Martial Arts: I Have a Wilderness World

Chapter 597: Chapter 310: Targeted (Part 2)

He was only interested in matters concerning the passage, not miscellaneous essays or amusing anecdotes. Thus, he read quite quickly.

About half an hour later, everyone in the living room woke up one by one. They looked around, a little dazed.

Su Wunian sensed the much richer Spiritual Qi and had a suspicion. He walked outside and immediately saw Cheng Zongyang reading in a pavilion. Approaching him, he asked, "Mr. Cheng, have we arrived?"

Cheng Zongyang put away his book, glanced at the crowd emerging from the living room behind Su Wunian, and nodded slightly. "This is the Ice and Fire Cultivation Immortality Realm. This house is my property, and it will serve as a temporary resting point for all of you."

The group fell into a brief silence. They looked around, their hearts filled with curiosity about this strange new world.

Su Wunian was the first to break the silence. He asked Cheng Zongyang, "Mr. Cheng, according to the rules, we can stay here for three days?"

Cheng Zongyang smiled faintly and replied, "That’s right. Now that you’re here, you’ll naturally be given three days to acclimate. The Spirit Stones you’ve borrowed aren’t many, but it should be enough for you to rent a place in Zi’an County for a while."

The Cultivation Techniques and Spirit Stones they needed had mostly been prepared back in Jade Peak Immortal City, so they didn’t need to buy techniques or borrow more Spirit Stones here.

The two Princes also walked over at this time. They looked at Su Wunian with a hint of expectation in their eyes. "Mr. Su, what should we do next?"

Su Wunian said, "Let’s stick to the established plan. First, we’ll rest here for a bit. Once everyone has adapted to the environment, we’ll decide on our next move."

The two Princes both nodded in agreement.

Hearing this, the others naturally agreed as well.

In such an unfamiliar land, having a place to rest and adjust was a welcome opportunity.

Cheng Zongyang then said, "Everyone, you’ve all read the provided materials. The first thing you need to do after leaving is go to the Sect’s service point to get your Identity Tokens. This will prevent any future trouble. As for settling down here permanently, you can think about that once you have enough Spirit Stones."

Everyone nodded.

Over the next three days, after everyone went to get their Identity Tokens, they also began to gradually adapt to the conditions and way of life in Zi’an County.

Cheng Zongyang paid no mind to the others. Instead, he took Ma Yue, Li Cungang, and Li Yihuo around the various districts of Zi’an County, explaining the situation to them.

Li Yihuo was to be in charge of business affairs here, with Li Cungang assigned as his guard.

Ma Yue, on the other hand, was to establish something like a coffin home in the County Town in order to collect the bodies of Cultivators for him.

Cheng Zongyang wasn’t in a hurry to introduce Li Yihuo to potential business partners. First, Li Yihuo needed to familiarize himself with Zi’an County.

To that end, Li Yihuo, not wanting to waste Cheng Zongyang’s time, volunteered to go look around himself, saying that having Li Cungang with him would be enough.

As for Ma Yue, he also offered to go look around on his own. He would use the opportunity to learn about the local cemeteries and funeral customs, which would help him find a suitable location for the coffin home and better understand the local rules.

After a moment’s thought, Cheng Zongyang agreed.

’Li Yihuo has his own business plans; he has his own way of observing things by exploring alone, so it’s best to let him be. Ma Yue’s reasoning is also sound. Only by integrating himself can he manage the coffin home’s affairs smoothly and without incident. Besides, it would be awkward for me to tag along; it would only make them uncomfortable.’

The number of people coming and going from the Cheng Mansion over these three days had indeed attracted some attention. Among the observers were Zhao Yonglong, who had been keeping his identity hidden, and the people who had previously been watching when Cheng Zongyang bought the Foundation Establishment Pills.

Thus, on the afternoon of the third day, just as Cheng Zongyang was preparing to look for Zhao Yonglong, the man himself showed up at his door.

At first, Cheng Zongyang didn’t recognize him. Only after the man used a Magic Technique to revert to his original appearance did he realize his visitor had been in disguise.

「The living room.」

"Fellow Daoist Zhao, I was just about to go looking for you. Have you been tailed?" Cheng Zongyang got straight to the point after the two of them sat down.

Zhao Yonglong gave a bitter smile. "Yes. My dealings with several people half a year ago naturally attracted some attention. But it’s nothing, just some minor interests involved. At most, it’s just a few Loose Cultivators watching me. I can handle it. Speaking of which, Fellow Daoist Cheng, when did you get back this time? If I hadn’t noticed so many people coming and going from the Cheng Mansion these past two days, I wouldn’t have known you’d returned."

