The Jade Maiden Society

Where was the best place to gather information?

A brothel was certainly a good choice.

Martial artists traveled back and forth from all over. While listening to songs in pleasure houses or lying in bed after drinking, they were bound to boast about a few things.

Xu Fan thought so too, which was why he had come.

Well, he didn't actually want to visit a brothel.

"Live in a drunken dream at the Drunken Spring Pavilion?"

"Interesting. Xu... Lord Wu will test just how deep you go!"

Xu Fan followed behind the crowd, looking eager to give it a try.

"Brother, it seems you're a fellow enthusiast too?"

A young master in front of him stopped, folded his fan, and gave him a knowing smile:

"Your first time here?"

"Then you've come to the right place!"

Xu Fan saw that the man's cultivation wasn't low, yet his sunken eyes gave him the look of someone suffering from kidney deficiency. Knowing he was a regular here, Xu Fan said warmly:

"It seems you know this path well, brother?"

"I'm Wu Song. I feel as though we've been friends for years, so this visit is on me!"

Judging by this young master's clothes, he was certainly not from some modest family. He was sure to know a great deal, making him just the person to ask.

"You're too kind, Brother Wu. I feel as though we've been friends for years too!"

Ye Chengjing's eyes lit up:

"Then it's settled!"

"My name is Ye Chengjing. Since this is your first visit, Brother Wu, come with me and I'll show you the Drunken Spring Pavilion. I guarantee you'll live in a drunken dream!"

"The Drunken Spring Pavilion's courtesan queens are all top beauties, but when it comes to an incomparable beauty, Miss Yu Qing is the one. She really is... tsk, tsk."

"And as luck would have it, Miss Yu Qing is performing tonight!"

As Ye Chengjing spoke, a look of rapture spread across his face, as though he had fallen into a pleasant memory.

But he soon came back to his senses and entered the Drunken Spring Pavilion.

"Chun Niang, the usual spot!"

As though he had returned home, Ye Chengjing headed straight up to the third floor.

"Oh, Young Master Ye, that spot is always kept ready for you."

The madam, a middle-aged woman who still retained her charms, came over to greet him warmly, then looked at Xu Fan beside him:

"And this is?"

This man had ordinary looks and ordinary strength. Around thirty years old, he was still hovering at the level where his Qi and Blood were as robust as an ox's. Very ordinary.

But anyone who could pal around with Ye Chengjing couldn't be much of a genius either.

With a single glance, the madam Chun Niang had sized Xu Fan up.

"Wu Song, a fellow enthusiast I met on the way here."

Ye Chengjing put an arm around Xu Fan's shoulders and laughed heartily:

"Brother Wu said tonight's on him."

He sighed softly to himself. Only an outsider like Wu Song would be willing to call an overlooked, good-for-nothing bastard son like him a brother.

Here in Yin Mountain Prefecture's capital, never mind the Han Household, which was on equal footing with his own-even lesser households looked down on him behind his back.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have ended up living in a drunken dream at a brothel.

"Five hundred taels for the evening. Lord Wu, might I ask if you..."

The madam Chun Niang smiled and rubbed her fingers together, her meaning all too clear.

"Show us to our seats."

Without batting an eye, Xu Fan pulled out five hundred-tael silver notes and tucked them into the madam's half-exposed cleavage.

Surely there would be more than a meatless meal tonight?

Otherwise, the money would be wasted.

"Welcome, welcome! Please come in, honored guests."

The madam Chun Niang's eyes lit up, and she grew even more enthusiastic, hurrying ahead to lead the way.

"Brother Wu, you have deep pockets indeed, parting with five hundred taels so readily."

After sitting down, Ye Chengjing couldn't help marveling.

He had thought the expense would pain Xu Fan, but he hadn't expected him to pay so readily.

"I feel as though we've been friends for years. Naturally, a little money like that is nothing."

Xu Fan laughed heartily.

It was all ill-gotten money taken from others, so of course spending it didn't hurt. With strength, he didn't have to worry about having no money to spend.

At worst, once his strength improved, he could wipe out the Han Household. Never mind five hundred taels-even fifty thousand would be a trifle.

