Inside the cabin, with its windows and doors firmly shut, the light was dim. Li Weiyi spread out all his coins on the table – every coin he had, including those he had filched from the corpses of Xing Wanxing, Fang Tong, and Yan Qingqing.
They tumbled in a clatter, forming a little heap like a small mountain, and he counted them carefully twice.
“Eighty-two Yongquan coins, one hundred and eighty-seven silver coins, and eighty copper coins.”
One Yongquan coin was equal to one hundred silver coins, or ten thousand copper coins. Li Weiyi had already come to understand the buying power in this world. For example, traveling from Demon Pass to Nine Li City, a voyage of nine or ten days, a single person’s fare was eight silver coins.
Zhao Meng was the exception – his fare was sixty-four silver coins. And sending off a stone coffin cost an additional sixteen silver coins. Daily meal expenses were no small matter either.
Fortunately, when Zhao Meng left the Bronze Ship, he had filled many bottles and jars with Golden Crow Blood and Black Flood Dragon Blood to sustain him; otherwise, even his own consumption alone could have fed dozens of people.
But Li Weiyi was also using the Golden Crow Blood and Black Flood Dragon Blood – it wouldn’t be long before they were all gone. Li Weiyi had even asked Zhao Zhizhuo about the price of a residence in Nine Li City’s compound, and was shocked.
Even for a small courtyard outside the city – one that could house five or six people and was in a good location near the main city – the price ran into tens of thousands of silver coins. Even a place in a more remote area would still cost close to ten thousand silver coins.
By all accounts, the money he had now would only be enough to buy such a small place. The larger properties, even those within the city itself, were beyond his reach. Of course, he also had a few magical artifacts.
With a few exotic interworld coffins, he could fetch a handsome price. That was the only reason he dared to settle in Nine Li City, even temporarily!
“Private trading of exotic coffins carries risks; I must wait a while longer. I could sell one of the magical artifacts first, but would I, an outsider cultivator at the Spring Surge Realm with no established foundation, draw too much attention and invite trouble?”
Li Weiyi murmured to himself. From inside the stone coffin, the corpse’s voice said, “Perhaps you could ask Li Ling. She is a Mourning Lantern Guide and also the granddaughter of the Cang Li Tribe’s chief.”
Li Weiyi had already detailed all the background and circumstances to everyone, which naturally brought forth a mix of laughter and tears. Everyone agreed except for one glaring anomaly. That was: why would Li Ling approach him?
With so many magical artifacts at stake, what else could move her besides that? A senior spirit-positioned elder had told Li Weiyi that since Li Ling was a Mourning Lantern Guide, she might have activated the “Perception of Clarity.” Once that was activated, it meant that in the competition among Guides, she had emerged victorious to become the successor priestess.
A Mourning Lantern Guide could roughly predict the fortune of an event and find the correct path in the Departing Spirit Fog Domain.
And a guide who had activated the “Perception of Clarity” possessed one special little ability: once she truly loved a man, regardless of whether he was a thousand or ten thousand miles away, she could find him through her perception.
The senior spirit elder believed this was the only logical explanation; otherwise, all of Li Ling’s actions would be far too peculiar. Li Weiyi never dared to be narcissistic or conceited; he never thought of himself as having such charm.
Yet what troubled him was that Li Ling, never giving way to malice or taking the initiative to strike, was becoming increasingly sincere. He only wished to quickly draw a clear boundary… If he asked her for help in selling his magical artifact, wouldn’t that create yet another tie?
“Dang dang!”
The sound of camel bells rang in Li Weiyi’s mind. In an instant, all his tangled thoughts and negative emotions surged forth, as if they were choosing a person to feast on.
He quickly began practicing the Jade Void Breathing Technique, spending a quarter of an hour until his thoughts finally calmed, and the sound of the bells in his mind faded away.
Ever since he had rung the Evil Camel Bell at the Blood Sea Coffin Dock – summoning a huge camel bell and slaying Fang Tong – the sound of the bell had occasionally appeared in his mind, as if establishing some kind of connection.
