Chapter 297: Chapter 195 Passing Through the Checkpoint
Jieshan City, located approximately two hundred miles from the Senluo Sect’s defensive formation, revealed its unique aspects to Li Shiming as soon as he entered.
It wasn’t a purely mortal city; upon entering, he sensed the fluctuations of Spiritual Power from many cultivators.
This was probably a city where mortals and cultivators coexisted. He saw many cultivator shops bustling with mortals working inside.
Such a situation was extremely rare, as mortals could not withstand the influence of too dense Spiritual Energy, making it almost impossible for them to stay long in cultivator shops.
But the Spiritual Energy fluctuations in these cultivator shops were quite weak, indicating that the shops did not engage in deep processing of Spiritual Objects.
Li Shiming walked while looking around, searching for Shengmao Shop, a shop belonging to the Shushan Sect.
“Found it!” It didn’t take long for him to find the target.
Mainly because the shop was too eye-catching, being one of the largest shops in Jieshan City.
At Shengmao Shop, large carts were being unloaded, with boxes containing weakly fluctuating Spiritual Energy being moved from the carts into the shop.
“Hey, I’m looking for your Shopkeeper!” Li Shiming approached and addressed a busy mortal worker.
“Please wait a moment, I will inform him for you!” The mortal worker glanced at Li Shiming, scanning over the robe on his body and the storage bag at his waist, and hastily bowed with a response.
The mortals here had ways to recognize cultivators, albeit simple, they were extremely effective.
The mortals were exceedingly polite to cultivators, for the disparity between cultivators and mortals was vast; a cultivator could decide the life or death of a mortal with just a flick of the wrist.
“Fellow Daoist looking for me?” An elder cultivator at the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment emerged slowly from the shop. He paused slightly upon seeing Li Shiming, sensing the realm Li Shiming was at.
“I’ve met a fellow Daoist; I need to leave the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, and this is the token!” Li Shiming took out the token given by Xu Chuan—a jade plaque bearing the insignia of the Shushan Sect.
The Mid-stage Foundation Establishment elder’s finger lightly touched the jade plaque, and a subtle mark appeared on it—the mark of a True Disciple. This caused the elder’s gaze to sharpen slightly.
Of course he knew to whom the jade plaque belonged; hardly a secret, Xu Chuan had borrowed channels to enter the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, and for him controlling the channel here, it was no mystery.
That Li Shiming held Xu Chuan’s jade plaque clearly indicated that it was given by Xu Chuan.
A True Disciple had the authority to mobilize the channels here. With the token in hand, the passageway had to be opened for Li Shiming.
“Fellow Daoist, I need to clarify something beforehand. The next batch of goods won’t be transported for another three days, so Fellow Daoist will need to wait here. Furthermore, the method of escorting you over the pass is somewhat special; I ask for your patience,” the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment elder stated softly.
“Thank you for your help, I will comply with the arrangements!” Li Shiming did not say much more, bowing in gratitude.
“Xiao Wu, take this guest to a guest room,” ordered the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment elder to a mortal worker.
The mortal worker led Li Shiming to the back yard of the shop and into a guest room.
There were no spirit veins, no Spiritual Objects, everything here was purely mundane.
Li Shiming shook his head slightly. Unable to cultivate while travelling was a real nuisance; he had been out for too long and his Spiritual Energy had scarcely increased.
If not for the Monkey Wine that had rapidly advanced his Body Refinement Techniques, this period would have indeed been wasted.
To cultivate immortality, one still needed to find a stable place enabling prolonged cultivation.
He began considering whether to join the Thousand Illusion Sect or the Shushan Sect. However, situated within the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, he knew little about either sect, and decided to wait until he had left the mountains to plan further.
The Thousand Illusion Sect had Yin Shilan; at least he could stabilize his position as an ordinary Disciple, but if he solely relied on Yin Shilan’s protection, it wasn’t just the sect cultivator who would look down on him, he would even despise himself.
If he joined the Shushan Sect, with the favor he held for delivering the Third Grade Mu Yang Three-leaf Clover, he would likely receive protection and kindness from Master Xu Chuan.
However, Master Xu Chuan’s adversaries would also consider him an enemy.
Li Shiming wasn’t foolish; when he saved Xu Chuan, he had detected something suspicious. Xu Chuan had been betrayed, or else how could it have been such a coincidence to be ambushed so precisely?
With the combat prowess Xu Chuan and he exercised together, it wouldn’t have been a problem for Xu Chuan to kill two or three cultivators of the same rank in earnest battle, let alone with hidden methods making battling beyond one’s rank manageable.
Yet, Xu Chuan nearly fell to three cultivators of the same rank under a targeted ambush, at a time when the other Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator had not yet reached the battlefield, serving only to distract Xu Chuan.
Joining Master Xu Chuan’s lineage would mean enjoying the benefits while necessarily bearing the corresponding troubles.
Of course, these were not the central issues; the specifics of the Thousand Illusion Sect and the Shushan Sect were his primary concern.
He spent the three days in Body Refinement until a worker notified him.
In the back yard, Li Shiming spotted twenty large carts pulled by pairs of strong, tall black oxen.
The carts were almost the same size as modern trucks from his previous life, likely requiring such robust oxen for easy movement.