Chapter 156: Tian Ge Yun Que

Juzecheng is an ancient city with a population exceeding one million, boasting a history of ten thousand years. Countless scenic spots and historical sites dot the city, and many legendary figures, while traveling through Bingzuzhe, once stayed here.

The city is home to the Heavenly Law Earth Spring and a Dao Domain.

Martial artists, Mind-Masters, exotic beasts, departed spirits, and demon tribes are commonly seen on the streets. People coming and going from all directions wear diverse attire, reflecting the city's strong inclusivity.

Qi Wangshu had already arranged accommodation and meals. After entering the city, everyone directly checked into Heavenly Pavilion.

In Lingxiao Habitat, Immortal Forest offers the highest standard for dining, accommodation, and various refined pleasures. However, Immortal Forest only caters to Pure Immortal Body cultivators, being extremely secluded and exclusive. It prioritizes appearance, talent, and status, as if to create a small immortal realm in the mortal world.

Next in prestige is Heavenly Pavilion.

Heavenly Pavilion has branches in major cities, renowned for its opulence. It gathers beauties from across the land to serve as attendants and brings together the finest ingredients and most skilled chefs to prepare exquisite food and brew fine wines. Stepping inside, each pavilion is uniquely crafted, with well-arranged towers and pavilions, carved beams and painted rafters; every step reveals a new scene, and every detail reflects a unique aesthetic.

Beauties, delicacies, fine wine, and beautiful scenery.

Here, spending a thousand silver for a single night is considered ordinary.

Li Weiyi and his companions checked into Cloud Pavilion, one of Heavenly Pavilion's twenty-eight pavilions.

Inside the pavilion, there were twenty to thirty young maidservants, their light gauze ethereal, like celestial concubines in an immortal palace. Each had undergone rigorous training, skilled not only in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, but also possessing considerable martial arts cultivation.

There were ten eunuch attendants, dressed in green brocade robes, young and handsome.

"Heavenly Pavilion and Immortal Forest are actually run by the same group, belonging to Qianshan," Qi Wangshu explained.

"Qianshan claims to recruit only exceptional individuals, one in a thousand, from top to bottom, from management to maidservants and slaves. Even the maidservants in this pavilion are beauties, chosen one in a thousand."

He sat at the head of the long white jade dining table, dressed in luxurious attire, with an ordinary appearance, completely embodying the image of a dissolute scion from a prominent family. He had an arm around a beautiful concubine on either side, with another sitting on each of his legs, brought from his clan.

Among the talented youths present, only Li Weiyi could discern that he concealed his brilliance under a facade of mediocrity, and possessed a cultivation of the Fourth Stage of the Five Seas Realm.

A true dissolute scion could never have cultivated to such a high level at his age.

Qi Wangshu continued, "Qianshan constantly strives for a top-tier image, but in reality, they are Lingxiao's foremost business guild, incredibly vulgar. Their industries span every sector, both legitimate and illicit, respectable and unsavory—they deal in everything."

"So, gentlemen, if you wish to purchase any resources or treasures, just tell the maidservants by your side. They will report it, and Heavenly Pavilion will procure them as quickly as possible."

"In short, as long as you have enough wealth, you can buy anything here."

Li Weiyi's heart stirred, and he asked, "Can one buy thousand-year-old spirit herbs?"

Everyone present was first stunned, then burst into laughter.

The maidservants attending them in the pavilion, and the entertainers playing zithers and flutes in the distance, all showed enchanting smiles.

Medicinal ingredients of the thousand-year spirit herb level have already gained consciousness and can be called spirits. They can burrow underground and manipulate energy, making them extremely difficult to capture.

The value of a single spirit herb surpasses that of a nine-hundred-year-old treasure herb tenfold. Its medicinal power has undergone a significant transformation, making it a supreme treasure of the world.

Any single one costs at least tens of millions of silver.

Let alone these young martial artists, even those at the Dao Seed Realm, few can afford them. To be precise, most old cultivators at the Dao Seed Realm would risk immense danger to seek thousand-year-old spirit herbs in secluded ruins, immortal fallen lands, or ancient emperor's tombs to prolong their lives.

