246: Chapter 244 My Money Isn't So Easy to Earn

Yun Ming left the group and walked to an open space by the roadside, turning the token over and over in his hands.

The token wasn't large, about the size of a palm; it felt warm to the touch, like a piece of warm jade.

The words "Divine Capital" were carved on the front in vigorous brushstrokes, with a faint spiritual light flowing through them.

The back was covered in dense runes, so tiny they were almost invisible to the naked eye, requiring Divine Sense to distinguish them.

The edges of the token were polished smooth without a single burr, showing quite fine craftsmanship.

He stopped, held the token up to his eyes, and scrutinized it carefully.

The material was decent, a second-tier artifact material called Green Spirit Jade.

With thousands of Cultivators entering and leaving Tianyuan City every day, just selling tokens was an astronomical sum.

Yun Ming sighed inwardly; the Zifu Immortal Dynasty really knew how to make money.

He flipped the token over, looking at the fine runes on the back.

The runes were formation patterns, carved deeply, their full form only visible with Divine Sense.

As Yun Ming's Divine Sense probed deep into the runes, he suddenly frowned.

He discovered a trace of a strange aura, which didn't belong to the material of the token itself, nor was it the spiritual power fluctuations emitted by the runes; it was something else.

It was very faint, so faint it almost didn't exist; if his Divine Sense hadn't far exceeded those of the same stage, he wouldn't have discovered it at all.

That trace of aura was like an invisible thread attached to the runes of the token, flickering in and out of existence as if it were alive.

Yun Ming's fingers gently rubbed the token as his Divine Sense transformed into an invisible blade, cutting into the gaps of the formation patterns to peel that trace of aura away from the token.

The aura struggled for a moment, like a hooked fish, twisting a few times before breaking and dissipating into the air.

The token vibrated slightly, the light of the runes brightened for a moment, and then it returned to normal.

Yun Ming felt a subtle connection form between him and the token, a sense of being in sync like a refined Magical Artifact.

He closed his eyes and sank his Divine Sense into the token.

The interior of the token was like an empty Sea of Consciousness, with countless tiny points of light flickering.

Those points of light were densely packed, varying in size and brightness, distributed in different directions.

Each point of light represented someone holding a shendu token.

The brightness of the light represented the strength of their cultivation, while the clarity indicated their distance.

Yun Ming tried to lock his Divine Sense onto one of the points of light, and the token immediately fed back a string of information—the person's location, cultivation, and even a vague directional guide.

If they had made contact before, they could even communicate directly through voice transmission via the token.

Yun Ming thought to himself, isn't this just a mobile phone?

He continued his research.

The shendu token also had a function for storing Spirit Stones; one could deposit Spirit Stones into the token and have them deducted directly during transactions without needing to pull out a Storage Pouch.

The token could also record images, carving what was seen and thought by the Divine Sense into the token to be saved, viewed at any time, or deleted at will.

The token could also be bound to one's identity; since everyone's Divine Sense fluctuations were unique, once the token recognized its master, others wouldn't be able to use it even if they picked it up.

Yun Ming looked at the row of fine runes on the back of the token, thinking that this thing really had quite a few functions.

The most core use of the token was still for passage.

The shendu token proved the holder's legal identity within the Zifu Immortal Dynasty, ensuring they weren't an undocumented resident who would be expelled or even killed on the spot.

The token recorded information such as the holder's name, cultivation, origin, and entry time; when guards at the city gate performed inspections, they only needed to place the token on a Formation Plate to pull up all this information.

Furthermore, each shendu token allowed the holder to bring three accompanying personnel—not a single person more.

Yun Ming glanced at Ah Yuan beside him and then at the fox perched on his shoulder; the fox didn't count toward the quota, as she was a spirit pet.

Ah Yuan counted as one, he counted as one, and there were still two accompanying slots left.

That was more than enough.

He played with the shendu token for a long time, occasionally letting out exclamations like "oh," "huh," or "so that's how it is."

He had registered his identity in Qingyao City before and received a token, but that token was made of wood and looked dull; it could only prove identity and didn't have so many fancy functions.

Tianyuan City truly lived up to its reputation as the capital of the Zifu Immortal Dynasty; even a passage token was made so exquisitely.

Ah Yuan stood beside Yun Ming, watching him frown one moment and nod the next, then rub his chin, not knowing what he was doing. She waited for a while, and seeing that Yun Ming was still playing with the token, she couldn't help but reach out and tug on his sleeve.

"Mr. Yun..."

Yun Ming looked up. "Hmm?"

Ah Yuan looked at him and hesitated. "That token... why was it so expensive? Five hundred High-Grade Spirit Stones. Those people only wanted a hundred, so why did he want five hundred from you?"

Yun Ming was stunned for a moment, then he smiled. The smile was very faint, carrying a "you're still young and don't understand" meaning.

"Because I look rich," he said. "That man set the price based on my flying boat."

Ah Yuan nodded, though she only half-understood. "Then why did you still buy it? Five hundred High-Grade Spirit Stones is so expensive."

Yun Ming stroked the fox's head. Xue Ji was napping on his shoulder, her nine tails hanging down and swaying slightly. The corners of his mouth curled up into a meaningful smile.

"My money isn't that easy to take."

Looking at his smile, Ah Yuan felt a bit uneasy. She didn't know what Yun Ming was smiling about, but she knew that the skinny dark man was likely going to be in trouble.

