An Acquaintance, One Thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones

After leaving the inn, Li Yunjing gave it some thought.

He decided to ask an acquaintance for help.

He followed the long street to a shop called the Worry-Relief Shop.

Li Yunjing glanced up at the sign, then walked straight in.

"Welcome, honored guest... Oh, Sect Leader Li, long time no see."

As soon as he entered the Worry-Relief Shop, a tall, thin man pushed aside a curtain and came out.

The man was surprised to see Li Yunjing.

"Sect Leader Li, have you come about something urgent?"

Smiling, the man gestured for Li Yunjing to sit.

Li Yunjing sat down and got straight to the point.

"Shopkeeper Gao, I'm here to find someone."

Seeing how direct Li Yunjing was, Gao Jin let his smile fade.

"Please, go ahead, Sect Leader Li. You know what the Worry-Relief Shop is capable of."

Li Yunjing said, "My junior brother and junior sister went to explore a Golden Core cave abode. You know something happened there recently.

"I can't get in touch with them. I'd like you to help me find them."

Gao Jin frowned at his words.

"Forgive me for speaking plainly, Sect Leader Li, but I'm afraid those two..."

Li Yunjing's expression did not change. "It's fine. Alive, I want to see them; dead, I want to see their bodies.

"With the Worry-Relief Shop's capabilities, even if they really are dead, I imagine it would be easy to obtain their bodies."

Gao Jin's brow relaxed, and he smiled faintly. "You can rest assured on that point, Sect Leader Li."

Li Yunjing nodded. "How many Spirit Stones?"

"Please, Sect Leader Li, there's no need. I'll waive the fee for this job," Gao Jin said.

Li Yunjing looked at Gao Jin in surprise.

Waive the fee? What did he mean by that?

The corners of Gao Jin's mouth rose slightly as he said,

"As you know, Sect Leader Li, my Worry-Relief Shop operates in a gray area. I've been trying to get certification from the Immortal Alliance.

"By now, the process is almost complete.

"All that remains is to obtain the consent of a few Immortal Alliance members.

"I'd like to ask for your consent, Sect Leader Li, so that my Worry-Relief Shop can become legitimate."

Li Yunjing frowned.

On the surface, the Worry-Relief Shop sold small trinkets.

Behind the scenes, however, it found people and retrieved bodies.

Of course, both finding people and retrieving bodies were legitimate.

Especially retrieving bodies. If that part were not legitimate,

the Worry-Relief Shop would have long since suffered the Immortal Alliance's iron fist of justice.

Even though its paperwork was in order, the Worry-Relief Shop had never been able to conduct that business openly.

After all, it was somewhat inappropriate.

Now Gao Jin wanted to bring the business out into the open.

Li Yunjing was surprised.

He asked Gao Jin to explain why.

As it turned out, Gao Jin wanted to expand.

Operating in secret, he could not advertise, so the business remained small.

Doing it openly would be a different matter.

Especially now, with the recent incident at the Golden Core cave abode.

Quite a few cultivators had died, and their friends and family did not dare go to the Golden Core cave abode to retrieve their bodies.

Gao Jin's Worry-Relief Shop did dare to do such things.

This was an opportunity, and Gao Jin did not want to miss it.

The Immortal Alliance had not rejected Gao Jin.

The Immortal Alliance did not want the bodies of those dead cultivators to fall into the hands of Devil Cultivators either,

only to be subjected to terrible indignities.

The Immortal Alliance merely wanted Gao Jin to approach its members himself.

As long as twenty Immortal Alliance members agreed,

the Immortal Alliance would allow Gao Jin to conduct the business openly.

Otherwise, it would not.

After learning this,

Li Yunjing asked Gao Jin whose consent he had obtained.

Gao Jin rattled off several names.

Among them were Wang Qianxue and the leaders of two third-rank sects.

Li Yunjing was surprised that Gao Jin was so capable.

That being the case, Li Yunjing had no concerns.

Since even Wang Qianxue and the leaders of two third-rank sects had agreed,

he might as well grant Gao Jin a favor that cost him nothing.

After Li Yunjing agreed,

Gao Jin was delighted.

He asked about Mo Xuan and Shui Yao, including details such as their appearances and builds.

Gao Jin then said he would immediately arrange for people to carry out Li Yunjing's request.

Li Yunjing walked out of the Worry-Relief Shop.

He glanced back at it.

He prayed that the next time he came, he would receive good news.

Following the street, Li Yunjing then went to the Treasure Gathering Pavilion.

"Sect Leader Li, what a rare visitor."

