Chapter 78

These two had quite a few magic tools on them, but most were rather ordinary and of no use to Song Qingming. Song Qingming gathered all these tools and the various miscellaneous spiritual items into a single storage bag, planning to find time to sell them off for spirit stones after returning to Guiyun Market.

Only the black gourd used by the Ghost-Head at the start and the cyan dagger Zhao Tiepao had been using possessed some special functions, so Song Qingming placed them into his own storage bag.

After dealing with these items, Song Qingming took out his own Black Gold Shield. After carefully observing the magic tool, he cautiously removed the silver iron block stuck to it.

Just as he had expected, once the silver iron block was removed, the connection between his spiritual sense and the Black Gold Shield was instantly restored.

He had no idea what this silver iron block was, but it possessed the strange effect of isolating a cultivator's spiritual sense. Even though he had read quite a few classics in Guiyun Market, he couldn't immediately figure out what material it was made of.

At the time, Zhao Tiepao had used this inconspicuous silver iron block to suddenly disable the Black Gold Shield in his hand, which had given Song Qingming a great shock. Fortunately, he still had a high-grade defensive magic tool, the Heavenly Net Umbrella, otherwise he really would have suffered a major loss.

He carefully stored the item in his storage bag. It had some surprising effects, and keeping it on his person to deal with powerful magic tools in the future would surely yield unexpected results.

After carefully taking a long detour and spending an extra three or four days, Song Qingming finally returned safely to Guiyun Market.

This trip had taken Song Qingming nearly a month in total. For most of the journey, he had kept his nerves taut, and only now, as he walked into Guiyun Market, did he slowly begin to relax.

Upon returning to Guiyun Market, Song Qingming did not immediately head back to the Flying Cloud Guard station, but instead came to a restaurant in the market called the Heavenly Wind Tower.

The Heavenly Wind Tower primarily served various delicious spiritual foods and had been open in Guiyun Market for over a hundred years. It was considered a fairly well-known restaurant in the market, and Song Qingming had occasionally come here to treat himself over the past two years.

After ordering a few of his favorite spiritual dishes, Song Qingming spent some time working hard to comfort his stomach.

After entering the Heavenly Wind Tower, Song Qingming, familiar with the layout, went straight to the second floor and found a quiet room by the window. Not long after he sat down, a young cultivator dressed in the Heavenly Wind Tower's uniform came into Song Qingming's private room with a smile on his face.

"Brother Song, I haven't seen you for a few months. I thought you had returned to Qinghe County."

Upon seeing the man, Song Qingming stood up and said with a smile, "Old brother, I don't have the good fortune that you do, Brother Hu, to be surrounded by these delicacies every day. Coming here is a very extravagant affair for me."

This cultivator from the Heavenly Wind Tower was named Hu Daozhen, and he was one of the people Song Qingming had saved from the demonic cultivator's altar during the battle against the demonic cultivators in the Floating Cloud Mountain Range two years ago.

Hu Daozhen had only arrived at Guiyun Market a few years ago. His cultivation base was not high, only at the fourth level of Qi Refining. He possessed decent skills as a spiritual chef and had been at the Heavenly Wind Tower for over three years.

Ever since Song Qingming saved his life two years ago, the two had become good friends in Guiyun Market. As it happened, Song Qingming was also a lover of spiritual food, and ever since he met Hu Daozhen, he would come to the Heavenly Wind Tower to splurge every so often.

"Brother Song, will it be the same as before this time?"

Song Qingming shook his head and said, "Please add a few more dishes for me, and bring a pot of Jade Dragon Spring. I have a few good friends coming later. Don't hold back today; bring out your best spiritual dishes."

"Don't worry, Brother Song, leave it to me. I definitely won't let you lose face." Hu Daozhen gave Song Qingming a serious guarantee before leaving the room to arrange the food and wine.

The efficiency of the Heavenly Wind Tower was always high. In less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, seven or eight beautifully styled spiritual dishes were delivered to Song Qingming's room. Just as the spiritual food and wine were set, the room welcomed two people familiar to Song Qingming.

"Brother Song, it is truly great to see you safe and sound. Both Fellow Daoist Yu and I have returned safely, but I hadn't received any news from you, which made me very worried. Fortunately, the heavens have blessed us, and I have finally seen you today."

The people who arrived were Shi Chun, who had parted ways with him after the ambush a few days ago, and that somewhat delicate-natured Qin Yuniang.

When the two parted ways back then, Shi Chun had specifically sent a voice transmission to Song Qingming, telling him to find him at his cave dwelling after escaping the enemy and returning to Guiyun Market.

On his way to the Heavenly Wind Tower, Song Qingming had already used some silver taels to hire a mortal guide from the market to send a message to Shi Chun, arranging to meet them here.

Seeing Shi Chun, who was unharmed and glowing with health, Song Qingming did not feel particularly surprised. However, the fact that the woman in black could escape from the bandit leader did surprise him slightly.

That day, when Shi Chun heard Zhao Tiepao constantly shouting about avenging his spirit beast, he decisively chose to separate and flee in the way most advantageous to himself, naturally to increase his own chances of escape. This was absolutely in line with his shrewd style; he would not let himself fall into danger for the sake of two ordinary friends.

In Shi Chun's view, regardless of whether the enemy went all-out to chase Song Qingming or the woman in black who killed the Earth-Splitting Bear, his own chances of escape were naturally the highest of the three. The reason Song Qingming was later targeted by Zhao Tiepao and the Ghost-Head naturally had to do with this, a point Song Qingming had been perfectly clear about in his heart long ago.

After greeting Shi Chun and Qin Yuniang and having them sit down, Song Qingming said, "Brother Shi, seeing that you are unharmed, I am also at ease. The reason I invited you here to meet is to take advantage of the Heavenly Wind Tower's delicious spiritual food to thank you for the help you gave me back then. Please, don't stand on ceremony."

"Haha, who would have thought that after a few years, you, Song San, would be much more generous than before. I won't stand on ceremony with such a table full of delicacies, but it's a pity that Brother Zhang couldn't come."

Years had passed, but Qin Yuniang's personality was still as direct as ever. Seeing the table full of spiritual food and wine, her eyes lit up.

"Tieshan just broke through his realm and needs some time to stabilize his cultivation, so he didn't come this time." Seeing Qin Yuniang mention Zhang Tieshan, who couldn't come along, Shi Chun quickly explained to Song Qingming.

"Since it's inconvenient, let's arrange to meet Brother Zhang another day. Anyway, I am now living in Guiyun Market, so there will be opportunities." After saying this, Song Qingming poured two cups of spiritual wine for Shi Chun and his companion.

After a cup of spiritual wine, Shi Chun asked, "Brother Song, that day I saw two people go to chase you, and I thought you were in grave danger. I wonder how you managed to escape later?"

Song Qingming gave a bitter smile and said, "I just happened to escape a disaster by luck. Those two were relentless in their pursuit that day, and I only managed to shake them off by relying on a high-grade talisman I bought from White Dragon Mountain. It was because of this that I deviated from the path back, which is why I returned to Guiyun Market a few days late."

(End of chapter)