Chapter 20 - Chapter 20: The West River Gathering

West River Market was a young market—founded only three hundred years ago. It was established during the Zhang Clan's heyday, when they joined forces with five other local Foundation Establishment clans to create the market. Due to the Zhang Clan's dominant strength at the time, they occupied nearly half of the market's shops. Regrettably, as the Zhang Clan declined over the past hundred years, they had been left with only eight shops in the market. With the clan's strength weakened and a shortage of capable cultivators, three of these eight shops had been rented out—leaving only five under direct Zhang Clan management. The largest of these was the clan's pill pavilion, named "Hundred Herbs Pavilion."West River Market was a young market—founded only three hundred years ago. It was established during the Zhang Clan's heyday, when they joined forces with five other local Foundation Establishment clans to create the market. Due to the Zhang Clan's dominant strength at the time, they occupied nearly half of the market's shops. Regrettably, as the Zhang Clan declined over the past hundred years, they had been left with only eight shops in the market. With the clan's strength weakened and a shortage of capable cultivators, three of these eight shops had been rented out—leaving only five under direct Zhang Clan management. The largest of these was the clan's pill pavilion, named "Hundred Herbs Pavilion."By now, the market was sparsely populated—barely a soul in sight. Though it was Zhang Zhixuan's first visit to the market, he found the clan's shops without difficulty. The Zhang Clan was one of the founders of West River Market; at its peak, they owned nearly half of the market's shops. Today, with the clan in decline, they retained only eight shops—three rented out, five operated directly. The largest was the clan's pill pavilion, "Hundred Herbs Pavilion."Zhang Zhixuan entered the market and was immediately recognized by Zhang Clan cultivators, who led him directly to Hundred Herbs Pavilion. Before he could exchange greetings, Zhang Mengquan emerged from the inner hall and said: "So it's Zhixuan. What brings you to the market?""The spiritual energy at the foot of the mountain is insufficient for cultivation—I've come to buy some Golden Sprout Pills," Zhang Zhixuan replied."Pills are good, but they can't be overused—you should know that. You've already mastered the Pill Transformation Method; you can only take one Golden Sprout Pill every three months," Zhang Mengquan warned."I've taken a few Golden Sprout Pills before and understand the taboos," Zhang Zhixuan assured him.Zhang Mengquan nodded with a smile: "That's good. You have a bright future ahead and a long road to walk—never become addicted to Spiritual Pills. Though pills accelerate cultivation quickly, they all carry hidden risks. For immortal cultivators, it's better to progress steadily than to rush. A steady path leads farther."Zhang Zhixuan said solemnly: "Ninth Uncle is right. I'll keep that in mind. Once I complete my task and return to the mountain, I'll stop taking Golden Sprout Pills.""You've come at just the right time. Today, I'll give you a discount—thirty Low-Grade Spirit Stones for a bottle of Golden Sprout Pills. If you'd come a month or two later, the pills would have sold out. In recent decades, our Golden Sprout Pills have grown increasingly popular—they sell out within a year or two of being refined," Zhang Mengquan said proudly, pleased by the pill pavilion's success.Zhang Zhixuan shook his head: "Expanding Yellow Sprout Grass cultivation would be difficult without qualified alchemists. Last time, Ninth Uncle was exhausted from refining pills. As you grow older, you'll have less energy for pill-refining."Zhang Mengquan glared angrily at his two pill-refining apprentices and sighed: "You two have poor spiritual roots and even worse pill-refining talent. You've wasted seven or eight years here and still can't refine Rank 2 Spiritual Pills. If you keep slacking off, you'll be wasting the clan's resources. It's better for you to learn another craft—this pill-refining pavilion won't keep you on any longer."Zhixuan, you have good spiritual roots and solid cultivation. Being a farmer is a waste of your talent. Why not follow Ninth Uncle and learn pill-refining? Among the four great crafts of immortal cultivation (pill-refining, artifact-refining, talisman-making, and formation), pill-refining ranks first. Master this craft, and you'll never lack immortal cultivation resources. As the saying goes: 'Resources come first among the four essentials of cultivation'—isn't that true?"Zhang Zhixuan was tempted by the offer: "Thank you for your kindness, Ninth Uncle. The spiritual fields still need a capable cultivator to guard them. I'll consider it in a few years.""Learn pill-refining, but don't neglect your cultivation. A cultivator's strength is fundamental—higher cultivation makes it easier to learn pill-refining," Zhang Mengquan reminded him, waving a hand to dismiss the topic.Apart from major events like the West River Gathering, West River Market was nearly deserted on ordinary days. Zhang Zhixuan spent the entire afternoon at the market, and Hundred Herbs Pavilion only completed a single Spirit Stone's worth of business—a Second Layer Qi Refining loose cultivator bought five or six Rank 1 spiritual talismans for one Low-Grade Spirit Stone.Watching the empty shop, Zhang Zhixuan asked in confusion: "Fifth Brother, is the market always this quiet?"Fifth Brother Zhang Zhicheng had poor spiritual root aptitude. At twenty-eight, he had only reached the Third Layer of Qi Refining. After seven or eight years as a pill-refining apprentice, he still couldn't refine Rank 2 Spiritual Pills. Zhang Mengquan had completely given up on him and would not invest any additional resources in his training. When they returned to the mountain after this task, Zhang Zhicheng would have to change paths—either becoming a spiritual field cultivator or retiring to Lushan County.In response to Zhang Zhixuan's question, Zhang Zhicheng replied dejectedly: "Apart from the Qingxuan Sect, including local loose cultivators, there are only about one or two thousand immortal cultivators in Taicheng County. With so few cultivators, how can the market be lively? Only during the annual West River Gathering do most loose cultivators come—like mortals going to a market. On that day, the market does more business than in an entire year."