Ch149 Back to Lingshi City

Lan Xin returns, and looks to be in a good mood today.

She hands over a re-up of half a million spirit stones, along with a small amount of soul metal inside her containment case.

It is the tier 2 ring she tosses back to me that appears to be the main attraction she’s eager for me to see.

I crack the light imprint in a few seconds, and see three more of those small red milk fruits. In this batch, some are even more plump than the high-grade one I still have resting in my storage, others are weaker. Considering they’re all the same with a single upgrade card, I don’t examine them much.

There are 18 foundational crystals leftover in the ring, meaning she didn’t even use up half of the 30 I said she could. Beside these stones, there is a strange tuft of shimmering silver and green grass.

I pull it out of the ring and examine it in my palm for a few seconds.

A sharp pressure, like I’m holding a pristine blade, radiates off of it.

There is hardly any qi in the grass; it feels like almost all of its presence comes from an enchantment.

It feels slightly similar to my Martial Physique, like I’m holding an extremely diluted version of martial root extract in my hand.

I smell the grass, roll it around in my fingers, and curiously try to imprint it to see if my system will scan it.

[Inferior Grade Tier 1 Verdant Steel Sword Grass][Late Stage - Mortal Grade - Swift Sword Enchantment]

As a text box glimmers in my mind, Lan Xin continues, “I managed to pick up those red milk fruits I missed last time, outbidding a few visitors from the inner sect. I asked around and got confirmation that there is a very old, well-maintained garden somewhere in the spirit herb peak that produces a handful of these every month. If you have a few foundational crystals to spare, I can almost guarantee purchasing a steady supply. This tuft of grass is more rare; it was found outside the sect. Any cultivator attempting to master the sword would kill for something like this. I know you’re not much of a sword user… but you said anything enchanted… right? The next auction’s date is undecided, but if you don’t like it, I can sell it back to break even.”

I pull it back into my storage, and toss her two heavenly grade firestones along with the tier 2 ring with the leftover foundational crystals inside.

“No need, these are perfect. I want anything enchanted or related to the soul, the more unique the better. Next auction, make sure to spend the rest.”

—

I show Lan Xin the access points to the 21 new spirit veins around this lake plot, then replace the Tier 2 gathering array flags on the main vein beside the lake with basic Tier 1 black jade harvesting flags.

This adds 22 new veins to her pickup duties. Combined with the 85 veins in the plot near the center of this property, now 107 veins are being harvested for profit.

We head off to Lingshi City.

Once back in the center square, it is clear that there are no longer construction privacy arrays covering many of the main pavilions and shops.

The old Jiang General Pavilion has been completely transformed into the WangMu Pavilion.

All of the smaller stores previously owned by the Tang and Fu Clans, along with late-stage clans that betrayed this city, have mostly all turned into rental caves for focused cultivation, as their storefronts rest over high- and perfect-grade veins.

It feels like there are even more eyes than usual on us as we walk down Jade Market Alley today, though they look past me and toward Lan Xin.

She makes long strides with the outward confidence she’s always shown, but when cultivators praise her and fawn over her beauty behind her back, the reaction in her soul is nowhere near as strong as it was the first time we were in this city.

It makes the corner of my lip turn up as we arrive at the Meng Clan’s talisman shop and walk through the front door.

“Welcome to-” Meng Ruo’s voice cuts off mid-greeting as she looks up from an old booklet and her eyes meet mine.

She looks more energetic, and less bored with life than she did the last time I was here.

Nothing on her status has changed, but there is a subtle shift in her aura that gives off the sensation that she’s learned something significant since our last meeting. It’s hard for me to sense technical physiques like hers, but at the very least it feels far more complex than before.

“You- you’re back! I have what you asked for. I didn’t think it was possible, but I really got it done.” She stands up from behind the table and walks over to hand me back a high-grade storage ring, almost shaking with excitement.

I take it, crack the weak imprint, and peer inside to see my Azure Lightning Attack talisman with an initial-stage mortal-grade harmony enchantment on it.

“Indeed, it looks like you have.”

Meng Ruo steps closer with wide eyes, filled with a glint of obsession that completely breaks the aloof mature persona I’ve seen her hold in public.

“Hey- do you have another one of those talismans? I’ll buy one off you, name any price. I need to feel that focus again. Everything just became so clear in the moment; there was no way I could fail. Even after it wore off, a lot of the instincts stayed with me. With one more… maybe I can even push my talisman mastery physique further, past the perfected stage.”

