Linglong Town is located at a crossroads of north-south traffic, with three rivers flowing through the city and a population of nearly 100,000. The streets were not short of people.
Along the way, Sang Dai sensed many fluctuations of spiritual energy.
She tugged at Su Xuan’s sleeve quietly and asked, “Linglong Town is just a small city. Why are there so many cultivators here?”
Su Xuan’s brows furrowed slightly as he glanced around. With just a cursory look, he could tell that three out of every ten people were cultivators.
“It is indeed peculiar.”
Liu Lixue, who always liked to fan himself wherever he went, carried an air of a leisurely and rakish peacock. He pointed to someone in the distance with his fan and said, “Take that fellow over there, for example. He cultivates the demonic path but is a human cultivator.”
He was a healer cultivator; with just one glance, he could discern the aura on this person.
Yet this human cultivator’s entire body was enveloped in demonic arts.
Sang Dai remarked, “It must be a rogue cultivator.”
Rogue cultivators, unbound by sect rules, could practice any kind of technique as long as it wasn’t a forbidden or detested evil art.
Liu Lixue strolled forward leisurely, fanning himself as he laughed cheerfully, “Miss Sang, this isn’t just about the abundance of cultivators. My eyes have never failed me—nine out of ten cultivators here are rogues.”
For example, a human cultivator practicing demonic arts, or a demonic cultivator practicing immortal techniques.
Sang Dai carefully observed the cultivators passing by her. When they came closer, she could naturally sense the jarring and incongruous aura emanating from them.
Su Xuan lowered his voice and said, “If rogue cultivators go missing, no one would care. It’s possible that most of the missing ones are rogues.”
Walking ahead, Liu Lixue suddenly turned back. The peacock-patterned tail at the corner of his eyes carried a hint of red as he smiled and said, “The Lord is clever; they really are rogues.”
After speaking, Liu Lixue turned and entered a nearby inn, waving to the two behind him. “But it’s getting dark. We should find a place to rest.”
Sang Dai stopped and looked up for a long while before nodding. “Young Master Liu certainly knows how to pick a place.”
This establishment was extravagantly decorated, with even the signboard at the entrance inlaid with gold. The shop assistant, dressed in fine brocade, made it obvious this was a high-end venue.
Su Xuan took her hand and led her inside. “He couldn’t endure a single hard day.”
As soon as they stepped in, they saw that peacock slouched against the counter in an undignified manner. Dressed in flamboyant red, he slammed his hand on the counter.
“Three hundred high-grade spirit stones for a superior room?”
Sang Dai twitched at the corner of her eye.
This was daylight robbery, blatantly so.
The shopkeeper squinted and smiled. “Recently, we’ve had esteemed guests staying here. Business at our Feihua Pavilion has been booming, so that’s the current rate. Judging by your silk attire, you surely can afford three hundred spirit stones, no?”
Liu Lixue smiled faintly. “Do you think three hundred spirit stones and three hundred high-grade spirit stones are the same? At regular inns, a superior room for a night costs ten high-grade spirit stones at most. Even the best inns in the Beast Realm charge only thirty high-grade spirit stones a night for a premium suite. Three hundred would last me ten days there.”
“If you can’t afford it, then scram.”
“You old coot—”
“Wait, wait, wait! We’ll stay!” Sang Dai stepped forward, grabbed Liu Lixue’s shoulder, and pressed him down. “We’ll stay.”
Just as she was about to retrieve money from her Qiankun Bag, a low-grade storage ring was handed to her from behind. A jade-like hand tossed the ring onto the counter.
Su Xuan said, “Ten thousand high-grade spirit stones. Two superior rooms. Half a month’s stay.”
The shopkeeper took the ring, counted the spirit stones inside, and grinned broadly. “Generous! Truly generous!”
Liu Lixue, now infuriated, stepped forward to snatch the storage ring.
“We may have money, but we’re not fools with money! I refuse to stay here—”
“Shut up. Upstairs.”
Su Xuan covered his mouth and pushed the enraged peacock up the stairs.
Sang Dai maintained a polite smile and nodded at the innkeeper.
