Shen Yuan came to the ancestral hall and placed three sticks of incense on the spirit tablet enshrined inside.

The elders that the Shen Family could trace back to were from his great-grandfather's generation. Further back, the names were unknown, and naturally, there was no need for enshrinement.

Blue smoke curled upwards as Shen Yuan turned around; the guard responsible for protecting the ancestral hall immediately came forward and cupped his hands in salute.

"Elder Patriarch."

Shen Yuan nodded and spoke, "Go and summon the stewards of all the major clans."

"Also, send someone to invite Master Lu from the academy."

The guard was taken aback at first, then hastily cupped his hands and retreated.

The steward families of each village, upon hearing that the long-unseen Elder Patriarch of the Shen Family had gone to the ancestral hall today to summon them for a meeting, felt a chill in their hearts, knowing that something important must be happening!

Each of them did not dare to delay and hurriedly rushed to the mountain.

Inside the ancestral hall, Shen Yuan lowered his head, holding a tea cup, and glanced at the few people standing in front of him, not daring to speak.

"Sit down."

He spoke slowly, and only then did the people present cautiously try to sit down.

But just as their seats were about to touch the bench, Lu Zhiyuan, dressed in a pale blue robe, also slowly arrived at the ancestral hall.

The few people hurriedly stood up again to salute.

Shen Yuan also put down the tea cup in his hand, stood up, and cupped his hands before speaking, "Master, please sit."

Lu Zhiyuan nodded and sat in the seat beside him.

"For many years, you have diligently governed the villages under your charge, and this old man has seen it all."

Shen Yuan sat down, once again picked up the tea cup in front of him, and spoke calmly.

"It's all within the duties of the subordinates." On the left at the head seat, the elderly Patriarch of the Chen Family, Chen Sanxing, hurriedly cupped his hands and spoke.

The other people also echoed repeatedly.

Shen Yuan slightly raised his hand and said, "No need for that. Merits will be rewarded, and faults will naturally be punished."

As soon as he said this, the expressions of the people present suddenly changed.

They racked their brains to recall all the things their families had done openly and secretly over the years.

They weren't sure which of these matters had already been discovered by the main family and which could still be argued.

Shen Yuan silently observed the few people, secretly noting the changes in their expressions.

"A nation has national laws, and a clan should also have clan rules."

"The Shen Family rose from humble beginnings, aware of the hardships of establishing a foundation, and should be even more cautious and vigilant."

"I invited you all here today to announce an important matter."

Upon hearing his words, the people below held their breath and quietly looked at him.

Taking a sip of tea, Shen Yuan continued, "From today, I plan to establish the Clan Court."

"The Clan Court will oversee and supervise the compliance of clan rules by all clans, constrain all cultivators and secular people of the Shen Family, and audit the powers of all affiliated clans."

"Master." Shen Yuan turned to Lu Zhiyuan and cupped his hands, saying, "I wish to ask you, Master, to humble yourself and temporarily take the position of the first Clan Chief of the Clan Court."

There was a hint of pleading in his words.

The Shen Family currently had too few people available for use.

The power of the Clan Court was vast, and the person in charge must be upright and selfless.

After much thought, apart from Lu Zhiyuan, he couldn't think of anyone more suitable.

Lu Zhiyuan pondered for a moment and nodded slightly, "Since Young Brother Shen trusts this old man so much, then this old man will accept this matter."

Having been associated with the Shen Family for decades, he was considered a witness to the Shen Family's rise.

This time, he also knew that Shen Yuan possibly had no one else to turn to, which is why he came to request his help.

"Thank you, Master."

After cupping his hands, Shen Yuan looked at the few people below and said, "From today, the Clan Court will act on my behalf. Whether your clanspeople are secular people or cultivators, if they violate the clan rules, they will be treated equally."

"If anyone dares to defy, the Clan Court has the authority to act first and report later."

"Go now and explain this matter well to the villagers under your control. I do not wish to see any of you die due to clan rules in the future."

Shen Yuan waved his hand.

The people present all stood up one by one, cupped their hands, and retreated.

