Chapter 1612: Flowers Bloom in Their Own Time (Part Two)
“Oh, I came to this region to handle other matters and happened to be passing through, which reminded me of the inquiry. I forgot that my last message was sent while I was still in the lower realm!”
Su Hong waved her hand dismissively, her face remaining composed. She continued, “Recount the details for me once more. In the previous report, there were some points I found unclear. Was the person inquiring about our shops also asking about sending messages to the lower realm?”
Shopkeeper Ni looked at his exhausted young mistress. As a shopkeeper accustomed to dealing with all sorts of people, he was an expert at reading expressions. Their shop was located in an extremely remote area, a distant corner of the western Northern Pastoral Realm. He hadn’t received any orders from headquarters stating that the young mistress would be coming for an important matter or that he needed to assist her.
However, he wasn’t about to dig for reasons. Whatever the young mistress said was law; he would simply follow orders. Thus, Shopkeeper Ni followed Su Hong’s line of questioning and began to recount everything he knew.
On that same day, in another corner of the world, the portly Jia Fugui was rushing toward the Broken Army Sect, travel-worn and dusty.
The aura emanating from Jia Fugui had already reached the initial-stage Spirit Transformation Realm. In the end, he hadn’t used the Grand Void Fruit. Spurred by Li Yan’s progress, he had achieved the breakthrough on his own. His foundation was far deeper than Donglin Tingyue’s; having been at the peak of the late-stage Nascent Soul Realm for a long time, he had finally succeeded four years ago.
After two years of consolidating his cultivation, he resumed managing his sect’s affairs. Not long ago, he had received a piece of news that made his spirits soar. The matter Li Yan had asked him to investigate finally had a lead, and in the intervening time, even more unexpected news had surfaced.
After some thought, Jia Fugui decided to head to the Broken Army Sect immediately to give the news to Li Yan in person. Furthermore, he had another thought: he had achieved Spirit Transformation without using the Grand Void Fruit. If Li Yan knew this, it would mean Jia Fugui had finally gained a bit of ground over his friend. He wouldn’t have to feel useless in every single aspect. He wanted Li Yan to know that having a friend like him was well worth it!
Inside his cave residence, Li Yan, who was in the middle of cultivation, suddenly raised his head and looked toward the main entrance. After a brief moment of surprise, a look of joy appeared on his face.
His Divine Sense had swept over a deacon of the Broken Army Sect leading a large, fat man toward his residence. It was Jia Fugui.
Li Yan remembered the agreement Jia Fugui had made with him. Calculating the time, although thirty years hadn’t passed, over a decade had. While it wasn’t enough time for a middleman to travel back and forth, Jia Fugui’s arrival meant there had to be news.
To ensure he wouldn’t miss any messages, Li Yan had given both Jia Fugui and Donglin Tingyue one of his sect tokens. This meant that no matter if the disciples thought he was in seclusion or not, they would lead the two friends directly to him.
Soon, Jia Fugui strolled into the hall of the cave residence.
“Congratulations to Fellow Daoist Jia on your great advancement in cultivation!”
Seeing him enter, Li Yan immediately stood up and cupped his hands in greeting, a smile on his face.
“A shared joy, a shared joy! I’ve come today to bring Fellow Daoist Li two pieces of news that might be quite good!” Jia Fugui laughed, returning the gesture.
Though he had expected it, Li Yan felt his spirits rise. He hurried to invite his guest to sit.
“Fellow Daoist Jia, please, sit. I can hardly wait. Why are there two pieces of news? Could it be that you have information on both the passage to the lower realm and the Guī Qù Lái Xī shops?”
As Li Yan spoke, he flicked his wrist. Two emerald wine cups appeared on the table, followed by a golden gourd. With another motion, a stream of pale-green liquid poured into the cups, and a refreshing fragrance instantly filled the hall.
Jia Fugui, walking to the other side of the long table, felt the waves of fragrance enter his lungs. His nose twitched involuntarily. The scent was invigorating; even before drinking, he felt the spiritual power in his body begin to surge.
