Before the period of great change, the Sword Sect's Law Enforcement Hall had been a department in charge of internal punishments and ensuring that disciples followed the Sword Sect's rules.
Now, it was also responsible for maintaining public order in all the areas under the Sword Sect's jurisdiction, much like a police station.
As an aside, the Righteous Alliance's equivalent had the same name.
Lin Qiuxian and the sword cultivator surnamed Feng were being held at the Law Enforcement Hall's branch in Mystic Sword City. After returning to Mystic Sword City and sending off the samples he had obtained in the Secret Realm, Li Fengping had come straight to visit him.
There were many people there to visit inmates, though, and he had to wait until late at night before he finally got to see Lin Qiuxian. He had the Law Enforcement Hall's generous visiting hours to thank for that.
Led by a Golden Core Realm disciple of the Law Enforcement Hall, he followed him to the entrance of the visiting room.
"Go on in. Half an hour, at most."
"Thank you."
After thanking him, Li Fengping entered the visiting room, while the Law Enforcement Hall disciple went into the room next door to listen in.
Formation light flickered across the specially made glass window. It had some ability to suppress magic, and was so sturdy that even a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator would have to put in quite an effort to break it.
But no one dared to try. Unless you wanted to end up on the Sword Enforcement Hall's wanted list, where you'd be hunted down dead or alive.
Li Fengping sat down by the window. Lin Qiuxian sat opposite him, his expression calm, with the serene air of someone who had seen through the ways of the world.
He'd been mentioned over and over on traffic-safety education programs for the past two days. What good impression could he possibly have left? By the time he got out, everyone might have moved on. He'd decided to stop caring altogether.
A lot had happened in Mystic Sword City recently. Even the Sect Master had taken notice, which meant that even if the Lin Family wanted to get him released, they couldn't.
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step; one must be cautious from the very start."
"A moment's reckless pleasure can bring a lifetime of pain."
"Pain. So much pain!"
Lin Qiuxian felt he had never understood those two sayings so thoroughly.
"Senior Brother, you... are you all right?"
"Sigh... I've just come to understand a few things. Don't worry, I'm fine."
"..."
It hadn't been long at all, yet the spirited Senior Brother Lin had become like this.
"Enough about me. Tell me about yourself. You came to see me because you finished the mission, right?"
"Yes, Senior Brother. I teamed up with Jiang Jing, an inner disciple of the Law Enforcement Hall, and an outer steward of the Law Enforcement Hall named Xu Sandao. We entered the Secret Realm this afternoon and completed the mission."
Jiang Jing... He thought he'd heard of her, but couldn't remember who she was.
And this Xu Sandao?
"Interesting. A Nascent Soul sword cultivator with a name like that."
"Uh, Senior Brother Sandao is actually a very good person. When we entered the Secret Realm, we accidentally triggered some Sword Qi, and he helped block it."
"Tell me the details."
Lin Qiuxian wasn't particularly interested. It was just that he was bored out of his mind here, so he might as well listen to a story.
The next morning, at the largest shopping mall in Mystic Sword City—Truth-Seeking.
From cultivation supplies like magical artifacts and pills to everyday necessities, you could buy just about anything there.
The mall's overall layout and style were already much like the ones he remembered from his previous life, but the names of the various stores still followed the old conventions.
Places like Sweet Dew Pavilion, Hidden Edge Tower, and Rare Treasures Studio...
Xu Xing strolled through the mall, casually taking in his surroundings.
Since his grandniece was coming to visit, he planned to prepare a small gift for her and pick up some materials to upgrade the formation at his residence.
Using the materials he already had to upgrade a small formation would be a bit of a waste.
In the end, Xu Xing walked into a shop called Moon Pavilion. It mainly sold cultivation materials such as spiritual herbs, precious medicines, ores, and beast blood.
People on the relevant boards of the Spirit Net had plenty of praise for the shop.
As soon as he stepped inside, a beautiful saleswoman in a red qipao greeted him with a bright smile. "Welcome, sir. What can I help you with?"
"I'd like to buy some formation materials. Any kind is fine, and they don't need to be particularly high-grade."
So he was a formation master.
The so-called hundred arts of cultivation were pill refinement, artifact crafting, formations, and talismans.
With the emergence of many new professions, the hundred arts of cultivation were no longer as lucrative as before, but they still paid far better than ordinary cultivation.
"For formation materials, turn left up ahead and head to Section C. Would you like me to show you the way?"
"No need. I can find it myself."
"Of course."
The saleswoman nodded gently, still smiling, and returned to her place. Several women stood in a row, each with a top-tier figure and appearance. They were a pleasure to look at.
It was said that the shop had once hired Charm Cultivators from the Joyous Union Sect to serve as its eye-catching storefront. Business had been booming.
But before long, a rival had reported them. As it happened, the new mayor had also launched a campaign to clean up the city's appearance, so those Charm Cultivators had been fired.
Xu Xing went farther inside and turned left into Section C.
All kinds of spiritual materials were on display in bright cases, priced anywhere from a thousand Spirit Coins to several hundred thousand.
"Not too expensive."
Ten Spirit Coins had the purchasing power of one standard unit of Spirit Stone. This system had been proposed by an elder of the Righteous Alliance. Saint Emperor Abyss had then refined it, and it had eventually been adopted as the currency system throughout the Great Profound Realm.
The spiritual energy contained in one standard unit of Spirit Stone was equivalent to the total amount a typical first-layer Qi Refining cultivator could absorb in twenty-four hours.
Since spiritual energy was purchasing power, counterfeiting was basically impossible.
Xu Xing made his way along the cases, examining the materials one by one and ruling out those that had lost spiritual energy, were underaged, or had flaws inside.
"This one, this one, and that one over there. Pack them up for me."
A transparent blue crystal with fine white threads growing inside it, a bamboo segment about the size of his palm with purple markings, and a stone flecked with pale gold.
Of all the spiritual materials there, these three were among the better ones.
"Certainly, sir. Please wait a moment." The salesperson behind the counter nodded slightly and quickly packed the three materials into elegant wooden boxes. "Would you like a bag?"
"No."
"Here you are." The moment the boxes landed in Xu Xing's hands, they disappeared.
"That comes to 173,500 Spirit Coins." The salesperson took out a device that looked much like the one Xu Xing had seen at the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall.
Xu Xing took out a green jade tablet and inserted it.
The Sword Sect's contribution points could be used directly as Spirit Coins, but only in areas under the Sword Sect's jurisdiction.
The exchange rate was one to a thousand.
After completing yesterday's mission, he had received a thousand contribution points, worth a full million Spirit Coins.
"Beep! Version outdated. Please upgrade before use."
The device's emotionless mechanical voice rang out. The salesperson looked up at Xu Xing awkwardly.
"About this..."
After all, he'd made Xu Sandao's identity tablet before going into seclusion. Though it only activated when he used that identity,
the craftsmanship was already several generations out of date. Throughout the period of great change, the Sword Sect's Identity Jade Tablets had been revised countless times.
"Then use this."
Xu Xing pulled out the jade tablet and took out a storage ring instead.
The salesperson took it and extended a sliver of Divine Sense into it. Inside, Spirit Stones were stacked in neat rows.
Hm? Spirit Stones?
She had thought it was filled with Spirit Coins.
"Please wait a moment. I need to ask the owner."
"All right."
The salesperson hurried off.
Looks like I'll have to update all my false identity tablets when I get back.
As he was thinking, another person walked into the shop.
Oh?
It was that little girl, Zhang Yunlu.
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