Chapter 781

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Main Character:

Shen Yao

The Lu Mansion is located at the center of Lian Tang City, surrounded by similar buildings.

Streets of antique charm, buildings of antique charm, men and women dressed in long robes and long skirts, and the occasional contracted beast appearing.

Lian Tang City is so named because there are many, many Moon Lotuses and Tang Trees inside the city, and outside the city there is also a high mountain named after Lian Tang; inside the mountain are many exceptional exotic beasts, the primary contracting source for cultivators in the surrounding area.

Shen Yao saw a plant with white lotus buds blooming on its head walk over; this is the Moon Lotus Tree most easily encountered and most easily contracted in Lian Tang City.

Its main use is medicinal for treating illness; Moon Lotus flowers on the Moon Lotus Tree can be picked once they bloom, and a single Moon Lotus flower is worth a thousand gold — medicine shops purchase them year-round.

This price mainly targets Moon Lotus Trees that have already been contracted; the value of ordinary Moon Lotus Trees must be cut down considerably, and the same goes for Tang Trees.

Shen Yao watched the outside while listening to the system's chattering popular-science explanation.

Lian Tang City can be called a paradise for plants; most contracted cultivators have little combat power, yet few people seek trouble with them — this is also a tacit unwritten rule on the Jiuzhou Continent; such support-type cultivators can be classified into the Neutral Camp.

The carriage beneath her slowly came to a stop, and the tall, fine horse at the very front neighed once.

The driver got down and saluted Shen Yao respectfully, "Miss Shen, Cui Ying Lou has arrived."

As his words fell, a pair of beautiful porcelain-white jade hands lifted the carriage's front curtain, and Shen Yao's pretty face emerged as she stepped down from the carriage.

The binding cord tied at the back of her head followed Shen Yao's movements, falling toward her chest, fluttering in the wind.

Cui Ying Lou

This is a shop that sells all kinds of jewelry.

Shen Yao carried nothing in her arms, but the servant following behind her held a box.

The two entered, as if stepping into a clamorous world; Shen Yao saw jewelry covering the entire counter — not a single item that wasn't exquisite and beautiful.

A sharp-eyed shop assistant came forward to greet them, introducing Cui Ying Lou's wares with a beaming smile.

Shen Yao listened with relish; whenever she saw something suitable, she waved her hand grandly — buy, buy, buy.

The servant behind her didn't waste words, directly opening the box in her hands, taking out several banknotes of enormous denominations, and handing them to the shop assistant.

"Send the goods directly to the Lu Mansion."

The shop assistant's eyes shone even brighter — so this is a noble guest of the Lu Mansion.

In all of Lian Tang City, who doesn't know, who hasn't heard — Young Master Lu of the Lu Mansion comes from the Floating City aristocracy; at a young age he contracted three exotic beasts — wow, this is a potential stock!

What a pity the other aristocratic families of Lian Tang City lost their chance; this young lady clearly has a connection with Young Master Lu — tsk tsk tsk, looks like "heroes cannot pass the beauty gate" is true; no matter how wholeheartedly Young Master Lu cultivates, he still can't escape it.

The shop assistant's thoughts were extraordinarily numerous; fortunately he still had professional ethics, and continued to dutifully introduce Cui Ying Lou to Shen Yao — not just the ordinary items on the first floor, but also the special materials on the second and third floors, even including the town-building treasures on the fourth and fifth floors.

Shen Yao: ……

Yo, there are actually town-building treasures here? Then she really must open her eyes.

She raised her hand, signaling the shop assistant to lead the way ahead; Shen Yao walked up along the stairs.

At each floor, Shen Yao would spend money buying, buying, buying; the box in the servant's hands never once closed, banknotes flowing like water into Cui Ying Lou's pockets.

Finally, Shen Yao reached the fifth floor; compared to the clamor downstairs, it was quieter here.

The shop assistant's face showed nothing but a smile — no other emotion could be seen — simply because this Miss Shen was too extravagant; compared to the other young masters and young ladies of Lian Tang City, it was still this Miss Shen who could create more value.

Just the money she had spent a moment ago was enough to offset Cui Ying Lou's income for a whole month — one can see how well Young Master Lu treats this Miss Shen.

"Miss Shen, this is Cui Ying Lou's town-building treasure, crafted by a cultivator senior; it can protect the body, it can save a life — it can be called the best protective tool in Lian Tang City."

The shop assistant spoke with a face full of pride; he had seen the pearl bracelet display its divine might — golden light flashing yet not dazzling.

It's just that the shopkeeper priced the pearl bracelet too high — not only did it require banknotes to purchase, it also required even more precious Spirit Jade to pair with it; those in Lian Tang City who could afford it didn't lack this pearl bracelet, and those who wanted the pearl bracelet couldn't produce Spirit Jade — in the end it could only become Cui Ying Lou's boxed-bottom treasure.

