Chapter 446 The Fall of the Family's Zifu

After bidding farewell to the Haoran Peak, he soared through the skies aboard his treasure ark, heading toward the Chu Kingdom.

在宝舟之上，Eldrin (Person Name)回头看了一眼浩然岭，带着几分敬重说道：“这Magnus the Virtuous Lord (Person Name)品性高洁，果真不愧是天下闻名的得道高人。”

"Indeed." Lyra handed the ancient scroll to him, sighing with emotion as she spoke, "We must never forget the kindness shown to us today."

"Of course."

Eldrin took the ancient scroll, which recorded the contingency plans laid down by Magnus the Virtuous Lord.

With this contingency in place, their chances of seizing the Heavenly Dao Qi (Spiritual Root) during the communion of heaven and earth over a century later would be significantly greater.

At this thought, he still said, "If we achieve success in the future, it would only be right to give back in some way."

With that matter settled, no more needed to be said. They continued flying toward the Chu Kingdom.

While passing through the Ji Kingdom, Eldrin calculated with his fingers and said with a light laugh, "By my reckoning, the Jizhou Golden Core Exchange Fair will be held within these 2 months. Let's first see if we can acquire some suitable treasures there."

"Good."

The 2 diverted their path to the Ji Continent Trading Post (Location). Since it was still early for the Exchange Convention, they headed straight to the Chen Family’s shop within the trading post.

The Chen Clan's shops had now spread throughout Ji Continent, and the person in charge of the stores in Ji Kingdom and the Ji Continent Trading Post (Location) was none other than Lyra (Person Name)'s disciple, Liu Rumeng.

Greetings, Master. Greetings, Grandmaster.

Seeing Eldrin and Lyra arrive, Liu Rumeng hurriedly welcomed them with delight, ushering them into the rear courtyard.

This was the duo’s first visit to the Chen family’s establishment at the Ji Continent Trading Post. Eldrin’s gaze swept across the premises, noting that aside from the Treasure Pavilion—which traded in elixirs, spiritual herbs, and the essences of the 5 Elements—2 adjacent shops also bore the Chen family’s name.

1 shop was named the Celestial Horizon Pavilion, while the other was called the Ocean's End Tower. Both establishments were bustling with customers, their businesses thriving, and among the crowds were even high-level cultivators.

"Are the Skyreach Pavilion and the Seabound Tower doing quite well?"

A faint twitch appeared between Eldrin's brows as he inquired with an unreadable expression.

The Chen Clan's Skyreach Tower specialized in the 'Spirit Goose' trade. Their Purple-Striped Wild Goose (Demon Beast) had been bred for hundreds of years through continuous selection. By propagating only the most succulent spirit geese generation after generation, they now retained only those with truly exquisite flavors—rare spiritual delicacies.

Combined with the secret formula provided by Eldrin (Person Name), and after centuries of continuous research by the Chen Family cultivators, hundreds of spiritual herbs were blended to create an exceptionally flavorful sauce. This unexpectedly made the spiritual goose renowned across the land for its exquisite taste.

To cater to cultivators of varying cultivation levels, the Chen Family had also bred even more precious Spirit Wild Geese at Tianxu Lake and Yan Lake.

Among them were even spiritual delicacies of as high as Third Rank, rumored to be so exquisite that even the True Monarch of the Ji Clan would occasionally indulge in a taste.

The Sea Cape Pavilion was much the same, primarily dealing in the trade of spirit fish. After the Chen family occupied the Yan Kingdom (Location) and the fourth-order spirit mountain of the Heavenly Ruins Lake, the variety of spirit fish sources had expanded to over a 100 types.

Its signature dishes, 'Charcoal-Grilled Green Scale Fish' and 'Steamed Carp Dragon Fish,' are hailed as unparalleled delicacies throughout the Ji Province. Not only do they offer an exquisite culinary experience, but they also greatly enhance a cultivator's cultivation base. Only those at the Golden Core realm or above are eligible to reserve a tasting.

"We have leased 3 shops in the prime location of Ji Continent Trading Post (Location), with an annual rent as high as 200,000 spirit stones."

Moreover, we need to acquire massive quantities of 5 Elements Essence, which would result in enormous deficits on the books. Yet who could have anticipated that Skyline Pavilion and Horizon Tower would flourish so remarkably?

