At this point, the waters of the Muddy River slowed, pooling into a dammed-up lake within the cavern.
Relying on this lake, a massive harbor and dockyard had been built to accommodate incoming and outgoing ships.
When Jing Qian looked out, he saw nearly five hundred vessels of all sizes anchored across the lake.
The shabby little boat beneath his feet was the least remarkable among them.
He steered the boat forward, pulling into an unused berth, tied it off, and then stepped ashore.
Feeling the solid ground beneath his feet, he couldn't help but feel a moment of dazed relief.
The days drifting at sea had been thrilling and novel, something he had adapted to quickly, but the grounded certainty of solid land was an irresistible comfort!
On the docks bustled many porters, busy serving passing ships.
Jing Qian beckoned one over and said:
"Go to the Xu family shipyard and have them take this boat. Tell them the repair costs are to come from my deposit."
With that, he casually tossed the man a red copper knife coin.
The porter accepted it with overflowing gratitude and jogged off toward the far end of the docks.
In this world, mortal labor was worth almost nothing. That single coin equaled nearly half a year's wages for him.
With the matter of the broken vessel arranged, Jing Qian turned without another glance and walked deeper into the docks.
He found it almost laughable that the Jing clan, a once-proud Dragon-Elephant aristocratic family, descendants of naval commanders, had fallen so far.
To think the son of a warship captain had to rely on renting a boat just to put to sea!
He strolled unhurriedly, observing his surroundings as he went.
Although this was his first time setting foot on Hunzhou Island, he carried himself like a native.
He had reviewed the docks and routes with A'Bao more than ten times in detail,
and now the descriptions in his memory matched what he saw before his eyes,
guiding him straight to his destination without error.
At the dock's exit stood a checkpoint of black stone, separating the harbor from the outside world.
Within the checkpoint were four pavilions, each handling the entry and exit formalities for Hunzhou Island.
Jing Qian approached one at random. He pulled out a copper medallion engraved with the character "Jing", flashed it before the clerk in the pavilion, and walked straight through into the outer passage without hindrance.
This medallion had come from Jing Ran's storage hairpin.
No matter how far the Jing family had declined, they were still scions of the naval guard, direct descendants of a former warship commander.
To the mortal clerks at the checkpoint, such a figure was someone they dared not provoke.
Thus, no one dared bar Jing Qian's way.
However, after he passed, the pavilion clerk quietly summoned a porter and whispered:
"Go quickly and inform the Qian family that the Jing clan's masked youth has returned to the island!"
The porter nodded and hurried off.
Jing Qian continued on his way. Just as A'Bao had said, there was only a single tunnel leading from the docks to the surface.
Everyone who entered Hunzhou Island had to traverse this thirty-mile passage before they could see daylight again.
When Jing Qian first set eyes on it, he had been utterly shocked.
A'Bao had described it vaguely as "just a tunnel."
But what stretched before him was far beyond what the word "tunnel" could convey.
This was nothing less than a colossal natural sinkhole.
A massive tunnel, fully five li in diameter, slanted upward toward the surface.
It was so vast that even thirty li away, daylight poured through the opening, spilling into the cavern below.
Jing Qian walked slowly along this enormous passage. The tunnel walls were made of hard black stone, polished smooth until they gleamed with strength, with faint points of phosphorescence flickering here and there.
He climbed a meticulously carved staircase of black stone, surrounded by a bustling stream of hurried travelers.
Blending into the crowd, Jing Qian followed them upward out of the sinkhole.
In this world where everyone nurtured life essence, a thirty-li tunnel wasn't considered long.
The travelers surged forward in quick strides, covering distance as though in flight.
Jing Qian matched their pace, holding his speed steady. Even so, it took him barely half an hour to reach the end of the tunnel.
And what he saw upon emerging was yet another marvel!
The underground passage had bored straight through the ten-thousand-meter mountain he had seen when first approaching the island.
Coming out, he now stood on the mountain's far side.
Before him stretched a dry riverbed, just as wide as the underground tunnel, extending endlessly into the heart of Hunzhou Island. Its far end could not be seen.
Following its line of sight, Jing Qian saw the boundless plains of Hunzhou and the lush expanse of tropical rainforest that blanketed the island.
At the junction where the tunnel met the riverbed lay a small village.
This little village was the first stop for everyone setting foot on Hunzhou Island, and it was Jing Qian's immediate destination.
From A'Bao's explanation, Hunzhou was scattered with countless islands, but only fifteen islands had ignited their Fate Furnaces, and only those were habitable by humans.
Each Fate Island was far apart, isolated, and independent from the others.
Trade and exchange between them were poor, with all goods and people funneled through this very village.
To Jing Qian, that black-stone checkpoint earlier had been the customs gate of Hunzhou Island.
This village, before him, was equivalent to a bonded zone or duty-free port.
Shielded from the Hunzhou prefectural government, the village existed separately from the island proper.
Ordinary islanders could not reside here without permission.
As for outsiders from other Fate Islands, their activities were mostly restricted to within the village after landing here.
This settlement, known as the Hunzhou Market, monopolized all trade between the fifteen Fate Islands, giving it immense renown across the archipelago.
With tens of millions of humans living across those fifteen islands,
It took little calculation to realize the colossal wealth that flowed through this single marketplace.
And all of it was by design.
Within Hunzhou Island itself, only the twenty-four most powerful clans had the privilege of participating in the Market's wealth.
This was reflected in the twenty-four solitary buildings standing within the market.
Each building was a specialized store monopolizing a single industry, collectively known as the "Twenty-Four True Shops."
Together, these shops covered twenty-four sectors from livelihood goods to industry, cultivation, and commerce.
Each was a massive emporium catering to enormous demand, backed at minimum by a cultivator of Dragon-Elephant rank or higher.
And often, that cultivator was a high official from the Hunzhou Prefectural Government's three branches or two supervisory offices.
Strength, heritage, and vast wealth: this was the image every True Shop projected.
Yet among them, the Jing clan's shop was the only one struggling.
Not merely because their family had fallen to ruin
But because they monopolized the perilous, high-reward trade of maritime shipping without owning a single ship!
Thus, while the other twenty-three True Shops blazed with lights and bustled with customers,
The Jing clan's store stood bleak and desolate.
Jing Qian walked through the market, passing the busy thoroughfare, until he stood before the Jing shop.
He raised his eyes to the faded signboard, sneered faintly, and stepped inside.
-support me in Patreon for more chapter, 55+ chapters in there
patreon.com/LordoftheReader