Chapter 231: Heavenly Dao is Hard to Defy

After a few days, Mo Cijun had barely recovered some of his strength, and Chuan Nu sent him out of the Underground Palace.

He walked unsteadily into Wuxu City all alone, watching the harsh early spring sunlight fall upon the residual snow in the city.

He only felt that it was extremely quiet.

Having not felt a change in temperature for nearly a thousand years, he suddenly felt the cold at this moment.

It made him involuntarily pull his clothes tighter around himself.

Mo Cijun exhaled, used his hand to block the direct sunlight, and murmured, "Long-lost sunlight, it's truly wonderful."

He sauntered slowly through the silent Wuxu City; although he was somewhat puzzled as to why the mad Demon Cultivators in the city had all vanished without a trace, his physical condition was not optimistic, so he had to reach the territory of the Immortal Sect as soon as possible.

A row of shallow footprints was arranged in a regular pattern on the snowy ground; as he traversed Wuxu City, he felt his mind drifting in a daze.

Ahead on the road stood a slightly plump middle-aged man who looked very ordinary.

The corners of Mo Cijun's eyes grew moist; he stood unsteadily, wanting to kneel to the ground, but the man appeared before him in an instant and supported him.

"Great Building Master... what virtue or ability does Cijun have to make you come to the Northern Territory in person to pick me up..."

"If I didn't come to pick you up, I was afraid you would forget the way home." The middle-aged man smiled kindly. "A few days ago, the Wanbao Tower branches that had suspended operations in nearby towns received a message from a Demon Cultivator, and I knew you were coming back. You've worked hard, child."

"Cijun has not worked hard." Mo Cijun shook his head and asked with slight confusion and worry, "Why did you close the Wanbao Tower?"

The middle-aged man said leisurely, "This is the Heavenly Dao; the Heavenly Dao is hard to defy."

Mo Cijun suddenly thought of the Heavenly Dao Order that Xie Yao had mentioned.

He couldn't help but ask, "Is it the Heavenly Dao Order? Is that the reason you are doing all of this?"

"Do not guess anymore; I will not tell you," the middle-aged man said. "Come home with me to heal your wounds first."

"No..." Mo Cijun stood up stubbornly, feeling a wave of dizziness, "Xie Yao asked me to relay to you that she wants the Heavenly Dao Order..."

Having said that, he fainted, his head resting powerlessly on the man's shoulder.

The middle-aged man sighed, used a Magic Art to make Mo Cijun float beside him, and found a temporary residence in the city to settle him in.

He fed Mo Cijun a Pill and channeled Spiritual Power into him; when the other party slowly regained consciousness, he stopped Mo Cijun from speaking, "It is enough that you survived. I know about the other matters; you need not worry."

"Will you give her the Heavenly Dao Order?" Mo Cijun asked stubbornly. "And the matter of the Spirit Mine Secret Realm, do you really have to help her?"

The middle-aged man avoided answering, "What has been promised must be done; otherwise, how can the reputation of Wanbao Tower be maintained?"

"Wanbao Tower is about to be gone, what use is reputation then!" Mo Cijun suddenly became agitated, his face flushed as he coughed a few times. "Master... tell me, are you truly a person of the Hidden Sect..."

The man did not speak; he placed his hand over Mo Cijun's eyes, his palm damp.

Sometimes, not denying is also a form of admission.

He said, "Sleep, child."

Mo Cijun closed his eyes in resignation.

He was a child raised by his master since he was small, yet his master had never told him that he was a person of the Hidden Sect.

Then what was he? In his master's eyes, was he a disciple? Or just a tool cultivated to manage Wanbao Tower? If he were a tool, why treat him so well?...

This year, the spring in the Northern Territory was exceptionally cold, with heavy snow falling for days and nights on end.

Yet the vines covering the Underground Palace remained evergreen; Xie Yao was lost in thought, clutching a leaf in her hand.

She had already waited for a month, and Wanbao Tower had finally sent the news back.

The Spirit Mine Secret Realm had been sold; she had cut off a portion of the territory surrounding the Secret Realm and allocated it to the people of the Immortal Sect.

The buyer for this transaction was also very straightforward, paying the three million in full at once; what surprised her was that the Spirit Mine Secret Realm was jointly held by the Xuanbing Sect and the Mysterious Grade Sect.

Although both were among the three great sects and their names were quite similar, one was the boss of the Central Province and the other was the local tyrant of Dongzhou; she had not expected them to be able to cooperate this time.

Xie Yao was not worried, because the sweep of Wuxu City before the new year had made all the surrounding Demon Cultivators tuck their tails in, not daring to show their faces easily, and naturally, they would not intentionally wander near the Spirit Mine Secret Realm and be wiped out by the Immortal Cultivators.

She handed one million Spirit Stones to Ruan Xing as promised and asked, "When we meet next time, I should be able to see the Xian Tai Tree, right?"

"Of course." Ruan Xing smiled.

She deposited the one million Spirit Stones into the Simulator, and the long-lost sense of security returned.

