Chapter 189

"Thank you, Master Xuanyuan, for your guidance!"

He Pingsheng bowed slightly: "But right now, I'm focused solely on cultivation and improving my base—I have no interest in making money. With this skill alone, I can already earn enough for my cultivation needs!"

I won't agree.

If I did, wouldn't I have to spend every day refining pills?

That kind of slave-like life is not what He Pingsheng seeks.

He wants the Dao—he wants to break through quickly.

Otherwise, how will he find a wife?

"Oh..." Xuanyuan said, "If that's the case, I won't press you. But should you ever need my help in the future, I'll come calling to ask you to come out and refine pills for me—I hope you won't refuse then!"

He runs a pill shop, but he can't handle every kind of pill.

Sometimes, customers make strange, unusual requests—or ask for rare pills to be refined.

In such cases, He Pingsheng might prove truly useful to him.

He Pingsheng didn't refuse this time: "Fine... as long as it follows the rules of the cultivation world!"

The cultivation world's rule: five sets of materials for one batch of pills.

"Excellent, excellent!" With He Pingsheng's promise, Xuanyuan was overjoyed. He pulled out a black token and said, "Master He, this is the Xuanyuan family's token. With it, you may enter and exit any part of Dingxiang City, and attend any merchant guild's auction or trade fair!"

"Hehe... perhaps you don't know, but my Xuanyuan family is one of the top two families in Dingxiang City!"

He Pingsheng truly didn't know.

He didn't know—but someone else did.

Bai Long exclaimed in shock: "Could it be... could it be that the Deputy Mayor of Dingxiang City, Xuanyuan, is from your Xuanyuan family?"

"Hehe..." Xuanyuan Changgeng chuckled, feeling honored. He lifted his head slightly and said, "Indeed—the Deputy Mayor is our Xuanyuan family's ancestral elder!"

"Gentlemen, I take my leave!"

The white-haired, ruddy-faced Xuanyuan Changgeng turned and left.

"Heh..." Bai Long said, "I never expected Master Xuanyuan had such a family background. No wonder he could open a pill shop in Dingxiang City—if not for that, he'd have gone bankrupt long ago!"

He Pingsheng deeply agreed.

The cheap goods in a pill shop directly harm the profits of major guilds.

But with an ancestral elder as Deputy Mayor protecting him, of course there's no problem.

"Master He!" Bai Long looked earnestly at He Pingsheng. "If I ever need pills refined in the future, may I come here to ask for your help?"

He gazed at He Pingsheng with hopeful eyes.

In this day and age, meeting a pill refiner in a place like Dingxiang City isn't easy.

Especially when that refiner can effortlessly produce mid-grade pills?

If you can climb aboard, you must.

"No problem!" He Pingsheng said. "Five sets of materials for one batch of pills—that's the cultivation world's rule!"

"But only during my free time!"

"Otherwise, I won't refine pills for you!"

"Both of you are welcome to come!"

He Pingsheng bowed slightly, dismissing them.

"Excellent, excellent... thank you, Master!" Bai Long, having received He Pingsheng's reply, left with a smile.

The small courtyard grew quiet again.

He Pingsheng did not enter seclusion to cultivate.

Because he had secluded himself for too long already—continuing to seclude himself wouldn't necessarily raise his cultivation base.

As always: his travels were insufficient.

Just going out once to kill two human-faced spider demons was of no use.

He took out the black token in his hand and examined it.

The Xuanyuan family's token.

Hmm... with this token, I can go see the guild auctions?

Good!

After resting in his courtyard for several days, He Pingsheng set out with the black token.

The distance from his gate to the area around the Mayor's Mansion, where the three major guilds were located, was still very far.

Because Dingxiang City was huge.

To put it plainly, this single city was roughly a hundred li wide and long!

A common person couldn't walk its entire length in a day—some rode carriages or vehicles pulled by various demonic beasts.

He Pingsheng was a cultivator; his foot speed was naturally no issue.

As long as he didn't spare his magic power, a single step could cover several zhang.

Even so, it took him nearly two hours to travel from his gate to the Mayor's Mansion. Since he had nothing else to do, he treated the journey as a stroll to admire the scenery.

The city had no real scenery, but observing its people and customs was still worthwhile.

"The list is posted... the list is posted..."

"At the southern gate of the Mayor's Mansion..."

"Everyone, go take a look!"

He Pingsheng, walking down the street, suddenly looked up and saw countless Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators surging like a tide toward the south.

He was baffled: What list is being posted?

Does the Mayor's Mansion hold imperial examinations?

With curiosity, He Pingsheng joined the crowd, circling around the east side of the Mayor's Mansion toward the southern gate.

He had never been to the southern gate of the Mayor's Mansion before!

Outside the southern gate was a vast square, one hundred zhang wide and three hundred zhang long.

The entire ground of the square was paved with black jade, dotted with several ornamental structures, giving it an imposing, solemn air.

In the center of the square, on either side, stood two black stone steles, each ten zhang tall.

The steles were surrounded by throngs of people!

On the steles, faintly shimmering magical runes flickered, and countless names appeared and vanished intermittently.

Above all the names, three characters glowed: Feng Ming List.

The left stele bore the words: Long Yin List.

A fine name indeed: Feng Ming Long Yin.

"Master!" He Pingsheng reached out and gently tugged the sleeve of a Qi Refining female cultivator. "Greetings!"

It wasn't intentional.

It was just that everyone around him was female.

The female cultivator had been scowling, but after glancing at He Pingsheng's cultivation level, she instantly became respectful. "I'm no master—Elder, greetings!"

Joking? This woman herself was at the peak of Qi Refining Level Twelve, yet she couldn't discern He Pingsheng's level—so she concluded he must be a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Calling him Elder was not excessive.

He Pingsheng asked: "What is this Feng Ming Long Yin List? Could you explain?"

"Huh?" The woman in peach-colored robes opened her mouth wide enough to fit an egg. "You... you don't know this?"

He Pingsheng said: "I'm from outside the city—I don't understand."

"Oh oh oh..." The woman's expression returned to normal. "The Feng Ming Long Yin List ranks Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment disciples!"

"Any Qi Refining disciple may challenge any cultivator on the Feng Ming List—win, and you gain points and a higher rank!"

"Similarly, Foundation Establishment elders may challenge the Long Yin List!"

"In Dingxiang City, nearly all public resource allocation and competition is decided based on rankings on this Feng Ming Long Yin List!"

"The rankings refresh every six months!"

"Today happens to be the day the six-month rankings are refreshed!"

With that, He Pingsheng instantly understood.

"Thank you!" He bowed to the woman.

"You're welcome!" The woman smiled and left.

He Pingsheng stepped closer, his gaze and spiritual sense sweeping over the Long Yin List.