Little Empress Houtu

At the Holy Cardamom Sect's Eastern Huang Cultivator Market, inside a soundproof barrier, Tang Yuan cupped his hands in greeting to Kou Cheng. "Senior Brother Kou, I have a rather thorny problem. Could you perhaps give me some advice?"

"Could it be that you want to buy more scarce goods from me?

"But let me tell you, although your money would be enough, at the going price, to buy two or three wisps of lower-tier third-grade Spiritual Qi,

"let alone third-grade Spiritual Qi, even fourth-grade Spiritual Qi has a price but no market. It's very hard to buy." Kou Cheng rubbed his palms together. Another big deal has come my way.

"As you know, I have some spirit money on me now.

"I want to make a push for Late-stage Qi Refinement and prepare for Foundation Establishment in the future, so I plan to leave the sect for a while.

"I don't expect to stumble across a bargain and buy a Foundation Establishment Pill, but it's still possible I could find a bargain on the materials needed to refine one.

"Outside the Holy Cardamom Sect, other sects and cultivators don't accept our spirit money. They only accept Spirit Stones.

"But the sect rules say that anyone below Foundation Establishment can take out no more than three hundred Spirit Stones.

"I have plenty of spirit money now, but I can't exchange it for Spirit Stones to take out of the sect." Tang Yuan frowned.

Kou Cheng pondered for a few breaths, then snapped his fingers. "You want to take out more Spirit Stones? What's so hard about that?

"But you'll have to be willing to make some deals at a loss.

"How much spirit money do you want to take out? And when?"

"About thirty-five thousand spirit money, within three days."

The corner of Kou Cheng's mouth twitched. Taking out thirty-five thousand Spirit Stones really was digging at the foundation of the sect's wall.

He looked around, formed a hand seal, and added another soundproof barrier before speaking in a low voice:

"The three major hard currencies in circulation among cultivators throughout the world are Spirit Stones, medicinal herbs, and Spiritual Qi.

"Trading medicinal herbs worth thirty-five thousand spirit money in just a few days would attract the attention of the sect's Enforcement Hall.

"Our Holy Cardamom Sect has more than twenty-five thousand disciples in the Meridian Opening Realm and Qi Refining Realm. The daily volume of Spiritual Qi transactions exceeds a hundred thousand spirit money, so trading thirty-five thousand spirit money's worth of Spiritual Qi within three days won't draw the Enforcement Hall's attention."

Tang Yuan frowned slightly. "Senior Brother Kou, you mean I should first buy thirty thousand spirit money's worth of Spiritual Qi,

"then take the Spiritual Qi out of the sect and sell it at another cultivator market for Spirit Stones.

"This plan to deceive the heavens and cross the sea is indeed ingenious, but hasn't the sect's Enforcement Hall noticed this loophole?"

"Of course the sect knows about this loophole, but it isn't worried about it happening at all, because no one would ever do this." Kou Cheng smiled and continued:

"In our Holy Cardamom Sect, one spirit money is worth one Spirit Stone.

"Measured in Spirit Stones, here in our sect,

"a wisp of lower-tier fourth-grade Spiritual Qi sells for about twelve hundred Spirit Stones,

"a wisp of upper-tier fifth-grade Spiritual Qi sells for about three hundred and fifty Spirit Stones,

"and a wisp of upper-tier sixth-grade Spiritual Qi sells for about twelve Spirit Stones.

"That is to say, outside our Holy Cardamom Sect, Spiritual Qi generally sells for about ninety percent of those prices.

"For example, take this wisp of upper-tier sixth-grade fire-attribute Spiritual Qi, Furnace Flame. Our sect sells it for twelve Spirit Stones a wisp, while cultivator markets outside the sect sell it for ten Spirit Stones, or even nine Spirit Stones and five Spirit Sand.

"Tell me, who would make a deal at a loss like that?"

"Then if I spend my thirty-five thousand spirit money on Spiritual Qi in the sect and sell it at a market outside, at least thirty-five hundred spirit money will vanish into thin air just like that!" Tang Yuan felt the sting of the loss at once.

"There's no helping it. This is the only way to safely take a large number of Spirit Stones out in a short time." Kou Cheng spread his hands. "Of course, I'll also charge a five-percent fee for my trouble.

"This way of transferring spirit money is called money laundering in our business circles.

"If you want to launder money, how could you avoid taking a loss?"

Tang Yuan sighed softly and had no choice but to agree. "Time is short. There's no chance to make a more thorough plan.

"Never mind taking these thirty-odd thousand spirit money to the Demon Realm-even if I took them out of the Holy Cardamom Sect, they'd be worthless stones nobody wanted."

After thinking for a few breaths, Tang Yuan gave Kou Cheng a list of the Spiritual Qi he wanted to buy and thirty-one thousand five hundred spirit money,

and told him to arrange the Spiritual Qi as quickly as possible. Fifteen hundred of the spirit money was Kou Cheng's fee; for now, he was only "laundering" thirty thousand.

There was no helping it. High Person Li Bai would leave the sect in three days, and the Mid-Autumn Festival was six days away.

Tang Yuan felt that if he were Ding Chunqiu, he would certainly make his assassination attempt in four days...

