"Immortal Master, this is Grade B, Number Seven, in Origin Communion Ward."
In the eastern section of Origin Communion Ward, near the center of Primordial Mist Immortal City, Lu Tong led He Sheng to the address Wind Spirit had given him.
He Sheng studied the cultivation residence before him. It hardly had the air of an immortal abode. From the entrance, at least, it looked like an ordinary courtyard house with two successive courtyards—blue bricks, gray tiles, simple and elegant.
Fortunately, He Sheng had already made inquiries. Many of the so-called cultivation residences Primordial Mist Immortal City rented or sold were actually ordinary courtyard houses. Only a tiny portion inside, built directly over the spiritual vein, truly deserved the name.
Standing at the entrance, He Sheng found himself unsure how to announce his visit. Surely he could not simply project his voice at full volume?
Seemingly noticing his difficulty, Lu Tong pointed at a bell hanging beside the entrance, which gave off a faint spiritual glow.
"Immortal Master, this is called a Voice-Recording Bell. To visit the owner, you need only send your voice into it using a private voice transmission.
"If the owner is inside, they will hear the bell immediately and can check who has come;
"even if they are away, the bell will preserve the message for them to check when they return."
There were magical artifacts like this, too?
He Sheng gave it a few more interested looks.
Lu Tong knew quite a bit about it. He explained that Voice-Recording Bells were paired magical artifacts. The one hanging at the entrance was a subsidiary bell, while the master bell remained with the owner. Only the master bell could retrieve the recorded messages.
These artifacts had always sold well thanks to the privacy they offered.
Naturally, Lu Tong knew all this through his uncle, who worked at the Four Directions Commerce Association.
He Sheng sent a private voice transmission into the Voice-Recording Bell.
"Xiang Yue, a rogue cultivator, has come to pay a visit at Fellow Daoist Wind Spirit's invitation."
After recording his message, He Sheng asked Lu Tong about the rental prices of cultivation residences.
Lu Tong knew the subject inside out and answered:
"The residences on second-tier spiritual veins available for rent in the immortal city are divided into Grades A, B, C, and D. Even the lowest, Grade D, costs eight hundred low-grade spirit stones a year.
"A Grade B residence like this costs fifteen hundred spirit stones a year.
"Grade A costs over three thousand, and vacancies are extremely scarce..."
Lu Tong then explained the differences between the grades.
Grade D residences, for example, were essentially small, shared compounds built along the edges of spiritual veins, with only a few meditation chambers inside sitting directly over the veins.
The surroundings were rather mixed, and generally only foundation establishment cultivators who were truly short of funds would rent them.
From Grade C upward, all residences had private courtyards. The differences lay in their size and their location along the spiritual vein, which determined the concentration and abundance of spiritual energy and, to some extent, affected cultivation speed.
Once He Sheng understood, he considered renting a residence to give substance to his identity as the rogue cultivator Xiang Yue.
If I want to gather information through the Southern Mountain Society, I'll naturally have to make this guise of Xiang Yue convincing.
With a Voice-Recording Bell, I only need to show my face every three to five months and deal with the messages.
The rest of the time, I can say I'm buried in cultivation and artifact refining. Build a persona as a rogue artifact refiner devoted to arduous cultivation?
While He Sheng was considering this, the residence's main doors creaked open from within.
Wind Spirit came out to welcome him with a smile. Today, he wore a cloud-patterned Daoist robe, his face ruddy.
"Ever since our last parting, Fellow Daoist Xiang, I've looked forward to your arrival a thousand times over. At last, you've come!"
Wind Spirit sounded as warm as if he were greeting an old friend of many years.
"You're too kind, Fellow Daoist Wind." He Sheng cupped his hands and returned the smile. "I hope you'll forgive the intrusion."
"Not at all. Please! Come inside and have a seat!" Wind Spirit stepped aside and gestured for him to enter.
He Sheng did not stand on ceremony. He first gave Lu Tong a few spirit stones and privately instructed him to find a suitable Grade C residence, then followed Wind Spirit inside.
After they passed through the moon gate in the outer courtyard, the view opened up before him.
Grade B, Number Seven, could not match the extravagance of the Grade A residences, but its clever layout had its own appeal.
A flowing spring had been diverted into the courtyard, where rockeries stood at artful intervals among waterside pavilions and terraces. Several maids in gauzy garments moved between the flowers and trees, carrying incense burners or platters of fruit, tending the residence like an immortal paradise in the mortal world.
He Sheng swept the surroundings with his spiritual sense and formed his own assessment.
It seems Wind Spirit isn't some ascetic cultivator. He certainly enjoys life.
For a rogue cultivator to have the leisure for such pleasures, the Southern Mountain Society must be far from simple.
Wind Spirit led He Sheng into the main hall.
