Xiuxia Town got its name from the long-standing clouds and rosy haze that linger year-round; at dawn and dusk, the glow fills the sky above the entire small town.
Located near Jiuyi Mountain, it was a lawless place, overrun by monsters and demons, abandoned for a long time.
Later, when treasures frequently appeared in Jiuyi Mountain, it gained fame, attracting countless Cultivators to seek fortune.
From then on, the once desolate town became a necessary stop for those heading into the mountain for treasure.
No one manages the place, and there are plenty of rogue Cultivators.
Occasionally, fights and scuffles break out. However, everyone comes for the treasures inside Jiuyi Mountain; with the mountain’s poisonous miasma, monsters, and bewildering formations, no one wants to make enemies before heading in.
Thus, conflicts happen, but they have yet to result in fatalities.
The real battles of life and death all take place within Jiuyi Mountain.
“Bang—crash!”
The inn’s heavy door burst apart with a crash, and two Servants tumbled with the splintered door out onto the street.
Yan Hanzhou had one foot firmly planted on the chest of a gorgeously-dressed man, pinning him mercilessly to the ground.
This man had always relied on the Segment Family’s reputation in Tianji City to act arrogant and domineering; when had he ever suffered such humiliation? With more and more Cultivators gathering and whispering around him, his face burned with shame and rage.
He suddenly raised his head, his eyes almost popping out as he glared at Yan Hanzhou, roaring hoarsely, “You dog! Are you blind? Do you know who I am? I’m from the Segment Family in Tianji City! You dare… you dare lay a hand on me?! Do you believe I’ll… ah—”
Yan Hanzhou pressed down harder with his foot, and the sound of ribs snapping was especially clear to those with sharp Spiritual Perception.
“Segment Family? Which Segment Family? Do any stray cat or dog deserve to make a scene in front of me?”
While Yan Hanzhou fought, Ning Yin took the chance to rest at a table nearby.
The Innkeeper, who’d been hiding off to the side, personally brought her a pot of tea and filled her cup to the brim, his face mournful as he pleaded, “Immortal Master, please, spare my humble inn. Those are people from the Segment Family in Tianji City! If you injure them in my inn, I can’t bear the consequences!”
Ning Yin drank her water in silence.
“Please, Immortal Master, if you really hurt him, the Segment Family of Tianji City won’t let you go. We’re all here for the treasures in Jiuyi Mountain. Why make a deadly enemy before entering the mountain, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Innkeeper, I know it’s not easy for anyone these days, but let’s get things straight: it wasn’t us looking for trouble. He doesn’t understand the order of first-come, first-served, insisting on snatching my room. If he’s already grabbing rooms before entering the mountain, won’t he be snatching our Magic Treasure once we’re inside?”
The Innkeeper was drenched in sweat. “Yes, yes, but he’s had his lesson now. Let’s just drop it. If this ruckus goes on, I fear my inn’s business—”
Time to let things go.
Ning Yin gave Yan Hanzhou a look.
Yan Hanzhou silently gathered strength beneath his foot.
The Duan Family Young Master, who’d been ranting about tearing Yan Hanzhou to pieces, suddenly bulged his eyes, his curses caught in his throat, then spat out a mouthful of blood with a “puh,” his eyes rolling back as he passed out cold.
Expressionless, Yan Hanzhou moved his leg away.
The two badly-injured Servants outside scrambled back in, dragging away their unconscious master in panic, not forgetting to cast fearful glances at Yan Hanzhou and Ning Yin before fleeing.
Ning Yin smiled at the ashen-faced Innkeeper. “Innkeeper, now that they’ve run off, you can finally take us to the best room, right? Don’t worry. If the Segment Family comes looking for trouble, just tell them the truth and pin it on us.”
The Innkeeper stared at the Segment Family’s battered retreat, sighed worriedly, and finally, trembling, led the two of them upstairs.
As the door barely closed, Ning Yin’s forced composure faded away, and her body staggered forward. Yan Hanzhou, clearly expecting this, quickly reached out to steady her. “Are you all right?”
