For several days in a row, Shen Hao familiarized himself with the task’s procedures at the camp outside Pingjiang City.
Chen Tianwen answered every question, but managed to swindle two jars of Wuliangye from Shen Hao in the process.
For instance, Chen Tianwen told Shen Hao that during the Gui Mountain Cultivation Institute’s opening ceremony, several loose traveling rchants would gather in Pingjiang City, holding small-scale auctions.
Another example is the "Moon Shadow Tower" ntioned in that booklet introducing the Noble Families; it’s actually an underground gray organization that’s always been half-hidden, existing for a long ti now. Publicly, Moon Shadow Tower owns businesses—and not small ones—while in secret it’s involved in all sorts of shady dealings, none of it clean.
Most importantly, Moon Shadow Tower is also the largest intelligence broker among the common folk, sotis even partnering up with the authorities.
That very booklet is Moon Shadow Tower’s way of flaunting its intelligence network to the public, updated every year. You can buy a copy at any major auction house as long as you have the money.
Anyway, what piqued Shen Hao’s curiosity the most was how a bizarre organization like Moon Shadow Tower managed not to be wiped out by the Dynasty.
All along, Chen Tianwen had sothing to say about everything, but when it ca to questions about Moon Shadow Tower, he could only shake his head and plead ignorance. In his own words: Moon Shadow Tower is just too weird and mysterious—there’s no telling what sort of backers they have.
Shen Hao also used these days to learn a bit about the Gui Mountain Cultivation Institute and even got to know so of the cultivators inside.
The Gui Mountain Cultivation Institute is divided into two sections: the Inner Sect and the Outer Sect.
The Outer Sect mostly deals with the mundane world, managing things like procurent and logistics, the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall that handles chores and servant managent within the mountain, and the Eagle Hall that handles new disciple intake. All of these belong to the Outer Sect.
The Inner Sect is ho to the core halls, such as the Dharma Hall, Alchemy Hall, Arsenal, Punishnt Hall, and so on.
Previously, that Yang Qingyun Shen Hao saw at the foot of Gui Mountain was an Inner Sect Dharma Hall Steward, and the Dharma Hall itself holds an incredibly high position within the Inner Sect. Every disciple must follow its guidance for cultivation. Of course, the truly outstanding might catch the eye of an Elder and get one-on-one instruction.
Other than Yang Qingyun, two other Inner Sect Stewards and three Inner Sect Disciples were participating in this opening ceremony from the Inner Sect.
Let’s not talk about the Inner Sect Stewards for now. The cultivation levels of the Inner Sect Disciples completely baffled Shen Hao. All three Inner Sect Disciples were said to be under twenty years old, yet each one was already at the Gathering Spirit Realm Fifth Layer, just like Qi Zhanzhan.
This... Only now did Shen Hao truly realize how vast the gap was between geniuses and ordinary folk.
Shen Hao didn’t compare himself with them—after all, he was an outsider, with only a little over eight years of cultivation behind him, plus that inexplicable weird tattoo on his skin, which made him a terrible benchmark. Let’s take Chen Tianwen for comparison. He only managed to rise to the rank of Flag Officer with a cultivation at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer, and he’s already fifty years old now...
Then there’s Tang Qingyuan—this Hundred Households Officer in the Gathering Spirit Realm Eighth Layer was still a discarded disciple of Gui Mountain Cultivation Institute forty years ago, yet now he’s been lording it over Li City for years.
In the past, Shen Hao only knew sects were powerful, very powerful—but as for how powerful? He never really had a sense. Now, though, he was starting to get the picture.
Within Pingjiang City, the Black Banner Battalion now served as a mobile force, with free rein to patrol as they pleased. They were much more independent than the other six General Banner Battalions and had far fewer chores to deal with.
But he still got involved in a few disputes, all of them basically caused by troublemakers who couldn’t behave.
