99. A simple Lesson
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The Yan House...
A small but beautiful residence, usually serene, quiet and peaceful...
Was now filled with noise and laughter!
"Cheers!" Xu Min and Xu Lin clinked their cups together, while Meng Qiu bustled around like a cheerful wine fairy, replacing every empty jar with a fresh one.
"Master! This is what I trained for!" Meng Qiu beamed proudly. "We've never had this many guests before, and my siblings always tease me for never hosting a banquet!"
Apparently, Meng Qiu came from a family of highly trained and competitive professional servants!
'Good for you!' Luoyin thought, managing a polite smile.
All he had done was return to Yue City...
Why was his home suddenly filled with so many people?!
In addition to his friends, Lord Xu was present, along with nearly all the high-ranking Elders and various influential officials!
To worsen matters, their presence had drawn in sect warriors, disciples, and even a crowd of regular spectators discussing outside...
"Who is this Zhang Luoyin to attract such people?!"
"Isn't he just the one with no cultivation?"
"Wait, didn't he say at the Arena that he created all those new pills?"
"I still say that's not enough! Apart from Sect Leader Xu, who else could gather this many heavyweights??!!"
The whispering and side glances were enough to make Luoyin regret opening his doors!
"Ei?" A somewhat drunk Xu Min looked around. "Where is your uncle? Won't he celebrate your return?"
Yinying was rarely seen by anyone, so naturally no one knew he had followed Luoyin, especially since they hadn't seen him at the Tea house!
"Ah... Ehehe, he's visiting family in 'another region'!"
'Hmph. Another region of the house!'
The instant they returned to the Yan house, he had summoned Yinying back out, and Yinying had promptly abandoned him, refusing to leave the cub, whose excited cries had nearly driven Luoyin to tears!
Luoyin shook his head and downed his wine.
A little later, he found an opportunity to silently sneak off.
But before he left, his eyes darted to where Lord Xu sat with a few elders, a thin qi shield surrounding them.
'Oh?' Luoyin slipped out of sight and hid behind a wall.
The shield surrounding Lord Xu and the elders was designed to block out eavesdropping among mortals, and Luoyin could only conclude that Lord Xu was now weary of him, not wanting him to hear of approaching danger and run off again to protect them.
Unfortunately, the shield was a little too weak to shut Luoyin out...
"Sect Leader Xu, this mission is too strange!" An elder stated. "How can we send our disciples to Yu Shui City of all places?!"
"Yes!" Another put in. "How did the Wulin suddenly decide that the winning Junior Disciples of each Sect must go for this special mission?!"
"And it's Yu Shui City!" Another exclaimed, slightly drunk.
"What's wrong with Yu Shui City?" Elder Zhou asked. "I hear it's one of the most prosperous places in Baishan!"
But Lord Xu shook his head.
"Yu Shui City... No one knows what's wrong with it, and that's the problem." He explained, toying with his liquor cup. "Things look perfect on the surface, even within the city, but something feels off...
"If one tries to cultivate the so-called pure energy flowing there, it leads to disruptions in their own qi, and when forced, it might even lead to a qi deviation!
"This is why no single cultivator can be found there... It's also suspicious that it shares the same terrain with neighboring cities, yet whenever calamity befalls that region, it remains unscathed! In fact, by some coincidence, it receives some blessing or the other, be it a harvest, or trade,
or unseasonal rains..."
He paused. "Worst of all, any cultivator within the profound realm and above can't dwell in the city for more than a few days, so we know next to nothing about it."
"B- but how is that possible?! Are cultivators chased out?!"
"No..." An older elder replied. "A strange feeling overtakes you, and you just feel like you must leave, or you would surely die!"
"EI?!"
"Exactly." Lord Xu continued. "Even when we send regular people within, they never return, and upon finding them, they would be in good health, but insist they love the place and want to remain.
"If you try convincing or snatching them away, you would suddenly black out and awaken somewhere outside the City! The Wulin learned to leave it alone, as even the strongest mortals are affected as well...
"Since it hurts no one, we all suspect it might be an Immortal city, holding secrets mortals shouldn't know."
"But why do they want our disciples now?!"
