The Kingdom of Ning was vast in territory and rich in resources. Liu City was located in the southeastern region, where the surrounding green mountains and clear waters were very pleasing to the eye.
The horse carriage of Yan Baichuan’s party traveled north along the official road, their destination being Jiangling, the second largest town in the Kingdom of Ning, second only to the capital, Chaoge.
As they got closer to Jiangling, the carriages, horses, and pedestrians on the official road gradually grew more numerous. Jin You lifted the curtain, and before the group had even entered the city, they saw a market spontaneously formed by vendors at the city entrance, as well as a tea shop built with thatched straw, where the shop assistant was shouting with lively energy.
“So this is the reason why you suggested sending them to Jiangling?” Jin You lowered the curtain, looking at Lingyun beside him.
In a good mood, Lingyun propped her head on the other window, replying, “Yes, there are many traveling merchants coming and going in Jiangling, and there are many shops in the city. As long as one is willing to endure hardship, there is no reason one cannot survive. Moreover, even if it is the Shangyuan Sect, it is not easy for them to extend their hands into Jiangling.”
The city guards checked the items carried by the group, then made everyone pass through the Yin Yang Mirror one by one, letting them pass straightforwardly after confirming there were no issues.
Walking in front of the Yin Yang Mirror, Lingyun gave Jin You a somewhat worried glance, but seeing that he had no look of concern whatsoever, she felt relieved along with him, as otherwise she would have had to think of some other methods.
Sensing Lingyun’s gaze, Jin You took out a black bead from his neck, which, apart from its color, looked remarkably similar to the red bead on Yan Baichuan’s neck, “A little trinket given by Qin Guang, more than enough to fool this mirror. The red one you refined was useless to him anyway, so I modified it a bit, and inside is a small pocket dimension.”
Jin You’s bead was worn around Yan Baichuan’s neck, and this guy, known by the title of Ghost King, did not have the slightest objection to it. There was definitely something going on between them that she did not know about. Lingyun’s gossipy gaze wandered back and forth between the two of them, wanting to tease but fearing to anger Jin You, who was the moneybag, so she had no choice but to desperately wink at Ying Chuang in an attempt to share her joy.
Ying Chuang’s simple mind clearly could not understand Lingyun’s thoughts, looking at Lingyun strangely instead, “Is your eyelid cramping?”
Lingyun covered her forehead with one hand, giving up, as it was truly making eyes at a blind person.
Jin You pretended not to see it even though he noticed, expecting that she would not dare to say it to his face.
There were many places in Jiangling City suitable for Ruyi’s family to reside. Lingyun inquired with an innkeeper and quickly settled on a courtyard in the west of the city, not far from a market, making it convenient if they wanted to start a small business.
Ruyi declined Jin You’s offer to advance the payment, taking out a phoenix crown and ceremonial robe as she said, “This is what he owed me. Thinking about it, renting a courtyard and starting a small business should be enough, so I dare not trouble my benefactor further.”
After parting ways with Ruyi, Lingyun led the three of them, including Yan Baichuan, walking on the main street of Jiangling, pointing to the tallest building in the city and introducing it to them, “Do you see that building as tall as a tower? That is the most famous place in Jiangling, the Treasure Pavilion. The Treasure Pavilion has nine floors in total, with pills, magical treasures, and weapons, the items sold on each floor are quite different, there is only what you cannot think of, but nothing you cannot buy.”
Jin You looked up at the pagoda-like Treasure Pavilion, whose style carried a fair bit of Taoist flair. Looking at it roughly, colored glass seemed to have been used during its construction, so it would surely be very beautiful if lit up at night. Circling around, Jin You was certain that bringing Ruyi along was mostly just on the way, and the Treasure Pavilion should be Lingyun’s true objective.
However…
Looking at Lingyun’s figure, which had become joyful, Jin You said casually, “It seems Taoist Master Lingyun is quite familiar with Jiangling, how come I have not heard you mention it before?”
Lingyun paused in her footsteps, answering as if nothing had happened, “I travel far and wide, so what is so strange about having visited a few places? Ahem, I had not finished speaking just now, the first to eighth floors of this Treasure Pavilion sell various items, but the ninth floor is vastly different.”