As soon as he entered the Treasure Gathering Pavilion, an attendant came over and greeted him with cupped hands.

"Duan Yang, why didn't I see you last time?"

Li Yunjing asked as Duan Yang led him to a private room.

The last time Li Yunjing came to the Treasure Gathering Pavilion to buy something, an attendant he did not know had received him.

Duan Yang had been nowhere to be seen.

Duan Yang was the attendant the Treasure Gathering Pavilion had assigned specifically to Li Yunjing.

That was a privilege reserved for people of a sect leader's standing.

"Sect Leader Li, I had something to attend to, so I took a few days off," Duan Yang said.

Li Yunjing nodded. After entering the private room,

he said to Duan Yang, "What I'm selling this time is somewhat unusual. Go and fetch the Treasure Gathering Pavilion's appraiser."

Duan Yang was excited to hear this.

The more unusual the item Li Yunjing wanted to sell, the better the reward he would receive.

"Please wait a moment."

Duan Yang immediately went to fetch the Treasure Gathering Pavilion's appraiser.

Before long, a middle-aged man dressed in blue robes entered the private room.

"Sect Leader Li."

The man was also at Qi Refining Completion.

He and Li Yunjing were old acquaintances.

"Appraiser Li," Li Yunjing greeted him.

"Duan Yang tells me you have something good to sell this time, Sect Leader Li. May I have a look?" Li Mingjie asked with a smile.

As an appraiser for the Treasure Gathering Pavilion,

recognizing items was one of his most basic skills.

Since Li Yunjing had sent for him,

it meant the value of what Li Yunjing wanted to sell was uncertain.

He needed to examine it and determine its exact value.

Li Yunjing smiled and asked, "Do you have a container that can confine things?"

Li Mingjie was taken aback, but then he produced a palm-sized treasure vase.

Li Yunjing took the vase.

At that moment, Li Mingjie voluntarily sealed off his Divine Sense and his five senses.

That ensured he would know nothing of what happened around him.

Seeing this, Li Yunjing nodded inwardly.

As a treasure pavilion backed by the Immortal Alliance,

the Treasure Gathering Pavilion only bought and sold goods; it took part in nothing else.

Things like customers being assassinated because they had sold valuable treasures

were not something the Treasure Gathering Pavilion would do.

Its safety was beyond question.

That was also why Li Yunjing had chosen to come to the Treasure Gathering Pavilion.

Li Yunjing took ten wisps of pure Spiritual Qi from the system space.

He immediately activated the treasure vase.

A treasured light shone from its mouth, drawing all ten wisps of pure Spiritual Qi inside.

Then Li Yunjing formed a hand seal.

A peculiar ripple spread out.

Only then did Li Mingjie passively regain his senses.

Seeing the treasure vase on the table, Li Mingjie picked it up and released his Divine Sense.

"Hiss!"

When he saw the ten wisps of pure Spiritual Qi inside the vase,

Li Mingjie drew a sharp breath, his eyes widening.

"What pure Spiritual Qi!"

Spiritual Qi naturally varied in quality.

As the saying went, heaven and earth were divided into the clear and the turbid.

The clear referred to treasures such as Spiritual Qi,

while the turbid referred to fierce things such as Sha Qi and Devil Qi.

Originally, the clear and the turbid were as incompatible as fire and water.

But over time, they became entangled and affected each other.

Thus, the Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth was contaminated by Sha Qi, Devil Qi, and the like.

That caused its quality to decline.

Meanwhile, some Sha Qi and Devil Qi were purified by Spiritual Qi.

They thereby ceased to be turbid.

The lower the quality of Spiritual Qi, the harder it was for cultivators to refine.

Therefore, if they could absorb high-quality Spiritual Qi,

cultivators could improve their efficiency considerably.

"Sect Leader Li, these wisps of Spiritual Qi don't contain the slightest impurity." Li Mingjie looked at Li Yunjing in disbelief.

"What are they worth?" Li Yunjing asked.

Li Mingjie considered the matter.

Before long, he gave Li Yunjing his answer.

"They're very valuable. The Treasure Gathering Pavilion can purchase each wisp of pure Spiritual Qi for one hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones."

Li Yunjing nodded slightly. That was even better than he had expected.

Ten wisps of pure Spiritual Qi came to one thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

At the thought, Li Yunjing's heart could not help pounding hard a few times.

"Agreed." Li Yunjing nodded.

Li Mingjie immediately picked up the treasure vase and was about to leave.

But just then, Li Yunjing called him back.

"Appraiser Li, please send Duan Yang in. I'd like to buy a few things and put them against the value of this pure Spiritual Qi."