I shake my head. “Do you think those are common enough that I can just give them out like candy? Unfortunately, I do not have another one for you now, but if I need another specialized craft done, I’ll provide you one as payment.”

A thin smile grows on the older woman’s face, and she nods while letting out a breath. Meng Ruo steadies herself, then walks back to the counter with a more composed, put-together posture.

Lan Xin watches this exchange in confusion and interjects, “You managed to break into the perfected stage of your talisman mastery physique and you didn’t even tell me? What talisman are you talking about buying from Li Hao? What was this special craft that took so long?”

She glances at me before saying anything. Her now hidden excited soul begins to twist with indecision.

I shrug before the silence lasts too long, “It’s fine. Tell Lan Xin whatever you want. She knows far more about me than you do. It would be much easier if we could all be on the same page here. Sharing some secrets now will make our future business far more simple, though, it's up to you.”

The older woman contemplates my words in silence for a few seconds, looking back and forth at us, then presses her control disk to close up the shop.

“Alright…”

She sits back into her chair behind the counter, and thinks for almost half a minute in silence. “I know I’ve said in the past that my path of cultivation ends here. That I have grown too old to strive for anything more. But… My eyes have been opened… Maybe a little trust, and cooperation with others is necessary.”

I can hear her heartbeat from here as she turns to Lan Xin.

She pauses again, carefully choosing her words, and begins to explain the existence of her technical innate physique.

The older woman’s words become even more tense when she starts talking about solidifying the perfected talisman mastery legacy her patriarch left behind. This is because it is clear at first she does not want to reveal the full truth. I simply walk around the shop and look through the many rows of unique talismans to give them the illusion of more privacy.

When I’m out of range, Meng Ruo lets out a long breath, revealing to Lan Xin that she’s been impersonating her patriarch that passed of old age, to keep up appearances and maintain the prestige of a foundational clan.

The two of them have been doing business for years, and could even be considered good friends, but there is a serious shift in both of their auras at this news.

Lan Xin’s soul ripples with sadness for her, and Meng Ruo’s ripples with anxiety that she’s shared too much.

The fiery eyed woman gives her condolences first, walking around the table to hug the heiress of this declining clan.

Though she doesn’t wait long to start teasing her with a grin soon after, lightening the mood, and telling stories from their few years as acquaintances.

Lan Xin quickly begins insinuating the occasional initial stage enchanted talismans from the capital were too conveniently arriving whenever she asked for them. Then, comforts her even further by nudging the dejected older woman to go pursue one of the Lin or Wei Clan heirs with all this newfound energy.

In a matter of minutes, Meng Ruo’s forehead is no longer damp with sweat. In fact, she’s even more at ease than before we entered this shop. A smile cracks through her lips here and there.

For Lan Xin to be so well known in the Outer Sect, I knew there had to be something more than just her beauty at play. Her ability to gossip and control the emotions within a room without it feeling like an attack are far better than mine.

I listen and admire from afar, but tune them out once they move off the main topic, and begin arguing playfully back and forth about random Lingshi City drama involving the lesser clans.

When their conversation comes to a natural end, we eventually decide to leave. I thank Meng Ruo again for enchanting my Tier 2 talisman, and mention the order of fifty low grade crafts were exactly what I wanted.

She sits back all the way in her chair with far more relaxed shoulders as we walk out the front door.

Her gaze lingers on our backs filled with relief and curiosity as we make a turn and head further down Jade Market Alley.

–

“Can I have one of those talismans? Whenever you get more.” Lan Xin asks as we arrive at the smooth jade steps and wide glass windows of the Li General Shop.

I take a step up the entrance stairs and think about three weeks ago when I considered giving her a talisman but ultimately decided against it.

Now, her eyes have grown much sharper, and her confidence in herself has grown after expanding her connections a bit in the outer sect.

Her innate physique has completely healed. Even when I push my spiritual senses extremely deep, it still feels fragile, but there are no visible cracks. The only oddity is her soul bound serpent, sleeping soundly, and glowing a faint red from the tier 2 stone.

She’s far more mentally and physically prepared.

I reply while walking inside the two heavy open doors, “Sure, for you, there is no shortage. I’ll get you one today.”

