Chapter 19

Although Tongshan County was adjacent to the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge and constantly threatened by demons, the risks also meant opportunities.

Demons revered nature and, unlike humans, did not have the means to refine elixirs and medicines, so they rarely destroyed the natural environment for their living needs.

Some demons even loved to live in beautiful natural environments, so the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge, where demons gathered, might contain various kinds of spiritual herbs that had existed for decades, centuries, or even millennia, as well as other kinds of heavenly treasures.

In the rumors of human adventurers, the various spiritual herbs in the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge grew like weeds on the hills, and were often eaten as snacks by small animals like rabbits.

This was all money that grew naturally!

Every year, adventurers from Chong'an Kingdom, the Central Great Jin Dynasty, and other feudal states would come to Tongshan County in groups.

They would use Tongshan County as a forward logistics base to venture into the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge.

Most of these adventurers were martial cultivators from humble backgrounds. They knew that going to the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge on their own initiative might result in them being eaten by the demons as food.

As martial cultivators, their bodies were full of essence and blood, which were the favorite food of demons and greatly beneficial to them.

But for the sake of those priceless spiritual herbs, they still risked their lives one after another.

Poverty in literature, wealth in martial arts—practicing martial arts also costs money. Not everyone was like Liu Ping, who came from a martial arts family and could rely on the support of a noble family with their own land to practice martial arts.

The vast majority of martial cultivators were made to suffer by practicing martial arts, which forced them to risk their lives to make money.

Some more capable adventurers even targeted the demons directly. Of course, they did not dare to face the powerful demons, but with human wisdom and their martial arts at the seventh, eighth, or even ninth level, they dared to take action against lesser demons.

The demon cores of demons could be used to refine elixirs in the human world, with effects comparable to those of herbs that had grown for hundreds or thousands of years. The blood and flesh of demons were also very valuable, especially capturing a live demon or even just a dead one, which could bring a huge fortune.

Of course, some human merchants also dealt directly with the demons in the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge, exchanging elixirs, talismans, and other things that demons could not refine for spiritual herbs and other heavenly treasures.

However, this was also a risky business, as they might end up being sold to the demons as food.

Therefore, most of the adventurers who went to the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge each year did not return, but the number of adventurers coming to Tongshan County each year still increased the population of the county by more than double.

Actually, before Chong'an Kingdom officially built Tongshan County, there was already a frontier town formed spontaneously by adventurers due to the special geographical location of this area.

Later, someone discovered various mineral veins in the surrounding mountains, especially those of gold, silver, and jade, and it was said that there were even spirit stones that only cultivators could use, which attracted many people to set up mines here.

This, in turn, attracted various merchant caravans, not only to buy minerals but also to specifically purchase herbs, demon cores, and other materials.

In addition to the laborers who moved and transported goods, these merchant caravans also brought hundreds of private soldiers as guards, and during the gathering of merchant caravans, the population here could reach tens of thousands.

Whether it was the mine owners who set up the mines or the merchant caravans from outside, they were not ordinary people. Most of them had the backing of noble families.

To facilitate the management of this spontaneously formed town, many noble families with interests here played a role, and the ruler of Chong'an Kingdom officially established a county here, adjacent to the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge in the southwestern frontier, thus officially forming Tongshan County.

To meet the self-sufficiency needs of a county, the ruler of Chong'an Kingdom forcibly relocated more than 5,000 households, including farmers, craftsmen, and other miscellaneous households, as well as 500 soldiers to guard the county and their families.

Adding to this, the miners brought by the mine owners, the laborers and guards brought by the merchant caravans, and the adventurers who came and went with the seasons, the population of Tongshan County could reach about 40,000 during non-winter months.

A population of 40,000 was comparable to some wealthy counties in the inland areas of Chong'an Kingdom, though the prosperity of Tongshan County was relatively畸形 (distorted).

The main streets of the East and West Markets in the county town were lined with various shops, mostly for the purchase of various spiritual herbs and other materials from the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge, as well as shops specializing in the sale of elixirs, weapons, and armor, all of which served the adventurers.

It was common to see various adventurers carrying weapons entering and exiting the shops, either selling or buying, providing a one-stop service to save them the trouble of going elsewhere for sales and purchases.

As for other parts of the county town, the most common places were inns and restaurants. Even ordinary households would tidy up a few rooms for rent to earn some silver, and they were usually about 70-80% full.

It was like the ancient towns we often visit, where almost all the residents of the county town were engaged in the business of accommodating outsiders. Apart from farming and harvesting, all other income came from these outsiders.

The adventurers who came to Tongshan County mostly lived day by day, risking their lives for adventure, so they spent money generously.

As for security, with a noble cultivator like Zhu Junyan serving as the county magistrate, and the private soldiers of the Zhu family, along with the county troops assigned by Chong'an Kingdom, the county was relatively stable.

In such an ancient county town, Zhu Lingwu, now with the idea of strolling around, naturally felt a bit excited. This was a real ancient town, more authentic than the half-finished ancient towns in his original world that required money to visit.

But if you were to say the most bustling place in Tongshan County, it would be the storytelling teahouse "Tian Tang Pavilion" in front of the city god temple in the northern part of the county.

In this era, the transmission of various news mainly relied on word of mouth, and although the stories told by storytellers often added a lot of embellishments, you could sometimes hear fresh news from all over the world in some of the stories.

So in this world, if you wanted to hear the news and understand current affairs, you either had to gather information yourself or go to such storytelling teahouses. Besides hearing news from others while drinking tea, you could also listen to the stories told by the storytellers.

It was said that storytellers in this world were a special profession. They seemed to know everything, and you could even buy many secret pieces of information from them...