The innkeeper squinted as he watched the three big spenders head upstairs.
Su Xuan shoved a certain peacock into the superior room.
Liu Lixue wore a face of exasperation, as if hating iron for not becoming steel. “Lord, that was outright extortion. I’ve never even heard of this Feihua Pavilion.”
Sang Dai sat by the table, ignoring the inn’s water. Instead, she pulled out some tea from her Qiankun Bag, which she had brought from the Beast Realm.
Pouring a few cups of tea, she waved at the two standing in the doorway. “Come have some tea. This is osmanthus tea brewed by Cui Shao. She packed plenty for me.”
Liu Lixue sat down and downed his tea in one gulp, still fuming. Seeing his lord so extravagantly generous, without any sense of having been fleeced, only made him angrier.
“My Lord, don’t you feel the slightest sting over those spirit stones?”
Su Xuan sipped his tea leisurely and replied flatly, “This Lord grants you a stipend of no less than ten thousand high-grade spirit stones per month. Since I was the one paying just now, why are you so distressed?”
Liu Lixue clicked his tongue and shook his head. “A fool. Truly a fool.”
Sang Dai maintained her calm demeanor and refilled his cup. “Young Master Liu, have more tea.”
Su Xuan shot a glance at Liu Lixue, and the peacock’s spine tingled.
Their eyes met.
Su Xuan: Do you dare let Dai Dai pour your tea?
Liu Lixue: …
He hurriedly took the tea Sang Dai poured. “No, no, no, I can do it myself. Miss Sang, don’t trouble yourself.”
Liu Lixue held his cup tightly to calm his nerves. His lord was truly too intimidating. Usually, only those from the Beast Palace served Miss Sang—when had it ever been the other way around? This was practically flipping heaven and earth.
Liu Lixue subtly turned his head, not daring to meet Su Xuan’s eyes.
Sang Dai sighed. “Young Master Liu, since you chose this place to stay, you must have also noticed something off. So no matter how much the innkeeper charged, we had to come.”
Liu Lixue’s motion of sipping tea paused, and he exchanged a glance with Sang Dai.
Sang Dai held her cup with both hands and sipped lightly. As she drank, she said, “This inn is exquisitely decorated, and it dares to charge us three hundred high-grade spirit stones for a superior room. Normally, such high-end establishments only attract the wealthy. But did you notice how many wealthy individuals were among those who entered earlier?”
Most of them lacked particularly valuable accessories, wore ordinary clothes, and often only rented standard rooms. Some even shared a room with two or three others.
Su Xuan said nothing, silently pouring more tea for Sang Dai.
Liu Lixue grinned as he held his cup. “Miss Sang is sharp. What else?”
Sang Dai continued, “Though many can’t afford it, they still crowd into this Feihua Pavilion. Linglong Town is merely a small city, not particularly wealthy. The current pricing here has far exceeded what would be reasonable.”
“So,” Sang Dai looked up, meeting the gazes of Su Xuan and Liu Lixue across the table, “why would people grit their teeth and insist on staying at this Feihua Pavilion, knowing the innkeeper is extorting them?”
Liu Lixue snapped open his fan, his peacock-like smile curving his eyes. “Exactly—it means there’s something inside this inn worth them spending their last coins to get in.”
Sang Dai lowered her eyes and quietly sipped her tea.
Su Xuan looked at her, his brows slightly furrowed. “Dai Dai, there are too many rogue cultivators in this inn; it might not be safe at night—”
Before he could finish speaking, his expression suddenly turned cold. In the blink of an eye, he moved to the door, flung it open, and dragged someone inside.
“Wait, wait, wait—”
The person on the ground hurriedly raised their arms in front of themselves in defense.
Liu Lixue peeked out from behind Sang Dai to look.
That shiny, large, and round bald head was particularly eye-catching.
“Master Tan Huai?”
Tan Huai cautiously poked his head up, meeting a pair of cold, fox-like eyes.
He then glanced behind Su Xuan, where Sang Dai was still calmly sitting and sipping tea. Whatever was in the tea, she seemed to find it quite enjoyable, taking small, delicate sips while casting a faintly amused look his way.
