By then, night had fallen. After more than a month of traveling day and night, they were utterly exhausted in both body and mind. It really was no time to complete the mission handover that same night. After all, sharpening the axe never delayed the cutting of firewood.
Liu Yu agreed. Though he was exhausted and wanted nothing more than for Chai Wenzheng to arrange a room where he could sleep, he and Su Ding were both Inner Disciples, and this was a crucial stage of the mission handover. He still had to show Su Ding this much courtesy, lest fresh branches grow from the matter.
"Then let us follow your arrangements, Senior Brother Su. It has been a long time since we tasted the delicacies of the mortal world. We can talk over dinner!"
Liu Yu nodded as he spoke, then took the lead in sitting down at the large table set in the center of the hall.
The city lord's residence had already had an oval dining table brought in. Servants carried out carefully prepared dishes one after another, each steaming hot. Several opened jars of fine wine stood beside the table, filling the hall with a rich aroma.
Chai Wenzheng entered and instructed a reasonably attractive maid to pour wine for them. Then he clapped his hands, and a procession of beautiful dancers dressed in sheer gauze filed in.
Their thin gauze robes clung to their bodies, accentuating their graceful curves without entirely concealing the sights beneath. Faint hints of rosy color showed through. Swaying their slender waists, the dancers cast seductive glances at Liu Yu and the others with every smile and arch of their brows.
Liu Yu was asking Su Ding about the surrounding area. He gave those precipitous curves a few careful looks before turning away. The women he had recently come into contact with, whether Yan Qun'er or Jiang Qiushui, were far more beautiful than these dancers. Such looks held little appeal for him.
However beautiful a face might be, strip away the skin and flesh, and all that remained was a skeleton.
Wu Chang, Zhou Guibo, and Xie Huaxiong, however, stared fixedly at the dancers, naked desire in their eyes. Beside them, Sun Ju was so embarrassed and annoyed that she gave a cold snort.
"Hmph."
Startled back to his senses by that snort, Wu Chang became thoroughly embarrassed. With a sheepish smile, he withdrew his gaze.
Zhou Guibo and Xie Huaxiong also restrained themselves considerably, though they still stole occasional glances in that direction. At least their gazes were no longer so blatant; they had finally shown some consideration for their fellow disciple's feelings.
Despite being the lord of an entire city, Chai Wenzheng could only sit at the lowest place. Wearing an ingratiating smile, he watched for opportunities to offer a few flattering words.
For a while, cups passed back and forth across the table, and the atmosphere gradually grew lively.
Liu Yu indulged only sparingly. After sharing a cup of wine with his fellow disciples and tasting a few bites of food, he set down his chopsticks.
In the end, these were merely pleasures of the tongue and offered no benefit to cultivation.
Time passed quickly. Once the banquet ended, Chai Wenzheng, knowing that the esteemed immortal masters were weary from their journey, sensibly had servants lead them to the rooms prepared in advance.
Upon reaching his door, Liu Yu dismissed the servant and pushed it open.
A pretty woman sat uneasily on the edge of the bed. Seeing someone enter, she hurriedly stood and bowed.
Liu Yu frowned slightly at the sight. "Who are you, and what are you doing in my room?"
The pretty woman lowered her head, her cheeks crimson, and hastily said:
"The city lord arranged for this servant to attend to you, my lord. Whatever you ask, I will agree. I am entirely at your disposal."
Her voice grew softer and softer, as faint as a mosquito's hum. Had cultivators not possessed keen hearing and eyesight, Liu Yu would not have heard her at all.
Liu Yu frowned, understanding her unspoken meaning. "Leave. I have no need of your service."
At those words, panic flashed through the woman's eyes. She hurriedly said, "Please, my lord! My body is still pure. I am still a virgin. If I leave like this, the city lord will punish me!"
"Get out immediately, or do not blame me for being ruthless!"
Liu Yu did not care what would happen to a woman who had nothing whatsoever to do with him if she failed her assignment. His brows remained furrowed, and his voice carried a chill.
His words pierced the woman like a sharp sword, making her tremble as she sensed the breath of death.
The woman clearly knew Liu Yu's identity. At that moment, her fear of death outweighed her fear of punishment for failing her assignment. Though she still felt unwilling to let this chance to ascend to heaven in a single step slip away, she obediently retreated and closed the door behind her.
