A high-grade Storage Bag

"Junior Brother Jiang, was there anything else you wanted to see me about today?"

For some reason, Xu Changshou suddenly felt reluctant to have too much to do with Jiang Xiaochuan.

Jiang Xiaochuan nodded and said seriously, "Here's the thing. Senior Brother Li just broke through to the ninth level of Qi Refining, and he wants to invite everyone from our Gengzi Courtyard to a meal."

"Senior Brother Li? Which Senior Brother Li?" Xu Changshou paused in surprise.

Jiang Xiaochuan smiled. "Who else? Senior Brother Li Linhao."

"Li Linhao? He... broke through to the ninth level of Qi Refining?"

Xu Changshou was astonished. Back then, Li Linhao and the others had all broken through to the seventh level of Qi Refining at almost the same time.

His own cultivation had already progressed quite quickly, with virtually no delays.

Even so, reaching the ninth level of Qi Refining remained a distant prospect.

Yet Li Linhao had already reached the ninth level of Qi Refining, leaving him a whole minor realm behind.

"Senior Brother Xu, you probably don't know about Senior Brother Li's background."

"What background?"

Jiang Xiaochuan lowered his voice. "Senior Brother Li is an Immortal Second-Generation. His father is Li Yinglong, an Inner Sect Disciple who's already a great Foundation Establishment cultivator."

Xu Changshou was inwardly startled. "No wonder he cultivates so quickly. His backing is that powerful."

Jiang Xiaochuan said enviously, "That's not all. The Li Household's patriarch, who is also Li Linhao's great-grandfather, is Elder Li Tong of our Green Immortal Sect."

"Really?"

Xu Changshou was even more surprised. He had heard of Li Tong, an elder of Great Unity Peak and a genuine Golden Core powerhouse.

He had never imagined that Li Linhao, that quiet, unassuming, honest fellow, came from such a powerful family.

With backing like that, his rapid breakthrough to the ninth level of Qi Refining made perfect sense.

"And there's more. I heard Senior Brother Li is very talented. He was earmarked to become an Inner Sect Disciple from birth. Elder Li Tong was the one who sent him to Reserve Beauty Peak, saying he wanted Senior Brother Li to undergo some tempering."

Jiang Xiaochuan followed that with an even more explosive revelation.

"An Inner Sect Disciple."

Xu Changshou did not know how to describe his feelings.

Inner Sect Disciples were entitled to a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Something everyone in the Cultivation World dreamed of obtaining had been Li Linhao's from birth.

Being an Immortal Second-Generation really is the good life.

Xu Changshou was envious.

Forget it. Why envy him? I'm doing pretty well myself now.

Sooner or later, I'll get a Foundation Establishment Pill too.

"Why does Junior Brother Li-ah, no, Senior Brother Li-want to treat us to a meal?" Xu Changshou asked.

Jiang Xiaochuan shook his head. "I don't know either. Perhaps he misses the time we spent at Reserve Beauty Peak."

"Perhaps."

Xu Changshou nodded inwardly.

Truth be told, he also missed those three years at Reserve Beauty Peak. They had been the happiest three years of his life, with no worries about food or clothing and no pressure.

But people always had to grow up, and they always had to change.

Even if they all gathered again now, they probably would not be able to recapture the way things used to feel.

"Where's the banquet? When does it start?"

"At Great Unity Tower."

"Got it. Tell Senior Brother Li I'll be there on time."

"All right. I'll take my leave, Senior Brother Xu. I still need to notify the others, so I won't stay any longer."

"Goodbye, Junior Brother Jiang."

Great Unity Tower was a restaurant at the foot of Great Unity Peak.

Its prices were reportedly extremely high. Even a simple meal cost an ordinary Servant Disciple several months' stipend.

Of course, the price was only one aspect. Great Unity Tower offered an abundance of delicacies from the mountains and seas, far beyond anything the Spirit Dining Hall could provide.

Today happened to be a rest day.

