Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
After she finished asking about every matter she was interested in, Mo Tiange smiled and said, “Consider this bottle of medicinal pills your reward—give it to your grandpa. I’ll take my leave first.”
Right after Mo Tiange said that, she stood up, pushed the door open and went away.
“Senior!” Lu Qiongying chased after her, but when she stepped out of the door, she couldn’t see Mo Tiange’s silhouette anymore. She was stunned for a second but soon let out a vexed sigh. She could be considered to have messed up the matter grandpa instructed her to do. However, she immediately brightened up again when she recalled that bottle of medicinal pills. In any case, she’d made a great fortune.
Mo Tiange concealed her breath then flew towards the North Pole Island, following what Lu Qiongying said.
Originally, she intended to stay a while longer with the Lu family and learn more about the cultivation world in Yunzhong from Lu Qingdong, but they were unexpectedly so cautious and paranoid, so she felt they were very troublesome. But that didn’t matter. After she went to the Northern Pole Island, she could naturally take her time and ask around.
The South Pole Island was indeed tiny. Mo Tiange only flew for a while, but she could already see the strait the Lu family mentioned. While it was said to be a strait, it was, in fact, only about 1 km wide. Even Aura Refining cultivators could easily cross over it using talismans.
But despite this “mere” 1 km distance, the spirit veins between the two islands were poles apart. Before she even arrived on the North Pole Island, Mo Tiange could already sense that this big island had at least a few pretty good spirit veins. This was even a bit better than Mount Yunwu, back in that year. Compared with this island, the South Pole Island was nothing but a small mountain top that had a bit of spiritual aura. It was no wonder the Lu family was able to dominate the South Pole Island despite the fact that the highest leveled cultivator they had among them was only in the early stage of the Foundation Building realm. For the people on the North Pole Island, the spirit veins on the South Pole Island simply weren’t worth mentioning.
As she flew over the strait, she could already see a bustling town on the North Pole Island with one look. Cultivators were everywhere, and Foundation Building cultivators weren’t few either.
She landed in front of the town gate, but just as she examined her surroundings, she suddenly heard an enthusiastic voice: “Senior, Senior! Is this perhaps your first time coming to the North Pole Island?”
Mo Tiange didn’t pay attention to that person. Consequently, that person came and stopped in front of her and repeated their question. It was only then that Mo Tiange finally realized they were talking to her.
The person talking to her was a youngster who seemed to be only around sixteen-seventeen years old. Although he possessed a superficial amount of spiritual aura, he hadn’t yet reached the first layer of the Aura Refining realm. At a glance, it was obvious that he was a mortal who frequently mixed in the marketplace.
She took a brief look at the youngster then asked dully: “Is there a problem?”
The youngster immediately showed a wide smile. He said respectfully: “Senior, you must be an expert in the Foundation Building realm. Is this perhaps the first time you’ve come to the North Pole Island?”
“You’re right.” Mo Tiange once again glanced at that youngster. He was wearing casual clothes that bared his entire arms. It didn’t seem like he was trying to sell things to her. However, seeing his courteous smile, he was obviously soliciting some kind of business.
“In that case, did Senior come to the North Pole Island to visit friends or hunt beasts?”
After she heard this, Mo Tiange immediately narrowed her eyes, fixating her gaze on that youngster.
Seeing her gaze made the youngster hurriedly explain himself. “Senior, please don’t misunderstand me. I’m a broker and I’m in this market all year round. Whenever I run into a cultivator who’s visiting our North Pole Island for the first time, I’ll solicit some business to make ends meet…”
“Oh, I see.” Mo Tiange withdrew her unfriendly gaze then asked, “So what business do you want to propose?”
That youngster looked happy to see that she seemed somewhat interested. He explained passionately: “That’ll depend on Senior’s purpose for coming here. It’s not that I’m praising myself, but I grew up on the North Pole Island from childhood, so there’s nothing on this island that I don’t know about!”
He was surprisingly confident in himself. Mo Tiange showed a slight smile, asking: “If I came to visit some friends, what would you do? And what if I came to hunt some beasts?”
The youngster smiled. “If Senior came to visit friends, then as long as Senior can tell me their names and cultivation levels, I’ll definitely find a way to find them. If Senior came for beast-hunting, I can find a suitable destination for Senior and introduce Senior to other cultivators I know who also hunt beasts. In addition, I also have maps of the North Pole Island that clearly show which place has what demonic beasts. I can also introduce Senior to merchants who accept beast cores—I can guarantee they’re big merchants who give fair prices!”
