Chapter 56: A Wider World

Three days passed after Lin Yuan reached Peak Qi Refining.

His cultivation had begun to settle, but there was no path forward until he obtained a Foundation Establishment technique.

For now, Lin Yuan worked.

The second gathering had ended, yet Blackstone remained busier than before.

Some merchants had lingered after the gathering, while fresh travelers continued arriving from the road.

That morning, Gao Rui’s workers finally appeared.

Lin Yuan stood outside Wandering Cloud Tavern and watched two wagons unload timber beside the rented plot.

Four builders moved between stacks of wood while Gao Rui argued with one of them.

"That side."

"The ground slopes."

"Barely."

"Enough that your crates will lean."

"They’re crates."

"And when one falls?"

Gao Rui stared at him.

The builder waited.

After several seconds, Gao Rui pointed toward the opposite side.

"Fine."

Lin Yuan turned back toward the tavern.

Watching someone else deal with construction was surprisingly relaxing.

Su Mei was wiping a nearby table when he entered.

"Are you smiling?"

"No."

"You were."

"I wasn’t."

She glanced through the window.

"Because someone else is building?"

Lin Yuan ignored her.

The front door opened before she could continue.

A man entered alone.

He looked to be somewhere in his forties.

Plain dark-blue robes covered a lean frame, and dust marked the bottom of his boots. A narrow sword hung at his waist.

Nothing about him looked unusual.

Then Lin Yuan tried to sense his cultivation.

Nothing.

Most Qi Refining cultivators gave Lin Yuan at least some sense of their strength when he paid attention, whether they were early or late in the realm.

This man gave him nothing he could clearly read.

Lin Yuan kept his expression neutral.

The stranger looked around the dining hall.

"Food?"

"Yes."

"Room?"

"One still available."

"I’ll take both."

Su Mei approached with tea.

"What would you like?"

"Whatever is fastest."

Lin Yuan glanced toward the kitchen.

"Beef noodles."

"Good."

The man chose a table near the window.

He didn’t ask about the room price.

Didn’t question the menu.

Didn’t study the tavern with the obvious curiosity most newcomers showed.

He simply drank his tea.

Lin Yuan returned to the kitchen.

A short while later, he carried the bowl out himself.

The stranger took one bite.

Then another.

His chopsticks slowed.

"Problem?" Lin Yuan asked.

The man looked at the bowl.

"No."

He took another bite.

"Better than I expected."

"I’ll accept that."

The man’s gaze drifted around the dining hall.

Then upward.

"This building gathers Qi."

"Minor effect."

"And something else."

Lin Yuan waited.

The stranger leaned back slightly.

"Rest."

So he could sense that too.

"It helps with ordinary fatigue."

"Useful for an inn."

"It’s a tavern."

The man glanced toward the stairs.

"You rent rooms."

"Still a tavern."

A faint smile appeared.

"Fair enough."

He continued eating.

For the next hour, he caused no trouble.

That already made him a good customer.

Near midday, Qiao Ren entered for lunch.

He noticed the blue-robed man.

Then stopped.

His expression changed slightly.

The stranger looked up.

Qiao gave a small respectful nod.

"Senior."

The man returned the gesture.

Lin Yuan waited until Qiao reached the counter.

"You know him?"

"No."

"You called him Senior."

Qiao lowered his voice.

"I also enjoy being alive."

Lin Yuan stared at him.

"Very helpful."

"You’re welcome."

Qiao took his bowl and walked away.

Lin Yuan glanced toward the stranger.

Foundation Establishment.

Probably.

Lin Yuan had met strong cultivators before, but someone whose cultivation he couldn’t read at all was unusual in Blackstone.

The stranger finished his meal and set down his chopsticks.

"Owner."

Lin Yuan approached.

"Another bowl?"

The man considered it.

"Maybe later."

He gestured toward the empty chair opposite him.

"Sit."

Lin Yuan looked toward the kitchen.

Xiao Lan had the next order.

Su Mei was handling the dining hall.

He sat.

The stranger studied him briefly.

"Peak Qi Refining."

"Recently."

"How recently?"

"Three days."

The man nodded.

"That explains it."

"What?"

"Your Qi hasn’t settled completely."

Lin Yuan glanced down at himself.

"You can tell?"

"Easily."

Slightly annoying.

The stranger poured more tea.

"What technique are you using?"

"An inherited Qi Refining method."

"Foundation section?"

"None."

The man didn’t seem surprised.

"Common problem."

"For independent cultivators?"

"Mostly."

He drank.

"Qi Refining methods are easy to find. Every sect and clan needs something for younger cultivators."

"And Foundation arts?"

"People become more protective."

"Why?"

The stranger looked at him.

"Once someone reaches Foundation Establishment, they’re no longer just another junior disciple."

He tapped one finger against the table.

"They can lead groups, manage resources, hold positions. Sects care much more about what techniques those people carry."

Lin Yuan nodded slowly.

"So outsiders buy commercial inheritances."

"Usually."

"Expensive ones."

The man smiled.

"Usually."

That sounded familiar.

"What about sects selling techniques?"

"Some sell secondary methods."

"Not their main inheritance."

"Almost never."

"Clear River Sect?"

The stranger raised an eyebrow.

"You know them?"

"One of their disciples passed through."

"Small sect. Decent reputation."

He paused.

"They might sell ordinary techniques under certain conditions. Their better inheritances would stay inside the sect."

Lin Yuan thought of Lu Feng.

Qi Refining Ninth Layer.

Clear River Sect disciple.

"What about clans?"

"More protective."

"That much?"

"A clan technique belongs to the family. They don’t usually enjoy spreading it to strangers."

That made sense.

Lin Yuan looked toward the road outside.

