The shopkeeper continued, “This time, the Qianyuan Sect isn’t only recruiting disciples. It’s also accepting affiliated forces. Many factions that want to attach themselves to the sect have already begun making their moves. Qingxi City is very far from Duxu City, so news still takes some time to reach us. But I’ve heard that Yunjiangguan has already set out.”
After listening, Xia Yunzhao raised an eyebrow. This information was far too detailed. It had completely surpassed the level of a “regular-customer perk.”
He smiled. “It sounds like you really want me to go to the Qianyuan Sect.”
The woman smiled kindly. “Since this information shop is based in Qingxi City, naturally we prosper when Qingxi City prospers and suffer when Qingxi City suffers. Of course I hope everything in the city goes well.”
Xia Yunzhao nodded, indicating that he was convinced. “Then thank you, Shopkeeper.” With that, he turned and left.
Once outside, he took the information from the bamboo tube and unfolded it. As always, the information shop had given him his money’s worth. It described the Tianling Mountain Range’s current situation in detail and even included a precise route map from Qingxi City to the range.
“After the Battle of Wangjin Sea, the earth veins of the Tianling Mountain Range were completely corroded by demonic qi. Spiritual energy vanished from the mountains, all living things withered, and the area became a dead land. It was later repaired by the Qianyuan Sect’s Earth-Vein Office, and natural spiritual energy has now begun to regenerate…”
Xia Yunzhao and Shang Shuangze exchanged a look. Both saw the same flicker of surprise and doubt in the other’s eyes. The Qianyuan Sect’s Earth-Vein Office… Wasn’t that Brother Du’s lineage?
Back when Yunjiangguan cultivators had come looking for trouble, Brother Du had taken out his magical artifact, the Heaven-Measuring Ruler, to save Xia Yunzhao, only for the other side to recognize his sect lineage. Brother Du had never mentioned his sect after that, so they had never asked.
So the Earth-Vein Office actually repaired earth veins? Then why had the shopkeeper just told him that the Qianyuan Sect would be recruiting disciples in half a year? Was there some connection between the two things?
And if the Tianling Mountain Range had once been a dead land, how had the Dongshan clanspeople survived? The part of the mountain range they had visited was rich in spiritual energy and did not look like a place whose earth veins had been destroyed and later repaired at all… Was the Earth-Vein Office really that impressive?
There were too many questions in front of him. Xia Yunzhao simply turned his head. “Come on. Let’s go to the City Lord’s Residence!”
The two had been away for a month. When they reached the entrance of the City Lord’s Residence again, they almost failed to recognize it. The place looked far more imposing. All the broken-down buildings had been repaired, and even the courtyard walls had been raised.
More surprisingly, the moment they entered, the concentration of spiritual energy rose sharply. There was actually a Spirit-Gathering Formation here now.
Xia Yunzhao looked left and right as though visiting someone else’s home. “Whoa. This is way too grand. Who fixed all this up?”
A cold snort came from ahead. “Well, look who finally decided to visit.”
Xia Yunzhao looked up and saw Zhong Yundu sitting on a roof drinking wine. Below him, one of the guards was craning his neck and chattering away, apparently trying to hurry him into doing something. Zhong Yundu pretended not to hear.
For one rare second, Xia Yunzhao felt guilty. Maybe he really had been an absentee city lord for too long.
But the guilt lasted exactly one second. He quickly straightened with complete confidence, jumped onto the roof, waved the guard away, and began rummaging through his Hundred-Compartment Pouch. “Ironspine Dragon-Scale Pill, Nine-Turn Golden Core Liquid, Nine-Turn Jade Nectar… Here! Brother Zhong, you’ve worked hard lately!”
Zhong Yundu looked at the pills in his hands. Any one of them would make Golden Core cultivators fight themselves bloody. The Nine-Turn Jade Nectar in particular was the sort of thing money could not buy even if one had it, and he had no idea where this brat had gotten it. Rarest of all, every single item was something Zhong Yundu could actually use. He could not help laughing. “What, trying to bribe me?”
Xia Yunzhao stuffed everything into his hands. “How can you call it bribery? It’s just a little token of appreciation. Appreciation!”
