283: Chapter 283 Again, Taihe

Meng Ze took out a qingye boat and led everyone toward Taihe Prefecture City.

This time, five members of the Family participated in the Taihe Assembly: Chen Liyuan, Chen Qifeng, Chen Yu, Cai Ye, and Gu Yun.

As for Chen Qiling, she was already twenty-eight years old. This time, Chen Liqian called her out mainly to broaden her horizons rather than have her participate in the competition.

Originally, Purple Mansion forces generally did not participate in the Taihe Assembly, because such small assemblies were initially held for communication among lower Foundation Establishment forces.

However, more than twenty years ago, with the relocation of the Giant Sword Sect and the Jiupo Sect to Taihe Prefecture, the Taihe Assembly evolved from an exchange among Foundation Establishment families into an exchange among Purple Mansion forces.

In fact, it started with the Xuantian Sect uniting the Song and Chen families to exert pressure on the two major Purple Mansion Sects.

More than ten days later, the Family members led by Meng Ze finally arrived in Taihe Prefecture. Driven by a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, the speed of the qingye boat was evident, incomparable to that of Qi Refining Cultivators.

Inside Taihe Prefecture City, as the Taihe Assembly approached, the Taihe Market was bustling with people at this moment.

Ever since the beast tide decades ago destroyed the Taihe Market, several Purple Mansion forces discussed and had the prefecture city clear out a piece of territory specifically as a market for various Cultivators to trade and settle down.

Within this market, the Family owned a fifteen percent share, and thus dispatched two Foundation Establishment Cultivators to hold down the fort.

"Linglong, you are here too." Meng Ze came to the Family's station, glanced at the few Qi Refining Cultivators brought by Chen Linglong, looked at him, and then spoke.

"Uncle Meng." Chen Linglong nodded.

This time, the Family members from Wuyue Mountain were led by him, and among the five people he led, only three would participate in this Taihe Assembly.

After all, the number of clansmen in Wuyue Mountain was not as many as that in Qingyang Mountain.

However, the quality of the clansmen dispatched by Wuyue Mountain was obviously better than those from Qingyang Mountain.

One of them was Chen Lingqing, the eldest son of Old Ancestor Chen Changqing, possessing dual Spiritual Roots and a cultivation base at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, only a hair's breadth away from Foundation Establishment.

The other two were quite a bit inferior compared to him, yet their cultivation bases were actually not low—one was at the Perfection of the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining, and the other at the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining.

With the permission of the two, the eight young people ran off to socialize.

Both sides were Family members, but one side was in Qingyang Mountain and the other in Wuyue Mountain, rarely meeting. However, being fellow Family members, they naturally felt a sense of closeness.

Chen Lingqing was low-key, but because he had the highest seniority and strongest strength among the Family members this time, and his parents both held immense influence within the Family with every gesture, everyone subconsciously treated him as the leader.

"Uncle Lingqing, how many powerful experts do you think will be at this Taihe Assembly?" Chen Liyuan asked.

Looking at everyone's hopeful gazes, Chen Lingqing replied, "As far as I know, no less than a thousand people will participate in this Taihe Assembly. Among them, there are more than a dozen in the Late Qi Refining Stage alone, and nearly a hundred at the sixth layer of Qi Refining."

"However, these Cultivators, including us, mostly come from Purple Mansion forces, and there are also some from other prefectures and Cang Prefecture."

"A full thousand participants?" Chen Qifeng's tone carried a hint of calmness.

He was the strongest among the five people dispatched from Qingyang Mountain this time, with his cultivation reaching the eighth layer of Qi Refining. If not for Chen Lingqing, he might have been the strongest clansman sent out by the Family this time.

"Mm, but the rewards this time will also be much more generous than in the past. For example, young Cultivators who enter the top sixteen can all obtain a foundation establishment pill." As soon as Chen Lingqing said this, everyone was astonished.

"What? The top sixteen can get a foundation establishment pill? I remember nothing like this happened in the past few assemblies, right?" Chen Liyuan's voice trembled slightly.

For him, if he could obtain a foundation establishment pill here, he wouldn't need to use contributions to exchange for a foundation establishment pill within the Family.