Ning Yin shook her head.
Yan Hanzhou helped her onto the bed and started channeling energy to heal her wounds.
A blow from a Great Ascension expert is not something a Foundation Establishment could withstand. Ning Yin only survived because Yan Hanzhou had, at the last moment, shouldered the brunt of the destructive force himself.
Even so, she was still seriously injured by the aftershock.
Yan Hanzhou’s palm glowed faintly as a surge of Soul Power quietly entered Ning Yin’s body, coursing through her shattered meridians and the brink-of-collapse Essence Field and Spirit Sea.
Wherever it passed, broken meridians were forcefully mended, the damaged Essence Field repaired and stabilized, working irresistibly on every minute wound.
As the wounds quickly healed, Ning Yin’s last bit of strength gave out, her body going limp as she fell back, completely drained.
Yan Hanzhou placed two fingers on her life gate, his Spiritual Perception sweeping her body, making a full circuit.
Confirming that her injured meridians and Spirit Sea had been consolidated and her turbulent aura calmed, he finally withdrew his hand, lifted Ning Yin onto the bed, tucked her in, and then sat cross-legged by the bed, his immense spiritual sense quietly spreading out like a web over the entire inn.
Who knows how much time passed before Yan Hanzhou opened his eyes.
A knock came at the door.
He glanced at Ning Yin, still fast asleep, and got up to open it.
Outside stood an Attendant with a tray of appetizing dishes, bowing deeply with his head down, and spoke in a low voice, “Imm… Immortal Master, this is a late-night snack sent by the Innkeeper, to… to apologize to you.”
He moved to hand over the food.
The next moment, his right hand was caught in an inescapable grip.
Pain shot up his wrist as a dagger slipped from his sleeve, but Yan Hanzhou caught it soundlessly.
“Shh!” Yan Hanzhou signaled him to be quiet.
The Attendant never got the chance to scream before Yan Hanzhou shattered his throat with a palm, sending him to the ground, lifeless.
Glancing once at Ning Yin, still fast asleep on the bed, Yan Hanzhou quietly shut the door.
Night fell deep as ink. The once bustling town was now utterly silent, broken only by an occasional sharp, mournful cry from the distance—each one quickly swallowed up by the deeper hush.
That night, Ning Yin slept especially soundly.
The next morning, the sky was ablaze with rosy clouds.
Thanks to Yan Hanzhou’s healing the night before, Ning Yin’s wounds had improved greatly.
She looked much better than the day before and moved freely without hindrance. She was surprised to find that such severe injuries had completely healed overnight.
Not only that, even the sword scar on her right arm from Yu Lingyi had vanished without a trace.
Ning Yin, feeling fully revived, was about to head downstairs when Yan Hanzhou came in.
“Yan Hanzhou, look, I’m all better! I feel like I could take on ten people by myself! When are we heading into the mountain?”
Yan Hanzhou glanced her over, lively and energetic. “Looks like you really are better. But there’s no rush to go in. Recently, the miasma in Jiuyi Mountain has thickened again. We can wait until it disperses a bit.”
Ning Yin frowned. “So when can we go in?”
“Maybe two or three days—could be five. Hard to say.”
“So long…” Suddenly, Ning Yin’s eyes lit up.
“Great! We can explore Xiuxia Town these next few days. I’ve been cooped up in the Soaring Cloud Sect for so long I almost went mad. I want to eat, I want chicken, duck, fish, and meat, I want to try every dish this inn has!”
Although Cultivators after Foundation Establishment no longer need to eat, eating is a kind of desire.
In the past month, Ning Yin hadn’t tasted any of the sour, sweet, bitter, or spicy.
Every time she thought of fried chicken, cola, and crayfish, her mouth watered.
She immediately dashed downstairs, ordering the Innkeeper to serve every delicacy, oblivious to the wary and evasive glances cast at her and Yan Hanzhou by the Innkeeper and Attendants.
The Innkeeper didn’t dare delay and ordered the kitchen to prepare a lavish meal for Ning Yin.
