Borrowing Money

Half a month later.

The group finally dragged their exhausted bodies out of the endless Jingyang Mountain Range.

The view before them suddenly opened up. An official road stretched into the distance, and the outline of a sizable city could vaguely be seen.

"Dad, we're... out?" Yun Hu wiped the sweat and dust from his face, his voice hoarse with disbelief.

Yun Ji gazed at the distant city, nodded, and let out a sigh of relief.

"Judging by the direction, this should be the border of the Great Xia Dynasty."

Li Pinghu rubbed his hands excitedly.

"We finally left that damned Changqing Kingdom! These past half a month, we've been on tenterhooks every day. I'm practically falling apart!"

Shi Tie held the sleeping Shi Chen in his arms, and a long-lost ease appeared on his face as well.

"Yeah. We need to find somewhere to rest properly. Adults can endure it, but children can't."

Yun Long looked at everyone's exhausted yet hopeful expressions and said in a deep voice, "The city ahead should belong to Great Xia. Let's go in and rest up."

Yun Ji reminded them, "The Great Xia Dynasty is different from the Changqing Kingdom. It has more rules and is more prosperous. We're new here, so we should keep a low profile and avoid trouble."

Yun Long nodded. "Don't worry, Dad. I know."

As they approached the city gate, towering walls came into view. Above the gate were three flamboyant characters that danced like dragons and soared like phoenixes—Dongyun City.

There was no inspection required to enter the city. After paying a small entry fee, the group stepped into this border city.

The streets were broad and paved with bluestone. Shops stood row upon row on either side, while people and carriages flowed ceaselessly through the streets. Hawkers' cries and merchants' calls rose one after another, painting a scene of bustling prosperity.

"Wow! Brother, look! That building is so tall!" Yun He widened her eyes, tugging on Yun Long's sleeve as she pointed at a three-story restaurant in the distance, its beams carved and rafters painted. Her face was full of wonder.

Shi Chen was also drawn in by the lively sights before him. His little face was filled with excitement as he looked left and right, too dazzled to take it all in.

Yun Long's expression remained calm, but in secret, he had suppressed the aura of his Qi Refining Stage cultivation to the utmost, making himself seem like an ordinary Xiantian martial artist.

His spiritual sense quietly spread out, sharply catching a powerful aura within the city. It had to belong to a Qi Refining Stage cultivator. That person was releasing his aura without restraint precisely to deter petty criminals.

The Great Xia Dynasty truly has deep foundations. Even a border city has a Qi Refining Stage cultivator stationed here. Yun Long grew even more vigilant.

The group found a Qingfeng Inn that looked clean and tidy and settled in.

After washing up, changing into newly bought clean clothes, and ordering a lavish meal at the inn, they finally dispelled the exhaustion of their long journey.

However, after this round of rest and recuperation, the little silver they had left was completely exhausted.

That night, Li Lingyue looked at the few copper coins remaining on the table. Her delicate brows furrowed slightly as she said to Yun Long with deep concern, "Brother Long, lodging and food are only small expenses. We can't stay at inns forever. We'll need to buy land and settle down eventually, and the expenses will only grow larger. This money..."

Yun Long looked at her worried expression, the corner of his lips lifting into a mysterious smile.

"Don't worry. Leave the money to me."

After a pause, he lowered his voice. "I happen to know a few 'friends' around here. Tonight, I'll go borrow some from them."

Li Lingyue was slightly taken aback.

She felt that Yun Long had changed greatly since they left the Jingyang Mountain Range.

The old him had been impulsive, but he would never have spoken words carrying such a faint... sinister air.

Still, she did not ask further. She merely nodded and said gently, "Then be careful."

The night was black as ink.

Yun Long silently left the inn.

There were not many ripples in his heart.

"Borrowing money"? It was merely a nicer way of putting it.

If Fang Yuanhua had not driven him into a dead end, he would not have wanted to resort to such a measure.

But now, for the survival of his family and friends, for a place to stand in the future, and for the wealth the Lineage needed to establish itself and grow, this was the fastest and best method.

A woman's soft-hearted mercy would only harm others and oneself.

In this world, the strong were ultimately revered.

He carefully avoided the aura of that Qi Refining Stage cultivator in the city. Other than that cultivator, no one in the city could stop him.

Vajra Primordial Qi circulated as he unleashed a spell that concealed his form. His figure completely merged into the night, like a ghostly phantom.

Relying on senses and movement techniques far beyond those of ordinary people, Yun Long easily avoided the patrolling soldiers and guards stationed at the various residences.

The targets he chose were all the grandest and most luxurious mansions in the city.

The first two went smoothly. He slipped in without a sound, found the storerooms where gold and silver were kept, and took enough banknotes, gold, and silver to settle down, with a great surplus besides.

When he reached the third residence, Yun Long's brow shifted slightly.

The defenses of this residence were clearly tighter than those of the first two. There were even faint traces of energy fluctuations, as though some simple warning formation had been set up.

However, a formation of this level was no more substantial than empty air before a Qi Refining Stage cultivator like him.

He easily bypassed the formation nodes and slipped into a study deep within the residence.

The study was furnished with great care, and the bookshelves were filled with all manner of books.

Yun Long's gaze swept across the room. Suddenly, in an inconspicuous corner, he sensed a weak yet pure fluctuation of Spiritual Energy.

He walked over and gently tapped on the wall, producing a dull sound.

There really was a hidden compartment!

Vajra Primordial Qi gathered at his fingertips. He carefully broke the clasp on the compartment, and an exquisite wooden box appeared before him.

When he opened the box, there were no gold, silver, or jewels inside, but four spirit stones and a yellowed, ancient booklet.

There was no title on the booklet's cover. Its material was neither paper nor silk, and it felt warm and smooth in his hand.

Yun Long flipped through several pages, and a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes!

This was actually an immortal cultivation technique!

An unexpected delight!

Yun Long's heart stirred. He tucked both the cultivation technique and the wooden box into his robes, then found some valuable jewelry and jade artifacts in another concealed drawer in the study.

Once he had done all this, he did not linger for even a moment. Just as he had come, he silently departed the residence and vanished into the heavy night.

The following day, dawn had only just begun to break, and the first morning light was faintly visible.

Yun Long woke everyone up.

"We're leaving Dongyun City."

His voice was not loud, yet it carried an unquestionable decisiveness.

The group continued westward.

Every one or two towns, their luggage would somehow gain a few more heavy valuables.

Yun Long never said much. He would only quietly leave in the dead of night, then return before dawn with what they needed.

Inn lodging and meals, new clothes, and rented carriages—their expenses flowed out like running water.

Yun Ji, Li Pinghu, Shi Tie, and the others were all shrewd people. Seeing the banknotes Yun Long occasionally handed over, then looking at the group's increasingly ample spending, they had long understood everything.

Yun Ji asked nothing and said nothing.

Whenever he accepted the money, however, his complicated gaze would rest on Yun Long for a moment before he silently nodded.

That impulsive child of the Yun Clan, who had once known only how to practice martial arts, had truly grown up.

Sometimes, Li Lingyue would be awakened in the depths of the night by the faintest sounds. When she saw Yun Long return through the door, cloaked in darkness and completely unharmed, she would only tuck in the corner of her blanket, close her eyes again, and act as though she had noticed nothing.

Yun Hu and Yun He trusted their elder brother without question. If their elder brother said they had money, then they had money.