Chapter 173

After the time it takes to burn an incense stick.

Lou Shiyan and Xia Daoming walked out of the Hundred-Hunt Pavilion one after the other.

The latter was calm, looking at the back in front of him with a trace of appreciation and satisfaction in his eyes.

Lou Shiyan's performance just now was quite commendable.

After some bargaining, they bought nine Golden-Feather Eagle eggs in one go for 1,500 spirit stones, which was 300 spirit stones lower than the original price.

They also bought various types of demonic beast meat that could enhance a Grandmaster's blood energy and strength for 500 spirit stones, 80 spirit stones lower than the original price.

They also bought a spirit beast bag for 300 spirit stones, 30 spirit stones lower than the original price.

A spirit beast bag is a type of spatial magic treasure distinct from a storage bag, which can hold some living creatures, but generally can only hold some very small organisms.

The Golden-Feather Eagle eggs bought this time were living things and could not be put into a storage bag.

Seeing that the Hundred-Hunt Pavilion had spirit beast bags for sale, Xia Daoming, being wealthy and imposing, signaled Lou Shiyan to buy one.

Therefore, at the Hundred-Hunt Pavilion, Xia Daoming spent a total of 2,300 spirit stones, not only buying nine Golden-Feather Eagle eggs but also a spirit beast bag and various demonic beast meats that could enhance a Grandmaster's blood energy and strength.

This harvest and expenditure were much better than Xia Daoming had expected.

Therefore, Xia Daoming was very satisfied and in a very good mood.

However, compared to Xia Daoming's satisfaction and good mood, Lou Shiyan felt as if he were walking on cotton, soft and unsteady, one step high and one step low.

His palms were also full of sweat.

In his life, he had never thought that one day he would be negotiating a big deal of thousands of spirit stones with someone.

And he had never thought that within the short time of an incense stick, he would spend 2,300 spirit stones in one go!

2,300 spirit stones!

How many generations would the Lou family have to live frugally to accumulate such a large sum of spirit stones!

"Uncle, to think that just a ninth-layer Qi Refinement cultivator would have so many spirit stones; do you think we should..." In the Hundred-Hunt Pavilion, a young man stared at Lou Shiyan's departing back, his eyes revealing a trace of greed and murderous intent.

"Don't always think about crooked paths; we are running a legitimate business here!" The shopkeeper with a goat-like beard narrowed his eyes, but his gaze fell on Xia Daoming's back, revealing a trace of wariness and contemplation.

In the shopkeeper's left hand, a small green snake the size of an earthworm was curled up.

As he spoke, his right hand gently stroked the small green snake, and only then did the small green snake slowly stretch out its body.

Huh!

The young man's face showed a trace of astonishment.

But soon, he seemed to think of something, and his gaze followed the shopkeeper's gaze to Xia Daoming's back.

"Uncle, could it be that the kid has some background? That shouldn't be; he's only at the third layer of Qi Refinement, at most also practicing martial arts, making his physical body a bit stronger." The young man's face showed a look of confusion.

"The Life-Startling Snake's sense of crisis is much sharper than ours. From the moment that young man entered the door, it has been curled up, not daring to move at all. Do you think that person is powerful or not?" the shopkeeper said.

"Hiss!" The young man sucked in a cold breath upon hearing this and said, "The Life-Startling Snake's reaction is actually so intense; doesn't that mean that person should be at least a Foundation Establishment-level powerhouse? How is this possible?"

"There is no such thing as possible or impossible; the waters of the cultivation world are very deep! If I hadn't accidentally obtained this Life-Startling Snake, I don't know how many times I would have lost my life already!"

"So, when there's really no other way, one can take a risky path, but now that we have a stable income, let's just honestly run the shop and don't harbor any crooked thoughts; who knows when you might just lose your life directly." the shopkeeper said.

Xia Daoming naturally didn't know that because of an inconspicuous little snake, he had missed an opportunity to make a windfall.

At this moment, he and Lou Shiyan were preparing to stroll around to see if they could find any more good things.

Anyway, he had just made a big windfall not long ago, with 7,000 spirit stones alone, and Xia Daoming hadn't even had time to carefully count and value other things like spirit elixirs, spirit herbs, secret manuals, and magic treasures.

Therefore, the expenditure of over 2,000 spirit stones at the Hundred-Hunt Pavilion felt to Xia Daoming as if he had picked it up for free.

Now, he was prepared to continue picking up some more for free.

