Chapter 473: Tea Immortal Gathering, Yuan Chen Number

Time to trade treasures!

Sha Lifei's breathing grew rapid.

The treasure-trading task had been given to him.

The reason was simple: everyone else was a sorcerer, but he was an ordinary man, and his human scent had been masked—he was least likely to be noticed.

It is now certain that the celestial treasure of this place is the tea leaves on the "Tea Immortal."

You cannot forcibly seize such a thing.

Celestial treasures have volatile tempers; if startled, they instantly scatter their spiritual essence, causing devastating damage—and destroying the treasure itself.

Spiritual tea is a treasure.

Especially this premium grade—it commands an exorbitant price. When Qingcheng Mountain opens its cellar, it will be fiercely contested.

Beside him, Lu San tugged Sha Lifei's sleeve and handed over a bundle, signaling him to hurry—don't miss the chance.

Sha Lifei was nervous inside, but he was no novice; he swallowed hard, grabbed the bundle, and walked forward.

Splash!

As he stepped into the pool, Sha Lifei shuddered violently.

When he drank the water earlier, he felt nothing—but now, as he entered the pond, a cold, yin energy surged upward from the soles of his feet.

Sha Lifei vaguely knew this was earthly yin energy.

He gritted his teeth, forced himself to show no sign of distress, and slowly approached the central stone platform, pulling items from the bundle.

First, Sha Lifei pulled out half a brick.

The brick was bluish-gray, only a small fragment, icy to the touch, carved with talismans filled with crimson cinnabar.

This was a classic Qin brick—long kept in tomb yin-evil sites and refined into a curse-stabilizing object.

This item was a war trophy.

Along the way, they dealt with many threats; besides powerful artifacts, they collected a pile of these things.

They originally planned to give them to Chongqing City God Temple, but Danhezi was still broke, and the treasury held nothing valuable, so they kept them in their luggage.

If they could trade these for spiritual tea, it would be perfect.

Li Yan and the others wouldn't even glance at such things, so Sha Lifei pulled them out first to test the waters.

But something shocked him.

The "Tea Immortal" sat cross-legged on the rock, eyes tightly shut; other spirits' offerings lay ignored, untouched.

But when this item was revealed, it slowly opened its eyelids, revealing jade-green eyes, then slender branches crept from beneath its robe, wrapping up the curse-stabilizing brick.

Splash…

A large handful of tea leaves fell from its beard.

More than all previous offerings combined.

Yu Laohan's eyes widened in shock.

He clenched his fist, filled with regret.

He had thought an equal exchange would suffice, forgetting "rarity commands value."

These unremarkable items were still artifacts—precious to spirits.

After all, not everyone could penetrate this bizarre world to trade with spirits.

He should have warned him more clearly earlier…

But clearly, he had underestimated Sha Lifei's cunning.

Seeing so much spiritual tea fall, Sha Lifei beamed, quickly retrieving a bamboo tube from his waist as Yu Laohan instructed.

These spiritual teas had not been roasted; they must not absorb human qi—must be picked with bamboo clips, stuffed into bamboo tubes, and sealed with red cloth.

In a short time, two full barrels were filled.

Sha Lifei's eyes darted, then he pulled out a lightning-struck wood talisman—rectangular, thick and heavy.

It was seized from a sorcerer of the Dispelling Sect in the Zhou family of Chongqing Prefecture—also useless.

The quality of lightning-struck wood varies.

One, by wood grain; two, by number of lightning strikes.

Only after reawakening following a strike can it be graded—each reawakening equals one grade.

This lightning-struck wood talisman had been struck once, then its vitality died—barely even qualified for grading.

And that Dispelling Sect sorcerer didn't know thunder arts; he could only use it as a tool for dark spells—making it even more useless.

Even the City God Temple wouldn't take it.

Yet the "Tea Immortal," sensing it, grew even more agitated, wrapping it again in roots, then more spiritual tea rained down.

Moreover, Sha Lifei felt a tea fragrance spreading from the pond—his bee-sting pain instantly lessened, becoming bearable.

Good soul…

Seeing this, Sha Lifei grew bolder, hastily gathering tea leaves, then pulling out a Bagua mirror from the bundle.

This time, the "Tea Immortal" reacted even more violently.

All tea leaves fell from its beard; it shook its body, its robe tearing apart, dissolving into falling tea leaves.

Sha Lifei's heart leapt—he silently thought: Today's luck is extraordinary—I'll strip you bare!