To be on the safe side, and also to keep Kou Cheng moving, Tang Yuan stayed at the Eastern Huang Cultivator Market for the next three days instead of returning to his cave abode in the Outstanding Talent Southern Garden.

At midnight on the thirteenth day of the eighth month, New Immortal Calendar year 4036, Tang Yuan used the cover of darkness to leave through the mountain gate and head east.

With the waist token of High Person Li Bai's nominal disciple, he could freely enter and leave the sect, so he passed through the mountain gate without a hitch.

He rode his flying shuttle east, and after flying more than a thousand li over the Eastern Sea, he turned south.

Then he traveled west along the ungoverned territory between the Holy Cardamom Sect and the Dao Heaven Sect to the southeast. When he reached the coast, he switched to a spirit boat and continued west. At last, on the ninth day of the ninth month, he reached the familiar Golden Shell Island in the Western Spirit Ten Thousand Islands Region.

Since leaving the Xi Household for Immortal Ascension Island seven years ago and joining the Holy Cardamom Sect, Tang Yuan had spent more than three months on Golden Shell Island every year catching Red Spirit Eels. He had long since moved his "Golden Cave Abode" to another location and installed a stronger defensive formation. Naturally, it also had as many as seven or eight secret passages and back doors.

The Xi Household's Emerald Creek Island was only a little more than half a day's journey away. As a senior guest elder of the Xi Household, and now a cultivator at the Qi Refinement Sixth Layer, Tang Yuan would surely draw everyone's attention and be welcomed by crowds lining the road if he went there.

But remembering that he had left the sect to escape Ding Chunqiu's pursuit, Tang Yuan thought it best to keep a low profile. He decided to stay alone on Golden Shell Island and cultivate in peace, occasionally going to the Xuan Dou Cultivator Market to sell Spiritual Qi, and fishing by the sea when he grew bored and restless, living as a reclusive rogue cultivator...

"New Immortal Calendar year 4036, tenth month, ninth day, clear: the Earth Flood Dragon in the Mystic Spoon woke up. She said her current body was made of Dragon Skeleton Jade Mud and could only leave the Mystic Spoon for a short while. If she went to the Demon Realm, she would fall asleep again.

"The Earth Flood Dragon told me to call her 'Little Empress Houtu.' After some negotiation, I'll call her 'Hou Fei' from now on."

"New Immortal Calendar year 4036, tenth month, fifteenth day, cloudy: I caught a Red Spirit Eel, grilled it, and shared it with Hou Fei.

"The Earth Flood Dragon Hou Fei said she had an affinity with the Nether Bureau of the Demon Realm and knew some Nether Bureau Cultivation Methods. She taught me a Cultivation Method that lets me use the Time Reversal Law Technique without her help, and a way to take temporary refuge in the Mystic Spoon in the flesh for half a shichen.

"In exchange, I lent her the Witch Ghost Dao Book, the Ghost-Driving Technique, the Weaving Maiden Nether Fire Dao-Extinguishing True Method, and some autobiographies and travel notes written by various rogue cultivators that I had bought...

"New Immortal Calendar year 4036, eleventh month, tenth day, heavy rain: I slipped onto Emerald Creek Island and gave Kang Cang and Liu Hanchuan six bottles/wisps of mid-tier fifth-grade Spiritual Qi and six hundred Spirit Stones each to help them cultivate. I also asked them to help gather information on the activities of the cultivation Lineages of the Western Spirit Ten Thousand Islands Region, including the Xi Household.

"New Immortal Calendar year 4036, twelfth month, eighteenth day, heavy snow: I made a trip to the Demon Realm and gave Hu Mei'er and Huang You'er three thousand Spirit Stones, telling them to find a cave with a spirit spring not too far from Loulan City as soon as possible, to serve as a cave abode in the future...

"New Immortal Calendar year 4036, first month, sixteenth day, clear: I chatted with the Earth Flood Dragon Hou Fei while fishing by the sea. She said I should have my five children cultivate immortality too.

"But I think the cultivation world is too cruel. It would be better for them to live as prosperous, healthy mortals, passing their ordinary mortal decades in peace and tranquility.

"Among mortals, fewer than three in a thousand are born Aperture Openers.

"I already tested them when I was home a few years ago. Apart from my fifth son, Tianya, who was too young to be tested at the time, none of my other four children were innate Aperture Openers, and none could cultivate immortality.

"New Immortal Calendar year 4037, second month, second day: after swallowing and refining a wisp of lower-tier fourth-grade Spiritual Qi, Thunder Metal Gui Sha, I broke through to the Qi Refinement Seventh Layer and entered Late-stage Qi Refinement.

"New Immortal Calendar year 4037, third month, thirteenth day: using the alias 'Tang Yuan,' I spent nearly ten days at the Immortal Ascension City Cultivator Market on Perching Clouds Island and finally sold all the surplus Spiritual Qi I had. I now have a total of twenty-five thousand three hundred and fifty-six Spirit Stones."

Tang Yuan looked at the diary he had written and smiled in satisfaction. When he heard the market bell ring, he thought, I should be able to buy Moon Jade Radiance today, shouldn't I?

He put away the diary, made a simple disguise, and walked out of the inn toward the cultivator market, his face full of anticipation...