With Xia Yunzhao and the other two in seclusion, Zhong Yundu was the only one left at the city lord’s residence. As a guest elder, he had been told long ago that anyone with a problem they couldn’t solve could come to him. Jing Ruyun and the others took that instruction to heart. Fights, disturbances, any problem beyond their abilities, and they would come rushing in shouting, “Elder Zhong!”
After half a month of this, Zhong Yundu finally realized something. How had he, a mere guest elder, somehow turned into the deputy city lord?
Realizing it was no help at all. None of the other people who could handle the work were there! So everyone kept piling the work onto him. As for Du Yan, if Zhong Yundu could order Du Yan about, he would not have been run ragged in the first place.
Xia Yunzhao could not have cared less how things were going outside. If you couldn’t delegate, you’d work yourself to death. He had handed out the assignments, and now he could return to his little mountain valley with his Dao companion, sweetly and without a care in the world.
The little valley had changed dramatically.
There was a new stone table in the valley with a flowerpot on top. Inside grew Tongxin Grass. Its transparent fruit now contained the medicinal herb garden, reduced to a tiny fraction of its original size.
The formation that accelerated time a thousandfold had also been miniaturized and fitted over the herb garden.
The garden was already filled with countless rare spirit herbs. With the formation’s help, Xia Yunzhao would never lack spirit herbs again, not as an alchemist.
He had transplanted all the herbs from the spiritual field in the courtyard into the garden too. The field itself now grew spirit grain, and not ordinary low-level spirit grain, either. It was high-level spirit rice found at Puppet Gate, previously reserved solely for Yan Sikong.
He had asked Qingmu to help it germinate and grow. The shoots were already as tall as his calves, their neat ranks of green especially lovely.
Yun Yi and the magical-treasure spirit had always liked tending spirit plants. They did not mind switching to spirit grain, and cared for the new crop happily.
Xia Yunzhao was bringing Xiao Qing with him into seclusion, while Shang Shuangze would bring Mingyun. There was no need to bring Xianchan, though. The little creature might be clingy, but it would be the first to complain about being bored if shut up in seclusion.
Fortunately, it had become friendly with the Crimson-Cloud Brocadefish and could play with it instead.
Once they had arranged everything in the valley and inspected every corner to eliminate potential problems, the two finally entered the formation hand in hand.
It was installed in their cave residence and was extremely intricate, consisting of five formations layered together: a Level-Four defensive formation, a cleaning formation, a Level-Three Spirit-Gathering Formation, a time formation, and a Heart-Clearing Mind-Settling Formation.
Each formation could be activated separately or all five could operate at once.
One glance at the complexity of the arrangement revealed how much work Xing Wenyu had put into it.
No wonder he had needed three days of rest after visiting the valley.
Xia Yunzhao put his hand on the formation stone and channeled spiritual power into it. All five formations began operating, their lights flaring before quickly fading from sight.
He smiled. “Brother Xing is amazing. All these formations are so useful!”
Shang Shuangze looked at him tenderly. “You’re amazing too.”
Xia Yunzhao had not been alone with him in ages. He leaned in for a kiss first, then asked in a low voice, “Does it ever bother you?”
Shang Shuangze looked a little puzzled.
Xia Yunzhao smiled. “There are so many people at the city lord’s residence, and it’s always lively. It’s nothing like the days you used to spend on the mountain. Don’t you ever find it too noisy?”
Shang Shuangze smiled. “Of course not.”
Xia Yunzhao smiled back. “That’s what I thought, but I still wanted to ask.”
They embraced quietly. Time spent with friends was wonderful, but time alone together was wonderful too. The formation was particularly peaceful, and none of their little troublemakers could get in.
He was thinking particularly of their youngest little troublemaker, who was capable of finding a way into absolutely anything. Sometimes Xia Yunzhao wanted to get properly close to Shang Shuangze and worried a furry head would suddenly pop out from under the covers. He had no idea where the creature had picked up that habit.
