After introducing each other, Ning Cheng also learned that the old man was called Tao Xiumao and the young man was called Tao Yuan. Both father and son were very enthusiastic and not only gave Ning Cheng medicine for his injuries, they also invited him to sit in the beast carriage.
After Ning Cheng got on the car, the one driving the car changed to the young man Tao Yuan.
In the beast cart, Ning Cheng still ran his energy to heal his injuries. Both Tao’s father and son were ordinary people who had never cultivated and were not at all aware of the fluctuations of the surrounding spiritual energy.
Ning Cheng had been resting his eyes with his eyes closed, and Tao Xiumao had also knowingly not sought out Ning Cheng to speak.
Two hours later, Ning Cheng felt that his injuries had eased while slowly starting to get better, and only then did he settle down.
As his injuries improved, Ning Cheng also opened his eyes and politely asked, “Uncle Tao, I heard people say that there are still cultivator armies in the Yixing Sea, and those cultivator armies recruit soldiers, is that right?”
Tao Xiumao nodded and replied, “That’s right, the biggest recruiting station for soldiers is in the Xihai Town you mentioned before. Taiwanhai Town also has a monk army stationed there, and our Bright Light Stones are actually what we get for the monk army. We sell these bright stones to merchants who then send them inside the monk army.”
Ning Cheng understood that the cultivator army fought or operated in the Yixing Sea all year round, setting up various illumination formations, and what they needed most was the bright light stones.
Seeing Ning Cheng’s understanding, Tao Xiumao hesitated for a moment and said, “If you don’t have a good place to go, you can dig for bright light stones with us. We can make a few trips a year and earn a couple of hundred gold coins each time. It’s just a bit dangerous, and we will occasionally meet road robbers along the way.”
“Thank you, Uncle Tao, but I still want to join a merchant fleet. When we get to Taiwanhai Town, I will look for opportunities to join some merchant fleets and go to sea. That way, I might be able to earn more.”
Hearing Ning Cheng’s words, Tao Xiumao gave a secret sigh in his heart and did not persuade. He was aware of the dangers of being with a caravan, which were countless times more dangerous than being with him in selling Ming Light Stones. Ning Cheng was not a relative or a friend of his, just a pa*ser-by. He was unable to persuade.
The beast carriage did not travel very fast all the way, but it was not slow either. The Tao family’s father and son took turns to drive the carriage, and only ate some ordinary dry food on the way.
Four days later, the carriage entered a lively and noisy town. Outside the town there were people in all kinds of dresses. Most of these people had the air of a man in the wind and dust. At most were some tougher dressed adventurers, and some ordinary cultivators. There were also quite a few people like the Tao’s father and son who had driven a beast cart and pulled a load of things.
A fishy smell of sea air came, and Ning Cheng knew that it should be close to the Yixing Sea. Although he was slow to recover from his injuries, he had a strength close to 10% of Condensing Truth. The cultivators he saw here all had very low cultivation levels, so there was no need to worry.
“Brother Xiaocheng, this is already Taiwanhai Town. My father and I are going to get these Bright Light Stones out of the way, so if you are looking for a merchant group, just come with us. There are many merchant caravans inside the Chamber of Commerce, and these caravans collect all kinds of things. And those merchant caravans often have to recruit some manpower too.” Tao Yuan was mute, but after getting familiar with Ning Cheng, he was very enthusiastic.
“Then, thanks a lot, Brother Tao.” Ning Cheng hurriedly thanked him, while taking out twenty gold coins and handing them to Tao Xiumao.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t willing to take out more gold coins, he was now an ordinary person. Even his cultivation was hidden, and he had to go in search of a merchant to make his fortune. Once he took out more gold coins, it would just make people suspicious.
Tao Xiumao stiffly refused to accept Ning Cheng’s gold coins, saying that his beast carriage was only hauling goods and that taking Ning Cheng to Taiwanhai Town was also a side trip. It would be too unkind to take the gold coins.
Ning Cheng could only collect the gold coins and followed the Tao’s father and son along the long street of Taiwanhai Town to where the merchants were gathered.
The beast carriage did not have to go for long. It stopped at a place with a tall gatehouse. Tao Xiumao took out a wooden sign and respectfully handed it to a guard by the gate. The guard looked at the wooden plate, handed it back to Tao Xiumao, and waved his hand at Tao Xiumao again.
Only then did Tao Xiumao dare to pull the beast cart into this tall gatehouse, and Ning Cheng also followed the beast cart in.
After entering the gatehouse, Tao Xiumao pointed at a row of tall and magnificent buildings directly in front of him and said to Ning Cheng. “Little brother Ning, that’s where the major merchant caravans of Taiwanhai Town are stationed. If you are looking for a merchant team to join, you can go in and try your luck. I’m going to take my boy to deliver the Bright Light Stones.”
Ning Cheng had already seen the large sign in front of him with the words Taiwan Chamber of Commerce written on it, and he hurriedly thanked the Tao’s father and son once again. Only then did he bid farewell to the Tao’s father and son and entered this Taiwan Chamber of Commerce.
……
The Taiwan Chamber of Commerce was not one, but a collective name for the entire Taiwan Sea Town Chamber of Commerce. After entering here, Ning Cheng even had the feeling of entering one of the business halls of the latter-day Earth.
There were all sorts of names of merchant fleets here, and every place where a merchant fleet was stationed, there was a sign erected. In front of some of the merchant fleets, there were even some brief descriptions and information about notices to recruit people.
Ning Cheng looked all the way over and found that none of the merchant caravans here were heading to Hualu Continent, almost all of them were heading to a place called Pu Buhai Island.