After the woman left, Liu Yu sat on the edge of the bed. A faint trace of fragrance still seemed to linger beneath his nose.
Toward a woman he had never met before, he felt no softheartedness, nor any desire to cherish a fragrant flower or precious jade.
A moment's thought was enough for him to understand Chai Wenzheng's intentions. The offspring of cultivators and mortals had a considerable chance of possessing a spiritual root, far higher than the chance of such a child being born to ordinary mortals.
If one of the immortal masters happened to hit the mark with a carelessly fired shot, Chai Wenzheng would benefit as well. Perhaps his lineage might even produce a cultivator.
In truth, Liu Yu felt some stirring of desire over such matters, but he ultimately suppressed it. He had heard that men and women who preserved their primal yang or primal yin had a slightly greater chance of succeeding in Foundation Establishment. Though the increase was tiny, as someone with an ordinary three-attribute spiritual root, he could not afford to overlook anything that improved his chances.
This concerned the great undertaking of his Dao Path. How could mere feminine beauty shake his Dao heart? Liu Yu intended to preserve his primal yang until he achieved Foundation Establishment.
He swept his divine sense over the room inch by inch. After confirming that no one had tampered with it, Liu Yu took a disk and two small flags from his Storage Bag.
He placed the flags in two corners and set two spirit stones into the recesses in the disk. Waving both hands, Liu Yu cast several spell seals onto the disk. The disk and flags trembled slightly, and a thin screen of light appeared, enveloping the room precisely.
This was the Three Talents Formation, the most common formation in the cultivation world. It was extremely simple to set up and consumed very little, though its power was equally unremarkable. It could only slightly impede attacks from Qi Refining Period cultivators, offering extremely poor protection. Still, it served as a warning system, allowing the person who deployed it to take precautions in advance.
With this Three Talents Formation in place, Qi Refining Period cultivators would find it difficult to ambush him without a sound. In this remote part of the mortal world, he was also unlikely to encounter any cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Realm, so he was relatively safe. Still, this reminded Liu Yu that he must obtain a better formation when the opportunity arose. That would greatly improve the security of his cave abode as well.
Only after setting up the Three Talents Formation did Liu Yu truly relax. The exhaustion of his body and mind flooded his head all at once, making him drowsy.
That night, Liu Yu did not cultivate. He lay down fully clothed, pulled the quilt over himself, and fell asleep.
It had been a long time since he had rested properly. He slept wonderfully and did not open his eyes until the early morning, between five and seven.
Liu Yu took out a meditation cushion and sat cross-legged on the bed. He retrieved a Purple Spirit Pill from his Storage Bag, placed it in his mouth, and swallowed it before circulating his cultivation technique to refine the spiritual power within.
Spiritual energy was sparse in the mortal world, making the refinement of ambient spiritual energy extremely slow. This had little effect on Liu Yu, however, since he cultivated with pills. He refined little energy from his surroundings, primarily absorbing the spiritual power contained in the pills.
By the time he finished his daily cultivation, it was between nine and eleven in the morning. Sensing the noticeable improvement in his cultivation, Liu Yu opened his deep eyes, a trace of pleasure showing in them.
Remembering that he still had to complete the handover of the Cold Iron Ore Vein that day, Liu Yu rose from the bed, put away the Three Talents Formation, and opened the door to head toward the main hall of the city lord's residence.
When Liu Yu reached the hall, he discovered that someone had already arrived before him. Sun Ju was waiting in a chair. Seeing that it was Senior Brother Liu, she stood and greeted him.
Thanks to Likes Reading Cultivation Farming Stories, Book Friend Under Heaven 160, Chenghai Muzi, Dao Venerable Xuanchu, My Favorite Is Cultivation Farming Spaces, 20191206162342345, Star Grass and Cloud Rain, May the World Treat You Gently pi, Mu Xixi, 20180727205618414, Wang Hahahaha, Ziyi Pavilion, Moonlight Clear Ripples, Mountain Peak on the Mountain, Mu Yuyan, 20170128104927678, Read a Book Cast 1 Vote, 20171020202938813, Yuwaga, Zeng Xiangbin, The Cottage Chasing the Stars, and all the other readers for your recommendation votes!
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