In the ancestral hall, Shen Yuan looked at Lu Zhiyuan and cupped his hands again, "In the future, I will have to trouble you, Master, a lot more."

Lu Zhiyuan smiled faintly, shaking his head, "Idleness is idleness. If this old, feeble body can help Young Brother Shen with something, it can be considered good."

"Young Brother Shen, is there any news about Ah Nu?"

Upon asking this, Lu Zhiyuan's expression turned solemn.

Shen Yuan slightly nodded, recounting the story about Shen Wenyan in Danzhou.

"Alas!"

After listening, Lu Zhiyuan sighed deeply.

From the very beginning, he could see that his student was someone unwilling to be ordinary.

After the two embarked on the path of Literary Dao cultivation one after another, their ways gradually diverged.

Knowing full well now, Lu Zhiyuan realized that the two were no longer in a teacher-student relationship but were more like friends with a generational difference.

"The world of cultivators holds great opportunities, but likewise, more dangers. I wonder if he can achieve something in Danzhou..."

Listening to Lu Zhiyuan's words, Shen Yuan didn't say much more.

He could only roughly conclude that Shen Wenyan was not in mortal danger in Danzhou, but as for the specific opportunities, it was also unknown.

...

Jinghe County, Jinghe Market.

After deciding to build Jinghe Market, the Shen Family employed more than a thousand craftsmen, spending over a year and countless amounts of money, finally completing the construction of the market.

After the market's completion, Shen Wenxing invited Wei Qiuling and others.

The six people came to the market, and after a detailed tour, they were very satisfied, openly stating that although Jinghe Market is not as large as Qishan Market, it appears to be much more exquisite.

"Fellow Daoist Li, it's up to you next."

Jin Sheng looked at Li Heshan beside him and spoke.

According to the initial agreement, after this market is established, Qiyun Valley will provide the array to hide the entire market, preventing any mortals from accidentally entering.

Li Heshan nodded with a faint smile, and with a flash of light in his hand, he directly took out a set of array banners in various colors and a delicate array plate that was glowing with radiance.

Feeling the spiritual power fluctuations emanating from the array plate and banners, everyone present was somewhat surprised.

"Could this be the Cloud Sea Mirage from the three major illusion arrays of Qiyun Valley?"

Previously, Luoxia Mountain had a good relationship with Qiyun Valley, and Wei Qiuling had often heard about the arrays of Qiyun Valley.

Upon seeing the array plate and banners, he guessed the array's name.

Li Heshan nodded.

Next to him, the Profound Robe Daoist frowned slightly and said, "I've heard that Qiyun Valley's Cloud Sea Mirage Illusion Array is an advanced array that requires a cultivator at the Fetal Breathing Realm to set up."

"Could Fellow Daoist Li be..."

Before she finished speaking, a hint of Immortal Embryo aura slowly dissipated from Li Heshan's body, and a faint spirit light emerged behind him.

This spirit light seemed to have a life of its own, flickering as it opened and closed.

"Fetal Breathing..." Wei Qiuling muttered in astonishment upon seeing this scene.

Profound Robe and the others were also stunned.

Li Heshan withdrew the aura and spirit light and smiled bitterly, "The last time I saw Junior Brother Shen break through to the Fetal Breathing Realm, perhaps my heart wasn't steady enough."

"Upon returning, I couldn't suppress the impulse and refined a strand of Upper Pure Purple Cloud Qi from the sect's treasury to achieve the Immortal Embryo."

Hearing this, Wei Qiuling and the others all showed envy in their eyes.

Although Upper Pure Purple Cloud Qi isn't considered absolutely Upper Grade among various innate spiritual qi, it is still Mid-Upper Grade.

The Immortal Embryo achieved with this may not reach Upper Grade, but it is already quite rare.

"Indeed, the heritage of Qiyun Valley is enviable to us all."

Wang Quan, the chief disciple of the One Qi Sect, spoke softly.

Qiyun Valley was famous throughout Danzhou, renowned as a grand sect, and although now it has fallen to be similar to their few lower grade immortal sects,

its foundation remains incomparable to theirs.

