Circulation Realm Cultivator

"Damn it, I went soft-hearted for a moment! It hadn't been easy refining so many Fireball Talismans."

Watching Nangong Yuqing's departing back, Wei Suo howled twice in his heart.

But howling was one thing. This time, Wei Suo, who had once been stingy as an iron rooster, did not feel the slightest heartache. After Nangong Yuqing's figure vanished from sight, Wei Suo headed toward the north of Lingyue City.

The most powerful marketplaces in Lingyue City, such as Golden Jade Pavilion, were all concentrated in the south. The Free Market in the north was filled with small shops like the old fox's store Wei Suo used to frequent. However, Tianxuan Continent had always held the north in higher esteem, so Lingyue City itself faced south from its northern seat and was built against the mountains. The northern terrain was the highest, and at the very top, protected by restrictions that ordinary cultivators could not enter, stood the mountain gate of Tianyi Sect. Beyond the Free Market in the north were also stretches of cultivator residences, countless times better than the little stone houses in the west of the city where Wei Suo used to live.

To put it simply, the west of the city was Lingyue City's slums, where low-level Rogue Cultivators gathered, while the north was where high-level Rogue Cultivators congregated.

The higher the terrain of the northern residences, the better their surroundings and conditions were, but the more Spirit Stones had to be paid each month.

The most urgent matter for Wei Suo now was refining the Heaven Mending Pill. After buying fifteen Green Armored Beetle demon cores from Golden Jade Pavilion, he had gathered every material needed to refine the Heaven Mending Pill. He only lacked one final thing: an Earth Fire Furnace.

Some cultivators with exceedingly high cultivation could use their own True Essence to operate specialized pill furnaces, whether for artifact refining or pill refining. Even higher-level cultivators could directly employ the True Fire Art to refine ordinary pills and magical artifacts with true fire. But Wei Suo's cultivation was low, and he did not know the True Fire Art, so if he wanted to refine the Heaven Mending Pill, he could only rely on an Earth Fire Furnace first.

Wei Suo was heading north in Lingyue City because he wanted to find a residence equipped with an Earth Fire Furnace.

Since the north of the city contained the forbidden grounds of several sects, Wei Suo had rarely gone anywhere other than the Free Market before. Only after asking several cultivators did he learn the exact location of Tianyi Sect's One Heart Hall, which handled the rental of northern residences.

Climbing a bluestone staircase with no markings, Wei Suo saw a two-story hall. Like Tianyi Sect's other buildings in Lingyue City that housed Teleportation Arrays, this hall was golden in color and looked exceptionally imposing.

"Third Level of Sea of Consciousness Realm? He looks like just an outer disciple of Tianyi Sect."

The moment he entered the main hall of One Heart Hall, Wei Suo saw two Tianyi Sect disciples in ordinary blue robes, along with several cultivators dressed differently but apparently traveling together. Sweeping them with his Qi Gazing Technique, Wei Suo found that only one middle-aged cultivator wearing black iron armor had cultivation a level higher than his own, at the Fifth Level of Sea of Consciousness Realm. The rest were about the same as him, or even slightly weaker. Even the two Tianyi Sect disciples handling reception were only at the Third Level of Sea of Consciousness Realm.

The differently dressed cultivators were paying Spirit Stones before a slightly short and plump Tianyi Sect disciple. They had probably also come to rent residences. Seeing Wei Suo enter, the other Tianyi Sect disciple, whose face was somewhat narrow and sharp and who looked exceedingly shrewd, immediately came forward and asked, "May I ask what business this brother has at One Heart Hall?"

Wei Suo knew that a place like this was actually not much different from an ordinary shop. Elsewhere, one handed over Spirit Stones and received talismans, magical treasures, pills, and the like. Here, one handed over Spirit Stones and received a residence for cultivation. So Wei Suo did not stand on ceremony and said directly, "I want a residence with an Earth Fire Furnace."

"A residence with an Earth Fire Furnace?" The moment Wei Suo spoke, the gazes of the other cultivators all snapped onto him in unison. The monthly Spirit Stone fee for a residence with an Earth Fire Furnace was no small sum. A cultivator who could afford such a residence was certainly no ordinary cultivator, and these cultivators, who were doing reasonably well for themselves, could not afford a residence with an Earth Fire Furnace at all.

"You want a residence with an Earth Fire Furnace?" The sharp-faced, shrewd-looking Tianyi Sect disciple repeated skeptically, then immediately said, "There are currently two residences with Earth Fire Furnaces. One also comes with a Spiritual Field capable of growing ordinary spirit herbs, while the other does not. The one with a Spiritual Field costs eighty Low-grade Spirit Stones per month, while the one without costs fifty Low-grade Spirit Stones per month. Which one do you want?"

Wei Suo pondered slightly. He knew that having a Spiritual Field brought many benefits, since some spirit herbs he gathered could be cultivated there. But considering that the Spirit Stones he had on hand were not abundant, and that he currently had neither the ability nor the spare time to cultivate spirit herbs, Wei Suo decided to rent only the residence without a Spiritual Field, for fifty Low-grade Spirit Stones per month.

