With Su Jie resolving the internal conflicts of Ghost Ridge Palace, the development in Qingzhou faced no more obstacles, and Su Jie's various capitalist measures could be swiftly implemented.

Three months later!

At the Bai Du River mouth of the Firefly Sea, several cultivators dressed in attire completely different from the Ghost Ridge Palace disciples arrived.

They wore jade at their waists, simple hair crowns, and long robes embroidered with the pattern of two crossed golden flying swords.

These were cultivators from the Golden Sword Sect of Qingzhou, and they were the first batch of exchange students from the Golden Sword Sect to enter Ghost Ridge Palace.

There were five disciples from the Golden Sword Sect in total, with the highest-adept being an inner disciple at the Yunling Realm Seventh Level, named Xu Chang, who was 25 years old. To reach this realm at such an age was considered quite promising.

The other four were all without exception disciples below the Fifth Level of the Yunling Realm.

Although Ghost Ridge Palace forced Qingzhou's Righteous sects to send disciples for exchange learning, the Golden Sword Sect obviously didn't want to send their own genius disciples, unsure of how they would be tortured and humiliated by the Ghost Ridge Palace.

Therefore, the Golden Sword Sect specially organized a draw, pulling out a few from the outer disciples to fool Ghost Ridge Palace.

As for why Xu Chang, an inner disciple, was also drawn, it was because the Golden Sword Sect feared they would offend Ghost Ridge Palace by being too perfunctory, and they had to at least offer up an inner disciple to show some gesture.

This way, if Ghost Ridge Palace held them accountable, they could at least argue that they had sent a genius inner disciple for further study and exchange.

Xu Chang was just such an unlucky person. In the draw among inner disciples, he was picked for the opportunity to travel for exchange study.

Amidst the ridicule of his fellow senior brothers and sisters, he had to put on a wronged face, pack his bags, and embark on a long and laborious journey to Ghost Ridge Palace for advanced study.

Yes, to Xu Chang and the other disciples coming for exchange and further study, going to Ghost Ridge Palace was considered exceptionally unlucky.

Everyone knew that Ghost Ridge Palace was the largest Demon Cave in Qingzhou, ruthless, bloodthirsty, and notoriously brutal, often killing people to feed insects.

Here in Qingzhou, Ghost Ridge Palace never had a good reputation.

They didn't know what kind of cruel targeted treatment they would face after arriving here to live.

"Senior Brother, ahead is the Firefly Sea."

Arriving at the Firefly Sea, the main base of Ghost Ridge Palace, several outer disciples from the Golden Sword Sect were full of trepidation as they watched the Ghost Ridge Palace cultivators shuttling around the ferry dock, too frightened to step forward.

"Wait here, I'll go ask someone."

Xu Chang took a deep breath. Although he was also quite nervous, being outside plus his status as an inner disciple, he had to support his junior brothers and sisters from the sect; he was not demon enough to send his juniors to test the waters first.

"Senior Brother, be careful."

Under the gaze of several young cultivators, Xu Chang walked to the ferry dock at the Firefly Sea.

On the dock, the large characters "Firefly Sea No. 2 Dock" were visible, and there were several such docks.

Firefly Sea was the largest lake in Qingzhou, ranking among the top three in the Da Li Dynasty, with a length of 736 kilometers, an average width of 68 kilometers, and an average depth of 430 meters, larger than Blue Star's Lake Baikal.

Although it was a lake, one couldn't see the opposite shore. In the center of the lake was Lake Heart Island, the main base of Ghost Ridge Palace.

To reach Lake Heart Island at the center, one had to take a ferry and travel by boat.

When Xu Chang arrived here, he found it extraordinarily bustling. Besides Ghost Ridge Palace disciples, there were also numerous merchants, and even commoners carrying poles selling fruits, vegetables, and poultry.

The shops lined both sides of the dock, one after another, completely betraying the fact that just a few months ago, it had experienced a major battle.

"Why are there so many common folk here? Aren't they afraid the Ghost Ridge Palace cultivators will seize them to feed insects?"

Xu Chang was utterly baffled. He had visited Guan Chao Pavilion before, but that was when he accompanied his sect seniors for discussions and friendships with the younger generation of Guan Chao Pavilion.

The docks and piers back then weren't this lively.

At Guan Chao Pavilion, besides their own cultivators, strict prohibitions were in place. Letting ordinary people come to do business or open shops was unheard of; even those not from their own sect would be driven away.

But what Xu Chang couldn't figure out was how these commoners dared to carry on business right at the doorstep of Ghost Ridge Palace.

Filled with bewilderment, Xu Chang didn't ponder too deeply and instead found some Ghost Ridge Palace disciples who were standing duty there.

"You..."

As Xu Chang started to speak, a few Ghost Ridge Palace cultivators glanced at each other, and their leading disciple stepped forward.

"By your attire, you're a disciple from the Golden Sword Sect here for exchange study?"

"Uh, yes, that's correct."

Xu Chang was surprised that the other party directly understood his background, saving him the trouble of explaining.