After bidding farewell to Xie Yao, she left the Underground Palace and happened to see several streaks of light in the sky.

Her Divine Sense probed slightly, and there were actually several old acquaintances inside.

Peak Master Li of Xiaochi Peak, Peak Master Jiang of Yaoguang Peak, and Qintai He.

The others she did not recognize were likely people from the Mysterious Grade Sect; it seemed they were the first frontline sent to explore the Secret Realm.

Ruan Xing was wearing a thick cloak made of Monster Beast fur and subconsciously used her hood to cover her face.

Then she thought again that she was currently using the appearance of Xing Ruanruan, and those people were flying high in the sky, so why would they focus their attention on someone in the Northern Territory who looked like a Demon Cultivator?

Shaking her head in amusement, Ruan Xing turned and continued walking.

The Wuxu City that she had cleared now had an encampment for the Immortal Sect, which could be considered to have gained some human presence; perhaps in a hundred years, this place could also become a bustling town.

The disciples by the roadside who were using Magic Art to build the encampment became more vigilant as they saw Ruan Xing approach.

Although these low-level disciples were only responsible for the encampment within the city, they also faced the risk of encountering Demon Cultivators and felt nervous involuntarily.

Ruan Xing had intended to use Instant Movement to leave, but suddenly she caught sight of someone, so she lifted her hood, revealed a bright smile, and stepped forward, calling out lively, "Senior Brother Zhao! Aren't you in the Law Enforcement Hall? Why have you come here too?"

That person's eyes were blank for a moment; he did not seem to remember when he had met such a junior sister.

Of course he didn't know her, because Ruan Xing had met him in the Simulation.

However, Ruan Xing remembered that this person's personality had the common flaw of low-level Cultivators: he liked to stick with the crowd, befriend others, and avoid offending anyone; he probably didn't even remember how many Cultivators in the sect he had spoken to.

But since this junior sister knew he used to be in the Law Enforcement Hall, she must be someone he knew.

The Zhao-surnamed Cultivator smiled and said, "So it is you; it is a long story." The other Cultivators around saw this scene and, knowing that although the other party was not dressed like the Immortal Sect, she was not a Demon Cultivator, they relaxed and continued to repair the encampment.

The Zhao-surnamed Cultivator then openly slacked off and chatted happily with Ruan Xing.

He tentatively asked, "Why didn't I see you when we came together yesterday?"

"I came secretly with my Master." Ruan Xing blinked playfully. "I was accidentally discovered by my Master today, so I was sent back. What about you? Does the Law Enforcement Hall need to come and do this kind of task too?"

Ruan Xing's explanation was reasonable enough, so the Zhao-surnamed Cultivator believed it. He gave a bitter smile, "I didn't stay in the Law Enforcement Hall for long; as soon as I entered, I was forced to take sides and follow True Person Zhu. Unfortunately, after Senior Sister Xu and Senior Brother Yue got married a few years ago, Senior Brother Yue became the Hall Master of the Law Enforcement Hall and didn't give True Person Zhu any face at all, driving us all out. There was no help for it; I am just a small Cultivator with no roots and no background, so I could only go to the Sect Affairs Hall again. There are many people in the Sect Affairs Hall, and one even has to fight for these kinds of tasks."

He lowered his voice, "I heard that once the three Peak Masters finish exploring the Secret Realm, we cultivators will be the first batch allowed in to mine Spirit Mine. Depending on the quality of the Spirit Mine, the Sect will give us rewards. It will be a considerable income then; who knows, by the time I return from duty, I might reach Foundation Establishment Late Stage!"

His face was brimming with a look of hope.

They still did not know how dangerous the Chongshan Secret Realm was; this time was different from the past, and rushing in might cause many people to die.

The low-level Cultivators only judged based on past experience, feeling that any Secret Realm explored by the Peak Masters must be safe, and even if people died, it would be at most ten or twenty percent, which they would consider their own bad luck.

This matter was almost entirely proposed and facilitated by Ruan Xing, so she had no need to expose it, but her attention was focused on another sentence.

"Three Peak Masters? Why did I only see two?" Ruan Xing asked curiously.

"Are you a disciple of Xiaochi Peak?" he said, "The Personal Disciple of Qinghong Zhenjun, who became the Peak Master of Qingxue Peak after ascending to Nascent Soul previously, you don't know?"

Ruan Xing exclaimed in a low voice: "Senior Brother Qintai has already become a Peak Master? That's amazing."

"You bet," the cultivator surnamed Zhao said with envy, "They are gifted and talented; I heard they are not even forty years old yet and have already reached the Nascent Soul Stage. I am about the same age as them, yet I am still at the Foundation Establishment stage."

"Who's to say otherwise," Ruan Xing echoed perfunctorily.

It was not necessarily a bad thing that Qintai He and the others were sent to the Northern Territory.

Because in the Simulation, Xie Yao would attack the Central Province next month.