"I'll take the residence for fifty Low-grade Spirit Stones a month." But just as Wei Suo was about to speak, a chilling voice suddenly came from behind him.

A gaunt middle-aged cultivator in red robes, with a somewhat sinister face, had somehow appeared not far behind Wei Suo.

"It's him?" Wei Suo was slightly stunned. This sinister-looking, gaunt middle-aged cultivator was clearly the one he had seen at the auction in Lingxiao Workshop—the cultivator who had bid up to eight hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones for the Silver Gang Essence, but had later feared the mysterious person in the second-floor private room and given up.

"What, do you have an objection?" Seeing Wei Suo staring at him in a daze, the sinister red-robed cultivator gave him a cold glance. Six clusters of red light suddenly emerged around his body, with threads of light seemingly connecting them as they flowed endlessly like a river. A powerful and chilling pressure immediately radiated from him.

"A Circulation Realm cultivator!" The other cultivators in One Heart Hall all changed expression at once.

This ruthless-looking, gaunt red-robed cultivator was astonishingly a formidable cultivator at the Circulation Realm First Level. Moreover, he had deliberately revealed his cultivation, allowing everyone present to see it clearly.

"Senior." Flattering and respectful expressions immediately appeared on the faces of the two Tianyi Sect disciples. The disciple who had received Wei Suo promptly said, "Does Senior wish to rent this residence with an Earth Fire Furnace? If Senior wishes to rent it, then naturally there is no problem." As he spoke, the Tianyi Sect disciple occasionally glanced at Wei Suo, clearly implying that a cultivator like him should know his place and not compete with the red-robed cultivator.

"Fuck!"

By all rights, Wei Suo had come first. If they truly argued and alerted Tianyi Sect, this cheaper residence should have been given to Wei Suo first. But this Circulation Realm cultivator was clearly vicious and might even strike in secret. With Wei Suo's current strength, he definitely could not defeat him. What was more, judging from this man's conduct at the auction and his current need for an Earth Fire Furnace, he might know some artifact-refining method or even be a cultivator capable of refining flying swords. His combat strength would be several times more formidable.

Facing this Circulation Realm cultivator, whom he could not yet afford to provoke, Wei Suo could only swallow this grievance whole. He said nothing, merely thinking that if he ever got the chance, he would definitely make this fellow pay.

Seeing Wei Suo lower his head and remain silent, the sinister red-robed cultivator assumed that Wei Suo feared him like the other cultivators did. He immediately gave a smug, cold laugh, paid the fifty Low-grade Spirit Stones first, took a jade talisman that allowed entry into the residence, and left One Heart Hall.

"There's still one left. Do you want it?" The moment the sinister red-robed cultivator left, the sharp-faced Tianyi Sect disciple, who had looked so shrewd, immediately changed his expression and asked Wei Suo.

"Yes!" Since only the last one remained, Wei Suo naturally had no other choice. Without wasting words, he paid eighty Low-grade Spirit Stones, took the jade talisman for entering the residence from another Tianyi Sect disciple, listened as that disciple rattled off numerous precautions, then left One Heart Hall without looking back.

Looking upward from afar, the residences were hidden among countless green trees and exotic flowers. Yet whenever one approached them along the paths, a dense mist would rise before one's eyes, making it impossible to see the houses in the woods ahead.

A residence with an Earth Fire Furnace and a Spiritual Field was probably not considered bad even in the north of the city. Wei Suo followed the main mountain road upward for a while, passing at least four or five tiers of residences before reaching the place he had rented.

Before him was a quiet forest suffused with white spiritual mist. A path paved with white pebbles stretched inward, and at its entrance stood a black stone stele carved with the ancient character for "Earth," followed by the number "twenty-three," corresponding to the jade plaque in Wei Suo's hand.

"If the residences built by Tianyi Sect are also divided into four grades—Heaven, Earth, Black, Yellow—like cultivation arts, then this kind of residence should rank second class."

Thinking this, Wei Suo placed the jade plaque in his hand against the black stone stele. With a flash of light from the stele, all the spiritual mist before him vanished.

"Fuck!"

The moment Wei Suo stepped inside, his mood soared, and more than half of the displeasure caused by that vicious red-robed cultivator disappeared.

What appeared before Wei Suo was unexpectedly a small valley. Not only were many flowers and plants growing there, making it look extremely secluded and tranquil, but a small waterfall also fell from a cliff to one side, forming a clear pool several yards wide below, with fish swimming within it.

Beside the clear pool was a small Spiritual Field. Built against the cliff on the other side was a small courtyard with two sections.

This environment was countless times better than the bare little stone house Wei Suo had lived in before.

Everyone, go participate in the check-in event on the homepage. Just one click earns points or red votes, and it's incredibly convenient.

I clicked it too and ended up getting two red votes, which I shamelessly cast for myself. Haha.

Keep it up, everyone. Judging from today's momentum, it looks like I'll have to fight desperately to add more chapters again tomorrow?