The maidservant attending Li Weiyi from behind and to his left, appearing seventeen or eighteen, was named Yudie. She smiled and informed him, "As long as the guest can afford the price, thousand-year spirit herbs are available. Just ten days ago, an extraordinary figure exchanged a hundred-character scripture artifact for a thousand-year spirit herb at the Heavenly Pavilion to heal his injuries. It caused quite a sensation in Juzecheng."

Qi Wangshu was moved and said, "That wouldn't be a martial artist of the younger generation, would it?"

"It was that noble gentleman from the 'Jiazi Register'!" Yudie exclaimed. "It is said that he was pursued by a Longevity Realm giant and fled all the way from Lizhou to Juzecheng, his body almost completely shattered! Thirty li of snow turned into thirty li of blood mist."

Yudie sighed with regret, "Legend has it that Yao Qian, the noble gentleman, is peerlessly handsome, a rarity in the world, and any woman who sees him would fall for him. Unfortunately, though he passed through Heavenly Pavilion in Juzecheng, I couldn't catch a glimpse of his extraordinary demeanor."

Li Ling, who was seated next to Li Weiyi and wearing a mask, snorted softly, "He was chased so hard that he had to use an artifact to exchange for a healing spirit herb. What extraordinary demeanor could he possibly have left?"

"Who within the Jiazi Register could escape from the hands of a Longevity Realm giant?" Yudie had a cultivation of Seven Springs, so her insight could not be measured by that of an ordinary maidservant.

In Lingxiao, only beings at the Longevity Realm could be called giants. They truly stood at the pinnacle of the world. With a single thought, they could summon wind and rain; one person could stand against a thousand armies; a mere lift of their hand or foot could split mountains and level cities.

A single individual could support a sect of a million members, or a powerful clan of a million.

In any state, a Longevity Realm giant could hold their own, roam the world freely, and be revered by millions. They were the ultimate pursuit of countless gifted martial artists.

Li Ling said, "Yao Qian cannot even be ranked first in the Jiazi Register in the Southern Region; he is firmly suppressed by that person from Zuoqiu Clan. There are many who can defeat him within the Jiazi Register."

Yudie naturally dared not argue with a guest and simply smiled without further words.

Qi Wangshu's gaze fell on Li Weiyi, and he laughed, "Brother Chi, rumors outside say that your Nine Li Tribe has several Longevity Realm elders who are giants. I was somewhat skeptical before. But hearing this news today truly shakes me. The Myriad Ancient Clan truly lives up to its name; their heritage is incredibly profound."

Li Weiyi's current identity was Chi Yongsheng, the second most prominent figure among the younger generation of the Chi Li Tribe.

None of the talented youths from Zhizhou present harbored any doubts.

Firstly, because the young masters of various major powers in Lizhou had indeed fled en masse, mostly heading to Qiuzhou to escape the war.

Martial artists outside the state, apart from special personnel like Yin Shisan who are specifically responsible for gathering information and monitoring the world for the Hidden Gate, actually have limited knowledge of Lizhou's younger generation of masters. Below the level of Cang Li, they at most knew figures like Chen Wenwu and Yang Qingxi. Anything further, knowing even the top ten masters of Lizhou's younger generation, would be considered extensive experience.

Secondly, because Li Ling, the female companion by Li Weiyi's side, was a Pure Immortal Body and a Grand Mind-Master.

This was no small matter!

How could such a favored daughter of heaven associate with an ordinary person? To many of the talented youths present, for someone claiming to be the second most prominent figure of the Chi Li Tribe's younger generation to be paired with a sixteen-year-old Pure Immortal Body and Grand Mind-Master was still considered aiming too high.

The nine talented youths from Zhizhou present all had backgrounds in major sects or clans, with the weakest having a cultivation of the First Stage of the Five Seas Realm, yet none possessed a Pure Immortal Body.

Li Weiyi drank a cup of Clear Wind Spring, waved his hand, and said, "What 'Myriad Ancient Clan'? We've long since declined, Brother Qi. You mustn't flatter us to the point of harming us. However, the patriarchs of our various tribes and the nine high priests of the Divine Temple are all top-tier powerhouses. To think that a few Longevity Realm cultivators would be the extent of our strength, that would be greatly underestimating the Nine Li Tribe!"

