Yunmeng Mountain

Xu Lei's body went limp as he collapsed to the ground, an expression of disbelief etched onto his face.

He had never imagined that he would die at the hands of Shen Long.

Shen Long let out a long sigh of relief; his mana was nearly exhausted, but fortunately, he had managed to eliminate Xu Lei.

The four sub-blades fell to the ground, their spiritual light dim.

He did not drop his defenses, instead maneuvering the Azure Moon Shears to decapitate Xu Lei.

The Iron Tail Scorpion crawled out from the ground, emitting an excited hiss, its tail stinger swaying left and right as it sought credit from Shen Long.

Had it not been for the Iron Tail Scorpion, Shen Long would have been killed long ago.

"Let's leave here first; I'll buy you some Spirit Feeding Pills later."

He retrieved the Iron Tail Scorpion into his Spirit Beast Bag, searched the two corpses for three storage bags, tucked them into his robes, pulled out an Earth Escape Talisman, slapped it onto his body, and escaped underground.

Qin Qing was still alive, and who knew if he might be lying in ambush outside? Escaping underground was safer.

Shen Long intended to head to a large Marketplace and had no plans to return to Thousand Bamboo Valley.

······

In Thousand Bamboo Valley, the door to a stone room opened, and Qin Tianhe walked out, intending to head to the Martial Practice Garden to practice spells.

Qin Qing rushed toward him and said, "Let's go, leave the Marketplace with me immediately."

He had rushed back to the Marketplace at top speed, intending to take Qin Tianhe away; they could no longer stay in the Marketplace.

He dared not notify the Chen, Han, or Li clans. Since this involved the Spirit Control Token, what he received in return might not be a reward, but rather an attempt to silence him. With the strength of those three clans, crushing a sixth-level Qi Refining cultivator was as easy as pie.

With three hundred spirit stones, they would have no trouble living elsewhere.

"Grandfather, what happened?"

Qin Tianhe asked in confusion.

"Nothing, just come with me."

Qin Qing did not brook any argument and took Qin Tianhe away from the Marketplace.

In a secluded manor, there were pavilions, towers, arched bridges, and flowing water.

A beautiful young woman in a golden dress and a tall, thin middle-aged man sat in an azure stone pavilion, discussing something, while Li Ruxue stood to the side.

"The disciple recruitment assembly is about to be held. I will lead the team this time! I hope some of our clansmen can join the Mystic Yang Sect."

The young woman in the golden dress said, her face filled with longing.

Li Yueyun, at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage.

"Ruxue and the others all meet the requirements for recruitment, but whether they can pass the assessment depends on their own abilities."

The middle-aged man said.

Li Yuefeng, at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage.

"Ruxue, go back and prepare! We depart tomorrow. Whether you can join the Mystic Yang Sect depends on your own fortune."

Li Yueyun instructed.

"Yes, Ninth Aunt."

Li Ruxue agreed and turned to leave.

······

The Yunmeng Mountain Range stretched for one hundred thousand li, with rolling mountains and towering ancient trees.

On the outskirts of the Yunmeng Mountain Range stood a steep, sky-piercing giant peak. The peak was a thousand zhang high, and buildings were scattered from the foot of the mountain to the summit, where many cultivators could be seen.

At the foot of the mountain stood an azure stone tablet over ten zhang tall, with the three golden characters "Yunmeng Mountain" carved into it. Under the sunlight, the three characters shone brightly, making them very eye-catching.

A figure appeared in the distance, rushing rapidly toward Yunmeng Mountain.

Before long, the figure stopped on a low dirt slope, revealing a blue-robed man with ordinary features—it was Shen Long, who had altered his appearance.

He did not know if Qin Qing would report him, so after leaving the Thousand Bamboo Mountain Range, he had changed his appearance and finally arrived at Yunmeng Mountain. The five major powers of the Qin Kingdom recruited new disciples at Yunmeng Mountain.

Fearing he would be recognized, Shen Long had traveled by night and rested by day, taking over three years to reach Yunmeng Mountain.

