Chapter 64 - 41: The Domineering Shouyi Temple

Chapter 64: Chapter 41: The Domineering Shouyi Temple

In Baoguang Temple.

In front of the Refining Furnace Shop, Li Yinsheng pulled Mu Xiaoyu along as they mingled into the crowd of people blocking the entrance and shouting curses. After listening in the crowd for a while, he finally got the gist of the situation.

Although Zulu Temple’s shop displayed many magical artifacts available for immediate purchase, most were lower-grade or completely unranked. While there were some middle-grade magical artifacts for sale, they were few and far between. For one, there simply weren’t many cultivators who could afford middle-grade magical artifacts. Secondly, magical artifacts of the middle grade could often be customized to a certain extent.

After all, a good magical artifact would often accompany a cultivator for many years, sometimes even for a lifetime. If one casually bought a magical artifact that was somewhat incompatible with themselves, they would suffer for a long time. Therefore, when cultivators purchased magical artifacts, they naturally sought perfection. Compared to buying a finished product, a customized one was definitely more suitable. Even though it would inevitably be more expensive and require a waiting period, it was still better than buying an unsuitable magical artifact.

The reason these people were blocking the entrance of the Refining Furnace Shop and cursing was that they had been strung along regarding the forging of their magical artifacts. Most of them had customized middle-grade magical artifacts at Zulu Temple’s shop a long time ago, but they still hadn’t received their goods. The majority had already visited multiple times, only to be fobbed off with excuses each time, which naturally made them furious.

What made matters worse was that not all cultivators who customized middle-grade magical artifacts were left empty-handed. If everyone failed to get their goods, it would feel a bit fairer. However, according to these people, many cultivators who placed orders at Zulu Temple had happily carried their magical artifacts home after half a month to three months without any issues. Yet, for this particular group, many had their orders delayed for half a year, a year, or even two to three years.

Cultivators capable of customizing middle-grade magical artifacts would not have poor cultivation. Through his perception, Li Yinsheng sensed that most of these people possessed around thirty to forty years of cultivation. It was no wonder the shop’s staff didn’t dare talk back while being cursed at; they merely kept the doors shut and played deaf. The shouting cultivators outside were already showing great restraint. If they were truly enraged, Zulu Temple’s shop would be smashed to smithereens in the blink of an eye.

However, Li Yinsheng was indeed curious about why some people received their magical artifacts while others did not. He wondered if they were purposefully discriminating against certain customers. But compared to this matter, Li Yinsheng was more concerned about his own shopping. There was a magical artifact in Zulu Temple that he wanted to buy for his junior sister, which tied into the matter he had considered yesterday about adding to her daily schedule.

Looking at the current situation, he didn’t know if Zulu Temple would even open its doors today. Should he go check out other shops selling magical artifacts?

Just as he was pondering, the wooden doors opened from the inside.

The female shopkeeper who had attended to him last time and even given him a discount walked out with an awkward expression, cupping her hands in a respectful greeting to the indignant cultivators. Seeing someone come out to handle the situation, the cultivators cursed even louder.

However, this female shopkeeper was quite capable. Braving the cultivators’ reprimands, she persuaded and pacified them one by one, promising that all the delayed magical artifacts would definitely be handed over to them before the end of the year. She also took the opportunity to promise future discounts to a few cultivators who had been delayed the longest, finally managing to disperse the crowd.

Considering that the female shopkeeper had given him a discount before and that he still needed to buy something later, Li Yinsheng conveniently did her a small favor. Among the troublemaking cultivators, there was one over forty years old with relatively high cultivation. At first, his words were merely aggressive, which was understandable given his situation. But later, seeing that the female shopkeeper was quite attractive, his tone gradually skewed, clearly carrying a hint of harassment. Eventually, he even started spewing obscenities. Bound by the need to soothe everyone’s emotions, the female shopkeeper could only endure it.

Li Yinsheng gave the man a slight warning, reminding him that seeking justice was fine, but using it as an excuse to spout insolence was not. Fortunately, the man was tactful. After Li Yinsheng revealed a fraction of his aura to warn him, he behaved much better.

When she saw Li Yinsheng wearing a conical hat and stepping in to bail her out, the female shopkeeper’s exhausted eyes clearly brightened. Although Li Yinsheng had changed into a different magical robe and was no longer wearing his previous attire, his conical hat remained the same, and he had Junior Sister Mu by his side. With such obvious characteristics, she naturally recognized him.

Once the crowd dispersed, the female shopkeeper immediately bowed deeply to Li Yinsheng. "Thank you for your help, Senior."

"It was just a small effort," Li Yinsheng said with a smile. "I came to buy some magical artifacts anyway, but I didn’t expect to run into this."

"I’ve made a fool of myself in front of you, Senior," the female shopkeeper replied with a bitter smile, leading Li Yinsheng into the shop. "Please, let’s talk inside."

Li Yinsheng led Mu Xiaoyu inside and sat down in the inner hall.

The female shopkeeper ordered someone to bring a pot of fragrant tea and a few plates of delicate pastries.