“It’s ringing again?” the corpse in the stone coffin said.
Li Weiyi nodded.
“It’s becoming more frequent, and its influence is growing… Is there really no way to solve it?”
The corpse replied, “Yu Tuonan is not an ordinary character. Back then in the carefree capital of Demon Kingdom, only Yu Baxian could match him. The Evil Camel Bell carries an immense reputation – it once caused an entire habitat to fall into turmoil, resulting in a tremendous blood-soaked storm.
I can say that the magical artifacts you control combined are not even comparable to a fraction of the Evil Camel Bell’s power.”
“For you, if you can use the Evil Camel Bell well, it will become an extremely powerful trump card. For now, you can only summon a camel three or four meters high. In the future, it might become a whole caravan, or the camel might even transform into a Dragon-Headed Tuotuo Camel.”
“But if you cannot restrain it, if its evil influences begin to corrupt your mind and spirit, the consequences will be severe; you could even fall onto the demonic path.”
“It should be that when you channel your magical power to shake it, it actively submits to you. Yet such formidable magical weapons often tend to devour their masters. As it continuously absorbs the evil thoughts from the heavens and earth, its soul energy will rapidly recover and grow stronger. You must be stronger than it, so that it never dominates you.”
“If you could bring in a priest-level Spirit Sense Master from the Nine Li Tribe, you could, at this stage, grind its soul energy down, cutting off the threat. But when it grows to a certain strength, trying to eliminate it will become as difficult as climbing to heaven.”
Right now, throwing it away was clearly not an option. The senior spirit elder added, “Your breathing technique is impressive, but it only serves to resist it forcibly. You must quickly cultivate a soul light – a soul light that can suppress the soul of a magical artifact.
Then, you can control it, rather than it always influencing you.”
“Also, by activating the Fifth Spring’s central core, martial cultivators can use their soul thoughts to produce a certain counterforce and even tame the magical artifact.” the corpse from the stone coffin stated.
Master Guan, the senior spirit elder, and the coffin elder all seemed far weaker than Chan Hai’s Guanyun and Yu Tuonan. After all, the latter two had already formed visible bodies and could freely move.
“Dong dong.”
There was a knock on the door.
“Brother Xie, Sister Four is already awake,” Zhao Zhizhuo’s voice spoke from outside.
After carefully packing all his coins away, Li Weiyi opened the door and stepped out, smiling.
“Old Zhao, from now on, do not call me Brother Xie anymore. We are comrades, there is nothing to hide. My real name is Li Weiyi. You can call me Weiyi, or Brother Li.”
Li Weiyi’s hearing was remarkably sharp, and he had long since seen through Li Ling’s subtle actions. He held Zhao Zhizhuo in high regard; because of a debt of gratitude, Zhao never mentioned anything about the magical artifacts even when it concerned the Young Clan Leader and Li Ling.
In this world, it was extremely rare to see matters of favor and grudges divided so clearly. Zhao Zhizhuo naturally pretended as if he had just learned of it, expressing his surprise and joking a couple of times, then said, “Alright, I’ll call you Brother Li. But stop calling me Old Zhao – just Old Zhao is fine.
Haha!”
He felt even greater approval for Li Weiyi in his heart. He understood why Li Weiyi concealed his true name – when one’s cultivation was low, one must be extremely cautious.
If Li Weiyi, having once assisted the Cang Li Tribe, started acting high and mighty, believing himself to be a remarkable person, Zhao would promptly return the favor and then distance himself. The two of them walked along the corridor outside the cabin. Li Weiyi casually asked, “Old Zhao, earlier you said that you had re-cultivated your Two Springs.
Does that mean if your spring well shattered, it could be remade?” Zhao Zhizhuo’s smile soon faded, and with a bitter tone he said, “Reforming a shattered spring is very hard; it requires incredible determination. It’s been many years, and I’ve only managed to restore two springs.
Unless I can find those top-tier magical artifacts – using the power of the artifacts might quickly help in reformation.”