"Old Lou, your bargaining skills are quite good. Later, for the things I take a fancy to, you continue to help me bargain. Also, if you see anything you like, you can buy it too; as long as it doesn't exceed 50 spirit stones, it's on me." Xia Daoming transmitted his voice to Lou Shiyan while walking.

Lou Shiyan's performance was good, and Xia Daoming was in a good mood, so he didn't mind giving a little tip.

"Fifty!" When Lou Shiyan heard this, his little heart trembled, and he felt as if he were about to faint from happiness.

"Okay, Xia Ye, rest assured, I will definitely bargain as much as I can!" Soon, Lou Shiyan replied via voice transmission.

While replying, Lou Shiyan had already made up his mind.

After returning, if Xia Daoming refused to accept the Lou family, he would move the whole clan to Li Cheng!

Soon, the sun set behind the mountains.

Under the vast twilight, a cloud of mist drifted rapidly away from Baicui Valley.

Xia Daoming stood at the bow of the boat facing the wind, looking toward the direction of Mangzhou, feeling somewhat eager to go home.

It was truly because the harvest this time was huge, and he had bought many good things in the marketplace that he wanted to take home to share.

Sharing joy with others is better than enjoying it alone!

Of course, Xia Daoming was also quite looking forward to hatching and taming the Golden-Feather Eagles.

This time, he had also specifically purchased many of the medicinal herbs for the Beast Spirit Pill formulas recorded in the ancient scrolls.

It was just a pity that among the five pill formulas recorded in the ancient scrolls suitable for raising Golden-Feather Eagles, Xia Daoming only managed to purchase the medicinal herbs for four types of Beast Spirit Pills: the Blood Origin Pill, the Clear Spirit Pill, the Feather-Refining Pill, and the Three-Origin Profound Gold Pill. As for the main ingredient for the last Beast Spirit Pill, the Golden-Feather Transforming-Peng Pill—the Golden-Feather Zhu Guo—he couldn't find it no matter how he searched, and even the shopkeepers didn't know of such a Zhu Guo.

And the Golden-Feather Transforming-Peng Pill is the key Beast Spirit Pill to stimulate the ancient bloodline of the Golden-Winged Great Peng within the Golden-Feather Eagle, thereby enabling it to break through the second rank and become a third-rank or even higher-level spirit bird.

While Xia Daoming was looking toward the direction of Mangzhou, eager to go home, Lou Shiyan kept looking back, his eyes revealing a trace of anticipation.

"What's wrong?" Seeing Lou Shiyan looking back frequently, Xia Daoming couldn't help but ask curiously.

"Nothing, nothing." Lou Shiyan hurriedly turned his head and replied sheepishly, feeling inexplicably disappointed in his heart.

——

Three years later.

A flying boat was flying in the air.

Above the flying boat, two large eagles covered in golden feathers, with golden claws like hooks and wingspans of two or three zhang, were circling and flying.

As the flying boat was flying, a black shadow appeared on the horizon in the distance.

As the flying boat flew closer, that black shadow became clearer and clearer; it was a continuous stretch of mountains.

The mountains became more and more majestic and spectacular; looking from afar, clouds and mist circled the mountainsides like silk ribbons, and many peaks seemed to pierce the firmament, connecting heaven and earth.

Below the mountains, on a vast plain, a giant city rose from the ground.

Under the sunlight, the entire giant city was actually shrouded in faint mist, shimmering with rays of rosy light, and set against the majestic mountains behind it, it looked like a legendary immortal city, making one involuntarily feel awe and yearning.

"Xia Ye, two Madams, that is the Qingyuan Xianshan, and the giant city at the foot of the mountain is directly administered by the Qingyuan Sect and is not under the jurisdiction of the imperial court—Changqing City." On the flying boat, Lou Shiyan pointed to the distant mountains and the giant city, saying respectfully.

Three years ago, Lou Shiyan was only at the ordinary ninth-layer Qi Refinement cultivation base; now, the true qi and magic power in his body were very vigorous and refined, almost reaching the realm of Qi Refinement perfection.

Three years ago, Xia Daoming returned to Mangzhou from Baicui Valley and eventually incorporated the Biluo Valley.

Since then, by vigorously supporting the Lou family of Biluo Valley, he subsequently gathered the scattered cultivation families of Mangzhou together.

The situation of the Mangzhou cultivation families was relatively embarrassing and contradictory.

Staying in Mangzhou meant only guarding that bit of ancestral property, just barely making a "living," and wanting to have a breakthrough was basically impossible.

