Chapter 361: Senior Brother, Carry On the Name of Xiao Liu
June’s midsummer, a season of scorching heat and heavy rain, saw dark clouds gathering unmoving over the mountains north of the Western Regions. Mist permeated the wilderness, and cultivators traveling through wore either rain capes or carried oil-paper umbrellas.
However, after crossing the mountain range and continuing north for several days, the sky-splitting, all-encompassing rain clouds gradually dispersed. In their place came a sharp drop in temperature, followed by a breathtaking sight: snow in June.
Dark clouds of snow loomed over the vast snowy plains of the southwestern Northern Region. A flying boat carrying two people and a bird skimmed the ground, passing through a small path in the snow forest like a phantom. The demonic beasts waiting for prey within the forest hadn’t even caught a glimpse of anything before it vanished into the distance.
On the flying boat, Ye Anping, clad in a black velvet jacket, carried the Snow Jade Myriad Spirit Sword, which was wrapped in bandages, on his back. His gaze was fixed ahead as he focused on piloting the flying boat beneath him.
The Snow Jade Myriad Spirit Sword, forged from a thousand-year-old profound ice of the Northern Region, felt right at home in its homeland. Ye Anping, therefore, did not store it in his storage bag. Instead, he kept it on his back, allowing it to fully absorb the frigid spiritual energy of the Northern Region’s frozen soil. This also served to make Li Longling more comfortable.
Li Longling, who was born on the Blazing Sky Spiritual Vein of Chi Long Mansion, had never even seen snow before. Upon arriving in the Northern Region, she found herself wearing more and more clothes. The more than ten thick outfits she had packed were now all on her body.
Wrapped up like a snow person, Li Longling held her Fire Phoenix and could no longer bear it. She asked, “Young Master Ye… Young Master Ye, is the Northern Region really this cold… Ha—Hajiu—” After a cute little sneeze, the cold spiritual energy in the air instantly froze into an icicle, sticking to the tip of her nose.
Ye Anping glanced back at her. Seeing her state, he couldn’t help but want to laugh. After a moment of thought, he walked up to her and picked her up. He then sat down cross-legged, allowing her to sit on his lap and using his spiritual energy to shield her from the snow and cold.
“?!”
Normally, Li Longling’s Fire Phoenix would have immediately tried to scratch his eyes out for doing this. But now, the Fire Phoenix seemed too cold even to manage that.
“Mistress Li, approximately tens of thousands of years ago, a Profound Ice Cold Tiger died here. Its shed cicada shell condensed into a spiritual vein beneath the Northern Region, continuously emitting cold spiritual energy, causing the land within a thousand li of the Northern Region to be frozen year-round. If you do not use spiritual energy to protect yourself, merely adding clothes is useless.”
“Spiritual energy… Do I have to use spiritual energy to protect myself all the time?”
“Yes.”
Li Longling, who had never understood this before, was slightly surprised and asked, “Then what about newborn children? They can’t possibly…”
“They stay indoors until they learn to protect themselves with spiritual energy before they are allowed to leave the house.”
As Ye Anping spoke, he felt a strange sense of nostalgia. The training method he and Pei Lianxue endured in their youth was adopted from the cultivators of the Northern Region. He said, “Although childhood is not peaceful, as the saying goes, ‘different lands produce different people.’ When comparing cultivators of the same realm, the spiritual energy sea of Northern Region cultivators is generally more vast and abundant than that of cultivators in other immortal regions, and their tolerance for ice and cold spiritual energy is also quite formidable.”
“What about mortals? Wouldn’t mortals then…”
“There are no mortals in the Northern Region. This place is a death trap for mortals. As for those born without spiritual roots…” Ye Anping shook his head slightly, his actions indicating the fate of those without spiritual roots in this place.
“I see…” Li Longling also felt a sense of helplessness for this, but strangely, she marveled at how the Empress of Hantian Kingdom managed to establish a country in such a place. She had heard her father mention before that the Empress of Hantian Kingdom, Sun Juehu, was a mighty cultivator second only to Dan, the Exalted Immortal in his eyes. It seemed that as the Mansion Mistress of Chi Long Mansion, she still had a long way to go.
Li Longling mused internally for a short while before suddenly regretting her excessive layering of clothes. Ye Anping was holding her now, and with so many clothes, even with her keen senses, she couldn’t feel Ye Anping’s body heat or heartbeat at all…
“Mistress Li.”
“Ah… yes?”
“We will arrive at Linghe Immortal City shortly. After that, I will need you to handle a few matters, and then our roles will need to be switched.”
“Yes, Young Master Ye, please explain. And…” Li Longling pursed her lips and added, “Just Longling is fine. Mistress Li sounds too distant.”
Ye Anping looked down at her, let out a sigh of mild helplessness, and said, “Longling, I need to borrow your identity as the Mansion Mistress of Chi Long Mansion. Would that be alright…”
“Yes, Young Master Ye. If you need anything from me, just take it. You don’t need my permission.” Li Longling pondered for a moment, then added as if joking, “Even if Young Master Ye wanted my body, it’s yours.”
