Volume One: Days in the Shantytown - Investigation (Part One)

The Zuo Household had fallen on hard times and no longer commanded the prestige it had enjoyed as one of the nine great Aristocratic Clans. Facing Zheng Daoguang, whose star was on the rise, Zuo Lingchuan was naturally deferential. Besides, Zheng had come to investigate the calamity that had struck his Household.

As their conversation drew to a close, Zheng Daoguang asked thoughtfully, "So of everyone involved, the only one who actually came into contact with the Demon Beast was Luo Qian?" Zuo Lingchuan nodded. "That's right. Even when we surrounded and attacked it together, we used Immortal Artifacts and immortal techniques from a distance. He was the only one who suddenly stepped forward at the end and collided with the Demon Beast's soul."

Zheng Daoguang nodded. "Where is he? I'd like to meet him." Zuo Lingchuan smiled. "What you may not know, Lord Zheng, is that this young Immortal is merely a Tribulation Immortal. The Zuo Household had intended to recruit him, but once we heard that, we abandoned the idea." Zheng Daoguang persisted. "Where is he? Can you help me find him?"

Luo Qian was at Beautiful Water Cliff, standing outside Xiao Xiangzi's shop, whose defenses had clearly been strengthened considerably. He shouted, "Little Bear! Little Bear!"

The moment Xiao Xiangzi saw him, his face darkened. "Why are you here again?" Luo Qian grinned. "Open the door. I have something to tell you." Xiao Xiangzi said, "If it's about the remaining forty Power Generators, you needn't bother. I've nearly finished them and will deliver them soon." Luo Qian waved a hand. "What kind of person do you take me for? Can't I come to see Little Bear for a drink and a chat about old times? Must it always be about such mundane business?"

Xiao Xiangzi considered this, then waved a hand. Through the haze, a narrow, winding path appeared beneath Luo Qian's feet. "Come in." These days, Xiao Xiangzi could not even be bothered to go out and greet him.

Luo Qian did not mind. He carefully followed the path, which was barely wide enough for one foot. Xiao Xiangzi asked, "What do you want?" Luo Qian said, "Let's talk inside." Xiao Xiangzi's expression changed; he had already guessed. He led Luo Qian to the place where they had spoken privately last time.

As Luo Qian entered the Secret Chamber, a cool breeze brushed his face. His vision blurred, and the Secret Chamber's arrangement was suddenly nothing like it had been before.

The Secret Chamber had once been square; now it was round. Twelve stone pillars were set into its curved walls, each densely carved with scripture-like talismans. As soon as Luo Qian stepped inside, he could distinctly feel that everything outside had been cut off from this place. Nothing within could be detected from outside, either.

"Not bad. This Formation is excellent! Little Bear, when will you make one for me?" Luo Qian praised it without cease. Xiao Xiangzi rolled his eyes. "No problem. Give me a hundred pieces of High-Grade Immortal Jade, and I'll set one up for you." Luo Qian stuck out his tongue. "Have you taken up robbery?" Xiao Xiangzi snapped, "You squeezed a hundred Power Generators out of me, and with this Formation on top of that, I've had to sell almost everything I own just to keep going!"

Luo Qian opened his mouth. "That can't be right. Think how much you've earned from me alone. How can you be so poor?" Xiao Xiangzi shook his head. "It's hard to get by in the Immortal Realm. If you want good materials, you have to pay for them. Did you think crafting artifacts was really that profitable?"

"It doesn't matter," Luo Qian said. "I've brought you a big deal this time." Xiao Xiangzi regarded him appraisingly. "Out with it. What do you want me to make?" Luo Qian had dragged him into this already. A little deeper would make no difference.

"I really do feel I owe you something. That's why I thought I'd make it up to you." Luo Qian took out ten pieces of High-Grade Immortal Jade. "From now on, you handle production and I handle sales. The market for Power Generators is huge. We split the proceeds thirty-seventy: thirty for you, seventy for me. What do you say? If you agree, these ten pieces of High-Grade Immortal Jade are your deposit."

Xiao Xiangzi objected, "I'm the one making them. Why do you get the larger share?" "Because I control the sales channels. This is a buyer's market. If you don't want the work, I can always find someone else." Xiao Xiangzi thought it over. With the precision weighing equipment from the electronics market, his success rate in crafting artifacts had improved considerably. Though his share was only thirty percent, a higher success rate meant lower costs. The deal was worth taking.

"All right, I agree." He pocketed the ten pieces of High-Grade Immortal Jade. Luo Qian's eyelid twitched as he watched. Ten pieces of High-Grade Immortal Jade! Ten million units of standard Immortal Jade, just like that, into someone else's pocket. His happy life had always been all profit and no cost. However he looked at it, handing over his Immortal Jade hurt.

"Take a look at this for me." Luo Qian took down the bundle from his back. Xiao Xiangzi had been staring at it all along. He could not help smiling. "I knew you weren't being kind for no reason..."

