Chapter 12: Grand Opening

"The shop has already been rented out, and now Shiren is leading a few of the younger ones in cleaning up, it won't be long before we can open for business."

Li Shile nodded, as long as the matter of the grocery store was handed over to Li Shiren, there wasn't much to worry about. Although his attention to detail wasn't the finest, it wasn't so bad that he couldn't handle such a small matter.

Soon after, Li Shile asked about another matter, "How are the Spirit Chefs that the clan is cultivating doing?"

"Li Shijin and Li Zhizhen seem to have a talent for it, they have already been able to produce Spirit Food, as for the other few clan members... when the time comes, they will only be able to help out as assistants," said Li Shiqing with a smile.

The clan initially held a selection process and chose five members for further cultivation, but during this process, the disparity between them quickly became evident.

In order not to waste Spiritual Objects, Li Shiqing could only focus resources on cultivating Li Shijin and Li Zhizhen.

However, producing Spirit Food was a complicated affair, so the other three weren't simply abandoned but were tasked with cleaning the Spiritual Objects and handling some basic, simple tasks.

Who knows, maybe after being immersed in the environment, they might learn how to produce Spirit Food as well?

Having two clan members with a talent for being Spirit Chefs, Li Shiqing was already very pleased.

"But the clan does not have many Spirit Stones left, and it's impossible to rent another shop in the Marketplace for a short period of time, let alone the number of Spirit Stones needed for opening a restaurant, which is much more than for a grocery store."

As the Internal Affairs Elder, Li Shile was very aware of the clan's financial situation. The fact that the clan couldn't even produce the two thousand and five hundred Spirit Stones for Li Zhirui showed just how much the Li family was lacking in Spirit Stones, not to mention renting a restaurant.

"There's no need to rush this matter." Li Shiqing was, of course, aware of the clan's current situation, so he had not planned on completing this in a short time. According to Li Shiqing's thoughts, if they could start preparing for the restaurant in half a year, that would be quite good already.

Li Shile nodded, and then hurriedly left. His reason for coming this time was to deliver the Jade Spirit Pills to Li Shiqing and to emphasize once more the clan's current lack of Spirit Stones.

...

Time quickly passed, and a few days later, Da Rong Island became exceptionally lively early in the morning.

Today was the day the clan's shop in Yunqing Marketplace was opening, and many clan members wanted to seize this opportunity to visit the Marketplace.

This was because those members who had previously visited the Marketplace had been boasting about how great and bustling Yunqing Marketplace was, arousing the envy of others.

No wonder the clan members lacked exposure. After all, during their time in Bailang County, due to the domineering rule of the Beast Taming Sect, everywhere apart from the places directly administered by the Beast Taming Sect felt like a remote and backward mountainous area!

Facing the clan members' expectations, Li Shiqing waved his hand and allowed Li Shiren and Li Shilian, two Foundation Establishment Cultivators, to lead teams. Any clan members who wanted to go to the Marketplace could do so, and as Li Zhirui needed to buy some items at the Marketplace, he boarded the Spirit Boat along with them.

A quarter of an hour later, the Spirit Boat landed outside the Marketplace, and dozens of clan members filed out following Li Shiren and Li Shilian.

"Wow!"

Li Zhirui's brothers and sisters, seeing the bustling Marketplace, couldn't help but exclaim softly in surprise.

Cultivators were all individuals of keen sight and hearing, and with so many of them, the noise they made was not small, attracting the attention of the surrounding cultivators—some with disdain and some with curiosity. Even though their glances were discreet, their emotions were very direct.

This left them feeling rather embarrassed; even Li Zhirui felt extremely awkward. He silently moved aside, hiding behind the taller figure of Li Zhihao.

"Let's go," said Li Shilian, and with those words, everyone's gaze instantly retracted. This was the awe of power, the respect for Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

After the Li family members entered the marketplace, nearby cultivators began to discuss and speculate about their identities and origins.

"Seeing the direction they came from, they should be from overseas. But surely, those overseas clans shouldn't be so inexperienced, right?"

"It could be the mysterious Li family from Da Rong Island," one cultivator guessed.

"The Li family of Da Rong Island?" Once mentioned, quite a few cultivators remembered.

The Li family was considered mysterious because they rarely showed themselves before the general public. As a result, many cultivators didn't know how many members the Li family had or how strong they were. They only knew the family was not weak, with Foundation Establishment cultivators in residence, but beyond that, not much was known.

"Is the Li family preparing to join the world? Is that why they have sent out so many family members?"

But what they might not have considered was that the Li family kept their mystery previously because they didn't want to expose their weakness. Now that they had enough strength, they naturally didn't need to be secretive, setting up false leads.

Li Zhirui and the others, led by Li Shiren, arrived in front of a shop with a good location.

"Li Family's Grocery Store!"

Li Zhirui read the name of the store, plain yet signifying that the Li family was establishing new roots in this region. It meant that the family would no longer be like a rootless duckweed but could rely on this place to nourish and grow the small clan made up of several dozen members.

Li Shiren used a key to open the store, leading everyone inside. The shop was not large, only about thirty square meters, but the advantage was that it had a backyard where one could rest without having to run back and forth.

Li Zhirui was the first to enter the backyard, looking at the three cramped rooms nearby, wondering who the two other people would be besides Li Shiren.

Soon, Li Shiren announced that both individuals were members of the same generation as Shiren, and the family had carefully considered their selection.

Firstly, they were older, and due to their aptitude, their cultivation was about as good as it was going to get, unlike the younger generation of the Li family, who still had the chance to make a push in their cultivation journey.

Secondly, both were insightful, shrewd, and worldly—unlike the younger generation who might be too impulsive due to their tender age. Therefore, they were very suitable choices for being the actual shopkeepers of the grocery store.

The reason for selecting two people was that the family was planning for the future tavern. After all, it wasn't feasible to wait for the tavern to open before starting to train shopkeepers, right?

Especially since the cultivators who come and go from the tavern would be a mixed bunch, it was necessary to have people with rich management experience; training them now was timely.

"Now that you're here, give us a hand," Li Shiren directed his gaze at Li Zhirui and the others and said, "While you're strolling through the marketplace, casually promote our family's grocery store."

"Ren, there's no need to promote," Li Zhirui suddenly spoke up, pointing outside and said, "All of us coming to the marketplace together has already attracted a lot of the cultivators' attention; they must know this is a grocery store."

It wasn't that Li Zhirui was unwilling, but truly, there was no need for them to do anything extra. Moreover, many family members were visiting the marketplace for the first time. If they really did as Li Shiren suggested and accidentally offended someone, trouble could ensue.

Li Shiren's eyebrows shot up, and turning to look outside, indeed, many cultivators stood there.

"In that case, there's no need for you to promote. Take your time to enjoy the marketplace, but you must return here before 17:00, or face the family's disciplinary action," Li Shilian waved his hands, allowing everyone to go their own way.

"Great!" Everyone happily left the store, leaving behind the two shopkeepers, as well as Li Shiren and Li Shilian, both Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Although no cultivator would dare to start a fight in Yunqing Marketplace, that didn't mean there would be no trouble. It was possible that some hooligans or cultivators with ill intentions might try to cause problems or deliberately harass people.

The two Foundation Establishment cultivators stayed behind precisely to deter such cultivators with ulterior motives.