In this respect, Xiao Qing and Mingyun were much better behaved, perhaps because they had more experience. The moment Xia Yunzhao and Shang Shuangze began gazing at each other with obvious affection, both spirits drifted straight out of the room.
Speaking of which, their relationship had taken another step forward.
On New Year’s Eve, Xia Yunzhao had woken in the middle of the night to find himself lying in bed, his clothes clean and his body comfortably cared for. Someone had clearly looked after him very well.
Shang Shuangze lay on a low couch nearby, one hand still resting on Xia Yunzhao’s wrist, as though keeping watch in case anything happened to him during the night.
They both knew perfectly well that one cup of spirit wine could hardly cause any trouble for a Golden Core True Lord.
But when Xia Yunzhao looked at the long, elegant fingers resting on his wrist, his heart gave a sudden leap.
Taking advantage of the lingering effects of the wine, he called out “Shang Shuangze!” and threw himself at him.
Shang Shuangze had not even opened his eyes before his arms instinctively reached out to catch him.
Their feelings were mutual. They spent the whole night together, lost in each other.
When they emerged from their room the following day, the sun was already preparing to set again.
Xia Yunzhao had worried that their friends would tease them, but nobody said a word. Everyone greeted them as casually as ever. Even Xing Wenyu only remarked, “There’s a lantern festival in the city tonight. As city lord, you really ought to take a look.”
Remembering that day now still made Xia Yunzhao laugh. He had been so obvious. Surely everyone knew.
But so what if they did? He and Shang Shuangze were together openly, properly, and lawfully! What was there to fear? A thick skin could withstand anything!
“Anyway, let’s draw some cards first!” Xia Yunzhao rose from his Dao companion’s embrace, clapped his hands, and brought out Xiao Qing.
A hint of regret passed through Shang Shuangze’s eyes. He withdrew his hands and rose slowly too.
Xiao Qing was in excellent spirits. It bounced twice, nuzzled its master on the left, then nuzzled its master’s Dao companion on the right. It had begged for treats with this routine so often during the New Year that the movements had become instinctive.
Ordinarily the inscriptions on Xiao Qing’s body remained hidden, leaving only faint base patterns on its belly. Xia Yunzhao suddenly made a surprised sound and leaned in. “Aren’t there more patterns than before? I can almost make out a picture.”
He knew Xiao Qing so intimately that he would notice the tiniest change. Someone else might have overlooked it for ages.
Shang Shuangze bent down to look as well. “There do seem to be more. The markings have darkened too.”
Xia Yunzhao straightened, took a few steps back, and had Xiao Qing grow larger. Now the design was easier to see. There seemed to be the outline of a person, a vast starry sky behind it, and other disordered patterns whose meanings could not yet be discerned. It looked like a scene from some ancient myth.
“Seems our Xiao Qing has quite an extraordinary origin,” Xia Yunzhao marveled.
Xiao Qing looked from side to side in confusion, rubbing its lid as though scratching its head. Huh? Weren’t we going to draw cards? Where are my treats?
Xia Yunzhao raised a hand. With a tremendous crash, a mountain of spiritual materials tumbled down!
Most of these were useless magical treasures and similar things taken from Puppet Gate, along with stone from its doorframes. They had gone there at night and had not had time to wander about, so they had never seen Puppet Gate in its undamaged splendor.
According to Zhuo Lingling and the others, Puppet Gate had been imposing in its day. Its master might have been an awful person, but the buildings were made from high-level spiritual ores. Spirit-gathering formations had been installed throughout the grounds, growing more powerful closer to the center. Over many years, some of the accumulated spiritual energy had soaked into the buildings, leaving their materials extraordinarily rich in it.
That was why the junior sisters had made sure to gather even things that looked like rubble while collecting the spoils. Those who had belonged to the place knew best which parts of it were valuable.
More than half of those buildings had been destroyed when the Kunyuan Xutu Seal struck. Everything left of them was piled here now.
Then there were all the useless magical treasures Xia Yunzhao had accumulated recently, the spirit herbs and fruits none of his friends could make use of, and countless other bits and pieces.
Altogether, they were worth more than eight hundred thousand spirit pearls.
