Chapter 154: The Pavilion Master Requests Your Presence
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The Imperial City was the Imperial City, after all. It had far more grandeur than Brahma City!
It was the same kind of street, yet several times wider than the one in Brahma City. Even the stalls on either side were proper booths, with signs listing the main wares they sold. Unlike Brahma City, where spreading a piece of cloth on the ground was enough to count as a stall.
There was still a long while before the auction at the Pavilion of Myriad Treasures began. Yan Shu and Xiao Jihan were in no hurry, so they wandered through the black market.
In weapon refinement, alchemy, and talisman crafting, the Profound Heaven Sect essentially represented the highest level in the entire cultivation world. Anything superior would be an exceptional creation and naturally would not appear for sale in Yunzhou City's black market.
As for spiritual plants and medicinal herbs, there was nothing Yan Shu took a fancy to either. It was not that she was bragging, but compared with the spiritual plants and herbs grown in the Spirit Soil—which was rich in spiritual energy and could even simulate all kinds of illusions—these wild specimens were like a regular army compared with a ragtag militia.
What was more, many of the spiritual plants had been harvested before they had even reached maturity.
As a seasoned herbalist, Yan Shu felt her heart ache at the sight.
She could only shake her head.
Xiao Jihan watched as her gaze swept over the various spiritual plants. She shook her head and sighed with the air of an old scholar, looking utterly heartbroken. The corners of his lips curved slightly.
“If looking at them makes you feel so miserable, then stop looking.”
Yan Shu sighed. “I can’t control my eyes.”
Xiao Jihan understood. After all, he himself kept glancing at the pills for sale from time to time.
Besides refined goods, the black market also sold rare treasures obtained from secret realms.
There were very few of those, however. Disciples belonging to sects had to hand over part of whatever they acquired to their sects, while unaffiliated cultivators generally did not possess high cultivation levels and could obtain only limited treasures.
Even the so-called treasures were valuable only by comparison. Yan Shu had always used the finest resources supplied by her sect, so naturally she did not think much of these items.
Neither did Xiao Jihan now.
The two of them walked from one end of the street to the other, yet ultimately bought nothing. In a low voice, Xiao Jihan said to her, “Because no cultivator has appeared in the Eastern Imperial Family for many generations, Yunzhou has gradually declined.”
Yan Shu nodded as they headed toward the Pavilion of Myriad Treasures together. As they walked, she said, “At present, the most prosperous place on the Nine Provinces Continent should be Zhongzhou, right? After all, the First Sect, the Primordial Sect, is there, and the Zhongzhou Imperial Family produced Yuwen Che.”
At the mention of Yuwen Che’s name, Xiao Jihan furrowed his handsome brows. “Is he really that unforgettable to you?”
Yan Shu gave him a helpless glance and coaxed him as though he were a child. “Be good. Don’t be so petty. He’s only a friend, just like your relationship with Qiao Yueru. Besides, even if I had countless friends, you would always be the most important.”
Hearing this, Xiao Jihan maintained his cold, handsome expression and gave a soft snort. In the end, he said nothing more.
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Looking at him, Yan Shu was both exasperated and amused. She let out a quiet scoff. “Childish.”
The male lead’s temper seemed to be improving more and more, and Yan Shu felt much more at ease around him.
She was somewhat unwilling to think about those things that seemed unreasonable, and she did not want to investigate whether there was some hidden problem behind them.
Wasn’t it better to live as a carefree slacker? Why spend every day suspecting everything and exhaust herself?
Fine, she admitted it. The truth was that she simply could not figure out what the hell any of this was!
Yan Shu had reached a state of complete acceptance. She would take things one step at a time. In any case, Heaven never shut every door.
The Pavilion of Myriad Treasures was different, but still had five floors. The difference lay in its scale.
Compared with the Pavilion of Myriad Treasures in Brahma City, the one in Yunzhou City was much larger, and its architecture also appeared more magnificent and luxurious.
