164: Chapter 164 Second-Tier Mid-Grade Spiritual Vein, Qingyang Lake

[You immediately stood up, smoothed your skirt, and walked towards the assembled group at the front of the stage.]

[Once the fifty-three people were assembled, Zhao Chengtuo did not linger, leading everyone directly onto the emerald flying boat.]

[The moment you stepped onto the deck, a faint tremor of Spiritual Qi vibrated beneath your feet; it was the aftermath of the flying boat's formation runes running. The deck was spacious, with wooden railings on both sides, and several rows of simple meditation cushions were set in the center for people to sit on.]

[You chose a seat near the starboard side.]

[The flying boat rose steadily into the air. The martial arts stage and the dense crowd quickly shrank, and the full view of Qingyue Market unfolded beneath your feet: rows of houses, crisscrossing streets, and the shimmering defensive formation at the edge of the market.]

[Then, the flying boat turned northeast, and its speed increased abruptly.]

[The wind rushed past your ears, lifting your hair. You subconsciously raised a hand to hold down your fluttering skirt, casting your gaze into the distance. Rolling emerald mountains spread out beneath the clouds, and the edge of the Ten Thousand Mountains stood like a deep green barrier, spanning between heaven and earth.]

["Big sister, are you also a newly selected Guest Elder? I am Fang Han; my mother used to be part of the Family as well."]

[A youth of about seventeen or eighteen squeezed in to sit next to you. He had a likable round face with dimples on his cheeks when he smiled, and his cultivation was at the ninth layer of Aperture Opening, just one step away from entering Qi Refining.]

["Lin Shuangwan." You replied briefly.]

[Fang Han did not mind your coldness; instead, he leaned in even more excitedly: "I heard your name in the market before! The Xuanmo Fairy, right? But to be honest, seeing you in person today... you are much better looking than the rumors say. No wonder Meng Si wanted to get you so badly."]

["...Thank you."]

[Once Fang Han opened his chatterbox, he couldn't stop. You responded lukewarmly, occasionally saying "Mm" or nodding, and he could ramble on for a long time by himself.]

[You were not averse to such people; talkative people are often the best sources of information.]

[Sure enough, in less than a quarter of an hour, you had extracted quite a bit of useful information from Fang Han.]

[For instance, among the three young people from the Family at the front of the flying boat, the burly one was Zhao Zhanhong, Zhao Chengtuo's grandnephew, at the seventh layer of Qi Refining; he had a fiery temper but good talent for cultivation. The woman in the purple dress was Zhao Zhanwan, the youngest daughter of the third generation of the Family's direct line; she was proud by nature but not bad-hearted.]

[And the man in the ink-blue robe at the very front.]

["That is our Family's Young Clan Master, Zhao Zhanyuan." Fang Han lowered his voice, his eyes filled with reverence. "Twenty-seven years old, Qi Refining Peak, Medium Grade Spiritual Root, and on top of that, he is a First-Grade Peak Talisman master."]

[You raised an eyebrow slightly.]

[A First-Grade Peak Talisman master—in all of Qingyue Market, there wasn't a single person who could reach this level. Among Loose Cultivators, that was a walking Spirit Stone mine.]

["Twenty-seven years old at Qi Refining Peak is already very impressive, but the title of Peak Talisman master is what is truly terrifying." Fang Han counted on his fingers for you. "Think about it, how many Spirit Stones can a single First-Grade Peak Talisman sell for?"]

["And this person is said to have an excellent temperament, gentle and modest, never putting on airs. However, some say he is very cold to people he doesn't know well. Hmm... he is the type who looks harmless to humans and animals, but is actually not easy to get close to."]

[You looked toward the back of Young Patriarch Zhao Zhanyuan at the front of the flying boat.]

[Gentle and modest, excellent temperament, First-Grade Peak Talisman master, twenty-seven years old.]

[However, you had never heard the name "Young Patriarch Zhao Zhanyuan" in your previous life's simulations.]

[At that point in your previous life, the Family's Young Clan Master was someone else, who was already over forty when reaching Qi Refining Perfection.]

["How could a twenty-seven-year-old Genius Talisman master at Qi Refining Perfection be completely unheard of in my previous life?"]

[A ripple of unease stirred in your heart; the only explanation was that before you arrived at Qingyue Market, this Young Clan Master had already died.]

["Sure enough, Geniuses in the Cultivation World die the fastest." You sighed inwardly.]

[Genius premature death is not rare in the Cultivation World; those with good Spiritual Roots are coveted, and those strong in Talisman Dao are envied.]

[However, none of this had anything to do with you.]

[You only needed a stable environment to Cultivate for a few years, exhaust the Family's Spiritual Vein and resource System, and then retreat unscathed before trouble arrived.]

[As for whether Young Patriarch Zhao Zhanyuan lived or died, you hadn't even managed to protect yourself yet.]

[Just as you were inwardly grumbling, Young Patriarch Zhao Zhanyuan, who was standing at the stairs, seemed to notice something. He suddenly turned around, his gaze passing over the crowd and landing accurately on you.]

[You felt a bit uncomfortable being watched by him. Mainly, you had just been speculating in your heart that he wouldn't live long, and now that the subject himself had caught your gaze, you had a feeling of being a thief with a guilty conscience.]

[So you made the most natural reaction: you gave him a smile.]

[A very light, faint smile; the corners of your mouth curved slightly, and the corners of your eyes lifted, counting as a greeting.]

[Young Patriarch Zhao Zhanyuan paused for a moment.]

[Then he nodded slightly, responding to you with a polite and distant nod, before turning back around.]

[The flying boat continued to fly forward, and after about half an hour, its speed began to slow.]

["We've arrived!" Fang Han suddenly stood up excitedly, leaning over the railing to look down.]

[You also followed his gaze to look.]

[Then, the view before your eyes suddenly opened up.]

[A massive lake was embedded between the mountains; the lake surface was as emerald green as jade, with mist swirling, and the Spiritual Qi was so dense it had almost condensed into substance. Along the lakeshore, large groups of buildings were scattered in an orderly fashion, with flying eaves and upturned corners, white walls and black tiles, built along the lake and layered upwards, connected by long corridors and spanned by stone bridges. The scale was much larger than you had imagined.]

[And in the very center of the lake, there was an isolated island.]

[The island was not large, only a few hundred zhang in circumference, but on the island stood a three-story tower built entirely of green jade. Spiritual light flowed across the tower's body, with formation runes faintly visible, and a visible beam of Spiritual Qi shot from the top of the tower straight into the clouds.]

[Medium Grade Spiritual Vein, Qingyang Lake.]

[The Spiritual Qi of the entire Qingyang Lake originated from that tower, spreading outward in circles like ripples on water. You took a deep breath; even from such a distance, the concentration of Spiritual Qi flowing into your body was far greater than in Qingyue Market.]

[The flying boat landed slowly on a stone platform on the east side of the lakeshore.]

[Young Patriarch Zhao Zhanyuan was the first to walk off the deck. After a brief conversation with Zhao Chengtuo and another white-haired elder waiting on the shore, he walked alone toward a path by the lake, his figure quickly disappearing among the buildings.]

[Zhao Chengtuo exchanged pleasantries with the white-haired elder—you faintly heard him address the other party as "Uncle Zhao"—and then turned to you, the new Guest Elders.]

["Alright, everyone." Zhao Chengtuo waved at you. "From today on, this is your new home. I will first arrange for someone to take you to the Guest Elder area to settle in. Tomorrow, someone will explain the Family rules and the Task System to you; for today, just get some good rest."]

[As his voice fell, two Family Disciples dressed in cyan-gray short tunics stepped forward.]