Heavenly Ruins Mountain

After the meeting ended, everyone departed.

"Wait a moment, Nianzhi."

Just as Chen Nianzhi was about to leave, the Third Elder kept him behind.

Chen Qinghao looked at Chen Nianzhi with a hint of gratification in his eyes. "Your cultivation has progressed quickly over the past year. Even I can no longer see through you completely."

"At this rate, you may touch the threshold of Foundation Establishment within three to five years."

"I have merely made a little progress. How could I compare to the depth of your cultivation, Clan Uncle?" Chen Nianzhi replied modestly. Then he paused. "May I ask why Clan Uncle has kept me here?"

"I came to find you because of an important matter."

The Third Elder revealed a solemn expression. He glanced around, and after confirming that no one was nearby, spoke in a low voice.

"This time, I want you to make a trip to Heavenly Ruins Mountain."

"..."

A moment later, Chen Nianzhi understood Chen Qinghao's intentions.

The reason he was being sent to Heavenly Ruins Mountain was that the Second Elder had finished selling the Qi-Absorbing Pills refined last year and brought back the Spirit Stones.

Together with this year's various revenues, the clan treasury now held more than two thousand Spirit Stones.

As early as a year ago, the Third Elder had proposed traveling to Heavenly Ruins Mountain to purchase a Meridian-Nourishing Pill to treat the clan head's injuries. Now that the clan had the Spirit Stones, it was naturally time to see the matter through.

This matter was extremely important. The most suitable person to purchase the Meridian-Nourishing Pill had originally been the Sixth Elder, but after the Sixth Elder passed away, Chen Nianzhi was instead the most suitable choice.

"I will have someone take over the spring plowing matters for you."

"Though Patriarch Jiang is a Rogue Cultivator, he is fair and upright. If the price is right, he will likely sell us a Meridian-Nourishing Pill."

"However, Heavenly Ruins Mountain is a place where fish and dragons mingle. You must remain careful and cautious. Do not fall into someone else's schemes."

As the Third Elder spoke, his gaze became grave.

Chen Nianzhi nodded and put away the Spirit Stones. "On this journey to Heavenly Ruins Mountain, I will not fail my mission."

A few days later, shortly after the New Year had passed, Chen Nianzhi left Qingyuan Mountain alone.

Heavenly Ruins Mountain lay at the border of the Chu Kingdom, more than a hundred thousand li from Qingyuan Mountain. Chen Nianzhi crossed mountains and rivers, spending three months before finally reaching the territory of Heavenly Ruins Mountain.

"What dense spiritual energy."

"So this is Heavenly Ruins Mountain?"

Looking at the vast mountain range before him, a trace of envy flashed through Chen Nianzhi's eyes, and he recalled the origins of Heavenly Ruins Mountain.

Heavenly Ruins Mountain stood at the edge of the Chu Kingdom, bordering the Vast Expanse Marshes. It was the Chu Kingdom's first line of defense against the Demon Race.

It was said that many years ago, Heavenly Ruins Mountain had still been demon beast territory. A clan of Azure Sky Condors had dominated the region, and there had even been a great demon of the Purple Mansion realm stationed here, giving the Azure Sun Sect, one of the Chu Kingdom's great sects, a terrible headache.

Two hundred years ago, the Rogue Cultivator Jiang Daoist arrived from the East Sea Shore, slew the great demon of the Purple Mansion realm on Heavenly Ruins Mountain, and seized this Third-Order Spirit Vein. He then renamed it Heavenly Ruins Mountain.

Because it bordered the Vast Expanse Marshes occupied by demon beasts, Heavenly Ruins Mountain drew a great number of Rogue Cultivators together, gradually becoming a famed holy land for Rogue Cultivators in the Chu Kingdom.

After entering Heavenly Ruins Mountain, Chen Nianzhi adjusted his clothes and made himself look more mature before walking into Heavenly Ruins Mountain Market.

This was a Marketplace purely for cultivators, with very few mortals in sight.

The environment of Heavenly Ruins Mountain was simply too harsh. Venomous insects and savage beasts emerged one after another, making it difficult for mortals to multiply and survive here.

