Volume One: Days in the Shantytown - Nine Realms Misty Turmoil (Part Two)

Luo Qian had barely made a circuit of the shop when a clerk came up and asked warmly, "What would you like to see, sir?" "Flag-gate maze formations," Luo Qian said. The clerk beamed. "Then you've come to the right place! Our Flag-Gate Formations are among the finest on all Ningyao Mountain. You're sure to be satisfied! This way, please."

The clerk led him past the rows of shelves outside and straight to the innermost section. "Take a look." He pointed to three long rows of shelves packed with little flags of every color. "These are all Flag-Gate Formations. They take very little Immortal Spirit Energy to activate. Small, light, easy to use, and tremendously powerful—they're indispensable whether you're killing for treasure or guarding your home!"

Luo Qian could not help smiling at the clerk's comical, head-bobbing pitch. "I'm looking for maze formations. Do you have any?" "We do!" The clerk took him to a display case in the back, half of which was devoted to maze formations. "Here's the Immortal-Ensnaring Mist Sea Formation, the Four Symbols Maze-Gate Formation, the Surging Waves Formation..."

"Don't bother with the ordinary ones," Luo Qian said, waving a hand. "I want those." He pointed above his head. At the top of the display case stood three Flag-Gate Formations. Though they were only models, anyone could tell at a glance that they were extraordinary.

"Those are rather expensive," the clerk said tactfully. "How much?" Luo Qian asked. "The one on the right costs twenty pieces of High-Grade Immortal Jade." Luo Qian nodded. "How effective is it?" "Effective?" the clerk said proudly. "Those three are works by Xin Yezi, the famous artifact master. Everything down here put together can't compare to a single one of them!"

Luo Qian kept his expression steady. "Which of the three is strongest?" "The one in the middle, of course," the clerk said. "Nine Realms Misty Turmoil—you can tell from the name alone that it's no ordinary formation. But, well, you get what you pay for. That one costs thirty pieces of High-Grade Immortal Jade."

Damn, that's steep! That much could buy a plot of land on Ningyao Mountain. But Luo Qian had money now, so he could afford it. "All right, I'll take it." The clerk's eyes bulged. "You—you really want it?" Luo Qian took out three pieces of High-Grade Immortal Jade. "Here's the deposit. I didn't bring enough with me, so I'll go get the rest."

The clerk stood stunned. He had never imagined that the biggest sale of his career would happen just like that. Dizzy with happiness, he cradled the Immortal Jade and murmured, "So success can come this easily..."

With an emerald-green Jade Casket in his left hand and his right hand tucked into his trouser pocket, Luo Qian hummed a tune as he strolled back to his cave dwelling on Toad Mountain. Thirty pieces of High-Grade Immortal Jade had stung, but the formation was worth the price. Once its full Greater Celestial Circuit of 108 flags—each with a fan of Azure-Sky White Jade and ribs of Six Directions Black Gold—was set out, nine wandering dragons raced through it. Clouds and mist rose in their wake, hiding the entrance to the Underground Palace completely. Anyone who wandered into the formation by mistake would feel the world spin, then discover that they had returned to the Immortal Realm.

Nine Realms Misty Turmoil had little killing power, but it could conjure an entire Immortal Realm. All Nine Immortal Realms were there, without a single one missing, and every detail matched the realm as its intruder remembered it. That was the formation's true danger: it used the memories in a person's own heart to throw that heart into chaos.

Spring lasted all year in the Immortal Realm, with endless bright sunshine, birdsong, and the fragrance of flowers. At dusk, when the immortal sun sank, soft light filtered through fish-scale clouds and reflected on the still water. Egrets, grass, and lake alike turned crimson. Crisscrossing mountain ridges divided the great lake into little "paddy fields." Sunset glowed over lake and fields, and egrets lingered over fish. Even in the Immortal Realm, no other view could rival it. Thus the lake was named Tianxia Lake—as though the sunset itself could be planted in watery fields. The surrounding paradise was named Tianxia Source.

Tianxia Source was one of the Three Heavens and Six Sources.

The Zuo Household of Tianxia Source stood no lower in the Immortal Realm than the Ling Household of Clearpeace Plain. It owned a third of Tianxia Source and controlled Shibao Cave, one of the Lower Ten among the Upper Three, Lower Ten caves where Top-Grade Immortal Jade was found. Its strength was in no way inferior to the Ling Household's.

Shibao Cave often yielded Water Exquisite, a Top-Grade Immortal Jade of the water attribute. The cave was worth even more than the Ling Household's Extreme Truth Cave.

Aristocratic Clans like the Ling Household and the Zuo Household did not have enough people to mine their Immortal Jade, so they had to hire miners. Immortals could not obtain Immortal Jade through cultivation alone. Every craft had its own master: ordinary Immortals could neither refine pills nor make artifacts, and had to buy the Immortal Pills and Magical Artifacts they needed. Even a decent cave dwelling cost a great deal of Immortal Jade. Working jobs like this was their only way to earn it.