"Green River sells several complete Foundation techniques."

"It would."

"Why?"

"Trade."

The stranger followed his gaze.

"Green River sits on a useful route. Independent cultivators, merchants, hunters, smaller families—enough people pass through that selling cultivation resources is profitable."

Lin Yuan nodded.

Then the stranger added,

"But Green River isn’t a major cultivation city."

Lin Yuan looked back at him.

"It isn’t?"

The man laughed quietly.

"You thought it was?"

"It’s the largest city I’ve visited recently."

"Recently?"

Lin Yuan ignored that.

The stranger didn’t press.

"Go farther east and you’ll see larger places."

"How much larger?"

"Formation-protected districts. Sect markets. Auction houses dealing in resources that rarely reach Green River."

Lin Yuan listened.

"Some places even restrict certain markets by cultivation or sponsorship."

"Qi Refining cultivators can’t enter?"

"Depends on the market."

The man lifted his cup.

"The cultivation world gets larger once you have enough money to notice it."

Lin Yuan frowned.

"That sounds expensive."

"It is."

His interest dropped immediately.

The stranger laughed.

"You really do think like a merchant."

"I own a tavern."

"Close enough."

Lin Yuan hesitated.

Then asked,

"I found a technique in Green River."

The man’s expression remained relaxed.

"Foundation?"

"Complete through the realm."

"Requirements?"

"None unusual. Stable circulation. Doesn’t require a particular weapon."

"Name?"

"Returning Current Foundation Art."

The stranger’s eyes shifted slightly.

"You know it?"

"I’ve heard of it."

Lin Yuan became more attentive.

"Good?"

The man thought for a moment.

"Ordinary."

That wasn’t encouraging.

Then he continued.

"Which isn’t necessarily bad."

Lin Yuan waited.

"It has been traded around for years. Stable. Flexible. Doesn’t demand some strange physique or rare spiritual location."

"So boring."

"Very."

"Reliable?"

"As far as I know."

That was more important.

"Any major problem?"

"Nothing I’ve heard about through Foundation Establishment."

Lin Yuan nodded.

That matched what he had been looking for from the beginning.

The stranger studied him.

"You plan to buy it?"

"Eventually."

"You’re short on spirit stones?"

Lin Yuan looked out toward the market area.

"I spent some recently."

"On what?"

"Better dirt."

The man stared at him.

From another table, Qiao Ren coughed into his hand.

It sounded suspiciously like laughter.

The stranger looked between them.

"I don’t want to know."

"Probably better."

More customers entered before the conversation could continue.

The stranger went upstairs later that afternoon.

Lin Yuan didn’t see him again until sunset.

By then, Gao Rui’s storage shed had begun taking shape.

A timber frame stood on the rented plot while the workers packed away their tools for the evening.

The blue-robed man stood outside Wandering Cloud Tavern, looking west.

Lin Yuan stepped beside him.

"Leaving tomorrow?"

"At sunrise."

"West?"

"For a while."

"Past Red Cliff?"

The man glanced at him.

"Yes."

Lin Yuan folded his arms.

"People keep bringing strange reports from that direction."

"What kind?"

"Tremors. Collapsed ground. Beasts moving east."

The man’s expression changed slightly.

"How long?"

"A while."

"Any strong beasts confirmed?"

"No."

"Missing people?"

"Some."

The stranger looked west again.

"Interesting."

Lin Yuan didn’t like hearing that word from someone whose cultivation he couldn’t read.

"You know something?"

"No."

"That was fast."

"If I knew, I’d tell you."

The man continued watching the road.

"But beasts leaving an area before people understand why usually means something changed there first."

"Could be natural."

"Could be."

"So that tells me almost nothing."

"It tells you not to wander north looking for answers."

Lin Yuan looked at him.

"That part I already knew."

"Then you’re ahead of many cultivators."

They stood quietly for a moment.

Lin Yuan eventually asked,

"If something serious happens out there, who handles it?"

"No one automatically."

That wasn’t comforting.

The stranger continued.

"Settlements protect themselves. Merchant groups care about routes they use. Sects protect territory that matters to them."

"Cities?"

"The same."

Lin Yuan looked around Central Blackstone.

"And this place?"

The stranger followed his gaze.

Qiao’s General Goods.

Duan He’s Beast Materials.

Blackstone Inn.

The market ground.

Gao Rui’s half-built storage shed.

"Blackstone?"

"Yes."

The man considered it.

"Right now?"

He looked toward the tavern.

"It looks like a roadside settlement that became important faster than anyone expected."

Lin Yuan couldn’t argue with that.

"If the western problem becomes serious enough," the stranger continued, "someone stronger will eventually investigate."

"Eventually?"

"Strong cultivators have their own problems."

Lin Yuan understood that perfectly.

The man turned toward the tavern.

"Besides, you haven’t confirmed there’s actually something worth investigating yet."

"Good."

"You sound disappointed."

"I’m relieved."

The stranger smiled and went inside.

Lin Yuan remained outside.

The evening wind moved across Central Blackstone.

Workers left Gao Rui’s construction site.

A merchant led an Ironhoof Beast toward the stable.

Two travelers stood beside the road comparing directions.

For months, most of Lin Yuan’s world had fit inside a fairly small circle.

Wandering Cloud Tavern.

Blackstone.

Green River City.

The western road.

Now that circle felt much smaller.

There were larger cities farther east.

Sect territories.

Clan lands.

Markets meant for cultivators beyond Qi Refining.

Places where Green River itself might seem ordinary.

Lin Yuan looked back at Wandering Cloud Tavern.

Small wasn’t necessarily bad.

He liked Blackstone.

And Blackstone still had plenty of room to grow.