BXBX NOVEL Chapter 68 - 58 Leaving Liyang City_l
Chapter 68 - 58 Leaving Liyang City_l
Five days later.
A behemoth ship, three hundred meters long and shimmering with solid, azure spiritual energy, gradually pierced through the thick clouds, sailing towards the ground.
Sensing the ship’s motion, passengers started to emerge from their cabins, standing on the deck to gaze at the ground beneath.
Beneath them was an endless field of spirit crops, radiant verdant grains, bending under their own weight, swaying with the gentle breeze.
Cultivators wearing Taoist robes stood at the helm of the field, casting Spirit Rain Skill by squeezing the finger techniques, conjuring clusters of dark clouds in the sky, and let fall drops of dew.
There were also spirit farmers in short sleeves and rolled-up pant legs, hunched in the field pulling weeds and removing pests.
The gigantic ship continued moving forward.
Shortly, a giant crater-shaped mountain came into everyone’s view.
Surrounding the crater-shaped mountain, countless buildings stretched across the entire mountainside like termite mounds. A bustling flow of people ceaselessly shuttled among these buildings, like so many diligent ants.
Smoke! There’s smoke!
Little Ling’er pointed at the center of the crater, squealing in her babyish voice.
Xu Mu looked in the direction she pointed, noticing white smoke continuously billowing from the center of the crater. The entire mountain appeared to be a chimney.
“Hubs, what’s going on over there?” Ye Yingying asked curiously.
The others also looked at Xu Mu for answers, as they were all visiting the Liyang Sect for the first time and were unfamiliar with the situation.
Truth be told, Xu Mu was also here for the first time, but he had gathered quite some information during this time and knew what was happening.
“That should be smoke from a volcanic eruption!”
According to the information he had acquired, the headquarters of the Liyang Sect had been built right above an active volcano, using a formation to extract the power of the earth’s fire. The unceasing eruption of earth’s fire is the reason why Liyang Sect excels in tool-refining.
If everything went as expected, this crater-shaped mountain in front of them was the active volcano where the Liyang Sect was situated.
The city beneath the mountain was their destination.
Liyang City.
Xu Mu spoke a little about the information he had gathered, as the ship landed gently on the ground.
They disembarked with the flow of people, walking straight into the city.
Compared to the marketplaces they had visited before, Liyang City was way too bustling and busy.
The wide streets allowed six carriages to move side by side.
The shops lining the street were at least three or four stories high, intricately designed and magnificently elegant.
Talisman Stores, Treasure Shops, Pill Medicine Stores, Spirit Beast Stores, Robe Stores, Spirit Rice shops, taverns, teahouses, you name it, countless shops were scattered all around.
Third-tier magic artifacts that were extremely rare in the White River City Market were available in every treasure shop here. The same was true for third-tier pills and talismans, all very common.
Most of the pedestrians on the street were dressed in robes, surrounded by spiritual light, exuding a unique charm.
In Xu Mu’s sense, Qi Cultivation Late Stage cultivators were not uncommon, he would come across them occasionally.
However, Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators were still rare; they hadn’t seen a single one during their walk.
While Liyang City was bustling, it was still predominantly inhabited by Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators.
Progressing to the Foundation Establishment Stage is extremely challenging!
Only one out of hundred Qi Cultivation Late Stage cultivators could advanced successfully.
Nevertheless, Xu Mu could feel, even though they were all in Qi Cultivation Stage, the cultivators in Liyang City had a much more substantial aura, and an evident advantage if they were to advance to the Foundation Establishment Stage.
This situation was completely normal!
Only those loose cultivators who had no hope of advancing would venture into a marketplace seeking opportunities.
The past host did the same.
He was not born in White River City but near Qinghe City. He slowly went with the Clear River Sword Sect’s pioneering team to White River City due to his sluggish cultivation progress.
That one trip became a lifelong stay, and he never returned.
He used to live in Qinghe City. Though Qinghe City was bustling, it still paled in comparison to Liyang City.
From the information, he collected, it was noted that Liyang Sect boasted three Golden Pill elders, one of them was even at the late Golden Pill Stage, which made its strength far superior to that of Clear River Sword Sect.
With such formidable strength, there was no way Liyang City wouldn’t flourish.
He could only imagine the prosperity of cities that housed Nascent Soul stage sects!
A sudden impulse swelled in Xu Mu’s heart; he absolutely had to see them in this lifetime.
The group wandered around the city, like Granny Liu touring the Grand View Garden, then found an inn to stay for the time being.
After settling down, the next day, Xu Mu alone went to the dental shop in charge of house rentals.
“I’m not sure what kind of accommodations you’re looking for, sir? A single room, a lone loft, or an independent cave dwelling?”
The receptionist was rotund and cute, making him quite affable.
“You can rent a cave house here?
Xu Mu was quite surprised.
The so-called cave houses are actually mansions built on spirit veins.
Since spirit veins are mostly found in mountains, these mansions are usually carved into the mountainsides. Thus they came to be habitually called cave houses.
“Of course, you can rent them! As long as you can afford the spirit stones, sir, we can even get you a Heaven and Earth Blessed Land!” the man at the reception chuckled.
Naturally, Xu Mu didn’t believe him.
Heaven and Earth Blessed Lands were independent mystic realms, incredibly valuable, often the bedrock of a sect.
Let alone Liyang Sect, even the Tianhe Sect might not possess one.
The receptionist was clearly bluffing.
Xu Mu didn’t bother to expose him.
“I want to rent an independent small courtyard!”