“Stop leaving us in suspense, tell us quickly.” Walking on the street on a hot day, Yan Baichuan was truly a bit irritable, so Lingyun did not hide it either, “The ninth floor is an auction house. Heavenly treasures and top-tier magical artifacts are not things that can be displayed outside for anyone to see at will. But because of this, one cannot enter without some status and standing. Come, let us go inside first before talking.”
A guard stood on each side of the Treasure Pavilion entrance. With a rough probe, Jin You found they were roughly at the level of outer disciples in those Taoist sects, which was enough to deter ordinary people, but fell short if placed in the cultivation world.
Ying Chuang had never been down the mountain before, finding everything novel to look at. Having only just arrived at the first floor, the fragrance wafting to his nose made him unable to move his feet, his large eyes looking pleadingly at Jin You. During these past few days in the carriage, Jin You had taught him plenty that eating outside required money, and that he could not just eat whatever he wanted, so Ying Chuang had gradually come to understand who made the final decisions among the group.
Perhaps because ordinary people made up the majority in the city, the first floor of this Treasure Pavilion was filled with vendors selling spiritual food, the dishes cooked being somewhat tastier than ordinary ones. The Heavenly Dao had declined, yet there were still some Taoist sects that refused to give up hope and wanted to cultivate spiritual plants, and most of the items here were likely products of that. Though called spiritual plants, they were actually only slightly better than ordinary plants.
Jin You looked at the surrounding situation, proposing, “Yan Baichuan and I will take this fellow, so if you are in a hurry, go up to the top floor first to check out the auction items.”
Lingyun was indeed somewhat impatient to wait, nodding in agreement, “The thing I want to bid on this time is a stone called the Sound-Suspension Stone. It is not very expensive, but it is rare. If you can pick up a bargain downstairs, that would be for the best, and I would not need to try my luck on the top floor. As for silver and money, that is easy to say, I swiped plenty of good things from the Liu Estate, so it is definitely enough.”
Lingyun was skilled in spells and artifact refining. Her coming to Jiangling this time was mostly to find materials to refine that Unmelting Ice, though what kind of item she wanted to refine this time was unknown, requiring a rare item like the Sound-Suspension Stone. Sound-Suspension Stones generally existed only beside hundred-foot waterfalls, washed by the waterfall daily, so when struck, the echo extended endlessly without ceasing for a long time. Some musicians actually liked this kind of stone very much, preferring to make some arrangements with it when playing.
Speaking of which, the magical artifact Lingyun wanted to refine this time was mostly related to musical instruments.
Lingyun waved her hand at the three of them and vanished in a flash. Jin You shook his head helplessly, leading Ying Chuang, whose drool was almost falling three thousand feet, and the bored Yan Baichuan into a shop that served beast meat, “Boss, bring ten plates of each of your signature dishes first.”
Ying Chuang looked at a huge portion of beast meat on the neighboring table, tugged on Jin You’s sleeve, and said in a small voice, “I should be fine just eating eight plates.”
Jin You gave him a white eye, tapping his fan handle on his head, “We need to eat too!”
“Oh, I see.” Ying Chuang rubbed his head, and as soon as the meat arrived, he began eating self-forgetfully. Jin You propped his chin on his left hand, his right hand’s chopsticks casually picking up a bit of meat to eat now and then.
Ying Chuang looked like a youth in appearance and his skills were not bad, but through spending time together, he was clearly just a kid who understood nothing, unable to move his feet whenever he saw delicious food. To think that he had squabbled with him back then, looking back now, why bother.
Jin You ordered meat for Ying Chuang, and did not forget to order a flask of Pear Blossom White for Yan Baichuan, although it was only one flask, under the grand pretext that drinking wine ruins business.
Yan Baichuan did not mind either, as having some was better than having none, except that having the wine craving in his stomach tickled out was a bit uncomfortable.
Taking advantage of the gap while Ying Chuang was eating meat, Jin You flipped open the booklet given by the Treasure Pavilion attendant and examined it carefully.
The first floor mainly sold foods, the second and third floors were magical robes and elixir pills, so there was no need to go there. The fourth floor held magical artifacts sold by some artifact refiners, which looked like they were of decent quality, worth going to hunt for a few items.
