Chapter 280: We Are Immortals

The arrogant wind and snow were still raging, to the point that the sky was dark.

Grain carts on the official road pressed against the wind and snow, stopping and going, swaying left and right.

Fengzhou was originally a disaster area, especially the northwest direction where the official road was located, which had deep snow.

This was actually still good, because Fengzhou's official road had been repaired after all, but after leaving Fengzhou, the other four disaster-stricken provinces had simply all kinds of road conditions.

In the extreme cold temperature, extremely low visibility, and unclear road conditions, the ordinary carriage drivers who originally served as the main force of transportation were almost equivalent to breaking into the gates of hell.

But hearing that it was to save lives, there were still some carriage drivers who drove one carriage after another without hesitation.

At the same time, Fengzhou officials He Zhang and Qiu Zhong were sitting in the front hall of the Ji Stronghold, looking at the required grain amount and the used grain amount, their expressions very solemn.

"Even if the first batch of grain arrives smoothly, it will be difficult for those carriage drivers to return empty-handed."

"Yes, the disaster area is too large; relying solely on our Fengzhou's transport capacity, it is indeed difficult to reach the required number."

"If the Zhenbei Army were here, it would be fine, but the Barbarians in the northern border have movements again. Speaking of which, it's strange; the extreme cold northern border didn't snow this year, but instead, the five provinces of Qingyun..."

"What should we do now?"

"Let's load the carts first; once they are loaded, we can always find people. If not, we few old fogies will top it up."

"What about those outside?"

"Just follow what the Young Master said; no matter what they say, push everything onto him."

He Zhang and Qiu Zhong raised their heads, listened to the scolding in the front hall, and walked out holding their breath.

In the front hall of the Ji Stronghold, aristocratic disciples from all over the world were sitting in the front hall with angry faces, full of killing intent.

And with Qiu Zhong's appearance, a sharp sword was unsheathed with a clang, flashing with cold light, and without explanation, it slashed horizontally toward his neck.

Just at this moment, Pei Ruyi, who was in the front hall, was quick-eyed and fast-handed, slashing horizontally with her sword.

The two swords collided, and amidst a burst of explosions, the porcelain vase placed in the hall shattered instantly.

The cultivator who drew his sword twitched his eyes and said angrily: "Do you know that because all the spirit stones in the Qingyun world have been cut off, my young master is waiting to charge into a realm? If he loses his opportunity because of this, who among you can bear the responsibility?!"

Pei Ruyi looked at him coldly: "This is Ji You's decision; he said he would bear all the consequences."

"Him? Heh, Fengzhou didn't have cultivators, so he picked up a leak; does he really think he is the Lord of Fengzhou? I advise you to restore spirit stone transportation immediately, otherwise... the consequences are not something you can bear."

"The road from the northern border to Fengzhou has been blocked, and the snow is deep; even if we want to transport, it is very difficult."

The cultivator who drew his sword had sharp eyes: "If spirit stone transportation is difficult, then how is your disaster grain transported?"

Qiu Zhong lowered his head even lower: "After the heavy snow, our Fengzhou Road Bureau spent a whole day clearing the Fengzhou official road before the grain carts could leave..."

"Since there is a way, then transport spirit stones the same way you transport grain!"

"The Young Master said that grain is for saving lives, but spirit stones are not, so they are temporarily not being transported. No one can come, and it won't work. If you have a way, you can naturally go to the northern border to get them yourself."

Qiu Zhong stooped and said in a hoarse voice: "We are just servants; if the Young Master doesn't change his decision, even if I loosen up on my side, the Road Bureau and the Immortal Inspection Bureau won't cooperate. May the Immortal Lords be discerning."

The cultivator who drew his sword had an angry face: "Do you mean to say that no one in this world can control him?"

"My Young Master is a disciple of the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan; without the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan coming forward, the aristocratic families naturally cannot control him."

"I will report your words truthfully to the family head, but after this winter, there will be no more Ji family in Fengzhou."

