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nPower of the Clan

nThree days later… In a restaurant at the itinerant cultivator market.

n“Fellow Daoist Wei, thank you for your help in purchasing the shop. The Chen clan is extremely grateful.”

n“Thank you for your help, senior.”

nChen Xianhe and Chen Daoxuan raised their wine glasses and toasted Wei Sihai with a smile.

n“It’s nothing. We are all friends. It’s just a small matter, a small matter!”

nWei Sihai quickly raised his wine glass and said with a smile.

nOver the past three days, the “small matter” of the merfolk attacking Guang’an Prefecture had long since died down.

nAt the itinerant cultivator market, the topic of discussion gradually shifted from the battle to a discussion about sword immortal Zhou Mubai of Guang’an Prefecture.

nAs drinks were exchanged, the atmosphere at the table gradually became lively.

nChen Xianhe, who was slightly drunk, could not help but sigh, “Every inch of land in the immortal city of Guang’an Prefecture is really expensive. I didn’t expect the prices of shops at the itinerant cultivator market to be so high!”

n“Yeah!”

nWei Sihai heard this and agreed.

nHe had been around the market for the longest time and knew it the best.

n“Actually, the shops at the market are quite good. A medium-sized shop can be purchased for at most one thousand spirit stones. The most exaggerated shop prices are in the central business district.”

nSpeaking of the exaggerated shop prices in the central business district, Wei Sihai shook his head.

nHearing this, Chen Daoxuan asked without batting an eyelid, “Are the shops in the central business district very expensive?”

n“Expensive?”

nWei Sihai smiled. “The word ‘expensive’ can no longer be used to describe the shops there. Even though the prices on the market are only ten times more expensive than the shops in the itinerant cultivator market, the truth is that these shops cannot be bought even if you had the money. They are all controlled by the Zhou, Yang, Wu, and other large immortal cultivation clans.”

n“If ordinary cultivators and small clans want to grab a piece of the pie, it’s as difficult as ascending to the heavens.”

nPerhaps he had drunk a little too much, as Wei Sihai gradually began to talk more candidly.

nIn addition, he was deeply dissatisfied with the large immortal cultivation clans. At this moment, he actually decided to vent his frustrations to Chen Daoxuan and Chen Xianhe.

n“The restaurant under our feet is the property of the large immortal cultivation clan, the Wu clan. In addition, in the itinerant cultivator market, more than 90% of the restaurants, inns, stores, and shops are controlled by the large immortal cultivation clans.”

n“In the central business district, this proportion of ownership is even more exaggerated.”

n“We itinerant cultivators and the disciples of small clans make up the majority of cultivators, but somehow we get the least in terms of benefits and resources. How unfair!”

nAt the end of his speech, Wei Sihai slammed his wine cup heavily on the table.

nHearing this, everyone fell silent.

nAfter a long while, Chen Xianhe said softly, “Brother Wei, you’re drunk.”

nHearing this, Wei Sihai immediately broke out into a cold sweat and sobered up.

nIt was not a wise thing to loudly criticize the large cultivation clans here.

nAlthough almost all of the itinerant cultivators were dissatisfied with the large cultivation clans, none of them dared to openly air their grievances.

nThis was because all the itinerant cultivators with such courage had disappeared without a trace.

nSeeing this, Chen Daoxuan quickly brought up another topic to avoid the awkward silence.

n…

nAn hour later, the banquet was over, and it was already late.

nChen Daoxuan and his thirteenth uncle, Chen Xianhe, walked back to the inn side by side without saying a word.

nBack at the inn, just as Chen Daoxuan was about to start cultivating, Chen Xianhe knocked on the door.

n“Thirteenth uncle, what’s the matter? It’s pretty late.”

n“Well, let’s talk inside.”

nHearing this, Chen Daoxuan hurriedly made an inviting gesture.

nThe two of them entered the room. Chen Daoxuan thought for a moment and carefully set up a soundproof array.

n“Daoxuan, since the matters regarding the shop have been finalized, I’ll be staying at the shop to oversee things. I’ll leave the matters regarding the clan to you.”

nSpeaking of this, Chen Xianhe’s gaze was complicated.

nChen Daoxuan’s growth was far beyond his imagination. It was not just limited to his personal strength, but also his refining level.