Ning Cheng called out to a man who was also reading the notices and politely cupped his fist and asked, “Friend, I want to join one of the bigger merchant caravans, but how come none of the caravans here are even going to the Hualu Continent?”
“You want to go to the Chemical Continent?” The man asked as he stared at Ning Cheng in shock.
Ning Cheng hurriedly said, “No, I just want to join one of the bigger merchant fleets, I don’t know which one is big, I’ve heard that some of the big merchant fleets in the Yixing Sea can even cross continents. I think the ones that can cross continents must be big merchant fleets.”
After hearing Ning Cheng’s explanation, the man laughed and said, “The merchant fleets from Taiwanhai Town all go to Pu Buhai Island, and only the merchant fleets from Pu Buhai Island and Xihai City are allowed to go to the Chemical Continent. You must have just arrived in Taiwanhai Town, right?”
“Yes, yes, I just came here, I have some strength, I originally wanted to go to Xihai City to join the cultivator army, but I didn’t expect that Xihai City was too far away, so I had to come to Taiwanhai Town.” Ning Cheng hurriedly replied.
“You are a Lord Cultivator?” As soon as the man heard that Ning Cheng was a cultivator, he immediately revealed an expression of respect.
Ning Cheng immediately said, “This I cannot be considered a cultivator either, my cultivation level is very low, I have only gathered Qi.”
Hearing that Ning Cheng was only a Qi Gathering cultivator and that he spoke so kindly, he guessed that he was only at the first or second level of Qi Gathering. The man panted secretly before saying, “An early Qi gathering cultivator can also join the cultivator army. In fact, apart from Xihai City, Pu Buhai Island also needs to recruit cultivator armies. Many Qi gathering cultivators travel to Pu Bu Sea Island by joining the merchant fleet, and then join the cultivator army.”
“That couldn’t be better, I’ll go to Pu Bu Sea Island to try my luck first, and if it really doesn’t work out, I’ll simply do it in the merchant army.” Ning Cheng said as he revealed a delighted expression.
He was disappointed in his heart, if there was a merchant fleet that went directly to the Hualu Continent, that would only be the best for him.
After thanking the man, Ning Cheng casually found a merchant caravan called Flying Sea and walked in. He saw from the notice outside the Flying Sea merchant that this merchant would be leaving Taiwan Sea Town tomorrow and heading to Pu Bu Sea Island.
Since none of the merchant caravans here could go directly to Hua Continent, it no longer made any difference which one he found at random.
The Flying Sea merchant’s stationed hall here was not very big, and there was just a woman sitting inside. The woman looked to be in her twenties and carried a hint of the pugnaciousness of the sea, and at a glance she knew that she had been walking in the sea all year round.
She was sitting on a wooden chair and seemed to be still dazed, after Ning Cheng entered, she didn’t know if she didn’t notice or if she did and simply didn’t care, still thinking about her own business.
This was a woman with decent features and not too ugly looking. What amazed Ning Cheng was that she was actually at the ninth level of cultivation of the True Condensation.
Originally, Ning Cheng thought that these merchant caravans were all just some ordinary people walking around as well. However, to his surprise, he walked into the first merchant caravan and saw a cultivator of the ninth level of True Condensation.
“May I ask ……” Ning Cheng had just said two words when this woman of the ninth level of True Condensation turned around and asked in a cold voice, “What do you want?”
“I’ve heard that the Flying Sea merchant team is short of manpower, I’m here to apply for the job ……”
This time Ning Cheng still still hadn’t finished his sentence when he was interrupted again. However, this time, the one who interrupted Ning Cheng was not this woman of the ninth level of True Condensation, but a middle-aged man. This middle-aged man hurried in, bowed to the woman and said, “Concubine Zhuang, the ship has arrived.”
Hearing that the boat had arrived, the woman stood up and said, “Since the boat has arrived, then let’s set off tonight.”
“Yes, yes ……” the middle-aged man said yes, but his face was already a little embarra*sed.
The woman surnamed Zhuang said in a light voice, “I know you still have to recruit people, and it’s too late now. There is a crew member here who has applied for the job, so take him with you. If there are any losses due to lack of manpower, I, Zhuang Ya, will bear them alone.”
“Don’t dare, don’t dare ……,” the middle-aged man said, and hurriedly bent down to let the woman called Zhuang Ya go out first.
Only after the woman had gone far away did the middle-aged man wipe the sweat from his forehead and began to observe Ning Cheng for a while before asking, “Are you going to join the Flying Sea Merchant Team to sail? What is your name?”
“My name is Ning Xiaocheng, I heard that the Flying Sea Fleet was taking on crew members, so I rushed over.” Ning Cheng immediately replied.
The middle-aged man nodded his head and asked, “How is your strength?”
Ning Cheng hurriedly made a muscular gesture, “I am definitely a Hercules, in our village, many young girls like that I am strong.”
The middle-aged man laughed at Ning Cheng’s remark, “Alright, that’s you then. My name is Xin Right, from now on you will call me Deacon Xin. Temporary crew members are paid a thousand gold coins once they go to sea in the Flying Sea Merchant Fleet, this payment is ten percent upfront, thirty percent when we arrive at Pu Bu Sea Island, and the rest when we settle the balance at Taiwan Sea Town.”
“That’s perfectly fine.” Ning Cheng did not hesitate to respond, he could not have imagined that he would find the caravan heading to Pu Bu Sea Island so easily. As for him not returning and not being able to collect the full thousand gold coins, it was completely ignored by Ning Cheng.