The remaining cultivators also looked at them with gloomy faces, then went out from the Fengzhou government office.

The Demon race does not want the silver money of the human race; the Snow Region where they are is more barren than Fengzhou, so they want firewood, rice, oil, salt, and manual tools.

This involves a very large amount of calculation work, which had always been handled jointly by Fengzhou and the Immortal Inspection Bureau, so that the Snow Region Demon Stones could circulate smoothly.

Therefore, the transportation of Demon Stones is not just a road problem.

In fact, most of Fengzhou's grain production was converted into silver money through exchange with Demon Stones.

But because of Ji You's order, all government offices in Fengzhou and the Immortal Inspection Bureau were now busy with disaster relief, and no one was handling this matter at all.

The Demon race couldn't get the things, so naturally, it was impossible for them to give them spirit stones; getting them themselves was simply a joke.

Therefore, the simplest way to restore transportation was to first solve that Ji You.

After discussing, seeing that it was getting late, they decided to stay one night in their respective family's immortal villas here, and then go to report.

The cultivator who drew his sword was named Guo Liu, a disciple of the Liangzhou Guo family; at this time, he came to the Wanshu Immortal Villa under the Guo family, still cursing and swearing in his mouth.

There were several of his cousins in the Wanshu Immortal Villa, Guo Zixing, Guo Ziyi, and Guo Pingrong; everyone laughed dryly from time to time while listening to his scolding, and then kept silent.

Guo Liu scolded for a long time until he felt his throat dry and hoarse before stopping, then frowned at them, thinking to himself that their brains had become stupid from staying in this poor and remote place.

Although this Guo Liu's realm was not high, only in the Condensation and Transformation Realm, he was the bloodline of the main family after all; even if he was sent out to travel, he was received grandly by the Wanshu Mountain Villa.

Eating and drinking until the deep night, he returned to his room to rest.

Sleeping for a long time, in the second half of the night, he was woken up by the urge to urinate; just as he got up from the bed, he heard a sound in the courtyard, so he peeked through the window.

Under the hazy snowy night, his cousins were sneaking out of their rooms like thieves.

Several people didn't seem to have made an appointment beforehand, and they couldn't help but be slightly startled when they met in the middle courtyard.

However, the few people didn't have much language afterward, looked at each other, and walked out of the immortal villa.

At the same time, in a residence on the west side of the Fengzhou government office.

Zhang Pingyang watched his pregnant wife Lanlan sleeping soundly, so he got out of bed quietly, dressed neatly, and went out.

He was a disciple of a branch of the Liangzhou Zhang family, with average talent since childhood, and so far only had the cultivation of the Condensation and Transformation Realm; after coming to Fengzhou, he cultivated for many years and finally married the commoner woman Lanlan.

Since then, he rarely left his wife, and even didn't return to the immortal villa; this was the first time he decided to leave.

And as he walked out of the room, Lanlan, who was lying on the bed, opened her eyes gently, looking at the figure going out without speaking for a long time.

In fact, she used to be very afraid of cultivators, shivering whenever she saw them, but after truly getting married, she felt that it was just like that.

When she couldn't sleep, she also had a worried look, not mysterious at all.

Under the snowy night, the cold air pierced the bones, and it seemed that even the moonlight was frozen.

Zhang Pingyang came along the road, walking past the wall that wrote "Heaven gave birth to me between heaven and earth, there must always be stories for future generations to see."

Looking from afar, the grain transport carts had stopped at the grain field not far from the city gate, and when he walked to the vicinity, he couldn't help but be slightly startled.

Because he discovered that cultivators from other immortal villas had also come, some had already hitched up the carriages, and after seeing him, they turned their heads in unison, their expressions somewhat strange.

"Why did Brother Zixing come too? There are no spirit stones to take this time."

"I'm here for Brother A-Rong."

"Ah, that person from the northwest village who took us hunting last time?"

