Quan’er tilted her head and added, “That’s right. I heard that An Yuan City didn’t hesitate to spend a fortune to our enterprise for over a hundred rare spirit tools and a huge number of weapons to deal with a beast tide.”
The white-robed woman bafflingly said, “Strangely enough, the city isn’t large and it wasn’t recently built. How could it place an order for so much equipment? That many spirit tools is something only a mid-sized city would be willing to spend.”
The blue-robed woman shook her head and lightly said, “It doesn’t come as a surprise. Even if a group of powerful beasts didn’t migrate near them recently, the city encounters a massive beast torrent every thousand years. Against a massive joint attack of so many beasts, they wouldn’t be able to easily block it.”
“That’s right. Liu’er’s words are reasonable.” Quan’er pursed her lips in a smile.
Han Li sat in his seat and meditated. But when he heard their conversation about the beast tide, his face began to stir.
He recalled what the large scarred man Zhang Kiu mentioned in the Azure Sifting Desert, a scorpion wave. Could these two things be somehow related?
But after that, the women dropped the topic and quickly spoke about other things. Although Han Li felt curious, he continued to circulate the Varja Arts and slowly mend his meridians.
With that time to mend and the additional undying effects of the Wood Birth Bead, his meridians recovered at a pace far quicker than he anticipated. As of current, his body was in mostly good health. With another month, there shouldn’t be a problem at all.
As such, with the fourth layer of the Vajra Arts cultivated, he suspected that he would be able to win over late Foundation Establishment cultivators, given his understanding of mid and low-grade magic techniques. As for Core Formation cultivators, he would only find out after he’s given it a try.
Of course, this was assuming that the abilities of low-grade cultivators in the spirit realm were the same as those in the mortal realm.
After they left the plain, the caravan arrived at its destination after two days, a stone city with an unordinary presence.
Looking at it from a distance, one could tell that the stone walls were over a hundred meters tall with a thirty-meter-tall stone tower placed every three hundred meter interval on the wall. It appeared quite imposing.
There were also delicate designs carved onto the walls as if they were unfamiliar talisman characters, adding another layer of mystery to the city.
Han Li was speechless at the sight of it.
The city wasn’t comparable to any small city. In the mortal realm, it could be said to be a massive city.
But then, Han Li took notice of a few large armored soldiers patrolling the walls. There were also ballistas placed on top of the towers with giant metal arrows ready to fire.
Each arrow was over ten meters long and shined with white light as if they were each low-grade magic tools.
Such astonishing weapons would likely be able to kill even Fellow Daoist cultivators.
Han Li narrowed his eyes at the sight and began to ponder as the caravan arrived at the city gates.
There was not the person outside the city gates. They were pitch black and sealed tight. There was a large troop of soldiers on top of the gates though, looking down at the caravan with cautious expressions.
The scarred man Zhang Kui rode his wolf up to the gate and wordlessly tossed an item in his hand up to the gate. It was a golden medallion.
The soldiers stirred up on the gate as a middle-aged man in silver armor closely examined it. Afterwards, he took a look at the caravan and commanded, “Open the gates and inspect the caravan. They belong with the Heavenly East Enterprise.”
Once that was said, the soldiers began to shout with a few of them running down to open the gate.
A short moment later, the metal gates slowly opened to reveal tens of fully armed soldiers running out in formation.
The silver-armored middle-aged man was the last to arrive. He walked up to Zhang Gui and vigilantly looked him, “Are you their leader?”
Zhang Kiu calmly answered, “I am Zhang Kiu. You should’ve received the city lord’s token. We carry the goods that were ordered by the city.”
“I’ve received the order, but it is a peculiar time. We’ll need to have a few of our esteemed cultivators to examine your caravan before we can let you in.
Zhang Kui readily agreed to their request, “So you fear demon beasts sneak among us. We’ll comply with your search of course.”
The middle-aged man nodded and turned out, calling out in the direction of the city, “Good. Mister Li, Master Huang! Please inspect them.”
Chapter 1274: Temporary Departure
A calm man’s voice spoke from the city gate, “By command of the city lord, we will assist Officer Zhao. We will naturally offer our services.”
A white-robed Confucian scholar and a monk of azure Buddhist robes walked out from the city gate. The voice belonged to the scholar.
Officer Zhao didn’t dare to neglect the cultivators and hurriedly thanked them with a smile.
The scholar took out a mirror while the monk took out an alms bowl. After a brief chant and incantation gesture, they tossed the magic tools into the air.
Suddenly, the magic tools began to circle in the air. The lens spouted out an azure mist, covering an entire tortoise. As for the alms bowl, it released a yellow light and began to sweep past the wolf cavalrymen.
In a short span of time, the light from both the magic tools quickly swept through the entire caravan, thoroughly scanning each person present.
In the blink of an eye, the thirty carriages and two hundred people were inspected without a problem found.
“Good, you can all enter the city. Ah yes, I must tell you something. Mistress Fang has already made a contract with the largest inn in the eastern city, the Cloud Ease Inn. You may head there after you deliver your goods.” Officer Zhao’s expression relaxed and he didn’t make matters more difficult. After having his say, he waved his hand and signaled them to enter.