The moment Xiao Qing saw the heap, it became so excited that it could barely wait for its master’s permission before diving in headfirst!
Xia Yunzhao thought for a moment, then generously tapped his Hundred-Compartment Pouch. With a clatter, a stream of spirit pearls traced an arc through the air and fell onto the mound of spiritual materials like water from a sprinkler.
Xiao Qing was stunned. Spirit pearls? Did you say spirit pearls? So many spirit pearls, and they’re all for me?!
In truth, it all tasted the same to Xiao Qing. Rubble rich in spiritual energy and spirit pearls were indistinguishable as long as their spiritual-energy content was equal.
Food was different, of course. Xiao Qing would still beg for a bite of something delicious even if it did not contain a trace of spiritual energy.
Perhaps the real reason was that Xia Yunzhao rarely fed it spirit pearls, and even when he did, he offered only a handful as a treat. That had merely whetted the little creature’s appetite.
Children were all like that. Anything they seldom got to eat seemed exciting, whether it tasted good or not. Spirit pearls were a novelty to Xiao Qing. It didn’t matter whether they really tasted different. It wanted them!
Only after pouring out more than two hundred thousand spirit pearls did Xia Yunzhao smile and say, “That’s right. All yours.”
Seeing that Xiao Qing was too delighted to know what to do with itself, Shang Shuangze asked, “Are you planning a ten-pull?”
Xia Yunzhao nodded and covered his mouth to whisper, “Ever since it swallowed that fragment, Xiao Qing has leveled up again. It takes more than a hundred thousand spirit pearls to fill one progress bar now. If I don’t do a ten-pull soon, I’m worried it’ll level up again. Then drawing cards will take even more spiritual energy.”
Growing up was a good thing, of course, and Xiao Qing was extremely capable. After so long together, man and cauldron had grown increasingly attached. These days Xiao Qing hardly ever used its floating text boxes to mock him. Naturally Xia Yunzhao hoped his precious little pot would keep getting better and better.
But a person still had to save money where he could!
There was another important reason too. In the past, Xia Yunzhao had never gone into a card draw looking for anything in particular. Anything useful would do. This time, however, there was something he desperately wanted…
He beckoned with one hand. “Go on!”
Xiao Qing leaped with excitement, springing upward on its three bronze legs. It expanded in midair, somersaulted, flipped its lid open, and dropped headfirst into the heap of spiritual materials with a tremendous clang!
Dense spiritual power enveloped it. The little pot was so excited it scarcely knew where it was. It opened wide like a whale gulping down the sea and swallowed half the mountain of materials in a single mouthful!
Xia Yunzhao shook his head. “A growing boy can eat his father out of house and home!”
Shang Shuangze chuckled. He loved it when Xia Yunzhao said these homely, everyday things. Every time, he wanted to kiss him.
Xiao Qing swallowed the rest in several huge mouthfuls, then, without needing so much as a second to digest, tilted its head to the sky and spat out a shower of paper sheets.
They were well acquainted with the process by now. Shang Shuangze deftly gathered the papers and handed them to Xia Yunzhao.
One glance at the first sheet sent Xia Yunzhao shooting to his feet. “Spirit-Pivot Hundred-Meridian Scripture! A cultivation method!” A closer look made him even more excited. “It’s an Earth-grade method!”
An Earth-grade cultivation method! The highest-quality method he had ever drawn!
But when he read on, he sat back down rather sheepishly. “It can only be cultivated by someone with a Spirit-Pivot Body. I can’t use it, then.”
“Don’t be anxious,” Shang Shuangze comforted him. “Look through the rest first. If you don’t draw one this time, save more spiritual materials and pearls, and draw again. Once I reach late Golden Core, I can venture into the central region of Liancui Mountain. Hunting a single Level-Four slaughter beast there could bring in a million spirit pearls.”
Xia Yunzhao laughed. Shang Shuangze was so adorable. He made it sound like, Don’t worry. I’ll go into the mountains to hunt and provide for you.
