I Accumulate Spirit Roots for My Next Life - Chapter 398 - 248: A Chance Encounter with an Old Acquaintance
Black Stone City is not like Yunzhou City. The city gates are guarded strictly, and every entrant is meticulously inspected.
After all, it is in name the private city of Prince Yun’s Mansion, which is understandable.
However, in Li Jizhou’s eyes, it is particularly bothersome.
The whole realm belongs to the sovereign; in the Jiuli Dynasty, there should not be any private cities!
Fang Qingwei presented a pre-prepared identity jade talisman, which bore the name of another merchant with whom she was friendly in Yunzhou City.
The gate guards, after examining the jade talisman, glanced over at Li Jizhou, particularly Fang Qingwei and Hong Luan behind him, and a trace of delight flickered in their eyes.
They did not delve further into the inquiry and invited them into the city with a smile.
“Is Black Stone City actually this prosperous?” Half a day into the city, Li Jizhou looked at Fang Qingwei in puzzlement.
“Young master may not be aware, but in Black Stone City, nearly eighty percent of the merchants’ raw stone ores come from bandits and marauders. Some even open their own. They plunder spirit stone ores, as it’s too risky to resolve themselves, and the average experienced stone resolver is unwilling to travel around with them, so they mostly come here to dispose of their stolen goods.
Since they acquired them without cost, the prices are nearly fifty percent lower than in Yunzhou City,” Fang Qingwei explained.
“I see!” Watching the bustling marketplace, Li Jizhou nodded quietly.
Apart from the numerous stone workshops, shops for pills, tools, talismans, arrays, etc., kept coming one after another, but most were second-hand shops, and their sources were likely also from dealings without capital.
The tax revenue that Prince Yun’s Mansion earns annually from this Black Stone City is likely astronomical, and to think they even rear marauders like the Gold-Devouring Gang?
Are they truly training high-tier warriors?
“Young master, I intend to closely observe near the prince’s mansion, you…” Fang Qingwei had planned ahead.
Li Jizhou nodded. The initial goal was to utilize Fang Qingwei to enter Black Stone City, and now that aim had been achieved.
However, before she left, Li Jizhou inquired more about detailed information on Black Stone City from her.
“Black Stone Workshop?” Once Fang Qingwei had left, Li Jizhou casually lifted his eyebrows and headed toward Black Stone Workshop.
The Black Stone Workshop is a stone gambling workshop established by Prince Yun’s Mansion. However, compared to other thieves and marauders in the city, the raw stone ore prices at Black Stone Workshop are slightly higher, but still, lower than those in Yunzhou City.
Without hesitation, Li Jizhou took Hong Luan and headed for Black Stone Workshop.
Despite slightly higher prices for spirit stone ores inside Black Stone Workshop, the place was still bustling with people, likely due to the backing of the Prince Yun’s Mansion’s reputation.
It wasn’t until Li Jizhou stepped inside that he understood that its bustling business was also due to its massive internal scale.
Nine entire courtyards filled with raw stone ores, arranged by grades abundantly.
Prices ranged from kilograms in the outer courtyards to unique stone materials requiring a twenty-thousand middle-grade spirit stone asset verification to enter the fifth courtyard, offering a wide selection of various types.
The courtyards were full of slogans emphasizing fairness, justice, transparency, no coercion, winnings can be taken away, and even if one finds a Profound Celestial Treasure, Prince Yun’s Mansion guarantees its safety within Black Stone City.
“I wonder if my luck will hold steady?” Li Jizhou directly headed to the fifth courtyard. After verifying his wealth, he faced several unique stones reputed to probably contain heaven-and-earth treasures and pondered slightly.
In his eyes, these should all be his, but at this moment, he still needed to spend spirit stones to gamble.
He might even lose the gamble.
“The Crown Prince approaches, make way!”
At this moment, a sharp shout rang from behind.
Soon after, a group led by the Chief Shopkeeper of Black Stone Workshop arrived at the fifth courtyard.
“The Crown Prince? My dear descendant?” Li Jizhou’s lips curled into a slight smile as he turned to look.
“It’s her?” Suddenly, the sight of a figure in front made Li Jizhou slightly pause.
