Chapter 109: Purple Sesame Boudoir

"A place of pleasure?"

Cheng Cheng Xinzhan was a bit puzzled.

Sun Sun Miaoshu smiled. "The world is not entirely composed of ascetic cultivators who are pure-hearted and have few desires."

He paused and said, "Often, out of ten thousand cultivators, not one ascends. Most people are unwilling to die of old age in a cave."

He pointed to the giant city in the clouds. "So cultivators also want to enjoy themselves, but the red dust of the giant cities in the human world has too much karma, and they dare not enter. Famous mountains and great rivers are occupied by various traditions, so they can only build cities in the sky."

He He Jiyuan was a bit incredulous. "Can a group of people who love pleasure build such a giant city in the clouds?"

Sun Sun Miaoshu smiled again upon hearing this. "People who will think of pleasure at all costs will only be rich people. Only rich people can drive various great powers to complete their goals for them. Never underestimate wealth and merchants; the Bai Yu Capital was built by them."

While they were talking, they had already arrived at the entrance of the giant city, and at the same time, many people were flying over from all directions.

"Are there always this many people?"

He He Jiyuan asked.

"No, it's because the New Year is coming soon, so there are more people."

"Ah, do they celebrate the New Year here too?"

"Hehe, except for the Daoist children, aren't they all from the mortal world? When the New Year comes, they rest and play; this is deep-rooted. Don't you also have a holiday in the Yingyuan Mansion during the first lunar month?"

He He Jiyuan smiled and said that was true.

"Does it cost money to enter the city?"

The huge city cave had no door and no one on duty, so everyone just went in.

It was just that a giant peacock statue had been erected on the city gate tower, and people were no higher than the peacock's toes. The statue was made of unknown material, with gold, blue, green, and black colors intertwined, shining brilliantly under the sunlight, as if it were a living creature.

"Entering the gate costs no money; in fact, as long as you don't stay overnight, don't eat, and don't buy anything, you don't need to spend a cent even if you wander inside the whole time."

Sun Sun Miaoshu said.

Cheng Cheng Xinzhan's gaze fell upon the floor tiles of the giant city; the tiles were glistening like jade, and he asked,

"What kind of brick is this?"

Sun Sun Miaoshu glanced at him,

"You always manage to see the key points. This is Cloud-Root Stone, said to be pried from the ruins of the ancient Heavenly Court. This third layer was where the ancient Heavenly Court raised horses and drilled heavenly soldiers, so there are still quite a few scattered ancient relics."

"These Cloud-Root Stone bricks, apart from those in the Bai Yu Capital, are still circulating outside; each piece is much more expensive than our cloud-carriages."

Cheng Cheng Xinzhan looked around; for such a massive city, how much Cloud-Root Stone would be needed? And such a massive city was one of twelve towers and five cities. And the Bai Yu Capital, built on such a scale, only used some ruins of the ancient Heavenly Court's horse-raising and troop-drilling grounds. And that high-and-mighty Heavenly Court had merely become ruins.

The group passed through the thick city walls and entered the city, only then witnessing the scenery within:

The great city covered an unknown number of miles. Walking on the wide streets, one could not see the end ahead, and the high-rise buildings on both sides blocked the sunlight, yet no shadows were seen on the ground.

It turned out that every few dozen steps on both sides of the street, a tall tree was planted, and many lanterns like moons were hung on the branches. The lanterns emitted a soft white light, and even during the day, they were lit, illuminating every corner brightly.

A tower every five steps, a pavilion every ten steps.

There were towers for banquets, towers for fine clothing, and towers for singing and dancing; every tower was different. There were pavilions for warmth, pavilions for bathing, and pavilions for games; every pavilion vied in strangeness.

Between the towers and pavilions, there were suspended corridor bridges connecting them, crisscrossing. The corridor bridges were paved with brocade and plush, so that from one tower to that pavilion, even if one played for a month, one's feet would never need to touch the ground.