Every Aristocratic Clan that controlled an Immortal Jade mine employed thousands upon thousands of "Immortal Realm miners." These people had low cultivation and belonged to the lowest rung of society.

They entered the caves at sunrise and left at sunset. Only by diligently filling their daily mining quotas could they earn their meager pay. If luck led them to a high-grade piece of Immortal Jade—or even something like Water Exquisite—the Aristocratic Clans were reasonable enough to give them an extra reward.

Mining inside the caves was not particularly dangerous, but entering meant passing a strict inspection to prevent anyone from bringing in a magical artifact such as a Qiankun Bag to steal Immortal Jade. Special Immortal Formations inside the caves blocked all immortal arts, so hiding Immortal Jade with a technique like Universe in the Sleeve would not work either.

Tianxia Lake lay at the center of Tianxia Source, but Shibao Cave was far away, on its border. Cross the mountain ridge northwest of the cave entrance and Tianxia Source was behind you.

A hundred experts of the Zuo Household guarded the entrance to Shibao Cave year-round. Three layers of talismans covered its two doors of refined Jin, forged by Tiangongzi, the Immortal Realm's foremost artifact master. Not even ten thousand immortal soldiers could break through them. Before the gleaming golden doors stood an octagonal Immortal Formation. Everyone entering or leaving the cave had to pass through it; otherwise, the Zuo Household experts stationed on either side would kill them on the spot.

On the way in, the Immortal Formation checked miners for Magical Artifacts. On the way out, it checked them for Immortal Jade.

The sky was just beginning to brighten. As the warm immortal sun slowly rose, it looked as though the waking world had breathed a puff of steaming white air toward the heavens. A long line had already formed outside Shibao Cave. The miners waiting to enter had been there for nearly half an hour.

Immortal Jade mines followed strange veins, and miners had to dig in the direction those veins ran. Digging in from elsewhere would turn up no Immortal Jade at all. Thus every mine had only one entrance, at the head of its vein. As long as an owner guarded that entrance, there was no need to fear someone opening another tunnel to steal the jade. The vein's other end lay buried deep underground, in some unknown place.

Beneath Shibao Cave's towering golden doors, two ranks of Immortal Guards stood in a V formation. Their armor shone, powerful magical artifacts filled their hands, and their keen eyes watched the miners waiting in line. Miners had mobbed Immortal Jade pits before; it was not unheard of in the Immortal Realm.

The golden doors opened in time with the immortal sun. As its first ray appeared, a narrow gap opened between them. An Immortal who looked like a steward stepped out, raised an arm, and called, "Open—the—cave!" The two Immortal Guards before the octagonal Immortal Formation stepped aside. The formation gave off a faint light and began to operate. The Immortal Workers lined up and passed through one by one.

Nearly half the line had vanished into the cave when the steward beside the Immortal Formation suddenly frowned. The formation showed that the Immortal Worker now standing inside it had something hidden on him.

Without betraying a thing, the steward lifted an eyebrow. As if they had read his mind, two Immortal Guards rushed forward and hauled the Immortal Worker out. The steward gave him a smile that never reached his eyes. "You've got nerve, boy. Causing trouble on Zuo Household ground? Take him away—" "Sir, you've got it wrong!" the Immortal Worker cried. "I do have something on me, but it isn't for stealing Immortal Jade. Take it out and see for yourself." He spoke quickly and clearly. The steward looked him over, then jerked his head at the two guards. One reached into the Immortal Worker's robe and pulled something out.

"Hm?" It was a piece of Low-Grade Immortal Jade. The Immortal Worker said loudly, "I was worried I wouldn't meet today's quota, so I brought a piece with me. If I don't mine enough, I can use it to make up the difference." The steward turned the jade over several times. It looked perfectly ordinary. He tossed it back and waved the Immortal Worker on. "Go in." The Immortal Worker caught it, bowed his thanks, and hurried into the cave, still repeating, "Thank you, sir. Thank you..."

The steward paid the small disturbance no further mind. Then something occurred to him. He turned, but the Immortal Worker had already disappeared into the cave. Staring into its dark entrance, the steward thought for a moment before shaking his head.

Even an Immortal Worker who filled his daily quota earned only 150 pieces of standard Immortal Jade—one and a half pieces of Low-Grade Immortal Jade. Putting in a whole piece of his own hardly seemed worth it. But by the time the steward thought of that, the Immortal Worker was gone. He could not be bothered to make a fuss and search the cave for someone who apparently could not do the sums.

(A new week had begun—a fresh start and a good mood!)

(In this new week, I need everyone's steadfast support. Heh heh, a midnight wolf howl for votes...)

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