Pingjiang City isn’t all that big; its inns and taverns are few and far between and simply can’t accommodate the hundreds of thousands flocking in from all over. And those coming for the Gui Mountain Cultivation Institute’s big event are anything but ordinary—most from Great Families and Noble Houses, used to being top dog wherever they go. You think they’d show humility in Pingjiang? Not a chance.
So—snatch what you want.
They’ll brawl over a private room at an inn, or even over a single table at a tavern. Hell, they’ll fight just for brushing shoulders in the street.
What are you looking at? The hell you staring at? Next thing you know—bam, bam, bam, they start throwing down.
Don’t kid yourself that cultivators wouldn’t stoop to such petty crap; they’ve pulled far crazier stunts just to save face. Especially when Noble Families cross paths—so of them have old grudges and it takes almost nothing to set them off.
Now all these troublemakers fall under the jurisdiction of Xuanqing Guard because if the garrison soldiers and governntal officials show up, they’ll just get booted back where they ca from. They simply have no pull. The Local Governnt Office can’t possibly be as tough as Xuanqing Guard—when faced with the Great Families, they almost always keep their heads down.
Not that Xuanqing Guard’s about to start chopping heads off or throwing everyone in the cells just for fighting.
The Governnt Office’s dungeons are way less secure than the Xuanqing Guard Station’s anyway. But no one inside dares break out; it’s just not worth the hassle. Still, staying locked up isn’t great either—if they miss the opening of Gui Mountain Cultivation Institute because of it, there’s nowhere left to cry. And so, the best bamboo rods end up in the hands of Xuanqing Guard.
Bam, bam, bam—flakes of silver falling like snow. Ten thousand taels, twenty thousand—no one minds paying a little extra.
No real work needed—just toss the troublemaking cultivators in the dungeon, then fine them and let them go, over and over. If you’ve got a crystal ore mine at ho, go ahead and raise hell! Otherwise, even your underwear will get confiscated.
Shen Hao didn’t know exactly how much flake silver they’d extorted lately, but at any rate, the cultivators crowding the streets were behaving a lot better than they did at the start.
"Hongyun Auction!"
Shen Hao, dressed in his everyday clothes, handed over a token plaque and swaggered right into a trade association’s shop.
Word was this was originally a Carriage and Horse Shop, temporarily converted for the Gui Mountain Cultivation Institute event. The Masters were so well-known traveling rchants among the loose cultivators, used to making a living by hustling at sect openings and disciple recruitnt drives all over.
"Let’s go. I want to see if there are any decent magical artifacts."
"Magical artifacts? Don’t you already have one?"
"This is for my son. He’s already at the Qi Refining Second Layer—doing better than I ever did."
Chen Tianwen was with him, also in civilian clothes. The two of them checked the program sheet handed over by the attendant as they walked in together, glancing through the items up for auction today.
There was nothing Shen Hao urgently needed. Besides, once the reward from above ca in, plus the share he’d pocketed during the previous raids, he’d have more than enough to make soone’s jaw drop. It wasn’t just elixirs or magical artifacts—the Wen Family’s collection was rich in cultivation techniques and magic skills too, and those could be used just as well after stamping.
Shen Hao was mainly here to broaden his horizons.
"Master, this way, please!"
The attendant bowed and scraped, leading the pair to seats near the front of the hall—a top-tier spot, just shy of a private box.
"How much for a private box?"
"Starts at one thousand taels; it’s written at the back of the sheet." Chen Tianwen leaned back in his chair, barely lifting his head as he pondered today’s goals. There was a nice low-grade magical artifact on the list—a shortsword—and a middle-grade soft armor. He figured they’d be perfect for his son.
"By the way, Shen Zongqi, if I run out of funds later, could you back up?"
"Anything under fifty thousand taels, sure. IOU required."
"Thanks in advance!"
A sum like ten or twenty thousand taels wasn’t exactly beyond Chen Tianwen’s ans, but he hadn’t expected a middle-grade soft armor to show up and hadn’t brought enough banknotes along, so borrowing from Shen Hao on the fly it was.
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