East China Sea, a small island.
Not far from the seaside, there is a fishing village. Every household in the village makes a living by fishing, building nets and drying them. Although the houses are simple, they are very solid, not afraid of the sea breeze, and are warm in winter and cool in summer.
Traces of hard work can be seen everywhere in the village. It can be imagined that in the past, it must have been a lively scene of neighbors coming and going.
But today, most of the doors and windows in the entire village were closed. Only around the house closest to the seaside, there were a hundred or ten people standing, playing music and carrying sedans, as if to welcome the bride. The sounds of rogue men were making noises. Children ran and laughed, elders shook hands and whispered, cried reluctantly, and laughed happily.
Suddenly, a strange scream came from the air, like an iron whistle blowing, piercing the joyful atmosphere.
A huge black shadow descended from the sky and passed in front of the house. Suddenly more than a dozen villagers were hit and flew out. The remaining crowd screamed in fright and fled in all directions.
The black shadow hovered in the air, revealing its full appearance. It had a sheep's head and antlers, four claws, wide wings, a mouth full of fangs, and it was holding the corpse of a village man.
As soon as the monster raised its head, the corpse was swallowed whole by it. Not satisfied, it pounced down again, grabbing the roof with its four claws and flapping its wings fiercely.
There was a loud bang, and the entire roof was blown away by it.
The sky was bright and shone into the house, but for just a moment, the monster's body, which was about the same size as the house, hovered back, and the black shadow covered the entire house.
The bride in the room looked up, her beauty turned pale, and she was stunned.
The monster made that harsh whistling sound again, as if it was very happy, and stretched out its head to bite the bride.
“Gah!
"
Suddenly, it screamed and kicked hard with its four claws, causing the shabby house to collapse completely. Its body rose into the air, and it was seen that a sword was stuck in its throat, and blood was flowing like a stream.
Just when the broken house collapsed, a strong wind blew up, and the surrounding villagers who were fleeing suddenly turned into palm-sized paper figures one by one, and were blown up into the air by the wind.
The paper figures were flying like snow, and a seemingly honest village man made a hand gesture with his hands, muttered something, and pointed his finger in the air: "Explode!"
There was a muffled explosion in the monster's belly, and the corpse it had just swallowed turned into a paper man and exploded.
This monster had a strong body, and the explosion in its belly actually failed to kill it, but it still caused it to scream in agony. Thick smoke spurted out from its throat, and it turned around and tried to escape.
The honest man controlled the other paper figures and wanted to pursue them, but was blown by the strong wind caused by the monster's wings, causing the paper figures to float around and unable to catch up.
At this moment, a golden net opened in the sky, and four figures flew up, grabbing the four corners of the golden net, each of them channeled enough inner energy, and fell down.
The force of this fall was more than tens of thousands of kilograms?
The monster was injured and bound by the golden net, making it difficult to flap its wings. It was immediately dragged back to the ground by these four people.
A silver spear flew over and pierced the monster's head between the two antlers.
The gun head rotated, sparks flew everywhere, and drilled through the skull, which was harder than a hundred steel-making.
The man with the gun stabbed downwards and finally nailed the monster to the ground.
Inside the ruins, door panels and pillars were flying around, and the bride's figure jumped out and shouted hurriedly: "How's it going? How's it going? Have you killed this fainting bird?"
When she came closer and saw the silver spear piercing the head of the unconscious bird, she breathed a sigh of relief, squatted down, turned over it, and pulled out her sword from the strange bird's neck.
The sword was stained with blood, and the snow-white blade had only been soaked in the blood of the strange bird for a short time, but there were already many traces of rust.
The bride felt sorry for the sword, took out a piece of cloth to wipe the sword, and cursed: "This faint devil bird takes advantage of people's weddings to fly to eat people. What an evil beast! It's not in vain that we tracked it down for half a month and carefully set up an ambush. , finally getting rid of this scourge.”
