“This is a really good place. They didn’t lie.”

“I should have come to this place long ago. If I had known, I wouldn’t have stayed in the catacombs and hid for so many years.”

“I heard that there’s a huge trading market here. We can sell the things we obtained for a good price. Let’s hurry over and take a look to exchange for some spirit stones.”

A few people dressed in tattered clothes walked in from outside the city. However, with their strange attire, not many people paid attention to them as they walked on the streets.

Recently, too many people like them have come. Most of the people in Ping City were already familiar with such a scene, so they were not that surprised to see them again.

This was the first time these people, who had been traveling in the wilderness where demon beasts roamed, had seen such a peaceful place in the underground world. It was simply like a holy land for humans.

Their excitement was needless to say.

It was also because of their constant publicity that the name of Ping City had gradually become famous in the Catacombs.

Ping City was also constantly developing and expanding.

Many demons were afraid that Hu Jiujiu would settle scores with them later and deal with them. So they might as well leave and escape early. Among the remaining demons in Ping City, other than those who had died in the war, there were also many who had been eliminated in many disputes. There was less than a fifth of it left.

The demons had lost so many people all of a sudden. Coupled with the fact that their status was no longer as high as before, a large area had been vacated. These territories were left to the humans and many cultivators. They made the market here even more active.

“Master, the mansions near the City Lord Manor have been cleared out. I plan to merge these mansions into a large courtyard and build a garden courtyard for you.”

In the small courtyard, Hu Jiujiu held up a design sketch and introduced it to Li Yuanqing.

“We’ll dig a lake here, put a few fake mountains beside it, and plant a circle of willow trees. As for this place, I plan to build a botanical garden that will be filled with all kinds of plants. As for this relatively flat area, we’ll build more houses in the residential area.”

Hu Jiujiu had planned this matter quite carefully.

However, Li Yuanqing did not appreciate it at all.

“I’m fine staying here. Don’t find me a place to stay.”

“Why?” Hu Jiujiu looked at Li Yuanqing in confusion.

She thought that any human would like to live in those wide and bright places. Such a spacious courtyard would definitely make one feel good. However, her master wanted to stay in such a small courtyard. It was not comfortable at all.

“Since there are so many empty places there, send someone to integrate these areas and sell them,” Li Yuanqing said. “Now that the market in Ping City is developing very well, I think these lands should be able to be sold for a good price.”

“Okay, then.” Hu Jiujiu reluctantly agreed. She had already prepared it for her master, but she did not expect her master to disagree.

During this rare period of peace, Li Yuanqing chose to enter seclusion for a period of time. His cultivation had improved too quickly some time ago, and he still needed a lot of time to stabilize it.

Ever since Qiu Muyun came here, he had not been idle for a day. He was very busy every day. There were several large markets in Ping City, and he walked through them every day.

Following Zhao Tai’an, their shop became popular.

“Brother Zhao, what should the name of our shop be?”

Zhao Tai’an followed Li Yuanqing’s instructions and used the money he earned to buy a few shops in the largest market in the center of Ping City. After a few days of renovation, the shop was roughly completed. All that was left was the signboard.

“Well, Young Master said that the shop sign shouldn’t be too ostentatious. It’s best to keep a low profile.”

“What’s wrong with that? Our shop is doing so well. Of course we have to give it a resounding name.” Qiu Muyun rubbed his head and pondered. He looked at the tallest pavilion in the distance.

The recent expansion of the Treasure Pavilion had become faster. Before the current situation was formed, they had already occupied a very large portion of the market in Ping City. Their status had increased significantly now that it had stabilized, coupled with the acceleration of the human race’s expansion.

The Treasure Pavilion was holding an auction while purchasing treasures from some rogue cultivators. They were so skilled that it officially established their status as the Treasure Pavilion. Their management methods and experience were incomparable to other retail investors. Moreover, the price they bought was very fair.

If you were a rogue cultivator, even if you waited in the market for an entire day, you wouldn’t be able to sell it for many spirit stones. Instead, you might as well sell it to the Treasure Pavilion and save some time to cultivate.

“Since they’re called the Treasure Pavilion and can sell so well, we’ll call our shop the Thousand Treasure Pavilion.” Qiu Muyun slapped his head and felt that he had thought of a brilliant idea.

“What kind of name is that?” Zhao Tai’an was speechless.

Zhao Tai’an had already resigned from his job as a patrol guard and was specially here to be Li Yuanqing’s shopkeeper.

“I think Brother Li has a lot of treasures in his hands, and they’re not inferior to them at all.” Qiu Muyun said logically, “Besides, we’ll buy treasures from them in the future. Who knows, we might really be able to obtain thousands of treasures.”

“You’ve earned a lot of spirit stones now. Do you want to consider opening a shop yourself?” Zhao Tai’an looked at Qiu Muyun and asked.

Although Zhao Tai’an did not know the exact relationship between them, he could tell that this fellow was very likely from the same place as Li Yuanqing. Moreover, Qiu Muyun indeed had a lot of good stuff on hand. Even if he were to support a shop, the pressure wouldn’t be too great.

However, Qiu Muyun was willing to be a handyman in Li Yuanqing’s shop every day. When he was free, he would sell his things and earn some spirit stones to cultivate.

When Qiu Muyun mentioned his dream, his eyes sparkled. He looked up at the dome of the market with pride. “I only want to spend my life in the Sword Dao left behind by the Sword Immortal. I don’t have time to think about anything else.”

“Following the path of the Sword Dao is not something that can be done overnight. Perhaps you can do something else.”

“No!” Qiu Muyun said firmly, “The Sword Dao must be pure. It can’t be tainted by other things!”

Zhao Tai’an looked at him and did not know whether to laugh or cry. Every time they talked about the Sword Immortal, Qiu Muyun would be extremely excited. He could be said to be the number one fan of the Sword Immortal.