But going to other provinces to develop meant lacking strength, being in an unfamiliar place, and having no background or connections; even if they went out, they could only work at the bottom of the cultivation world, and the spirit stones earned and the spiritual energy sponged off for free would be better than staying in Mangzhou, but they would also live very tired lives without dignity.

Most importantly, that little bit of extra spirit stones and spiritual energy sponged off for free could almost never allow them to have a major breakthrough in their cultivation base, thereby achieving a magnificent turnaround.

Otherwise, no matter how bitter or undignified it was, even if they had to risk some life-threatening dangers, they would be willing.

Xia Daoming vigorously supported the Lou family of Biluo Valley.

The Lou family of Biluo Valley showed signs of prosperity in a short time, which immediately made those cultivation families in embarrassing and contradictory situations envious.

As a result, the Tenglong Mansion soon added some more affiliated peripheral forces.

Don't look at how these cultivation families, upon leaving Mangzhou, could only mix at the bottom of the cultivation world in other provinces, and even had to be restrained when developing in the secular world.

Because there was no lack of low-tier cultivators in the secular world of those provinces, and some large families and major forces often had connections with cultivation forces behind them.

But in Mangzhou, these cultivation families were truly noble families with long-standing traditions and intricate power networks—super local tyrants.

By gathering these families, the Tenglong Mansion immediately extended its tentacles to every corner of Mangzhou.

Xia Daoming was wealthy and imposing; after gathering these families, he was not stingy with spirit stones and spirit elixirs, scattering quite a few, which not only made those cultivation families who were afraid of poverty more loyal but also cultivated some usable people in a short time, making up for the dilemma of the Tenglong Mansion having few usable people in the starting stage.

Three years ago, Xia Daoming laid out his plans in Mangzhou through these cultivation families, launching a "human sea tactic" to search for cultivation resources in Mangzhou.

Perhaps because Mangzhou's cultivation resources were indeed extremely barren, after three full years, a large amount of manpower and material resources were spent, and only five or six mu of inferior spirit fields that could barely grow spirit rice were found near the direction of Lingzhou.

Such spirit fields, five or six mu, were only enough for one third or fourth-layer Qi Refinement cultivator to be self-sufficient.

Such a harvest and expenditure were naturally completely disproportionate.

This made those cultivation families who had submitted to the Tenglong Mansion, and who not only didn't have to pay tribute every year but instead received many cultivation resources for free, feel very anxious, uneasy, and guilty.

They were afraid that Xia Daoming would see them only taking spirit stones and spirit elixirs without producing anything, consider them a burden, and kick them out the door directly.

Then they would have to go back to living a life of poverty again.

It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality!

If that really happened, they would certainly be very sad.

However, Xia Daoming, who was the "sucker," had a very good mentality.

He knew very well that if it were so easy to find cultivation resources, various forces would have come to Mangzhou to enclose land long ago, and it wouldn't be his turn, Xia Daoming.

It must be that in the past years, wave after wave of forces had come, but all ended up with nothing, and then gradually all parties gave up.

That was why Mangzhou had gradually become a poor place that no one in the cultivation world cared about.

Therefore, Xia Daoming had long been mentally prepared for the long term.

If there were any unexpected discoveries, that would naturally be best.

If not, it didn't matter.

Anyway, Mangzhou was his place of origin and his base of operations, and it just so happened that he was wealthy and imposing, and he had a wife at home who could refine elixirs to make money, so scattering some resources was at most like helping out poor relatives.

As long as these "poor relatives" could rise up in the future, for him, it was actually a big harvest.

According to the world he originally lived in, talent is the most important thing.

Therefore, Xia Daoming not only didn't blame the Lou family and other families for having no harvest and wasting his spirit elixirs and spirit stones, but instead comforted them with kind words and even increased some investment.

Of course, Xia Daoming didn't just invest and act out of kindness.

He also had an extremely strict side, which was not allowing cultivation families to bully the weak and treat human life like grass.

This was a rule he had set from the beginning.

Once, there was a cultivation family that, supported by the Tenglong Mansion, produced a cultivation genius who broke through from the fifth layer of Qi Refinement to the seventh layer of Qi Refinement in a short time, standing out among many cultivation families and being highly valued by Xia Daoming, who considered him a candidate for Foundation Establishment.

But he ignored the lives of ordinary people, just because one person had a small conflict with someone from his family, and the fault was actually on their family's side, yet he directly took action to wipe out that person's entire family.

When this matter reached Xia Daoming's ears, he immediately summoned all the cultivation families and, in front of them, killed the cultivators of this cultivation family, and from then on, this family was reduced to a secular family.