All the talented youths from Zhizhou present were greatly astonished.

Li Ling secretly glared at Li Weiyi, thinking he was exaggerating.

Even she didn't know how many Longevity Realm cultivators the Nine Li Tribe truly had. Beings of that caliber, each one was a jade pillar supporting their clan's sky, possessing earth-shattering combat power that commanded awe.

She only knew that the leader of the Cang Li Tribe, her fourth uncle Li Songlin, had cultivated in the Dao Seed Realm for thirty years, and whenever the Longevity Realm was mentioned, he would sigh, saying that only upon reaching the Dao Seed Realm did he realize he was merely mediocre, deeming his life's pursuit hopeless.

Li Weiyi continued, "Even if the Myriad Ancient Clan declines, it still boasts masters as numerous as clouds. In the Southern Region, we are only second to the Zuoqiu Clan. As for Zong, the Three Chen Palaces, Tianyi Gate, including Coffin Mountain and Li Clan — they are all just clownish figures causing trouble!"

At this moment, the group was dining and drinking in an open-air area by the lake, with a wide view.

Looking towards the lake, high pavilions and cloud terraces encircled the shore, brightly lit, their reflections shimmering on the water, creating a magnificent sight.

On the circular jade platform built in the center of the lake, immortal performers invited from Immortal Forest were dancing gracefully, their movements exquisitely beautiful and captivating, with spirit flowers fluttering around them. Although they wore veils, one could still glimpse parts of their Pure Immortal Body's stunning and soul-captivating beauty.

No sooner had Li Weiyi finished speaking than a cold, deep voice drifted from a six-story vermillion pavilion next to the Cloud Pavilion. "Sir, you speak with great arrogance, daring to call the top sects and powers of the Southern Region mere clowns. I've been in Lizhou; how have I never encountered someone like you from the Nine Li Tribe?"

The voice was not loud and did not disturb the music from the flutes and strings in the various Heavenly Pavilion sections, yet it clearly reached the ears of everyone in the Cloud Pavilion.

Li Ling transmitted a message via mind power: "It's Chen Lian. What a coincidence to run into him even in Juzecheng."

Chen Lian was the third-ranked master of the younger generation from the Three Chen Palaces. In the Dragon Mountain Range, he had once led two veteran Iron-Clad Army members in pursuit of Li Weiyi and Li Ling.

Li Weiyi was greatly surprised and wondered whether Chen Lian was alone or if a large number of Three Chen Palaces' masters were also present.

Suddenly, a voice entered his ear: "Help me probe them. See how many masters from the Three Chen Palaces and Sui Sect have arrived in Juzecheng."

Li Weiyi recognized the voice. Back in the canyon of the Dragon Mountain Range, when Zen Sea Mist Gaze revealed its intentions, the owner of this voice had appeared above the canyon and dislodged boulders.

At that time, he was wearing a high-grade artifact stealth suit and was able to break through the Iron-Clad Army's encirclement, clearly a master among the Hidden Ones.

Li Weiyi glanced towards the various pavilions around the lake but could not pinpoint the direction from which the voice came. He thought to himself, "What formidable cultivation! Most likely one of the top ten among the Hidden Ones."

The gazes of all the Zhizhou talents at the table turned strange, now watching him with smiles.

Li Weiyi laughed heartily and looked towards the sixth floor of the tall pavilion nearby. "So it's Brother Chen Lian, long time no see. Although you may not remember me, Chi, I had a life-and-death friendship with your Three Chen Palaces' supreme talents, Chen Jingtang and Chen Song."

Chen Jingtang and Chen Song had both died in Buried Immortal Town, and for him to bring this up now was clearly provocative.

Chen Lian's face turned ashen. He pushed open the window and looked towards the Cloud Pavilion on the right side of the lake. "Are you truly from the Nine Li Tribe, sir? You shouldn't make such claims lightly. The war in Lizhou is raging, and both sides are now locked in a death match. If you claim to be a Nine Li Tribe martial artist, be careful, you might not leave Juzecheng alive."