Chapter Thirty-Two: The Hidden Secrets of the Immortal Workshop

These matters had been unknown to He Song before. Although he had known Wei Fan for five years, their gatherings had mostly revolved around amusing anecdotes and strengthening their friendship. It was the first time someone had deliberately told He Song about the inner workings of the Immortal Market.

As he followed Wei Fan to familiarize himself with the surroundings, He Song quickly gained his own understanding of Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market.

Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market belonged to Qingyuan Immortal City, which was under the jurisdiction of the Thick Earth Sect, a major sect of the Golden Core level.

Within Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market, there were two sources of internal personnel. The first were independent cultivators like He Song, who, after being noticed, joined the market and became internal cultivators. The second were those like Wei Fan and Meng Guan, who came from the Thick Earth Institute.

The Thick Earth Institute was specifically established by the Thick Earth Sect to screen potential disciples. If, by a certain age, one failed to reach the mid-stage of Qi Refining and thus could not become an outer disciple of the sect, they would be assigned to various immortal cities or markets to take up positions. If their future performance was good and their cultivation progressed rapidly, these institute-sent cultivators might rejoin the sect as disciples.

However, within Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market, there was little distinction between these two identities.

Next came the matter of benefits within the market.

For those at the early stage of Qi Refining, most internal cultivators managed to earn only twenty or thirty spirit stones a year at most. Yet, because their cultivation was low, simply absorbing the spiritual energy within the market could rapidly improve their cultivation. This was an unspoken rule present in almost every market.

The purpose was, naturally, to sift out those with perseverance, determination, and foresight. If one could not endure, they could leave at any time.

Independent cultivators often earned more, and those who did not join the market did not need to pay rent, making them wealthier than early-stage internal cultivators.

The ten-spirit-stone monthly rent threshold was deliberately designed: its purpose was to drive away those without skills, encouraging them to give up, while attracting those with talents to contribute to the market's construction.

At the early stage, only by joining the market and becoming an internal cultivator could one reside there without hindrance. Some relied on annual payments, others had their lodging directly covered. Even if the spirit stones received were few, living within the market itself was a huge benefit.

As for the mid-stage of Qi Refining—

Internal cultivators could then obtain far more resources than they could at the early stage. Those who managed to cultivate to the mid-stage within the market had, to some extent, mastered techniques for earning spirit stones, and combined with the market's annual payments, their lives became manageable.

At this point, those who endured the dull and monotonous cultivation of the early stage had truly overcome the hardest hurdle of their immortal path. Those lacking perseverance, determination, or foresight had long since been swept out, becoming independent cultivators with a high mortality rate.

This was exactly what every immortal market hoped for: to retain only the capable, those with exceptional qualities.

As for late-stage Qi Refining cultivators, they formed the backbone of the market. They received even more resources, and their presence deterred evil cultivators. Since late-stage cultivators were striving for Foundation Establishment, their needs were great, and so the resources granted to them increased accordingly.

Through Wei Fan's explanation, He Song understood many things that had previously puzzled him. At the same time, his motivation to improve his cultivation grew stronger.

Once he reached the mid or even late stage of Qi Refining, his life would surely be better than it was now.

Wei Fan took He Song around the small courtyard, arranged a secondary bedroom for him, and handed over a quiet room for cultivation. As dusk fell, Wei Fan poured He Song a cup of wine at the dinner table and apologized, “Today’s return was rushed, so I must ask you to make do for now. Tomorrow, I’ll go buy fine wine and dishes to properly welcome you!”

Yet, sitting beside him, He Song could only smile wryly as he looked at the sumptuous spread. He glanced at the fragrant spiritual rice in his bowl and sensed the spiritual wine in his cup.

Indeed, late-stage cultivators lived far better than he, a humble early-stage cultivator.

Wei Fan’s “make do” meant spiritual rice, spiritual wine, and dishes made from spiritual ingredients and demon beast meat. Such luxurious fare, He Song had only tasted once before at the Osmanthus Pavilion, when Lin Cong reached the mid-stage and treated him.

Truth be told, He Song only occasionally ate spiritual rice; spiritual wine and demon beast meat were far beyond what he could afford at his stage.

However, knowing now what awaited at the mid and late stages, He Song felt little envy. These things would all come with his cultivation.

That was the beauty of the immortal path: as your cultivation improved, so did your strength, status, identity, and authority—they all underwent a qualitative leap.

So long as his cultivation reached the required level, anything was possible.

That was why He Song could remain calm. As long as he lived long enough, his cultivation would inevitably rise.

He wasn’t afraid of anyone when it came to longevity.

“Come, come, drink!” He Song, paying no mind to Wei Fan’s apology, raised his cup and tapped it against Wei Fan’s. With a crisp clink, laughter soon echoed through the courtyard.

...

He Song settled into Wei Fan’s courtyard.

He no longer visited the spiritual fields each morning as he used to. Before the crisis at the Scarlet Gold Mine erupted, He Song had no intention of leaving the market even once.

His cautious nature prevailed, and he worried that evil cultivators might seize the opportunity to cause trouble, forcing him to take unusual measures.

Yet as a spiritual plant caretaker, he would be punished for failing to complete his tasks. If the harvest from his five plots fell short, he would have to make up the deficit in spiritual rice himself.

Thus, He Song paid a familiar caretaker twenty spirit stones to look after his fields.

The caretaker was delighted at the extra income, needing only to cast the spiritual rain technique for a full hour instead of half. The extra twenty spirit stones were a pleasant surprise.

With this worry resolved, He Song buried himself in cultivation at Wei Fan’s courtyard.

The spiritual energy there was much richer than where He Song had lived before, allowing for faster cultivation and a rapid increase in his spiritual power.

At the same time, without hindering his practice, He Song began to study the introductory chapters on arrays stored in his mind each day.