A Sudden Transformation

Chapter 9: A Sudden Transformation

"Walking the Small Heavenly Circuit, chanting mantras and pinching finger seals, this poor Daoist is a little immortal from Longhu Mountain who has attained the Way..."

The crisp, melodious singing drifted over, carrying such a carefree spirit that the passing city patrol horses couldn't help but slow their pace, casting side-glances at the source.

The young Daoist was handsome; men felt inferior upon seeing him, and women couldn't help but steal a few extra looks.

The tune was indeed pleasant to the ear, but the lyrics, when heard, were truly quite arrogant.

One had to know that Cui County possessed a real immortal, residing right there in the Qinglian Taoist Temple on Xiaoyan Mountain. It was rumored that a sword immortal had descended, capable of wielding flying swords to take a person's head from a thousand miles away.

Where did this young Daoist get the nerve to boast so shamelessly about being an immortal?

Yet, the singing young Daoist seemed oblivious to everything around him, eyes lightly closed, immersed in his own song.

Behind the young Daoist stood a white banner, on which two lines of large, eye-catching characters were written: "Divining fortunes and asking of ghosts and gods, better to believe they exist. Praying for blessings and safety, sincerity brings spiritual response."

Only then did the crowd realize he was just a fortune-teller; no wonder he boasted so much—it was likely to drum up business.

The soldiers riding past saw this scene and initially intended to step forward to intervene, but just as they approached, they were pulled back by their leader, Lao Yu.

Lao Yu frowned slightly and whispered, "Do not meddle in idle affairs."

His subordinates were full of confusion and asked, "Boss, why not? This is the main official road; according to the rules, setting up stalls is not allowed."

Lao Yu stroked his graying beard and said softly, "Take a good look at that white banner."

Upon hearing this, the soldiers all narrowed their eyes to examine it carefully. After a moment, one of them muttered, "The calligraphy is, well, truly quite ugly."

Hearing this, Lao Yu raised his hand and slapped the oblivious subordinate on the forehead, hissing, "Who asked you about the calligraphy? I told you to look at where that white banner is planted!"

After this shout, the soldiers suddenly realized that the pole of the white banner was driven straight and deep into the solid bluestone pavement.

Lao Yu's expression was grave as he said in a low voice, "Stay alert. The news of the magistrate conscripting young boys and girls has already spread, and martial arts experts have gathered in the city. We are merely on patrol; making arrests and interrogating criminals is the job of the yamen runners. Remember, children, women, the elderly, and monks—do not provoke these people lightly. Just report them as they are."

In recent days, Cui County had become increasingly chaotic. The magistrate's forced abduction of young boys and girls had incited the fury of the martial arts world, and self-proclaimed heroes had flocked here to "uphold justice." In the last half-month alone, several murder cases had already occurred in the town.

Lao Yu had spent most of his life in this trade and naturally understood the principle of self-preservation. He spurred his horse and left first. Seeing this, his subordinates hurriedly followed. They thought to themselves that it was good to have an experienced boss like Lao Yu; look, they had escaped with their lives intact once again.

Hearing the sound of hoofbeats fading away in a hurry, the young Daoist's singing stopped abruptly. He sighed helplessly, "Another business opportunity lost. Does no one want to ask for a divination these days?"

This person was, naturally, Chen Ye.

He had been in Cui County for two days and had mostly grasped the situation.

Cui County was extraordinarily large, far beyond the scale of an ordinary county seat. This was because Cui County was the fief of a royal relative deeply favored by the current emperor.

She was a noble princess with the title Hongyu. It was said that when she was born, her tiny hand was tightly clutching a red gemstone, and in an instant, seven-colored rainbow light had enveloped the entire imperial palace. The emperor was overjoyed, viewing this as an auspicious omen, and had pampered the princess ever since.

Princess Hongyu seemed to possess magical qualities; from the moment she was born, the world had enjoyed favorable weather for over a dozen years. Every year on her birthday, the sky would be filled with colorful clouds. The emperor became even more convinced that she was a heaven-sent divine being, and his favor grew deeper.

Thus, the wealthy and prosperous Cui County had long ago become the princess's fief.