Mo Tiange was rather surprised. “You’re not a cultivator; how did you get acquainted with big merchants who accept beast cores?”
The youngster scratched his head with embarrassment, saying: “I’m going to be honest with Senior. I have no other abilities, but I’m smart; those managers and shopkeepers are happy with me, so they’re willing to give me a tiny bit of profit. Besides, I often bring them some business. Although the profit isn’t much, it’s still a source of income.”
After she heard that, Mo Tiange thought for a moment then said, “This is my first time coming here, so I need some lodgings. How about you show me some?”
The youngster was ecstatic. He said enthusiastically, “Does Senior have any requirements? Should the spiritual aura in the lodgings be slightly dense, or just the usual? How big should the place be? Do you want an immortal’s cave or a house? How long are you going to live there?”
Mo Tiange said, “As long as the spiritual aura’s good enough, that will do. Whether it’s an immortal’s cave or a house doesn’t matter. I don’t have any requirements about the size either. I only want it to be a bit quiet. As for how long I’ll stay, I’m not sure; maybe a few days, maybe a few months.”
“I see…” The youngster lowered his head as he pondered. A moment later, he said, “Senior, since you’re not sure how long you’ll stay, sharing an immortal’s cave with others wouldn’t be suitable. No requirements regarding spiritual aura and the size of the place… it sounds like an inn will be more suitable. I know a few family inns with independent small courtyards who specialize in providing dwellings for expert seniors like you. The spiritual aura is pretty good, there are people waiting upon guests all day long, and they’re definitely quiet!” At this point, the youngster smiled again. “It’s just that the price might be slightly more expensive.”
“Oh? How much?”
“It’s about one spirit stone a day…” The youngster then stressed another point: “This price is still a bit cheaper than renting an immortal’s cave.”
Mo Tiange smiled and asked, “Then what about your commission?”
Her question made the youngster rub his hands with embarrassment. “Senior can just reimburse me for the travel fee.”
Mo Tiange chuckled. She knew that if the transaction succeeded, these brokers could obtain money for their efforts from the merchants, so they weren’t too demanding regarding the travel fee.
Since she also didn’t want to be too conspicuous, she said, “One spirit stone a day is still acceptable. You just need to look for an ordinary one.”
“Okay.” The youngster looked at her then continued to ask, “Senior, do you want to follow me and take a look now?”
“En!”
Now that Mo Tiange had finished discussing with the youngster, she went around the streets with him, and before long, they had already arrived at the gate of an inn. This inn was located on a rather quiet street. It was neither new nor old, and there was a moderate amount of people—it was actually in line with her “ordinary” request.
“Senior, please come in.” The youngster took the lead, and he called out loud as soon as he came in, “Shopkeeper Dong, Shopkeeper Dong!”
After his voice rang out, a stout middle-aged man emerged from behind the counter; there was no spiritual aura in his body—he was a complete mortal. That person clapped to remove the dust on his hands while glancing at the youngster. “Oh! Isn’t this Little Desk? What? Did you come to pick up the commission for the previous one? I’m telling you; that guest was too hard to please. They didn’t give much money, and they also made my assistants run here and there! Here, there’s just this much! Don’t dislike it for being too little; if I didn’t take our long friendship into consideration, I really wouldn’t have wanted to give you any!”
The shopkeeper took out a small silver tael from inside the drawer and passed it over.
The youngster called Little Desk accepted it, saying with a grin, “How could I possibly dislike it?! What kind of friendship is ours? Am I, Little Desk, such a profit-oriented person who can’t differentiate between right and wrong? Anyway, it’s different this time. This time, I’m bringing a noble guest. Take a look!”
Shopkeeper Dong absent-mindedly lifted his line of sight. The moment he saw Mo Tiange, who was standing behind the youngster, he was startled and promptly came out from behind the counter. He said respectfully, “Fairy, are you looking for an inn?”
Instead of answering, Mo Tiange only looked at Little Desk, who then took over. “This Senior’s a Foundation Building expert. She’s looking for a quiet place for a temporary dwelling. Doesn’t your place have several small courtyards? Are there any available now?”
“There are, there are!” Shopkeeper Dong said while beaming, “Fairy, how long are you planning to stay? We still have three small courtyards left; one has an abundant amount of spiritual aura, while the spiritual aura in the two others is just ordinary. I’m not sure about other aspects, but the quietness here goes without saying.”
