Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan

So Li Zhirui became even more cautious, not wanting to stir up trouble.

Perhaps it was his good luck, as he traveled smoothly and without any setbacks, leaving the territory of the Great Zhou and reaching Yumen State, owned by the He Family.

Having spent so much time in the Great Zhou, Li Zhirui found it somewhat awkward to suddenly see so many cultivators.

Especially without the suppression from the Human Dao Law Net, he breathed a sigh of relief, feeling much lighter all over.

"Do you need a guide, sir? I know every place in Shouyu City inside out, and I'm sure I can fulfill your needs. My commission is very cheap," said a young child respectfully.

"Lead the way." Li Zhirui didn't care about the commission cost; he just didn't want to bother finding someone else.

"Please follow me, sir!" The child's smile became even brighter, hoping this seemingly highly cultivated elder would give him some extra reward, allowing him to buy another Yellow Bud Pill.

Life for loose cultivators was tough, and for someone like this child at the lowest tier, life was even harder.

For basic, cheap cultivation Spirit Pill like Yellow Bud Pill, they rarely could afford a whole bottle and could only buy them piecemeal.

This was suffering Li Zhirui had never endured because he was a genius since childhood. Even when the Li family was weak with scarce resources, his cultivation resources had never been lacking.

Speaking of it!

"May I ask what needs you have, sir?" The child asked respectfully.

These little guides were best at reading faces; they would never speak recklessly if faced with the kind of cultivator that seemed cold.

"I need a detailed map of Yumen State, shops selling local unique Spiritual Objects, and an inn rich in Spiritual Energy," Li Zhirui said.

"Please follow me, sir."

As he led the way, the child introduced, "The most famous unique Spiritual Objects in Yumen State are various peculiar jades, and all kinds of Spiritual Objects developed from jade."

"Things like Jade Precious Pill, Magic Artifacts, Jade Talismans, etc. The He family is famous worldwide for Jade Spiritual Objects, and many Spiritual Objects can only be made by them."

"Therefore, if you want to buy local unique Spiritual Objects, the best and most complete shop is the one owned by the He Family."

"Apart from that, there's the black market. Although I've never been there, some elders mentioned there's a lot of rare and unique Spiritual Objects from outside."

Li Zhirui interjected, "Take me to the black market after I've bought the map and settled on an inn."

"Alright." The child was even more cheerful now, as this meant he could certainly earn more Spirit Stones.

Along the way, he talked about many things, some hearsay and some personally witnessed.

Li Zhirui wasn't impatient, just listened quietly, gaining a clearer understanding of Yumen State and the He Family.

After all, his prior knowledge about the He Family had come from various Jade Slips, which inevitably included some embellishments.

In the child's words, the He Family wasn't some kind-hearted Immortal Dao family but was rather harsh on loose cultivators and affiliated forces, extracting a large number of Spirit Stones from them every year.

Taking him as an example, he had to pay a hundred Spirit Stones yearly to stay in the Immortal City; otherwise, he'd be kicked out!

For Li Zhirui, a hundred Spirit Stones was a negligible amount, but for these loose cultivators, it was a substantial fortune.

He had seen many partners who couldn't pay this Spirit Stone fee and were expelled outside the city, soon disappearing without a trace.

Furthermore, all the mines in Yumen State belonged to the He Family, even the undiscovered ones, meaning private mining was forbidden.

Once caught, one is detained as a mining slave, never able to escape.

In these aspects, the Li family is much gentler, although they also require a Spirit Stone fee, it's graded by cultivation level. If truly unable to pay, one could dwell in the slums outside the city walls.

Unlike the He Family, there's no slum outside the city; once expelled, one can only dwell in the dangerous wilds.

The child was very cautious while speaking, fearing others might overhear, not knowing that within a yard surrounding Li Zhirui, no sound could be heard at all.

"Sir, this is a shop specializing in selling maps, and it's the best among similar ones in the city," the child introduced, standing in front of a shop.

Li Zhirui nodded and stepped inside, "I need the most detailed map of Yumen State, and if there's a map of surrounding forces, that would be even better."

"No wonder a magpie was singing endlessly on the branch this morning; it turns out an esteemed guest is here!" Such a substantial deal brought the shopkeeper out to personally attend.

"I'm pressed for time, let's skip the pleasantries, shopkeeper, just bring out the map."

"Such a straightforward customer!"

The shopkeeper naturally liked such customers — not wasting time and generous in spending.

Thinking of this, his smile grew so wide his eyes were barely visible.

"This is the detailed map of Yumen State and Xiaxian State, recording every Spirit Vein and resource mountain range, as well as locations for Secret Realms..." the shopkeeper introduced tirelessly.

In his words, this map practically covered every place in the two states.

"Enough, I've bought maps before, don't I know how much is exaggerated?" Li Zhirui interrupted the shopkeeper's introduction impatiently.

The He Family and Xiaxian Sect aren't small forces, yet distributing all the Spirit Veins and resource mountain ranges? As if they would divulge all this information? At most, it's exposed a little to attract loose cultivators, and then harvest from them.

Besides, who knows how many years old this map is.

"A hundred thousand Spirit Stones, sell it or not?"

The counter marked twenty-five thousand; Li Zhirui offered directly at forty percent of that.

"That price is slightly low."

Li Zhirui ignored it, turning straight away to leave. They've been selling these maps for so many years, who knows how many copies have been made; he thought a hundred thousand Spirit Stones were a bit too much, yet they were still unsatisfied.

"Alright, alright, a hundred thousand Spirit Stones, I'll sell it to you."

Faced with Li Zhirui, who knew the truth and whose cultivation level was unreadable, the shopkeeper could only concede. Though a hundred thousand Spirit Stones were slightly fewer profits, at least there was profit.

"Let's go." After the transaction, he left with the child.

Meanwhile, in front of Li Zhirui, the shopkeeper gave him a kickback: just a few ordinary Yellow Bud Pills worth about a hundred Spirit Stones, enough to make the child's cheeks flush with excitement.

Li Zhirui didn't come forward to 'do good' or 'uphold justice' saying the kickback was too little, because while he could fight for better treatment for the child, doing so would mean losing this barely subsistent job completely.

"Thank you, sir."

"This is the reward you deserve; no need to thank me."

Before long, they arrived at the black market.

Li Zhirui didn't conceal his appearance but instead used Illusion Technique so others couldn't recognize the child's identity.

The black market was underground, quite expansive, with plenty of bustling activity and all sorts of Spiritual Objects on the stalls.

Even though he'd seen a lot, he spotted many things he'd never come across before, especially the locally unique Jade Spiritual Objects, rarely seen elsewhere.

Rich in Spirit Stones, Li Zhirui splurged without restraint; taking whatever intrigued him.

Most notably, he bought quite a lot of Jade Spirit Pill Recipes, hoping to learn something new and improve his Alchemy Dao.

Such reckless behavior naturally drew attention from many cultivators, with hostile glints shining in several eyes.

"Sir..." The sensitive child noticed immediately, quietly reminding.

"No worries, just a bunch of insignificant troublemakers, nothing meaningful."

Li Zhirui didn't see them as anything significant, in this entire black market, only a few people might pose a threat to him.