"Follow me, we are here specifically to receive people like you. My name is Zhang Xin. Haha, don't be too nervous, I don't eat people. In the past few days, I've already received several batches of disciples like you from Righteous sects."

The Ghost Ridge Palace disciple revealed a smile, seemingly having noticed Xu Chang's confusion and offered an explanation directly.

He was about thirty years old, his young age paired with a grown-out stubble beard made him appear older and more mature.

Seeing the purple mantis poisonous insect resting on Zhang Xin's shoulder, Xu Chang hesitated and nodded: "Sorry to trouble you."

Then Xu Chang turned around, waved towards his four junior brothers and sisters, signaling them to quickly come over and gather.

Once everyone had arrived, Zhang Xin led them through the bustling and lively dock commercial street to the spot where they would board the boat.

Here, Xu Chang and the others witnessed an unexpected scene.

More than a dozen large and small vessels were docked, in addition to the common wooden ships, there were also several enormous steel ships gleaming with a pure iron luster.

At the edge of the dock, there were massive steel frames, towering tens of meters high, hoisting iron boxes and stowing them onto those gigantic steel vessels.

This repetitive loading process allowed these steel ships to carry far more cargo than ordinary wooden boats.

Xu Chang's mouth was wide open in astonishment, he had never seen such enormous ships. Although he had seen Flying Magical Boats before, those were collections of various rare spiritual materials rather than pure iron. He couldn't figure out how these things managed to float on the sea.

"What enormous iron ships!"

"Are there formations inscribed inside these steel ships? Otherwise, how could they float on water."

"Where did the Ghost Ridge Palace acquire these? Guan Chao Pavilion didn't have these big iron ships before."

The accompanying Golden Sword Sect disciples were equally wide-eyed, struggling to comprehend where the Ghost Ridge Palace had procured such things.

"Haha, this is the masterpiece of our sect's Puppet Hall, the largest hall within our sect. They've created many magical puppet machines, and these steel ships are one of them, powered by new fuel instead of Spirit Stones and formations, you'll understand once you've lived here for a while."

Zhang Xin, beside them, grinned broadly, seemingly anticipating Xu Chang and the others' reaction.

In recent days, he had witnessed similar reactions numerous times.

Every group of Righteous Disciples coming to Ghost Ridge Palace for training was stunned at this dock.

"It's not really impressive, just larger and able to carry more cargo, without formation defenses, it's nothing more than a huge target, a few Flying Swords could sink it."

Seeing Zhang Xin's smile, Xu Chang assumed that Zhang Xin was mocking his ignorance, and couldn't resist retorting, while also tugging at the sleeves of his junior brothers and sisters, urging them to maintain their composure and not lose the grace of Golden Sword Sect, a Righteous sect, in the eyes of Ghost Ridge Palace disciples.

Zhang Xin did not argue with them, shrugging his shoulders and saying, "Follow me aboard the ship, we can reach Lake Heart Island before sunset if we set sail now."

The group boarded one of the giant steel vessels, a mixed cargo and passenger ship, holding not only a large amount of cargo but also numerous merchants.

Once Zhang Xin boarded, his apparent repute became evident as a group of merchants surrounded him, exchanging pleasantries with smiles.

"Manager Fu, the Chen Mansion has shipped a lot of spiritual material this time! Looks like they'll make a big profit."

"Oh, not at all, Ghost Ridge Palace is in need of everything after the war. As part of Qingzhou, we must lend some support. Profit is secondary."

"Brother Zhang, my family just opened a new tavern at the dock and hired two beautiful Western maidens. When it opens, Brother Zhang must honor us with your presence, and I'll have them provide you with some proper relaxation."

"Definitely, definitely, so you're looking to enter the procurement system with your Golden Cicada Silk, I see. You're well-informed, the news about our sect's new uniform just announced two days ago and you've already come running. Alright then, I'll mention it to my Master, whether you get in is not up to me."

Zhang Xin adeptly socialized with the merchants.

Xu Chang discreetly observed, noticing the merchants weren't just ordinary traders, but also representatives of noble families from across Qingzhou.

They wore emblems signifying their families and transported not just regular goods, but various common spiritual materials, spiritual mines, spirit plants, and spiritual beasts.

Noble families differ from sects; they can be viewed as small sects bound by bloodlines. Most established noble families foster their descendants in cultivation; those with lesser talents are sent to sects to apprentice.

These noble families, deeply rooted locally with broad connections, control several common cultivation resource sites and actively establish trade convoys, facilitating transactions and earning wealth.

In the past, Ghost Ridge Palace's black market was essentially trafficked by these noble family convoys, engaging in dealings, including human slave trade, with daring intentions.

"No integrity or morality, utterly corrupt, terribly corrupt."

Xu Chang heard these exchanges and couldn't help but criticize internally.

These noble families, previously sneaky with their black market dealings, now openly conducted business with Ghost Ridge Palace since it became Qingzhou's overlord, unafraid of its Demon Sect status.

However, Xu Chang only dared ponder this quietly, naturally unable to voice it.

For, technically speaking, the Golden Sword Sect to which they belonged was also one of the forces that had pledged allegiance to Ghost Ridge Palace, giving him no standing to criticize excessively.

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