While the land reclamation teams were hard at work, the first day of February arrived, marking a significant occasion for Shuishui City.
This was the day when Shuishui City's Trading Center would engage in transactions with various sects and royal families.
It was also the first day of February for Shuishui City, and the streets were more bustling than ever.
In recent days, the city had been flooded with a large number of visitors.
These people, speaking with accents from various countries, strolled through the different districts of Shuishui City with great enthusiasm.
They were all individuals who had heard about Lingxian Sect and the commercial area of Shuishui City, coming from far and wide to experience it for themselves.
After all, it had been a long time since the Mortal Realm had seen a marketplace so well-known and catered to cultivators. Those who had a bit of wealth couldn't resist the temptation to visit, to see what all the fuss was about.
The royal families and sects that had previously signed trade agreements with Shuishui City had intentionally chosen February 1st as the opening date for the shops on First Avenue of the Commercial District. This was a marketing strategy to attract business.
On this day, if the sects and royal families could successfully fulfill their orders and receive their payments from Shuishui City, they would be able to open their storehouses and sell their resources.
In fact, many had already brought large stocks of their sects' or families' reserves in preparation.
Their plan was simple: complete the trade, receive the payment, and then immediately open their stores. Some had even gone ahead to First Avenue, holding their communication tokens and starting to arrange their shops.
As for their own sects' depleted storehouses, well, that would be replenished with the funds from the Trading Center, where they would purchase new stock.
In fact, many had already informed the Trading Center about the types and quantities of goods they intended to buy in the coming month.
These sects and royal families all arrived on the exact day, not because they couldn't come earlier, but because waiting until the last possible moment allowed them to produce a little more inventory.
Of course, they had prepared the order quota for Shuishui City several days in advance. The extra items were to replenish their personal reserves.
As the city became more crowded, businesses boomed, and many street vendors found themselves struggling to keep up with demand.
Even rogue cultivators, scattered across different regions of the Mortal Realm, had traveled to Shuishui City aboard the spirit ships of various major sects, often bringing their families along.
In January, the news about Lingxian Sect and Shuishui City spread like wildfire, becoming so popular that even major sects that hadn't been invited to the sect's annual banquet were now eager to visit Shuishui City and see it for themselves.
These sects, always looking for business opportunities, sold discounted tickets to their own disciples and even reserved extra spots to sell to rogue cultivators.
In the Mortal Realm, some major sects possessed several spirit ships. This was a prime time for them to do business. Although the ships weren't particularly fast, they could travel day and night without needing rest like horses, nor did they require food and drink. Furthermore, the ships flew above the terrain, avoiding natural obstacles and significantly cutting down on travel time.
Since many rogue cultivators traveled with their families, paying two spirit stones for a secondary cabin became a popular choice for those who had enough funds.
While two spirit stones might not seem like much, the volume of travelers made it quite profitable.
Spirit ships didn't necessarily require spirit stones for operation; cultivators could also pilot them. Sects only needed to assign one or two Golden Core cultivators to rotate shifts piloting the ships, and in a single trip, they could easily earn hundreds or even thousands of spirit stones—a highly lucrative business.
As Shuishui City's reputation soared, the Mortal Realm seemed to liven up. People became more enterprising, constantly seeking new opportunities.
Although two spirit stones might not be much for a sect, parting with them still pained a rogue cultivator.
The primary reason many of these rogue cultivators were willing to make the trip to Shuishui City, despite the cost, was the news that a Nascent Soul cultivator resided there.
In their eyes, if a place could produce a Nascent Soul cultivator, it must be a particularly fertile ground for cultivation.
After all, the Mortal Realm hadn't seen a Nascent Soul cultivator in many years. Why had one suddenly appeared in Shuishui City?
A Nascent Soul cultivator was no small matter!
Most of them had never even heard of such a cultivator, let alone seen one in person.
Some people doubted the truth of this news, but when they saw the major sects getting involved and openly announcing that they would fly spirit ships to Shuishui City, they couldn't help but believe it.
The news networks available to rogue cultivators were nowhere near as comprehensive as those of the major sects. They often had to rely on observing the actions of larger sects to gauge the situation.
Now that the major sects were clearly paying close attention to Shuishui City and Lingxian Sect, it seemed likely that the Nascent Soul cultivator rumor might be true.
Even if the Nascent Soul rumor turned out to be false, the bustling Shuishui City commercial district alone was enough reason to make the journey.
Any rogue cultivator with the slightest desire to improve their cultivation wouldn't want to miss this opportunity. It was a rare chance to access cultivation resources.
In the past, major sects produced and consumed their own resources, rarely letting anything out into the wider world. Even when they did trade, it was usually only with familiar royal families or sects, leaving rogue cultivators out of the equation.
As a result, over the past few days, the number of people arriving in Shuishui City via sect spirit ships had skyrocketed.
Fortunately, Shuishui City was large enough to accommodate the influx.
However, the rapid increase in population left the city staff exhausted.
With the sudden surge in arrivals, the city lord's office had to hold emergency meetings and activate pre-planned contingencies.
The first issue they addressed was housing for the new arrivals.
People had traveled from far away, and they weren't likely to leave after just one day. Even if the cultivators could stay up all night wandering the city, their families couldn't.
Moreover, the royal families and sects had brought large retinues with them, and accommodations had to be arranged.
The inns already operating in the city couldn't handle the overwhelming number of visitors.
Fortunately, Shuishui City had planned for this. Given the city's vast area, it needed a correspondingly large accommodation sector.
The northwest of the city was specifically designed to host visiting cultivators.
This area was tailored to the preferences of cultivators, who often preferred to live in cave dwellings. The landscape was dominated by mountains, with pavilions, towers, and gardens nestled along the mountain walls, while trees and flowers dotted the scenery, adding to the aesthetic.
The surrounding isolation array even created a misty effect, giving the area a tranquil, ethereal vibe—a perfect place for cultivation, designed to meet the desires of any visiting cultivator.