Zhou Taoyao looked at Li Qingshan. "Grandpa, what do you think? Is it too far?"
Li Qingshan nodded, looking quite satisfied. "Excellent. It's not far! This will do. A quiet place is just what I want. All I'm after is some peace and quiet."
With Zhou Taoyao there, the formalities were kept simple, and everything was soon taken care of.
Li Qingshan collected his mission token and a simple map, then left with Zhou Taoyao.
"Taoyao, how has Senior Sister Ye Lingshuang been lately? I've always been grateful to her for recommending me to the sect back then."
Li Qingshan asked.
Zhou Taoyao replied with a smile, "You mean Senior Sister Ye? She's a legend among all our disciples! They say she recently came across a great opportunity. When she returned, she went straight into seclusion, saying she intended to break through to Foundation Establishment!"
Ye Lingshuang had gone into seclusion to break through to Foundation Establishment!
Li Qingshan understood. It only strengthened his resolve to leave for the time being.
With his backing in seclusion, if Zhang Hongxiu came looking for trouble after she emerged from hers, no one would be able to come to his aid in time.
Zhou Taoyao gave Li Qingshan many more reminders about what to watch out for while traveling, and pressed a few communication talismans into his hands. Only then did she finally take her leave, reluctant to part.
Li Qingshan didn't waste a moment. He returned to the Hall of Discarded Treasures and quickly packed a few things.
There wasn't much to bring. He kept the most important item, the Wish-Fulfilling Gourd, hidden close to his body, stored the Crimson Dragon Sword in his dantian, and placed the Diamond Talisman and Golden Needle Talisman somewhere within easy reach.
After tidying the Hall of Discarded Treasures a little, he took his mission token and left the place where he had stayed for more than two years—the place that had given him the chance to be reborn from the ashes.
Following the map, Li Qingshan passed through the Spring Autumn Sect's mountain gate, summoned the humble low-grade flying artifact issued by the sect—a Single Leaf Skiff—and set off for Qingyang Market, swaying unsteadily through the air.
He deliberately flew slowly, maintaining the speed expected of a second-layer Qi Refining cultivator.
After flying a few hundred miles beyond the Spring Autumn Sect's territory, he entered a desolate stretch of mountains. Three streaks of light suddenly shot up from the woods below and blocked his way in a triangular formation.
They were three fierce-looking rogue cultivators. The strongest was a scar-faced man at the fifth layer of Qi Refining; the other two were at the fourth.
"Hey! You old geezer, stop right there!"
The scar-faced man shouted with a vicious grin. "If you know what's good for you, hand over all your Spirit Stones and valuables. If we're in a good mood, we might just spare your miserable life!"
Li Qingshan sneered inwardly. As expected, rogue cultivators ran rampant outside the market.
But he put on an utterly terrified expression and made the skiff tremble beneath him. "H-heroes... I'm just an old man sent out on business by the sect. I really don't have anything worth taking..."
"Cut the crap! Sect disciples are even fatter pickings! Attack!"
The scar-faced man was clearly out of patience. He waved his hand, and a Ghost Head Blade artifact slashed at Li Qingshan with a gust of foul wind.
The other two attacked as well, one driving a flying fork and the other sending a talisman flying.
As the attacks closed in, the terror vanished from Li Qingshan's eyes, replaced by a glacial chill.
With a thought, the Crimson Dragon Sword, long nurtured in his dantian, let out a faint hum and transformed into a streak of scarlet light, striking before the attacks could reach him!
Clang!
The scarlet sword flashed, cleaving the low-grade Ghost Head Blade as easily as rotten wood!
"Damn it! A top-grade flying sword? How is that possible?"
The scar-faced man was horrified. Only now did he realize that Li Qingshan wasn't a second-layer Qi Refining cultivator at all.
He was clearly a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator who had concealed his cultivation.
Panic seized him, and he immediately turned to flee.
But it was already too late.
The Crimson Dragon Sword kept going. Before the scar-faced man's horrified eyes, it pierced his throat in an instant!
At the same time, Li Qingshan cast the Flying Rainbow Technique. His figure blurred like a ghost, easily dodging the flying fork and the talisman.
With a thought, the Crimson Dragon Sword shot out again, piercing the brows of the other two rogue cultivators!
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
The three rogue cultivators who had been swaggering moments ago were now corpses, growing cold by the second, their faces still frozen in disbelieving terror.