?
These were words Xiao Yunluo would say, weren’t they? Ye Anping was stunned for a moment and then asked with a smile, “Really? I’ll take you at your word.”
Li Longling froze. She had learned these words from a book Xiao Yunluo had given her. In the book, after a woman said this, the man became shy, and their feelings gradually deepened… Why wasn’t it like the book said…
“… …”
“Just kidding.” Ye Anping shook his head and said, “Let’s get back to business. We need to visit a few ‘shops’ in Linghe Immortal City shortly. Afterwards, when you enter the shop, tell the shopkeeper…”
… …
—
Upon the vast snowy plains, a magnificent city stood atop the peaks of the mountains, like a lighthouse on land, guiding the way for caravans. Linghe Immortal City was a mandatory stop for cultivators from the Western Regions traveling to the Northern Region. Many cultivators doing business in the northwest regions would rest and recuperate here. However, this also meant that the city was rife with complex criminal elements.
In the western part of the city, within a shop selling Fire Stone Pills, the shopkeeper, who was over fifty years old, was reading the contents of a jade slip with his spiritual sense. This jade slip was a “manifest” from the black market. In other words, it was a list of goods from black markets in other immortal regions. He operated a black market shop in the Northern Region. Sometimes, when he encountered requests for rare artifacts that weren’t available locally, he could send people to retrieve them from other regions based on the address recorded on the manifest.
However, upon seeing a line on the manifest, the shopkeeper’s face contorted into an elderly grimace. He muttered, “A subordinate Golden Core of a Deity Transformation stage cultivator? Is the Western Region’s black market that fierce, to be able to procure a subordinate Golden Core of a Deity Transformation stage cultivator?”
Just as he was contemplating this, two figures entered the shop. The shopkeeper looked up and saw a young woman in a fur coat, her eyes closed, carrying a Fire Phoenix into the shop. He was immediately bewildered and muttered, “A blind person leading a bird?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt the immense spiritual pressure emanating from the masked man beside the blind girl, who was wearing a bamboo hat. He was immediately startled and hurried to greet them, “My apologies, my apologies. Are you here to buy Fire Stones? This way, please…”
The masked man squinted, his hand reaching for the hilt of the sword wrapped in bandages on his back, and asked, “What did you just say about my young lady?”
Li Longling quickly rebuked, “Xiao Liu, stand down.”
“Yes, Young Lady.” Ye Anping quickly cupped his fists in apology and stepped aside. Then, Li Longling nodded slightly and asked, “Ice River Reflects the Four Directions?”
Hearing this, the shopkeeper’s face turned pale with shock. He gestured for them to enter the inner room and said, “Northern Border Frosty Sky Snow, so you are noble guests. Please, come in, come in.”
Upon entering the inner room, the shopkeeper politely served Li Longling a cup of hot tea. He then sealed the four corners of the room with soundproofing talismans, closed the doors and windows, and bowed again to apologize for his earlier rudeness. “I was rude just now. I hope the fairy does not hold it against me. May I ask which senior introduced you?”
“It doesn’t matter who introduced me,” Li Longling calmly asked, “I heard your Seven Kill Gate accepts all kinds of jobs?”
The shopkeeper replied with a bitter smile, “Ahaha… We don’t accept every job. Ever since those fools from the Seven Kill Gate in the Western Regions destroyed themselves six or seven years ago, the Seven Kill Gate in the Northern Region has become much more restrained. As long as it doesn’t involve major sects, we can take it on.”
Li Longling smiled and nodded, picked up the tea, and sniffed it. “Is that so? Then, can you kill three people?”
“That depends on who you want to kill and what price you’re willing to pay.”
“Two Core Formation Stage cultivators in the middle stage, and one Core Formation Stage cultivator in the early stage.” Li Longling was silent for a moment, then raised her right hand, fingers spread, and asked, “I’ll pay this much?”
The shopkeeper twitched his eyebrows and asked, “…Five hundred thousand? To kill three Core Formation Stage cultivators?”
Li Longling replied with a smile, “Fifty thousand spirit stones per person. However many you can kill, I’ll pay for that many.”
What a big deal! The shopkeeper’s interest was piqued. However, the market price for a Core Formation Stage cultivator was generally around three to forty million spirit stones, which made him hesitate slightly. “Miss, please tell me more about the three people you wish to have killed.”
“The first person has black hair and blood-red eyes. He is a Sword Cultivator with a demonic aura, named Gu Mingxin, cultivation at the middle Core Formation Stage.” As she spoke, Li Longling took out a portrait from her storage bag and sent it to the shopkeeper with her spiritual energy. This portrait was drawn by Ye Anping on the way. He had practiced fine brushwork when he was bored as a child, and his work was far superior to Xiao Yunluo’s “Fairy Palace Erotic Painting” and much more lifelike. As long as one wasn’t blind, they could basically recognize the person.
“The second person is also a middle Core Formation Stage cultivator, a Law Cultivator, plump in build, with buttocks like round peaches, named Lu Meimei.”