Now he had thirty thousand spirit stones, although Liyang City was bustling, it should be no problem to rent a small courtyard.
“Guest, please follow me!”
Hearing Xu Mu wanting to rent a courtyard, the Tooth Man’s eyes immediately lit up.
He took Xu Mu into the living room of the inner hall, poured tea, and brought out a map.
“Guest, look, there are vacant courtyards in these areas! For example, this one is close to the south gate, close to Willow Street, which is the most bustling, just forty lower-grade spirit stones per month. There is also this one in Little Sweet Water Lane, which is close to the foot of the mountain, surrounded by the spiritual stream from the mountain, the spiritual energy is much richer than other places, only eighty lower-grade spirit stones a month…”
The Tooth man pointed at the map, salivating as he introduced each one to Xu Mu.
Is there anything better?” Xu Mu frowned.
Well, in fact, most of these locations are on the outskirts, even beyond the coverage of the city’s defensive array.
“Yes, of course!”
Seeing Xu Mu dissatisfied, the Tooth man was even more excited, he hurriedly marked a few more locations.
“These locations can’t be any better, like this one in Pear Blossom lane, it is directly connected to the spirit vein of Liyang Sect, although it is the smallest tributary, the richness of its spiritual energy surpasses that of the outer city by half! There is even a better one nearby, it’s a spirit plant garden, not only is the spiritual energy abundant, but you can also plant yourself…”
The Tooth man spoke enthusiastically, yet Xu Mu was slightly unsure because these locations were too good.
“Tell me about the rent!
“Of course! Like the one in Pear Blossom Lane, five hundred lower-grade spirit stones per month, the one in Arch Moon Street only needs eight hundred lower-grade spirit stones…, the most expensive one is only one thousand seven hundred spirit stones per month!”
Only?
Why not just rob me?
Originally, Xu Mu felt that being the owner of thirty thousand spirit stones should be considered wealthy, but in comparison, he doesn’t seem very wealthy after all.
Under the guide of the Tooth man, Xu Mu checked a few and chose one in Green Locust alley.
Six hundred lower-grade spirit stones per month, with spiritual energy content exceeding fifty percent of the exterior, with eleven rooms, complete with a pool and a garden.
Xu Mu was attracted by its calmness.
The surrounding houses were all independent, the nearest one was three feet away.
He didn’t have to worry about safety.
The courtyard was equipped with a defensive array, and there was a patrol team patrolling every day. Because it is near the Liyang Sect’s medicine field, both the frequency and the strength of the patrol were much higher than other places.
The rent in Liyang City was originally high, Xu Mu’s garden had a good location and was spacious, six hundred lower-grade spirit stones was reasonable.
After signing the lease and paying half a year’s rent, this place temporarily belonged to him.
After bringing everyone over, they were all extremely amazed.
Even the wealthiest Lan Shijin hadn’t lived in such a nice place before.
The layout of the house was such that there was a three-story building in the center, a total of seven rooms up and down, and four rooms in a row near the front door.
Xu Mu and Ye Yingying lived on the second floor of the tower, while Lan Shijin and Leng Yuening lived on the first floor, Zhang Shouren with his grandson, and Ouyang Ying with his White Wolf lived in the house.
Even if Xu Mu was tactful, their status were his house servants, it was impossible for them to live in the same building with him.
Both of them weren’t toddlers, they were very self-aware.
Actually, they couldn’t afford to live in such a house even if it was rented out separately.
If Xu Mu was frugal, he could rent it out separately and save some expenses.
So both of them were grateful.
A big part of the reason why Xu Mu accepted them was because of their friendship on the road.
Otherwise, given their circumstances, he could easily buy a few with just some spirit stones.
In fact, Xu Mu did have this idea, not to drive them away, but to buy a few servants.
Not long ago, Leng Yue Ning started showing signs of pregnancy, although it was still uncertain, but the future children will definitely increase, they all had to cultivate and simply had zero time to take care of them.
Therefore, buying servants and starting a family was essential.
But it was not urgent for now, at least not yet.
In the evening, Lan Shijin could help take care of little Ling’er when needed, during the day Zhang Shouren and Ouyang Ying could watch, Leng Yuening could also help, Ye Yingying was six to seven months away from giving birth, so she didn’t need anyone to take care of her yet.
Xu Mu decided to live here for a few months, get fully accustomed to the environment before considering buying maids and servants.
The issue of income needs to be considered as well!
Once his cultivation breaks through to the seventh level, Xu Mu plans to learn how to refine third-tier pills.
With the income from the Jade Marrow Pill, it was clearly not enough to meet the growing demand.
Houses ought to be celebrated properly once moved into.
The women made a large meal using the remaining monster beast meat, and Xu Mu brought out the Spiritual Wine he had snatched from Luo Xu and had a good drink with everyone.
Once little Ling’er fell asleep, Xu Mu and Ye Yingying were finally able to get to know each other better.
When Ye Yingying went to sleep from exhaustion, Xu Mu went downstairs and walked into Leng Yuening’s room.
Lan Shijin, who was cultivating, was interrupted by the noise next door several times, which made her gnash her teeth.
“These two don’t know how to use a silencing talisman! Even Yuening, so, so, humph! I must talk to her tomorrow!”
To avoid being distracted, Lan Shijin had no choice but to stop cultivating and lie down to rest.
But the sound kept lingering in her ear, making her heart itchy like a cat scratch.
Her face was getting redder and redder!
Her hand unconsciously touched a certain position.
As her heart trembled, Lan Shijin remembered the scene in the cave, and finally couldn’t bear it, so she put a silencing talisman in her own room..