Mu Xiaoyu’s gaze was instantly drawn to the pastries. She stuffed them into her mouth one after another without stopping.

"May I ask what Senior wishes to buy?" the female shopkeeper asked seriously.

She was very clear that despite the massive commotion outside just now, even the one with the highest cultivation among those people was probably not a match for the young man wearing the conical hat in front of her. Although Zulu Temple strictly forbade probing into a customer’s background—leaving her unsure of exactly which Daoist temple he hailed from or what his identity was—his cultivation and age alone meant he had to be treated with utmost respect. Not to mention, he had just helped her. Plus, he was incredibly handsome.

"No rush, no rush," Li Yinsheng said, picking up his tea. "Shopkeeper, why have the magical artifacts of those cultivators outside been delayed for so long?

"Even when you were pacifying them, you were beating around the bush, refusing to give a clear answer as to why the delivery of their magical artifacts has been delayed time and time again."

Li Yinsheng voiced his doubts. He didn’t expect the shopkeeper to definitely answer him, but there was no harm in asking. If the female shopkeeper said it was inconvenient to answer or tried to fob him off, he wouldn’t press the issue.

However, he didn’t expect that after biting her lip and pondering for a moment, the female shopkeeper actually answered him.

"Logically, I shouldn’t be speaking carelessly about this matter. But since you just helped me, Senior, it would make me seem ignorant of etiquette if I were to hide it from you. For those cultivators outside, their magical artifacts are actually ninety-nine percent finished. They are just stuck on the very last step," the female shopkeeper explained with a sigh. "Because they are missing this final step to be completed, we have been unable to deliver the goods."

"Which step is missing?" Li Yinsheng asked curiously.

"This final step involves using upper-grade cinnabar, refined through a secret technique, to dot a spirit pattern onto the magical artifact," the female shopkeeper said. "Not all magical artifacts require this step, so the others can be delivered normally."

"Why are they stuck on this step?" Li Yinsheng was completely baffled.

"Because we don’t have any cinnabar left to dot the spirit patterns." The female shopkeeper smiled bitterly and shook her head.

"You must be joking, Shopkeeper," Li Yinsheng said, somewhat disbelieving. "Although upper-grade cinnabar is rare and not cheap, how could a grand establishment like Zulu Temple fail to procure even a little bit for so long?"

"The temple naturally has upper-grade cinnabar, but there is never quite enough. In the past six months, we’ve been stretched even thinner, so most of it has been supplied for the refinement of upper-grade magical artifacts. Not much is left for middle-grade magical artifacts," the female shopkeeper said helplessly.

Li Yinsheng was even more surprised. "A grand establishment like Zulu Temple can actually be stumped by some upper-grade cinnabar?"

"You don’t know, Senior?" The female shopkeeper was also a bit surprised. "Among all the Daoist temples under the Zhengyang Dharma Vein, except for Shouyi Temple, there isn’t a single one that doesn’t suffer headaches over upper-grade cinnabar."

"Who said that? Our Xuanzhen Temple has never had a headache over upper-grade cinnabar!" Li Yinsheng thought to himself.

"Since upper-grade cinnabar is so rare, why is Shouyi Temple an exception?" he asked.

"Naturally, it’s because Shouyi Temple monopolizes all the upper-grade cinnabar. Any Daoist temple has to buy from them, and can only buy from them," the female shopkeeper said, clearly gnashing her teeth.

"Does the Dharma Vein not care?" Li Yinsheng asked.

"The Dharma Vein turns a blind eye to this. After all... it’s said that Shouyi Temple has quite a strong backer within the Dharma Vein," the female shopkeeper said, shaking her head.

"Shouyi Temple runs rampant among the Daoist temples, taking advantage of everything." She sighed. "It’s precisely because Zulu Temple has been unwilling to be exploited by Shouyi Temple over the past two years that we’ve been targeted by them, making our upper-grade cinnabar increasingly scarce."

"That is indeed tyrannical..." Li Yinsheng couldn’t help but sigh in realization.

He was certainly no stranger to Shouyi Temple. Previously, the ones who spread the word that they had "reserved" Xuanzhen Peak’s spirit vein were from Shouyi Temple. As the person involved, he naturally knew about it.

He just hadn’t expected Shouyi Temple to be even more powerful and tyrannical than he had anticipated.

Zulu Temple was already highly capable among the many Daoist temples, yet when the female shopkeeper mentioned Shouyi Temple, she actually claimed that Zulu Temple was being exploited by them.

From this, it seemed that Shouyi Temple truly deserved its title as the number one great Daoist temple under the Zhengyang Dharma Vein.

Unfortunately, they just lacked a bit of morals.

Afterwards, the female shopkeeper also told him that the cultivator who had caused a scene at the door and spoken insolently to her earlier—despite not wearing Shouyi Temple’s Daoist robe—was indeed a cultivator from Shouyi Temple. She had some impression of him.

She didn’t know if the other party was simply frivolous and rude by nature, or if he had come with malicious intent to deliberately pick a fight.