Those cultivators who had come to watch the excitement gasped in amazement when Li Zhirui activated the Memory Stone. Never had they expected a case of the thief crying 'catch the thief,' nor had they anticipated that the Li family had installed a Memory Stone in the grand hall!
"Speak, who sent you here? As long as you're willing to tell us, we'll spare your life," Li Zhirui asked with an ulterior motive.
As long as the culprit confessed in front of so many people, the image of whatever power was behind this would undoubtedly plummet, making it very difficult for them to continue to mingle in the Marketplace.
"I received this mission in the black market; I don't know who the issuer is," the cultivator, who had fallen into despair, hastily said everything he knew.
Li Zhirui thought it was a pity, he hadn't expected the mastermind behind the scenes to be so cautious; now, finding even a suspect would be difficult.
"I've said all there is to say, can I leave now?" the cultivator asked cautiously.
Li Zhirui nodded in agreement to release the man after seeing Li Shiren give a nod.
"What about us? Can we leave too?" A few cultivators tied up saw that the main culprit could leave and asked with hopeful expectations.
"He provided useful information; what about you? If I'm not mistaken, such behavior violates the rules of the Marketplace, and we have the right to deal with you!" Li Zhirui persisted, thinking he might glean something useful from them.
"The person who contacted us was dressed in black, completely covered from head to toe; we couldn't see his face at all."
But suddenly, someone added, "I tracked him, saw him enter the Welcoming Immortals Inn through the back door."
"Welcoming Immortals Inn?" Li Zhirui was slow to react, but among the onlooking cultivators, suddenly someone shouted, "Isn't that a tavern run by the Qin Family?"
"The Qin Family must be jealous that Cloudtop Pavilion is doing better business; unable to defeat them fair and square, they resort to such disgusting tactics from the shadows."
"What a sinister move by the Welcoming Immortals Inn! I'll never go there again!"
The cultivators, who had previously misunderstood Cloudtop Pavilion and felt guilty, now turned their guilt into rage, directing it all onto the Welcoming Immortals Inn.
Li Zhirui silently noted down Welcoming Immortals Inn and the Qin Family, then announced loudly, "Due to the previous disturbance, our Cloudtop Pavilion has disrupted your meal. Shortly, Cloudtop Pavilion will serve a bowl of Spirit Rice as an apology."
"We've told you everything we know, can we leave now?" the tied-up cultivators urgently asked.
"Get lost!" Li Shiren said, suppressing his anger.
Li Zhirui silently sighed and then watched them hastily flee from Cloudtop Pavilion.
Although these people had violated the rules of the Marketplace, the Li family couldn't punish them personally; they were supposed to hand them over to the Yuanming Sect for disposition.
But the Li family didn't want the Yuanming Sect to intervene because the matter involved the Qin Family, a Foundation Establishment family with a close relationship with the Yuanming Sect!
The Qin Family was one of the earliest vassal families of the Yuanming Sect, but what the Li family dreaded was that the only Golden Core cultivator of the Yuanming Sect, Jiang Tianming's teacher, came from the Qin Family!
Although his teacher had passed away, the rumors said he had been very good to Jiang Tianming; and after his death, Jiang Tianming had taken particularly good care of the Qin Family.
So, this matter absolutely could not be linked to the Qin Family. Then what was the point of dealing with these cultivators who had been paid to do a job?
Maybe once they reached the hands of the Yuanming Sect, the things they had said would suddenly be reversed; then, it would be the Li family that would suffer.
After apologizing to the patrons of the tavern once more, Li Zhirui followed the elders into the backyard.
"Let's put an end to this matter," Li Shilian, who had been waiting for a long time, said. He was not willing to let it go, but what could be done? The opponent's strength was undeniable! As the weaker party, they could only swallow their anger quietly to avoid attracting disaster.
"Yes!" the three people responded in unison.
Since the three elders had matters to attend to and Li Zhirui needed to find someone to sell Spirit Pills, the four of them went their separate ways, agreeing to reconvene at 17:00 and return to the Li family together.
Li Zhirui's pills were in such high demand that, before long, he had sold all the Spirit Pills in his possession for a total of 3,700 Spirit Stones.
On the way to the magic artifact shop, Li Zhirui overheard many cultivators discussing the sabotage of Cloudtop Pavilion, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but tilt upwards slightly.
Although he couldn't take direct action against the Qin Family, the current situation was undeniably a significant blow to their reputation.
And, as the inn run by the Qin Family, Welcoming Immortals Inn's business would certainly be worse off than it currently was!
With his mood lifted, Li Zhirui walked into a shop that specialized in selling magic artifacts.
"What kind of magic artifact does the Daoist friend need?" a cultivator wearing a water-green long dress with a delicate appearance asked with a smile.
Li Zhirui stated his needs candidly, "I would trouble you, Daoist friend, to introduce me to the alchemy furnaces of your esteemed shop."
Although the Li family provided alchemy furnaces for his use, Li Zhirui still wanted to buy one for himself, and he needed one of a higher grade to prevent significant leakage of spiritual energy during alchemy.
"Please follow me," she said, leading Li Zhirui into a private room.
After Li Zhirui settled down, the female cultivator began to introduce the items, "Our shop has a total of thirteen alchemy furnaces. There are five of the lower-grade first rank..."
"Just bring out the best few alchemy furnaces," Li Zhirui interrupted the female cultivator's introduction.
"Please wait a moment, Daoist friend," she said without any irritation, her smile becoming even more radiant as she gracefully walked away.
In just a short while, the female cultivator returned, carrying a jade plate with three storage bags on it.
Placing the jade plate in front of Li Zhirui, she introduced the items with a smile, "These are the three best alchemy furnaces in our shop, and I hope they meet the Daoist friend's standards."
She then took out a completely red alchemy furnace and said, "This is the Redflame Pill Furnace, a top-grade first-rank magic artifact, forged from Redflame ore. It can help alchemists better control the temperature of the Spiritual Fire, reducing the chance of failure due to fluctuating fire temperature, with a price of 1,000 Spirit Stones."
Seeing that Li Zhirui said nothing, the female cultivator knew he wasn't interested in this furnace and quickly presented the second one, "The Green Jade Pill Furnace, also a top-grade first-rank magic artifact, made from the finest green jade. It effectively prevents the leakage of medicinal effects, locks in the spiritual energy, and improves the quality of Spirit Pills.
It is priced at 1,300 Spirit Stones."
This Green Jade Pill Furnace was about three feet tall, entirely green, with many cloud patterns carved onto its body, and one could vaguely see a Divine Dragon moving within them.
"I'll take this alchemy furnace," said Li Zhirui, who didn't wish to listen further, particularly satisfied with the Green Jade Pill Furnace.
After speaking, Li Zhirui took out 1,300 Spirit Stones and placed them into the storage bag meant for the furnace. Once she confirmed the count, he secured the Green Jade Pill Furnace.
With the transaction complete, Li Zhirui immediately stood up and left.
...
Manager Qin of Welcoming Immortals Inn, who had been waiting for what he hoped would be good news, was instead met with a barrage of insults and mockery from the cultivators. This sudden thunderclap from a clear sky left him slumped on the floor in a state of shock and disbelief.
"How is this possible? How can this be?" Manager Qin kept repeating to himself as though he had lost his soul.
Ultimately, an employee who couldn't bear to watch anymore, closed the inn's main door and then gave him a nudge, saying, "Uncle, you should hurry back to the family and inform the Clan Leader to deal with the situation."
"Right, you're not wrong, I should immediately return to the family and inform the Clan Leader," said Manager Qin as he scrambled to his feet and hastily exited through the back door, leaving the marketplace.