There was still one year until the Immortal Ascension Assembly, and Shen Long was still at the seventh level of Qi Refining, but he possessed the Spirit Control Token, so joining the Spirit Control Sect should not be a major problem.

The ground began to shake slightly. Shen Long was startled and turned his head to look into the distance. A team of cultivators was riding Azure Horned Horses toward them from afar; the horses had a single azure horn on their heads and ran at great speed.

On the back of each Azure Horned Horse was a cultivator, and their sleeves were embroidered with a plum blossom pattern, which seemed to be a mark.

"The Plum Blossom Valley Su Clan!"

Shen Long recognized the mark. The Travels of Master Azure Cloud had mentioned the Su Clan; they were a vassal cultivation family of the Purple Firmament Gate, backed by Foundation Establishment cultivators and filled with experts.

The Su Clan cultivators ignored Shen Long and rode their spirit horses toward Yunmeng Mountain.

A flash of azure light appeared beneath Shen Long's feet, and with a sway of his body, he dashed toward Yunmeng Mountain.

Wind Control Technique at Great Perfection!

Shen Long had been a wanderer for the past three years, spending three hours every day practicing spells, eventually bringing his Wind Control Technique to the Great Perfection stage.

As he approached within a mile of Yunmeng Mountain, Shen Long felt his body stiffen, and his speed slowed down.

He was startled, realizing it must be the restrictions of the Marketplace; he hurriedly retracted his Wind Control Technique and began walking toward Yunmeng Mountain.

The streets were wide and clean, with shops arranged in an orderly fashion on both sides, and pedestrians flowed like a tide amidst the bustling traffic.

"Come take a look, everyone! Freshly arrived spirit wine, a century-old shop, trustworthy and reliable."

"We have just launched five new types of spirit meals, all at a ten percent discount. Don't miss out as you pass by!"

"Products from the Weapon Forging Pavilion are guaranteed to be high quality. Any fellow daoists or seniors looking to purchase magical artifacts, come and take a look."

······

Shop assistants from various stores stood at their entrances, shouting energetically to solicit customers.

Shen Long was full of curiosity, walking around and observing, seeing many strange and novel items, though he did not purchase any goods.

Half an hour later, Shen Long appeared in front of a nine-story cyan pavilion, with the three golden characters "Guest Arrival Inn" written on the plaque.

He strode inside to find a spacious and bright lobby furnished with many tables and chairs, where a ruddy-faced old man in a cyan robe sat behind a cyan counter.

A servant in a cyan shirt hurried over and asked enthusiastically, "Are you looking to stay at the inn or dine, fellow daoist?"

"I would like to stay at the inn. How do you charge?"

Shen Long asked.

"Two spirit stones for one month. If you rent for a year, it can be a bit cheaper, twenty spirit stones."

The old man in the cyan robe said.

"That's so expensive!"

Shen Long frowned.

He didn't spend nearly that many spirit stones renting for a year in Thousand Bamboo Valley; a major Marketplace was truly different, even the rent was this high.

"This is the cheapest option; there are even more expensive ones."

The old man in the cyan robe said.

Shen Long nodded and turned to leave. He visited a few more inns and discovered the rent was about the same, so the manager of Guest Arrival Inn had not been intentionally inflating the price.

He settled down at Gathering Immortals Inn and paid the rent for one year.

The room was spacious and clean, containing a cyan wooden bed, a cyan tea table, and several cyan wooden stools. In the corner was a cyan formation with eight identical grooves on it.

Shen Long closed the door, placed eight spirit stones into the grooves, and took out a square cyan token. He injected his mana into it, and a beam of cyan light flew from the token into the formation.

A cyan light screen emerged on the walls, and the outside noise vanished.

Shen Long lay down on the wooden bed and let out a long sigh of relief.

Finally made it to Yunmeng Mountain.

Shen Long muttered to himself, his face full of joy.

He took out a blue storage bag, shook the opening downward, and as a sweep of blue mist passed by, a large pile of items appeared on the floor.