The whole main shopping area clouded with qi dense air pumping out of the arrays.

It feels like I’m standing right on top of a high-grade spiritual vein.

The glass display case in the center of the shop is full of mid- and high-grade pills, with a few extremely high-grade weapons as the primary display pieces.

On the walls and shelves lining the shop, the more common items are stocked full, on par with the Wang and Mu Clan’s Pavilion in terms of tidiness and ease of purchasing.

A shelf at the back of the shop is lined with golden trim, but there is a dim glowing sign on it that reads: Premium Spirit Rice Wine - 99 Spirit Stones Per Bottle - Sold Out.

The old man at the back of the shop finishes taking care of a customer, then turns to me with a wide smile as we make it to the back counter.

“Fellow Cultivator Li Hao, welcome back. I hope I’ve followed your wishes for the layout of the shop and distribution of wine as you imagined.”

He nervously looks over to the empty display. “You know, the first batch was much slower to sell, but once it caught on, families even from outside the city started visiting to buy a bottle. It has a strange property to it, allowing older initial-stage cultivators to break their bottlenecks much smoother without any fear of straining their dantians. For mid- and late-stage cultivators, it does not have much effect on cultivation, but it definitely gets us drunk. Even at the 10th level, I can’t finish a bottle in a sitting. You know they’re being sold for hundreds of spirit stones each on the resell market? One even sold for a thousand the other day. Are you truly sure you want to only sell them for 99 spirit stones each?”

I raise an eyebrow, but nod. “Is that so? Interesting… In that case, we’ll halt sales entirely. I won’t restock another barrel just yet; let’s wait a few weeks and see if people still want more or they forget.”

Wang Ruze tries to pay me over forty thousand spirit stones, consisting of the raw revenue of spirit wine plus the meager few thousand in profits from the rest of the shop’s normal items.

I take a look at the sales lists, but quickly my eyes glaze over as I don’t really care.

“Just keep all of the profits in the shop for now. Reinvest them in higher-quality pills and artifacts. More high-grade and perfect-grade display pieces would be nice,” I remark while beginning to walk back to the door behind the counter, leading to the back of the shop, locked off.

Wang Ruze hands me a new array disk, created once the renovations were finished to let me through.

“I will do as you say. Also, you might want to know this: I got confirmation on the travel route the vessel Patriarch Mu took to leave the Hidden Mist County. He should be arriving at the capital sometime next week. If all goes smoothly, you should have the items you asked for in 5 weeks.”

“Excellent.”

Lan Xin and I walk into the back room together and close the door behind.

It is dimly lit, and the walls and floor are made of dark insulated stone. There are many stacked shielding arrays, not active as there is nothing to hide inside, but this place has been built to handle private dealings for special customers.

Even the back courtyard isn’t this well isolated.

I use the control disk to turn on every defensive array and disappear into my hidden realm.

I drop off the smaller pile of soul metal shards to Meimei, then walk up the stairway to purchase another two enlightenment talismans.

One of them is for myself. In less than a week, the cooldown timer will run down again, and I have plenty of ideas of what to use it on.

The second is for Lan Xin.

I pull out a tier 1 upgrade card and my Azure Lightning Attack talisman next.

I’ve tried to tap these bronze cards to my tier 2 lottery items before, but they never showed any reaction. It’s as dull as tapping them to the dirt, or one of my body parts.

Certain inanimate objects are not recognized as items by the system, and living beings are also not considered valid targets to be upgraded.

However, when I tap the bronze card to this tier 2 talisman now, it gives back a mental fluctuation, like it can accept the card.

I don’t hesitate and let the flash of light cover my hands.

The subtle harmony enchantment grows heavier and heavier, making the small azure artifact vibrate in my grasp and crackle with thick static as the light fades.

Nothing changes on the system’s scan that pops up in my mind. The talisman still only costs 10,000 spirit stones to charge, and the Tier 2 qi density inside has not been altered one bit. It’s like the upgrade card I used never even touched the base material of the talisman.

The enchantment, on the other hand, now reads [Perfected Stage Mortal Grade Harmony Enchantment].

I let this item fall into my storage and slip out of my hidden realm.

“All right, I believe we’ve accomplished everything I wanted to.”

Lan Xin turns her head as I toss an enlightenment talisman her way and begin walking toward the door.

“Here, catch. Stow this away somewhere safe, and we’ll head back to the sect.”