Chapter 1352: Water-Cloud Inn

‘Just by using mid-grade Spirit Stones, it can make a flying puppet reach the speed of a late-stage Nascent Soul. From this, one can see that the research on formations and puppets in the Immortal Spirit Realm is simply incomparable to the lower realm. I’m afraid even the Tianli Clan, who are skilled in the puppet art, can’t even hope to match it. The difference in foundation between the upper and lower realms is too great…’

After observing the green luan puppet for a while, Li Yan directly began to ask Shangguan Tianque about it. The other party knew Li Yan’s origins, so he naturally wouldn’t find his questions strange. He simply explained some of the green luan puppet’s characteristics. Not only was this Green Cloud Sparrow fast in flight, but its defense was also very strong. It could withstand about two attacks from an ordinary mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. This was also something Shangguan Tianque had spent a great deal to finally purchase.

“This flying magical treasure is the handiwork of the ‘Flowing Star Palace’ and is not often seen in the markets. The ‘Flowing Star Palace’ is a super-faction in the Main Dao Realm. It is said that the puppet refining methods they possess are the strongest in the Immortal Spirit Realm. However, because we are too far from the Main Dao Realm, whether these rumors are true or false is unknown. But the puppets they refine are indeed sought-after goods in the other three domains, and their power is not much different from the legends. Thus, as rare things are precious, they are usually highly sought after when they appear in auction houses. I also acquired this flying magical treasure from an auction house by chance several hundred years ago. At that time, if this magical treasure’s flight speed had exceeded what a Nascent Soul realm cultivator could control, it wouldn’t have been my turn at all. There were quite a few Spirit Transformation and above cultivators at that auction, hahaha…”

As Shangguan Tianque spoke, a look of luck also appeared on his face. That time, even if the cultivators above the Nascent Soul realm had looked down on it, he had still spent more than half of his fortune to finally win the bid. As the master of a sect, even if it was just a fourth-rate sect, more than half of his fortune was enough to leave many people speechless. Yet, just for one flying magical treasure, his fortune had shrunk by more than half. Today, Shangguan Tianque was also in a good mood and couldn’t help but talk more with Li Yan. This was because just half a month ago, Yu Banjiang had come out of seclusion. His divine soul was completely fine, and he was already preparing to form his Nascent Soul. This news had made Shangguan Tianque feel much closer to Li Yan.

“Then how can one identify a certain puppet as being from the ‘Flowing Star Palace’?” Li Yan asked softly again, seemingly lost in thought.

“Hahaha, that’s easy to identify. At the core of the formation of all the puppets they refine, there is a meteor mark with a trailing tail. And this meteor mark is the key to activating the puppet with a separate secret method. An ordinary artifact refining grandmaster would find it extremely difficult to forge. This meteor mark is not casually carved on; it must be compatible with a separate activation manual. This requires the refined puppet to be of an extremely high rank. To make a fake, one would have to achieve a level that is almost indistinguishable from the real thing. If that artifact refining grandmaster truly had such means, he wouldn’t need to go and forge a fake ‘Flowing Star Palace’ puppet. He could make a name for himself!” Shangguan Tianque explained.

After hearing this, Li Yan felt it made sense. Judging the authenticity of a puppet was not like a cultivation method, which you would have to cultivate for a long time before you knew if it was real or fake. There were too many factors that could cause slow or unsuccessful cultivation. Judging a puppet was much simpler. Just by having the other party demonstrate it a little, one could usually tell its strength at a glance, so it was not easy to fake.

“‘Flowing Star Palace’s’ puppet art… in the Main Dao Realm…” Li Yan nodded with a smile while committing this to memory. If he were to encounter such a puppet in the future, Li Yan would definitely not miss it.

“We are still within the range of my sect, so we can fly at full speed. After we leave the sect’s range, we must be more careful and be on guard against enemy attacks from all directions at all times. Our speed will slow down quite a bit then.” Shangguan Tianque glanced at their surroundings. The flight speed of the green luan puppet was indeed fast enough. Along their journey, they could encounter all sorts of cultivators and demonic beasts. In the Immortal Spirit Realm, a Nascent Soul stage cultivator only had a slight ability to protect themselves. Everything had to be done with extreme caution. Here, Li Yan, at the Nascent Soul realm, could no longer go wherever he pleased between heaven and earth as he could in the lower realm.

Although their flight path was still quite a distance from the Heavenly Demon Prairie, in general, it was almost a diagonal line along the edge of the Heavenly Demon Prairie, heading north. In the cultivation world, cultivators would often kill others and steal their goods for no reason. How much more so for the more belligerent demon clan cultivators? Their craving for the flesh, blood, and medicinal pills of cultivators could only be greater.

More than ten days later, Shangguan Tianque’s slow voice sounded in the mind of Li Yan, who was sitting cross-legged on the back of the Green Cloud Sparrow.

