Anzhou City
Translator: Cinder Translations
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Two hours later.
Four men and three women, seven Foundation Establishment cultivators from Qing Luo Mountain, appeared before Song Wen and Zhou Siyi.
"Senior Xing Chang, Senior Zhou Shuang, everyone is here. May I ask what instructions you have?" Quan Qiu asked.
"Xing Chang" and "Zhou Shuang" were the aliases of Song Wen and Zhou Siyi.
Song Wen said, "Everything on Qing Luo Mountain will remain the same. The way it was run before will continue as it is. Unless there's an urgent matter, do not disturb me and Senior Zhou Shuang during our cultivation. Also, as long as you perform your duties well, in fifty years, I will grant you the true antidote for 'Cold Dragon Powder' and return your freedom."
The formula for Cold Dragon Powder had been obtained by Fu Mei in an ancient secret realm.
Refining it was extremely troublesome, and the cost was high.
Cold Dragon Powder did not have a true antidote; it could only be alleviated by taking a specially crafted detox pill each month. But Quan Qiu and the others were unaware of this.
"Thank you, Senior Xing Chang," the seven cultivators said gratefully.
"Dismissed," Song Wen replied.
"Yes."
After the seven left, Zhou Siyi asked, "Junior Brother, are we going to cultivate here for the time being?"
Song Wen nodded, "From now on, Qing Luo Mountain will be our Daoist place."
After a brief pause, Song Wen continued, "I have an urgent matter to attend to and will be leaving for a period. Junior Sister, you must be cautious while I'm gone. Qing Luo Mountain has the 'Xuantian Gang Qi Formation,' and unless a Nascent Soul cultivator arrives, no one can threaten you."
"As for the industries in Wu Yuan Market, let them continue to operate if they can. If they can't, abandon them. If you encounter any difficulties, remember that your life is the priority. Everything else comes after your safety."
Zhou Siyi said, "Junior Brother, you can rest assured. I will take good care of myself."
"Senior Sister, there's one more thing I need to ask of you," Song Wen said.
"Please speak, Junior Brother," Zhou Siyi replied.
Song Wen took out a jade slip and handed it to Zhou Siyi.
"Senior Sister, please take a look at this."
Zhou Siyi took the jade slip with some confusion. After inserting her spiritual sense, a look of surprise appeared on her face.
"These pill formulas and alchemy insights—where did you obtain them?"
Zhou Siyi was astonished to find that the jade slip contained thirty types of third-grade pill formulas and ten types of fourth-grade pills, each with insights from three alchemists.
Some of the third-grade pill formulas were ones she had encountered before when she was with the Beast Master Sect.
To loose cultivators or alchemists, the value of this jade slip was immeasurable.
"I traded with Mi He and obtained it from her. I would like to ask Senior Sister to create a special pill when you have time. This pill is similar to the 'Blood Qi Pill,' but instead of using blood qi to improve cultivation, it should enhance the spiritual power within a cultivator's body. However, I want its effects to far exceed those of the Blood Qi Pill," Song Wen explained.
"An enhanced version of the Blood Qi Pill?" Zhou Siyi was puzzled but did not question why Song Wen wanted to create such a special pill.
Song Wen nodded and handed over another jade slip.
"Before this, I successfully created an enhanced version of the Blood Qi Pill twice. The methodology and final pill formula are recorded in this jade slip for Senior Sister's reference."
Zhou Siyi took the jade slip and nodded.
"Junior Brother, don't worry. I will do my best."
"Thank you, Senior Sister," Song Wen said.
After bidding farewell to Zhou Siyi, Song Wen left the Yishi Ridge and headed towards Anzhou City, which was under the jurisdiction of the Nine Palaces Sect.
He left the storage rings of Fu Mei and the burly female cultivator with Zhou Siyi. These rings contained nearly 500,000 spiritual stones, along with the assets of Qing Luo Mountain, which were sufficient for Zhou Siyi's needs.
Additionally, the Shadow Gu that Zhou Siyi had once raised was also left with her, allowing her to continue its cultivation.
The Nine Palaces Sect's cultivation methods are diverse and inclusive.
The disciples of the sect practice both orthodox and demonic cultivation methods, with freedom to choose their paths.
The secret arts are similarly flexible; disciples can practice any technique they prefer, and they are encouraged to cultivate the strongest methods available.
As a result, Nine Palaces Sect disciples can be found practicing everything from corpse refinement to necromancy, as well as those who wield lightning-based techniques.
This leads to a demand for both orthodox and demonic cultivation resources within the sect.
Naturally, the Nine Palaces Sect cannot supply all of these resources. Therefore, Anzhou City, being the closest market to the sect, and also the largest within the sect's territory, has attracted various factions and many loose cultivators, all coming to trade.
This has made Anzhou City very prosperous, gathering many disciples from different sects and loose cultivators.
Song Wen disguised himself as a mid-stage Golden Core loose cultivator and entered Anzhou City.
He spent ten low-grade spiritual stones to hire a middleman on the street.
"I want to gather some intelligence about Nine Palaces Sect disciples. Where should I go?" Song Wen asked.
The middleman was a man in his thirties, a loose cultivator with Qi Refining at the fourth level.
He looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to him and Song Wen before lowering his voice and replying.
"Senior, the largest intelligence shop in Anzhou City is the 'Secret Pavilion' run by Nine Palaces Sect. However, they don't sell intelligence about the sect's disciples. If you want internal information about Nine Palaces Sect, I know a place, but their prices are quite high."
"Take me there," Song Wen said.
"Please follow me, Senior," the middleman replied.
The middleman led Song Wen to the outskirts of Anzhou City.
They passed through an area where lower-tier loose cultivators gathered, walking along uneven streets, until they arrived at a shabby shop with several dim lanterns hanging outside.
The middleman stopped and quietly spoke to Song Wen.
"Senior, this is the most secretive place I know for intelligence trading. The prices are high, but the information they provide is very accurate and comes from a wide range of sources. They can even get some internal news from Nine Palaces Sect. However, be careful when trading here—this place isn't protected by any forces."
"You wait outside. I'll go in and check it out," Song Wen said.
After speaking, he stepped inside the shop.
Inside the shop, there was only a counter, behind which sat an elderly man. There was nothing else in the shop.
The elderly man, a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, quickly stood up when he saw Song Wen enter.
"Greetings, Senior. May I ask what brings you here?"
Song Wen scanned the entire shop with his spiritual sense and noticed a hidden courtyard at the back. Inside the courtyard was a secret room, equipped with a concealment formation. However, the formation was no match for Song Wen's spiritual sense, and the room was empty.
In other words, aside from the elderly man, no one else was present in the shop.
"I heard that you can gather internal information about Nine Palaces Sect?" Song Wen said indifferently.
The elderly man, seeing that Song Wen was a Golden Core cultivator, became a little nervous, fearing that Song Wen might be a Golden Core Elder from Nine Palaces Sect.
"Senior, I only act as an intermediary for trades, not for selling information. If you wish to trade with any disciples from Nine Palaces Sect, I can help as a middleman."
Song Wen reassured him, "Don't worry, I'm not here to cause trouble. I'm just looking for information on one person."
Upon hearing this, the elderly man relaxed a little.
"Who would you like to inquire about, Senior?"
"Yan Yiwen," Song Wen replied.
(End of the Chapter)
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