nOver the past few days, Chen Xianhe had figured out that Chen Daoxuan was not a low-level first-tier refiner, but a high-level first-tier refiner.

nAlthough he did not know exactly why his nephew was hiding his skills from him, looking at things from another perspective, Chen Daoxuan was only 16 years old, and he already knew so many things.

nIt proved that he was far more mature than he had imagined.

nThinking of this, Chen Xianhe felt a little more at ease about handing over the authority of the clan to Chen Daoxuan.

nAfter he finished speaking, Chen Xianhe took out a seal from his storage bag.

nThis seal was completely black and exuded a strong spiritual essence. It was actually a high-grade first-grade spritual artifact.

n“This is the seal of the clan leader. Now, I’ll hand it over to you.”

nChen Xianhe handed over the black seal and said solemnly.

n“Understood.”

nChen Daoxuan received the seal and nodded solemnly.

nAfter he finished talking about this matter, Chen Xianhe then asked, “By the way, how are you doing with regard to the procurement of materials?”

n“Everything is ready. We just have to wait for the shipment tomorrow and we’ll be able to return to Shuanghu Island.”

nChen Daoxuan paused, “This time, we took out a total of 8,743 spirit stones from the clan treasury. I spent 100 spirit stones on the water spirit pearl, 500 spirit stones on the refining method of the wind and thunder array disk, 1,000 spirit stones on the shop, and 6,721 spirit stones on various items. I still have 422 spirit stones left.”

nAt this point, Chen Daoxuan had a wry smile, and he said, “That accounts for all of our clan’s assets.”

nHearing that the clan’s 300 years of savings had been used up, even though Chen Xianhe was mentally prepared, he still felt a pang of heartache.

nSeeing Chen Xianhe’s ugly expression, Chen Daoxuan quickly comforted him, “Thirteenth uncle, these are all necessary expenses for the clan’s development. Besides, we will definitely be able to earn it all back ten, or even a hundred, times in the future!”

nHearing this, Chen Xianhe sighed, “I hope so!”

nAs if he had thought of something, Chen Xianhe took out a jade bottle from his storage bag, “Oh right, this is a little gift I bought for you a few days ago in the central business district. Take it.”

nChen Daoxuan received the jade bottle curiously and opened it to take a look. A strong medicinal fragrance wafted out from the jade bottle.

nSeeing this, Chen Daoxuan quickly sealed the bottle.

n“Qi gathering pill!”

nIt was a Qi gathering pill, which was a mid-grade first-grade spirit pill that assisted Qi refinement realm cultivators in their cultivation.

nAccording to Chen Daoxuan’s understanding, a Qi gathering pill was sold for 50 spirit stones, which was almost equivalent to a low-grade first-grade spiritual artifact.

nThe Qi gathering pill was really expensive, and there were actually ten of them in the bottle!

n“Daoxuan, back then, the clan clearly had the ability to buy meridian opening pills for you, but I didn’t buy them for you. Did you ever resent me for it in your heart?”

n“Why do you say that, thirteenth uncle? Daoxuan has never thought that way!”

n“Meridian opening pills cost as much as five hundred spirit stones. If it were me, I wouldn’t buy such an expensive spirit pill for the younger generation seeing that the clan’s income was in such dire straits.”

nChen Xianhe shook his head. “However, do you know? A few days ago, when I saw you use the wind chasing sword technique, I regretted not doing so.”

n“Although five hundred spirit stones is a lot, I wasted five years of the cultivation time of a genius cultivator in my clan!”

nChen Daoxuan did not know how to respond to this.

n“Daoxuan, I can see that your future path will go farther than mine or any of the ancestors of the Chen clan. However, thirteenth uncle wants to ask something of you.”

nChen Xianhe looked at Chen Daoxuan with bloodshot eyes.

n“I will do as you instruct!”

n“No matter what happens in the future, don’t abandon the clan. Because this place… is your foundation!”

nHearing this request, Chen Daoxuan felt a surge of indescribable emotions fill his heart. He felt his heart ache and his eyes tear up.

nChen Daoxuan nodded heavily with bloodshot eyes. “No matter what happens in the future, Daoxuan will never abandon the clan!”

n“Very good, very good…”

nChen Xianhe displayed a gratified smile on his face.

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