Then came two more trades.

The "Tea Immortal"'s robe had completely shredded, revealing its body: gnarled, twisted roots fused into a trunk.

Watching Sha Lifei's bundle, the "Tea Immortal"'s jade-green pupils suddenly flickered with a tinge of crimson.

Trouble!

Yu Laohan saw it and felt dread.

But Lu San moved faster—he leapt out with a whoosh, landed in the water beside Sha Lifei, seized his wrist, and shook his head gravely.

Though confused, Sha Lifei stopped pulling items from the bundle.

The "Tea Immortal" remained seated on the rock, motionless, staring fixedly at them.

Lu San pulled Sha Lifei out of the pool, exchanged a glance with the waiting Yu family father and son, and turned to leave.

Huh~

A sudden gale surged behind them, thick fog churning.

The scene they had just seen began collapsing and vanishing.

"Hurry!"

Lu San shouted low, drew a peachwood branch, chanted a incantation, and swept it over everyone's eyes.

Instantly, the "ghost-blindness" illusion shattered.

Around them, no forest path remained—only a dense, sinister bamboo grove, wind howling, leaves swirling, revealing beneath them animal skeletons, thick with decay and gloom.

Sha Lifei couldn't resist turning back.

Behind them, a waterfall cascaded into a pool; on the central boulder grew a massive tea tree, its roots thick and sprawling, covering the entire pond.

The tree was now bare—his artifacts were embedded in its roots…

"Don't look!"

Yu Laohan yanked Sha Lifei's sleeve.

Amidst wind and falling leaves, the group quickened their pace, climbed a steep slope, and emerged from the valley.

The fog behind them thickened, obscuring their path.

When they reached the hilltop, the strange phenomena vanished—night breeze brushed gently, moonlight lay like frost, all was silent.

Looking back, the forest was dense, mist-wreathed, lush green—no valley visible at all.

"What just happened?"

Sha Lifei asked: "Did that thing get greedy for treasure too?"

"No—something else!"

Yu Laohan shook his head: "Everything has its limit. We've gained these spiritual teas by fortune; if we're greedy, it becomes disaster. These teas are the Tea Immortal's root—if severed, its righteous qi weakens, turning it into a malevolent entity, breeding greed. Then we won't even escape."

"It might even lure passersby up the mountain, drain their essence—making us responsible for the karma."

"Oh, I see…"

Sha Lifei patted the bamboo tubes hanging from his waist, grinning: "Today's haul is great. We'll leave the root—come back later when new leaves grow."

"Slow and steady, that's the true way."

"Probably no chance again…"

Yu Laohan chuckled bitterly: "For this spiritual tea to regrow, it would take countless years—at least, not in our lifetime."

"Rest assured, I won't speak of this. You've memorized the place—leave it for future generations to claim."

Sha Lifei's eyes darted, slapped Yu Laohan's shoulder: "Old Brother Yu, you're being too formal. This secret—I give it to you. No need to repay our journey's bond."

He saw clearly: after this was done, when would they return to Shu? Who knew the future? Better to give a favor now.

!.

After all, he's the local expert—he has time to wait.

"Fine! Then I'll take the advantage!"

Yu Laohan was straightforward—he agreed at once: "I won't take a single coin from today's gains. If you need anything in the future, just call."

Sha Lifei's group had no time to wait—but this secret would become the Yu family's legacy, blessing generations.

Thus, both sides were satisfied.

After settling this, Yu Laohan looked at Sha Lifei more favorably, stroking his beard and smiling: "These spiritual teas can't be stored long—I know tea-processing techniques. Let's find a place to roast them."

"But it will take some time—at least forty-nine days."

"That works."

Sha Lifei gazed westward, his expression turning grave. "We still need to go to the Dazu Rock Carvings to find something..."

…………

Beyond Mount Longquan lay Longquanyi.

Stations varied in size.

The small ones were merely roadside posts, built of sun-dried brick and thatch, worse than a village shrine.

The large ones, like Jiming Station or Yucheng Town, were entire towns, even garrisoned by troops year-round.

As one of Shu's most vital stations, Longquanyi was only slightly smaller than Jinguanyi outside Chengdu, about the size of a small town.

Beyond Longquanyi, passing through Jiepiaopu, Damianpu, and other villages, one reached Jinguanyi; beyond that, through Yinghuimen, lay Chengdu Prefecture.

Jinguanyi housed a garrisoned military unit, with strict inspections for all travelers; countless spies from Chengdu's factions lurked within.