And sure enough.

No sooner had Yun Ming finished speaking than the fox opened her eyes. Xue Ji jumped down from Yun Ming's shoulder, landing on the ground with her nine tails fanning out behind her. She looked back at Yun Ming, who gave her a slight nod. The fox's mouth seemed to twitch as if she were smiling, and then her form began to fade—from her paws to her body, then her head, until finally even her shadow was gone. Fuli Heaven-Concealing Record. Yun Ming had applied the concealment effect of this Cultivation Technique to the fox. Xue Ji already had a natural talent for concealment, and with the boost from the Fuli Heaven-Concealing Record, let alone that skinny dark man who was just a Loose Cultivator, even a Nascent Soul True Lord wouldn't be able to find her.

Ah Yuan stared at the spot where the fox had disappeared, her eyes wide. "Where... where did she go?"

Yun Ming didn't answer. He leaned against a large tree by the roadside, arms crossed, eyes closed, waiting.

In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Xue Ji returned. She suddenly emerged from the air at Yun Ming's feet—first a white nose, then her entire head, then her body, and finally her nine tails. She was carrying several Storage Pouches in her mouth, which were bulging, and a whole string of them were hanging off her—Yun Ming couldn't quite figure out how she was holding them all. Some were in her mouth, some were hooked on her tails, and some were tied to her paws, looking like a little soldier who had returned triumphantly with spoils from the battlefield.

The fox jumped onto Yun Ming's shoulder and placed the Storage Pouches one by one in front of him. There were six Storage Pouches in total, three storage bracelets, and a bundle of spirit stone ore she had swiped from somewhere. At a glance, there were at least a thousand pieces, of excellent quality, with Spiritual Qi so abundant it could be felt from a distance.

Yun Ming crouched down and opened them one by one. The first Storage Pouch was filled with High-Grade Spirit Stones, neatly stacked like a small mountain. The second Storage Pouch also contained High-Grade Spirit Stones, even more than the first. The third was the same. The three storage bracelets contained even better things: Medicinal Pills, Materials, several high-quality Magical Artifacts, and even a fourth-tier Spirit Talisman. Its use was unknown, but its rank alone made it highly valuable. As for that bundle of spirit stone ore, Yun Ming weighed it; there were at least a thousand pieces, of excellent quality, with Spiritual Qi so abundant it could be felt from a distance.

Yun Ming made a rough estimate; there were over ten thousand High-Grade Spirit Stones just in terms of currency. Adding the Medicinal Pills, Materials, Magical Artifacts, and Spirit Talisman, the total value was likely far beyond that. High-Grade Spirit Stones, not Low Grade, not Medium Grade, but High Grade. The entire fortune of an ordinary Cultivator might not even add up to ten High-Grade Spirit Stones. He sucked in a breath of cold air and looked up at the fox; she was squinting her eyes, her tails swaying as if to say, "Hurry up and praise me."

"This haul is enough for you to live in Tianyuan City for a lifetime," Yun Ming whispered, then he stowed everything into the map of mountains and rivers.

Yun Ming reached out and rubbed the fox's head. "Great job."

The fox let out a low, satisfied hum, rubbing her head against Yun Ming's palm, her tails wagging even more happily. Ah Yuan watched this scene with her eyes wide and round. She wasn't stupid; she could see that Yun Ming had sent the fox to steal that man's Storage Pouches. That man, the skinny dark fellow who sold the shendu token, had a silver tongue, and those Spirit Stones were what he had earned from selling shendu tokens lately. Now, they were all here.

"All right." Yun Ming tucked away the Storage Pouches and patted the dust off his robes. "Let's go, into the city."

Ah Yuan opened her mouth as if to say something but swallowed it back down. She followed behind Yun Ming, head lowered, thinking over and over about the scene that had just unfolded. A Qi Refining Stage Loose Cultivator had blocked the road to sell shendu tokens, asking for five hundred High-Grade Spirit Stones right off the bat. He thought he had slaughtered a fat sheep. He didn't know that he was the real fat sheep. Yun Ming had given him five hundred and taken back over ten thousand. Ah Yuan thought silently to herself that Mr. Yun was truly someone who should not be crossed.

The three of them walked along the Official Road. On the horizon, the walls of Tianyuan City grew clearer—towering into the clouds, with formation patterns flowing across them, glowing with a pale golden light in the setting sun. There was a long queue at the city gate, all people waiting to enter. Some were riding Spirit Beasts, some were in horse-drawn carriages, some were on foot, and some were in palanquins. Guards at the city gate were checking tokens and letting people through one by one. The pace wasn't fast, but it was orderly.

Yun Ming stood at the end of the line, holding the shendu token in his hand, gazing at the towering city in the distance. There was no expression on his face; he didn't look expectant or nervous. He just stood there, waiting quietly.

Ah Yuan stood beside him, holding the fox, her head down and silent. She didn't know what she would encounter once they entered the city, whether Yun Ming would leave her behind, or where her life would go from here. But at this moment, she didn't want to think about so much. She just thought that as long as there was someone walking in front and she followed, it was enough.

The queue moved forward bit by bit. The setting sun sank lower and lower. The clouds on the horizon were dyed a dark red, like burnt charcoal. The wind blew, carrying the coolness of early autumn, fluttering Yun Ming's robes, Ah Yuan's hair, and the fox's tails.

The city gate was getting closer.