The protruding eaves of the towers and pavilions were sharp and tall, all carved into the shapes of dragons and phoenixes raising their heads, with their beaks facing the sky. The towers and pavilions were of varying heights, staggered and scattered, with layers of eaves gathering toward the street, as if the dragons and phoenixes were about to fly out at any moment.

And there were tens of millions of such towers and pavilions standing there.

The crisscrossing corridor bridges overhead were layered and stacked, resembling rainbows, and the long bridges over the winding lotus ponds were carved of gold and jade, looking like crouching dragons.

People were surrounded by corridor bridges and towers, with bright light everywhere, making it impossible to distinguish east from west.

From time to time, bright light came from the towers, like stars or candles; looking closely, it turned out to be women opening mirrors to comb their hair and apply makeup. From time to time, a white cloud gathered above the towers; that was the drinkers taking off their clothes and throwing their hats.

The flowing water on both sides of the street emitted a fragrance, which seemed to be the scent of rouge. Yellow smoke and purple mist drifted out from the shops and towers; that was the different incense of each household.

Pearls and treasures were everywhere.

Bustling and noisy, displaying every kind of beauty.

The group of seven looked left and right, sighing in admiration and clicking their tongues. The cultivators on the road did not mock this group of young people who had just arrived; having just arrived at the Bai Yu Capital, this was the expression they should have.

One must know that there were two types of special people in this Bai Yu Capital.

One type specifically entered the city and waited at the entrance, just wanting to see the surprised expressions of others, so as to alleviate the embarrassment they felt when they first arrived and were too surprised.

There was another type of person who was the owner of the Bai Yu Capital; they were responsible for observing the expressions of pedestrians. If they were surprised, they would be proud; if they discovered someone dissatisfied with a certain place, they would immediately go to see what the problem was and rectify it as quickly as possible.

At this time, the most composed were Sun Sun Miaoshu and the third sister.

Sun Sun Miaoshu was composed because he had been here several times, and the third sister was composed because everything everywhere was a bright blur, and she couldn't see clearly.

"That's not a demon! Can they come in too?!"

He He Bingkun shouted, pointing at a person wearing tattered clothes with many black talisman papers stuck to them. As everyone knew, this was the attire of the Beimang Mountain of the Northern Demon Sect.

Passersby heard it and chuckled, not caring; the demon heard it and also smiled, too lazy to bother.

Sun Sun Miaoshu hurriedly stopped him. He He Jiyuan had even taken out his thunder talisman, which was a great taboo in the Bai Yu Capital. He explained, "Put it away quickly, martial arts are forbidden in Kong Que City; this is the biggest rule!"

Seeing He He Jiyuan put away the thunder talisman, he then explained: "This place is opened by merchants; where is there any talk of righteous or demonic? They want to earn the money of both the Daoist sects and the demonic sects. The demons want to enjoy themselves even more; when it comes to throwing away thousands of gold, we can't even compare to them!

"There is no righteous or evil here, no sects; everyone comes here with only one purpose: to have fun and enjoy themselves."

Hearing this, everyone felt their horizons had been broadened.

At this time, Feng Daoist Jihu asked again: "Brother Daoist, what kind of merchant can build such a city?"

"Naturally, it's not any one person, but a group of people, several families from all over the world."

He said slowly,

"The owner of this Southeast Kong Que City is the Qian family, who did business in the areas of Kuaiji, Jin Ling, and Yu Zhang before ascending to heaven. The owner of the Northeast Haiqing City is the Xiao family, who did business in the areas of Jibei and Mobei before ascending to heaven. The owner of the Northwest Bifang City is the Le family, who did business in the areas of Beijiang, Xihai, and Xisai before ascending to heaven. The owner of the Southwest Bailing City is the Mu family, who did business in the areas of Dianwen, Xishu, and Nanhuang before ascending to heaven. The owner of the central Jingwei City is the Yuan family, who did business in the areas of Qingzhou, Heluo, and Jingchu before ascending to heaven.