Faced with the two people’s eager gazes, Mo Tiange smiled and said, “Then let’s just take a look.”
“Sure, sure, sure.” Shopkeeper Dong notified his assistant then he personally led the two people to examine the courtyard.
When they went out of the inn’s back door, they actually saw a small mountain top. The shopkeeper led the way, giving them a long-winded explanation on the whole journey. “Fairy, of the three small courtyards we have left, the one with abundant spiritual aura is situated a bit farther, and the ones with average spiritual aura are here. The best one is naturally the one with abundant spiritual aura. It’s remote, there are people waiting upon guests there, and the decor is also elegant. The two other courtyards aren’t bad either. It’s just that the spiritual aura in those two is slightly worse.”
While he spoke, Mo Tiange could already see the two courtyards with quite ordinary spiritual aura he mentioned. Two whole rows of courtyards were inside the valley. Each courtyard was separated by about a thousand feet and many trees.
Upon scanning it with her divine sense, she found that there were cultivators’ breaths in about five or six courtyards in these two rows. She pondered for a moment then asked, “Are there any others?”
Seeing that she didn’t seem satisfied with the courtyards before her, Shopkeeper Dong became even more polite. He made a “please” gesture, saying, “There’s still another one deep inside. Fairy, this way, please.”
This valley was small, but the spirit vein here wasn’t bad. It also didn’t lose to that of the Lu Family’s on the South Pole Island. Apparently, the power behind this inn should also be a cultivation clan or something of the sort. The further they walked into the mountain, the denser the spiritual aura got. After walking for about another eight hundred feet, at an area with the densest spiritual aura, they finally saw two other courtyards.
“Fairy, please have a look.” Shopkeeper Dong pointed at the two courtyards hidden among the woods. “This is the area with the strongest spiritual aura around this little spirit vein. We only made two courtyards here, and they’re situated extremely far from each other, so you definitely won’t be disturbed.”
Mo Tiange examined the courtyards. There was a tiny forest between the two courtyards, so unless one intentionally disturbed the occupants of the other courtyard, there ought to be no problem.
She contemplated the matter for a moment. Once she made a decision, she asked, “Which one’s still empty?”
Shopkeeper Dong pointed at the courtyard that was positioned slightly further from them than the other, saying: “It’s that one. The one who lives in the other one is also a fairy, but she isn’t present most of the time.”
Mo Tiange nodded. That was best; she wouldn’t be disturbed. After going through the underground aqueduct for a couple of months, she really wanted to look for a place and rest properly now.
Shopkeeper Dong led her into the courtyard among the woods, then he called out towards the mortal woman cleaning inside. “Ayin!”
The woman turned around. When she saw the shopkeeper bringing a guest, she immediately bowed as a greeting.
Shopkeeper Dong said, “Fairy, please take a look. There are three rooms here; this room can be used for pill-concocting, this room can be used for cultivating, and the small sitting room between them can be used to receive guests. In addition, if you have spiritual beasts, you can keep them here. If there’s anything to be done, you can just tell Ayin to do it. If there’s nothing to do, she’ll be in the small room on the side—she definitely won’t disturb you.”
Mo Tiange briefly ran her gaze over the courtyard and felt very satisfied with what she saw. The layout was elegant, and it had everything it should have. There should be no problem even if she had to live here for about a year.
“Is Fairy satisfied? Do you want to book it now?”
Mo Tiange asked, “How much is it?”
“One spirit stone a day.” Shopkeeper Dong beamed as he continued on: “Rest assured; this price is absolutely fair.”
Mo Tiange nodded then took out a handful of spirit stones from her Qiankun Bag and passed them to the shopkeeper. “I’ll stay for about a dozen days for the time being. If I stay longer, you can come and collect the money.”
“Sure, sure.” Shopkeeper Dong nodded fawningly. “Then I won’t bother you any longer.”
Seeing the dozen of days’ worth of spirit stones, Little Desk, who’d been following behind them, smiled so widely that his eyes were practically missing. With so many spirit stones, at least one of them would become his commission! He stepped forward, saying, “Senior, in that case, I’ll be taking my leave first.”
Mo Tiange nodded with a smile them fumbled into her Qiankun Bag, taking out a spirit stone which she then gave to him. “Consider this payment for your efforts.”
Little Desk’s eyes brightened. He repeatedly conveyed his thanks: “Many thanks to Senior for the reward!”