This move shocked all the cultivation families in Mangzhou.

It made them realize that Xia Daoming had a very tolerant, benevolent, and generous side, but once his taboos were violated, he also had an extremely iron-blooded and cold side, and no matter how talented one was in cultivation, it was useless.

However, precisely because of this, the Lou family and other cultivation families became even more loyal and reverent toward him.

Half a year ago.

Xia Daoming began to prepare for joining the Qingyuan Sect.

He sent some people to Changqing City and opened two shops.

One was named Mingdan Pavilion, and the other was named Qiaoqi Pavilion.

The former sold low-tier elixirs refined by Ji Wenyue, and the latter sold low-tier talismans and array tools made by Liu Qiaolian.

And opening shops, besides earning spirit stones, had a major purpose of helping Xia Daoming inquire about news of the Qingyuan Sect and figuring out the situation one step in advance.

Three years ago, Lou Shiyan showed an extraordinary talent for business at the Hundred-Hunt Pavilion, and he also had the strength.

Xia Daoming had him and Jiao Yongbao be responsible for the shops and intelligence in Changqing City.

"Just looking at this grandeur, it is worthy of being one of the three great immortal sects of the Great Liang Kingdom!" Xia Daoming looked at the majestic and endless mountains and the huge city in the distance, and couldn't help but be greatly moved.

The flying boat flew closer and closer.

The mountains and the giant city kept enlarging in his field of vision, appearing even more magnificent and grand.

At this time, the air was clearly becoming busy.

From time to time, people were driving magic treasures, flying boats, or spirit birds, flying through the air from all directions.

In other places, cultivators flying in the air were very rare.

But here, it seemed to have become very common.

Not only that, but Foundation Establishment cultivators, who were extremely hard to see in other places, could also be seen occasionally here.

However, Foundation Establishment cultivators obviously still had a relatively high status in Changqing City.

Occasionally, when a Foundation Establishment cultivator flew through the air, other cultivators would generally avoid them from afar.

Xia Daoming was naturally the same.

"What a grand gesture; this is using a third-rank grand array to shroud the entire city!"

When flying within seven or eight li of Changqing City, Liu Qiaolian couldn't help but exclaim.

Liu Qiaolian was the same age as Xia Daoming, thirty-one years old.

But after cultivating all these years and eating spirit rice and spirit elixirs, not only did she not look old, but on the contrary, she had grown even more charming, with fair and smooth skin, and a figure that was becoming more voluptuous without losing its grace.

"A third-rank grand array, and it actually shrouds the entire city; how many spirit stones must this consume every day!" Ji Wenyue couldn't help but exclaim upon hearing this.

Ji Wenyue was twenty-four years old this year, and her figure had grown even taller and more graceful, with perky breasts.

"If the grand array is truly fully activated, the spirit stones consumed every moment are probably massive. However, for normal operation, it should mainly rely on the underground spirit veins, so it shouldn't consume many spirit stones."

"But the Qingyuan Sect is truly worthy of being one of the three great cultivation sects of the Great Liang Kingdom; the peripheral city built by the sect is built on multiple spirit veins, one of which is at least of the third rank!" Liu Qiaolian couldn't help but exclaim again at the end.

"Madam truly has a good eye, seeing the level of the city-protecting grand array and the spirit veins under Changqing City at a glance. I stayed in Changqing City for many days before I managed to inquire about this information." Lou Shiyan said with an admiring face upon hearing this.

"Clan Leader Lou is too kind." Liu Qiaolian smiled and said modestly.

While talking, they saw from afar that some people were driving magic treasures or spirit birds directly over the city wall, flying toward the city, while most people were slowly landing in front of the city gate, which was over ten zhang high, paying spirit stones, and processing identity tokens before they could enter.

"It is said that the founding ancestor of the Qingyuan Sect established the sect on the Qingyuan Xianshan and marked out a piece of land at the foot of the mountain as a place for the relatives of the sect members who could not cultivate to live."

"Firstly, it is convenient to take care of them; secondly, if there are descendants with spiritual roots in the future, it is also convenient to bring them into the sect to cultivate. Later, successive generations of Qingyuan Sect disciples who were worried about their own relatives and friends would also bring them to live at the foot of the mountain."

"Slowly, the relatives and friends of the older generation of disciples, as well as servants, married and had children here, multiplying continuously, and with new generations of disciples bringing new people over, after generations of accumulation, what was originally just a village has now become a giant city."