Any whisper of movement reached their ears.

Longquanyi, by contrast, was far more relaxed.

Numerous inns clustered nearby, using the station's name but secretly allowing anyone who paid to stay.

Since the court issued orders elevating merchants' status, the station opened fully, drawing all manner of people—Buddhists, Daoists, and rogues alike—and forming a small marketplace.

As night fell, tea houses and taverns still blazed with light; the clatter of drinking games never ceased, punctuated by the raucous laughter of courtesans.

Whoosh!

A hawk spread its wings and dove through the second-story window of the inn.

Li Yan removed the bamboo tube and examined the intelligence by candlelight.

"The Tea Immortal?"

Seeing what Sha Lifei and the others had encountered, Li Yan was startled—such a wondrous heavenly treasure truly existed in the world.

Legends said that ancient ginseng in the white mountains and black waters could develop sentience, using their root hairs as payment to summon mountain spirits for protection, luring and killing harvesters.

Yet sometimes, harvesters would stumble into a hidden forest market, trading their treasures for goods—all of which turned out to be century-old ginseng.

It was like a dream, and upon waking, they usually found themselves in wild graveyards.

They called it "Shen Yinzi."

This "Tea Immortal Gathering" bore striking resemblance to it.

In any case, it was a good thing.

He fully approved of Sha Lifei's approach.

They wandered the rivers and lakes, making the four seas their home; such secrets were useless to them—better to give them away and make friends.

The Yu family father and son were quite admirable.

Their skills mattered less; what mattered was that they followed rules.

Now, the Yu family had found an abandoned mountain shrine and were preparing in earnest, gathering materials to roast tea.

They would not miss the Qingcheng Mountain cellar opening in forty-nine days.

Lu San and Sha Lifei had come near the Dazu Rock Carvings—to find the Bai family's hidden cache and the legendary "Shituo Forest," preparing for Sha Lifei's awakening ritual.

Li Yan pondered, then wrote a letter instructing them to locate the place but take no action until he arrived.

The "Shituo Forest" might be tied to the Great Luo Dharma Realm; with him present, there would be room to maneuver if trouble arose.

As for Wang Daoxuan, he had gone to Nanchong.

According to his intelligence, merchants on the boat had spoken of frequent zombie sightings over the past two years.

Zombie activity here seemed more frequent than elsewhere.

Someone was holding a funeral when the deceased elder suddenly rose and lunged—luckily, it was only a lowly walking corpse, manageable by ordinary people...

A merchant camping in an abandoned temple was attacked at night; the next day, his body was found with his neck severed and all blood drained...

These incidents occurred one after another.

Qingcheng Mountain sent people to investigate, but never found the cause.

Over time, many demon hunters gathered here.

Wang Daoxuan openly claimed the title "You Ji," using his zombie-hunting services to probe the mysterious Worship Dragon Cult from the outside.

Titles were indeed useful.

They made things easier; the Wang Prince's people only knew Li Yan's name—if he used another alias, he could hide in plain sight.

Thinking of this, Li Yan flipped his left hand; Duchen Dao flew from his waist. He stared at the Twelve Zodiac Coins on the hilt, then wrote another secret letter.

From now on, all others would use the Twelve Zodiacs as their aliases; only close allies would know their true names.

Wang Daoxuan's self-proclaimed title "You Ji" suited him well.

The rooster embodies the Five Virtues.

Crowned head—culture; spurs on feet—martial prowess; fearless against enemies—courage; calling others to food—righteousness; keeping watch without fail—faithfulness.

It matched Wang Daoxuan's nature perfectly.

Sha Lifei, who left home young and wandered the rivers and lakes, used "Wu Ma" as his alias—Wu symbolized peak yang energy, fitting his love of firearms.

As for Lu San...

Li Yan's mind unexpectedly recalled Wujiagou, and Wang Daoxuan's tale of the old dog who refused to leave home and starved to death.

Lu San would use "Xu Quan" as his alias.

As for himself, "Li Yan" was already well-known, watched by all sides—he might as well reveal it openly, shielding his companions.

After finishing the letter, Li Yan slipped it into the bamboo tube and watched the hawk take flight into the night sky before rising to find the old woman Bai Huan.

They had stayed here for a reason.

The Bai family had sent word that their intended allies would send someone to meet them; once the two sides met and agreed, his mission would be complete.

But then Li Yan suddenly looked up at the roof.

Crack!

Tiles shattered above...

(End of Chapter)