Chapter 98, Tassel City

Life had been peaceful for Lu Ye as he focused on healing his wounds and cultivating. With the consumption of Spirit Pills and the help of Gathering Spirits, he could unlock a Spiritual Point much quicker than he thought. If he did it wholeheartedly, it would only take him two days to unlock a new one. 

This was indeed incredibly efficient. Moreover, an auxiliary cultivation technique like Gluttonous Feast was also immensely useful for him.

Hua Ci would still pay him a visit every night. Under her meticulous care, Lu Ye’s injuries recovered quickly. Sometimes, they would have a chat. Interestingly, he had learned some useful information through her. The station of Nine Star Clan that was 200 kilometers away had been destroyed by Mystic Sect.

It was easy for information to be spread around among cultivators. With the Battlefield Imprint in possession, they could add each other as friends. As long as they were in the same space, they could easily share information. This piece of news caught the attention of many people mainly because, of the two great forces, Nine Star Clan was of a higher Rank.

It wasn’t easy to invade the station of a great force because every station was protected by a Grand Array. Without breaking the array first, the invaders couldn’t storm into the station. Even if the array was broken, they might not even succeed because the cultivators in the station were not ornaments. The invasion of a station rarely happened in the Outer Circle as all great forces were of a low Rank, and their cultivators were relatively weak. Telling these weak cultivators to shatter a Grand Array was unreasonable.

The reason those from Mystic Sect succeeded was that they had used an immensely powerful talisman paper that was exclusively used for breaking an array. Hence, those from Nine Star Clan suffered immeasurable losses. Many of their disciples were killed, and all the treasures in the station were taken away. After those from Mystic Sect left, they even burned the station down.

Upon learning the news, Lu Ye wasn’t surprised. Since those from Mystic Sect had the guts to make a move, they must have the confidence to achieve their goal. At that, he was gleeful. His injuries were all caused by Dong Shu Ye. Now that the station of Nine Star Clan was destroyed, he could also get the fury off his chest. It was a shame that he couldn’t take part in it.

However, judging from what Hua Ci had said, invading a station was different from what he imagined. He thought that after those from Mystic Sect occupied the station, it would become their territory, but it wasn’t the case. They had only killed the disciples of Nine Star Clan and snatched their resources. Then, they burned the place down and left.

It was just like how those from Grand Sky Coalition had done it after occupying Evil Moon Valley. After invading the valley, they didn’t stay there for a long time as they left the place quickly. That was because the valley was considered a territory of Thousand Demon Ridge. If they stayed there for too long, they would be besieged by those from Thousand Demon Ridge.

It was the same case on this battlefield. Nine Star Clan must have other allies. If those from Mystic Sect remained in the station, they would be attacked by other great forces. That was the reason they hurriedly fled the place after grabbing all the treasures.

Hua Ci said that those from Mystic Sect had gained some considerable benefits for invading Nine Star Clan’s station. Besides the resources, there were also more important benefits. She explained that when the next evaluation of great forces took place, Mystic Sect would certainly ascend to the Eighth-Rank. On the other hand, Nine Star Clan would drop to the Ninth-Rank. It was unlikely that Mystic Sect could reach a higher rank by just snatching some resources. It wasn’t appropriate for Lu Ye to ask about it, so he could only listen to her.

She seemed to believe that he was a disciple from a top great force. It wasn’t certain how this misunderstanding came about. Perhaps it was because he had been generous with his pills. Nevertheless, if he was really a disciple from a ‘top great force’, it was impossible that he wasn’t even aware of such common knowledge.

Tassel City was one of the neighboring cities, which was just like the ones Lu Ye had visited. There wasn’t a uniform architectural style as the buildings were a mixture of different styles from Jiu Zhou. The biggest building in this town was the branch of the Divine Trade Association.

Lu Ye was a regular customer of this association. After tagging along Hua Ci and the others to this town, he headed straight to this place. That was because he didn’t have many pills left.

After half a month of recuperation, he had given over 100 pills to Hua Ci, which allowed this unconscientious woman to become wealthy. Additionally, he needed the pills to cultivate. Initially, he had over 300 pills, but half of them were gone now. Presently, he had unlocked up to 35th Spiritual Point, but his remaining pills were not enough to help him ascend to the Fourth-Order.

Certainly, he could rely on Gathering Spirits to slowly improve himself. Nevertheless, to him, Gathering Spirits was just an auxiliary method. He mainly cultivated through the consumption of Spirit Pills. It was like once a person was used to eating delicate food, he would lose interest in plain food.

The interior design of this branch of the Divine Trade Association was about the same as the one he had visited previously. Following a maidservant, he stepped into a room and waited patiently. Just like what he had done in the past, he gulped down a few bottles of Spirit Tea. This time, it was a well-mannered male cultivator in his thirties who made a deal with him.

Lu Ye decided to sell four Yuan Metal ores. After that, he only had six ores left. Then, he decided to deal with the Storage Bags he had obtained from the Young Master of Nine Star Clan and three of his subordinates. These four bags had been with him for quite some time. He didn’t care about three of the bags as they probably didn’t contain any good stuff. Therefore, he sold them all to the association and received 15 Spirit Stones.

In the past, he had sold some Storage Bags, which were basically worthless. That was because one had to bear the risk to unlock a bag. Most low rank cultivators didn’t have any treasures with them, so the buyer from the association would only offer 5 stones for one bag. Certainly, one could also choose to ask someone from the association to help lift the restriction of the bag. It depended on the person’s luck whether he could obtain anything useful. If he was lucky, he would be rewarded handsomely. If he was unlucky, he would suffer a huge loss.

As for the Young Master’s bag, there was no way Lu Ye would sell it for a dirt cheap price. That guy must possess some good stuff. After he made such a request, those from the association directly agreed to it. They wouldn’t care where their customers got the bags from. Their service could be purchased with a fee.

In Spirit Creek Battlefield, the Divine Trade Association was a unique presence as it didn’t belong to any side. 

The manager of the association brought Lu Ye to a secret room and introduced him to an old cultivator before leaving the place. The old cultivator was an expert in unlocking Restraining Locks as he was one of the best in his trade. There was a job title for these people in the cultivation world. They were called locksmiths.

Lu Ye fished out the Storage Bag of the Young Master from Nine Star Clan. The old cultivator examined it for a moment and offered a price. After making the payment, Lu Ye waited patiently.

One hour later, a glint flashed across the old cultivator’s hands, whereupon he passed the bag back to him. “It’s done.”

Without intending to take a look inside the bag, Lu Ye took it and then fished out the bell-shaped artifact before saying, “Sir, please help me unlock this as well.”