LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 248: Retreat
After leaving Wanjuanzhai, Chen Yuan went to another smaller shop selling jade slips, hid his cultivation level, and bought several books recording the history of Yuqinghai in the past thousand years as a Qi-refining cultivator.
The cautious style has been engraved in Chen Yuan's bones. Although it was only in a small market, he would not expose his details at will.
After completing the two tasks, he did not stay in the market for long. He handed a low-grade spirit stone to the mortal man and drove away from Fuyang Island.
This market was too small. Although there were three hundred years of spirit herbs and other things Chen Yuan needed, the quantity was scarce and the price was high. It was better to go to Wentian Island to purchase them.
On the flying boat, Chen Yuan carefully examined the jade slips he bought, and he had a clear understanding of the changes in Wentian Island in the past thousand years, as well as some major events that happened in Yuqinghai in the past ten years.
After the Wentian Sect was destroyed, the other two major sects fought for Wentian Island and the affiliated sea area of Wentian Sect. They fought to the death, and the losses became increasingly serious until both sides could not bear it.
At this time, a great monk united several medium-sized sects to form a force called "Zhengqi League", appointed himself as the leader, and occupied Wentian Island.
This great monk was born as a casual cultivator, but he cultivated all the way to the late Nascent Soul stage. He was powerful and acted very fairly. He mediated disputes for other forces many times. He was famous and respected in Yuqing Sea.
He suddenly took action to occupy Wentian Island. The other two major sects were naturally very dissatisfied, but compared to letting the other party get Wentian Island, it was finally a barely acceptable result.
Since then, Yuqing Sea has restored the situation of the three major forces standing on equal footing.
Over the past thousand years, Zhengqi League has also developed into a veritable large sect. After the death of the great monk, it still firmly occupied Wentian Island, but the sea area under its jurisdiction was smaller than that of the other two major sects.
Moreover, as a force jointly established by several sects, the structure of the Righteous Alliance is more loose, and its cohesion is undoubtedly weaker. Its heritage is not as profound as the other two large sects, and no great cultivators have appeared.
But it is also because of this that the Righteous Alliance can absorb casual cultivators without pressure. The number of people in the alliance is more than the other two large sects combined, but most of them are low-level cultivators, and their strength is much inferior.
Wentian Island is also a large island in Yuqing Sea with the lowest restrictions on casual cultivators. Many casual cultivators who do not want to join the Righteous Alliance will choose to live on Wentian Island.
There is the largest market in Yuqing Sea, which gathers countless rare treasures. Even many cultivators from Jiuxianzhou come here. The three hundred years of spiritual herbs that Chen Yuan needs can be seen everywhere, which is just suitable for Chen Yuan to practice.
He no longer hesitated and flew to Wentian Island according to the path in the memory of Master Qingyou.
The sea area under the jurisdiction of the Righteous Alliance was a mixed bag of people, both good and evil. Chen Yuan deliberately avoided other cultivators along the way and did not get involved in any incidents.
He met two foundation-building cultivators. After revealing their late foundation-building cultivation, the two of them avoided him from a distance. There were also several Qi-refining cultivators who were extremely frightened, but Chen Yuan did not pay much attention to them.
A month later, Chen Yuan flew tens of thousands of miles and finally arrived at Wentian Island.
This large island is nearly two hundred miles in radius and has a large area. It is surrounded by many small islands and micro-islands. The port on the island is extremely busy, with ships constantly coming in and out.
Chen Yuan slowed down his speed and came to the center of Wentian Island. There stood a huge city, which almost occupied half of the island, like a prehistoric beast crawling on the ground.
This huge city is called Hanxing City. It was built by Hanxing Zhenren, the great cultivator who founded the Righteous Alliance. It is the largest city in Yuqing Sea.
There are always lights rising and falling in front of the city gate. The city is crowded with people, noisy and noisy, and mortals and cultivators live in harmony.
Next to the giant city, a mountain range about dozens of miles long is endless, surrounding the giant city, filled with light clouds and mist, covering the mountain gate of the Righteous Alliance.
But on the edge of the mountain range, there are several peaks that are not covered by clouds and mist, and are also included in the city wall of Hanxing City.
These peaks were specially divided by the Righteous Alliance, and hundreds of caves were built and rented to casual cultivators, earning a lot of spiritual stones every year.
In addition, cultivators can also choose to live in Hanxing City, but they cannot use the spiritual veins on Wentian Island to practice.
There are also spiritual veins on the small islands around Wentian Island, but they are not open to the public. Only the cultivators of the Righteous Alliance or its affiliated forces can be allocated caves on the islands.
Chen Yuan came to the gate of Hanxing City, lowered the light, lined up behind the cultivators who arrived here first, and slowly moved towards the city gate.
Flying is prohibited over Hanxing City, and there are monks from the Righteous Alliance patrolling at all times. If there are any violations, they will be fined with spirit stones at the lightest and expelled from the island at the worst.
Fortunately, Hanxing City has 36 gates, which greatly disperses the flow of people. There are only four monks in front of Chen Yuan, so he doesn't need to wait too long.