The irritation Zhong Yundu had been nursing vanished instantly. Out of sight, out of mind, he waved a hand. “If you’ve got business, go find your brother. I’m resting today. I’m not working.”
Xia Yunzhao brightened. “Brother Xing came out of seclusion? Where is he?”
Zhong Yundu pointed behind him. The next second, the person in front of him was gone. Zhong Yundu muttered angrily, “Rotten brat. No conscience.”
Xia Yunzhao and Shang Shuangze went all the way to the rear courtyard. Brother Xing and Du Yan were both in the same little pavilion as before, drinking tea.
The small garden outside was being renovated. It looked as though they were preparing to plant new flowers and greenery. Both mortals and cultivators were working there, and they seemed to get along surprisingly well, each doing their own job. Qingmu was among them, directing people as they transplanted several delicate spirit flowers. When he spotted Xia Yunzhao, he waved from afar.
Xia Yunzhao waved back and ran into the pavilion, delighted. “Brother Xing, were you the one who rebuilt the City Lord’s Residence? It looks so much grander now!”
Xing Wenyu pointed to a stool for him to sit, then set out spirit fruit for him and said gently, “Qingxi City is a Golden Core-level faction now. If the City Lord’s Residence looked too shabby, it wouldn’t be appropriate.”
Xia Yunzhao thought about it and decided that made sense. He personally did not care, but the City Lord’s Residence represented Qingxi City’s face.
He looked at Xing Wenyu again and saw that Xing Wenyu had already reached the third layer of Qi Refining. Xia Yunzhao grew happy all over again. With a spirit fruit clenched in his mouth, he began digging through his Hundred-Compartment Pouch, then through Shang Shuangze’s. Dew-Condensing Pills, Qi-Replenishing Pills, Bloodstanching Pills, Aura-Concealing Pills, Stone-Skin Pills… Anything usable at Qi Refining, he pulled out and stuffed into Xing Wenyu’s storage pouch.
“Right! Almost forgot!” He turned to Shang Shuangze. “Where’s that thing?”
Shang Shuangze smiled at him and tapped Xia Yunzhao’s Hundred-Compartment Pouch. A cultivation manual floated out. It was the Spirit-Pivot Hundred-Meridian Scripture.
Xia Yunzhao scratched his head. He really had been busy lately. He could not even remember where he put his own things anymore. Good thing Shang Shuangze helped keep him organized.
Du Yan glanced over and nearly sprayed out his wine. “An Earth-Grade cultivation method?”
Xing Wenyu gave him a sidelong glance, disdainfully shifted a little farther away, then opened the manual and looked through it. He did not refuse. “I’ll make a copy. Keep the original yourself.”
Xia Yunzhao almost asked why he had to bother copying it when that was so much trouble, but then figured Brother Xing must have his reasons. So he nodded.
Xing Wenyu put the cultivation method away.
Du Yan slowly slumped back in his seat. Watching the scene before him, he suddenly laughed and murmured, “An Earth-Grade cultivation method… Turns out it’s nothing more than this.”
Xia Yunzhao turned toward him. “Brother Du, what are you muttering about?”
Du Yan shook his head. “Nothing. More importantly, you hardly ever come to the City Lord’s Residence. What brings you back this time?”
Xia Yunzhao chuckled. “Brother Du really knows me. I only have one tiny little thing to ask.” As he watched Du Yan’s expression, he held up his little finger to demonstrate: truly just a tiny thing. If Du Yan did not want to tell him, that was fine too.
The moment Xing Wenyu saw him acting like this, he shook his head. Just wait. Before even the time it took to drink a cup of tea had passed, Du Yan would tell him every last thing he knew. While the two of them traded jokes, Xing Wenyu asked Shang Shuangze, “Xiao Xia and you both seem a little unstable in your auras. Did something happen?”
Shang Shuangze summarized the matter in a few sentences. Xing Wenyu fell silent for a moment, then patted his shoulder. “You don’t have it easy either.”
Shang Shuangze was caught somewhere between laughter and helplessness. Why did this feel like he had just received approval from Xia Yunzhao’s family?
Then Xing Wenyu frowned. “Tianling Mountain Range… That sounds familiar. I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere…” He looked at the spirit tea on the table, thought for a moment, then softly said, “Right. Yan Sikong went to the Tianling Mountain Range once. That Blood Refining Scripture of his was probably obtained there.”