"His wife is about to give birth; we are cultivators after all, so we are always much stronger than mortals."

"A sickle can be called a crescent moon curved knife, harvesting wheat can be called learning sword Dao, but being a carriage driver is not easy to cover up. What will you say when you go back?"

"We agreed not to tell anyone, didn't we? Anyway... we are all wallowing in the mire."

Zhang Pingyang couldn't help but laugh lightly, thinking to himself that we have been deceiving ourselves, then flipped onto the carriage and gripped the reins.

Guo Zixing was also organizing the reins, and seeing this, he couldn't help but look at him: "By the way, when is Lanlan due?"

"Probably after the New Year."

"You... didn't plan to return to the Liangzhou Zhang family again?"

Zhang Pingyang looked at the wind and snow in the distance and laughed lightly: "Actually, when I was forced to come to Fengzhou, I knew in my heart that I couldn't go back."

Guo Zixing was silent for a long while after hearing this: "I lived in Central Province until I was sixteen, and lived in Fengzhou until I was thirty-eight; indeed, I shouldn't think about going back anymore."

Zhang Pingyang gripped the reins tightly and wrapped them around his right wrist: "Shall we compare who drives more steadily?"

"You lowly carriage driver, how dare you speak to me, the Immortal Lord, like this?!"

"Eh, we agreed not to tell anyone about this carriage driver thing."

"Didn't you say you weren't going home?"

"When my parents have their birthdays, I have to go back after all. If the people in the main family really found out, I'm afraid I would be laughed to death..."

After Guo Zixing muttered, he turned to look behind the carriage, where some carriage drivers who volunteered to transport were hitching up the carriages, so he shouted with encouragement: "Later you guys follow behind us, we..."

Zhang Pingyang saw him stop abruptly and couldn't help but look at him.

Guo Zixing licked his dry corners of his mouth: "We are immortals!"

Under the gloomy night, the agricultural official responsible for checking the quantity waved his hand.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Pingyang gripped the reins and shouted "Drive," and the grain transport team rushed into the snowy night along the dawn that had not yet risen, their faces carrying endless solemnity.

Yesterday, to ensure safety along the way, the official road bureau spent a whole day clearing the official road before they managed to send off the first batch of grain carts with great difficulty.

But after another heavy snow in the evening, it is estimated that the road ahead will be covered again.

Fengzhou considered the situation of snowy roads when customizing the grain carts, so they ordered the wheels to be made extremely large.

But even so, the deep snow was still a test for the horses.

Sure enough, as the second batch of grain transport carts drove out of the Fengzhou government office, not long after they traveled, the official road ahead had already been buried by deep heavy snow.

Looking at it, the white snow made it impossible to distinguish the direction of the road.

But just when everyone felt uneasy, worrying about how long the horses could fly on such thick snow, a strong aura suddenly swept across, whistling and buzzing in the snowy night.

In a daze, Guo Zixing caught a glimpse of a figure wearing a cross-lapel cloth shirt, standing with hands behind his back, straight up in the clouds.

With a buzz, the pressure fell from the sky.

A crack cut from the middle suddenly appeared on the deep snow on the road surface, and then it was blown out into endless snowstorms toward both sides by the wild wind.

In the instant of the explosion, snow waves rolled for thousands of miles, and the road surface was swept clean.

Seeing this scene, Guo Zixing looked stunned; looking up again, he only saw black clouds and no figure.

Just at this moment, the "hurry up" from Zhang Pingyang's mouth woke him up, and then a team of grain carts kept flying along the main road...

Wind and snow in the five provinces, white everywhere.

In just five days, the Qingyun world, without new spirit stones being transported in, completely cut off supply.

Many people charging into realms, those intending to enter the Inner Court of the Immortal Sect, and those waiting for elixirs all stopped cultivating, revealing expressions of disbelief.

They didn't expect that the transportation of spirit stones would really stop like this.

