Chapter 10

The way they addressed each other as “cousin” was thus settled.

Both Chun Chou and Ling Wuji seemed a bit distracted, as if their minds had wandered to things they shouldn’t be thinking about.

Fortunately, the young attendant was clever and especially good at reading the room. He asked no questions and instead began enthusiastically introducing Canglan City.

“Canglan City is the city closest to the Immortal–Mortal Boundary. In truth, it’s also a place where immortals and mortals live side by side. The Immortal–Mortal Boundary itself has very thin spiritual energy and lies between the cultivation world and the mortal world. But Canglan City is technically within the cultivation world.

“If cultivators elsewhere in the cultivation world give birth to children without spiritual aptitude, they send them to the West District of Canglan City.

“Canglan City is divided into the East District and the West District. Only cultivators live in the East District; ordinary mortals live in the West District. Cultivators rarely go to the West District. However, at dawn each day, cultivators from the East District may go to the boundary between the two districts to hire mortals to do tasks that mortals are willing to do but cultivators are not. Because the City Lord of Canglan has decreed that fighting, killing, and intentional injury are strictly forbidden, disputes between cultivators and mortals are rare.”

The three soon arrived at the restaurant the young attendant had mentioned. As he had said, three dishes and one soup cost fifteen low-grade spirit stones, and spirit rice was free.

The three dishes and the soup were all prepared from spirit-infused plants and spirit beast meat. Chun Chou relaxed and invited the young attendant to sit and eat with them.

The young attendant said softly, “Senior, it’s enough if I stand and eat some of the free spirit rice.” Then he swallowed quietly.

Chun Chou was surprised. “Is the spirit rice here that delicious?” Why does he look so tempted?

The young attendant replied, “Because I come from the West District. My parents and siblings are all mortals; I’m the only cultivator in the family. It’s already difficult to support everyone at home. There are no extra spirit stones to buy spirit rice.”

Chun Chou: “…” He didn’t quite understand. While waiting for the server to bring the dishes, he insisted the young attendant sit down and asked, “If a mortal family in the West District gives birth to a child with spiritual roots, can’t they come to the East District to cultivate? And can’t your parents support your brothers and sisters?” The boy looked only seven or eight years old—he should still be the one being supported by his parents.

The young attendant’s voice grew softer and softer as he lowered his head. “In the West District… many poor families are like this. The poorer they are, the more children they have, always hoping that one will be born with spiritual roots and be able to lead the whole family to a better life. I’m the fifth child in my family. After me, there are three younger brothers, and my mother is pregnant again. But I’m the only one with spiritual roots.

“One low-grade spirit stone in the East District can be exchanged for ten taels of silver in the West District. Ten taels of silver are enough for our whole family to live well for a month. So… the poor people of the West District are always eager to have more children.

“I’m at this age—if I earn one low-grade spirit stone a day and bring it home, my family is already very happy. If I save more, then when my brothers set up their own households in the future, Father and Mother won’t have to worry about the money.

“You may see me like this in the East District, but our home in the West District is quite prosperous now. We live in a large house, we have servants. My eldest brother and sister are both married and still live at home. They’re planning to have more children. They say that since I’m here, we’ll definitely be able to afford it.”

And yet—the entire family had risen among mortals, transforming from poverty into wealth. The only child in the family with spiritual roots, however, had to survive cautiously in the East District, earning spirit stones bit by bit. What he ate daily were impurity-laden mortal foods, and he lacked sufficient time and cultivation resources to practice.

The whole family prospered—but this child, even if he had excellent spiritual roots, would find Foundation Establishment here nothing more than a distant dream.

Chun Chou was deeply startled. He glanced at Ling Wuji beside him. Only then did Ling Wuji lift his head to meet his gaze, smile faintly, and lower his head again to study the map.

Chun Chou: “……”

Fine. His “cousin” was just like this. Completely unconcerned with other people’s affairs.

Only concerned with him alone.

Warmth filled Chun Chou’s heart. He praised his own judgment several times over before turning back to the dejected young attendant.

“How old are you? If someone from the West District has spiritual roots, can’t they come live in the East District? If you lived here and sent them one low-grade spirit stone each month, that would already be enough.”

The boy’s eyes finally lit up.

“I’m nine this year. Those from the West District with spiritual roots can indeed live in the East District, but they must be at least seven years old and able to take care of themselves. They must also submit ten low-grade spirit stones. After coming, they must have a place to stay for at least a year.

“I’ve almost saved enough spirit stones.

“My parents said that when I turn ten, they’ll let me move to the East District. I just need to give them three low-grade spirit stones per month. They even said that in my first year, I don’t need to give them any spirit stones—I can start supporting them in my second year.”

Chun Chou couldn’t help thinking of girls from patriarchal families in his previous life—brainwashed, the more they were indoctrinated, the more filial they became, the more willing they were to sacrifice everything for their families. Some never escaped. Some did—but only after paying a terrible price.

He pondered for a moment but said nothing immediately. When the dishes were served, he let the boy eat with them.

After the meal, Chun Chou said casually:

“You’ve already delayed your cultivation. Delaying another year or two won’t matter much. Since you’ve saved spirit stones, rather than waiting until next year to move here, you might as well use them to improve your cultivation.