Xia Yunzhao’s ears were sharp enough that the words “Blood Refining Scripture” slipped straight in. He immediately spun around. “What? What? The Tianling Mountain Range had the Blood Refining Scripture too? How did he get it?”
Xing Wenyu said, “That’s only my guess. After returning from the Tianling Mountain Range, he set up a formation in the Scripture Pavilion. Without his permission, disciples of the sect could no longer enter and leave freely. Before that, the inner disciples of Puppet Gate had always been able to come and go as they pleased. Not long afterward, Lingling discovered the Blood Refining Scripture inside the Scripture Pavilion.”
Xia Yunzhao nodded after hearing this. “That really does sound possible…” Once that tangent was finished, he turned back toward Du Yan. “Brother Du, where were you? Keep going!”
Du Yan sighed helplessly. As expected, he could never withstand Xia Yunzhao’s pestering. “The Qianyuan Sect’s Earth-Vein Office is indeed responsible for repairing earth veins. But those repairs are not ‘free.’”
Xia Yunzhao leaned closer. “What do you mean?”
A voice drifted down from overhead. “What else could it mean? It’s like a landlord collecting rent. If you can’t pay, you hand over the land. Any earth vein repaired by the Earth-Vein Office becomes Qianyuan Sect territory, and everything produced on that land belongs to them.”
Everyone looked up at once. Zhong Yundu jumped down from the roof, strode into the pavilion, and sat. No one knew how long he had been eavesdropping, but his timing was impeccable.
Everyone looked toward Du Yan. Du Yan spread his hands, indicating that yes, that was exactly how it worked.
Xia Yunzhao rubbed his chin. “That leaves a lot of room to manipulate things. If the Qianyuan Sect took a liking to some territory, couldn’t they secretly damage its earth veins first?”
Du Yan had not expected his mind to move that quickly. He gave a couple of bitter laughs. “If I’d been half as quick as you back then, how would I ever have fallen this far?”
Xia Yunzhao stopped asking about that. Instead he changed the subject. “Brother Du, I heard that in half a year the Qianyuan Sect is going to open its mountain gates and recruit disciples. They’re also accepting affiliated forces. Do you know about that?”
Forget Du Yan. None of the others knew either. Even Xing Wenyu asked, “Is that true?”
Xia Yunzhao nodded, and Shang Shuangze added for him, “The information-shop keeper said so.”
Everyone nodded. If the information came from that shop, then it could not be false.
Du Yan calculated silently for a moment, then frowned. “That’s not right. The Qianyuan Sect recruits disciples once every hundred years and affiliated forces once every five hundred years. There are still more than ten years before the next hundred-year cycle, and this is nowhere near the time to accept affiliated factions either. Why would they choose now to open the mountain gates?”
Xia Yunzhao hurriedly asked, “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
Du Yan looked at him. “You want to go?”
Xia Yunzhao nodded honestly. “There’s a cultivation method I want, and it’s in the Qianyuan Sect’s Scripture Pavilion.”
“The Scripture Pavilion…” Du Yan thought for a moment. “There are ways to enter it. The first is to join the Qianyuan Sect and become a personal disciple of one of the Office Masters. Then you can enter and leave the Scripture Pavilion freely.”
Xia Yunzhao considered it, then shook his head. “Let’s set that option aside. I’d still rather have more freedom.”
Du Yan continued, “If you don’t join the Qianyuan Sect, there’s only one other way to get into the Scripture Pavilion. Before recruiting disciples, the Qianyuan Sect holds the Qianyuan Grand Competition. The competition is divided into martial combat and miscellaneous arts. Martial combat is exactly what it sounds like, while miscellaneous arts cover alchemy, artifact refining, and similar skills. The top three in any category may make one request of the Qianyuan Sect. They can ask to enter the sect or have their own faction affiliate with it. If all you want is one visit to the Scripture Pavilion, that shouldn’t be a problem either.”
Xia Yunzhao slapped the table. “Then we’ll try that first!” The Qianyuan Grand Competition took place before disciple recruitment anyway. If he failed to make the top three, worst case he could disguise himself, sneak into the Qianyuan Sect, find the cultivation method, and then figure out how to fake his death to get out… City Lord Xia’s mind was flexible, and a whole collection of “excellent ideas” appeared instantly.