The honest man had already collected the paper man, quickly took out a jade bottle, put it to the wound of the strange bird to collect the poisonous blood, and said with a smile: "Not only does it eliminate one harm, this monster is full of treasures, with sharp wings and claws, and poisonous blood. Blood poisonous hearts and bones can be ground into powder, and the paint used to make talismans can be sold at a good price if sent to Wanchuan Haiji."
The four men who just grabbed the golden net were all of different ages, but they were all dressed up and had weathered faces.
The oldest one among them said with a smile: "Sixth brother and seventh sister, you two are still the quickest minds. Sixth brother transformed into a paper man. Although he was lifelike, he could not speak. Seventh sister used ventriloquism to imitate hundreds of things." Human movement is what attracts this scourge.”
The seventh sister kicked the strange bird, shook her head and said, "Second brother is making fun of me. With my little heretical tricks, I still can't kill this strange bird. If the eldest brother hadn't taken action, I'm afraid things would have been hard to tell. "
Hong Yufang, who is called the eldest brother, looks much younger than the second brother. He seems to be only sixteen or seventeen years old. He has a calm demeanor, draws out his silver gun, and says: "Take this monster's body and leave quickly."
The sixth brother smiled and said, "I think the eldest brother is afraid of being surrounded by villagers to thank me."
He took out a paper boat and threw it to the seaside. The paper boat fell to the water and turned into a ten-foot long boat, like a black wooden boat.
The seven brothers and sisters set up the body of the strange bird and boarded the boat to go away.
Hong Yufang also left five jade coins in front of the ruined house as compensation.
As soon as they left, the villagers rushed out and gathered at the beach to look at the corpse of the strange bird on their boat.
"It's the monster that ate my sister. It's really that monster!"
A fisherman shouted something, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed to the sea. The villagers immediately shouted and expressed their gratitude.
The seven brothers and sisters cast a spell and the ship accelerated. Like a sharp arrow, it cuts through the waves and goes away.
The sixth brother sighed: "I heard some people calling us gods. Alas, what kind of gods are we? Even the eldest brother has not reached the realm of loose immortals."
Qimei wiped her sword with some yearning: "If you are a loose immortal, if you encounter such a monster, you will kill it as soon as you raise your hand."
The second brother said: "Wanchuan Haiji has been reopened. With our savings, plus this strange bird, we can exchange for some Spirit Storage Pills and Jade Liquid Qingmai Powder. By then, we will also be able to reach the realm of Qi refining." At the ninth level, eldest brother might even be able to touch the edge of Sanxian."
Lao Wu had dark skin and broad palms. He was putting away the golden net and wrapping it around his waist. He said, "In my opinion, we shouldn't replace all the elixirs. Our storage bag has too small a capacity. We should change it to a larger one." Something more."
They all have storage bags, and the reason why they still put this strange bird on the boat is because their storage bags are not enough to store the entire body of the fainted bird.
And if the body is cut up now, the price will definitely be reduced when it comes to Wanchuan Haiji.
The third child agreed with this, but the fourth child had other ideas: "If we don't buy the elixir this time, is it enough to buy a complete cultivation method of the level of a loose immortal?"
As soon as this was said, everyone was very excited.
The skills they practiced were not of high quality, and some were incomplete. They only had internal cultivation parts and no external magical powers. All their methods were patchwork.
If we could replace a complete exercise, change the foundation, and have several people confirm each other, there would definitely be a better future.
"There's no need to rush about the skills."
Hong Yufang thought about it for a while and said, "In Wanchuan Haiji, there were originally three Earth Immortal seniors who were able to stand alone and not look at the faces of outsiders. But now, it is the two seniors who refine weapons and alchemy and cultivate strange flowers who have appeared. Well, when we return to Wanchuan Haiji, trading may not be as easy as before."
