Chapter 380: Survival Is Hard

This time Ding Huan didn't use the iron pot; he had gone to search for the ruins of a bankrupt immortal sect.

Controlling a top-grade spirit treasure, Ding Huan walked along while sweeping his divine sense, searching as he went.

After walking for twenty days, Ding Huan hadn't found a bankrupt immortal sect, but he did find an immortal city.

To be honest, Ding Huan had already been in the Fourth Immortal Domain for several years. Although he spent most of his time cultivating, he had also traveled around outside.

He had seen all kinds of immortal sects, but an immortal city like this was still his first time.

Ding Huan didn't hesitate. He controlled his flying ship to land outside the immortal city, and at the same time disguised himself as an ordinary loose cultivator who had been expelled.

In the Fourth Immortal Domain, because of insufficient ability, expelled loose cultivators were countless. Ding Huan's disguise like this was not strange at all.

Ding Huan guessed that Yan Yuefang would look for him. As long as she wasn't a Bai Chi, Yan Yuefang would definitely ask Chang Chang Danyi about his situation.

Chang Chang Danyi would one hundred percent tell about him finding the immortal spirit spring, and even the matter of setting up protective arrays and killing array patterns would be told.

He had no interest in working for the Twin Purple Mountain Immortal Sect, working hard to find immortal spirit springs for others—why bother?

That immortal sect had existed for more than a day or two. Without him, Ding Huan, it would still get by just fine. With him, it would just be a few more immortal spirit spring eyes, that's all.

If the sect masters of the major immortal sects knew Ding Huan saying "just a few more immortal spirit spring eyes," they would probably go mad with rage.

Immortal spirit spring eyes—one alone is the foundation of an immortal sect, a major scoring item for sect rankings. Can it be described as merely having a few more?

Outside the immortal city was a third-tier immortal array. Ding Huan felt it was acceptable.

Based on what he had seen while traveling in the Fourth Immortal Domain recently, the protective arrays of most immortal sects were second-tier and third-tier, with only very few being fourth-tier protective arrays.

This was normal. After all, in the immortal domain, the only danger that seemed to appear was a kind of immortal-stealing bug that popped up from who knows where.

The Fourth Immortal Domain seemed to have strict laws. Immortal sects rarely fought each other, and there were no top-tier immortal demon beasts. As long as they blocked the immortal-stealing bugs, that was enough.

As for setting up higher-level immortal arrays—setting aside whether one could even hire such a high-level array master.

The daily immortal crystal consumption of a high-level immortal array was already a not-small expense. So for the barren Fourth Immortal Domain, it was a matter of saving wherever possible.

Outside the immortal city, four huge characters of immortal rhyme floated: Inviting Moon Immortal City.

"Entering the immortal city requires paying immortal crystals. Inviting Moon Immortal City charges ten immortal crystals per day." Ding Huan was stopped by the city guard at the gate.

Ding Huan asked, "If I pay one hundred immortal crystals and don't stay for ten days, will I get a refund?"

Though he said so, Ding Huan felt in his heart that this was really expensive.

If he hadn't entered the Fourth Immortal Domain, he might have had no concept of immortal crystals. Now he was very clear that ten immortal crystals were truly not a small fortune for an ordinary cultivator.

The city guard looked like an externally hired cultivator at first glance. He smiled and said, "You should have been expelled by an immortal sect too, right? There's no refund here, but if you pay one hundred immortal crystals and don't stay for ten days, you can continue to come back later."

Once these words came out, Ding Huan knew this city guard had likewise been expelled by some immortal sect. However, his luck was not bad—he had found a job as a city guard, which could be considered barely getting by.

Ding Huan took out one hundred immortal crystals and handed them over: "I'll book ten days first."

Seeing Ding Huan take out a hundred immortal crystals at once, this city guard's eyes lit up. This was definitely a wealthy one.

If it weren't clearly stipulated in the city guard code that one was not allowed to inquire about the details of guests entering the city, he would really want to make friends with Ding Huan and ask where Ding Huan was making his fortune.

Why was it that after being expelled, he could only find a city guard job to do, while Ding Huan could casually take out one hundred immortal crystals to enter the city like a rich man?

This city guard quickly processed a jade token for Ding Huan. On the jade token were written the two characters "Inviting Moon." Besides these two characters, there was also an array pattern formation.

On this array pattern formation was written a number: ten.

Ding Huan understood. It seemed that every day spent here, this number would decrease by one. If one left Inviting Moon Immortal City, the number on the jade token would stop changing.

Putting away the jade token, Ding Huan decided to stay in Inviting Moon Immortal City for a period of time, then sort out some information about the Fourth Immortal Domain and make plans for his future.

Upon entering Inviting Moon Immortal City, Ding Huan felt that the ten low-grade immortal crystals per day he spent were not wasted.

In the Fourth Immortal Domain where immortal spiritual energy was so scarce, the immortal spiritual energy here was actually quite good.

If an ordinary cultivator cultivated here, they would definitely achieve very good results.

No need to think—there must definitely be an immortal spirit spring eye here.

Cultivating alone with ten immortal crystals would not only waste a lot, but also yield no obvious progress.