“As for the third person, he is an early Core Formation Stage cultivator named Wu Tianci, a Body Cultivator.” Li Longling produced two more portraits and presented them to the shopkeeper.
Seeing that the craftsmanship of the three portraits was excellent, the shopkeeper asked no further questions about their appearances. He was silent for a moment and then asked, “Do these three possess any magical artifacts or spirit treasures?”
“I don’t know about that, but the price I quoted earlier is the minimum,” Li Longling smiled. “Five hundred thousand, with no upper limit. As long as you bring their heads, I can offer a million.”
The shopkeeper was silent for a moment, stroking his chin as he assessed the situation. He then looked at Li Longling, noting her lack of expensive ornaments. “Miss, since you were introduced by someone, you should know my rules. If it were a small business, it would be fine. But you want to kill three Core Formation Stage cultivators…” He trailed off, implying that he needed a deposit or for her to put the spirit stones with him first, lest she be unable to pay after the job was done.
Li Longling naturally understood his unspoken meaning. It was only now that she understood what Ye Anping meant when he said he would “borrow her identity as the Mansion Mistress of Chi Long Mansion.” She shook her head slightly, her fingers forming a sword gesture, and took out a fiery red jade seal from her storage bag, placing it on the table. “I wonder, can this serve as a deposit?”
“this is…” The shopkeeper squinted and observed for a moment, his eyes widening. He then looked up at Li Longling’s tightly shut eyes, the Fire Phoenix on her shoulder, and her cultivation at the middle Foundation Establishment stage. All of this matched what he had heard about the Mansion Mistress of Chi Long Mansion a few years ago.
“You… you are the Mansion Mistress of Chi Long Mansion, Lady Li?”
“Do you need to ask?” Li Longling smiled faintly, then turned and pointed to Ye Anping, who was standing beside her, his gaze fixed on the shopkeeper’s every move. “This is my guard.”
“I see… But this is the Seven Kill Gate of the Northern Region. If you want to buy something, it’s fine, but if you want to kill someone, the Seven Kill Gate of the Northern Region doesn’t kill cultivators from the Western Regions.”
“These three people are currently in the Northern Region, but I don’t know their exact location. I only know they are within the Northern Region.”
“In that case…” Since it was the Mansion Mistress of Chi Long Mansion who gave the job, she was certain she would receive the five hundred thousand spirit stones. Although Chi Long Mansion was a righteous sect, its affiliated trade guilds had more or less ties to the black market. If she lost her credibility with the black market, the black market could prevent the trade guilds within Chi Long Mansion from doing business. Since she had revealed her identity, it was sufficient proof of her sincerity.
The shopkeeper stood up and cupped his fists. “Then we accept this matter. After it is done, is it…”
“Bring their heads or their storage bags to Chi Long Mansion to collect the spirit stones. Traveling to the Western Region for hundreds of thousands of spirit stones isn’t too far, is it?”
“Understood.”
“Then I won’t stay any longer. Farewell.” Li Longling put the jade seal on the table back into her storage bag. She gently tapped the table, and Ye Anping stepped forward, lightly helping her up, and then led her out of the room.
After watching the two leave, the shopkeeper looked at the three portraits left on the table. If this matter were successful, that would be one point five million spirit stones! According to the rules of the Seven Kill Gate, he could take one-tenth, which would be one hundred and fifty thousand! He only needed to send these three portraits to the headquarters of the Seven Kill Gate and wait a few months to earn one hundred and fifty thousand, which was almost free spirit stones.
“Hehe… Hahaha…” The shopkeeper chuckled, picked up the three portraits, and ran out of the back door to find a cultivator who could contact the headquarters to deliver the message.
Outside the shop, Li Longling seemed to exhale as if she were exhausted. She glanced at Ye Anping through the eyes of the Fire Phoenix. “Young Master Ye…”
“Yes?” Ye Anping asked gently, “What’s wrong? First time dealing with people from the underworld?”
Li Longling nodded. She was a good girl who had never even been to a gambling hall. Having to deal with underworld figures now made her feel strange. Her father had once taught her not to associate with cultivators who dabbled in the black market, lest it ruin her future.
“Mm.” Ye Anping suddenly felt a sense of perverse pleasure, like taking a star student to a brothel. He smiled bitterly and shook his head. “You’ll get used to it.” He then took out a list from his storage bag and crossed out the first line with his finger. “The Northern Region’s Seven Kill Gate is done. We still have six more places to issue bounties.”
Li Longling let out a long breath and asked, “Young Master Ye, do you often deal with people from the black market?”
Ye Anping smiled and said, “It’s my first time too.”
“…I don’t believe you.”
“Really.”
“I don’t believe you!” Li Longling pouted and nudged him with her shoulder. “Young Master Ye, your pure and upright scholar image in my heart is completely ruined.”
“Don’t mess around. Let’s go to the next one. We’ll try to finish today before nightfall. Let me see, the shop of the Seven Xuan Sect should be… a rouge shop on the west street of Linghe Immortal City…”
… …