The hall, too, had an elegant, antique charm. Its beams and pillars were all made from thousand-year-old submerged timber, a graded spiritual material that lent the room a touch of understated luxury.
Once they had taken their seats as host and guest and the maids had served spiritual fruit and tea, Wind Spirit dismissed the attendants before asking with a smile:
"I've thought of you often since you left last time.
"Have you come today because you've decided to join our Southern Mountain Society?"
He Sheng lifted his cup, took a small sip of spiritual tea, and said evenly:
"Your kindness is difficult to refuse, Fellow Daoist Wind. Still, I'm new here, and I'd like to see how the Southern Mountain Society operates before making a decision."
Wind Spirit was not displeased. Instead, he patiently explained the purpose of the coming gathering.
"This gathering of our Southern Mountain Society is quite a high-level affair. Do you know why, Fellow Daoist Xiang?"
He Sheng had no way of knowing, so he simply said:
"Please enlighten me."
"The main purpose is to make a preliminary allocation of the precious lots at next year's grand auction."
He Sheng's brows drew together slightly in confusion. Setting down his cup, he asked:
"Fellow Daoist Wind, that auction is being held by Heavenly Centipede True Person. The items don't belong to the Southern Mountain Society, so how can you allocate them?"
Wind Spirit smiled.
"You misunderstand. That isn't the kind of allocation I mean."
Then Wind Spirit sighed.
"As I mentioned last time, we rogue cultivators have never enjoyed much standing. Every faction squeezes us dry. If we still refuse to unite, fighting among ourselves, driving up prices, and wasting our resources, what hope do we have of pursuing the Great Dao?
"That's why our Southern Mountain Society exists—to bring everyone together. At this gathering, we'll first agree among ourselves who should receive certain precious lots. Once that's settled, we'll help one another and must no longer compete for them..."
Wind Spirit spoke with righteous conviction. He Sheng understood: stripped to its bones, the idea was to reduce infighting among rogue cultivators and present a united front to outsiders.
The idea was sound enough, but who would ultimately reap the benefits?
He Sheng set his doubts aside and listened as Wind Spirit continued:
"Since we'll be discussing precious auction lots, such as Golden Core Formation Pills and spiritual items for core formation, most of the invited members are at the foundation establishment late stage, with a few particularly powerful and well-established foundation establishment middle stage cultivators among them.
"Now you understand how much sincerity I'm showing by inviting you to this gathering, don't you?"
He Sheng nodded and exchanged a few pleasantries with Wind Spirit, who continued his explanation.
As Wind Spirit described the Southern Mountain Society's nature, operations, and other details, He Sheng gradually understood why the man was so eager to recruit him.
The Southern Mountain Society allowed foundation establishment late stage rogue cultivators to join directly as full members. Not only could they attend high-level gatherings such as the one coming in a few days, they also received the same voting rights as veteran members when deciding who would receive precious auction lots.
The Southern Mountain Society's rules do seem relatively fair.
According to Wind Spirit, the allocation of precious lots at tomorrow's high-level gathering would proceed by seniority. The society's chairman, for instance, would be the first to state what he wanted.
But merely declaring a preference did not settle the matter. It only counted if no one objected or contested the claim.
If two or more members wanted the same precious lot, the one with the most supporting votes would win.
Under this system, every vote mattered. Foundation establishment late stage cultivators did not grow like cabbages, after all.
Wind Spirit is being so welcoming because he wants my vote.
It seems he has his eye on some precious lot at the grand auction two years from now.
He Sheng did not resent Wind Spirit's approach. If anything, his interest in the Southern Mountain Society grew.
Through their extended conversation, He Sheng also learned that Wind Spirit held a surprisingly high position in the society. By his own account, he ranked third.
"Fellow Daoist Xiang, did you know that our Southern Mountain Society's gatherings have another traditional event?"
Toward the end of their conversation, Wind Spirit brought up something else: every gathering also included an internal exchange session.
This exchange session was rather interesting. Apparently, participants could only trade downward.
"The chairman possesses an unusual treasure called the Treasure Light Basin. Any spiritual item placed inside it will emit light, with gray being the lowest and red the highest. The light indicates how rare and precious the item is.
"Since tomorrow's gathering is a high-level one, every member must offer a spiritual item worth at least five thousand spirit stones to trade downward.
"If you decide to join, you'll also have the right, as a new member, to choose one item for exchange before anyone else."
At this point, Wind Spirit lowered his voice with the same affected air of mystery as last time.
"As far as I know, there should be quite a few fine things at tomorrow's exchange.
"Have you heard of sinking water?
"Or Comprehension Fruit?
"Or heaven-sharp refined gold?"
He Sheng knew little about sinking water or heaven-sharp refined gold, and Brother Piao's memories offered no clear impressions either. But at the words "Comprehension Fruit," his heart could not help giving a sudden leap.
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