Gathering

Heaven Water Pavilion was the largest and most luxurious restaurant in Central Capital City. Every day, it was filled with honored guests, and especially during festivals, it became a gathering place for the powerful and noble.

It had the most exquisite decorations, with calligraphy and paintings by famous figures visible everywhere, and all kinds of rare ornaments dazzled the eye.

Today, however, Heaven Water Pavilion was different. The Shopkeeper stood outside the entrance, constantly cupping his fists and bowing to arriving guests, offering words of apology.

Though the disappointed guests were deeply displeased—after all, no one would feel good about having their mood spoiled and being turned away on the first day of the new year—they knew even better what power stood behind Heaven Water Pavilion. No one dared cause Trouble here.

What made the guests most curious was who on earth possessed such influence that they could book out the entire Heaven Water Pavilion.

After all, normally even when some prince came, he would merely reserve a single Private Room.

"Mo Yan, you head back first!" Li Shiming stepped down from the carriage and instructed Mo Yan, who had lifted the curtain for him.

He had not noticed the commotion at Heaven Water Pavilion's entrance. Or rather, on a day like today, all of Central Capital City was bustling, especially this street with its heavy commercial atmosphere.

"Young master, Heaven Water Pavilion is not receiving outside guests today!" As he walked to the entrance, the Shopkeeper bowed and said.

Li Shiming paused slightly. Hadn't they said the gathering was on the third floor? How had the whole place been booked out? Even if he was unfamiliar with Heaven Water Pavilion, just from the building's exterior, he could judge its level.

"I have an appointment with someone on the third floor!" he said with a smile.

"Please come in, young master!" The Shopkeeper switched to his most sincere smile and made an inviting gesture. Then he turned and instructed a Shop Assistant at the side, "Take the young master upstairs!"

The Shopkeeper was worldly and experienced, and did not doubt Li Shiming's words in the slightest.

Though he did not know what kind of people were gathering on the third floor this time, he did know who had booked the building: the Chief Eunuch by the emperor's side had personally come to arrange it.

Under the probing, assessing, and puzzled gazes of the people outside, Li Shiming entered Heaven Water Pavilion and, led by the Shop Assistant, reached the third floor.

"Master, this lowly one can only see you this far!" the Shop Assistant bowed with an ingratiating smile.

Li Shiming nodded. He understood in his heart that this was a gathering of cultivators, so naturally mortals could not be allowed to approach.

The third floor could be taken in at a glance. In the middle was a Main Hall, with three Private Rooms on each side.

The Main Hall appeared empty at first sight. By his guess, this gathering should be in one of the Private Rooms.

"Little Friend Li is here!" Just as he was about to search among the Private Rooms, a voice came over, and then a Light Gate appeared in front of him.

Through the Light Gate, he saw quite a number of people seated in the middle of the Main Hall.

The one in the main seat was none other than Gu Jia, who was beckoning to Li Shiming.

So the third floor had actually been concealed by a formation. Even if a mortal entered the third floor, they would be unable to see the scene of the cultivators' gathering.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Gu. Greetings, fellow daoists!" After entering the Light Gate, Li Shiming bowed to Gu Jia, then cupped his fists and made a circular salute to everyone around him.

His gaze Swept Across the several people present, and he found some cultivators he recognized among them.

For example, the Hao Family Elder who sold Talisman Paper and Talismans, Cultivator Deng who sold Magic Artifacts, Cultivator Liu who sold Spirit Plants, and Cultivator Zhang who sold Spell books, along with several cultivators Li Shiming had an impression of but whose names he did not know.

Of course, there were twenty-six cultivators seated in the Main Hall, and those he had seen before were only a very small number.

"Fellow daoists, this is Little Friend Li, whom I have acknowledged. I ask everyone to look after him more in the future!" Gu Jia introduced him with a smile.

"Since he was introduced by Fellow Daoist Gu, we naturally will look after him!" a cultivator immediately responded, and the other cultivators echoed one after another.

Only the Hao Family Elder had a trace of suspicion in his eyes when he looked at Li Shiming.

The first moment he saw Li Shiming, he had felt a sense of familiarity, yet no matter what, he could not recall when he had ever seen Li Shiming.

The Hao Family had suffered a great humiliation some time ago. Two cultivators had fallen, causing the Hao Family's strength to drop severely.

The most serious issue was that a Qi Refining Stage 3 cultivator and a Qi Refining Fourth Level cultivator had been killed at the same time, leaving everyone in the Market uneasy. No cultivator dared go to the Market anymore.

This cultivators' gathering was originally a tradition among nearby cultivators. On the first day of the new year, they would meet with Gu Jia, deliver the Spirit Stones due for the next year, and it was also a means of deepening their relationship with Gu Jia.

The families organizing the Market did not want any one family to contact Gu Jia alone. That would allow one of them to grow dominant, thereby breaking the original balance.

As for handing over Spirit Stones when the Market's profits for the next year had not yet been obtained, that was a helpless measure as well.

If the Market's business was poor, then the extra Spirit Stones would be treated as filial respect to Gu Jia. If the Market's income exceeded the original estimate, then at the next first-day gathering, they would make up the Spirit Stones owed from before.

No cultivator would tamper with this matter. This was not the interest of a single Cultivation Family; they supervised and restrained one another.

"Tell me, what is the reason you want to hold the Market inside the city?" After Gu Jia finished introducing Li Shiming, he continued the previous topic and asked.

"Fellow Daoist Gu, this is the decision we reached after discussion. After the two Hao Family cultivators were killed last time, no cultivators came to the Market anymore. Even cultivators who often came to the Market to sell items have spread word that they won't come because of safety concerns!" Cultivator Deng spread his hands and said.

"Little friend, have a cup of Spirit Tea. I brought this from the sect!" Gu Jia smiled and pushed a cup of Spirit Tea to Li Shiming. Only then did he turn to look at Cultivator Deng, a cold, grim expression appearing on his face as he said, "Tell me the truth about what happened."

Clearly, he knew what these Rogue Cultivators were thinking. He guessed that because two Hao Family Cultivators had been killed, they had become worried and wanted to borrow his influence to reorganize the Market.

The problem was that the previous Market had only borrowed his name, while now, if the Market was moved into the city, it would be borrowing his actual strength. That carried a certain degree of danger.

Although among Rogue Cultivators, those who could defeat Gu Jia were extremely rare, and furthermore, most Rogue Cultivators who came to Central Capital City did so to join a sect themselves or have their juniors join one, so they absolutely would not offend the Garrison Cultivator of Sky Ocean Sect.

But who could say anything for certain in the Cultivation World? If Gu Jia was to take a risk, it would not be acceptable without a reasonable explanation.

Li Shiming picked up the Spirit Tea before him and took a light sip. He immediately felt a surge of Spiritual Qi explode from within his abdomen, and the Spiritual Qi Vortex absorbed that Spiritual Qi on its own.

Sensing the changes within his body, he did not stop. He poured the entire cup of Spirit Tea into his mouth, not even letting the two tea leaves go to waste.

The Spiritual Qi Vortex wildly absorbed the sudden surge of Spiritual Qi inside him, increasing the amount of Spiritual Qi in his body by more than half. He felt that he was already not far from Qi Refining Stage 3.

His eyes could not help lighting up. What kind of Spirit Tea was this, to actually raise his Spiritual Power by so much in one go? If he drank another cup, he was afraid he would advance to Qi Refining Stage 3 on the spot.