When Chen Yuan was queuing, many monks walked by, and none of them needed to be checked by the low-level monks guarding the gates.
What they have in common is that they have tokens of different nature hanging around their waists. This is a pass issued by the Righteous Alliance, which needs to be exchanged for spirit stones.
Mortals can enter and exit Hanxing City at will, but it is difficult for monks to disguise themselves as mortals and sneak into the city.
Each gate of Hanxing City is set up with a formation that can identify monks and mortals, and even Lianjiedan monks cannot hide it.
The four monks in front of Chen Yuan are all coming to Hanxing City for the first time. They exchanged tokens one by one, and soon it was Chen Yuan's turn.
He walked up to a cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining and released his Qi slightly, revealing the cultivation of a cultivator at the late stage of Foundation Establishment.
Under the respectful gaze of the Qi Refining cultivator, Chen Yuan paid a thousand low-grade spirit stones in exchange for a bronze medal, injected a trace of true essence into it, hung it on his waist, and slowly walked into Hanxing City.
The pass tokens issued by the Righteous Alliance to foreign cultivators are divided into five levels. The lowest level is the iron medal, which costs ten low-grade spirit stones a year and can only move around in Hanxing City, but cannot live there.
The next level is the bronze medal, which costs one hundred low-grade spirit stones a year and can live in Hanxing City.
The next level is the silver medal, which costs one thousand low-grade spirit stones a year and can rent a shop in Hanxing City.
The second level is the gold medal, which costs ten thousand low-grade spirit stones a year and can purchase a shop in Hanxing City. Only Jindan cultivators can exchange it.
The highest grade is the jade token, which does not require spirit stones to exchange, but only Yuanying cultivators are eligible to receive it, and can fly freely in Hanxing City.
Chen Yuan spent a thousand low-grade spirit stones in exchange for a bronze token, which can rent a cave in Hanxing City, and only needs to pay spirit stones again after ten years.
Not long after he entered the city gate, he was stopped by a young mortal in his twenties on the street, who asked him with a humble smile if he wanted to take a carriage.
Flying is not allowed in Hanxing City, and the area is too vast, so this kind of business has arisen.
It costs one or two taels of silver to take a carriage, and you can go to any place in Hanxing City.
This price is very expensive for mortals, but it is completely insignificant for cultivators.
Chen Yuan got on the carriage and smiled gently, "Take me to the city market."
The young man was flattered, and his smile became more respectful. He bowed and invited Chen Yuan into the carriage, lowered the curtain, gently waved the whip, and drove the horse to the city, trying to be as gentle as possible so as not to disturb Chen Yuan in the carriage.
The young man had met many monks, but no one had ever been so kind to him as Chen Yuan.
Chen Yuan sat in the carriage, spreading his consciousness and observing everything in Hanxing City.
Hanxing City is a city of monks. Monks can be seen everywhere on the streets, but there are still more mortals.
Here, like Fuyang Island, the language used is completely different from Donghuazhou, and there are also significant differences in clothing.
Fortunately, before Chen Yuan went to Fuyang Island, he had made preparations, changed his clothes, and learned the language used by Yuqinghai monks from the memory of True Man Qingyou, so he would not reveal any flaws.
There were people coming and going on the street, and the carriage was not moving fast. After about half an hour, it arrived at the entrance of Hanxing City Market.
Chen Yuan had no gold or silver in his hand, so he handed a low-grade spirit stone to the young man. The young man was overjoyed and thanked Chen Yuan repeatedly.
In Yuqinghai, cultivators often need to deal with mortals, and they always have gold and silver on them. Even if they reward mortals, they will not use precious spirit stones.
Only mortals who are hyacinths in the market have the opportunity to get spirit stones.
They are familiar with the distribution of shops in the market, and know where to buy the cheapest spirit grass talismans, magic tools and elixirs. Some well-informed mortals even know some news about trade fairs, and may be richer than low-level cultivators.
There are a large number of hyacinths in the market of Hanxing City. As soon as Chen Yuan walked in, an old mortal in his fifties came over and asked Chen Yuan if he needed a guide.
Although this man has gray hair, he is strong, walks briskly, speaks respectfully, but is not overly humble, and is very tactful. It is obvious that he often deals with monks.
Chen Yuan is not as gentle as he is to the driver when facing the mortal old man. He said indifferently: "I want to buy some three-hundred-year-old spiritual herbs. If the price is low enough, I can give you three spiritual stones, but if you dare to deceive me..."
"I have been hanging around in the market of Hanxing City for decades and am very familiar with the shops in the market. I guarantee that you will be satisfied, Master." The mortal old man replied respectfully.
Chen Yuan said indifferently: "It's better to do so. Lead the way and tell me the situation in the market in detail."
He walked forward, and the mortal old man lagged behind Chen Yuan by a body position, whispering: "Master, please look, this Cuizhu Hall specializes in various spiritual woods..."