For now, gathering information was still the most important thing.

Judging by Ye Chengjing's name, his clothes, and the money he spent, he was probably a descendant of the Ye Household, the other Aristocratic Clan in Yin Mountain Prefecture.

His strength was just a little low.

He had only undergone Blood Exchange six times, and even his Qi felt somewhat unsteady.

Combined with his kidney-deficient appearance, it was truly hard to imagine how a martial artist with powerful Qi and Blood had managed to suffer from kidney deficiency.

Just how much indulgence would it take to deplete his Qi and Blood?

"Just for those words, I'm set on having you as a friend!"

Ye Chengjing thumped his chest and promised:

"Whatever you want to know, you can ask me."

As a descendant of an Aristocratic Clan, he had long since seen that Xu Fan wanted something.

But it seemed Xu Fan meant him no harm and only wanted to learn something from him?

Very clever.

When it came to talent and strength, he really was lacking.

But when it came to being well-informed, he had a knack for it.

As someone who had frequented brothels for many years and a descendant of an Aristocratic Clan to boot, he naturally knew much more.

"I've only just arrived, and I do want to learn about the situation in Yin Mountain Prefecture, so I can avoid unnecessary trouble in the future."

Xu Fan's expression shifted slightly. Knowing that Ye Chengjing had seen through his purpose, he made no attempt to hide it:

"Are there really people with Immortal Status in Great Qin?"

If one cultivated martial arts to a profound realm, could one truly become an immortal?

If there really were immortals, he would have to keep his head down and lie low, without drawing too much attention.

After all, the Taiji Dao Evolution Diagram couldn't let him enter the Land of Wu at any moment. If he found himself in danger repeatedly, it would be easy for something to go wrong.

"Of course there are."

Ye Chengjing had wondered what he was going to ask, but his face still filled with longing:

"Those sects and Immortal Clans with Land Immortals holding the fort-don't they all have Immortal Status?"

"Land Immortals?"

Xu Fan's expression froze.

So Immortal Status didn't mean one was an immortal. Rather, having a Land Immortal holding the fort in one's clan or sect meant having Immortal Status?

"Didn't someone from the Han Household make the Hidden Dragon Ranking?"

Ye Chengjing sighed:

"The Saber-Nurturing Valley he joined is a super sect with a Land Immortal. Even the imperial family has to be wary of it."

"Unfortunately, no one from my family has entered the Saber-Nurturing Valley for many years, and now the Han Household has gotten the upper hand over us."

But a stage rising from the ground floor soon caught his attention, and he hurried to his feet:

"Miss Yu Qing is about to come out. We can talk about this later."

"Miss Yu Qing is a rare, peerless beauty. Paying five hundred taels to see her is definitely a bargain!"

Xu Fan stood up too, watching the slowly rising stage.

At the center of the stage stood a peerless beauty dressed in black gauze, her snow-white skin faintly visible and a light veil covering her face.

She was surrounded by eight young women with alluring faces and graceful figures.

The black-gauze woman's limpid eyes seemed to reflect a sea of stars. One look was enough to make it impossible to look away.

"Yu Qing!"

"I want you dead!"

Before Xu Fan could take a good look, a pleasant voice filled with hatred suddenly rang out.

A graceful figure rushed out of the crowd, silver-white True Qi swirling around her as the treasured sword in her hand pointed straight at Yu Qing in the center of the stage.

"Someone from the Jade Maiden Society?"

"And an Innate Grandmaster at that?"

Ye Chengjing's expression changed. No longer concerned with playing the hero and rescuing the beauty, he made to flee at once.

This was no joking matter.

"Don't rush. We're not the target."

Xu Fan retreated a little to avoid being caught in the True Qi.

His gaze fell on the woman who had attacked, and his eyes lit up.

"This woman is a peerless beauty too."

"She's hardly inferior to Miss Yu Qing."

Those words made Ye Chengjing's body jolt. His face looked as ugly as if he had eaten shit, and he stared fixedly at the two women fighting, muttering to himself:

"Miss Yu Qing is Innate too?"

"No, no, how can she be an Innate Grandmaster?"

"How can she be?"