Smiling, Shang Shuangze poured him tea, silently telling him to rein himself in a little.
Du Yan usually tried not to talk about the Qianyuan Sect, but since Xia Yunzhao needed the information, he would not hold back. “If you plan to go, you’ll need to prepare early. Qingxi City is a full ten thousand li from Duxu City. Even with a flying magical treasure, it would take three months to fly there. And along the way, you must cross Wangjin Sea. You can’t fly over that region and can only cross by treasure ship, which takes even longer. Wangjin Sea also has many sea beasts. You’ll need at least a Level-Four treasure ship to cross safely.”
Xia Yunzhao froze. “Wangjin Sea? Isn’t that where the great battle against the demonic cultivators happened?”
Zhong Yundu laughed. “So what? The demonic cultivators disappeared. Wangjin Sea didn’t.”
Fair enough.
But in that case, after adding the flight and sea crossing together, wouldn’t the trip take more than four months? Almost five?
No wonder the information-shop keeper had told him to prepare early. He really did need to. If they waited another half month, they might not even make it in time.
He groaned. “Why is it so far? No wonder Yunjiangguan left so early. They must’ve known ahead of time… Wait, don’t they have to cross Wangjin Sea too?”
Du Yan looked at him. “Yunjiangguan isn’t technically an affiliated force of the Qianyuan Sect, but after several hundred years of managing relationships, it has good ties with several of the Qianyuan Sect’s Office Masters.”
If their relationships were that good, then whether it meant receiving the news early and setting out sooner or asking the Qianyuan Sect to send someone to pick them up at Wangjin Sea… all of that could be arranged.
Xia Yunzhao continued lamenting, “And we have to make the whole miserable trip by ourselves!”
Wait…
Something suddenly clicked. He looked Du Yan up and down. “So Yunjiangguan only issued a kill order without actually taking action… Don’t tell me that was because of you? They don’t want to offend the Qianyuan Sect, so they’re just putting on a show?”
Du Yan cleared his throat. “Drink wine… No, tea. Drink tea.”
* * *
Once he decided to go to Duxu City, Xia Yunzhao began preparing.
Travel expenses were easy enough. He could not cultivate properly right now and only meditated each day, so he did not consume many spirit pearls. Since beginning cultivation, this was probably the richest Xia Yunzhao had ever been.
Qingxi City itself was also fine. After several consecutive expansions, the guard force now numbered more than one hundred thirty people. With the Heart-Discernment Dharma Seal screening recruits, everyone brought in had solid ability and character.
At present, Jing Ruyun and Wei Xuening each led a squad. Xia Yunzhao had instructed them to keep watch over conditions throughout Qingxi City’s territory at all times, and both were responsible. They now took turns, with one stationed inside Qingxi City while the other led a team on patrol through the surrounding domain. There was no need to worry about security.
So Xia Yunzhao had only one real problem left: a treasure ship, and specifically a Level-Four treasure ship.
Compared with flying magical artifacts, ship-shaped magical artifacts were much rarer. Most cultivators flew through the sky, after all. Very few drifted around on water.
Xia Yunzhao cast his net wide. He went back to the information shop, contacted merchant caravans traveling through the city, and spent several days asking around. He finally found a lead, but it was only for a Level-Three treasure ship. Even that was not cheap. It cost a full ten thousand low-grade spirit stones. Converted into spirit pearls, that was ten million spirit pearls.
Scarcity raised value, sure, but wasn’t this taking scarcity a little too far?
At first, Xia Yunzhao had thought that if he could not find a Level-Four treasure ship, a Level-Three one might serve in a pinch. But at that price-performance ratio, he might as well go straight for Level Four.
Since he could not buy one, he considered refining one himself. Unfortunately, he did not have a suitable artifact blueprint. Surely he was not supposed to make Xiao Qing draw one on the spot…
Artifact blueprints already had a low draw rate. To specifically draw a Level-Four treasure-ship blueprint would probably be impossible even if he fed Xiao Qing until it turned into a little fat pig.