Leaving aside other aspects, just the Upper Pure Purple Cloud Qi is something none of their sects could offer.

Feeling the envy in their eyes, Li Heshan's face turned sour.

"It's not that I'm pretentious, but the heritage left by our ancestors diminishes with each use."

"Above Mid-Grade innate spiritual qi, Qiyun Valley only has this one piece."

"After reaching the Qi Cultivation Perfection Realm, I hoped to rely on my own fortune to find a good piece of innate spiritual qi, so as not to deplete the sect's heritage."

"Unfortunately, my luck was too shallow, and over the past ten-plus years, I've not even seen Lower Grade, let alone Mid-Upper Grade innate spiritual qi, and so I ended up using the Upper Pure Purple Cloud Qi."

The few pondered deeply upon hearing this.

If a sect wishes to develop and grow strong, it relies on generations of predecessors who constantly contribute and accumulate.

If later disciples become complacent, continually consuming the sect's heritage, the sect is bound to decline.

Qiyun Valley is a prime example.

When its fame echoed throughout Danzhou, the ancestor of Cyan Ruo Sword Sect was still an unknown loose cultivator.

But now, Cyan Ruo Sword Sect is renowned in Danzhou, whereas Qiyun Valley has already declined to compete for resources in Qishan among these lower grade immortal sects.

"Hehe... let's not talk about this."

"Let me first set up the array before discussing further."

Not willing to mention more about his sect's awkward matters in front of everyone, Li Heshan spoke slowly, then channeled his spiritual power to start setting up the array.

This Cloud Sea Mirage Illusion Array is hailed as one of Qiyun Valley's three major illusion arrays, naturally incomparable to ordinary arrays.

The array plate and banners in Li Heshan's hands were actually refined by the sect leader Yun Zhongzi of Qiyun Valley beforehand.

If not for this, even though he had reached the Fetal Breathing Realm, he could never have set it up by himself.

With the array banners and plate at hand, the remaining task wasn't as difficult.

Spiritual power guided the array banners to the various parts of the market, activating them to hide into the void; Li Heshan placed the array plate inside a three-story building within the market.

After completing all this, he activated it with spiritual power.

Instantly, the market-like a small town slowly faded into the void and disappeared.

Seeing this scene, Shen Wenxing felt a surge of envy in his heart.

This array is truly convenient.

If the Shen Family had such an array, perhaps they could protect the entire Jinliu Village and even Yunshui Town with it, transforming them into immortal residences.

After the array was fully activated, Wei Qiuling looked at Jin Sheng and said, "Fellow Daoist Jin, the task of guarding the market's safety and maintaining order will rest on us few sects."

"Qiuling's suggestion is that our four sects take turns sending Fetal Breathing Realm experts to oversee the market, one sect for ten years, how about it?"

Jin Sheng, the Profound Robe Daoist from the Profound Water Sect, and Wang Quan from the One Qi Sect nodded slightly upon hearing this.

In today's Yangnao Land, figures like Shen Wen'an have already emerged; though other forces and noble families don't have loose cultivators as terrifying as Shen Wen'an in cultivation speed, there are already quite a few Qi Cultivation Seventh and Eighth Layer cultivators.

After all, before the Immortal Sect descended, there were quite a few Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer cultivators in Yangnao Land known as having reached the Innate Realm.

To maintain the market's order, obviously, there must be absolute powerhouses to intimidate them.

Indeed, it is necessary to send Fetal Breathing Realm experts.

Seeing Wei Qiuling not mention the Shen Family, Shen Wenxing was happy to avoid a burden.

Despite Shen Wen'an being a Fetal Breathing Realm expert, it would be best if he didn't need to show himself.

"Thus, let everyone choose a permanent shop first."

"Whether the remaining shops will be rented or sold can be discussed later."

Everyone picked a shop in a good location in the market, left banners and marks symbolizing their sects, and then departed.

Shen Wenxing also chose one, instructed his men to hang the Shen Family banner, and was about to return home to see if there was anything worth selling.

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