Chapter 67: Chapter 57 Inn
When leaving Yuanzhou, Liu Suiyun had already planned in his heart the goals for his next breakthrough.
First of all, he had to break through to the fifth level of Qi Refining in the shortest time possible to achieve a qualitative breakthrough in his strength. After all, once he truly reached the middle stage of Qi Refining, the total amount of spiritual power he could mobilize would have a leap.
Next, he had to find a way to break through to the seventh level of Qi Refining. Coupled with the Tear of the Stars Falling Sword, he could perform some of the Taoist techniques of the later stage of Qi Refining, which could also greatly improve his strength. For Liu Suiyun, this was his peak state before being injured. Now he was just retracing his old path. With past experience as a reference, the breakthrough should only be a matter of time.
But for Liu Suiyun, what he lacked the most right now was precisely time. Even with such a quick-result cultivation method as the Extreme Yuan Thunder Forging Divine Record, but estimated under the most ideal circumstances, it would take at least a year to return to the seventh level of Qi Refining. For ordinary cultivators, advancing three times within a year is already a delightful thing in life. But for Liu Suiyun, it was still too slow. He wanted to go to Lingjing Mountain to see Gu Yinghua now.
The next goal was a bit arduous. That was to break through to the ninth level of Qi Refining and reach the later stage of Qi Refining. This required more time. For Liu Suiyun, he had to break through this level again. Otherwise, he wouldn't even have the qualification to go to Lingjing Mountain.
You should know that Gu Yinghua's senior sisters are at least at the Golden Core cultivation level. Without a foundation in the later stage of Qi Refining, Liu Suiyun estimated that with just a flick of a finger from the senior sisters, he would be directly blown out of the mountain gate. Of course, if there was some more time, Liu Suiyun still hoped that he could successfully establish his foundation before going to Lingjing Mountain.
Women are beings who love honor and glory the most. If he, a cultivator in the later stage of Qi Refining, wanted to go to Lingjing Mountain, he would naturally feel ashamed, and Gu Yinghua would also lose face. According to Liu Suiyun's understanding, Miss Gu cared a lot about her face, and he couldn't lose points in this regard.
In fact, even if he could successfully establish his foundation and go to Lingjing Mountain, Gu Yinghua would still lose face. After all, everyone in Lingjing Mountain is someone who sounds like an abnormal woman.
In any case, Liu Suiyun had to break through to the fifth level of Qi Refining in the shortest time possible, advance to the middle stage of Qi Refining, and at the same time lay a good foundation for breaking through to the seventh level of Qi Refining. That's why he came to this market town specifically pointed out by Gu Shanhe and was prepared to spend a sum of spirit stones.
Ten spirit stones, for him, were not only one-third of the spirit stones in his hand but also an astonishing fortune. Naturally, Liu Suiyun hoped that each spirit stone could
Make the most of it. Therefore, after walking around the market town, he didn't make a move directly but stayed instead.
The inn where Liu Suiyun stayed was recommended to Liu Suiyun by Gu Shanhe. It was said to have some relatives with a certain Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Shenxiao Sect. Therefore, although the boss was only an ordinary person, he was qualified to open an inn that made a fortune every day in the cultivation market town. However, when Liu Suiyun learned the price, he was a little surprised.
It wasn't because the price was too expensive, but it seemed too reasonable. The price of five hundred copper coins a day for an upper room was sky-high among secular inns. But in those cultivation market towns Liu Suiyun had visited, sleeping on a bunk for one night cost more than this price. Sometimes, sleeping for one night cost three to five thousand copper coins.
Who called this a cultivation market town? Even drinking a sip of water cost eighty to a hundred copper coins. Nothing about eating, drinking, sleeping, and defecating was not ridiculously expensive. But the cultivators who could be invited into the market town wouldn't care about such a few copper coins. What they lacked were spirit stones and didn't care about a thousand or so copper coins.
But soon Liu Suiyun understood why the price of this inn was so reasonable.
The upper room of this inn was actually only equivalent to the most ordinary room in an ordinary inn. Moreover, it hadn't been renovated for who knows how many years. Liu Suiyun could directly smell a long-standing historical smell. He didn't know how old this house was. As for fleas, cockroaches, and mice, naturally there couldn't be fewer.
Of course, this wasn't the whole reason for the reasonable price. Liu Suiyun could see that due to its unique advantages, this inn never lacked customers. There were even no clerks pulling customers everywhere on the street. They just waited for customers to come. Moreover, the clerks in the store were not young and pleasing young men and girls but a group of real uncles and aunts.
The uncles and aunts had no concept of service attitude at all, let alone interaction with regular customers. Although the food in the store was still relatively cheap, the portions were too large. Taken together, it wasn't cheap. The uncles and aunts served food quickly, and the quality of the food was uneven. Generally speaking, it could only be said to be barely worth the price. But some of the store's signature dishes could make it worth the money.
In general, just like this market town, this inn recommended by Gu Shanhe also revealed an extremely strong official tone. Even if this official tone belonged to the official tone of the cultivation world, it was still genuine.
But Liu Suiyun quickly integrated into this environment. Although the entire inn was a mixed bag with people from all walks of life gathered, compared to the step-by-step crises and constant vigilance in those small market towns, this was a place where one could sleep soundly.
He wanted to obtain enough information here and then decide how to act. And soon he started making friends with a group of cultivators with similar cultivation levels as him during dinner.
Just a few jars of inferior wine, a few plates of peanuts, and three or five ordinary side dishes, in total it was only about a thousand copper coins. A table of small cultivators talked happily.