The pavilion had already opened its doors, and people were entering one after another.
Standing before the pavilion, Yan Shu could not help recalling Yuwen Che—the way he had arrogantly told her that every Pavilion of Myriad Treasures had a permanent seat reserved for him on the fifth floor, and that she only needed to give his name.
When she had been with Yuwen Che before, she had never felt much about it. She had not realized just how powerful his backing was. But now, after handing over ten mid-grade spirit stones and discovering that she could only look around the first-floor hall, Yan Shu felt a little sour.
It was like losing your memory, opening your eyes, and finding yourself cared for by the richest man in the world. Wherever you went, you received the richest man's treatment, and so you assumed that was normal.
Then one day your memories returned, and everyone went back to their proper places. Only then did you learn what reality was.
Yan Shu sent a voice transmission to Xiao Jihan. “Why did we have to spend those ten mid-grade spirit stones? Couldn’t we have simply told the people outside that we came to sell something? We could have saved a little.”
Ten mid-grade spirit stones for the two of them did not sound like much, but in truth, a single mid-grade spirit stone was the monthly allowance of an inner sect disciple. The entrance fee was already extremely high.
Xiao Jihan replied, “The Pavilion of Myriad Treasures has its rules. Regardless of what treasure it is, once it enters the pavilion, it is guaranteed to be safe. But outside the pavilion’s entrance, they take no responsibility.”
Yan Shu clicked her tongue. “To put it plainly, they’re just fishing for entrance fees.”
The original novel had not described the Demon King in much detail. He was a mighty figure second only to the male lead.
His true form was a flood dragon. According to the novel, even his residence as Demon King had been built out of spirit stones.
Yan Shu found that entirely understandable. A flood dragon was practically half a dragon, and dragons loved hoarding all kinds of treasures. They would have happily spent all day embracing their hoard in their sleep. If a dragon were willing to share its collection with you, that would unquestionably be true love.
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Hmm?
Why did she have such an understanding of dragons—and why did it feel so perfectly natural to her?
Before she could think about it further, she suddenly sensed someone watching her.
The gaze seemed to come from a private room on the fifth floor. Yan Shu looked up, but the gaze vanished at once.
Seeing her staring thoughtfully toward the fifth floor, Xiao Jihan’s eyes darkened slightly. In a low voice, he said, “Before long, we’ll be able to reach that place through our own abilities as well.”
Yan Shu came back to herself. Knowing he had misunderstood, she did not explain. She merely smiled and said meaningfully, “Perhaps one day, the pavilion master of the Pavilion of Myriad Treasures will come and invite us there himself!”
The moment she finished speaking, a person dressed in the Pavilion of Myriad Treasures’ robes approached them and bowed to her.
“Fellow Daoist, our pavilion master invites you and your friend to the fifth floor for a private conversation.”
“The pavilion master?”
Yan Shu froze. “The pavilion master of the Pavilion of Myriad Treasures?”
The person nodded. “Precisely.”
Yan Shu glanced at Xiao Jihan, completely bewildered.
In the original novel, Xiao Jihan had first met the pavilion master of the Pavilion of Myriad Treasures—the Demon King—at the pavilion in Zhongzhou. They had met only after Xiao Jihan sold an exceedingly rare eighth-grade spirit pill and caught the Demon King’s attention.
Now, they had neither sold a pill nor had any contact with the Demon King. Why would he suddenly invite them over for no apparent reason?
Seeing that Yan Shu did not respond, the person added at once, “The two of you need not worry. Our pavilion master merely wishes to make your acquaintance.”
At that, Yan Shu immediately looked toward Xiao Jihan, waiting for his decision.
She failed to notice that the person from the Pavilion of Myriad Treasures had been addressing her from beginning to end. After all, in her mind, the Demon King and the male lead were partners in crime—
Ahem. More accurately, they were a pair of money-making partners whose bond was as strong as gold and whose cooperation was flawless.
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