Only after warning Gu Musheng and making sure he would not fall for the scam...
Li Ping headed toward the Inner City. The main body of the Immortal City's third-tier spiritual vein lay beneath Azure Dragon Mountain, spreading outward from the center. Most of the Inner City had spiritual energy equivalent to a second-tier spirit vein, but by the time it extended into the Outer City, only first-tier quality remained.
Thus, if he wanted to rent a cave abode of the second tier or higher, he had to go to the Inner City.
As for Azure Dragon Mountain, it was the cultivation grounds of Windmist True Person and her disciples, reserved for her disciples and certain founding lineages that had followed her.
Even Foundation Establishment guest elders who joined later were not qualified to build cave abodes on Azure Dragon Mountain. They could only live in the Inner City.
It was said that if danger arose and the city truly faced a matter of life and death, its third-tier grand formation could shrink its defensive perimeter until it covered only Azure Dragon Mountain.
At that point, the formation's might would reach an unimaginable level, capable of withstanding a siege by several Core Formation cultivators.
After entering the Inner City, Li Ping did not head to the area where he had rented a cave abode for his Foundation Establishment breakthrough. Instead, he chose a somewhat more secluded direction.
When he had broken through to Foundation Establishment, his purse had been empty, so he had only rented a Second-Tier Lower-Grade Cave Abode.
Now, however, he possessed second-tier mid-grade talisman crafting skills and did not particularly care about the few spirit stones needed to rent a cave abode. Besides, he had too many secrets. Crowding onto a single spirit vein with several hundred other cultivators would be far too inconvenient.
Li Ping's first choice for his new cave abode was a spirit mountain within the Inner City: Immortal Peach Mountain.
Immortal Peach Mountain was a spur extending from Azure Dragon Mountain. It stood a little over two hundred zhang tall and possessed a second-tier upper-grade spirit vein.
Although Immortal Peach Mountain lay within the Immortal City's Inner City, it did not belong to the Immortal City Authorities, but to the Meng Family, a cultivation lineage.
The Meng Family's forebear had once followed Windmist True Person deep into the Cloudmist Mountains to exterminate a demon wolf pack, earning distinguished merit through those campaigns.
After the Immortal City was established, Windmist True Person rewarded those contributions by granting Immortal Peach Mountain to the Meng Family.
Surprisingly, however, that forebear did not settle his descendants on Immortal Peach Mountain. Instead, he chose another location for his lineage to grow.
At the time, many people wondered why he would pass up such a fine second-tier upper-grade spirit mountain and make his descendants endure hardship instead.
What that Meng Family forebear did next, however, won everyone's admiration.
After obtaining Windmist True Person's approval, the ancestor instructed his clansmen to build more than a dozen elegant cave abodes in scenic spots throughout Immortal Peach Mountain, each occupying nearly a hundred mu, and offer them for rent.
Such excellent cave abodes naturally attracted many prospective tenants, who offered high prices to rent them.
Yet the Meng Family imposed one requirement on these applicants: they had to possess a cultivation craft of the second tier or higher!
Nor would just any of the hundred cultivation arts suffice. The tenant's craft had to appear on the list of approved skills published by the Meng Family.
When Li Ping first saw what the Meng Family was doing, his immediate reaction was: They're clearly implementing a talent recruitment policy, attracting artisans of the second tier and above to settle here. To think cultivators do this too.
His next reaction, however, was: This is a good thing!
His talisman crafting had reached the second tier, and talisman makers ranked fairly high on the Meng Family's published list of desired professions.
Without a doubt, he met their recruitment criteria!
After investigating further, he was even more pleasantly surprised.
To date, the highest-grade pill Li Ping had seen was the Foundation Establishment Pill, which reached the second-tier upper grade.
In the entire vast Immortal City, only two pill refiners could refine pills of that grade.
One was the city's ruler, Windmist True Person. Besides possessing Core Formation cultivation, she was also a second-tier upper-grade pill refiner.
The other was Master Hu, Hu Feng, a rogue cultivator at the Foundation Establishment middle stage. He, too, was a second-tier upper-grade pill refiner.
The Qi Condensation Pill Gu Musheng had used to break through to the late Qi Refining stage had come from one of Master Hu's disciples.
After arriving in the Immortal City from elsewhere, Master Hu had received repeated invitations to become an Immortal City retainer. Unwilling to be bound by the city's rules, however, he had continued living on Immortal Peach Mountain as a rogue cultivator.
He cultivated while taking outside commissions for alchemy, earning resources for his cultivation.
If Li Ping could move onto Immortal Peach Mountain, he would become this Master Hu's neighbor.
Then, like a pavilion by the water catching the moonlight first, his proximity would make it easier to activate his "peerless talent."
Upon reaching the Management Office at the foot of Immortal Peach Mountain, Li Ping explained why he had come.
The man who received him was a short elder whose cultivation was at the late Qi Refining stage.
Hearing his purpose, the elder hurriedly stood and said respectfully, "Senior, since you wish to rent a cave abode on Immortal Peach Mountain, you must possess a cultivation craft of the second tier or higher, correct? That is one of the essential requirements for renting a cave abode."
Li Ping nodded. "I'm a second-tier talisman maker. I should qualify."
At those words, the elder's face blossomed into a smile. "Since you are a second-tier talisman maker, Senior, you naturally meet our requirements. Under our rules, however, the Meng Family must first verify your level of skill. I hope you will take no offense."
"That's only reasonable." Li Ping nodded, having already prepared himself for this. "Will we do it here?"
The elder shook his head repeatedly. "Of course not. I'm not qualified to assess your skills, Senior."
"Then who is?" Li Ping asked curiously.
The elder immediately explained, "Our Meng Family Ancestor. He happens to be on Immortal Peach Mountain today. I'll lead you to meet our ancestor right away, Senior."
"Let's go."
"Yes, Senior!"
With the elder respectfully leading the way, the two headed toward the Meng Family Ancestor's location.
As they walked, Li Ping also surveyed their surroundings.
The Meng Family's forebear had certainly not given up living on this splendid Immortal Peach Mountain and turned it over to a group of second-tier artisans out of charity.
When a group of second-tier artisans lived together and made up for one another's shortcomings, the industrial clustering effect they could produce was staggering.
Second-tier artisans needed to earn resources through their skills, while cultivators who needed their services were willing to pay substantial sums to commission them.
The Meng Family had built a platform between the two sides, connecting the second-tier artisans living on Immortal Peach Mountain with those who needed their services.
At the same time, they had built many shops at the foot of the mountain to sell the artisans' everyday output and supply them with raw materials.
The resources earned this way amounted to an extremely substantial sum, far more than they could have earned by managing the mountain themselves.
The Meng Family spent all those earnings on nurturing its younger generations, giving its descendants an exceptionally high success rate. They even had several Foundation Establishment cultivators.
As far as Li Ping knew, the Meng Family ranked among the strongest of all the forces subordinate to the Immortal City.
This prompted him to reflect, That forebear of the Meng Family was a man of great wisdom.