“But such magical artifacts…”
Li Weiyi began.
“Let’s put it this way – in our entire Nine Li Tribe, there is only that lost artifact of legend with such power. Otherwise, how would the tribe have helped me restore my cultivation all those years ago… Sigh…”
Zhao Zhizhuo’s chest tightened as he sighed deeply. Having fallen from the pinnacle to the dust, enduring countless humiliations, ridicule, and insults, his heart had long been worn smooth by suffering. Yet today, Li Ling and Li Weiyi had stirred those painful memories.
He had once been at the height of glory, once adored by tens of thousands. Unwilling to speak further of it, he said, “We’ve arrived!”
In his heart, Li Weiyi secretly pondered that once he unlocked the Fifth Spring’s central core, or cultivated a soul light strong enough to guide the Evil Camel Bell, perhaps he might try to lend Zhao a hand. But this thought flashed by in his mind in an instant.
The exposure of a magical artifact of this level was not a small matter – it required careful thought and planning. Li Ling was of a semi-immortal body, her skin delicate and as smooth as jade wax, with hair as dark and silky as black satin cascading alongside her face.
Under the setting sun outside the door, her features were sharply defined; her profile was supremely perfect.
“Aren’t you always saying you want to keep your distance from me? Then why did you come to save me? Doesn’t that blur the boundaries once again?” she said.
Li Weiyi found a stool and sat down.
“I think that anyone in such a situation would lend a hand – it was nothing more than a natural impulse.”
Li Ling replied, “Really? I recall that when I was gravely injured and lost consciousness, Fang Tong was still alive. To save me, he had to first deal with him – that is not something done on a whim.
Such a great kindness and deep emotion, I must repay it somehow.” Fearing that she might speak of offering herself in gratitude, and with Zhao Zhizhuo still nearby, Li Weiyi quickly interjected, “Alright, just pay up then!” Li Ling frowned, “Are you really that short of money?”
“Out in Nine Li City, money is needed everywhere. I do have some savings, but surely I can’t just sit back and let them dry up? Besides, you wanted to repay your kindness anyway.”
Li Weiyi thought to himself that no matter how much Li Ling gave him, he would always consider himself grateful enough. Li Ling no longer mentioned the matter of repayment, and instead asked, “Did Fang Tong manage to escape?” Li Weiyi pondered for a moment, “He escaped quickly.”
“Did you manage to sever the heads of the other two as well?” she inquired, clearly caring about this point.
“No, that would be too cruel,” Li Weiyi answered.
Knowing what she desired, he took out the necklace made of Snow Wolf King teeth.
“I intend to use this as evidence – it should be enough!”
Li Ling reached out to take it. Li Weiyi held it back and looked her straight in the eyes.
“I am really short of money.”
“What do you need so much money for?”
Li Ling asked. Li Weiyi explained, “Buying a residence in Nine Li City will be a huge expense. My money is not enough.”
“Once I get this necklace, I can request from the tribe that you be granted a big residence,” Li Ling stated.
Li Weiyi shook his head.
“I don’t want to become too deeply entangled with either the Cang Li Tribe or the Nine Li Tribe. If the Earth Wolf King Army investigates, they will find me. That wolf tooth – you must tell everyone that it was taken by you. You only need to give me money!”
“Alright, I agree with you,” Li Ling smiled sweetly, “Your thinking is correct! Nine Li City is truly a place where money burns a hole in your pocket – you can spend regardless of how much you have. And in martial cultivation, breaking through a realm can easily cost tens of thousands of silver coins.”
She moved to fetch the wolf tooth necklace, but Li Weiyi reached out again and said, “I still need to see Cai Yutong and Qi Shanshan – they are my companions.” Li Ling’s eyes narrowed slightly, “Alright, I will make the arrangements.”
“You must understand, in negotiating these terms with you, I am actually trying to place some trust in you. This chance – it only comes once!”
Li Weiyi said. Li Ling replied, “I understand! But if anything goes wrong, in the future we won’t even be friends – we might only be enemies.”
(End of Chapter)