72: I don't set rules, I just set up stalls

As dawn broke, the thick fog atop Mount Longhu lingered like congealed milk, stubbornly refusing to disperse.

Seven figures approached through the morning dew, their robes fluttering, their Auras majestic. They were unmistakably the emissaries stationed here by the seven major Sects.

Leading them was Real Person Lingxu of the Shangqing Sect. In his hands, he held a brand-new jade scroll inscribed with four large characters in cinnabar and gold powder: 'The Dao Market Covenant'.

"Zhang Xuanyi!" Real Person Lingxu's voice, though not loud, was infused with magic power, clearly reaching every corner of the nascent market. "We seven Sects sympathize with your arduous efforts to re-establish this mountain Sect. However, this place is, after all, the ancestral hall of the Mystic Gate; it cannot be lawless! Since you are unwilling to be the alliance leader, then let us govern it together!"

He unfurled the jade scroll, his voice booming like a great bell: "According to this covenant, we shall establish three courts and nine departments to oversee the circulation of Power Of Will, the review of rare treasures, and the adjudication of atonement! All who enter this market must register, abide by the laws, and uphold the orthodoxy of the Mystic Gate!"

As his words fell, the entire market fell silent for a moment.

All eyes turned toward the young man squatting at the market entrance.

Zhang Xuanyi was using a worn-out mess tin to cook mung bean soup. Flames licked the blackened bottom of the pot, bubbles gurgling.

Without looking up, he skimmed the froth with a ladle and spoke lazily, "You managed Tianshi Mansion for three hundred years, and in the end, you couldn't even keep your own Old Ancestor's Seal from loosening. And now, you want to manage my pot?"

Real Person Lingxu's face darkened. "How dare you! This is for the sake of all living beings under heaven!"

"Fine," Zhang Xuanyi finally looked up, grinning to reveal a row of white teeth. "If you want to manage my stall, it's simple. First, pay the 'Self-Governance Deposit'."

He pointed to a stack of neatly cut yellow paper beside him. "Each of you, write one 'photocopy yellow paper'. Write whatever you want—your covenant, your Sect rules, anything. Stick it on my stove and let the stove's heat 'sun-dry' it for three days and three nights. If the paper isn't ruined and the words aren't faded after three days, then we can talk about co-governance."

Upon hearing this, the faces of the seven Sect emissaries instantly turned from green to purple.

What kind of deposit was this?

This was blatant humiliation!

Using their magically imbued calligraphy as decoration for a broken stove cooking mung bean soup?

If this got out, what would become of the seven major Sects' dignity?

Just as the atmosphere grew tense and hostile, in a corner, Su Qingzhu quietly set up her special camera.

Her live stream was instantly flooded with a massive audience. The title was simple and brutal: 'Today, We Watch Who Makes the Rules'.

Lowering her voice, she explained into her miniature microphone, "Friends, see that? They fear chaos, so they're in a hurry to establish a System. But they seem to have forgotten that this market, from the day it was born, hasn't operated on anyone's orders."

The camera cleverly panned, sweeping over a corner of the market.

An old woman selling 'fist soul candy' was carefully feeding an antidote to a little boy who had mistakenly eaten the candy and now had bulging muscles all over his body, all the while apologizing profusely.

Not far away, a Loose Cultivator who had once suffered Qi Deviation from consuming Pseudo-Three Caverns True Qi Liquid was silently watching over a stall for a vendor in seclusion, repaying a debt of guidance he had received.

At the notary platform, Cui Wujiu watched this scene and whispered to the scribe beside him, "Write this down. The Foundation of order has never been the clauses written on paper, but the bottom line rooted in everyone's hearts, the one everyone tacitly agrees upon."

Just as the seven Sect emissaries found themselves in a dilemma, Zhang Xuanyi suddenly stood up.

He bent over and pulled out a pitch-black, charred wooden board from a corner of his stall.

Seeing this board, Real Person Lingxu's pupils contracted sharply!

He recognized it. This was a fragment of the 'Sin Contract' burned three years ago when the Old Ancestor of Quanxing set Mount Longhu ablaze!

It had once recorded the sins and evils suppressed by Tianshi Mansion over millennia!

Ignoring their horrified gazes, Zhang Xuanyi casually picked up a piece of half-burned charcoal and wrote four large, flamboyant characters on the charred board. Then, with a *thud*, he nailed the board beside his stove.

May Wishes Come, May Wishes Go.

