The most common items for sale at the morning market outside the Daoist Scripture Hall were all kinds of unusual ores.

Most of these ores were discovered by common folk by chance. Specialized merchants would travel to the various villages to purchase them, and over time, an entire industry formed around it.

The most popular among them was the Five Elements Ore. It was a mutation created by a chance fusion of the Five Elements Power with a Spirit Body from the Inspiration Realm. This process dyed the stone five different colors, leaving it as smooth and polished as jade.

They had no Spiritual Qi and could only be used as decorations, but they were still a favorite among Cultivators. Some affluent households also enjoyed collecting them.

At that moment, Wang Ping was carrying a pound of fresh shrimp, feeding them to Yu Lian as he browsed the Five Elements Ore market. He was fond of the relief carvings on the ores’ surfaces, especially those depicting landscapes.

He lost track of time, and by the time Yu Lian had eaten half the shrimp he was carrying, he had wandered into a shop without even noticing its name. A deep-red Five Elements Ore inside caught his eye. It was carved to look like Upper Yang Mountain, specifically, the mountain after Wufeng Temple had been destroyed and lay in ruins.

It presented Wang Ping with a kind of violent beauty, evoking the sheer power of the mountain’s collapse, especially in the chaotic tangle of its deep-red lines and the upturned earth from within the peaks.

And it was only the size of a thumb!

"How much is it?" Wang Ping asked, his eyes fixed on the stone. It was inside a wooden box, displayed on a counter in the very center of the shop.

"I’m sorry, Daoist, but that’s not for sale," the shop assistant said with an apologetic smile.

"Name a price!" Wang Ping said, reaching for it. The assistant moved to stop him but was startled by the sight of Yu Lian coiled around Wang Ping. He was so frightened he couldn’t even speak.

Yu Lian wasn’t hiding as she usually did. ’The entire Jinhuai Prefecture City belongs to Wang Ping now,’ she thought. ’There’s no need to be afraid of others in my own home.’

Seeing this, the assistant could only shoot a look at another clerk before hurrying into the back room. A moment later, a middle-aged man in a light purple silk jacket emerged. He was even wearing the coronet of a Seventh-Grade Title, and he had the strong, square-jawed features of a northerner.

When he saw Wang Ping, his gaze lingered on Yu Lian for a couple of seconds before he broke into a smile. "Has this piece caught your eye, sir?" he asked.

"Name your price!" Wang Ping said, lightly tracing its surface with his finger to feel the texture.

"Fifty thousand taels of silver," the man said bluntly.

"Done."

Wang Ping took out a silver banknote from his storage pouch.

The middle-aged man took it and glanced at the counterfoil, his smile deepening. He then handed the silver banknote back to Wang Ping and discreetly sent a trusted subordinate to fetch someone to verify its authenticity.

"Bring tea!"

He smiled and invited Wang Ping to sit in a nearby booth. "Please wait a moment, sir," he said. "Once we’ve verified your banknote, the deal will be done."

「Half an hour later.」

The clerk returned with the manager of a nearby bank. After the manager had carefully confirmed the banknote’s counterfoil, the middle-aged man finally accepted the payment and politely saw Wang Ping to the door.

"It’s rare to come across something you like. Do you want to keep looking around?" Yu Lian asked, staring at the Five Elements Ore in Wang Ping’s hand.

"No. It’s best to save some fun for next time."

Wang Ping strolled along casually, holding the Five Elements Ore up toward the morning glow on the horizon. He soon found himself walking in direct sunlight. Bathed in the sun’s rays, countless fine red threads appeared inside the stone, looking just like an organism’s nervous system.

"’It looks like some creature’s innards,’ Yu Lian remarked, surprised."

"A Fire Spirit Creature, no less," Wang Ping added.

"It was probably some weak Spiritual Object that encountered a naturally occurring Five Elements Magic. It must have fused with its surroundings and ended up in this state."

"Mm."

Wang Ping nodded, took two more steps into the sunlight, and vanished.

「Back at the Daoist Scripture Hall.」

His Communication Token buzzed with a message: the assembly, which had been suspended for three days, was about to resume.

He hadn’t received the competing bids from the various factions that Daoist Zi Luan had mentioned. ’There are two possible reasons for this,’ he mused. ’First, the two candidates likely to win don’t need my vote. Second, a lot of people probably don’t know how to contact me yet.’

He arrived at the familiar assembly hall, but this time, he was an official Third Seat.

Fewer people were participating in the assembly today. Aside from the Sixth Seats, who were merely spectators, half of the members from the Fourth and Fifth Seats had already left, including Liu Shuang and Liu Chang.

As before, the seven candidates were scattered among the Third Seats.

"This election feels a bit rushed, doesn’t it?" Ruan Chunzi said to Wang Ping.

Wang Ping pretended not to hear.

"Not a single one of those seven candidates has made an offer. Are they planning to have the new Third Seats chosen based on merit alone?" Ruan Chunzi continued. "I, for one, would like to see how they manage that."

Wang Ping silently surveyed the Third Seats, eventually noticing that five of the veteran Third Seats from the Daoist Scripture Hall—Yun Que, Yingfu, Huode, Zhiyuan, and Mingjing—were absent.

"You are mistaken, Fellow Daoist."

Zi Luan glanced back at Ruan Chunzi, then turned to Wang Ping. "Choosing Fellow Daoist Jiang," he said, "is the only option."

Ruan Chunzi was stunned for a moment at Zi Luan’s words before realization dawned. He laughed. "Fellow Daoist Zi Luan is far more perceptive. Indeed, we should choose Fellow Daoist Jiang."

At that moment, the discussion wasn’t limited to Wang Ping’s group; all of the Third Seats were talking. A similar buzz arose from the remaining members of the Fourth and Fifth Seats in the outer circle. There was no sound-proofing, and anyone listening closely could hear that the name Jiangcun was being mentioned most frequently.