“All right,” Xia Yunzhao said with a smile. “Then I’ll go with you. Between the two of us, we’ll definitely catch more.”
Both knew perfectly well why Xia Yunzhao had decided to do a ten-pull as soon as he entered seclusion. He wanted a cultivation method suitable for himself.
His current method was the Qi-Guiding Origin-Connecting Art, a Yellow-grade cultivation method that could carry him only as far as the Golden Core stage. Now that he had reached Golden Core, he would need to find something else if he wanted to keep advancing.
If Xiao Qing produced a suitable method, so much the better. If it did not, he would have to find another way.
He allowed himself only a brief moment of disappointment before saying, “This Spirit-Pivot Hundred-Meridian Scripture is excellent, though. It suits Brother Xing’s constitution perfectly. Let’s give it to him when we leave seclusion.”
Shang Shuangze had guessed he would say that. Though he might not seem like it at first glance, Xia Yunzhao was fiercely protective. Once he acknowledged someone as one of his own, he would do everything he could to help them grow stronger and happier.
Fortunately, his judgment of character was good too. So far, the people he had met were decent folk.
Looking at the next item, Xia Yunzhao raised an eyebrow. “Well, well!” He handed the sheet to Shang Shuangze.
At first Shang Shuangze did not understand why it was being offered to him. Then he looked down. “An incomplete sword manual?”
Xia Yunzhao nodded. “And it’s a good one. A powerful cultivator at the Integration stage developed this sword manual through personal insight. Since the manual was never completed, it has no formal grade or level.”
Shang Shuangze instinctively looked at the first move. He was undeniably a genius of swordsmanship: one glance was enough to stir his sword qi into motion, sending it rolling outward like a storm-tossed sea!
Xia Yunzhao’s eyes lit up. This incomplete manual was called Sevenfold Raging Waves! In that single glance, Shang Shuangze had grasped the essence of the technique. Unfortunately, although it should have contained seven moves, the great cultivator had abandoned it after comprehending only six, leaving it incomplete.
Still, Xia Yunzhao believed that even an incomplete manual would reveal its true power in Shang Shuangze’s hands.
Shang Shuangze slowly opened his eyes. “Excellent swordsmanship.” He lifted his head toward Xia Yunzhao and was just about to speak…
Xia Yunzhao grinned, deliberately leaning in close and batting his eyes. “Well? Well? Were you going to thank me?”
Shang Shuangze laughed. Rather than saying thank you, he caught Xia Yunzhao by the chin, tilted his face upward, and lowered his head for a gentle kiss.
Xia Yunzhao had noticed long ago that whenever they were alone together in an enclosed space, Shang Shuangze became rather clingy. Come to think of it… perhaps he finally knew who Xianchan had learned that habit from.
They were already sitting on the ground. Shang Shuangze leaned in, found he had no desire to move away again, and simply wrapped his arms around his Dao companion from behind so they could look through the papers together.
Two excellent finds in a row! Xia Yunzhao was delighted. Drawing cards came down to luck, and this meant his luck was good today!
Besides, even if he could not use these things himself, he was happy to give them to his friends or to Shang Shuangze.
The next two sheets were good too: two Level-Three pill recipes, Soul-Calming Tranquility Incense and Nine-Turn Golden Core Liquid.
“Nine-Turn Golden Core Liquid!” Xia Yunzhao exclaimed. “Aren’t you about to break through to late Golden Core? This is exactly what you need!”
He owned a copy of the Complete Collection of Level-Three Pill Recipes, which included almost every commonly used Level-Three recipe on the market. But there was a problem: the most commonly used pill was not necessarily the best one for its purpose.
For example, the pill Xia Yunzhao had used most often during Qi Refining was the Dew-Condensing Pill. It eased the discomfort of tempering one’s acupoints. Yet the pill most commonly used by Qi Refining cultivators was not the Dew-Condensing Pill but the widely available Qi-Circulating Pill. It did not relieve discomfort nearly as well, nor did it protect the acupoints as effectively. After tempering them, cultivators still had to spend a long time repairing the damage.
