Infinite Save: I Cultivate Immortality Through Reincarnation - Chapter 308: A Money-Losing Business
This was Fusheng Island.
It was said that ever since Immortal Venerable Fusheng fell, every newborn on this island was born at the Martial Spring Realm.
The isolated Fusheng City contained a number of Upper Three Realms cultivators that was not inferior to the combined total of Upper Three Realms cultivators from the Five Great Sects.
But if the people in this inn were indeed the original inhabitants of Fusheng City…
Then that would mean Fusheng City was not isolated from the world in the slightest.
Forget cultivators, even some mortals skilled in navigation could cross the ocean and reach this Fusheng Island, provided they had sufficient supplies.
“You jest, honored guest. This is just an ordinary, run-of-the-mill inn, with a side business of renting out spirit horses. What is there to see?”
The waiter laughed.
“It’s just that I’m new here, and everything on Fusheng Island feels quite novel to me.”
Chen Yan said.
“When I first came to this island years ago, I thought much the same as you, honored guest. In the end, I discovered there was nothing special about it at all. It’s just an ordinary island, with a small city erected in the center, that’s all.”
The Qi Sea Realm cultivator dressed in waiter’s attire said.
“Are you the owner here?”
Chen Yan asked.
“Oh my, you flatter me! Look at my clothes and appearance, how could I possibly be the owner?”
The waiter said.
“I’ve heard this Fusheng Island is the place where Immortal Venerable Fusheng fell, and that Fusheng City on the island is isolated from the world. It’s said Fusheng City is a true Immortal City, so I came here specifically to broaden my horizons.”
Chen Yan said this.
“Heh heh, our inn here is specifically meant to serve distinguished guests like yourself who come to the island.”
The waiter said:
“Fusheng City is located two hundred and ten li south of this inn. Rent a good spirit horse from us, and you can easily reach the foot of Fusheng City’s walls in less than half a shichen… Of course, if you possess a magic treasure, or your cultivation is above the Qi Sea Realm and you can fly through the air, then you should be even faster than a spirit horse.”
“Has anyone ever entered Fusheng City?”
Chen Yan asked.
“No.”
The waiter shook his head very decisively:
“Since you’ve brought it up, honored guest, then I really must advise you. Three years ago, there was a Myriad Transformations Realm cultivator who tried to fly directly over Fusheng City. He had just gotten close when a beam of golden light from within the city reduced him to ashes… Honored guest, you can come to pay your respects to Fusheng City, but don’t get too close. Be careful not to suffer an undeserved calamity.”
No one had ever been able to enter Fusheng City.
Even thousands of years ago, Xuanbei the Rogue, a cultivator at the Divine Ability Realm, had failed to enter Fusheng City.
“Some time ago, He Zongzhou, Supreme Martial Pacification Elder He of the Kongshan Sect, sent out a letter requesting aid, saying some Great Demon’s Egg with the potential for Ascending to Immortality had appeared in the Fallen Sword Mountain Range. That was the period when the most people came to Fusheng Island…”
The waiter said with a sighing laugh:
“From the lowest Body Forging Realm to the highest Myriad Transformations Realm, thousands of cultivators knelt outside Fusheng City, praying for the great cultivators within the city to appear and help Chenping Continent through this crisis. The scale of it back then made even my heart flutter with panic. I felt this time, the end of the world might really be coming. But who could have imagined the Great Dao would suddenly revive and Immortal Ascension would descend upon the world?”
“And then?”
Si Youyou beside Chen Yan blinked her eyes and asked this.
“Of course, nothing happened.”
The waiter laughed:
“Almost every day, people would land on the island and kneel in worship outside Fusheng City, pleading. Most of these were cultivators whose great limit was approaching, with no chance of breaking through. In their final, despairing days, they could only pin their hopes on Fusheng City and Immortal Venerable Fusheng. It’s rather pitiful when you think about it.”
Chen Yan had no words in response.
This reminded him of the time when he was still just an ordinary, undistinguished outer sect disciple in the Kongshan Sect.
After a century of bitter cultivation, he was still only a mid-stage Qi Circulation Realm cultivator. In the end, he could only go to the Fallen Sword Mountain Range to try his luck, attempting to find the legacy of Su Hongzhen, Chenping Continent’s number one sword immortal, to extend his own life.
Chen Yan didn’t know if any of Su Hongzhen’s legacy still remained within the Fallen Sword Mountain Range, but he was very clear that the Dao foundation Su Hongzhen left in this world had been completely corrupted. The former Falling Star Realman had ultimately met such an end. It was truly lamentable and sigh-inducing.
“How many spirit stones does it cost to rent a spirit horse?”
Chen Yan asked the waiter.
“One high-grade spirit stone per day.”
The waiter replied.
“That’s a bit expensive.”
Chen Yan shook his head.
On Chenping Continent, the price to rent a spirit horse was about three mid-grade spirit stones per day.
The price quoted by this waiter was more than three times the common price on Chenping Continent.
“Look at what you’re saying. This is Fusheng Island. Whether it’s transporting the spirit horses here from Chenping Continent, or shipping the immortal rice to feed the horses here from Chenping Continent every month, the costs are much higher than those stables renting horses on Chenping Continent. And besides, you have to let us earn a little hard-earned money, right?”
The waiter said with an embarrassed laugh.
“Rent two.”
Chen Yan took out four high-grade spirit stones and tossed them in the waiter’s direction.
One as deposit, one as payment. This was the longstanding rule in the spirit horse rental industry on Chenping Continent.
“Right away!”
The waiter, catching the four high-grade spirit stones, laughed, then trotted towards the stable to lead two spirit horses of excellent pedigree over for Chen Yan and Si Youyou.
…
After leaving the inn, Chen Yan and Si Youyou continued heading south towards Fusheng City.
Run. Run as far as you can.
This was what Mr. You had said to Chen Yan on Heavenly Summit Mountain.
Fusheng Island was the farthest place Chen Yan could think of to run. If he went any farther…
There was only the endless ocean south of Fusheng Island.
If his understanding was not wrong, perhaps he could meet Mr. You again on Fusheng Island.
Just like when he had met Mr. You in the Fallen Sword Mountain Range before, and when he had met Mr. You on Heavenly Summit Mountain.
Although, even now, Chen Yan still didn’t know Mr. You’s true identity, or which Immortal Ascension he was.
But what he was very clear about was that Mr. You’s divination… or rather, his intuitive ability, was probably unmatched by any of the other six Immortal Ascensions currently on Chenping Continent.
More than these things, Chen Yan had an immediate problem that needed handling.
Just as the waiter at the inn had said, even if their spirit horse rental price was more than three times that of the rental stables on Chenping Continent, after deducting the costs of transporting the horses and the feed, their profit margin was actually lower.
A Qi Sea Realm cultivator, just by the prestige of their name, could establish a cultivation sect on Chenping Continent, on the scale of the Biqiu Sect that Chen Yan had once joined.
Establishing a cultivation sect, whether in terms of prestige, status, or the cultivation resources one could obtain, would definitely far surpass everything one could gain by being a waiter in an inn on this isolated island.
No one would possibly engage in such a money-losing business.
Something was fishy.
Chen Yan had quickly noticed this loophole the moment he stepped into the inn and saw the waiter.
But he chose to pretend he hadn’t realized it.
For him now, it was better to avoid trouble than to invite it.
However, Chen Yan was very clear that he absolutely had to remain cautious.