The market of Hanxing City covers a vast area, with jade and stone paving the street. There are shops on the roadside, one next to another, and monks keep coming in and out.
The shops outside the market mainly cater to Qi-refining cultivators and cultivators in the early stages of foundation building. Most of the items sold are Qi-refining elixirs, low-grade spiritual materials, and magic tools and talismans.
The shops selling three-hundred-year-old spiritual herbs are located inside the market, close to the center of the market.
Chen Yuan, led by the mortal old man, walked through several streets and alleys and went deep into the market. There were fewer cultivators on the street. Most of them were foundation-building cultivators with restrained auras, and there were very few Qi-refining cultivators.
The mortal old man was very good at dealing with people. He told Chen Yuan all the dozen or so shops in the market that sold three-hundred-year-old spiritual herbs, and took him to the three shops with the lowest prices.
After comparing prices from three shops, Chen Yuan chose one of them and bought one hundred three-hundred-year-old spiritual herbs.
Yuqing Sea is full of spiritual energy, and spiritual herbs are more common. The price of three-hundred-year-old spiritual herbs is much cheaper than in Qi.
One hundred three-hundred-year-old spiritual herbs require at least one thousand medium-grade spiritual stones in Qi, but only eight hundred spiritual stones in Yuqing Sea.
Chen Yuan didn't have any middle-grade spirit stones, so he used low-grade spirit stones to settle the bill. The price was higher, so he paid a total of 83,000 low-grade spirit stones.
When he walked out of the shop, the market was already shrouded in the night.
It took Chen Yuan a day to buy these 100 spirit herbs.
The mortal old man stood quietly outside the shop, waiting without any impatience or fatigue.
"Well done." Chen Yuan said lightly, and handed the mortal old man three low-grade spirit stones.
The mortal old man smiled and thanked him and left.
Chen Yuan came to the Sifang Pavilion of the Righteous Alliance to rent caves, and spent 150,000 low-grade spirit stones to rent a Di-character cave for ten years.
The caves in Hanxing City are divided into four types: Tiandi Xuanhuang. Only Yuanying cultivators are qualified to live in the highest-level Tian-character cave, which has only three caves in total.
Cultivators below Yuanying can only rent Di-character caves at most, which cost 100 medium-grade spirit stones a year. The concentration of spiritual energy in the cave is comparable to that of a small spiritual vein, but Chen Yuan needs to pay 5,000 more spirit stones to settle the bill with low-grade spirit stones.
The rent of Di-character caves for one year can buy a top-grade spiritual weapon, which is extremely expensive. Generally, only Jindan cultivators can afford it.
Only those foundation-building peak cultivators who are about to Jindan will temporarily rent it for one or two years, using the abundant spiritual energy in the cave to impact Jindan.
Chen Yuan was rich and powerful. He was only a foundation-building cultivator, but he rented the cave for ten years, which surprised the cultivators of Sifang Pavilion.
After renting the cave, Chen Yuan took a token with the words "Di 37" engraved on it, took a carriage, and came to the mountain where the Di cave was located.
Di 37 Cave was halfway up the mountain, and the location was relatively remote. This was the place Chen Yuan specially chose, and there were no other caves nearby.
In order to facilitate the absorption of spiritual energy from the spiritual vein, this cave was built inside the mountain wall. There was a reception room, a practice room, an acre-sized spiritual grass garden, a spacious performance room, and two empty stone chambers.
Chen Yuan carefully checked the stone chamber environment in the cave, focusing on the formation, and was relieved to make sure there were no omissions.
The Righteous Alliance had a good reputation and had never been reported to have harmed independent cultivators, but Chen Yuan would never rely on others for his safety.
According to the introduction of the monks of Sifang Pavilion, the formation of the Earth Cave Mansion can block the late Jindan cultivator for a quarter of an hour, and it can also isolate the spiritual consciousness from spying, which is extremely safe.
After Chen Yuan activated the formation, he came to the practice room, took out the alchemy furnace and the three hundred years of spiritual herbs purchased today, and began to refine the elixir.
He wanted to refine the white ape's blood essence, and his physical strength must be at least comparable to that of a level 5 monster to be sure enough.
More than ten years ago, his physical strength was comparable to that of a level 4 peak monster, and he was only one step away from a level 5 monster.
But this one step away is like a natural chasm, and it is extremely difficult to break through. After so many years of starlight infusion, there is still a gap, and it will take a few years to break through.
The power of the Zhoutian stars can continuously strengthen Chen Yuan's body, but the degree of strengthening each time is relatively small, and it takes a long time to persist in order to see the effect.
Before the physical body breaks through, Chen Yuan cannot refine the white ape's blood essence, and can only refine pills, improve his cultivation, and prepare for the impact of Jindan.
He sat upright in front of the alchemy furnace, recalling the recipe in his mind, and pointed a point. A flame rose up and wrapped the alchemy furnace. Then he raised his hand and waved it. Two three-hundred-year-old spiritual herbs flew into the alchemy furnace. Under the burning flames, they slowly turned into pure spiritual liquid.