Before Mr Lin could add anything else, another ray of light shot up from the city and dashed toward the vehicle.
This ray of light was dim compared to the previous one, but it travelled way faster.
The light slowly faded, revealing a woman in a purple gown. It was similar to the one Mr Lin was wearing, but it was more refined. She had a mellow and full face, which made her look young and friendly when paired with her fair skin and curved eyebrows. She looked like she was in her twenties, but her steady character made her feel like she was in her thirties.
"Elder An," she greeted An Tongchen with a gentle smile, "I apologize for our carelessness, which resulted in an unhappy situation here. We have already prepared wine for both Elders. We sincerely beg for your forgiveness."
She was a humble and respectful woman, and she spoke with politeness. An Tongchen smiled thinly at her, "So, it's Emissary Xiahou. I apologize for being so disrespectful."
"Everything's fine," she smiled at him broadly. "It's a pleasure to have you here from the Nine Jade Palace. We are more than honoured to have you here with us."
Lu Mingshu wasn't sure since when, but Tan Yubing was standing next to her. Tan Yubing whispered to her, "This Emissary Xiahou has a high position in Tianyun City. Even the Prime Minister has to listen to her."
Even the Prime Minister of Zhongzhou… no wonder An Tongchen calmed down as soon as she showed up. The Barbarians didn't say anything either.
The government of Zhongzhou was the most closely related to the clans. All their officials were martial artists. For example, Mr Lin was in the Spirit Realm, and Emissary Xiahou was comparable to An Tongchen. The King of Zhongzhou himself was in the Assimilation Realm! Otherwise, how could the Qilin Festival be so widely recognized?
The King of Zhongzhou retired twenty years ago. Now, the country was in the queen's hands. The queen had two officials with her; Ding Qingqing and Emissary Xiahou. Emissary Ding was mainly to tackle with the queen's personal matters while Emissary Xiahou was mainly there for government matters.
Lu Mingshu was taken aback by the information. So Zhongzhou is under the queen? That's unusual.
With Emissary Xiahou stepping in, both the Nine Jade Palace and the Barbarians immediately calmed down, and the conflict was thus resolved easily. Mr Lin then guided the vehicle to its parking spot and helped settle the disciples.
After settling down, Tan Yubing invited Lu Mingshu to roam around the city.
Tianyun City – the capital of Zhongzhou, and the most prosperous city in the whole of China. Lu Mingshu was curious about what the city was like, and ever since she had embarked on this journey, Tan Yubing had showered her with care and concern, so it wasn't appropriate to reject her invitation.
The street was neatly planned, with row upon row of skyscrapers placed side by side. It was packed like sardines in a tin, and it was bursting with activities, not to mention the dazzling goods that delighted the eye, which were all lined up for display.
Tan Yubing brought her to a few shops that sold cultivation items. The shops were recommended by her seniors. These few shops in Zhongzhou were the most well-known; they had everything you could need, and they sold their items at a decent price. If one was visiting the city, these shops were the ones that one should go to in order to prevent getting scammed.
Lu Mingshu witnessed another side of her Senior Aunt Tan, squandering away all her money.
"Junior Niece Lu, aren't you buying anything? These are rare!" She reminded her.
Lu Mingshu pondered for a moment.
"Do you sell mustard seed pouches or portable stables?"
"Of course!" The clerk smiled proudly. "No shop in Tianyun City would dare to say that they don't."
"How much?"
"We don't sell rare items for silver taels, only mystic crystals. These two items each cost about ten mystic crystals."
Lu Mingshu wasn't surprised by the answer. Mystic weapons above the middle tier were mostly bought with mystic crystals. They were so valuable that silver taels couldn't be used to measure their worth.
"So expensive!" Tan Yubing sighed. "Zhongzhou citizens are rich indeed. I saw a number of disciples in the Harmonization Realm that had a mustard seed pouch! In Xichuan, it's almost impossible to get mustard seed pouches."
Mystic crystals were rare treasures. In Nine Jade Palace, only Spirit Realm Elders or Courtyard Guardians would have any. If a Harmonization Realm disciple wanted one, it had to be given by an Elder.
The line of Golden Door – Tan Yubing's line – had already declined. They didn't have an Elder in the Spirit Realm, thus it was impossible for her to own a mystic crystal.
Lu Mingshu had taken the package given to all the genuine successor disciples on this trip. There were tons of valuable things inside the package, but still not enough to exchange for mystic crystals. She still had to cultivate on her own too.
"We can earn silver taels easily, but where can we earn mystic crystals?"
Lu Mingshu muttered to herself, but it was caught by the clerk, who kindly answered her doubts, "Misses, in other places, it would be impossible to earn mystic crystals, but not here in Zhongzhou. You can earn them, and it's not hard."
The answer took both of them by surprise, and Tan Yubing hurried asked, "Where? There's such a generous boss?"
Pointing to the shop opposite them, he hummed, "Look."
Looking at where the clerk was pointing, Lu Mingshu saw a martial arts hall. It had a big flag with "Wu" written on it, which was the character for "Martial."*
"Martial arts hall? Do martial arts halls in Zhongzhou pay their workers mystic crystals?"
"Hmm, not quite," the clerk felt a sense of pride as he explained the culture of Zhongzhou to some tourists. "See the character 'Lei' at the corner of the flag? That shows that the hall has an arena, and in our city if you are at least in the Harmonization Realm, you might get a mystic crystal as a prize. If you are lucky enough to have a second-generation rich kid in the audience, you might win the lottery in one night!"**
Tan Yubing's eyes lit up upon hearing that information.
"There's such good things? No wonder so many people have mustard seed pouches."
"Not really," the clerk shook his head. "The arena is monitored by the government, and it's not responsible for death or injury. The fights have to be interesting for one to be rewarded. You get rewarded depending on how good you are."
"True," Tan Yubing nodded in agreement, but she was still eager to give it a try.
The clerk smiled at her reaction. How many people think that their ability is too low?
"Misses, other than the martial arts arena, there are arenas for other skills too," the clerk added. Why not just feed them with all the possible information they could need since I've already given them some? "Pharmacology, crafting, art, writing… they have arenas for those too. If Misses are good in any of those areas, you could give it a shot there too."
"But how would we compete?"
"Depends on the hall," he said as he pointed at the martial arts hall. "Keep a close eye on the signboard. The martial arts hall obviously has the martial arts arena, the pharmacy hall obviously has the arena for pharmacology. Since it's the Qilin Festival soon, the city will be filled with tourists. Even if they don't compete, they might be spectators.
"Thanks," Tan Yubing gave him a few silver taels.
The clerk was pleasantly delighted with the tip. Like a dog with two tails, he sent them off, "My pleasure. Have a safe trip here!"
Lu Mingshu and Tan Yubing left the shop, and indeed, they saw many shops with "Lei" on their signboards.
"This must be some new trend from the past few years," Tan Yubing said. "I've never heard of this from my seniors!"
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