"These five families were already wealthy before ascending to heaven. Later, they built the Bai Yu Capital together with the owners of the twelve towers, and used birds as the names of the cities. When they ascended to heaven, they brought many mortals who were willing to follow them, multiplying and living in heaven. There are many people who have never set foot on the ground in their entire lives."

The group chatted while walking. The towers and pavilions of each family were decorated with lanterns and streamers, which was very lively. There were even beautiful fairies leaning on the railings, calling out, which made people's hearts restless and their minds uneasy.

The group wandered on the street for a long time, and under Sun Sun Miaoshu's lead, they entered a restaurant. As soon as they entered, they were welcomed by waiters and maids, who guided them to their seats. The table was made of Nanshan golden nanmu wood, and the chairs were covered with North Sea white bear fur.

"What would you like to drink?"

The waiter asked.

Everyone looked at Sun Sun Miaoshu, and Sun Sun Miaoshu coughed, "Bring two pots of Heavenly Valley Cloud-Dream Nectar."

"Alright, please wait a moment. Are there any taboos for the side dishes?"

Everyone shook their heads.

The waiter retreated.

"He didn't even ask what side dishes! If he brings too many, how much will it cost?" Zhu Daoist Jianmo asked carefully.

Sun Sun Miaoshu said, "Here, only the wine is charged; the food is not. It's replenished after eating, and the varieties are not repeated.

"As for the wine money."

His face showed signs of pain, "One gold per pot."

Everyone's eyes widened, looking at Sun Sun Miaoshu. Xu Xu Jishen even said bluntly, "Are you crazy? We don't have to drink it!"

Before entering, Sun Sun Miaoshu had said that he was treating this time.

Now everyone knew why this Bai Yu Capital was called a den of gold-melting.

Cheng Cheng Xinzhan was also startled. Although it was through connections, his "Dragon Carriage" only cost one gold. Although Sun Sun Miaoshu had entered the Second Realm, he had only just entered it; how much money could he have saved?

Sun Sun Miaoshu smiled, "You don't know, this is already the cheapest. There is nothing here lower than one gold. Last time when my senior brother broke through his realm and brought me up here, we drank this wine too. I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but the reason I took you around for so long, walked into this place, and ordered this pot of wine is because I only know this place and have only drunk this kind of wine!"

"We could have just wandered around; we didn't have to come in and drink!"

Xu Xu Jishen still blamed him a little.

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"Don't say anymore, just treat it as a celebration for my breakthrough!"

Sun Sun Miaoshu said with a smile.

Everyone stopped talking, but in their hearts, they were all thinking about how to compensate Brother Sun Miaoshu when they returned.

"Guests, the Cloud-Sugarcane has arrived, please cleanse your palates."

The waiter brought seven white porcelain plates, each containing a few pieces of something like sugarcane.

"Eat it, it's like sugarcane; chew and spit it out. However, this can take away the taste in your mouth, so you can better taste the wine when you drink it later."

Sun Sun Miaoshu explained, "It's true that we eat wind and drink dew, and have no taste for fish or meat, but this is prepared for those who have lingered in Kong Que City for years. It doesn't hurt for us to taste it."

And next, everyone truly witnessed it. Two pots of wine, and they asked for everyone's preferences, making them into two flavors: warm and iced. They also asked everyone how hot or how iced they wanted it. Since everyone hadn't drunk it before, how would they know? They all just opened their mouths and reported randomly.

Until a pot of ten-percent hot wine with fire was brought to He He Jiyuan, everyone was immediately overjoyed.

Halfway through the wine, side dishes were brought up. Among the various rare treasures, everyone only recognized one or two that they had seen in the Capital Kitchen Institute; the others were unheard of. The side dishes were free, which was a bargain for the little brother, who kept stuffing the delicacies everyone handed him, one bite after another.