But it was cheap, and plenty of alchemists knew the recipe. That was how it had become the most commonly used pill among Qi Refining cultivators.
When Xia Yunzhao had first arrived, he had not understood any of this. He merely heard cultivators praising his pills for their high quality and effectiveness without knowing why. Now he understood. Not one of the pill recipes Xiao Qing produced was truly poor. Even the ones its text boxes called “common” or “not worth picking up off the ground” were being judged against Xiao Qing’s own standards.
Consider the Nine-Turn Golden Core Liquid. During cultivation at the Golden Core stage, whether early, middle, or late, the most important thing to watch was the impact of spiritual power against the golden core itself. The core was difficult enough to form, yet surprisingly fragile. Even ordinary cultivation, never mind combat, could easily cause cracks to form in it.
That was why cultivators needed supplementary pills while cultivating. Several types were commonly used, such as Golden Core Spirit-Protecting Pills. But Nine-Turn Golden Core Liquid was the best of them!
It could protect the golden core with almost one hundred percent effectiveness. Other pills could reach eighty percent at most.
Once Xia Yunzhao learned that Shang Shuangze intended to break through to late Golden Core, he had gathered information from every possible source. He had wanted the Nine-Turn Golden Core Liquid recipe for ages. Trust Xiao Qing to produce it in a single draw!
And Xia Yunzhao could use the liquid too.
In fact, the benefits might be even greater for him than for Shang Shuangze. Shang Shuangze had already reached the point where he had no choice but to advance. Even without the liquid, he would have to attempt the breakthrough to late Golden Core. But if Xia Yunzhao started using Nine-Turn Golden Core Liquid in his cultivation now, then by the time he reached late Golden Core… it was hard to imagine how resilient his golden core might become.
A resilient golden core would nurture a more powerful Nascent Soul. At every stage thereafter, he could surpass other cultivators at the same level!
That was the gulf that resources opened between cultivators.
The other recipe, Soul-Calming Tranquility Incense, could steady the soul and soothe the mind. In an age when demonic qi was widespread, it would clearly be extremely useful too.
Xia Yunzhao gleefully put both recipes away. “As soon as I become a Level-Three alchemist, the first thing I’m refining will be Nine-Turn Golden Core Liquid! I’ll make enough for both of us!”
He was still only a Level-Two alchemist, but he spoke with such confidence that his advancement to Level Three sounded like a certainty.
Shang Shuangze did not find him arrogant in the least. He smiled and replied, “All right.”
Next came two artifact blueprints and a formation diagram. Both blueprints were valuable, each for a Level-Three magical artifact, but it was the formation diagram that seized Xia Yunzhao’s entire attention. “A Five-Elements Sword Formation Diagram? A Level-Four formation?!”
The advantage of a formation diagram was its portability. When needed, you could place the materials required to set up the formation on it and activate it. If you did not have those materials, you could instead supply spiritual power or spirit stones.
If Brother Xing had possessed a formation diagram back at Puppet Gate, he would not have needed to draw a teleportation formation on the spot.
What made this diagram particularly rare was that it depicted an offensive formation of exceptional power, equivalent to a strike from a Nascent Soul cultivator! Better still, the only things it required to set up the formation were spiritual power and sword qi. It was practically custom-made for Xia Yunzhao and Shang Shuangze.
“An offensive formation! That’s what we need. We still have far too few treasures for attacking!” Xia Yunzhao grinned so hard his teeth nearly dried out. How did that saying go? A fear of insufficient firepower came from having insufficient firepower. Better to hold the weapons in your own hands than someone else’s! If more treasures like this would come his way, he would happily earn another few million spirit stones and take three more leaps in cultivation besides!
Shang Shuangze was even more cautious. After studying the formation diagram carefully, he raised a hand and fed five streams of sword qi into it. “There. From now on, you can activate it by supplying spiritual power.”
That way, Xia Yunzhao would be able to use the diagram even when Shang Shuangze was not beside him.