It was precisely because of this that, although Jiang Daoist had occupied Heavenly Ruins Mountain for two hundred years, he had never established a cultivation clan. He remained a Rogue Cultivator throughout, taking only a number of disciples.

After arriving at Heavenly Ruins Mountain Market, Chen Nianzhi did not immediately seek out Jiang Daoist to purchase the Meridian-Nourishing Pill. After all, Jiang Daoist was the foremost Purple Mansion cultivator in the Chu Kingdom; it was not as though Chen Nianzhi could meet him whenever he wished.

This was his first true departure from the Chen Clan. Carrying more than two thousand Spirit Stones, he was naturally all the more cautious.

That very day, he found an inn to stay in, then secretly gathered information. In just four or five days, he had gained a rough understanding of the situation at Heavenly Ruins Mountain.

The Heavenly Ruins Mountain Range stretched for more than eight thousand li. Apart from the Tier 3 Upper-grade Spirit Vein on its main peak, it also contained more than a dozen Second-Order Spirit Veins.

These Spirit Veins were all industries under Jiang Daoist's control. Over two hundred years, a great many Cultivation Abodes and Spirit Fields had gradually been developed there.

Some of those Spirit Fields and Cultivation Abodes had been left to Jiang Daoist's disciples and descendants, but most were rented out to Rogue Cultivators who lived here long-term.

Besides that, within Yuyang Market, the largest enterprise, Heavenly Ruins Pavilion, was also an industry under Jiang Daoist's command.

Jiang Daoist was a heaven-blessed genius. He was proficient in every one of Cultivation's Hundred Arts—pill refining, formations, artifact crafting, and talisman making—and had reached at least Tier 3 in all of them.

Although his disciples were not his equal, they had each inherited his skills. It could be said that they controlled ninety percent of Heavenly Ruins Mountain's supplies. Even people from every prefecture of the Chu Kingdom came from afar, traveling thousands of li to purchase pills and magical artifacts.

"Heavenly Ruins Pavilion."

Chen Nianzhi's gaze shifted slightly, and hesitation rose in his heart.

He could not meet Jiang Daoist. If he wanted to purchase a Meridian-Nourishing Pill, the only path was to buy it from Heavenly Ruins Pavilion.

But wealth should not be displayed. Two thousand Spirit Stones were enough to purchase a Tier 2 Mid-grade magical artifact. Carrying such a vast sum made him a fat piece of meat in many people's eyes. If anyone discovered it, even Foundation Establishment cultivators might be tempted.

Even if Jiang Daoist was upright and Heavenly Ruins Pavilion had built an excellent reputation over two hundred years, making it unlikely that they would covet his paltry Spirit Stones, one could never be too careful.

In this world, as long as sufficient profit was involved, murder and robbery for treasure were often the most common occurrences.

A few years ago, even Clan Head Chen Changxuan, at Foundation Establishment Late Stage, had nearly lost his life over a Foundation Establishment Pill. How much more so was Chen Nianzhi, merely a cultivator at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining?

"I need to be more cautious. I should observe the situation before making any plans."

"I'll go take a look at the gathering first."

With that thought passing through his mind, Chen Nianzhi stepped out of the inn.

The so-called gathering was a cultivator gathering held at Heavenly Ruins Mountain Market. It opened roughly once every month and lasted only a single day.

Although Heavenly Ruins Mountain had several thousand Rogue Cultivators, these cultivators usually either cultivated in seclusion in their Cultivation Abodes or hunted demon beasts in the uninhabited Great Wilderness. Thus, the Cultivation Market actually appeared rather deserted.

Scenes like those in novels from his previous life, where cultivation markets were bustling beyond measure and packed with people at every moment, were nearly impossible to encounter in reality.

In fact, even Heavenly Ruins Pavilion, the busiest business at Heavenly Ruins Mountain, received only a dozen or so customers a day. It could be called cold and quiet.

Only during the monthly cultivator gathering would cultivators come here to sell the demon beast materials they had accumulated and purchase things they needed along the way.

When Chen Nianzhi arrived at the market, he found that several hundred cultivators were participating. Quite a few had laid out stalls, with demon beast materials, pills, magical artifacts, spirit herbs, and nearly everything else one could want.

He made a round of the stalls and discovered that the prices of spirit medicines here were slightly lower than at Pingyang Market.