The third sister was much more reserved. Sitting on Cheng Cheng Xinzhan's lap, after eating the fried golden-tailed loach once, she only ate the fried golden-tailed loach. When it was fed to her mouth, she chewed it slowly and carefully; she didn't want anything else.

"What a beautiful cat."

A voice said from the side.

Cheng Cheng Xinzhan heard this and looked over. It was a woman walking down the stairs; their table was facing the stairs.

The woman was wearing a white fur coat, with a veil on her face, and she was also holding a cat in her arms—a lion cat with golden fur all over its body.

Cheng Cheng Xinzhan nodded at her with a smile; his third sister was indeed beautiful.

"If the cat has white film, eating more sea fish might be effective. The golden-tailed loach is a lake species. If she likes eating loach, you can feed her six-bearded loach or fish-dragon loach."

The woman said.

He was a little surprised, not knowing there was such a theory; even Qu Qu Jihan didn't know. So he stood up and thanked her.

The woman also nodded and then left the restaurant.

Cheng Cheng Xinzhan touched the third sister and kept this matter in his heart.

"Young Master Zhang is here!"

Someone outside suddenly shouted.

The few people at the Mount Sanqing table looked at each other. Now that they were full of wine and food, they paid the bill and went out.

At the entrance of the restaurant, they saw a crowd gathering in the direction of the city entrance, surging toward this side.

When they got closer, everyone saw a deer carriage in the middle of the street. The carriage was pulled by two white deer, and the carriage did not touch the ground, floating in the air. Inside sat a young man in purple, who looked only thirteen or fourteen years old. Behind and on both sides of the young man followed many people.

Suddenly, Cheng Cheng Xinzhan's gaze froze; he saw a familiar face.

The one behind the deer carriage, is that Liang Liang Zhenjing?

"What kind of Young Master Zhang, he's quite grand; everyone is walking, but only he has a carriage."

Wang Wang Miaoyuan said.

Unexpectedly, the young master who was still far away seemed to have heard something, and his gaze looked directly in this direction. However, Wang Wang Miaoyuan looked at that person without blushing or skipping a beat, as if he hadn't said those words just now.

That young master seemed to have no clues and withdrew his gaze.

The crowd escorted the deer carriage past them. Liang Liang Zhenjing followed behind the deer carriage like a loyal guard, not noticing Cheng Cheng Xinzhan on the side of the road.

Cheng Cheng Xinzhan whispered among the crowd, "The person following behind is from Mount Longhu."

Everyone was a little surprised.

"Zhang, it's Zhang!"

Wang Wang Miaoyuan suddenly said.

"That... that young man in purple?"

Everyone had some guesses.

Could it be the little Heavenly Master of this generation?

The little Heavenly Master is not chanting scriptures in the Heavenly Master's Mansion, but has also come to enjoy himself?

Everyone also followed from a distance behind.

Not long after walking, a pool of water appeared on the left side of the street, with purple lotus flowers planted in the pool, and an exquisite pavilion in the center of the lotus pool.

A group of beauties were waiting at the entrance of the pavilion, each with a face that could topple a country.

Young Master Zhang's deer carriage made a turn and went to the pavilion.

Everyone also saw the name of the pavilion, called:

Purple Fragrant Boudoir.

"What is this person's background? To actually let the fairies in the Purple Boudoir wait at the door."

Someone in the crowd watching the excitement asked such a question.

"I don't know what his background is, anyway, he must be very rich. I heard he comes every month, and every time he comes, someone will notify in advance to let the Purple Boudoir clear the building, and they won't receive guests that day, only serving him alone. However, among the twelve towers and five cities, I haven't heard of any family named Gongchang."

Someone answered.

The few from Mount Sanqing were even more unbelievable. Purple Fragrant Boudoir, hearing this name, and looking at that group of beauties, even a fool would know what kind of place that was.

The little Heavenly Master of Mount Longhu comes to this kind of place every month?

Seeking monthly votes and recommendations, comments and messages are welcome!

(End of chapter)