Yue Kingdom, Lan Prefecture, Jiayuan City.
Inside and outside the City Lord's Mansion, a long line of people stood in silence. No one spoke.
Without exception, they were all dressed in fine clothes. Most were wealthy merchants from the city or leaders of Martial Dao gangs.
At the very front stood a burly man with a broad waist and thick shoulders. His enormous hands, each like a palm-leaf fan, drew sidelong glances. He was the leader of the Iron Fist Association.
He was bowing and scraping to a young man with his hair tied up, utterly at odds with his tough-guy image. He said ingratiatingly,
“This is the Heavenly Meteoric Iron I collected this month. Please accept it, City Lord.”
The young man glanced casually at the Heavenly Meteoric Iron in the box on the ground.
What Heavenly Meteoric Iron?
It was clearly just defective materials left over from an artifact-refining apprentice's failed work.
Still, it was better than nothing. For Mortals to get their hands on such things, they truly were rare treasures of fine quality.
Seeing his attitude, the burly man gritted his teeth. With a heartbroken look, he pulled a Pill Bottle from beneath his clothes.
“There are two sacred pills of the martial world inside—the Yellow Dragon Pills. I went out of my way to find them and present them to you.”
Li Xunhuan's interest was piqued. He took the Pill Bottle and sniffed it. They really were rare.
He immediately tucked it away in his clothes, then gave the burly man a pleased smile, looking as though he had a promising pupil.
“Nicely done. I think I can give you a little more responsibility. The Iron Fist Association's territory is still too small.”
He spoke with the self-important air of a government official. Though young, he already had the bearing of someone who had been City Lord for two and a half years.
After a long while,
the City Lord's Mansion's routine bribery scene came to an end. Everyone left, and after watching his subordinates put everything away in the Treasury, the young man strode out of the mansion and returned to his private residence.
Li Garden!
On either side of the main gate hung couplets bearing the words, “Seven jinshi in one family; father and son, three Third Palace Graduates.” The calligraphy was bold and sweeping.
They had been written by the current Yue Emperor himself, enough to prove the young man's distinguished family background.
It should have been a happy thing, but Li Xunhuan found it hard to accept.
There was only one reason: this was the World of A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality.
When he had first transmigrated here, he thought it was an ordinary ancient world.
His elderly Father had a son late in life, and his elder brother was gravely ill. His brother's only dying wish was for him to pass the imperial examinations and become the top scholar.
“All pursuits are inferior; only study is supreme!”
Li Xunhuan had no aversion to it. He studied hard and, in the end, lived up to everyone's expectations by becoming a Third Palace Graduate.
He had thought a bright future was waiting for him,
but then an accident happened.
The Yue Emperor discovered that he had a spiritual root: a three-element spiritual root of Earth, Metal, and Water.
In fact, he wasn't the only one tested. The Yue Emperor examined every candidate during the palace examinations, but the results were poor.
This time, for example, Li Xunhuan was the only one with a spiritual root.
In a sense, calling him the top scholar wasn't wrong. He had barely fulfilled his elderly Father's and brother's wishes.
Next, the Yue Emperor appealed to the twelve-year-old Li Xunhuan's feelings and reason, persuading him to join the Black Fiend Sect.
When Li Xunhuan heard the names of Yue Kingdom's Seven Great Sects from the Yue Emperor—including the Yanyue Sect, Yellow Maple Valley, and Spirit Beast Mountain—he realized what kind of World he had entered.
He also knew what he had to do.
He would pursue cultivation!
He immediately bowed down and joined the Black Fiend Sect.
The Yue Emperor had no doubts about a twelve-year-old boy's loyalty. After all, once someone learned of cultivation, no one could give it up.
And in Yue Kingdom, life was difficult for rogue cultivators; becoming one was difficult, too. The Black Fiend Sect was the only way out.
After half a year of basic training, Li Xunhuan had entered the path of cultivation. The Yue Emperor then sent him to his hometown, Jiayuan City, to serve as an official—the City Lord.
A City Lord at twelve and a half.
He cultivated while secretly gathering cultivation resources for the Yue Emperor.
As a result, he gradually gained access to Yue Kingdom's cultivation circles and learned—or rather, confirmed—a number of things.
