Qingshan City was as full of the scent of the mortal world as ever.
The massive city walls were built from Azure Granite, towering into the clouds and piercing the sky.
Flying boats traversed the air above, while pavilions and towers stood in dense clusters within the city. The sounds of hawking, bargaining, and clamor blended together, converging into a torrent named desire.
Wu Yan still wore her simple, moon-white robe, her head covered by a black gauze hat.
The goal of her trip was naturally to find the “singular Wind Spiritual Charm” Mo Wentian had mentioned.
She had originally hoped this fortuitous opportunity would be located in some remote Secret Realm or a deserted wilderness. She had always preferred peace and quiet, and this bustling marketplace made her feel uneasy.
Of course, it was different for the other person.
Whoosh!
The space suddenly fluctuated, followed by a ripple of red light that surged beside Wu Yan.
The figure of the inner Wu Yan condensed right at her side.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, it’s as lively as ever.”
The inner Wu Yan walked ahead of her, glancing left and right as she offered her commentary.
One moment she touched the candied haws on a vendor’s stall, and the next she sniffed the nearby lilies, acting exactly like a child who had not been out in a long time.
Suddenly, she stopped in front of a stall selling meat skewers, nearly pressing herself against the sticks of sizzling, dripping meat. “Such low-grade spirit beast meat. You can tell it’s full of impurities just by looking at it. Little Wu Yan, do you want to buy a few skewers to try? This kind of spirit beast meat is perfect for you — “
Wu Yan ignored the slightly longing expression on the inner Wu Yan’s face and offered a cold refusal. “No unnecessary expenses.”
“Hmph, you blockhead!”
The inner Wu Yan rolled her eyes. Deciding that what the eye doesn’t see, the heart doesn’t grieve over, she simply ignored Wu Yan and began weaving through the crowd as she pleased.
With the inner Wu Yan no longer bothering her, Wu Yan finally enjoyed a moment of peace. She prepared to ask around to see if any spiritual items had appeared in Qingshan City recently.
“Eh? Spiritual items? None here.”
“A spiritual item? Of course there are! Customer, look at my stall. These are all authentic spiritual items. Do you want to buy a few?”
“We usually don’t come into contact with spiritual items. If you really want to know, you can go ask at Tianbao Pavilion. They should have first-hand information about such things.”
***
After a round of questioning, the most useful piece of information Wu Yan received was the recommendation to visit Tianbao Pavilion. Since that was the case, she had no other choice.
Wu Yan called the inner Wu Yan back to her side and began walking toward Tianbao Pavilion.
Just as she was about to cross an alleyway, a strange ripple of energy caught her attention.
‘Found it!’
Wu Yan paused.
She could feel an extremely obscure but very pure fluctuation of wind-attribute spiritual energy coming from the shadows not far ahead.
‘Hmm?‘ The inner Wu Yan, who had been bored and playing with Wu Yan’s long hair, also stopped suddenly. Her delicate nose twitched slightly, and then she suddenly became excited, her red eyes shining so brightly they almost glowed.
“Blockhead, there’s something good ahead! And there’s a good show to watch! Our luck is pretty good; maybe we can just sit back and reap the benefits — “
***
The end of Boshui Alley was an old warehouse area that had been abandoned years ago. Few people ever came here. If it weren’t for a deal, Tao’er wouldn’t have come here either.
At this moment, in the dark corner, the atmosphere had reached a breaking point.
Tao’er clutched an exquisite Storage Bag covered in yellow talismans tightly to her chest, cowering in the corner with a terrified expression.
In front of her, two cultivators dressed in black with face masks—one fat and one thin—were slowly closing in.
Both held scimitars, and a thick scent of blood drifted from their bodies. Judging by the aura they were deliberately emitting, both were demonic cultivators in the Early Golden Core Realm.
“Little girl, hand over the items in your hand, and this lord might consider leaving your corpse intact.”
The fat demonic cultivator grinned hideously, the Ghost Face Blade in his hand radiating a bone-chilling coldness.
The other demonic cultivator chimed in from the side.
“B-but, this… this is what those above us wanted…”
Tao’er’s large eyes filled with tears. Her shivering body made the two demonic cultivators even more excited.
“What does that have to do with us! Hand it over right now. If I’m in a good mood, I might even spare your life and take you home to be my slave!”
“T-that’s right! We’ll take you home to be a slave!”
The thin one was clearly the fat one’s lackey, doing nothing but echoing his words.
However, in a corner the two failed to notice, several presences that had blended into the shadows were on the verge of erupting.
These were Tao’er’s Shadow Guards.
Several days ago, Tianbao Pavilion had frequently received feedback. Buyers claimed that items they purchased from Tianbao Pavilion were stolen right after they left, and they wanted the pavilion to recover them.
Originally, Tianbao Pavilion’s business did not include such services. However, for several days in a row, anyone who finished a purchase or intended to trade with the pavilion was targeted for robbery. Rumors even began to spread that Tianbao Pavilion was the one secretly behind these attacks.
Tianbao Pavilion naturally wouldn’t allow these rumors to grow. It just so happened that they had recently observed the heavenly mechanics and discovered that a singular item was about to appear in Qingshan City. Thus, the big shots behind Tianbao Pavilion wanted to seize this opportunity to wipe out the group of bandits in one fell swoop.
The two bandits held their blades and gradually approached Tao’er. Just as the Shadow Guards were about to lose their patience and strike, Tao’er’s finger, pointed toward their direction, suddenly made a “stop” motion.
“Help! Is anyone there? I’m being robbed! Help!”
Tao’er suddenly began to scream for help at the top of her lungs, startling the two demonic cultivators.
“Shut up, you little brat! You actually dare to call for help! It looks like I can’t let you live!”
As he spoke, the fat one raised the scimitar in his hand and hacked straight toward the crown of Tao’er’s head.
‘Hmm? What does this mean? At a time like this, why is she still telling us to hold our positions?’
Just as the Shadow Guards were confused, a crescent-shaped sword arc flew in from the entrance of the alley. With a single strike, it forced the two demonic cultivators back.
Immediately after, a plain white figure appeared in front of Tao’er. Another sword strike followed, forcing the two demonic cultivators to retreat repeatedly.
“Eh, you blockhead, why are you in such a rush? If we had waited for these two to rob the girl first, and then killed them ourselves, wouldn’t that have been better? Why did you have to interfere?”
“Do not fail to do a good deed because it is small.”
A sharp whistling sound pierced the air. Wu Yan’s figure left a blurry afterimage as the Sect Longsword in her hand slashed toward the fat demonic cultivator in an instant.
“Damn woman! Mind your own business!”
The fat demonic cultivator roared, summoning a small black flag in an attempt to block Wu Yan’s strike.
At the same time, the thin demonic cultivator did not sit idly by. He raised an iron hammer and smashed it toward Wu Yan.
However, in Wu Yan’s eyes, the movements of the two were riddled with openings. She swung her sword with her right hand to break the defense of the Black Soul Banner, while pointing her left hand like a sword, striking directly at the weak point of the iron hammer.
Crash!
In the next second, the Black Soul Banner and the iron hammer shattered simultaneously.
Before the two could even panic, Wu Yan had already appeared behind them.
Her back was turned to them as she simply sheathed her sword, not even bothering to look back.
With a thud, the two felt a chill at the back of their necks as their vision went dark, and they collapsed unconscious onto the ground.