Now Shen Yao's heroic spirit let the shop assistant see the possibility of selling the pearl bracelet; thinking of the commission he could earn, the shop assistant used all his strength to push the sale, just to make a sum.

Shen Yao lowered her eyes, examining the pearl bracelet the shop assistant presented before her.

It was a beautiful pearl bracelet pinched with gold and silver threads, hollowed out in the middle, but inlaid with gems.

Shen Yao picked it up, casually examined it a few times, and indeed saw the difference inside the pearl bracelet — protective spells were engraved within; although its utility couldn't compare to the genuine articles, for an ordinary person without any weapons, this pearl bracelet could indeed save a life (provided the danger encountered wasn't too great).

She glanced again at the servant not far away; the other party seemed to know something, directly handing the box in her hands to the shop assistant.

"Inside are banknotes and Spirit Jade, and also similar jewelry — send them all over together."

Shop Assistant: ……?! ！！！

Truly heroic spirit!

The shop assistant gave a start, then immediately hugged the box and ran downstairs.

In just a moment, when Shen Yao had put the pearl bracelet on her wrist and was gently shaking it to admire it, the shopkeeper of Cui Ying Lou walked up, panting.

The shopkeeper was round and chubby; when he smiled he looked even more like a Maitreya Buddha.

"Miss Shen, the effects of these jewelry pieces are all not much different from the pearl bracelet in Cui Ying Lou."

The implication: Shen Yao could continue picking; if dissatisfied he could also transfer goods from other shops, or even request the cultivator senior with whom they had cooperated to personally refine them, better suiting Shen Yao's requirements.

Shen Yao gave an "mm" of acknowledgment and nodded, then glanced at the video placed on the tray.

There was a hairpin of green jade water splendor, a pair of beautiful tassel earrings, and a box of brightly colored flower ornaments — all kinds of jewelry entered Shen Yao's eyes, like beauties waiting for her to choose.

Shen Yao felt she had just arrived penniless, at a time when she needed to procure everything.

Seeing something good, she directly nodded to take it; anyway, the box the servant brought contained a lot of money — even if she wanted to buy Cui Ying Lou outright, she could.

"This one, this one, and this one too……" A few light, floating sentences decided what she wanted to buy; Shen Yao narrowed her eyes lazily, and by the time she walked out of Cui Ying Lou, her great name had already spread throughout this lively street.

Jewelry bought, next came the clothes on her body; Shen Yao behaved even more without restraint — whether ready-made garments or fabrics, she packed them all up; by the time night fell and she returned to the Lu Mansion, the small courtyard where she would reside was already piled full with delivered goods.

Lu Yan had already finished cultivation; at this moment he was standing at the entrance of the small courtyard.

He hadn't expected Shen Yao to stir up such a commotion just by going out; Lu Yan had a bit of a headache — after all, he himself didn't care much for external possessions, but his awakened companion entity wasn't like that; moreover, today at his first meeting with Shen Yao, the other party had left a sufficiently deep impression on him.

Just thinking that they would have to live like this together for the time being made Lu Yan feel on the verge of collapse; even though he was strong-willed and had always been tempered while in the Lu Family.

"Lu Yan."

Shen Yao smiled and moved closer to Lu Yan, then spread both hands to show him the pearl bracelet on her wrist.

"It looks very nice and suits you well."

Lu Yan saw at a glance that the pearl bracelet was extraordinary; he could make something similar, but he was better at storing techniques directly through spirit talismans or various spirit tablets, because only then could the maximum power of the techniques be unleashed.

Shen Yao looked up at Lu Yan, thinking that this person just spoke, yet often zoned off to think about this and that.

She shook her fair wrist, lowered her sleeve to cover the pearl bracelet, and turned her back to Lu Yan to say she was tired after being out for a day. "If there's nothing else, I need to rest."

She was a companion creature, one that did not need cultivation and had no lifespan limit, fundamentally different from Lu Yan.

Lu Yan grunted in agreement. "Rest well. If there's anything, tell a servant to do it."

"I know," Shen Yao said; she was already adept at ordering people around.

She flicked her sleeve to see Lu Yan off, then raised a hand to pat her cheek and called out loudly to the servants around her to tidy these things up and send them to Ku Fang.

…………

Although the Lu Mansion had gained another owner, the servants' lives did not change much.

After all, Shen Yao was only one person; no matter how much she tossed about, she could not make the whole mansion revolve around her.

Lu Yan continued to busy himself with cultivation as usual. Since Shen Yao had appeared a month ago, she had hardly seen Lu Yan a few times; were it not for the instinct of a companion creature allowing her to notice Lu Yan's condition, she would almost have thought there was no such person in the mansion.

"Miss Shen."