Ning Yin ate heartily, then noticed Yan Hanzhou hadn’t touched his chopsticks. “Aren’t you eating?”
Yan Hanzhou glanced at the table of delicacies. “These don’t interest me.”
Food and lust, such is human nature.
Life is inseparable from these two matters. But in this world of Immortals, the highest realm of cultivation is to forsake both eating and carnal desire—to become truly selfless and bring benefit to the world.
Sometimes, seeing Yan Hanzhou’s indifferent aura, Ning Yin suspected he had already reached the pinnacle of cultivation, different from mere mortals like her.
After the meal, the Innkeeper eagerly poured a pot of tea and said with a smile, “The miasma in Jiuyi Mountain has thickened again recently, so it’s not a good time to enter. Since you Immortal Masters are idle, why not go out for a stroll? There’s a marketplace at the end of this street to the right—sells all kinds of things, it’s very lively.”
Satisfied, Ning Yin gazed out at the bustling street and was suddenly drawn to the inn’s damaged door.
She turned to the Innkeeper. “Innkeeper, we smashed your door in yesterday during the fight. Is one Supreme Spirit Stone enough for repairs?”
She took a Supreme Spirit Stone from the Cangming Ring.
Ning Yin thought, since they’d need to stay a few more days, it would be best to get on good terms with the Innkeeper.
Besides, they’d broken the door—it was only right to pay.
But the Innkeeper looked terrified, sneaking a glance at Yan Hanzhou, and hastily declined. “No, no, no, it’s just a broken door, hardly worth a Supreme Spirit Stone! Please don’t mention it, Immortal Master. I was at fault yesterday, too. Let’s not discuss compensation.”
Yan Hanzhou was already getting up. “Let’s go.”
Since the Innkeeper insisted, Ning Yin didn’t push it, pocketed the spirit stone, and walked out.
Once Yan Hanzhou and Ning Yin left the inn, the Innkeeper finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The Innkeeper was right; turning right at the end of the street brought them to the bustling marketplace, where Cultivators from all over the Nine Provinces gathered.
Stalls lined both sides of the street; the more particular vendors set up tables, while others simply spread a black cloth on the ground.
Shouts, bargaining, and arguments filled the air.
“Miss, look at this treasure I found just a few days ago in Jiuyi Mountain! Lingxiao Immortal Lord’s Life Preservation Jade Talisman! With this talisman, even a Great Perfection Stage expert can’t harm you!”
“Miss! Look at this hairpin! Don’t underestimate it—it’s a Xuan-rank Magical Weapon, the only one in all Nine Provinces! If you like it, I’ll give you a deal—fifty Supreme Spirit Stones!”
“Fellow Daoist, see this Fixing Soul Pearl? If your Spiritual Perception is unstable, wear it for an hour a day and after a hundred days, your spirit will be rock solid, your cultivation will soar! Back in the day, Lingxiao Immortal Lord wore this very pearl to break through to Great Ascension and soar to immortality!”
“Miss, do you like the Nishang Feathered Garment? A thousand years ago, Lingxiao Immortal Lord had it custom-made for his fiancée—it’s impervious to water and fire. Only one hundred Supreme Spirit Stones!”
Walking through the marketplace, Ning Yin quickly realized that every stall was using Lingxiao Immortal Lord’s name as a selling point, boasting grandly regardless of where their wares came from or what they actually did.
With Lingxiao Immortal Lord having long since ascended, who could challenge their claims?
She looked at Yan Hanzhou beside her and whispered, “Are there any real bargains in this marketplace?”
Yan Hanzhou shook his head.
“Figures. If anyone really found a Magic Treasure in Jiuyi Mountain, they’d keep it for themselves, not sell it at a stall.”
She’d thought there might be a rare treasure or two, but after walking through, she realized the whole marketplace was filled with swindlers and fakes, not a single good item among them.
Just as they were about to leave, a rusted sword—looking like nothing but scrap iron—caught Yan Hanzhou’s eye in a corner stall.
