Xiao Yao stood atop a high mountain outside Wutan City, looking down over the entire city.
In the past, because of his cultivation and his efforts to create a place of extreme Yang, among other things, he had never actually left Wutan City.
Having spent his sixteen years of life in Wutan City, he felt that it was vast.
But after leaving Wutan City, he came to the top of this high mountain, looked down, then turned to look at the road he was about to take.
Suddenly, he felt that only after being shut in a cage for so long could one recognize how vast the world was.
Xiao Yao lingered at the summit for a while before using a movement Dou Technique and heading toward Qingshan Town.
He possessed the ability Sun-Swallowing Qi Gathering and cultivated extremely quickly, so he did not need to worry about expending Dou Qi. Even if he squandered all his Dou Qi, he could find a place to bask in the sun and recover it in no time.
Moreover, as his sun analysis percentage increased, his recovery speed would also improve.
In the future, he might be able to achieve pseudo-infinite Dou Qi, meaning that he might recover Dou Qi faster than he expended it.
Under these circumstances, Xiao Yao naturally used his movement Dou Technique to his heart's content.
His strength had already reached Nine-Star Dou Shi, and with his movement Dou Technique, he was much faster than Xiao Yan had been in the original story.
In the original story, Xiao Yan had taken several days to travel from Wutan City to Qingshan Town, but Xiao Yao had spent only half a day before a magical beast town on the edge of the Magical Beast Mountain Range came into view in the distance.
Xiao Yao stepped in rapid succession, using Dou Qi to race through the treetops, and soon arrived at a mountaintop.
When ordinary cultivators traveled frequently under the blazing sun, they would find a cool spot in the shade of a tree to rest.
Xiao Yao was completely different. Only the blazing sun overhead made him comfortable, so he had sought out high ground to rest along the way, where he could enjoy the sunlight to his heart's content.
Standing on the mountaintop, he looked down at the magical beast town and watched people moving through it, all hurrying along.
At the sight, Xiao Yao raised an eyebrow. Although Qingshan Town was on the edge of the Magical Beast Mountain Range, that was hardly enough to make most of the townspeople hurry about. Could something have happened?
Thoughts flashed through his mind, but this was also his first visit to a magical beast town like this, and he did not know the situation. Xiao Yao was in no hurry, so he basked in the sun for a while to recover his Dou Qi.
A short while later, Xiao Yao stretched his limbs, rather moved. The Dou Qi recovery speed of Sun-Swallowing Qi Gathering alone had already saved him a considerable sum on recovery pills.
Of course, not everyone was like Xiao Yan, with a Venerable Yao to make recovery pills tailored to him when he went out to train.
More people could only rely on themselves to slowly recover their Dou Qi.
Xiao Yao took a fiery red spear out of his Storage Ring, then took out some supplies for training away from home and hung them on himself, making himself look like a mercenary.
He had come for the ruins in that cave, though he was also interested in Xiao Yi Xian, of course.
He had originally planned to head straight for the Myriad Medicine Pavilion, but now that something seemed amiss in Qingshan Town, he decided to gather information first.
Although Xiao Yao had never been a mercenary, even if he had never eaten pork, had he not seen pigs run?
He often went to the Mittel Auction House to deliver goods, and sometimes visited the marketplace to see whether he could dig up any treasures.
As a result, he often dealt with mercenaries in the marketplace and knew quite a bit about them.
Xiao Yao walked along a street paved with bluestone slabs. Shops stood tightly packed on both sides, with a scattering of stalls out front.
Xiao Yao found a stall selling battered old items, which had probably been scavenged from some ruins.
He crouched down and rummaged through them, picking up a worn booklet. Just as he was about to open it, the stallholder spoke.
"Don't flip through it if you're not buying."
Xiao Yao smiled and casually struck up a conversation with the stallholder.
Perhaps because business was slow, or perhaps because he could tell Xiao Yao really intended to buy something, the stallholder showed no impatience and chatted with him.
After a while, Xiao Yao found that he really was interested in the booklet, so he paid for it and continued rummaging through the stall.
This time, the stallholder's manner was much more relaxed.
"I'm new to Qingshan Town. Was it always like this? Most people seem to be in a hurry."
The stallholder scoffed at that. "It wasn't like this before. It's just that the Wolf Head Mercenary Group found some ruins and grew much more powerful, then started swallowing up the other mercenary groups in Qingshan Town."
"Once they became the sole power around, their members started throwing their weight around, and now everyone's on edge."
No wonder Qingshan Town was like this.
Still, some people hurried about because they did not want trouble, while others were not afraid of it, like this stallholder.
Xiao Yao raised an eyebrow. Qingshan Town had originally had three major mercenary groups. Was the Wolf Head Mercenary Group the only one left now?
Xiao Yao looked interested. Wanting to see where the change had begun, he asked,
"Could you tell me more about it?"
The stallholder held out a broad hand. "Five gold coins."
Xiao Yao took out the coins and placed them in the stallholder's hand. "I hope it'll be worth the money."
The stallholder laughed. "Don't worry, it'll be well worth it."
"It all started with a medicinal herb-gathering team. They used to make their living over in Wutan City."
"A few years ago, demand for fire-attribute medicinal herbs in Wutan City dropped sharply for some reason. They couldn't make a living there anymore, so they had to come to Qingshan Town to scrape by."
"But that herb-gathering team really did have some skill. I don't know whether someone in the team cultivated a special cultivation method or had some other secret art, but they had quite a knack for finding fire-attribute medicinal herbs."
"It was that very team that found ruins hidden in a cave in a valley."
"But people from the Wolf Head Mercenary Group happened to stumble across them. The two sides came to blows, and in the end, the herb-gathering team lost and fled back to Qingshan Town in a panic."
"They weren't willing to let the matter rest, though, so they spread the story, hoping to give the Wolf Head Mercenary Group a nasty time."
"But they didn't expect the Wolf Head Mercenary Group to gain tremendous benefits from those ruins. They swallowed up the other two major mercenary groups and grew much stronger."
"As for that herb-gathering team, some died and some fled. They didn't come to a good end."
After hearing the whole story, Xiao Yao's mouth twitched. It really was the flapping of his wings as a butterfly that had caused such a huge change in Qingshan Town.
The Wolf Head Mercenary Group had most likely already stripped the cave ruins bare.
I just hope the Purple Cloud Wings haven't been used yet... Xiao Yao thought.
The Purple Cloud Wings were a Flying Dou Technique made in a special way; basically, only one person could use a scroll.
As for things like the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture and Mad Lion's Roar, it did not matter if someone else had used them.
Xiao Yao thought of Xiao Yi Xian and hurriedly asked, "What about the other powers in Qingshan Town, aside from the mercenary groups?"
"What else could they do? With the Wolf Head Mercenary Group as the sole power, they either obediently bow and scrape, or hand over a share of their profits in exchange for the group leaving them alone."
"Take the Myriad Medicine Pavilion, for instance. Because it's very useful, it can keep operating as long as it hands over a share of its profits."
Only then did Xiao Yao breathe a sigh of relief.
"Ah, but after the Wolf Head Mercenary Group became the sole power, that so-called young leader Mu Li grew even more unrestrained and started harassing Xiao Yi Xian of the Myriad Medicine Pavilion relentlessly."
"A few days ago, Xiao Yi Xian even threatened him with poison and forced him to retreat in a sorry state."
"But I'd say that Mu Li has a kindly face and a ruthless heart. I'm afraid he won't let the matter rest."