A servant ran in from outside the small courtyard. Shen Yao was then wearing a light blue ruqun, her hair loosely pinned up, with a hair ribbon fluttering in the wind and a hairpin made entirely of green jade.

A golden floral ornament adorned her forehead, and the pearl bracelet on her hand flashed with golden light in the sunlight.

"What's wrong?"

Shen Yao asked lazily, not forgetting to shake the round fan in her hand; the fan surface depicted a beautiful painting of beauties and butterflies.

The servant came to stand before Shen Yao, smiling, and said that new jewelry that Miss Shen liked had been specially delivered by the shopkeeper of Cui Ying Lou.

Shen Yao made an "oh" sound, and her body, which had been bent over, suddenly stood up. "Let them in."

"Yes."

The servant turned and waved at the doorway, then saw the shop assistants of Cui Ying Lou carrying trays, entering one after another.

The originally clean tabletop was filled with trays. Opening the wooden boxes on the trays, Shen Yao saw exquisite jewelry placed inside red silk.

As expected of Cui Ying Lou.

She raised her hand to take out a tassel hairpin inlaid with rubies of various sizes, stuck it in her hair, and swayed it left and right.

The gems on the tassel sparkled, making Shen Yao's whole face look resplendent.

Not bad. "Keep them all."

She lifted her chin to signal the shop assistant to follow the servant to settle the bill, then Shen Yao lightly waved her wrist and continued leaning against the paved stone bench to admire the scenery.

Hearing this, the shop assistant was first delighted, then took out an invitation printed with a beautiful moon lotus pattern from his bosom and handed it to Shen Yao.

"Miss Shen, this is the auction post of Lian Tang Lou. The shopkeeper instructed this petty person to deliver it to you."

As for whether Shen Yao would go or not, the shop assistant did not care; he was only responsible for completing the mission.

Shen Yao took the invitation, flipped through it casually, then stood up and went to the training room in the front courtyard to find Lu Yan.

"The auction post of Lian Tang Lou. Are you going?" Lu Yan wore a set of white cultivation attire, his hair simply tied into a ponytail hanging behind his head, his cheeks flushed, with a few not very obvious sweat drops still on them.

Shen Yao grunted in agreement. "I've been here a month and haven't left Lian Tang City. Since Lian Tang Lou is holding an auction, let's take a look."

Moreover, to be called Lian Tang Lou, it must have something to do with Lian Tang City; perhaps the force behind the auction is the very existence that built Lian Tang City.

"Lian Tang Lou has items from several other states. If you need anything, you can purchase them with spirit jade."

Lu Yan was not short of money; no matter how much Shen Yao could spend, he could afford it.

Spirit jade is what cultivators commonly call spirit stones, but in this world there is no longer any possibility of immortality, spiritual energy is all called energy, so spirit jade is a kind of jade filled with energy, used as currency for deeper transactions. Besides spirit jade, other items can also serve as transaction chips, though they are not as widespread as spirit jade.

Lu Yan owned several small spirit jade mines, and their daily output was supplied to him; otherwise, no matter how strong one person was, they could not support three outstanding contract beasts, and the Lu Family would never give Lu Yan such great assistance.

Great clans would be even more ruthless; they would not do anything without benefit.

Shen Yao took two steps forward, grabbed Lu Yan's sleeve in his downward gaze and shook it. "Let's go together."

It was truly boring for her to be alone. Moreover, Shen Yao felt she and Lu Yan needed to understand each other; the relationship of companion creatures made them automatically become close to each other. To live smoothly in the future, Shen Yao did not mind showing more of her abilities.

Lu Yan: ……

Lu Yan ultimately agreed to let Shen Yao go out, even though this was not where he wanted to go.

Three days later, a carriage appeared at the doorway of the Lu Mansion.

Shen Yao wore a light green long dress, covered from head to toe with jewelry from Cui Ying Lou. Lu Yan was still in his usual pale white long shirt, holding a folding fan in his hand, looking like a suave young nobleman out for pleasure.

Only that the young nobleman's complexion was somewhat cold, unlike Shen Yao, who looked happy with a smiling face.

The two got on the carriage one after the other, and had the servant drive. Not even half an hour later, a signboard bearing traces of moon lotus and tang tree appeared.

Lian Tang Lou

The entrance to the seven-story tall building was crowded with people everywhere.

Shen Yao held Lu Yan's wrist and jumped down from the carriage. The two held their invitations and smoothly arrived at the private room on the sixth floor.

"Whose exclusive place is the seventh floor?"

"The hidden force behind Lian Tang Lou, and also the founder of Lian Tang City."

Lu Yan lightly spat out a strange name. Shen Yao pondered for a moment, then grunted—she had no impression of it.

"This person likes to hide behind the scenes and manipulate the game. I only found out after I came," Lu Yan said. He had once fought a battle with the other party; because Lu Yan had the Lu Family behind him, the other party chose to retreat a step.