“When you reach the third level of Qi Refinement, you’ll be able to use basic defensive spells. Have you practiced foundational body refinement? You should. You’re too young. Without spells and body refinement, you might not even be able to defeat an adult mortal.

“As for your diet—when you’re close to moving here, be careful.”

He did not elaborate on what to be careful about.

The boy stared at him in disbelief.

Ling Wuji finally put down the map.

“Take us to the nearest Baiaco Pavilion. We want to sell some spirit herbs and spirit fruits.”

Ling Wuji, who had been looking at the map again, finally put it down and looked at the boy. “Lead us to the nearby Baicao Pavilion first. We want to sell some spirit herbs and fruits.”

​Ling Wuji had noticed on the map that Baicao Pavilion had branches on many streets; it likely had a good reputation, so he decided to sell their goods there.

​The boy snapped out of his daze and smartly agreed. He was a very bright child; he immediately suppressed his wandering thoughts and began cleverly introducing the Baicao Pavilion to the two seniors.

​Baicao Pavilion was indeed a massive enterprise with many branches, and as such, they didn’t cheat their customers.

​After Chun Chou and Ling Wuji produced one or two samples of fresh spirit herbs and fruits, the shopkeeper looked at them and said happily,“These were freshly picked? And these from yesterday? Very good. The extraction and preservation methods are excellent. With such fresh spirit herbs and fruits, if you lack jade boxes, it’s better to wrap them rather than store them in a storage pouch—if planted promptly, they can still grow.”

After calculating everything, the shopkeeper offered two hundred low-grade spirit stones.

Not much—but not little.

They agreed.

Chun Chou weighed the stones in his hand. The spiritual energy within them was far more abundant than the low-grade spirit stones they had brought. No wonder theirs had been looked down upon—from the city gate to the restaurant. It was quite pitiful.

He decided to keep a few of the old stones from Red Leaf Town—perhaps to give to his younger siblings someday. A hometown specialty.

When Chun Chou casually mentioned that his younger brother had entered Guiyuan Sword Sect, the shopkeeper paused.

“Then your younger brother must be exceptionally gifted. Innate sword cultivator, no doubt.”

Chun Chou nodded.

The shopkeeper sighed and added:

“The teleportation array here was damaged half a year ago during a minor beast tide. It functions unreliably now, and even the city lord no longer bothers assigning a keeper.

“In half a month, the once-in-ten-years beast tide will arrive. The timing isn’t exact—could be a few days early or late. Other cities stopped allowing our people to enter a month ago. They may come here, but we cannot leave.

“If you wish to go to Guiyuan Sect, you must wait until after the beast tide. And prepare plenty of spirit stones—travel is costly. Unlike our Canglan City, which the cultivation world has abandoned, the seven great sects require proper identity documents for entry.

“Without them, you must reside here for a full year without violating city rules before applying.”

Chun Chou: “……”

Ling Wuji: “……”

That was far too much information.

​The young boy was clever, but he was young and lacked worldly experience. The shopkeeper, however, made things very clear—likely out of respect for Chun Chou’s brother in the Guiyuan Sword Sect.

​When they left the shop, the shopkeeper personally saw them out, stating that if they had more herbs in the future, he would definitely give them a good price.

​Chun Chou appeared calm on the surface, but inside he was about to explode. Once they had walked a bit further, he turned to the boy and asked, “What is a beast tide? Is it really impossible to leave Canglan City for another city with a teleportation array right now?”

​The boy shook his head in confusion. “Right now, people in Canglan City can’t go anywhere except the Monster Forest; we have to wait for the beast tide to end. As for the beast tide… everyone in the cultivation world of the Canglan Continent knows about it. There is a massive Myriad Monster Forest. The outskirts are fine with low-level beasts, but the deeper you go, the higher the grade of plants and beasts. Every ten years, for unknown reasons, these beasts riot and charge through Canglan City toward the Canglan Secret Realm on the other side.

​The great sects of the cultivation world use this time to organize their Foundation Establishment and Golden Core disciples to enter the secret realm for trials.

​Actually, Canglan City was originally nameless. Because it was built on the necessary path between the Myriad Monster Forest and the Secret Realm, occasional minor riots and the decennial tide would level the city to the ground.

Later, a female Immortal Venerable built it with formation arrays. Every house contains defensive arrays. During beast tides, beasts will detour around activated homes.

Over time, people settled here.

The city was named Canglan because of its proximity to the Canglan Secret Realm.

After finishing, the boy felt something was off. He asked cautiously, “Are you two seniors from a reclusive family?” Was that why they didn’t know common knowledge that even a three-year-old would know?

​Ling Wuji: “…”

Chun Chou: “…” He had been careless; he shouldn’t have asked about the beast tide.

​The boy added in a low voice, “A few days ago, I led a female cultivator into the city. She seemed just like you two, knowing nothing. Could she be from the same place as you?”

​A cold sneer appeared at the corner of Ling Wuji’s mouth.

​Chun Chou, however, asked hurriedly, “What was her surname?”

​The boy replied, “That senior’s surname was Qiao. She was heavily injured when she entered the city. I took her to an inn to stay; I’m not sure if her injuries have fully healed yet.”

​Chun Chou glanced at Ling Wuji, but Ling Wuji looked away.

​His expression made it clear: he didn’t want to have anything to do with anyone else.

​In his life, having Chun Chou alone was enough.

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