Watching every spirit stone shop hang up a sold-out sign, those who came to participate in the snow-viewing party, such as Liu Junchi, Peng Peng, and others, all began to wait nervously for the reaction of the families behind them.

They understood the aristocratic families behind them and knew that this matter would inevitably provoke anger.

Thinking of this, Liu Junchi's scalp felt numb, because once they substituted themselves into Ji You's identity, it was as if they felt the pressure of a mountain-collapsing sea.

Sure enough, not long after the spirit stones were completely cut off, a carriage arrived in the air amidst the whistling of spiritual energy.

An elder of the Liangzhou Zhang family appeared with gloomy eyes, landing aggressively.

On Yong'an Street, the snow that hadn't been cleared in time was blown into a snowstorm, mixing with the goose-feather snowflakes falling rustlingly.

The peddlers and porters who kept spitting out white mist from their mouths immediately flashed to the side, passing by in a hurry with their hands tucked and heads lowered on both sides of the road.

Then, the Liangzhou Guo family, Qingzhou Long family, Lingzhou Hua family, Zeng family.

Countless mysterious figures kept whistling from outside the city, and the accompanying disciples also followed in the air, filing in amidst the wind and snow.

Following closely were the Yongzhou Chu family, Yuzhou Lu family...

As countless big figures arrived in Shengjing, carriages embedded with air-travel magical artifacts also entered from the West City Gate, and the Yunzhou Spirit Stone Chamber of Commerce also arrived in Shengjing, looking toward the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan on Nishan...

Lu Qingqiu had just returned to the Bishui Lake Elegant Courtyard at this time, using spiritual energy to ignite the charcoal stove in the room to resist the cold air coming from all directions.

Ji You's disaster relief had caused the spirit stone supply in the Qingyun world to be cut off, so many people in the academy had sent her posts, asking if there were spirit stones for sale.

In their view, Lu Qingqiu was the eldest daughter of the Yunzhou Lu family and had grown up sleeping in a nest of spirit stones.

However, because there were too many people coming here, the spirit stones in her hands were quickly snatched away until there wasn't much left.

But she didn't continue to sell the remaining ones, but went to the Inner Court and gave them to her younger sister who was in seclusion charging into a realm.

Lu Hanyan blew away the fallen snow on her shoulders with spiritual energy, changed her outer clothes, and then took out the teapot and sat it on the charcoal stove.

And when the water pot made a hissing sound, Lu Qingqiu, who was about to make tea, heard a knock on the door, and then Wen Siyuan from the Manager's Courtyard entered, handing her a post.

Lu Qingqiu couldn't help but shake her head: "I don't have many spirit stones in my hands anymore. If there are any more posts delivered, please help me refuse them, Senior Brother."

Wen Siyuan said upon hearing this: "It's not for buying spirit stones; this post is from the head of the Lu family."

"My father?"

"The head of the Lu family came to Shengjing this morning and is currently in the city."

Lu Qingqiu felt somewhat surprised, not understanding what her father was doing in Shengjing at this time.

She took the post and looked at it; the post only wrote the name of a restaurant and the name of a private room.

After pondering for a long while, the eldest daughter of the Lu family propped up an umbrella and walked out of the courtyard where the snow was falling constantly, arriving in Shengjing city along the divine path where the snow was deep.

Eventually, she arrived at the restaurant written in the post, so she reached out to brush the fallen snow off the paper umbrella and stepped forward to walk into it.

This restaurant usually had very good business, bustling every day, and there were songs and dances at night, making it even more noisy.

But today, the building was quiet, and a murderous aura was condensing.

Lu Qingqiu passed through the corridor and saw many big figures with luxurious clothes and mysterious auras sitting in the front hall; she recognized some of them, and for those she didn't recognize, she could probably guess one or two based on the family crests on their clothes.

These family crests all represented the big clans of the Qingyun world, and those sitting here were all high-level figures among them.

Some were elders, some were consultants, all with serious faces. ===== CHAPTER 281 =====