A fat cultivator that Liu Suiyun had just met, in his early thirties, always spoke rudely. He had criticized countless famous snacks until they were completely torn apart, but he had a special preference for such an official inn: "Old Xing, when you go out in the future, it's better to stay in such an official inn. For nothing else, the service is fast, but you have to be quick..."
He soon revealed a little secret: "They close as soon as the sun sets, and the dishes are prepared in advance. Once they are sold out, they directly close. But after eating everywhere, I, Wang Dayang, still find that such an old store is the most worry-free."
Liu Suiyun smiled. On the travel permit given to him by Gu Shanhe, he was neither called Liu Suiyun nor Xing Ruyu. Instead, he became a registered loose cultivator named Xing Suiyun who had always been law-abiding: "Still, Old Wang, you know the market best. I had only been to some small market towns before and never came to the Jiazhou market town. I didn't know the ins and outs here."
Wang Dayang was very familiar. He took another two sips of small wine. Although the wine was inferior, he drank happily: "Small market towns have the advantages of small market towns, and official market towns also have their own merits. I see that Old Xing is not far from the middle stage of Qi Refining. That's why you came here!"
Liu Suiyun nodded. "To broaden my horizons."
"That's it!" Someone beside Wang Dayang immediately replied: "When I just broke through to the early stage of Qi Refining, I also only went to small market towns. Who called small market towns not requiring travel permits and having considerate service and cheap prices? At that time, I would enter the market town in the morning and go home in the evening just to save those few thousand copper coins!"
"But now today, I basically only come to the Jiazhou market town. No matter how affordable the prices are in those small market towns, I dare not touch them!" This person was a thin man. Liu Suiyun couldn't remember his name. He just knew that he liked to argue and was serious to the point of not recognizing his relatives. Everyone called him Argumentative, and he didn't mind.
So Liu Suiyun also directly called him by his nickname: "Argumentative, then why do you only come to the Jiazhou market town?"
Wang Dayang immediately replied: "It's very simple. It's for peace of mind and security! If you make a wrong judgment in a small market town, you will be cheated. Fake goods are also a problem. What's worse is being cheated by the victim after buying stolen goods. I suffered a big loss. Of course, Argumentative is wrong. As long as you are careful, you can still find good things in small market towns."
Argumentative was truly good at arguing. As soon as Wang Dayang had a different opinion, he directly argued: "What good things can there be in small market towns? Nine out of ten items are fake and shoddy. The remaining one is an extremely hot stolen good. Even if the price is twice as high, I will only buy it in official market towns. By the way, Big King, what stolen goods did you buy and get cheated by the victim? Could it be that time when you were greedy for a cheap price and bought a young wife and got caught in a honey trap before you could even enjoy it?"
Wang Dana was originally a fat person. Now the summer heat hadn't subsided. After being said by Argumentative like this, his face suddenly turned red: "Nonsense. That time I was doing a good deed, do you know? Besides, what I bought was not a young wife. I wanted to buy a female disciple to pass on my legacy. I, Big King, have always been wise and resolute. I want to establish my foundation and become an immortal. How can I be indulged in female beauty..."
But the more he tried to clear himself, the stronger the smiles on everyone's faces became. Wang Dayang didn't have the ability to argue back. He could only quickly change the topic: "Argumentative, there are really good things in small market towns. There are not only some things that official market towns won't sell but can only be bought in small market towns."
Argumentative had extraordinary arguing skills. He continued to hold on to Wang Dayang: "Nonsense. As long as you have money, Big King, you can buy anything in the Jiazhou market town. Those things that are said to be unavailable are just because people are not willing to pay. Just like buying a young wife. Although you only spent a few thousand copper coins in a small market town, in the end you were cheated out of ten thousand copper coins! Ten thousand copper coins! A whole spirit stone!"
When it came to Wang Dayang's sore spot, Argumentative became even more proud: "That's right. Our Jiazhou market town doesn't sell young wives. But if you take out a spirit stone, someone will definitely handle a young wife delivered to your door perfectly. The marriage contract will be flawless and even be registered in the county."
Wang Dayang didn't speak now. Argumentative continued to pursue his victory: "Besides, in our Jiazhou market town, as long as you are willing to pay enough money, you can buy anything. Many things are things that you can't buy no matter how much money you pay in small market towns."
Liu Suiyun pretended to be an outsider and immediately asked: "Then can Foundation Establishment Pills be bought?"
Wang Dayang laughed. He finally got out of the situation of being relentlessly pursued by Argumentative: "Foundation Establishment Pills? Thinking so far ahead. It's really hard to say if there are Foundation Establishment Pills in our Jiazhou market town. But even if they can be bought, they are goods transferred from other market towns. At least they will be 30 percent more expensive. You can't get it without four thousand spirit stones. We poor guys don't have four thousand spirit stones."
Argumentative was still continuing to criticize small market towns over there: "At least in our Jiazhou market town, if you take out four thousand spirit stones, the shops will still let you wait for a few days. But if you go to a small market town, hehe..."
Everyone understood what he meant. Naturally, it would be murder and robbery, and you would lose both your life and your money. Wang Dayang finally managed to change the topic, but he didn't expect Argumentative to bring the topic back again. He quickly said: "What Argumentative said is right. Not to mention four thousand spirit stones, even four hundred spirit stones, you can't survive in a small market town."
When Argumentative saw that Wang Dayang approved of his view, he finally gave up his relentless pursuit: "So, Old Xing, if you want to establish your foundation successfully and safely, it's better to come here. Let alone anything else, small market towns don't have Foundation Establishment seniors to impart their experience to you. If you're not in a hurry, in two days, a Foundation Establishment senior will come to our inn to teach us..."
A Foundation Establishment cultivator? Liu Suiyun nodded. Then he seemed to casually say: "This kind of imparting knowledge and experience seems to be available in small market towns too..."