The flamboyant peacock, who was much taller than Sang Dai, was now cowering behind her like a child.
Tan Huai sat cross-legged on the floor and pressed his hands together in a Buddhist greeting. “Everyone, long time no see.”
Su Xuan, showing no mercy, shattered his pretense of composure. “We saw you just a few days ago.”
Tan Huai: “…”
He quickly scrambled to his feet.
“Master Tan Huai, long time no see.”
Sang Dai stood and dragged Liu Lixue out from behind her.
Earlier, when Su Xuan had suddenly moved, Liu Lixue thought it was an assassin. Before Sang Dai could even react, he had already found a safe refuge for himself.
Liu Lixue gave an awkward laugh. “Muscle memory, from spending too much time with the Lord.”
When traveling with Su Xuan, fighting was always Su Xuan’s job.
Sang Dai smiled politely, stepping around the corner of the table to stand in front of Tan Huai.
Seeing an old friend, she seemed much more at ease.
“Greetings, Miss Sang,” said Tan Huai.
“Greetings, Master Tan Huai,” replied Sang Dai, as polite as ever.
She glanced at the little fox nearby. While Su Xuan remained expressionless, the fact that he wasn’t showing a cold face was already an improvement.
Remembering Tan Huai’s efforts to stabilize Liu Ying’s soul, Su Xuan’s attitude toward him had softened considerably.
Su Xuan sat down at the table and poured Tan Huai a cup of tea. “Sit.”
Tan Huai rubbed his arm, which he had hurt when he was dragged in, and accepted the tea with a cheerful smile. “Thank you, Lord Beast King.”
Sang Dai sat down and asked, “Why is Master Tan Huai here?”
Tan Huai had just taken a sip of tea. Hearing her question, he explained, “I came to Linglong Town to handle some matters. Several rogue cultivators have gone missing here, and Linglong Town is under the jurisdiction of Zen Buddhism.”
Sang Dai nodded in understanding.
Tan Huai explained, “Earlier, I heard Young Master Liu’s voice from upstairs. I was just about to leave when you came up, so I followed to say hello.”
Facing three pairs of eyes, Tan Huai raised his hands. “I really wasn’t eavesdropping. Monks don’t lie.”
Sang Dai chuckled. “Even if you did overhear, it’s no big deal. Since you chose to stay at this inn, I assume you’ve also noticed something unusual?”
Tan Huai sheepishly lowered his hands. “…That’s right.”
Su Xuan turned to him and asked, “When did you arrive?”
“This noon.”
“Did you find out why they’re staying here?”
“I asked around. It seems the Feihua Pavilion is hosting a banquet in a few days. The city lord will be attending, and it seems everyone wants to see Wu Hanshu.”
Liu Lixue interjected, “Wu Hanshu hasn’t had such good connections in the past. It’s unlikely just his presence would attract this many people. Did he bring something with him?”
“His cultivation technique.”
“The Way of Steadfast Mind.”
Two voices answered in unison.
Tan Huai and Liu Lixue both looked at the pair sitting across from them.
Sang Dai and Su Xuan exchanged glances, and the little fox broke into a smile.
[Dai Dai is so clever, as expected of my Dai Dai. A kiss for her!]
Hearing this familiar inner voice again, Sang Dai sighed and shook her head.
“Dai Dai, you explain it,” the little fox said graciously.
Sang Dai nodded. “Alright.”
She explained to the two who were still unclear about the situation, “Wu Hanshu practices the Way of Steadfast Mind, which focuses on stabilizing the mind and strengthening mental resilience. When a practitioner of this path breaks through from the Nascent Soul stage to the Divine Transformation stage, they can assist other cultivators in stabilizing their mental state. A stable state of mind is especially crucial for cultivation.”
As cultivators, they naturally understood this.
When one’s mental state collapses, even during a tribulation, they may only be able to utilize strength equivalent to the Grand Ascension stage, far below their true realm.
When Sang Dai’s Natal Sword shattered, her mental state also plummeted. Even though she reached the Grand Ascension stage, she couldn’t fully wield the spiritual power of that realm.
