At this moment, Jing Qian held a freshly acquired Life-Casting Opportunity, and without hesitation, he used it on [Longevity].
Unlike other Life Patterns, which required fusing two identical ones into a single whole before they could be reforged, the [Longevity] Life Pattern slid seamlessly into the Stele. Once he activated the Life-Casting Opportunity, it greedily devoured every bit of his stored [White Fang Life Essence].
Relying on Life Essences alone to reforge [Longevity], Jing Qian was nearly drained dry.
When he looked again, the [Longevity] Life Pattern had doubled its effect, now granting: [Longevity] (White Fang, 2 Quarters). Its efficiency had soared!
The discovery nearly made Jing Qian rush back to the Crocodile Dragon to die a few more times on purpose.
Unfortunately, this wasn't a closed cultivation ground, and in a blur, the three days were already up. He had no choice but to leave Lord Gongye Zheng's shop.
Jing Qian walked along the street in high spirits.
In just three days, he had refined ten sword embryos, six of which had been converted into [Sword Fang] power.
Both his spiritual cultivation and the [Longevity] Life Pattern had advanced.
His overall strength had risen yet again.
Everything was under his control, and the path of cultivation was unfolding smoothly. A sense of solid progress filled his heart with strength.
Instead of returning to the Jing family's main shop, he headed eastward, all the way to the far end of Hunzhou's market.
Here, far from the bustling center, the streets were nearly empty.
Jing Qian strolled to the entrance of a small temple and gently knocked on the door.
Before long, the door creaked open, and a young Daoist boy led him inside.
Entering the main hall, Jing Qian found the temple dedicated to a peculiar golden toad statue.
Beside it stood a gaunt Daoist priest. Upon seeing Jing Qian, he asked:
"So, you are Jing Qian?"
"You've quite the fierce temper, unlike your aunt, who was far gentler."
"What business do you have with me?"
Jing Qian offered a respectful bow before speaking:
"Lord Overseer, my Jing family's main shop has fallen on hard times. Our core shipping trade has been taken over by the Xu family's shop. I wonder if there is any remedy to this?"
The man before him was Li Yi, a mid-ranking official from the Civil Bureau, himself a cultivator of the Dragon-Elephant Realm. He was in charge of Hunzhou's market, wielding considerable authority.
Li Yi replied:
"Your Jing family's main shop was founded by your ancestor Jing Chuan.
"At its height, you possessed seven registered treasure ships and more than forty large vessels. With such a fleet, you could sail even in Yin Years and control shipping across an entire province.
"But alas, after your ancestor's death, your fleet suffered calamities at sea and never recovered.
"Shipping is unlike other trades; it is essential to our market's survival.
"Since the Jing family could no longer uphold it, naturally, another family had to take its place.
"The Xu family also hails from the navy. They have built ships for nearly three centuries, through five generations.
"The current Xu fleet has twice completed Yin-Year voyages, establishing its reputation.
"And now, your Jing family has only you remaining. Even if you wished to return to the shipping trade, assembling a fleet would not be easy.
"Still, when I divided the shipping duties back then, giving them to the Xu family did indeed put the Jings at a disadvantage."
With that, Li Yi pulled out an ornate ledger bound in dragon scales. He flipped it open and handed it to Jing Qian.
"In addition to shipping, I will grant your Jing family permission to choose one more trade.
"As long as it doesn't cause direct conflict with another main shop, you may decide freely."
Jing Qian accepted the ledger, infused it with spiritual power, and wrote boldly across the page with strokes like coiling dragons and dancing snakes. Then he handed it back.
Having achieved his goal in meeting Li Yi, he rose, offered a polite farewell, and left.
Li Yi watched the youth's brisk, decisive manner without the slightest hesitation or waste of words and shook his head.
Then he looked down at the ledger in his hands.
Beneath the Jing family's shipping trade entry, another line now stood out clearly:
"Real Estate and Housing Sales!"
Jing Qian left the small temple and made his way back to the Jing family's main shop.
In just over a day, the blood at the entrance had already been scrubbed clean, and the corpses were gone.
He stepped inside and summoned the three remaining members of his household.
"You three," Jing Qian ordered, "go out and spread the word. Say that in three months, I, Jing Qian, will be auctioning off the Jing family's main shop.
"Anyone interested, regardless of background, is welcome to come and bid."
"Also, one of you take my waist token and head to the underground docks. Invite the people from Earth-Dragon Reef Island here."
In Hunzhou, there were a total of fifteen Fate Islands, each centered around an ignited Life Furnace and guarded by a powerful cultivator, forming a major local force.
Every Fate Island was unique, each with its own heritage.
Among them, Earth-Dragon Reef Island was considered particularly unusual.
Legend said that when they first tried to establish a Life Furnace there, the landmass wasn't sufficient to even form an island, only a scatter of coral reefs stretched across the sea, making it impossible to build a Fate Island.
And yet, beneath those reefs lay a high-quality qi core. If ignited successfully, it could easily nurture a Blue-ranked Life Furnace.
Thus, a sect known as the Earth-Dragon Sect took the risk. They reclaimed land from the sea among those reefs, forcibly constructing Earth-Dragon Reef Island, and their name shook all of Hunzhou.
From then on, the builders of Earth-Dragon Reef Island became renowned for their construction skills.
Whenever a major construction project arose on any Fate Island, the first name on everyone's lips was always: "Bring in the masters from Earth-Dragon Reef Island."
Of the twenty-four main shops in Hunzhou's market, more than half had been built by their craftsmen.
The Jing family, as nouveau riche upstarts, had never invited Earth-Dragon Reef Island to help with their estate.
But this had its advantages.
At the very least, when Jing Qian decided to tear the place down, it wasn't the least bit difficult.
After sending the three men out, he pulled out his Ninth-Rank bronze hammer and began demolition work.
In no time at all, the Jing family's main shop was reduced to rubble.
"Boom!"
He started from the main hall, smashing the central beam with a single swing.
As he tore the place apart, he also released more than a dozen glistening threads, scouring the building for valuables.
Anything useful was stowed away; everything else was dumped into the courtyard.
Within just two hours, Jing Qian had torn down the entire four-courtyard estate, leaving behind a ruin that looked like something out of Syria.
And the harvest wasn't small either!
Those who had "taken their own lives" had left behind some savings.
From hidden chests and secret rooms, Jing Qian dug out wealth equivalent to twenty-seven ingots of yuan-gold, a sum enough to buy materials for two [Sword Fang] refinements. Far more than his total worth before.
An unexpected windfall, and he wasn't about to complain.
Of course, the enormous racket he made drew crowds once again.
The Jing family's main shop had produced yet another spectacle, first a massacre, now demolition. No wonder it drew such an audience.
Rumors flew across Hunzhou's market, spreading like wildfire.
Two in particular stuck and gained the widest circulation:
The first said the Jing family's sole heir had his Fate Fire burn back on him, frying his brain. He couldn't be judged by the standards of normal people.
The second was the freshest rumor:
The Jing family's mad heir was giving up even his official shop license and intended to sell off the entire Jing family estate!
On its own, the second claim might have been dismissed as nonsense.
But after Jing Qian's recent string of madness, the public found it strangely believable.
One tongue passed it to ten, ten passed it to a hundred, until more and more people were eagerly awaiting the Jing family's grand auction in three months.
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