Li Qingshan's expression remained unchanged as he beckoned the Crimson Dragon Sword back.
It was his first time killing someone, but he didn't feel the slightest discomfort. He had lived a hundred years—what hadn't he seen?
Slaying rogue cultivators was no different from killing bandits back in the day.
"What a bunch of paupers!"
Li Qingshan searched the three rogue cultivators and found only a few Spirit Stones and a few bottles of pills. They didn't even have a storage pouch.
Even their most valuable artifact, the greatsword, had been cleaved in two by the Crimson Dragon Sword.
He cast the Fireball Technique, flicking a fireball out to reduce the three bodies to ashes.
Once it was done, he dusted off his clothes, though there wasn't a speck of dust on them, then continued on his slow, swaying flight toward Qingyang Market as if nothing had happened.
The skiff wobbled along for another two days. The terrain gradually flattened, and a market nestled in a mountain valley came into view.
Qingyang Market was indeed small, nowhere near as bustling as the market at the foot of the Spring Autumn Sect.
A low fence of spiritwood offered little more than a token defense. Inside, the buildings stood scattered, none more than three stories high. The cultivators moving along the streets were mostly at the middle stages of Qi Refining. The occasional late-stage cultivator drew sidelong glances and a measure of awe.
A stone stele stood at the market entrance, bearing the four characters "Qingyang Market." Beside them was the emblem of the Spring Autumn Sect, marking the market as its territory.
Li Qingshan brought the skiff down and walked into the market.
Following the mission instructions, he soon found the Deacon Hall in the center of the market—a somewhat imposing, two-story building.
The person who received him was the local supervisor, a middle-aged Deacon named Zhao Kun, at the eighth layer of Qi Refining.
Zhao Kun's face was slightly dark, and his expression held the weariness and impatience of someone who had spent years dealing with menial affairs. He checked Li Qingshan's mission token and identity jade token, then furrowed his brow almost imperceptibly.
"Li Qingshan? The one who watched over the Hall of Discarded Treasures?"
Zhao Kun sized Li Qingshan up. Sensing his faint second-layer Qi Refining aura and seeing his aged appearance, he spoke in a flat voice edged with disdain. "At your age and with your cultivation... never mind. There's a yard at the eastern end of the market where odds and ends and scrap are piled up. It'll be yours to manage from now on."
"Your duties are simple. First, collect the waste talisman paper, refining slag, medicinal residue, and other refuse from the market's shops every day, then take it to the yard at the eastern end to be burned. Don't leave anything behind that might smell and draw complaints.
"Second, arrange daily meals and lodging for the five outer disciples stationed here. Buy some spirit rice and fruit and vegetables. Just make sure they don't go hungry.
"Third, if any ordinary notices or messages arrive from the sect, receive them and pass them on to me. Understood?"
Zhao Kun spoke quickly, laying out the instructions in detail. Clearly, he didn't expect Li Qingshan to accomplish anything remarkable.
"This disciple understands. I'll do my best."
Li Qingshan stooped and answered respectfully, though he was delighted inside.
Burning trash? That was right up his alley!
Even if the "scrap" in Qingyang Market was poor quality, it had to be better than the pure garbage at the sect, didn't it?
Maybe he'd even find something good.
"Mm."
Zhao Kun waved to a young disciple at the fifth layer of Qi Refining. "Wang Hai, take him to his quarters, show him around, and tell him about the other five."
The disciple named Wang Hai answered and gave Li Qingshan a curious glance before leading him outside.
Li Qingshan's quarters were beside the scrap yard at the eastern end of the market: a simple stone hut for one, a little better than his room in the Hall of Discarded Treasures. At least it didn't leak.
There was a huge pit in the yard, clearly meant for burning trash. A pile of unprocessed refuse lay beside it, giving off a jumble of odors.
Wang Hai briefly introduced the other four outer disciples. They were all at the fourth or fifth layer of Qi Refining and had been assigned easy duties like patrolling the market and watching the storeroom.
They reacted indifferently to Li Qingshan's arrival. A hundred-year-old fellow disciple at the second layer of Qi Refining, assigned to burn trash and handle the logistics—they saw no reason to associate with him. They merely greeted him in passing before going back to their own tasks.
Li Qingshan was glad of the peace and quiet and didn't mind at all.
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