42 The Seven Royal Clans

"Please be patient, everyone."

Qin Zhiyuan finally spoke from the main seat in the lobby.

The shopkeepers all turned their attention to him, waiting for him to speak.

Qin Zhiyuan remained calm and slowly advised:

"Although business in the market is currently affected, we can't just wipe out their village because of that. We're here to do business, not to fight and kill."

A ruddy-faced man in the seat to the left below said with dissatisfaction:

"They're riding roughshod over us, are we not allowed to fight back?"

One of the shopkeepers squinted and chimed in, "If you ask me, we should devalue their goods to nothing, let them rot in their hands, and see if they'll still sell them then."

"Not bad!" A middle-aged man with a long beard said with an even more ruthless expression.

"We might as well get rid of the leaders of those big villages and support other people to take over. These barbarians will be easy to control then."

"That's a great plan!"

The other shopkeepers all nodded in agreement, thinking these methods were quite good.

Seeing that everyone was tempted, Qin Zhiyuan frowned and said coldly:

"Do you all intend to seize this territory?"

The shopkeepers all had different expressions, and none of them answered, clearly indicating that they shared this intention.

After all, honest business practices can't compare to the satisfaction of forceful acquisition and plunder.

Qin Zhiyuan wasn't angry, and simply said:

"Regardless of what you all think, I'm just reminding you that Langdang Mountain is adjacent to Fujian, and perhaps someone has already reached out to us."

His words took the shopkeepers by surprise. They looked at each other, trying to glean some information from one another's expression.

An elderly man in a green robe cupped his hands and asked:

"Master Qin, are you referring to the seven royal families of Fujian?"

"Could it be that the actions of those villages were also instigated by them?" someone else asked.

The first man to speak, a ruddy-faced man, exclaimed, "How did they manage to get their hands on this place? This is still within the territory of Yue!"

The previously lively atmosphere in the lobby was suddenly dampened, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over it. The shopkeepers, who had been so imposing, were now whispering amongst themselves.

Fan Zhou stood behind Tian Youliang and vaguely heard names such as Ou Zuo, Gu Mie, and Bi Luo.

Qin Zhiyuan drank his tea in silence, watching them make wild guesses with a cold eye.

Finally, the old man in the green robe stood up and respectfully bowed, saying:

"Master Qin, stop keeping us in suspense. We'll follow your orders on how to handle this matter."

"Yes, we will follow Master Qin's lead without question!"

The shopkeepers reached a consensus at this moment and all politely stood up and bowed.

Qin Zhiyuan waved his hand, gesturing for them to sit down:

"Please rest assured, everyone. This situation will not last long. Please be patient for now."

Seeing that Qin Zhiyuan refused to say anything, everyone was itching to know what to do and was extremely anxious.

The old man in the green robe said with a wry smile, "Master Qin, please reveal a little information so that everyone has some idea."

Qin Zhiyuan smiled:

"As you all know, thirty miles south of this Langdang Mountain area lies the Min region, which is governed by seven major tribes."

"And the closest one to us is the Gumi tribe."

The old man in the green robe looked as if he had just expected this:

"So, these large villages in the area are all backed by the Gumei tribe?"

Qin Zhiyuan did not answer directly, but instead stood up, walked down to the hall, and said with his hands behind his back:

"You are all too impatient, focusing only on these small immediate gains while ignoring the much greater benefits that could be realized tenfold or even a hundredfold!"

"This area is surrounded by only a few small villages with a few hundred or a thousand people. Even if we swept through them all, how many spirit stones would we find?"

His gaze swept over the group of market vendors, and he said seriously:

"But the seven tribes behind them have hundreds of thousands of people and control the resources of the entire Fujian region!"

"How can we offend our true, important guests just for the sake of these immediate gains?"

The shopkeepers all thought it made sense, but they were still somewhat hesitant.

These seven tribes are too far apart, how can we guarantee that they will definitely come to Langdang Mountain Market?

If they don't come, no amount of profit will help.

Qin Zhiyuan knew what they were thinking and calmly said:

"I have already spoken with the people from the Gumi tribe. They will come to the market in July to purchase a batch of swords and knives, and exchange them for some resources."

"How much business you can make at that time will depend on yourselves."

The old man in the green robe's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked, "What day of July is it?"

Qin Zhiyuan sat back down, picked up his teacup, and slowly took a sip.

"I can't say for sure about that."

"Master Qin, you're really driving us crazy with worry!"

The old man in the green robe shook his head helplessly, "In that case, I'll go back and make preparations as soon as possible, so as not to delay the shop owner any longer."

He bowed and left in a hurry.

The other shopkeepers were also in a hurry to go back and inform their owners to prepare the goods, so they all quickly took their leave.

After they left, Liang Yong said sarcastically:

"A bunch of short-sighted fools, how could they know that we are planning for a hundred years?"

Qin Zhiyuan laughed and said, "These small clans and sects rise and fall in just a few decades. Why bother with all that?"

The deacons all nodded in agreement, their faces showing considerable pride.

After all, not every sect can have a history of thousands of years like the Sword Furnace.

Only then did Tian Youliang have time to pay attention to Fan Zhou. He leaned back in his chair, turned his head, and asked:

"Speak, what brings you here?"

Qin Zhiyuan and the others also looked up.

Meeting their gazes, Fan Zhou grinned:

"I have already mastered four types of Qi."

"What?!"

Tian Youliang suddenly stood up and asked urgently, "What have you mastered?"

"I have mastered the four transformations of Qi: hardness, softness, coldness, and heat!"

Fan Zhou smiled and repeated it, then drew his longsword, flicked it in the air with more than ten sword flowers, and quickly sheathed it.

Those present were all experts in the Qi Refining stage, and in just one instant, they could see the changes in his Qi, which were the four types of hardness, softness, coldness, and heat.

Deacon Hu was sitting right next to Tian Youliang, and he was so startled that he almost plucked out a single beard hair.

"Wow, you actually managed to master it!"

"No!" Liang Yong suddenly exclaimed.

He stared intently at Fan Zhou, saying incredulously:

"You've mastered the dual-wielding sword technique, combining strength and flexibility?"

Fan Zhou nodded reservedly, "I just happened to have a sudden realization, so I just happened to master it."

"You kid, you wouldn't happen to be a genius, would you?" Wang Xiaoshan looked at him with a curious expression.

"It's only mid-May, and there's still a month and a half until the end of June. Not only have you mastered four types of Qi transformation, but you've also learned swordsmanship..."

This is unbelievable!

In the main hall, several deacons were thoroughly amazed by Fan Zhou.

If Fan Zhou were the young master of some powerful family or the direct descendant of some great figure, they would definitely look down on his achievements.

But he was just an ordinary farm boy.

It's still the lowest grade of spiritual root.

I have been practicing for less than a year!

If anyone comes, they should ask if there's a mistake.

Old Hu clicked his tongue in amazement and asked Tian Youliang, "Old Tian, ​​how did you teach him?"

Tian Youliang was completely dumbfounded.

"He truly mastered the dual-wielding sword technique, cultivating four different types of energy."

"It didn't even take six months!"

You ask me how I taught you?

Tian Youliang suddenly became serious and turned to Old Hu, saying:

"Want to learn? I'll teach you."