With the connection to the princess, Cui County got whatever it wanted from the imperial court, developing into its current scale in just over a decade.

Even though Princess Hongyu still lived deep within the imperial palace and had never set foot in her own fief, her palace in Cui County was the most magnificent and luxurious place, with countless rare treasures flowing into it every year.

Because of this, although the magistrate of Cui County was titled as such, his status was far higher than that of officials of the same rank. It was no wonder the magistrate dared to forcibly conscript young boys and girls without fear of inciting a riot; he was emboldened by the fact that he could use the princess's guards to suppress dissent, and those guards were far more formidable than the yamen runners.

Chen Ye had originally known little about these worldly affairs. Practitioners had long lifespans, while mortal dynasties changed frequently. Whether long, lasting two or three hundred years, or short, lasting only a few decades, with the Central Plains and the many small border nations, it was truly hard to keep track of them all.

Mo Ci was even older than the current dynasty. If Chen Ye's cultivation went smoothly, he would likely witness several dynastic changes, so he naturally didn't take them to heart.

But since he had to come to Cui County, he naturally had to find out the situation clearly. Fortunately, Zhao Hezhou was a local of Cui County, and before setting off, Chen Ye had inquired about quite a bit of information, keeping the prominent figures of Cui County in mind so he wouldn't be completely in the dark.

To enter the city smoothly, he had also changed his identity; he was no longer a disheveled little beggar, but a handsome young Daoist.

If there was anything worth boasting about in his previous life, it was definitely this face.

Before he transmigrated, whether it was friends or family, everyone said he could make a living on his looks alone. But Chen Ye was proud and arrogant, not understanding that the synonym for "endurance" was "wealth," so he had plunged into the grind of academic studies, wasting his youth in vain.

Now that he had become a cultivator, he had even less use for this face.

After all, the Heavenly Dao did not care about beauty or ugliness; it treated everyone equally.

Having been in the city for two days, Chen Ye had inquired carefully; the magistrate was still conscripting young boys and girls, and the numbers were growing.

This left Chen Ye deeply puzzled. Since the cultivators from the Qinghe Sword Sect had arrived days ago, why were they sitting idly by while such evil acts were committed?

Could it be that he had misunderstood, and the collection of young boys and girls was actually the work of the Qinghe Sword Sect cultivators?

Though puzzled, Chen Ye was not prepared to meddle in others' business.

As a small cultivator in the Qiling Realm, he could not handle such major events that harmed the common people; it was better to focus on his cultivation.

Now that the side effects of the Beast Blood Pill had been resolved, he could focus on refining pills and cultivating as long as he bought enough livestock. Chen Ye had calculated that he would need at least eight thousand sheep to form his Dantian Qi Sea; if he used cattle or horses, which had larger physiques, the requirement could drop to two or three thousand.

But cattle and horses were much more expensive than sheep. Chen Ye did not have the ability to shake his sleeves and encompass the universe; slaughtering thousands of livestock would exhaust a person, and the time required would be too long.

After much thought, Chen Ye wanted to get his hands on a ranch so he could order servants to help with the slaughtering and blood extraction, which would save him a lot of effort in refining pills.

And this required money—a large amount of money.

The silver left behind by Mo Ci was far from enough, so Chen Ye had to find a way to earn some.

In any case, working for others was impossible; ordinary people could work their whole lives and still not afford half a cow.

It was just that he had been setting up his stall for half a day, and there wasn't even a single person asking for a divination.

"That doesn't seem right. The people of Cui County are in a panic and the chaos is already evident, so how could there be no one wanting a fortune told?"

Chen Ye stroked his chin, feeling a bit puzzled.

By the time noon arrived and the sun was at its most scorching, a pot-bellied man finally approached Chen Ye.

The fat man asked in a deep voice, "Fortune teller, are you accurate or not?"

Chen Ye glanced at the man and asked, "What is it that you wish to ask about, sir?"

The fat man retorted, "If you were accurate, would you still need to ask me?"

His voice was loud and sharp, causing the pedestrians on the road to turn and look toward Chen Ye.