“What fine wine!” Jia Fugui praised.
“The spirit tea I keep here is a bit too ordinary, but this wine is excellent. It was gifted to me a few years ago by Senior Brother Shangguan; he is particularly skilled in this craft. This wine is helpful even for those at our level of cultivation. Now that you’ve achieved Spirit Transformation, I cannot treat you with mere tea. It is only fitting to celebrate with this!”
Li Yan set the wine gourd down and gestured for Jia Fugui to drink, not yet pressing for the news.
Jia Fugui sat down and, without ceremony, lifted the cup and took a sip. He immediately felt a pleasant moisture in his mouth. Without even needing to circulate his energy, his spiritual power began to gallop along the route of the Great Heavenly Cycle.
“This wine is marvelous, truly marvelous!”
After the praise, Jia Fugui set down his cup and went straight to the point, not wishing to keep Li Yan waiting any longer.
“The matter you entrusted to me last time finally has a lead. The middleman I hired has found the person who once saw a Guī Qù Lái Xī shop. I received the reply a few months ago. That person is willing to meet with you. That part is no longer a problem!”
“Oh? Not even half the time has passed. How did the reply come so quickly?” Li Yan asked.
“It was a coincidence. The person who saw the shop had to leave on urgent business. Fearing he would miss him, the middleman inquired along his route. They actually ran into each other halfway. It must be your luck, Fellow Daoist; it saved a lot of time.”
“Since he is willing to meet, where can I find him?”
“I was just about to get to that. Since we are the ones asking for a favor, he won’t be coming here. For the next century, he is scheduled for a rotation duty within his sect, so he can wait for you there. However, I’ve considered the matter. His sect is extremely far from here. While it isn’t quite as distant as the specific shop I mentioned last time, if you wish to go, there are only two paths.”
“If you want to be fast, you would have to cut diagonally across a portion of the Heaven-Slaying Prairie before looking for a long-distance teleportation array. If everything goes smoothly, it would take about thirty years. But that path is too dangerous. Part of the route through the Heaven-Slaying Prairie gets close to the central regions. Even for Spirit Transformation cultivators like us, the chance of perishing is over eighty percent.”
“The way I obtained the news was actually through that route. As a merchant sect, we prioritize harmony and deal with all races. Therefore, we can spend a vast amount of spirit stones to have certain tribes in the Heaven-Slaying Prairie relay harmless messages for us. Of course, establishing those connections is incredibly difficult; we can only communicate with a few specific demonic beast tribes. Beyond that, we have to rely on them to open up further relay paths. It’s a chain of favors.”
“The other path is to head north and completely bypass the Heaven-Slaying Prairie. If you do that, even with constant teleportation, it would be difficult to reach the destination within a century. However, if you can find the teleportation arrays of several first-rate sects along the way—as their range is much greater—there is hope of arriving within a hundred years!”
Jia Fugui’s expression turned solemn. Though he had found the news, the western regions where they resided were too remote. It would be very, very difficult for Li Yan to act on this information. But there was nothing Jia Fugui could do; he had fulfilled his promise to find the news, and getting the other party to agree to a meeting was already a significant achievement.
Li Yan’s gaze sharpened. “Fellow Daoist Jia, you mentioned that the Heaven-Slaying Prairie can relay messages. Could we spend a heavy price to teleport a person through as well?”
Jia Fugui immediately shook his head like a rattle. “Absolutely not. The demonic beasts of the Heaven-Slaying Prairie are very xenophobic. We can only relay messages and goods because of long-term trade relations. They only agree to relay dead objects. If it were a living being, they would fear drawing the hostility of other tribes. They would never do it. Furthermore, even if you cut across the prairie, it wouldn’t be finished in a single teleportation; you’d have to rely on multiple tribes. That involves too many variables. I cannot predict what would happen, but the probability of death is high. When we ask for their help, it’s only for messages or materials that aren’t too precious. Even for truly valuable treasures, we wouldn’t feel safe leaving them in their hands.”
Jia Fugui’s rejection was absolute.