Looking at the bill called out by the shop boss this time, Jin You was already able to remain composed. Coming to the Treasure Pavilion meant spending money, and since it had to be spent anyway, this little bit did not matter. Jin You paid cleanly, then spoke to Yan Baichuan about going to the fourth floor to look around.
“The fourth floor? What good things could those sanctimonious Taoists refine, if you want something, just ask Lingyun to refine it for you and be done with it.” Yan Baichuan clearly did not quite understand why Jin You would bypass Lingyun and go to the fourth floor to deliver money to them.
Jin You did not expect Yan Baichuan to understand the joy of bargain hunting either, walking ahead in high spirits as he looked at the various magical artifacts displayed in the shop, among which were some little trinkets he had not seen before, “That is just prejudice on your part, what if there is something good inside. Yan Baichuan, look at this Shadow-Retaining Stone, it can store a segment of video inside, which seems quite interesting.”
The shop owner was a young artifact refiner, who looked somewhat proud upon hearing these words, as this was likely refined by himself, “Customer has good eyes. This was made by borrowing the form of a Shadow-Retaining Wall, a miniature Shadow-Retaining Stone refined by myself, which can replicate and reproduce fixed scenes, though it is a pity they do not recognize its worth.”
In order to demonstrate its usage to Jin You, the shop owner specially took out a Shadow-Retaining Stone that already had a scene stored inside for Jin You to see. Jin You looked speechlessly at the scene of the shop owner operating a bunch of actions, only to end up disastrously exploding his furnace, leaving him somewhat embarrassed to speak for a moment.
The shop owner was clearly even more embarrassed than he was, tossing the Shadow-Retaining Stone into the counter all at once, “Grabbed the wrong one, grabbed the wrong one, ha ha ha. in short, that is how it is used, since you recognize its worth, I can sell it to you cheaper.”
Jin You bought four, intending to give one to Yan Baichuan, Ying Chuang, and Lingyun each. This novel little trinket might not necessarily be encountered again later, so having one for everyone was for the best.
Yan Baichuan was not interested in this thing at all, but did not decline either, having no choice but to sit on a stool in boredom waiting for Jin You to settle the bill. Suddenly raising his gaze, he casually noticed a tiny item on the rightmost side of the shelf, pointing at it and asking the shop owner, “How much for this one?”
The shop owner merely glanced at it, saying with total disinterest, “Oh, that thing, just an ordinary Water-Gathering Bead, if you want it, consider it a giveaway for buying the Shadow-Retaining Stones, it is not worth any money.”
There was actually such a good thing?
Jin You settled the bill with a smile, asking the shop owner, “I am Jin You, may I ask your name? If good things come out in the future, I will surely come to purchase again.”
The shop owner cupped his hands toward Jin You, “Easy to say, easy to say, I am Le Zhu, please patronize my shop often in the future.”
Only after walking out of the shop did Jin You open his mouth to ask Yan Baichuan, “Didn’t you look down on these things, or is there something special about that Water-Gathering Bead?”
Yan Baichuan picked up the Water-Gathering Bead and played with it for a moment, signaling Jin You to come closer, and amidst Jin You’s bewildered gaze, pressed the Water-Gathering Bead into the black jade bead at his neck. A faint light surfaced inside the black jade bead, flowing slowly like water, as he said, “I take back what I said just now, these places occasionally still have good things. Try controlling water with it?”
Jin You gathered a stream of water with his right hand, instantly discovering the difference, “This is?”
Yan Baichuan smiled, “This is no ordinary Water-Gathering Bead, the water gathered by this bead is Yellow Spring Water, which is very suitable as your weapon. All my money is with you, and I have nothing else to give you, so take this thing to play with.”
Jin You looked down at the black jade bead at his neck, his fingers gently rubbing it, “Why did you suddenly give me something?”
Yan Baichuan still maintained that wild, untamed demeanor, “I felt like giving it so I gave it, why does there have to be a reason, if you do not want it, give it back to me.”
Jin You tucked the bead back into his lapel, raising his head to look at Yan Baichuan, a smile coloring his beautiful eyes, “This was paid for with my money, how could I possibly give it back to you!”
Yan Baichuan tilted his head back and took a sip of Pear Blossom White, stepping forward to walk ahead, “That is more like it. Come on, let us go hunt for bargains together!”