Watching Xia Yunzhao rack his brains every day made Shang Shuangze ache for him. He almost suggested flying to Wangjin Sea himself, catching some enormous turtle, and having it carry Xia Yunzhao across…
While Xia Yunzhao was still fretting in the little valley, Yun Yi came in to report that Jing Ruyun had arrived.
Jing Ruyun never normally came to the valley and disturbed them. If something happened, she would first go to Zhong Yundu or Xing Wenyu. If even they could not handle it, there was still Du Yan… Since she had come personally, it had to be urgent.
Xia Yunzhao hurried outside and found Jing Ruyun with several of her junior sisters. The whole group looked travel-worn but delighted. “City Lord, we caught the mastermind!”
Xia Yunzhao froze. “Mastermind?” Then he immediately remembered. “The mastermind behind Bu Zuoren?”
Jing Ruyun nodded. “Exactly. Fellow Daoist Wei and I followed the trail for more than a month and finally brought the person back!”
Xia Yunzhao’s interest sharpened. “Come on. Take me to see!”
He and Shang Shuangze had discussed this before. At first, they had suspected Yunjiangguan was behind it. After all, whether it was that flying-shuttle magical treasure or the number of cultivators they had sent, neither looked like something a minor faction could manage.
Yunjiangguan was the largest force nearby. If Qingxi City collapsed, it would only benefit them.
But later, after thinking about it again, the people of Yunjiangguan might be sanctimonious, but they were also extremely proud. They probably would not use such a method. So Xia Yunzhao had begun suspecting other factions instead. He had even considered Xuexiao City… After all, a Yan-family disciple had died at his hands.
And now Jing Ruyun was telling him they had actually caught the person? If this mastermind belonged to a major faction, they should not have been that easy to capture.
Xia Yunzhao and Shang Shuangze followed Jing Ruyun back to the City Lord’s Residence. Wei Xuening’s group, Xing Wenyu, and the others were already waiting.
Together, everyone entered the dungeon.
Xia Yunzhao pointed at the two people inside. They were like scrawny little chicks, thin and weak, trembling like two leaves. “…Don’t tell me these are the masterminds.”
Wei Xuening answered firmly, “It’s these two. We found several magical treasures at their residence, as well as the magical artifacts they used to contact those cultivators. Everything matches the people who caused trouble in the city before.”
The City Lord’s dungeon had been holding quite a few people lately. Bu Zuoren’s group had already been buried. Of the newly captured cultivators, the thoroughly vicious ones had likewise been taken away for compost. The rest had not yet been dealt with and were being kept in another cell. Comparing the two groups left very little chance of a mistake.
Not to mention they had physical evidence too.
The guard force had been holding in its frustration and wanted to resolve this case beautifully. They had both witnesses and evidence lined up. There was practically no room for denial.
Xia Yunzhao looked at the two trembling leaves with new respect. Their cultivation was low, one at the first layer of Qi Refining and the other at the second. Both wore black robes and did not look particularly wealthy. Where had they gotten enough magical treasures and spirit pearls to hire so many cultivators to cause trouble in Qingxi City?
He tapped the cell door. “Raise your heads.”
The two inside looked up in panic, then immediately lowered their heads again. Their hoods hid their faces before anyone could make them out clearly, though something red flashed for an instant.
Xia Yunzhao frowned. Red? Don’t tell me they have red eyes. Demonic cultivators?
He flicked two threads of spiritual power and knocked their hoods back. The two yelped in fright like little mice whose nest had suddenly been uncovered, frantically grabbing the hoods and pulling them back on.
But that brief instant had already been enough for everyone to see their faces. They were not demonic cultivators. Instead, one of them had a red mark on his forehead.
Behind Xia Yunzhao, Du Yan and Zhong Yundu spoke at the same time. “Ancient Prophecy Remnant Clan, the Sky-Peering Lineage?”
Xia Yunzhao immediately turned around. What kind of title was that? Why did it sound so grand?
Zhong Yundu explained, “An Ancient Prophecy Remnant Clan is exactly what it sounds like, a lineage surviving from antiquity. Legends say they carry bones of law within them and are born with a Sky-Peering Mark on the forehead, allowing them to calculate the secrets of Heaven and foresee cause and effect. But their people disappeared long ago. This fellow probably carries only a trace of Sky-Peering blood.”