Xu Changshou planned to replace his Storage Bag with one that had more room, so he would visit Steward Peak first, then head to Great Unity Tower for the meal.

His Storage Bag was still the one he had received upon joining the sect, with an internal space only one meter on each side.

As more and more things accumulated inside, that one-meter storage space was becoming stretched thin. He needed a larger one.

Having visited Steward Peak many times, Xu Changshou made his way to the Trading Hall with practiced ease.

Inside the Trading Hall was a counter dedicated to selling Storage Bags.

Xu Changshou walked toward it. The man in charge was around fifty, with graying hair and a cultivation level of the eleventh level of Qi Refining.

"Hello, Senior Brother. I'd like to buy a Storage Bag," Xu Changshou said, getting straight to the point.

The older man smiled. "Junior Brother, would you like to trade in your old one, or buy one outright?"

"I can trade in my old one?" Xu Changshou asked in surprise.

"Yes!"

The older man smiled. "If you trade it in, your old Storage Bag can be credited toward the price, at roughly half its original value."

Xu Changshou took out his Storage Bag and asked, "The sect issued this one to me. How many spirit stones can I get for it?"

"This is the lowest-grade Storage Bag. A new one only costs twelve Fragmented Spirit Stones, so its trade-in value is just six Fragmented Spirit Stones."

"All right. Six it is. Help me exchange it for a new one." Xu Changshou nodded. Once he had a new Storage Bag, this one would be useless to him, so getting six Fragmented Spirit Stones for it was better than nothing.

The older man said seriously, "All right, I'll factor that into the price later. There are three types of Storage Bags used by disciples in the Qi Refining Realm. Low-grade bags have a space one meter on each side, mid-grade bags ten meters on each side, and high-grade bags a hundred meters on each side. Which do you need?"

Xu Changshou thought for a moment, then asked, "How much does each cost?"

The older man replied, "A low-grade Storage Bag costs twelve Fragmented Spirit Stones, a mid-grade Storage Bag costs a hundred and twenty Fragmented Spirit Stones, and a high-grade Storage Bag costs twelve spirit stones."

Xu Changshou nodded inwardly. So the bag he had been using all this time was the lowest-grade Storage Bag.

Zhang Zhengyuan had said his Storage Bag was as big as a house. His was probably a mid-grade one.

Ye Shanhua definitely used a high-grade Storage Bag. Her White Jade Flying Boat alone was over ten meters long; only a high-grade Storage Bag could hold it.

Which kind should I use?

Xu Changshou sank into thought...

A low-grade Storage Bag was out of the question. It had to be either mid-grade or high-grade.

Xu Changshou wanted a high-grade Storage Bag, but he felt the price was steep, leaving him unable to decide.

"Junior Brother, have you decided which kind you'd like to buy?" the older man asked again.

Xu Changshou gritted his teeth. "I'll take a high-grade Storage Bag."

A high-grade Storage Bag...

The older man could not help pausing at that. To his eyes, Xu Changshou was young and only at the Qi Refining eighth layer, so he had to be a new disciple.

Few new disciples were willing to spend money on a high-grade Storage Bag. Even disciples from small lineages were reluctant to buy one.

Only relatively wealthy Immortal Second-Generation cultivators and scions of major lineages could afford high-grade Storage Bags.

"Then pick one."

With a flick of his hand, the older man tossed five or six purple Storage Bags onto the counter.

Storage Bags came in different colors depending on their grade.

Low-grade Storage Bags were gray.

Mid-grade ones were black.

High-grade ones were purple and looked quite luxurious.

"All right, this one."

Xu Changshou picked a Storage Bag at random, then transferred everything from his old bag into the new one and handed the old bag to the older man.

"Junior Brother, the high-grade Storage Bag costs twelve spirit stones. After deducting six Fragmented Spirit Stones for your trade-in, your total is eleven spirit stones and ninety-four Fragmented Spirit Stones."

"All right. Thank you, Senior Brother!"