The young crown prince behind the Chief Shopkeeper stood proudly, followed by a team of experts in regular clothing but with a clear aura of military tact.
Among these experts, the familiar yet unfamiliar face of Liu Hongling was etched into Li Jizhou’s eyes.
Familiar were the features and posture, but unfamiliar was the cold aura she emanated.
He recalled meeting Liu Hongling for the first time, when the Liu family had been expelled from the ancestral land of Celestial Spirit Sect after leaving the Sea Domain of the Five Elders Association in a previous life.
At that time, Liu Hongling was young and frail, her life hanging by a thread.
Later, after enduring the trials of the Ten Thousand Poison Swamp and subsequently accompanying An Liuli, her temperament and mindset gradually became arrogant.
But now, her face was frosty, layered with anger and resentment.
No wonder last year, when Li Jizhou sent Cyan Dome to investigate An Liuli and Liu Hongling in Cangming Imperial City, they only confirmed An Liuli was confined in the Imperial City, while there was no news of Liu Hongling.
It turned out she was taken to the mining area.
This is indeed a place where an Earth Spirit Master can best display their value.
And at this moment, a thought sparked in Li Jizhou’s mind.
Liu Hongling, being An Liuli’s confidant and the most perfectly harmonious partner with An Liuli’s bloodline divine abilities, is something Cangming Dynasty would absolutely not release easily.
For her to appear here, it must mean she was brought by people from Cangming Imperial City.
Thus… Is Prince Yun’s Mansion colluding with Cangming Dynasty?
Then, the dozens of Divinity Transformation experts who broke through the Qi Stone Pavilion’s mining area earlier were Cangming Dynasty’s hidden guards?
Is Prince Yun’s Mansion plotting a rebellion by colluding with Cangming Dynasty?
Could they be in the same league as Dragon Aspect?
Suppressing the doubts in his heart, Li Jizhou locked his gaze on Liu Hongling.
“Apologies, everyone, today the Crown Prince has brought a high personage to view stones, pausing the stone selection. Please feel free to visit the other four courtyards for stone selection.
Of course, if any of you are interested, the Crown Prince has given instructions: you may observe,” the Chief Shopkeeper apologized to a few familiar faces in the fifth courtyard with a smile.
These guests who could enter the fifth courtyard are esteemed, so one must not neglect them too much.
“Hahaha, the Crown Prince brings a high personage here; if we encounter such, it’s our fortune; why should the shopkeeper apologize?”
“Precisely, precisely, the high personage invited by His Highness the Crown Prince must surely broaden our horizons, a great event indeed.”
“We must certainly witness the high personage’s prowess invited by the Crown Prince. We won’t leave, we won’t leave.”
Several affluent merchants, who were reliant on Prince Yun’s Mansion, immediately chimed in.
“Heh~ A high personage at stone viewing? In my two thousand years of life, I haven’t seen many high personages at stone viewing, except for that mysterious Earth Spirit Master of the past!” Yet there were high-tier cultivators who did not cater to the Crown Prince’s renown.
“Could that young girl be an Earth Spirit Master as well?” Someone swept their gaze over the Crown Prince’s entourage and immediately made a judgment.
“Tier Four Earth Spirit Master, not to be underestimated! Perhaps today, we truly might witness something extraordinary!” A stronger one straightforwardly called out Liu Hongling’s Earth Spirit Master level.
Li Jizhou, upon hearing this, felt a slight delight as Liu Hongling surprisingly had already advanced to a Tier Four Earth Spirit Master.
It seemed that the goodwill he had bestowed back then had indeed seen a manifold return.
A Tier Four Earth Spirit Master in the Ten Thousand Poison Swamp is truly a coveted asset.
Moreover, an average Tier Four Earth Spirit Master in stone viewing for spirit stone ores already has nearly forty percent more assurance than ordinary cultivators.
They can sense the situation within raw stone ores through their connection with the earth spirit, nearly determining whether a spirit stone has successfully condensed inside.
However, they cannot yet sense whether there are heaven-and-earth treasures within the raw stone ores or what grade the condensed spirit stones are.