In thinking this, Shang Shuangze seemed to have forgotten that Xia Yunzhao now carried no fewer than five protective magical treasures, every one of them a fine item at least as good as the Snow-Crane Spirit-Protecting Crown. If he ever met an enemy, it was hard to say which side would actually be in danger.
Xia Yunzhao understood his intentions, of course. The two continued looking through the rewards while clinging affectionately to each other.
The next two treasures lay beyond Xia Yunzhao’s knowledge: a contract and a scroll.
This was not an ordinary spirit-beast contract. Its title was Earth-Vein Resonance Contract. By combining the text box’s explanation with the contract’s contents, Xia Yunzhao worked out what it did and was astonished. “Cultivators can even sign contracts with earth veins?”
“I seem to have heard of that,” Shang Shuangze said thoughtfully. “When I was little, I once heard my master and martial uncle talking. In ancient times, cultivators could manifest divine offices and sign contracts with earth veins. They would share the veins’ spiritual energy in exchange for taking responsibility for matters, great and small, throughout the land they governed.”
Xia Yunzhao laughed. “Isn’t that just a local earth god? Actually, when you put it that way, it sounds pretty impressive.”
Shang Shuangze examined the contract again. “Those are ancient stories. Things are naturally different now. This Earth-Vein Resonance Contract probably isn’t so powerful. Perhaps it only allows a cultivator to share a little of the vein’s spiritual energy.”
Yet what counted as a little spiritual energy to an earth vein would be an ocean of the world’s energy to a cultivator.
The contract was extraordinarily valuable, perhaps beyond anything that could be measured in spirit pearls.
There was a limitation, though. An earth-vein contract was fixed to a particular location. You could sign it only with the place named on the contract, and you had to travel there for the contract to take effect.
Xia Yunzhao nodded. That made sense. Otherwise, the notion was rather frightening. If anyone who picked up an earth-vein contract could become a local earth god, just how many Sun Ergous would there be running around?
He looked at the contract once more. As expected, he did not recognize the place named on it. Fine. Wonderful. He was used to that by now.
That was life. He dangled promises of future benefits before his Qingming Pavilion customers; contracts and treasure maps dangled promises before him.
“As long as the place isn’t inside a secret realm, I’ll put up with it,” he muttered.
Then he looked at the other scroll. It was not merely a piece of paper, but a genuine magical treasure! A Level-Three magical treasure, at that!
It was only Level Three, but in Xia Yunzhao’s opinion its function surpassed even that of certain Level-Four treasures.
It was called the Hundred-Refinements Landscape Scroll. Unfurled, it displayed a lifelike painting of mountains and rivers whose scenery actually moved. Feed a certain amount of spiritual power into the scroll and the picture would change at random, though it would always depict a landscape.
Anyone who entered the painting would be transported to the place shown in it. Reciting the appropriate incantation would bring them back. Distance did not matter.
It was even more powerful than the flying shuttle Bu Zuoren had carried.
Ideas for using the treasure sprang into Xia Yunzhao’s head, five or six in an instant. “If we ever run short of some material again, we can use the scroll to look for it! If the right place comes up, we can go straight in and collect it. We won’t even have to search for a merchant caravan! Think how many spirit stones that would save!”
Shang Shuangze adored the way his companion’s head was always full of spirit stones. “In that case, why not hang the painting up? I looked at it just now. When it’s unfurled, the scene changes on its own at intervals even without any spiritual power. We can watch for the place we need whenever we like and save time.”
“Good idea! Let’s do it!” Xia Yunzhao waved his hand, and the exquisite scroll hung on the wall of their cave residence, right across from them, so they could see it whenever they looked up.
If the scroll had possessed a magical-treasure spirit, it probably would have burst into tears. It had seen people squeeze every last benefit out of something before, but never like this! Now even a painting had been condemned to a 007 work schedule, seven days a week with no time off.
Nothing could be done about it. The two husbands had already moved on to the rest of the treasures.
Two sheets remained from this ten-pull. One of them instantly caught Xia Yunzhao’s eye. He lifted it with a flourish and smiled. “Look! A spell formula!”
Shang Shuangze followed his gaze and smiled too. “A good find. It suits you.”