He walked over, picked it up, and examined it.
The stall owner, long without customers, was delighted to see two suckers eyeing his rusty sword.
Ning Yin leaned over for a closer look.
“Oh, it’s you two!”
Ning Yin asked curiously, “You know us?”
“You crippled the Segment Family’s young master yesterday; who in Xiuxia Town doesn’t know you two now?” The stall owner chuckled, his gaze falling on the Cangming Ring on Ning Yin’s finger.
“Girl, you’d better hide that ring. Waves of people came for you last night—wasn’t that troublesome?”
“Last night? No, not at all.”
The stall owner didn’t explain, giving her a knowing look, and then lowered his voice to introduce the rusty sword, “Fellow Daoist, you have good eyes! Of all my wares, this is the real treasure. Don’t be fooled by the rust—it’s a Heaven-grade Magic Treasure I found in Jiuyi Mountain!”
Ning Yin played along, “Heaven-grade Magic Treasure? Wow~”
“If it were an ordinary Heaven-grade Magic Treasure, fine. But do you know whose Life-bound Sword this was?”
Ning Yin chimed in, “Whose? Hard to guess!”
The stall owner glanced around, lowering his voice mysteriously, “Know Lingxiao Immortal Lord? He was always alone, and this sword was his only companion. This is none other than Lingxiao Immortal Lord’s Life-bound Sword from a thousand years ago!”
Ning Yin nearly rolled her eyes, but kept her manners and acted surprised, “Lingxiao Immortal Lord’s Life-bound Sword? You found it? Such luck! If it’s so incredible, why are you selling it?”
“I just want to find it a fated owner, that’s all.”
“And you want this ‘fated owner’ to pay one hundred Supreme Spirit Stones?”
The stall owner hesitated, then raised five fingers. “Fifty! Fifty Supreme Spirit Stones!”
Ning Yin smiled slightly, but her smile dropped in the next instant. “No way! Fifty for a rusty sword? Do you take me for a fool? If it’s that good, keep it for yourself!”
She turned to go, only to see Yan Hanzhou rooted to the spot, gently wiping the mottled blade as if greeting an old friend.
Seeing this, Ning Yin immediately understood.
“Don’t go, don’t go! How about this—your companion clearly likes Lingxiao Immortal Lord’s Life-bound Sword, so let’s call it fate. Twenty Supreme Spirit Stones, no less!”
“So expensive, twenty…” Ning Yin looked troubled, mumbling as if weighing her options. At last, she sighed, “Fine, twenty it is.”
“I tell you, if it weren’t for my husband not having a good weapon, I wouldn’t buy this. Twenty Supreme Spirit Stones is a steal for you!”
She swiftly took twenty Supreme Spirit Stones from the Cangming Ring, piled them on the stall, grabbed Yan Hanzhou, and hurried away. “Let’s go, let’s go! Move!”
The stall owner stared at the pile of spirit stones, then at the departing couple, then at the rusty sword that hadn’t sold for over a year.
Before the joy had even settled in his heart, a wave of regret and panic swept over him. He shouted, “Wait!”
“Wait! Wait!”
He chased after them, eyeing the sword in Yan Hanzhou’s hand, “Wait! Something’s wrong! This isn’t right”
“You said we were fated buyers, didn’t you? We paid, you sold. Twenty spirit stones for the sword, deal’s done—what’s wrong with that?”
His instincts screamed that something was very wrong.
The stall owner pointed at the sword in Yan Hanzhou’s hand. “That sword—for twenty Supreme Spirit Stones? You took it?”
“The spirit stones are paid. Want to go back on your word?”
The stall owner confirmed again, “Twenty?”
“I have plenty of spirit stones.”
“Twenty!”
“So?”
“No, I’m not selling!” The stall owner lunged to snatch it back.
Yan Hanzhou’s hand paused mid-wipe. With a shing, the ancient sword—silent for a thousand years—slid from its scabbard, its dim blade reflecting the cold killing intent in his eyes.
“You’re not selling?”
“Say that again.”
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