"Yes! For years Yu Shui city has kept to itself, never forcing anyone into the city! Why are the Wulin suddenly involved?!"
"With just the top twelve Sects, that's sixty junior disciples, so imagine the number when all sects combine. If anything happens, isn't that too big a loss?!"
Lord Xu sighed. "We don't know what... But Sect Leader Huo advises us to comply, and he will send the Huo disciples as well.
"But we must be cautious..." He hadn't forgotten what Luoyin had told him. "From this moment forward, we can't trust Immortals or demons alike!"
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Behind the wall, Luoyin's brows were furrowed.
Yu Shui City's prosperity sounded an awful lot like the Zhang family's extreme good fortune, while the rest of the Yueyan region suffered misfortune.
But with the Zhang family, a Fortune stealing demon had been involved...
Could the two be related?
And why would the winning Junior disciples, most of whom just happened to his friends, suddenly be invited to such a strange place?
"Do you regret leaving yet?"
Luoyin was startled, nearly jumping, but he breathed a sigh of relief to find Immortal Kai.
"Master!" He exclaimed. "How could you appear like that?!" But he didn't forget to link his thumbs and bow.
"Hmph. This little thing can startle you?" His fan appeared and it swished lazily. "I came to tell you I bought an elegant manor near the outskirts. Too many have discovered we're Immortals, so we secretly moved out of the inn."
He scowled at Luoyin. "I've not stayed here for a week and I already own a house... Shouldn't you own several properties by now? Where did you keep all my training?!"
"Ahaha, Master I just didn't get a chance to tell you..." Luoyin scratched his head. "Actually..."
Luoyin already owned fifty percent of the herb garden, thirty percent of the Pill Pavillion, and three health houses near the outskirts.
Then he owned ten regular shops dealing in anything from fabrics, furs, jewelry, and accessories, to books, brushes, ink, and paper!
And he even owned a foundry and a small blacksmith shop...
"Xiaobai, you're scary! When did you purchase all those?!"
"Ehehe, signing the first deal with the Pill Pavilion reminded me that alchemy students constantly destroy or explode furnaces, so there is always demand, which led me to buy the Foundry!
"And that led to the realization that countless cultivators also needed a constant flow of low-grade weapons for training, so I bought the blacksmith shop!
"Not to mention robes, ribbons, fabrics, and accessories! Or books, brushes and ink! Those shops were purchased by Meng Qiu on my orders, and I have him inspect them at intervals to ensure each is being run properly!" He sighed.
"At the time, I wasn't done with the grievances, so there was no certainty for the future... But if I were ever to leave, Xu Weiyan would have everything she ever needs!"
"Hao! A teachable disciple indeed!" Immortal Kai applauded. "You'll be the perfect disciple if you weren't so foolish at times!"
"M- Master! Are you praising me or cursing me?!"
"Oh? Don't you think you were foolish? Didn't I ask you earlier if you regretted leaving?"
Luoyin scowled.
He indeed felt a bit foolish leaving Yue City, especially after overhearing this matter with the Yu Shui City mission.
"I... was careless!" He admitted with a nod.
"Hmmm, at least you realize your mistake." Immortal Kai said. "You allowed your fear of loss blind you...
"Did you learn nothing from Yan Liwei's case back then? Where did it lead? Didn't your friends do something similar this time? What if they ran into danger while chasing after you?"
His words hit Luoyin hard, and he indeed felt rather foolish.
In this case, the cloaked woman had likely been watching him before the tournament's final stage, and at the Arena, Weiyan, Xu Min, and the others had even jumped onto the platform to help him, despite the danger.
This meant the cloaked woman likely already identified who his friends were, and even if she didn't, his leaving Yue City meant he cared about the people here.
It wouldn't matter where he disappeared to...
If his enemies couldn't find him, they would have eventually returned to threaten his friends or the entire City, which would be more defenceless without him.
Not to mention what would have happened if they had indeed run into the cloaked woman while looking for him!
It was easy to blame oneself for being the problem.
But even if it were the case, leaving loved ones for their sake clearly wasn't always the right move to make...
Rather, he would do all in his power to block them from the approaching dangers!
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