Qimei snorted coldly: "I don't believe that Senior Lin is some kind of devil. The pills he made have been eaten by many casual cultivators in the East China Sea without any problems. On the contrary, if there are no pills with reasonable prices, how can we These casual cultivators may have fallen at some level long ago."
"We can't speak clearly about the matters between Earth Immortals and Masters, so we should not mention them as much as possible."
Hong Yufang sighed and said, "I'm just worried that if the prices and rules of Wanchuanhaiji become the same as those of the Jinghai Chamber of Commerce and Qibao Chamber of Commerce, we will..."
He did not continue, "When we get to Wanchuan Haiji, we can really see it before talking about it."
After saying these words, the seven of them seemed a little dull and practiced silently.
Three days later, the ship finally arrived at Wanchuan Haiji.
Among the large and small fleets, this ship is very inconspicuous, but the Fainting Bird has attracted the attention of many merchants on board.
Before I even got ashore, someone had already come over to talk to me.
The seven of them, Hong Yufang, have been active in the East China Sea for more than ten years. Although their names are not very famous, they are still considered familiar faces among these small caravans.
Soon they found a few acquaintances, collected the paper boats, and boarded their big boats to chat and inquire about the changes in Wanchuan Haiji.
To their surprise, the rules of this year's Wanchuan Haiji remained unchanged.
"...Well, actually, it's a bit strange to say it."
The boatman whispered that Kong Pinglan summoned them, and all the goods in the future would have to be re-appraised and priced by the Sima family.
"Unexpectedly, when Doctor Wan Shen came to the island to borrow the furnace, something seemed to have changed. Anyway, the old man Kong disappeared, and the re-pricing was ignored. It seemed that the previous rules were followed by default."
The seven of them, Hong Yufang, saw their expressions change several times before finally heaving a sigh of relief.
The sixth brother said: "It seems that we have to move faster this time. Maybe they will think of it and change it back."
The boatman smiled: "That's true. To tell you the truth, although everyone was a little worried about this matter at first, after they really stopped mentioning it, some people secretly took the initiative to find people from the Sima family. Woolen cloth."
After all, there are many "smart people" among the merchants. When the Sima family truly dominates the East China Sea and controls pricing power, some will have to suffer losses, but there will also be others who can take advantage of this shareholder trend and become ministers of the dragon.
Smart people think they have seen through why the Sima family has started but failed in this matter. They clearly want to give time to see which of all the merchants are smart enough and surrender early enough.
When the boatman said this, Hong Yufang and others also had this suspicion.
The boatman observed the situation and said, "How about selling this bird to me directly? Don't worry, how many years have we been friends? The price I give must be fair."
After selling the body of the Fainting Bird and clearing out some of the inventory in the storage bag, Hong Yufang and the other seven hurriedly went to the island to find the elixir they were interested in, and immediately bought it.
After getting the elixir, they finally breathed a sigh of relief and were no longer so worried, but they were worried about next year again.
The rules barely changed this year, but what about next year?
In the next few days, they were not in a hurry to leave, but decided to stay in Wanchuan Haiji to see which way the wind was blowing.
Hong Yufang rented a stall and mixed some old antiques with no apparent use that the seven brothers and sisters had acquired when they were wandering around the sea, mixed with a few incomplete magic weapons and fragments of exercises, and sold them at low prices.
A few days later, a steward from Wanchuan Haiji suddenly came to them.
"Donghai Academy?"
The seven brothers and sisters chatted with the steward for a long time and learned that there was an expert from the Earth Immortal who was going to establish a new sect. They decided to recruit some casual cultivators from the East China Sea to help manage the sect's affairs at the beginning of the establishment of the sect.
"I don't know where exactly the seven of us can be used?"
The steward said: "If you want to establish a sect, you must know people well and assign them well. If you go, the positions assigned to you will definitely be what you are good at, and the salary will be generous."