"I got back the day before yesterday," Cheng Zongyang said. "Those people just paid me some Spirit Stones to follow me here from a few remote places. They mainly want to enter the city to pursue Cultivation Immortality. It was on my way, so I brought them along. How have the acquisitions been going these past six months?"

Hearing this, Zhao Yonglong’s expression turned into a smile, his mood clearly lifting. "I’ve acquired quite a lot. To get my hands on more, I borrowed a good number of Spirit Stones from fellow Daoists and even took out loans from some Spirit Stone Banks. I was just waiting for you to arrive. When would you like to settle up?"

Cheng Zongyang also smiled. "Fellow Daoist Zhao, you certainly have guts. There’s no time like the present. Let’s settle it now."

Hearing this, Zhao Yonglong got up, a wry smile on his face. "If you hadn’t left me those ten thousand Spirit Stones back then, I wouldn’t have dared to borrow so much from everywhere. I’ll go get the items. I’ll only need half an hour."

Cheng Zongyang nodded and saw him to the door. Watching the man’s hastily departing back, he understood the meaning behind his words. ’The ten thousand Spirit Stones I left him gave him the courage to take this gamble, betting that I wouldn’t just abandon that initial investment. I have to say, this Zhao Yonglong really knows how to seize an opportunity.’

Half an hour later, Zhao Yonglong returned in a hurry.

This time, he was carrying a large beast-hide bundle on his back. He followed Cheng Zongyang into the study, not the living room.

After activating all the Arrays, at a signal from Cheng Zongyang, Zhao Yonglong opened the beast-hide bundle, revealing dozens of Universal Storage Pouches inside.

Zhao Yonglong began sorting the Storage Pouches on the floor as Cheng Zongyang watched from the side.

A quick scan revealed no fewer than thirty Storage Pouches.

Soon, Zhao Yonglong stood up and said to Cheng Zongyang, "Fellow Daoist Cheng, as per your previous instructions, the main acquisition was Spirit Rice. This time, I’ve acquired 250,000 jin of Spirit Rice, for a total of 225,000 Spirit Stones;

"As for Exotic Beast Blood, I acquired a good amount, about 53,700 jin. There are also plenty of Exotic Beast Internal Organs from beasts slaughtered by Cultivator-ranchers, of which I bought 48,000 jin at a price of one Spirit Crystal per five jin. For the Spirit Tree Seedlings used to make Spirit Testing Paper, I purchased 7,000 of them from Spirit Plant Cultivators, at one Spirit Crystal per seedling. The price for these last two items isn’t in Spirit Stones. For Ice and Fire Spirits, I acquired 10,000 Spirit Stones’ worth."

Compared to the profit from the Spirit Rice and the Ice and Fire Spirits, the cost of the Exotic Beast Flesh and Blood and the seedlings was almost negligible. He naturally knew how to handle this.

Hearing this, Cheng Zongyang nodded. "In that case, I won’t stand on ceremony. The total comes to four Foundation Establishment Pills. I’ll give you five. For the fifth pill, just give me the remaining 25,000 in Spirit Stones. I didn’t bring any with me this time."

"Yes, yes, of course!" Zhao Yonglong said excitedly.

’Foundation Establishment Pills, just what I wanted! Selling these is a guaranteed profit. From this deal alone, I can make over ten thousand Spirit Stones!’

Cheng Zongyang moved all the Storage Pouches into the Wilderness World, then said, "Next time you come, I’ll return the pouches from last time and this time. Also, I’ll introduce you to someone."

"Introduce me to someone?" Zhao Yonglong was puzzled. "A colleague of yours?"

Cheng Zongyang shook his head slightly. "My representative. From now on, he will be your point of contact on my behalf."

Hearing this, Zhao Yonglong asked doubtfully, "Is he trustworthy?"

Cheng Zongyang nodded. "Rest assured."

"Alright!" Zhao Yonglong nodded. He then reverted to his disguised appearance, concealed his aura, and left with the Foundation Establishment Pills.

After seeing Zhao Yonglong off, Cheng Zongyang realized he’d forgotten to bring something else up. ’I should have asked him to collect Cultivator corpses. For a dozen or so Spirit Stones per body, he’d probably be more than willing.’

’But on second thought, it’s better not to. The fewer people who know about this matter, the better.’

As the third day came to a close, Su Wunian and the others came to bid farewell to Cheng Zongyang.

They had all obtained their Identity Tokens and could now rent housing in Zi’an County. Although they were restricted to the South District, they should be fine as long as they kept a low profile and stuck together.

This was an approach advocated by Su Wunian, and so the twenty-eight of them split into several small teams to work together. Cheng Zongyang had no interest in how they chose to cooperate. After saying his goodbyes, he let them go their own way.

’How they would fare from now on would depend entirely on their luck.’