"From today onward, my market has a new rule," Zhang Xuanyi said, clapping the charcoal dust from his hands, his voice carrying in all directions. "Anyone who wishes to set up a stall in this market need not sign any bullshit covenant or swear any Heart Demon blood oath."

His gaze swept across the crowd, finally landing on the group of restless Loose Cultivators. "All you need to do is stand quietly before this board for the time it takes one incense stick to burn. After that, if you feel no resistance in your heart, you may find a spot and set up your stall. But if anyone forces their way into the market against their true will..."

He grinned, his smile bright yet dangerous. "...the market's Power Of Will backlash will naturally come to settle accounts with you."

As soon as his words fell, a woman in tattered Maoshan Daoist robes tremblingly stepped out from the crowd.

She was Liu Sanniang, the Female Talisman Master who had once betrayed the Maoshan Sect and stolen its Talismans.

Her hands trembled like leaves in an autumn wind, her eyes filled with struggle and fear.

She walked up to the charred board inscribed with 'May Wishes Come, May Wishes Go' and lit an incense stick.

Time passed, second by second.

The incense stick burned out.

Liu Sanniang's forehead was beaded with cold sweat, her body swaying unsteadily, but she did not fall.

She took out a second incense stick from her bosom and silently lit it.

Just as the wispy smoke from the second stick was about to dissipate, she suddenly let out a suppressed sob, tears streaming down her face.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, she fiercely tore off the Daoist robe symbolizing her status as a Maoshan traitor, revealing a faded, coarse cloth garment underneath.

She wiped her tears, walked to an empty spot, took out several stacks of pre-drawn yellow paper from her bag, and silently began setting up her stall.

On it was written: Calming Yellow Paper, Three Coins Each.

She had succeeded.

Immediately after, an expelled disciple from Kunlun Mountain, an Escaped Alchemist who had privately practiced Alchemy and blown up Wudang's Alchemy chamber... one by one, figures considered 'stains' in the traditional Mystic Gate came forward.

Some stood for one incense stick's time, others struggled for two, but in the end, they all successfully secured a place for themselves in the market.

Cui Wujiu's brush flew across the paper as he recorded: "At noon, thirty-seven people set up stalls. Not a single one triggered Power Of Will backlash."

Meanwhile, Su Qingzhu was rapidly scrolling through data on her live stream backend. She keenly detected an astonishing commonality and immediately began analyzing softly on the stream, "Everyone, I've discovered a pattern! In the database, every person who successfully set up a stall has a record of 'helping others without compensation'! Whether it was giving directions yesterday or just now helping a fallen child... This market is using its own method to screen for those who truly possess goodwill!"

Night deepened.

The noisy market gradually quieted, leaving only scattered lights and the whispers of night watchmen.

Zhang Xuanyi sat alone behind his stall, taking out the last remaining page of the System's log from his chest.

He gently blew a puff of Qi. On the blank page, a line of faint golden hidden characters slowly appeared:

"Power Of Will closed loop completed. Stall economy System can now operate self-sustainingly. System's initial mission concluded."

Zhang Xuanyi smiled, as if he had accomplished something he had long anticipated.

He casually tossed the page into the nearly extinguished stove fire.

A flash of fire, and the page turned to ashes.

And at that very moment, the four charcoal characters on the charred board nailed beside the stove underwent a strange transformation.

Reflected in the firelight, the final stroke of the character 'Go' in 'May Wishes Come, May Wishes Go' silently lengthened and curved, transforming into another character—'Guard'.

May Wishes Come, May Wishes Be Guarded.

Almost simultaneously, deep within the dragon veins beneath Mount Longhu, the old tortoise let out an almost imperceptible puff of Dragon Qi from its massive nostrils.

This Dragon Qi, like invisible roots, instantly spread across the entire surface of the market, silently coiling around the base of every stall, thoroughly connecting this land into a single whole.

And the Old Yellow Dog that had been napping at Zhang Xuanyi's feet—in the darkness after the firelight completely vanished, its shadow seemed to nod gently, with an uncannily human-like gesture.

Zhang Xuanyi felt all of this and stretched contentedly.

The order he had personally established had finally come to life.

It now had its own rules, its own power, its own guardians.

However, just as his spirit was most relaxed, he suddenly stiffened.

He clearly sensed that within the newly formed, pure and stable Power Of Will closed-loop network, an extremely faint yet distinctly different force had seeped in from a distant and unknown corner.

It was not a prayer, not a hope, not even a transaction.

It was a kind of... thread attempting to directly rewrite and manipulate the life trajectories of others, an overbearing force that looked down upon all things as mere pawns on a chessboard.