Speaking of the Skyreach Pavilion and the Seabound Tower, Liu Rumeng’s face lit up with joy. She informed the 2 that the annual revenue from these 2 establishments alone now exceeded 500,000 spirit stones.

After deducting the costs of shop rent and taxes, they could still earn an annual profit of nearly 200,000 spirit stones.

This immense profit significantly alleviated the enormous expenditure they had incurred in acquiring the 5 Elements Essence.

This did not even include the Horizon Pavilion branches in other nations. Though their revenue paled in comparison to the Ji Province Market—the largest trading hub in Ji Province—by more than an order of magnitude, their combined earnings still amounted to a considerable sum.

After listening, Lyra (Person Name) smiled and said, "It seems we should also start taking this business seriously."

"Such a substantial income truly warrants this."

Eldrin nodded, then turned his gaze to Liu Rumeng and said, "Since you’ve been overseeing this business in the Kingdom of Ji, have you encountered any difficulties?"

"I can handle ordinary minor troubles on my own."

Liu Rumeng spoke, a faint flicker of movement crossing her brow before she continued with a wry smile. "It’s just that in recent years, some immortal clans of the Ji Kingdom have grown envious of our profits. They seek to buy shares and take a cut of the gains."

"A while back, the head chefs of both the Skyline Pavilion and the Horizon Tower were threatened into surrendering their recipes. Fortunately, our secret formulas have always been strictly confidential, and they're prepared within Yu County before being delivered here, so the perpetrators didn't succeed."

"Oh?" Lyra's eyes sharpened as she spoke with an edge of intensity. "Tell me, which families are involved?"

7 Golden Core clans had covertly joined forces to exert pressure, with the Yun Clan and the Mo Clan leading the alliance.

Liu Rumeng recounted the situation in detail, allowing Eldrin to grasp the circumstances clearly.

Among the Golden Core immortal clans of the Ji Kingdom, the Yun Clan was the first to covet their gains. Some years ago, when Eldrin and Lyra were in secluded cultivation within the Flaming Prison of Blazing Fire, Liu Rumeng invited the former clan leader to suppress their ambitions.

Later, the Yun Immortal Clan refused to accept this outcome and joined forces with the Mo Immortal Clan and 6 other Golden Core Immortal Clans to exert pressure, repeatedly attempting—both overtly and covertly—to claim a share of the profits.

On 1 occasion, they even intercepted the Chen Clan's treasure ship transporting supplies, demanding an exorbitant toll payment.

The Chen Clan cultivators were, after all, members of a top-tier Golden Core immortal family and would naturally not tolerate being bullied. A fierce conflict erupted between the 2 sides as a result.

In that battle, the 7 great immortal clans should not have gained any advantage. Yet, the Golden Core elder of the Yun Clan resorted to bullying the weak, resulting in the death of a Purple Mansion cultivator from the Chen Clan. 2 self-established Foundation Building prodigies of the Purple Mansion had their paths to the Dao severed, while countless lower-ranking cultivators suffered heavy casualties.

Later, it was Kael who emerged from seclusion and personally visited the Ji Kingdom. He traveled to all 7 great immortal clans, achieving 6 victories in 7 battles. He successively defeated 6 Golden Core experts from several major immortal clans, until finally, the Cloud Clan leader—at the ninth level of Golden Core cultivation—leveraged his superior cultivation to forcibly repel him.

After that, the major immortal clans ceased their direct assaults, yet their covert schemes never truly ceased. They sought to force the Chen Family to surrender the secret formula they had researched for hundreds of years.

"This Cloud Immortal Clan... what a formidable local power."

"However, those who dare kill members of our Chen family must pay the price."

Eldrin's gaze turned icy as he sneered, "Enough. I shall go myself."

The Immortal Clan of the Yun Family in Jizhou had existed for over a 1000 years. Since advancing to a Golden Core Immortal Clan 8 100 years ago, the Yun Family had been progressing by leaps and bounds.

Now, the Yun Clan had produced 5 Golden Core cultivators, making them quite formidable among the myriad of Golden Core clans.

Now, the current clan leader of the Yun Clan, Yun Mohe (Person Name), though merely 7 100 and some years of age, had already reached the peak of the ninth level of the Golden Core realm. It was said he had even forged a Mid-Grade Golden Core, granting him a glimmer of hope to break through to the Nascent Soul stage in the future.