After all, foundation establishment pills were limited, and there were extremely many Qi Refining Cultivators waiting for them. If one had Three Spiritual Roots, exchanging for a foundation establishment pill in the Family only required spending half the contributions of other Cultivators.

But even so, it still cost ten thousand contributions.

Ten thousand contributions were equivalent to ten thousand Spirit Stones. Although one could advance them under certain conditions, if the Breakthrough failed, this debt still had to be repaid.

In the past, there were clansmen who met the conditions to advance a foundation establishment pill in advance, but unfortunately, not only did they fail in the end, they also owed tens of thousands in contributions. To this day, even though they had recovered their Origin Qi, they could not continue Foundation Establishment due to their debts.

That was how the immortal cultivation world was. Scarcity of resources led to fierce competition among Cultivators. Even for Purple Mansion forces, facing a massive number of Cultivators, resources were similarly in short supply.

"Entering the top sixteen is enough to get a foundation establishment pill. Compared to the previous sessions, at the very least one had to rank in the top eight. Therefore, you must work hard during this period and strive at least for the chance to enter the top sixteen," Chen Lingqing encouraged.

Hearing this, everyone showed excitement and joy on their faces.

However, among the eight people present, only two could steadily enter the top sixteen.

...

On the other side, Meng Ze followed Chen Linglong to meet Wei Ge and Li Chengen, whom the Family arranged to garrison in Taihe Prefecture City.

The four of them sat together to exchange and discuss areas of cultivation they didn't understand.

As for Chen Qiling and the others, they strolled around the market, buying some treasures they needed along the way.

"This Fairy, this is a first-tier High Grade Ore, Wind-Driving Stone. If Fairy wants it, I will only charge you fifty Spirit Stones."

Chen Qiling stopped in front of a stall, looking with some curiosity at the grayish-white Ore on the ground.

The stall owner saw at a glance that Chen Qiling was unversed in worldly affairs and hatched a plan in his heart, explaining with a solemn air.

"Fifty Spirit Stones?" Chen Qiling was stunned. Was this Ore so cheap?

Thinking this, she was about to take out the money.

Chen Liqian, who was standing aside, picked up the Ore, took a close look at it, and then said with a look of disdain, "Humph, the interior of your Ore is covered with cracks. If you don't look closely, you really wouldn't notice. Such a piece of junk goods deserves to sell for fifty Spirit Stones? If you sold it to me for twenty Spirit Stones, I'd find it a burden."

"Hey, this Fellow Daoist, what is wrong with you? This humble one does business fairly and never cheats anyone; why are you talking like this?" Having his shortcomings exposed in public, the stall owner was somewhat angry.

Chen Liqian glared at him, scaring the stall owner—who had just stepped into the Late Qi Refining Stage—so much that he dared not argue back and had to let the few of them leave.

After they left, the stall owner dared to badmouth them behind their backs, cursing angrily, "What kind of people are these?"

Stall owners from several nearby stalls burst into laughter, and someone chuckled, "Little brother, you're not a local, are you?"

"How do you know? And does whether I am a local have anything to do with this matter?"

"Hahaha, little brother, it's more than just related! Didn't you see the emblems on those people's clothes? That's the Family! How dare you try to deceive them." Seeing that the other party still didn't understand, another person pointed out the problem directly.

"So what? There are a bunch of people surnamed Chen. Weren't there a few Cultivators surnamed Chen who came by just now? They are merely minor Cultivators from a Qi Refining Family; what's there to be afraid of?" The stall owner was somewhat dismissive of their words.

He was in the Late Qi Refining Stage, after all; would he be afraid of a few minor Cultivators from a Qi Refining Family?

"Little brother, you still haven't realized the problem! Anyone who is a local in Taihe Prefecture knows the prestige of the Family. Which Family do you think this Family is?"

Hearing this, the stall owner finally realized where the problem lay. There were indeed many Cultivators surnamed Chen in Taihe Prefecture; some came from families or Sects, while others were Loose Cultivators.

But few of them were worth his attention.

The only one surnamed Chen who could truly make him fearful was the Purple Mansion Family, the Family.

His heart skipped a beat—could he really be this unlucky?