Chapter 89

Zheng Fa felt as if he had entered an unhappy arranged marriage.

He and this fat senior brother shared a sense of mutual silence.

"May I ask how to address you, senior brother?" Zheng Fa finally broke the silence.

"Han Qi." The fat senior brother adjusted his expression, exhaled, stood up, and said to Zheng Fa: "I'll take you to collect your mission token."

Zheng Fa followed him out.

Yesterday's journey had left him exhausted; he'd only caught a fleeting glimpse of Jiushan Sect and hadn't had time to observe closely, but today, after a full look around, he found it hard to understand:

He lived near the valley entrance, which was also the most bustling part of Jiushan Sect—since the dock, the flow of people had never ceased.

The western side of the valley entrance seemed to be the residential area, where Zheng Fa lived—in a single-court courtyard, considered high-end housing for this location.

Half the buildings in this residential area were single-story houses with front doors directly visible from the back doors.

The distance between houses was tiny, and architectural styles varied wildly, making the entire residential area feel cramped and chaotic.

The eastern side of the valley entrance was probably the marketplace, with six rows of nearly identical small houses arranged neatly.

Shouts of vendors, chatter, and arguments over prices echoed from within the marketplace.

Zheng Fa looked at it and felt a strange sense of familiarity—familiarity meaning this place didn't feel like a cultivator sect at all, but instead overflowed with worldly dust.

What puzzled him was why all these buildings were crammed into the valley entrance—when he looked inward from the entrance, the density of buildings inside the valley dropped sharply, even appearing sparsely populated.

As if sensing his confusion, Han Qi chuckled: "Brother, you probably don't know—us outer sect disciples and our mortal attendants can only live here at the valley entrance, and most of us even have to build our own houses."

Zheng Fa understood—oh, a village within the city.

"Only inner sect disciples who've reached Foundation Establishment may live inside the valley. Look…" He pointed to dozens of small courtyards closest to the valley entrance: "Those are the inner sect disciples' residences."

…High-end housing complex.

"As for True Disciples or elders at the Golden Core Stage, like Sister Zhang, they live at the mountain's foot."

…Villa district.

"Only Nascent Soul True Persons may live on the mountain itself."

…Mountain-top garden.

"But what's the point of this division?" Zheng Fa still couldn't grasp it—beyond face, he saw little real difference.

"Spirit veins." Han Qi's tone turned cold: "Our Jiushan Sect's grand formation grows denser with spirit energy the deeper you go. We lower-tier disciples don't even have the right to draw an extra breath of spirit energy."

"..." Zheng Fa finally understood why Sister Zhang said lower-tier disciples were full of resentment.

…

As if realizing his earlier words had revealed too much discontent, Han Qi said no more, merely leading Zheng Fa deeper into the valley: "Today, first we go to the General Affairs Hall to get your mission token, then to the Scripture Library to choose your cultivation technique."

"Understood."

Zheng Fa felt genuine gratitude—mainly toward Sister Zhang—having a senior brother guide him was genuinely convenient.

As they passed the valley entrance, Zheng Fa noticed something different.

Behind the valley entrance stood about a dozen small buildings, some with signs hanging above them—clearly shops.

Compared to the small houses in the marketplace, these buildings were vastly superior in both scale and location.

"Senior brother? What are these…?"

"That's Wanshu Pavilion, owned by our Jiushan Sect, specializing in spirit talismans. That's Jiuzhuan Pavilion, run by Qingmu Sect, specializing in pills. That's Baibao Tower, owned by Zhongyue Sect, specializing in magical artifacts…"

Under Han Qi's explanation, Zheng Fa began to understand—the marketplace was full of independent vendors, but these dozen buildings were all well-known chain stores of the Baixian Alliance, each representing a sect, their goods high-end and refined.

What puzzled Zheng Fa was that this place was strangely quiet.

"Senior Han, if the goods here are so good, why is there so little business?"

Han Qi glanced at him and smiled: "You know about the decline of spirit energy, right?"

"Yes."

"Over the past ten thousand years, spirit ink has risen in price, spirit grain has risen, magical artifacts have risen, spirit talismans have risen… anything infused with spirit energy has become more expensive."

"People can't afford it?" Zheng Fa understood.

"But one thing has gotten cheaper…"

Han Qi pointed with a strange expression to a shop in the far corner of the square—the only one among the dozen with the best business, constantly seeing people coming and going.

"People."

"Huh?"

"That's Xunfang Pavilion, run by Sunu Sect… hmm, lately I've heard the Xiao Xianzi inside have improved greatly in appearance and variety."

"..."

"Not to mention, ten thousand years ago, welcoming new disciples came with spirit stones—now the General Affairs Hall only pays in gold."

Hearing this, Zheng Fa gained further insight into the current state of the immortal sects—prices up, wages down; in two words: screwed.

…

The General Affairs Hall stood at the foot of the mountain near the valley entrance.

It was a main hall flanked by two side halls.

"Master Fang, who handles mission tokens, has a haughty disposition and some connections—he rarely bothers with people—Brother, don't be rash, just follow my lead."

Zheng Fa knew this was well-intentioned and nodded slightly.

Han Qi led Zheng Fa into the right side hall, where a middle-aged man with three long strands of beard sat on a mat, legs crossed, eyes closed, meditating—openly slacking off.

Han Qi, however, adopted a very humble posture—he didn't call out to the man, but instead pulled Zheng Fa aside and stood silently in the hall waiting.

Nearly half an hour passed before the middle-aged man slowly opened his eyes, saw the two of them, seemed unsurprised, and spoke coldly: "New disciple?"

"Yes, please, Master Fang, register this junior brother's mission token."

"What's his name?" The middle-aged man glanced at Zheng Fa, indifferent.

"Zheng Fa."

"... Zheng Fa?" The middle-aged man froze, his legs springing up from the cushion as he leaped directly to the ground: "The Zheng Fa that Zhang Shijie brought back?"

"... Yes."

"Ai, haven't I been neglectful then!" The middle-aged man patted Zheng Fa's shoulder, looking very enthusiastic; "Zhang Shijie already briefed me; I've been waiting for you... Why didn't you call me sooner?"

Zheng Fa slowly turned his head, looking at Han Qi beside him.

That middle-aged man also followed his gaze to look at Han Qi.

Han Qi opened his mouth, finally squeezing a sentence out from his throat: "... My fault!"

"Junior Nephew Zheng, Zhang Shijie has briefed me clearly; as a newly entered outer sect disciple, your monthly allowance for the first ten years is one spirit stone—this cannot be changed."

"Ten years?"

"After ten years, if you cannot establish your Foundation and become an inner sect disciple, then you won't have any spirit stones at all..." The middle-aged man paused, then said: "Given how highly Zhang Shijie thinks of you, it surely won't come to that."

Han Qi's complexion darkened slightly at the side.

"However, Zhang Shijie said that your talent in talisman arts is the finest in ten thousand years, so she instructed me to additionally allocate one hundred talisman papers and two portions of spirit ink to you each month—this also has a time limit; after half a year, there will be no more."

Me, the finest in ten thousand years!

Here to collect a scholarship!

Just this?

Zheng Fa glanced at Han Qi beside him; three words were written all over that man's face: So much money!