Zhang Kiu saluted him before leading the caravan into the city.
After passing through the gates, Han Li discovered that the city was far larger than he expected.
At a glance, the city had an innumerable amount of buildings. He couldn't see the end of them. In addition, the city was well planned when it was constructed. Although the buildings were of different styles and materials used to build them were highly varied, they were evenly arranged with ten meter wide stone roads lined between them.
Such a large city was naturally bustling with excitement. The streets were filled with people where it was nearly overcrowded.
Han Li was stunned at the scene, but he soon discovered most of the people on the streets carried a weapon on them and wore heavy expressions.
When the blue-robed woman in the carriage saw this, she sighed and muttered, “It seems the matter about the beast torrent is true. Otherwise, the villagers outside wouldn’t have all rushed into the city. There is a large pressure on An Yuan City.”
When Han Li heard this, he came to a sudden realization.
With so many people, it would be difficult for the caravan’s tortoises to make it through. Fortunately, Officer Zhao had already considered the matter and sent several soldiers to clear a path for them. They forcibly dispersed the crowd to make way.
Even so, the tortoise carriages moved slowly. After travelling for almost two hours, they eventually made their way past ten streets and arrived at a street with rarely few people, stopping in front of a decorated archway that was several stories tall.
Behind the archway were several heavily guarded storehouses with many armed attendants standing nearby.
The following process went exceedingly smooth. The Heavenly East Enterprise handed over their goods to the storehouse officials for inspection. Afterwards, Zhang Kiu received a certificate from them and led the caravan to the west side of the city.
Now having restored his ability to move, Han Li made a sudden proposal to Zhang Kiu when they were halfway to the inn. He wanted to explore the city for a bit before meeting back with them.
When Zhang Kiu heard this, he frowned. Then after some thought, he agreed and said, “Junior Martial Brother Han, you’ve yet to meet the mistress and have yet to officially enter the organization. I won’t restrict you much, but you should take note that many shady characters are now present in An Yuan City. It isn’t very safe, and there can’t be much worth seeing in this small remote city. If you have matters to attend to, I hope you’ll return to the inn quickly when you’re done.”
Zhang Kiu may have a fierce appearance, but he spoke with tactful words.
Han Li smiled and agreed. Then, he nimbly left them, turning a street corner and disappearing from sight.
Zhang Kiu looked in the direction that Han Li disappeared and stroked his chin, wearing a pensive expression.
“What? Does Benefactor Zhang think that Brother Han won’t return?” Standing at his side, Nan Qizi asked him with a smile.
Zhang Kiu wryly laughed and said, “I’m not worried about that, he already signed the blood curse contract. It’s only that Junior Martial Brother Han seems to be a person with a deep history. He’s rather mysterious.”
Nan Qizi smiled and added, “He is so young, yet he was able to cultivate such an astonishing body refinement technique. It is impossible that he came from humble origins. And from his bearing, it is obvious he isn’t from the Heavenly Origin Region like us.”
“Oh, I know that as well. But so long as he doesn’t have a relationship with any of the other great powers in the Heavenly Origin Region, our Heavenly East Enterprise won’t interfere even if he had a problematic history. If we properly nurture this person, it is possible for him to cultivate the fifth layer of the Vajra Arts. In that case, he will certainly turn into Mistress Fang’s strongest soldier.” Zhang Kiu’s expression turned heavy
Nan Qizi glanced at the scarred man with a mysterious smile, “The fifth layer of the Vajra Arts? If Benefactor Zhang truly thinks that, he will an existence on even grounds with Core Formation cultivators.”
Zhang Kiu chuckled, “I am holding my hopes rather high. From how young he is and his current cultivation, the possibility of cultivating to the fifth layer of the Vajra Arts still exists. With some luck, he will far exceed common body refiners like me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been so eager to have him sign a blood curse contract in the Azure Sifting Desert.”
“That’s reasonable. Alright, enough of that person. The goods have been delivered. That means that Mistress Fang’s contract with me and my martial brothers have been fulfilled. We will now take our leave.” Nan Qizi bowed to them and uttered a few words of farewell.
“Oh? You won’t visit the mistress again? In that case, I hope your travels go well!” Failing to keep them any longer, Zhang Kiu bid them a respectful farewell.
The Goulou Mountain cultivators promptly left.
A soldier to the side looked at the departing cultivators and sadly said, “It is truly a pity. If our enterprise was able to have our own cultivators, it would be great.”
The scarred man sighed, “It is wishful thinking to have our own cultivators. Although our Heavenly East Enterprise is one of the three great merchant unions in the Heavenly Origin Region, we still struggle to acquire spirit stones every year. It isn’t enough to hire cultivators all year round. And Qi Condensation cultivators possess about the same strength as body refiners like us. There isn’t much use in employing them. Foundation Establishment cultivators use an astonishing number of spirit stones year-round as well. It is only when our enterprise has a large order that they are willing to spend spirit stones on them. As for Core Formation cultivators and above, that is something that we can’t even consider. High-grade cultivators require rare materials or magic tools that are far beyond what we can afford. Even if our enterprise manages to somehow foster a mid-grade cultivator, they will eventually leave.”