While the two of them were chatting, they suddenly felt a tremor under their feet. The entire market fell silent for a moment. After a short shock, everything returned to normal. Everyone acted as if nothing had happened.

“What’s going on lately? Why are there always earthquakes?” Qiu Muyun stared at his feet in confusion. “Could it be that some demon beast has appeared underground?”

“What are you thinking?” Zhao Tai’an patted his shoulder. “There’s nothing down here. Besides, even if there are really powerful demon beasts, Ping City will definitely be safe with the Sword Immortal guarding it.”

“That’s true.”

Under Ping City, in a vast and empty area. Huge stone pillars supported this space, branding complicated array runes on the ground.

At this moment, countless vines were spreading on the ground. These vines kept extending, but they could not find their roots. Under the care of the Night-Luminescent Pearls, this space was still considered bright.

Li Yuanqing appeared out of thin air.

“Master!”

The vines on the ground slowly condensed into a graceful girl.

“How’s it going?”

“I accidentally touched some array patterns just now, causing this array to be activated for a short period of time.”

During this period of time, the Man-eating Vine and the flying ants had been working day and night according to Li Yuanqing’s instructions. However, the effect was also very obvious.

Although the array formation left behind by the demons had roughly used up the entire space, there were still many areas that had yet to be mined.

Only after mining those areas and completing the final array could this array be considered complete.

Not only was this space a huge underground space that could be used, but it was also the city protection array of Ping City.

In the future, if this place was opened up, the area of Ping City would double. Moreover, these array formations were powerful and were left behind by the demons to deal with Li Yuanqing. It was not as aggressive as the Lightning Attracting Formation in Black Dragon Mountain.

After Li Yuanqing arrived, he even signed in for array formation diagrams.

After a period of careful study, he had a good understanding of array formations. He could tell that the original setting of this array was a city protection array. However, it had a certain restraining effect, so the Demon Alliance wanted to use this Great City Barrier Formation to kill Li Yuanqing in Ping City.

However, the Demon Alliance had already been completely wiped out by Li Yuanqing. Even among the demons, very few knew of the existence of this Great City Protection Formation. Even if they built this place completely, they could not do anything to Li Yuanqing with their strength.

“I told you to study it carefully, but you just had to be playful.” Li Yuanqing patted the Man-eating Vine’s head unhappily.

The Man-eating Vine stuck out her tongue and said coquettishly, “Master, I’m so busy every day. How can I have the time to study those ancient books and arrays? Anyway, I’m almost done exploring them now. It’s enough to read some of those books.”

“If you figure out this formation and fuse with it, you will be the guardian of Ping City in the future. Why are you still so frivolous?”

“Little Vine doesn’t want to be a guardian angel,” the man-eating vine said with a pout.

This was the name Li Yuanqing had given her.

On the other side of the space, the flying ants were still doing their best to expand their territory in the underground space as excavators.

Suddenly, an area in the center of the formation lit up.

“What is Sister Little Jiu doing? There are many people gathered there.”

Although the fusion between the Man-eating Vine and this array formation was not smooth, it was still difficult for anything to escape her senses with her current control.

“Don’t think about it. Study the array formation here carefully, understand?” Li Yuanqing patted her head again and reminded her.

“I understand, Master. Are you leaving now?”

“I’ll go up and take a look. Stay here and watch.”

With that, he disappeared from the underground world.

On the ground, Hu Jiujiu set up a platform in a large open space. She stood on the stage and looked down at the crowd that had been summoned.

“There are a large number of empty spaces in Ping City now. In order to make better use of these empty spaces and to allow everyone to have more space to exchange items, I’ve decided to rent out all these lands.”

“Can all the land here be rented?”

“City Lord, are you serious?”

“It’s finally been decided. I’ve been eyeing these lands for a long time.”

Many people below the stage rubbed their fists and were eager to try.

The remaining demons did not dare to snatch the territory that the demons had vacated. They could only leave the lands there for nothing.

These territories were all under the control of the City Lord Manor now. If they were to remain like this, they would be abandoned. Therefore, the people below knew that the City Lord would find a way to sell these lands sooner or later.

Hu Jiujiu smiled and glanced at a nearby attic.

“Captain Minglun will introduce the exact method and rules of the rental to everyone in detail. I won’t disturb everyone now.”

“City Lord, don’t leave.”

“I haven’t seen enough.”

“The City Lord is really beautiful.”

“How can such a beautiful woman be born?”

“City Lord!”

Amidst the howls, Hu Jiujiu left quietly like a gust of wind.

The crowd felt a gust of wind. Immediately after, Hu Jiujiu disappeared from the platform, leaving behind a faint fragrance that lingered.

Minglun went on stage and greeted everyone happily.

“Go down quickly. I want to see the City Lord!”

“Yes, return the City Lord to us. I don’t want to look at you.”

“What’s so good about looking at a man?”

Seeing everyone’s enthusiasm, Minglun wasn’t angry. Instead, he smiled very patiently and said, “Everyone, you guys keep saying that you want to rent land here to do your business. Then you have to listen to me carefully. You can’t be so impetuous.”

“Let the City Lord come back and talk!”

The crowd was cheering loudly, but Hu Jiujiu was already sitting in the teahouse. The spiritual tea in front of her was fragrant.

“Master, is there really no need to set an identity restriction for them?” Hu Jiujiu asked carefully. “There are still many demons in Ping City who want to rebel. Will it give them a chance to communicate with each other?”

Li Yuanqing was not worried at all. “It’s fine. Just rent them out.”

What Li Yuanqing did not say was that everything that happened in Ping City was under the surveillance of the Man-eating Vine. Even if those demons wanted to do so, they were powerless.