“For most cultivators, their mental states are often unstable. If a cultivator’s mind is firm and unshakable like a rock, their cultivation progresses much more smoothly. However, rogue cultivators often lack formal training. For example, those human cultivators practicing demonic arts or, conversely, demon cultivators practicing immortal techniques that we’ve encountered on our journey. Their techniques conflict with their meridians, making their cultivation powerful yet prone to mental collapse.”
“A collapsing mental state can, at best, severely damage one’s cultivation. At worst, it can lead to insanity and turn them into malevolent entities.”
Tan Huai immediately understood. “So those rogue cultivators are here to wait for Wu Hanshu!”
Sang Dai nodded. “Yes, that seems to be the case.”
At this point, Liu Lixue remembered someone they had seen outside Linglong Town earlier. “Then Shen Ciyu is probably also here for Wu Hanshu. Now that Wu Hanshu has reached the Divine Transformation stage, he can help others stabilize their mental states.”
Tan Huai asked, “What about Sect Master Shen? What happened to him?”
The three pairs of eyes turned to look at him in unison and asked simultaneously, “You don’t know?”
Tan Huai replied, “…I spend three hundred days a year running around the Four Realms and haven’t met Sect Master Shen for years. How would I know anything about his affairs? It was only when Shen Ciyu ascended to the position of sect master and his title was transmitted to me via the Immortal Alliance’s jade token that I learned he had become the Sword Sect’s sect master.”
Liu Lixue commented, “…You truly don’t care about matters of the Immortal Realm at all. Shen Ciyu’s mental state has significantly deteriorated, and Shen Feng’s search across the Four Realms for a cure has even reached our Beast Realm. At first, I was puzzled about how severe it could be to worry Shen Feng so much. It wasn’t until I just saw Shen Ciyu that I understood—despite being at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, his mental state is inferior even to that of an ordinary cultivator in the same stage.”
Tan Huai was somewhat surprised. “…How did it break down to this extent?”
Sang Dai and Su Xuan remained silent, so Liu Lixue took the initiative to explain, “On one hand, it’s because the Sword Sect was involved in the Guixu Sacrifice, and he couldn’t accept it. On the other hand, it’s because… because…”
Liu Lixue glanced at Sang Dai, her expression hesitant.
Tan Huai, oblivious to matters of the heart, asked, “Why are you looking at Miss Sang? Did she do something?”
Liu Lixue snapped in annoyance, “Monk, are you truly this dense? It’s because Shen Ciyu likes my Miss Sang!”
Tan Huai was taken aback. “…What?”
He looked at Sang Dai as if he had just stumbled upon an earth-shattering piece of gossip, incredulous.
But opposite him, Sang Dai remained silent, while Su Xuan, with a cold expression, silently warmed her tea. The two of them seemed to be fully aware of this matter.
Suddenly, Tan Huai understood.
Sang Dai and Shen Ciyu had gone from fighting side by side to being at odds. The Sword Sect betrayed her and harmed her; Sang Dai would likely never involve herself with anyone from the Sword Sect again in her lifetime. She was decisive and resolute.
As for Shen Ciyu and Sang Dai, there was no possibility for them in this life. Meeting was akin to passing strangers. Shen Ciyu couldn’t accept this; he was filled with regret and guilt.
Sensing the sensitive nature of the topic, Tan Huai awkwardly smiled and fiddled with his prayer beads. “I see. Let’s not talk about this anymore. We should focus on business.”
The monk changed the subject, speaking softly. “Sect Master Shen should be staying at the City Lord’s Manor. Shen Family’s patriarch and Wu Hanshu are old friends, so Wu Hanshu must first focus on repairing Shen Ciyu’s mental state. Fixing the mental state of a cultivator at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage is no easy task. Since he just entered the Nascent Soul stage himself, he might not have the energy to repair the mental states of these wandering cultivators in the short term.”
Sang Dai nodded. “Right.”
Tan Huai’s expression grew heavier. “So, if these wandering cultivators remain at Linglong Town for long… something else might happen.”
Hellooo I’m back! just uploaded the 13 chapters I missed~ thank you for waiting, go enjoy the reading spree 💖