For example, rogue cultivators had no future. Resources were scarce, and even the weakest spirit veins were occupied by small cultivation families.
That was why he wanted to join one of the Seven Great Sects.
The Black Fiend Sect?
Not even a dog would stay there!
He learned from some rogue cultivators that there were only two ways to enter one of the Seven Great Sects. The first was to go to a sect marketplace, where a Disciple Recruitment Ceremony was held once every five years.
Anyone with at least a three-element spiritual root could join.
The second was the Ascension Immortal Assembly, held once every ten years. The top ten rogue cultivators in the competition could enter a sect.
Li Xunhuan met the first requirement, but the sect marketplace was 108,000 li away.
After two and a half years of cultivation, he had only reached Qi Refining, Third Layer.
This World wasn't safe. To reach a marketplace safely, he would need to be at least at the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining. To be on the safe side, seventh floor would be more reliable.
Improving his strength required cultivation resources.
Everyone knew Yue Kingdom was impoverished. He had no resources to speed up his cultivation.
That left him caught in a vicious cycle.
To improve his strength, cross mountains and rivers, reach a marketplace of the Seven Great Sects, and join a sect, he needed to acquire resources.
But to acquire resources, he needed strength.
It was a genuine BUG.
Was he really left with no choice but to tough it out?
..
That night, Li Xunhuan sat cross-legged on his bed.
Before beginning his cultivation, he poured a Yellow Dragon Pill from a porcelain bottle.
The word “official” had two mouths, one above the other. He, Li Xunhuan, was the upper mouth. Surely lining his own pockets wasn't unreasonable.
He swallowed it.
With the Five Senses turned toward heaven, he began to cultivate.
In the stillness of the night, Li Xunhuan suddenly opened his eyes in the dim room. A flash of light passed through them.
His Five Senses had improved dramatically. He could clearly sense the chirping of insects and birds all around him.
He had reached the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining.
He breathed a sigh of relief. At last, he was no longer a cultivation novice.
It was worth noting that cultivators in the first three layers of qi refining were no different from ordinary people if they hadn't learned any spells. They simply had more energy, better appetites, and sharper hearing and sight.
As he pondered the changes, brilliant starlight flashed through his mind, and a golden balance appeared.
Li Xunhuan's spirits lifted. His Cheat had finally arrived.
Without anyone teaching him, he instantly understood how to use the Scales.
The Scales connected to the Myriad Heavens and Worlds, allowing Equivalent Exchange.
There were no restrictions on Trade. Its reach encompassed the Myriad Heavens and Worlds, and its contents included Knowledge, secret techniques, heavenly materials and earthly treasures—everything imaginable.
Anything obtained through Trade would adapt to the Rules of the World and undergo certain changes.
There was just one rule: no recursive trades.
It was decent enough.
Li Xunhuan could barely suppress the smile tugging at his lips. He was very satisfied.
The Mortal Cultivation World was monotonous, with everything geared toward Ascension. The Myriad Heavens and Worlds, however, were each dazzling in their own way.
In some Worlds, you could cultivate a whole world just by farming.
He would give the Mortal World a taste of the shock of the Myriad Heavens.
Coming back to himself, Li Xunhuan considered what he could Trade.
For now, what he needed most was cultivation resources.
He would try it with a Yellow Dragon Pill.
With a thought, the Yellow Dragon Pill appeared on one side of the Scales, while an endless illusory shadow appeared on the other.
Pills, Knowledge, and secret techniques awaited his selection.
Great Restoration Pill!
Nine-Flower Jade Dew Pills!
..
This was hard to judge!
Li Xunhuan realized that the golden balance truly lived up to its name.
It was all about fair Trade.
A Yellow Dragon Pill?
Sorry, it could only be exchanged for something of equal value!
There was no chance of getting a bargain.
Of course, it did have one small additional use: appraisal.
For example,
【Mortal Grade, complete Yellow Dragon Pill, non-toxic, can slightly accelerate cultivation】
After experimenting, he found that the best method was to exchange small change for a larger denomination, or a larger denomination for small change.
As luck would have it, that was right up his alley.
He did exactly that for the Yue Emperor. The Treasury held the treasures collected this month.
Stealing from the place he was supposed to guard?
So what!