In Inviting Moon Immortal City it was different. The immortal spiritual energy here was systematic, present throughout the entire immortal city space. Cultivating for a day in such a place was far better than cultivating for a day in the wilderness with ten immortal crystals.

There were quite a lot of people in Inviting Moon Immortal City. Ding Huan swept his divine sense and saw some at the Immortal-Mortal Bridge realm, but relatively speaking there were fewer.

Rather, those at the True Immortal realm were the most, occupying more than half. Then there were a very few whose cultivation was higher than True Immortal—Ding Huan estimated they should be Jin Xian cultivators.

In the Fourth Immortal Domain, Jin Xian cultivators were considered a portion of those with high cultivation.

Ding Huan walked into a merchant tower and asked, "Excuse me, do you have jade slips introducing the immortal sects of the Fourth Immortal Domain? Also directional jade slips."

"Yes." The clerk immediately took out two jade slips and handed them to Ding Huan.

Ding Huan swept his divine sense over them and laughed: "The immortal sects introduced on your jade slips are all very well-developed ones. You should also introduce poorly developed immortal sects, even ones that have been destroyed."

Hearing Ding Huan's words, the clerk immediately laughed heartily: "I know—you want to go to these already-annihilated immortal sects to look for immortal spirit spring eyes, right?"

Ding Huan subconsciously rubbed his own head. Was he really that obvious? He seemed to have only asked one question.

Before the clerk could speak, a young cultivator beside him laughed and said:

"Generally, cultivators newly arrived in the Fourth Immortal Domain all want to go to these destroyed immortal sects to look for immortal spirit spring eyes, so this isn't any secret. Everyone knows."

So that's how it was. It seemed there were plenty of smart people.

"That's right. I'm too poor, so I also want to try my luck." Ding Huan simply stopped hiding it.

The clerk shook his head: "Fellow Daoist, what you thought of, the immortal sects thought of long ago. Generally when an immortal sect is annihilated, its territory is taken over by someone.

Some immortal sects are destroyed due to natural disasters or calamities, and the territory of such sects is immediately occupied by new immortal sects.

Some immortal sects can't hold on anymore and actively sell out before perishing. Either way, the territory of immortal sects is not available for ordinary loose cultivators to obtain."

Ding Huan felt quite helpless in his heart. He could only shake the jade slip in his hand and say, "How many immortal crystals?"

"One immortal crystal in total." The clerk was quite honest and didn't overcharge.

Ding Huan paid the immortal crystals, took the two jade slips, and felt a bit worried in his heart.

Could it be that he had to find another immortal sect to join?

Along the way he had indeed encountered some immortal sects, but these immortal sects all had their protective arrays tightly closed.

Ding Huan couldn't help recalling how, in his first life, he had seen a classmate wander outside factory park companies looking for work—yet it was useless.

Now, was he also going to wander outside the major immortal sects?

No, he didn't want to be bound by an immortal sect; once he sought to join one, he'd surely become a tool for them to hunt for Immortal Spirit Springs.

He wasn't a tool.

Walking to the corner, Ding Huan spotted a shop with a sign reading "For Sale."

What if he ran a small business? Wouldn't that let him survive here too?

Thinking this, Ding Huan stepped directly into the shop.

The shopkeeper was a short-haired man who, seeing Ding Huan enter, asked casually, "What do you want? This shop is temporarily closed."

"Is this shop for sale? How many Immortal Crystals?" Ding Huan asked.

The man sized Ding Huan up, then said, "Thirty-seven thousand Immortal Crystals."

"What if I rent it?" Ding Huan knew he couldn't afford that price.

The man replied coolly, "One hundred Immortal Crystals per month."

Ding Huan froze—so cheap? Did that mean he could stay in Yaoyue Xiancheng for a month by spending only one hundred Immortal Crystals a month?

No accommodation fee, and no daily ten-Immortal-Crystal charge either.

But before Ding Huan could finish his good fortune, the man added, "In Yaoyue Xiancheng, you pay the Immortal Crystals yourself every day."

Only then did Ding Huan understand—the real cost wasn't rent, but Yaoyue Xiancheng's monthly fee of three hundred Immortal Crystals.

The shopkeeper must have been driven to sell because business was poor, and he had to pay Yaoyue Xiancheng's monthly fee every month.

Ding Huan hesitated and said, "Could I rent it for three months first, just to try?"

"Fine, but you must pay upfront," the shopkeeper said without hesitation.

Ding Huan pulled out three hundred Immortal Crystals; the shopkeeper handed over the lease contract, and they completed the rental transaction quickly.

The shopkeeper left the shop as if dumping a hot potato.

Ding Huan read through the contract—it had no major issues, except he had to pay a shop management fee himself.

It was just like the sanitation fees back on Earth—only a few Immortal Crystals at most—he didn't think much of it.

After cleaning the shop, Ding Huan still pondered what business to start.

Arranging arrays was his strength, but he couldn't sell them.

Talismans were possible, but right now he could only make Level Nine Spirit Talismans, which seemed too low-grade here, and buyers probably wouldn't be many.

Before Ding Huan could decide on a business, the Yaoyue Xiancheng fee collector arrived.

When Ding Huan heard the monthly fee was one hundred Immortal Crystals, he looked at his small, shabby shop and sighed—no wonder the owner wanted to sell; this shop couldn't possibly turn a profit.

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