“That is so. Even body refiners like us will immediately depart to dangerous areas when they finish their cultivation, in search of rare medicines that can create spirit roots. After all, when one becomes a cultivator, nor only can they cultivate immortal techniques, but their lifespan increases as well. Over the years, it is impossible to know how many funerals we’ve held for body refiners, yet they still journey outside.” The soldier sadly sighed.
Zhang Kiu then waved his arm, “Enough of that. This has nothing to do with ordinary people like us. Let us return to see the mistress.”
The soldier immediately shut his mouth.
Thus, the party immediately set off, quickly immersing themselves in the busy streets.
...
At that moment, Han Li was standing on a street, looking at the seven blazing suns in the sky and letting out a gloomy sigh.
Ever since he left the Azure Sifting Sands and entered the grasslands, he immediately sensed the astonishing spiritual Qi in the air.
The spiritual Qi in this world was several times greater than what he found in the mortal world. If he was able to find a suitable place of cultivation, it was possible that the spiritual Qi could be over a dozen times greater.
It is a pity that he already dissipated his Nascent Soul. The Ice Phoenix’s restriction is still present on his body, so he wasn’t able to absorb any spiritual Qi, leaving him helpless in this regard.
He then set his sights on the road and looked around him as he walked forward.
The stores on the streets were about the same as he would find in the mortal world, with nothing out of the ordinary.
But suddenly, he stopped and looked at a store in front of him. After some hesitation, he entered and looked around.
There were tables made of sandalwood that shined with the cold light glinting off the weapons they displayed. This was a store that specialized in weapons.
It wasn’t very large, only having two attendants, but there were many customers that visited this store to begin with. Naturally, the two were mortals.
When Han Li entered, he saw that despite the store’s unremarkable exterior, business was treating them quite well and his heart stirred.
When one of the attendants was finished dealing with another guest, he took notice of Han Li and hastily rushed over to him with a smile, “Customer, do you see something you like? Take a look at this gold plated nine ring saber. It was forged from black iron. Not only can it cut through metal, but it is rather heavy. It is an ideal weapon for dealing with wolves.”
The attendant noticed Han Li was eyeing a large ringed saber. It was pitch-black and appeared remarkably heavy.
Chapter 1275: Earth Wyrm Tendon
“I don’t have much strength. How could I use such a heavy weapon?” Han Li withdrew his gaze and shook his head.
“Then how about this crescent sword? It is refined from pure copper. Not only is it light, but it is also quite durable. It is a rare high-quality flexible sword.”
“It is too short for me. It’d be inconvenient to use.” Han Li rejected it at a glance.
“Too short?” The shop attendant's smile froze as if he wasn’t sure how to reply.
Han Li took several steps to the side and pointed to an item on the table. “What is that over there? That looks interesting?”
The item he pointed at was a soft pitch-black rope that was as thick as a thumb.
When the attendant saw this, he hurriedly explained, “That is the Young Dragon Rope. It is refined from metal threads and is specialized for binding. It can trap low-grade demon beasts of extraordinary strength with ease.”
“Let me take a look at it.”
Han Li took the item into his hand and shook it. Woosh. The black rope turned into a perfectly straight stick.
When the attendant saw this, his eyes widened.
He attended to countless customers for this weapon shop so he did possess some judgment. Those who can control rope to that degree can’t be
ordinary. As he determined Han Li was most likely a body refiner, he couldn't help but wear an expression of respect.
Han Li waved it a few more times and frowned. “This is quite good, but it is still a bit too thick. Do you have anything thinner?”
The attendant muttered to himself for a moment before answering with an embarrassed expression. “Something thinner... I’m afraid this store doesn’t have anything like that.”
Then, a rough voice suddenly spoke from behind him, “Oh, you want something thinner? I have something like that. I can let you take a look, but the price won’t be cheap.”
Han Li’s expression stirred and he slowly turned around. There were two large men in leather robes standing behind them. One of them had a lofty stature and hair that reached down from his shoulders, giving him a dangerous aura. The other had a sickly complexion and had shriveled skin.
The larger man carried a long spear on his back and a huge bag as well. The shriveled man carried a meter-long wooden box in his hand and wore a mysterious expression.
Han Li’s face lit up when he saw that the two wore rings embedded with spirit stones, but these rings were much cruder than Zhan Kiu’s and their spirit stones were somewhat smaller as well. There were body refiners with spirit tools.
Having recognized who these people were, Han Li faintly smiled and said, “So long as the item is suitable, the price will be no matter.”
The shriveled man gave Han Li a probing glance and smiled, “Good, but let’s not talk here. Please follow me to a quiet place and we’ll continue there.”
“That will be no problem,” Han Li said with a nod. He then followed the two out of the shop.
The two appeared quite familiar with the area and soon arrived at an unremarkable alleyway after a few turns.
There was no one there and it was completely silent.
When the three stopped, the “This place will be fine. Little Brother Xin, take out the item for him to see.”
“Of course, Big Brother Bao!” The large man readily agreed and grabbed the bag from his back, giving a big shake.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 707