Du Yan nodded. “Most ancient remnant clans have nearly vanished by now. Every so often, someone whose bloodline reverts toward an ancestor manifests unusual abilities. That isn’t especially strange. But the Ancient Prophecy clans possess unusual powers. Whenever one appears, some faction usually captures and confines them. It’s impressive that these two boys managed to survive this long.”
Xia Yunzhao thought it over. “Calculate Heavenly secrets and foresee cause and effect… So that means they can see the future?” If they really had that kind of ability, then it was not so strange that they possessed so many magical treasures and spirit pearls.
He asked the people in the cell, “What Heavenly secret did you see? Why did you send people to make trouble in Qingxi City?”
The two in the cell shuddered. “N-no, no, no…”
Xia Yunzhao narrowed his eyes. “If you don’t tell me, I’ll bury you! You know Bu Zuoren, right? Did you foresee what happened to him? He got buried, you know.”
The two trembled even harder, their robes rustling audibly. Xia Yunzhao was almost afraid they would shake themselves apart. The world truly contained every kind of person. With courage this small, they still went around doing bad things?
This was getting nowhere. Xia Yunzhao swept his gaze around and pointed to Yu Fanyang.
After spending some time training in the field, Yu Fanyang had become much more seasoned. The timid, shrinking quality he once carried had disappeared. She was now a fully qualified guard member and had even begun mentoring newcomers. Many ordinary people in Qingxi City knew her, especially children and elderly people, who were particularly fond of her.
But when she spoke, her voice was still soft. “City Lord, what are your orders?”
Xia Yunzhao whispered, “Go in and talk them around. Tell them that as long as they tell the truth, I’ll let them out and I won’t hurt them. As for the losses they caused in the city, they just need to pay compensation… That’s the general idea. Figure out the wording yourself.”
Yu Fanyang nodded, opened the cell door, and went inside.
No one knew what she said, but a quarter hour later, she reported that the two were willing to tell the truth and compensate the city, as long as Xia Yunzhao agreed to let them go.
Xia Yunzhao quickly nodded. I’m willing to let you go, sure. I never said when. The only reason they had failed to throw Qingxi City into chaos was that its residents were sharp-eyed and quick-eared. Otherwise, who knew how much harm they could have caused? They were definitely still serving time.
City Lord Xia felt no guilt whatsoever about using underhanded tricks on bad people. He planted himself in front of the cell, lifted his chin, and said, “In my name as City Lord of Qingxi City, I promise that if you’re willing to tell the truth, I’m willing to let you go. Speak.”
The two looked up and removed their hoods. Only then did everyone realize how young they actually were. One was not even twenty by bone age, while the other looked only fourteen or fifteen.
The older one swallowed dryly, looked cautiously at Xia Yunzhao, and stammered, “I-I-I-I’ll talk…”
Normally, if someone saw Xia Yunzhao and Shang Shuangze together, they would usually be more afraid of Shang Shuangze. Even with Zhong Yundu, Xing Wenyu, and Du Yan added to the group, Xia Yunzhao was still unquestionably the most approachable person among them.
But in the eyes of this Ancient Prophecy descendant, Xia Yunzhao saw fear directed at him. It was as though, compared with everyone else here, Xia Yunzhao was the truly terrifying one. Now that was interesting.
The man shuddered twice more under Xia Yunzhao’s gaze. He looked on the verge of tears, but still forced himself to continue. “I-I-I-I… I wanted to create chaos in Qingxi City because I wanted all the m-mortals to run away. I was afraid you would hurt them.”
He was obviously trying very hard to hold it in, but finally failed and burst into sobs. “I can’t see your past or your future. Only demonic cultivators are like that. You have to be some incredibly powerful demonic cultivator hiding among ordinary people and waiting for a chance to unleash bloodshed, waaah… And I saw you flying through the sky on a treasure ship, scattering something downward, while below you there were corpses everywhere and blood all over the ground… It was terrifying, waaah…”
Xia Yunzhao: “…”
He raised a hand and pointed at himself. Huh? Me?
Still, there was one phrase in that whole speech that immediately caught his interest.
Everyone watched as their city lord squatted in front of the cell like a street thug and banged loudly on the bars. “Forget the rest. Tell me more about that treasure ship!”