"Where there are people, there are needs in all aspects, especially in such a large city, the needs are even greater, and gradually people who have no connection with the Qingyuan Sect have also migrated in."

"But regardless, a large part of the people in this city have more or less some blood relationship with the Qingyuan Sect, and some are even blood relatives of important figures in the Qingyuan Sect."

"These people enjoy certain privileges in Changqing City and carry special tokens. The grand array can distinguish these tokens, and they can fly directly over the city wall with their tokens without paying spirit stones."

"Some even have flight privileges in the inner city." Lou Shiyan explained at the right time when he saw the gaze of Xia Daoming and the three others fall on the cultivators who flew directly over the city wall.

"Looking at it this way, the forces within this city must be very intricate and complicated!" Xia Daoming said thoughtfully.

"Xia Ye is absolutely right. In this place, someone who looks like they have very low cultivation or is even a mere mortal might have heaven-reaching connections."

"So, in this place, especially the inner city, it is best not to easily get into conflicts with people; who knows, one might accidentally provoke a huge disaster." Lou Shiyan said with a trace of gravity on his face.

Xia Daoming nodded in deep agreement, a trace of gravity also appearing on his face, and the flying boat under his feet had already slowly landed on the ground.

This is equivalent to being under the feet of the Son of Heaven; a seemingly ordinary commoner might be able to climb up some kinship with some big figure through many twists and turns.

When the flying boat landed, the two Golden-Feather Eagles circling above the flying boat also landed on the ground.

These two Golden-Feather Eagles, one belonged to Lou Shiyan, and one belonged to Xia Daoming and his wife.

Three years ago, when buying back the Golden-Feather Eagle eggs and incorporating the Lou family, Xia Daoming also gifted a Golden-Feather Eagle egg to the Lou family.

He and his wife received one, and the remaining seven were adopted by several elders of the Tenglong Mansion's Elder Pavilion.

Because they were nourished by stalactite spirit liquid, all nine Golden-Feather Eagle eggs were successfully hatched, and not a single one died prematurely.

In three years, these Golden-Feather Eagles ate spirit rice and high-quality beast meat every day, and also took spirit beast pills specifically refined for them every few days, growing very fast.

Now, although these nine Golden-Feather Eagles had not yet evolved to the second-rank high-stage, each of them already had extraordinary strength, with combat power equivalent to the seventh or eighth layer of Qi Refinement, and could carry people to fly high, with speeds faster than the flying boat.

However, Golden-Feather Eagles need to rest for a while after flying for a period, unlike flying boats which can fly as long as they have spirit stones.

Lou Shiyan riding a Golden-Feather Eagle to travel between Changqing City and Li Cheng only takes two days and nights.

Speaking of which, it is still much faster than taking a flying boat.

Following the flow of people, they entered the city gate.

Lou Shiyan and his spirit bird had already processed their identity tokens and only needed to pay two spirit stones to enter the city.

Xia Daoming and the three others, along with their spirit birds, were coming to Changqing City for the first time and needed to go to a side hall at the city gate to register their information and process identity tokens.

Identity tokens are divided into temporary ones and those for different years.

A temporary identity can only stay for ten days at most, and the price is one spirit stone.

And the prices for different years are different.

For one year, it costs twenty-five spirit stones per year.

The two-year one is discounted, but it still costs forty-five.

Anyway, the longer the years, the higher the price.

Many mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivators, after working hard for a year, might not be able to save up twenty-five spirit stones.

And every time they enter or leave, they need to pay an additional spirit stone.

The Qingyuan Sect uses such high living costs and city entry/exit fees to limit the influx of outsiders and the sponging of spiritual energy, slowing down the unbridled expansion of Changqing City's population.

Not only that, but the Qingyuan Sect's restrictions on inner and outer sect disciples bringing people into the city to settle down have long been completely different from the initial era.

At that time, there were no limits on the family members, relatives, and servants of Qingyuan Sect disciples.

But now, outer sect disciples of the Qingyuan Sect have at most two spots for free settlement in Changqing City.

Inner sect disciples only have direct relatives and two servants qualified for free settlement in Changqing City.

These costs naturally meant nothing to Xia Daoming.

He paid the spirit stones, processed a one-year identity token, and then, guided by Lou Shiyan, entered Changqing City.

Half a year later, the Qingyuan Sect will open its mountain gate to recruit disciples, and a one-year identity token is enough.

Changqing City is very large.

The east-west city wall is eighty li, and the north-south city wall is sixty li wide.

Changqing City is divided into the outer city, the inner city, and Changqing Lake.

(End of chapter)