“Elder Li, we’re almost there!”

Li Yan slowly opened his eyes, glanced ahead, and then, with a flick of his green robe, he stood up. After these few months of day and night cultivation, his injuries had improved a little more. As long as he didn’t encounter a Spirit Transformation cultivator again, Li Yan wasn’t too worried. Along their journey, most of what they had encountered were Golden Core level cultivators, followed by Nascent Soul cultivators. However, this was only what Li Yan’s Divine Sense could detect. It was possible that there were high-level cultivators flying in concealment, and Li Yan and his companion might not necessarily have discovered them.

Once one’s cultivation reached a certain level, like Li Yan and his companion, even if they saw many Golden Core, or even Foundation Establishment cultivators on the road, they would just fly past. The other party might not even know that someone had passed by them. Those low-level cultivators were not worth mentioning in their eyes, like ants on the road. When ordinary mortals walked, they wouldn’t deliberately go and step on every single ant. What skill would that show?

In Li Yan’s Divine Sense, a very large city had appeared a thousand li ahead, about two hundred li in size. The various buildings, pavilions, and courtyards inside were crisscrossed and scattered like stars on a chessboard. Amidst the scattered points of light, the streets were bustling with pedestrians, a lively scene.

The distance of a thousand li was covered in an instant. After Shangguan Tianque paid the Spirit Stones for both of them, they entered the market city. However, the fee to enter the market was not low. Li Yan was speechless when he saw it. Each person actually had to pay fifty low-grade Spirit Stones. If this were in the lower realm, probably only cultivators above the Golden Core stage would occasionally be willing to enter. Without a special reason, no one would be willing to go in. It was too much of a rip-off. To do nothing but enter, one had to pay so many Spirit Stones, and there were no other discounts inside. The Spirit Stones you had to spend, those merchants wouldn’t take a single one less.

Similarly, these merchants also had to pay Spirit Stone rent to the market to open a shop inside and trade their goods. The Spirit Stones Li Yan and his companion paid to enter the market would only be obtained by the forces behind the market, and would not benefit the merchants in the slightest. The benefit Li Yan and his companion received was that after entering the market area, no one was allowed to attack and injure others at will. Otherwise, they would be severely punished by the cultivators guarding the market.

Li Yan also got a piece of news from Shangguan Tianque’s mouth. There was a Void Refining cultivator guarding this place. This was the first time Li Yan felt so close to a Void Refining cultivator. Recalling how on the Wind God Continent, the four of them had fought a single early-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator and had almost been annihilated, Li Yan could imagine how strong a Void Refining cultivator was, what kind of terror that was. That was definitely an almighty being who could kill him beyond death with just a flick of a finger.

After entering the market, Shangguan Tianque didn’t linger on the streets but, after several twists and turns, led Li Yan directly to an inn called “Water-Cloud Inn.” Li Yan saw Shangguan Tianque whispering familiarly with an attendant, and then paid the rent for two rooms for half a month. After that, a shop assistant enthusiastically walked up and, beckoning Li Yan and his companion to follow, led the way to the back.

It was only then that Shangguan Tianque had the time to secretly transmit his voice to Li Yan. “This inn is run by the major power behind this market. If a conflict arises here, don’t be the first to act. This is something you must remember. There are formations here that record images. In the end, the one who will be unlucky is definitely the one who instigated the incident…”

Li Yan nodded slightly. This was basically the same as the markets in the lower realm. A market was a place for business. If you made it so that people were fighting here every other day, anyone who could avoid it would try not to get involved. But for the Immortal Spirit Realm to even use formations to record images, that surprised Li Yan. The only thing Li Yan knew that could record images was a Guiyin Jade Slip, but he wasn’t too familiar with how a formation could do this. But thinking about it, the refinement of such a formation must require precious materials similar to those used for refining a Guiyin Jade Slip. And then to think that it was active twenty-four hours a day, Li Yan could imagine the daily cost. But then he thought about the Spirit Stones he paid to enter the city and the price of staying here for one night, and he felt that the wool was still being shorn from the sheep’s back…

The two followed the assistant and soon entered the backyard. Shangguan Tianque saw Li Yan’s gaze fall on the shop assistant leading the way in front. He smiled faintly and continued to transmit his voice. “I hear that in your lower realm, immortals and mortals are very clearly separated. Many mortals don’t even know that immortals exist. The mortals here are different. As long as they are old enough to understand, everyone will know of the existence of cultivators. So, although they have awe for immortals, they won’t be too surprised. And in the Immortal Spirit Realm, the cost of hiring other cultivators to do things is quite expensive. But if you hire mortals, the Spirit Stones you spend are very few. Therefore, most miscellaneous tasks are done by them. Even some things that only low-level cultivators can accomplish, if you give the mortals some tokens that can be activated with Spirit Stones, they can also do them very well.”