Staying in the Central Province, they might die, but Xie Yao had an attitude of letting the Northern Territory be; those Demon Cultivators who stayed in the Northern Territory and were unwilling to follow her were objects she left for the Immortal Sect to vent on, and she would not care about the life or death of the people remaining in the Northern Territory, naturally not caring about the people in the Spirit Mine Secret Realm either.

After chatting with the other party for a few more sentences, Ruan Xing found a random excuse and left.

She still had the invitation sent to her by Wanbao Tower on her person.

She wanted to go to Dongzhou to take a look.

Removing the Illusion Technique from her face and the concealment of her cultivation realm from her body, Ruan Xing headed to Dongzhou in her original appearance.

Because there was still a month left, which was considered ample time, Ruan Xing did not use a Flying Sword or a Shuttle Spirit Boat to travel.

Instead, she walked and stopped, experiencing these places she had never been to even in the Simulation.

Because she had a premonition that this might be her last rare moment of leisure.

After the Immortal-Demon War, she would no longer have any spare time; she would either live and ascend to the Spirit Realm, or die here.

But she firmly believed that she herself would not die; after all, there were still over ten million points in the Simulator, enough to provide her with a safety net.

In places near the Northern Territory, not everyone dressed with immortal grace and jade-like beauty; the Sect Cultivators here did not seem to favor that either, so the hooded cloak Ruan Xing wore did not look out of place.

In the shops along the street specifically catering to cultivators, the mortal attendants wore enthusiastic and fawning smiles.

She walked into a restaurant casually and saw another acquaintance.

Beside the pale-faced Mo Cijun was a middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance; although his cultivation could not be seen, his exterior did not look like a high-level Cultivator at all.

Mo Cijun could not recognize her current appearance, and Ruan Xing had no intention of greeting him, so she was led by the attendant to a side booth without stopping her pace.

Mortals could not tell a Cultivator's cultivation; if the Cultivator did not have special requirements, in the eyes of mortals, there was no difference between Foundation Establishment and Return to Ruins Stage; they were all Immortal Masters who could not be offended.

Ruan Xing did not have the hobby of making things difficult for mortals.

"Immortal Master, please this way! What would you like? Our shop has all kinds of spirit wine and Spirit Food, and the roasted beast meat is a specialty! The Demon Beast Meat is delivered fresh every day! It is absolutely not zombie meat that has been frozen for years with Magic Art; you can even see the texture and color clearly!" the attendant promoted enthusiastically.

Ruan Xing was just about to pick a few things to taste at random when suddenly, the middle-aged man beside Mo Cijun spoke up. He suggested to Ruan Xing with good intentions: "If the Immortal Master does not know what to choose, I suggest the Immortal Master try the fruit wine of this shop; the taste is mellow and fragrant, sweet and sour, much better than ordinary spirit wine."

Ruan Xing looked at him, but the other party did not seem to have any special intentions, just a simple reminder to a fellow diner.

After a moment, she nodded, "Then bring a pot."

"Alright, Immortal Master, one pot of 82 Year Lafite! What else would you like?"

"???"

Ruan Xing widened her eyes.

"What did you just say?" She seemed not to have heard clearly.

The attendant smiled and said: "You must think the name is strange, right? I think it's strange too, but the owner said this was the name given by the person who brewed the wine, so we just followed it. You don't know, this wine has been sold for less than a year and is almost the signature of the shop!"

She didn't expect Hu San to have expanded his business all the way here.

Ruan Xing nodded with some amusement, "Then are there others?"

"Yes, there is also a Big Black Grape Fruit Tea, which also sounds different from other names; it's not as elegant as Cliff Mountain or Jade Dew, but it is novel. They are all from the same person. Because we are near the Northern Territory, we don't have a Teleportation Array station, and we don't grow Spirit Rice. Before, selling wine and Spirit Food almost entirely relied on Wanbao Tower bringing them over. Now that the Wanbao Tower doors are closed, the wine in our shop is out of stock. Fortunately, a cultivator who sells fruit wine came at this time, otherwise, the shop wouldn't be able to stay open."

The attendant looked emotional.

Ruan Xing picked a few more dishes that looked good, "Just these."

She tossed a few Low-grade Spirit Stones to the attendant as a tip, and the attendant bowed with a beaming face, "Immortal Master, please wait a moment!"

The cultivator the attendant mentioned was likely the distributor model Ruan Xing had told Hu San about before.

Because the Fengling Yueying Sect lacked high-level Cultivators and many were Demon Cultivators who could not be seen in public, opening up the outside market was very difficult. Therefore, Ruan Xing mentioned the distributor model; they would not contact merchants or deliver goods, but simply sell the wine in bulk at a discounted price to some traveling Cultivators.

Because the taste of the wine was good, the price was appropriate, and the spirituality was mild, even children who had just started on the Dao could drink it, so it would definitely not lack sales when taken outside.

Most traveling Cultivators also relied on themselves to earn Spirit Stones for expenses, so having an extra source of income was not bad. Moreover, almost every Cultivator had a Storage Bag, so this distribution model could be quickly understood and accepted.

Thanks to _Panda-jun_ for the tip~