Luo Qian opened the bundle. Inside was a strange "tool": a long, slender metal tube attached to a thick, heavy handle with a complicated structure. Xiao Xiangzi frowned. "A firearm? But this one is far more precise—and much finer-looking—than any I've seen." Luo Qian nodded, picked up the Sniper Rifle and mimed aiming it. "It's a Sniper Rifle from the Lower Realm. It's tremendously powerful. I happened to pick it up. See if you can reproduce it in the Immortal Realm."

Xiao Xiangzi took the Sniper Rifle from him and fiddled with it for a moment. "What do you mean by 'reproduce it in the Immortal Realm'? What exactly do you want it to do?" "Have the same power it had in the Lower Realm."

Xiao Xiangzi shook his head. A stream of pale-gray spiritual energy seeped into the Sniper Rifle. It was Source-Seeking True Force, indispensable to Artifact Cultivators, and he was using it to identify the rifle's materials.

"Hmm. These materials would be considered quite good in the Lower Realm, and they've undergone some special treatment. But... it must have been very powerful down there?" Luo Qian nodded. Xiao Xiangzi raised the Sniper Rifle, pointed it at him and pulled the trigger. Bang! Luo Qian flicked out a hand and caught the bullet as easily as a fly.

Xiao Xiangzi shook his head. "You saw that. Something powerful in the Lower Realm is utterly useless in the Immortal Realm." He turned the Sniper Rifle over in his hands. "It wouldn't be hard to turn it into an Immortal Artifact, but making it capable of injuring an Immortal is another matter." His Source-Seeking True Force had already analyzed the entire firearm, and he now knew it well. He pulled out the magazine and removed a bullet. "This weapon causes damage through the force of an explosion produced by a substance similar to gunpowder. That kind of force amounts to nothing in the Immortal Realm. I could grind two types of Immortal Jade with different properties into powder and mix them to produce the same effect, but I can't promise how powerful it would be."

Luo Qian had brought it from the Lower Realm on a whim, simply because he thought it was fun. He had never expected it to be particularly powerful. He waved a hand. "It doesn't matter. Use your judgment."

On the way, he stopped by his medicine shop. Business was good. The Distant Hall disciple working there part-time said as soon as he saw him, "Boss, the young sect master is looking for you. He took a group of people to Toad Mountain." Luo Qian found that odd. Why had Du Lengning brought a whole group? He greeted the fellow disciples in the shop, left Beautiful Water Cliff and headed for Toad Mountain.

Du Lengning was nervous to the point of dread. The man before him held such a lofty position that even Distant Hall dared not offend him. Distant Hall had gone out of its way to curry favor with Qi Rongwei, who was only a deputy inspector. Zheng Daoguang was a full Constabulary Director. And now his standing was greater than ever. Common folk did not fight officials; that held true even in the Immortal Realm.

Zheng Daoguang strolled around the cave residence on Toad Mountain with great interest. This little place actually had a Fifth Rank Immortal guarding it, and a young woman at that. There was clearly more to it than met the eye. The furnishings used the cheapest materials, yet their distinctive arrangement felt fresh and striking. Zheng Daoguang nodded to himself.

Li Feier, the Little Chili Pepper, might be overbearing, but even she dared not offend someone from the Imperial Constabulary. Watching Zheng Daoguang wander through the cave residence with his hands behind his back, inspecting it inside and out as if it were his own home, made her seethe. Flames flickered over her clenched fists as she struggled to restrain herself.

A streak of light flew in from the horizon, and Luo Qian landed at the entrance to the cave residence. Du Lengning hurried out and whispered a few words to him. Luo Qian was startled. "People from the Imperial Constabulary!" Zheng Daoguang had already come out with his subordinates. "You are Luo Qian?" Luo Qian did not dare slight him and quickly bowed. "I am." Zheng Daoguang chuckled. "Turning a poor backwater like Toad Mountain into a place like this is no small feat. Don't be nervous. We're only here to investigate the Demon Beast calamity at Tianxia Source. I hear you're the only Immortal who came into direct contact with it. What was your impression of the Demon Beast?"

Luo Qian gave a rueful smile. "My impression? It struck me once, and I nearly died on the spot. If you want an impression, all I can say is that it was incredibly powerful!" Zheng Daoguang frowned, somewhat disappointed. After a moment's thought, he waved his subordinates away, then said to Du Lengning, "Young Master Du, would you mind if we spoke alone?"

Du Lengning glanced at Luo Qian. Luo Qian nodded, and Du Lengning bowed slightly to Zheng Daoguang before withdrawing.

Zheng Daoguang beckoned Luo Qian over, and the two sat on a large rock. "What do you make of this Demon Beast calamity?" Zheng Daoguang considered Luo Qian talented. Though he was only a Tribulation Immortal, he had built up an enterprise and formed ties with Distant Hall despite that status. It could not have been easy. Zheng had also seen Luo Qian's cave residence and admired what he had done with it.

Besides, Luo Qian was the only person who had come into direct contact with the Demon Beast. Luo Qian claimed he had felt nothing else, but Zheng Daoguang did not believe him. Given Luo Qian's status, Zheng suspected he was afraid that saying too much might harm him. That was why he had sent everyone away before asking.

Luo Qian had long since realized that something about the incident was wrong, but he was still hesitating over whether to say so.

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