Chapter 102: The Cheerful Steward Li

“How easy it is,” Yuanzhou said, reclining comfortably on the slope as he looked at Wang Lin. “These last missions were genuinely simple.”

“Clearing out bandits is never the hardest kind of work,” he went on. “It’s not very dangerous, either. It’s just that very few people are willing to take this kind of job. Now that we’ve gathered enough men, we may as well finish several at once and clear away a real nuisance for the people.”

Wang Lin copied Yuanzhou’s posture, bending his body to one side, his left leg draped over his right, and picking a blade of grass with his fingers to chew it, not at all troubled by the blood smell nearby.

“What about Li Yang? These things taken by bandits—our sect has no use for them, and we can handle them ourselves. But can he really strip a brigand den to its roots every time he goes somewhere? Everyone has enough money. Why is he so obsessed with gain?”

Flicking his lips with a dismissive gesture, Yuanzhou looked a little displeased. “Every time we have to wait until he has found everything before we can move!”

Wang Lin laughed softly, voice low and teasing. “You don’t know, do you? Do you know the kind of places Li Yang always fixates on?”

“Where?”

Seeing Wang Lin’s expression, Yuanzhou’s curiosity was piqued.

“Places like cells—rooms meant for prisoners.”

Wang Lin raised an eyebrow, amused. “Guess what kind of people brigands keep in places like that? Naturally women. I can’t imagine what’s on Li Yang’s mind!”

“Enough of this—Li Yang’s coming!”

Beside them, Zhao Yishui gave a quiet cough. As the squad leader, he could not let such talk reach Li Yang’s ears. Though he too found Li Yang’s behavior baffling, he wisely said nothing.

The delay meant nothing in the bigger picture.

Li Yang kept his head down, his face clouded with frustration. “Sigh… still nothing. What is to be done, then? When will we ever find her?”

“Li Yang, let’s move! We still have a few brigand clans to clean up!”

“Of course. Look, in the area within dozens of li—hundreds, maybe—we’ve almost wiped out the brigand bands!”

Li Yang followed behind them all and murmured softly, “If she isn’t in any of these brigand camps, what are we to do?”

“Yang Junior, is this all it is—those few weapons and a few vials of pills?” Luo Tian moved to the rack, looked them over, and turned back to Yanghui.

“Yes. But the auction house has a department that buys ordinary items. Ask, and you’ll know. These wouldn’t even qualify for the auction hall.”

Yanghui smiled. “Still, if you want, Brother Luo, you could visit the auctions and take a look. Some items are meant for Yuan-Dan strongmen, some for Meridians-Flow and Qi-Condensation, and some large auctions place no restrictions at all, with goods from every level. But those auctions are expensive, naturally.”

“Yang Junior, have you had any trouble with your cultivation lately?”

When he saw Yanghui, Luo Tian’s eyes flickered with gold light, yet the Qi in his dantian seemed unnervingly stagnant, as if neglected.

“Trouble?”

Yanghui looked at him, doubtful. “None. In the last year or two I hardly practiced at all. Brother Luo—so no bottleneck whatsoever.”

“Why have you stopped practicing?”

Luo Tian, who had expected to make do with a simple mouthful of clover, was now truly perplexed. Though time there was limited, the conditions for practice were fine and Qi was not scarce.

Shenyang Sect can gather Qi within its grounds; Wanfeng City is even better. Its acreage is so vast that the overall concentration is still lower than that of Ziyang Mountain, but it is by no means unusable. Besides, Luo Tian was certain there must be special spots in the city with extraordinary Qi density—the barracks of the Fengyun Guard among them.

“I live so comfortably in Shenyang Trading Hall. Why spend so much effort and trouble on cultivation?” Yanghui said.

He looked at Luo Tian as if he were the fool in the room. “Isn’t cultivation only for living the life you want? I already have that life, and I can never, in this lifetime, enter the Meridians-Flow realm. So I won’t practice anymore.”

Luo Tian had no rebuttal.
Practice is held together by one’s own persistence. Some truly love it, delighted by the sensation of ever-growing strength. Others treat it as a necessary burden, and even if they do not enjoy it, they persevere, for power brings more peace than weakness. Yet when a man refuses to cultivate from the bottom of his heart, no amount of urging will help.

Shaking his head slightly, Luo Tian put the few things into his storage bag, exchanged a parting nod with Yanghui, and went to the auction house on his own.

He had gone out right after arriving back, and though he was not fatigued, it felt somewhat tedious.

Not in a hurry, he first made a stop at a furnace-and-artifact shop and left his damaged upper-grade treasure armor there, asking a craftsman to mend it.

As for money, Luo Tian did not worry. Shen Qingkong’s inheritance was lavish, and there were plenty of gold coins. Even if that proved short, Yuan Stones could always be exchanged.

Generally, Yuan Stones of the same tier but different attributes are fairly easy to trade, and Yuan Stones are easy to sell for money. But when it comes to buying them with money, it’s always a case of value without a true market.

Once inside the auction house, he stated his purpose and sold everything from this trip. The price was of course a little low-balled, but Wanfeng Auction House was direct and efficient—money and goods were settled on the spot.
For treasures and pills of this ordinary quality, the house had little attachment to them and plenty of leverage to bargain. After all, they were not scarce. If you do not sell, there are always others willing to.

Wanfeng Auction House had a broad scope. Beyond the most profitable auctions, the sale of costly but not rare goods was itself a great treasure-seeking ground. As for artifacts and elixirs, it bought in bulk and sold slowly over time. Sometimes a person wants to unload many items at once, but small shops cannot pay them all at once, so they are forced to come here.

For such a simple job—just a short trip by foot—Luo Tian still felt a bit unfulfilled. Since he was already out, returning straight to the trading hall felt like needless trouble.
Perhaps he should see if there was anything suitable to buy.

After deciding, he asked a clerk to take him to Manager Li.

Cheating many people leads to a day of exposure sooner or later. Better to corner one person and fleece him thoroughly; the chance of being discovered is smaller.

“Ah, Master Luo, what a wonderful thing to grace the house with your visit!”

Manager Li was delighted. He believed that the generous bargain Luo Tian had made last time within his authority limits had made a strong impression, and he was very happy. With a man in the Qi-Condensation realm paying in Yuan Stones, if this relation were maintained he saw endless opportunities to fill his coffers.

Luo Tian laughed inwardly; once this manager discovered he had been fooled, he would probably want to carve him apart.

“Manager Li,” Luo Tian said, “the last batch of Life-Devouring Golden Silkworm Silk pleased my master very much. This time I have come to pick out some items suitable for Qi-Condensation and Meridians-Flow cultivators.”

“Master?”

“Master?”

Manager Li’s professional instinct immediately imagined the invisible great patron behind Luo Tian, and his eagerness only deepened. Life-Devouring Golden Silkworm Silk, he thought, is something only powerful Yuan-Dan cultivators can use. Ordinary Qi-Condensation and Meridians-Flow disciples probably have not even heard of such a thing.

If he could serve Master Luo well, he and that august figure behind him might become long-term partners, and would that not bring torrents of fortune?

“What can I do for you, Master Luo?”

Manager Li’s fleshy face bloomed into a full smile.