As he spoke, Shangguan Tianque also looked at Li Yan. In fact, he was also very curious about the mortal realm. Seeing this, Li Yan smiled and also replied with a voice transmission. “The mortals in the mortal realm are not all as ignorant as you’ve heard. In some places, immortals and mortals are not completely isolated. Mortals do live together with cultivators, but not all mortals will know of the existence of cultivators. But the mortals on some continents are just as you’ve heard. They have their own dynasties and kingdoms, and they reproduce generation after generation, not knowing that immortals truly exist. But they live a life of reincarnation that can be considered peaceful…”

He simply explained a few sentences to the other party, but in his mind, some images couldn’t help but surface… But he didn’t know when, in his memory, that small mountain village had begun to become blurry. Perhaps it was because it had been too long ago, or perhaps it was because the last time he had entered the small mountain village, things had already changed so much. And Li Yan was unwilling to think of his third brother, his parents, or even the memorial tablets of his third brother’s descendants that had already appeared…

Inside the Water-Cloud Inn, there was an ethereal scene of an immortal’s abode. The area was quite large. Amidst small bridges and flowing water, thick clouds of spiritual energy rose and swirled underfoot. The sound of gurgling water came from beneath the white mist-like spiritual energy on the bridge… If one only used their eyes, they couldn’t penetrate the scenery below. They could only vaguely see the illusory and ethereal ground under their feet. Occasionally, a lone traveler or a group of two or three would walk towards them. As their robes fluttered, it was as if they had passed through the spiritual mist, immortals arriving in an immortal’s realm!

Although Li Yan had been in the upper realm for several decades, it was only when he went out that he would sigh at how rich the spiritual energy of the Immortal Spirit Realm was. Some of the places he had been to were very remote. The spiritual energy there was so rich that a single breath could make your magical power circulate on its own, and the pores all over your body would open up, feeling refreshed and indescribably pleasant. But there were no sects occupying those places; it was just a stretch of wilderness. If it were in the lower realm, even the Malevolent Spirit Sect would have fought to seize it. But in the Immortal Spirit Realm, it was just the most ordinary of remote places. This made it so that every time Li Yan cultivated in the Immortal Spirit Realm, he could feel the intense activity of the five elements of spiritual power in his body. One day of cultivation was often more effective than ten days in the lower realm.

After passing through three courtyards, the shop assistant finally stopped in front of a courtyard. Then, with a smile on his face, he said to the two of them, “Valued guests, this elegant courtyard has a total of five guest rooms. Each guest room has a formation restriction for defense and protection, capable of withstanding two or three attacks from a Spirit Transformation cultivator. You can rest assured and live or cultivate here. You two will be in rooms Ren Three and Ren Four. Although the other three rooms have other valued guests, it will not affect your cultivation. When the formation is activated, it will isolate everything outside, and will not disturb you in the slightest. Apart from the activation jade pendant in your hands, only the shopkeeper in this inn can use the backup method to open it. So, please keep these two jade pendants safe. If one is lost, you will need to compensate ten mid-grade Spirit Stones for one jade pendant.”

As the shop assistant spoke, with a respectful expression on his face, he took out two jade pendants. Then he quickly walked into the courtyard. In the courtyard, there was a pavilion, and next to it was a small pond. The sound of gurgling water was very elegant and chic. At the back of the courtyard was a row of quaint buildings, and in front of these houses was a long fence. After bypassing the pavilion, the shop assistant quickly came to the fence. The fence was covered with flowers of various colors, bright and alluring. He held a jade pendant in his hand and waved it at the swaying flowers. Then, amidst a surge of white mist, a gate appeared on the fence and then swung open. Then, he repeated the process and opened the gate of the adjacent fence…

After dismissing the assistant, Shangguan Tianque stood outside the fence and transmitted his voice to Li Yan. “The auction will be held in seven days. I still have some things to do these few days, so I may not be able to accompany you around the market, Elder Li. You can do as you please. On the morning of the seventh day, I will come over and go to the auction house with you. At that time, Elder Li, please bring everything you need. Perhaps there will be something you like during the auction? If your Spirit Stones are not enough at that time, the sect can advance them for you first!”

Hearing this, Li Yan’s heart stirred. He could hear some undertones in Shangguan Tianque’s words. And thinking about Shangguan Tianque’s previous actions, he had paid the rent for half a month, which gave him some guesses.

‘Although he paid the rent for half a month, he plans to leave at any time…’ Li Yan thought to himself, but his face remained expressionless.

“Fellow Daoist Shangguan, please do as you wish. Just come and find me when the time comes!”

Hearing this, Shangguan Tianque cupped his hands to Li Yan and entered his room first. Li Yan watched as the gate of the other’s fence, after a surge of clouds and mist, once again became a gateless fence, with only the bright flowers on it swaying gently in the wind…