Before he finished speaking, the steward had already taken out a bag of jade coins and said, "Someone will arrange a position for you in Xuanran Garden. As long as you are willing to go, I can give you half a month's salary today."
Hong Yufang took it and was slightly surprised: "It's Lingyu, seventy Lingyu coins."
Practitioners below Sanxian level usually use warm jade money the most.
For them, as long as they are willing to part with it, the Ten Thousand Magic Spirit Jade Money can almost be used as an elixir to increase their magic power.
The seven brothers and sisters had worked hard to save for more than half a year before they could afford the batch of pills. The total value was about one hundred and fifty spiritual jade coins.
If you join this new sect, one month's salary can basically be worth the harvest of the first half a year of hard work and risk-taking killing monsters? !
Although the seven people were full of suspicion, they decided to take a look.
When we arrived at Xuanran Garden, hundreds of people had gathered in Xuanran Garden, and everyone looked a little nervous.
It is normal for some earthly immortal masters to establish a new sect.
But now Wanchuan Haiji is in the pocket of the Sima family. If you come to this place to talk about establishing a sect, where are you going to put the mountain gate? Should you seize the Sima family's land or rent the Sima family's land?
Could it be that the Sima family is covering their ears and preparing to support a puppet called a new sect, but in reality it is a top-notch bandit who will help the Sima family do things that cannot be brought to light?
Hong Yufang observed everyone and secretly shook his head.
It doesn't look like either.
He has seen a lot of rogue bandits. What these people want is to kill people like nothing, come and go like the wind, and not have family members to drag them down.
Who would find a group of small businessmen with low cultivation level to mix in when they support the bandits?
Even among these hundreds of people, many are old and have low cultivation levels. They have basically given up on continuing to practice hard and just want to take care of themselves.
Hong Yufang saw several old men known as the "Four Friends of Nanqiao". They reclaimed wasteland on the island, enjoyed farming and reading, and taught some basic skills to the children of the people on the island.
Every year when they go to Wanchuan Haiji, these people just exchange the spiritual grains grown at home for some of the lowest-level monster flesh and blood, and go back to satisfy their appetites.
The generous salary can make these old men tempted to come over and see what the new sect is like, but it is impossible for these old men to run away and become bandits.
Not long after, someone climbed onto the high platform. He looked impressive and did not try to hide it. He was indeed an Earth Immortal master.
Yuantaixi looked around and said: "I know a little bit about your reputation. Since you are here, you must be a little curious about Donghai Academy, so I will get straight to the point."
"Whenever you establish a sect, in addition to preaching and teaching, you must also have your own property. The purpose of recruiting you is to help manage the sect's property."
"However, everyone has different backgrounds and may not have experience working together. If you want to manage the industry well, you must first find a place to try your hand and get used to it."
"My Taoist brother who wants to open a school talked with the Sima family and decided to give everyone a try with Wanchuan Haiji."
Yuan Taixi wrote lightly and said words that made everyone stunned.
"Next, the managers assigned by the Sima family to various aspects of Wanchuan Haiji will hand over to you and assign duties according to your strengths..."
………………
Two days later, Yuantaixi came to the beach again.
"You really made the right choice. Although these people were doubtful, in the end, they all accepted the position."
"After all, this is the first batch. They are all carefully selected and courageous people. The other two thousand or so people on your list can actually be used, but it will take some time for them to get used to the situation in the East China Sea. Variety."
Guan Luoyang looked at the waves and said, "In a few days, after they have become familiar with things in Wanchuan Haiji, I will leave. I will take everyone from the Sima family with me. You stay here and lead the way." They take care of Wanchuan Haiji."
Yuantaixi wanted to go, but he also knew that it would be safer to stay. He muttered, "But if you do this, it feels like our new sect is just a new chamber of commerce."
"Don't worry, this is just the first step."
Guan Luoyang said, "Let me take this opportunity to see what the descendants of each sect in the world are like."
"Ha, I hope the Sima family sends out enough invitations."
