499: Chapter 9 Heyang City, the Radiant Pearl

Heyang City was the closest city to Qingyun Mountain and had deep ties with the Qingyun Sect.

Many Disciples of the Qingyun Sect hailed from this place, and it was where sect members usually descended the mountain to purchase supplies.

Naturally, the city received great care from the Qingyun Sect, and the vast majority of demonic creatures and evil Cultivators dared not cause trouble here.

Therefore, Heyang City maintained an image of peace and prosperity year-round.

Furthermore, due to its connection with a major Immortal Cultivation sect like the Qingyun Sect, some rare Spiritual Plants and precious medicines found elsewhere were less valuable here.

Meng Li had inquired about this point from Tian Buyi, Song Da Ren, and others while doing his homework before descending the mountain, so he was aware of the situation.

Thus, upon entering the city, he did not choose to exchange Spirit Medicines for silver. Instead, he asked Tian Linger and Lu Xueqi to find a teahouse to rest, then took out a pre-refined night-shining pearl from his storage ring, disguised himself slightly, and walked into a pawnshop.

About half an incense stick later, Meng Li left with a satisfactory amount of silver. He then made a detour, ensuring no one was following him, before reverting to his original appearance and returning to find Tian Linger and Lu Xueqi.

As soon as they met, Tian Linger couldn't help but ask, "Junior Brother, where did you go? So secretive."

"I went to exchange a Light-Emitting Bead for some silver," Meng Li replied truthfully.

The Light-Emitting Bead was a small trinket he casually refined based on the Qingyun Sect's basic Spell, the Light-Emitting Spell, after revealing his Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements.

It could independently absorb the free Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth and emit light in dark environments.

It served no other purpose and was purely meant to act as a light bulb.

Its appearance was similar to the night-shining pearl in Meng Li's memory, and since its effect was the same, it could also be called a night-shining pearl.

Immediately after, Meng Li took out a pouch and handed it to Tian Linger: "The Materials for refining the Light-Emitting Bead were brought back by you, Senior Sister. Now that it's exchanged for money, half of it belongs to you."

Tian Linger was first slightly stunned upon hearing this, then accepted the pouch. Feeling its weight, she opened it and saw it was packed full of copper coins, small pieces of silver, and complete silver ingots. She couldn't help but be startled and quickly put it away into her storage ring.

Lu Xueqi, standing nearby, was also secretly surprised.

This was because the amount of silver in the pouch was unexpectedly large.

Before becoming a Disciple of Water Moon True Person, she had once been sold to a circus by her mother and personally experienced the hardships of the mortal world, giving her a relatively clear understanding of secular silver.

Although Tian Linger had not suffered such an experience, she had descended the mountain several times under the guidance of Tian Buyi, Su Ru, and Song Da Ren, so she had a certain concept of money: the silver in her pouch alone could cover the living expenses of an ordinary family for several years.

And this was only half?

Tian Linger clicked her tongue secretly and asked Meng Li, "How many Light-Emitting Beads did you sell?"

"One."

"One?" Tian Linger's eyes widened, then she whispered, "Are Light-Emitting Beads really that valuable?"

She remembered that the Light-Emitting Bead was something Meng Li casually refined.

The refining Material, Yuan Guang Rock, from Chaoyang Peak, was as common there as black-joint bamboo was on Dazhu Peak; it was ubiquitous.

If it weren't for Meng Li's ability to turn decay into magic, refining interesting items from ordinary Materials, which led Tian Linger to develop a habit of collecting Materials, she wouldn't have brought back a portion of Yuan Guang Rock when visiting Chaoyang Peak.

Besides emitting light, the Light-Emitting Bead had no other function.

After Meng Li refined a batch, everyone on Dazhu Peak used them only to replace oil lamps and candles, under the pretext of "saving oil consumption."

As a result, upon reaching the foot of the mountain, the Light-Emitting Beads turned out to be more valuable than the Spirit Medicines Tian Buyi planted.

This was something Tian Linger never expected, and she was greatly puzzled.

In response, Meng Li simply replied faintly, "Value comes from scarcity."

Immediately after, he changed the subject: "Now that we have money, let's go buy some food."

"Okay!" Hearing about food, Tian Linger's eyes lit up, and she quickly agreed.

Lu Xueqi also needed to buy dry rations, so she naturally wouldn't object.

However, she soon noticed that the way Meng Li and Tian Linger bought food was different from her own: for convenience, she bought dry rations like steamed buns and flatbreads.

Meng Li and Tian Linger, however, bought whatever food they saw, and bought more if they tasted good after sampling.

Seeing this, Lu Xueqi wanted to say that too many things would be inconvenient, and some food would spoil after a long time.

But before she could speak, she saw Meng Li and Tian Linger walking to a secluded corner with large and small bags, and putting them into their storage rings.

This made Lu Xueqi swallow the words that were about to come out.

She looked at the sword in her hand and the package on her body, then looked at the empty-handed Meng Li and Tian Linger, and a ridiculous thought arose in her mind: Even after Cultivating, life is still so inconvenient; perhaps I'm cultivating a fake Dao?

At this moment, Meng Li noticed her situation and spoke with a smile, "Senior Sister Lu, if you don't mind, let Junior Sister Linger help hold onto your package."

"This way, your movements and Sword Flight will be more convenient. If you need to retrieve anything later, just tell her."

"Of course, if it causes any inconvenience, just pretend I didn't say anything."

Lu Xueqi shook her head: "There's no inconvenience."

Besides the newly bought dry rations, her package only contained some clothes. If Meng Li had offered to hold it, she might have hesitated due to propriety between men and women.

Since it was Tian Linger, a fellow female, offering to hold it, she naturally didn't need to worry about gender separation.

In an instant, Lu Xueqi voiced her concern: "However, Junior Sister Tian has already stored quite a few things inside; can her Magic Treasure still fit more?"

Tian Linger smiled: "It can fit. The internal space of the storage ring Junior Brother gave me is as large as a room, and there's still plenty of space left."

"As large as a room?" Lu Xueqi showed surprise, then asked curiously, "Junior Brother Meng, forgive my rudeness, but where did you get this storage Magic Treasure from?"

Before Meng Li could answer, Tian Linger spoke first: "Junior Brother refined it himself."

"Refined it himself?" Hearing this answer, Lu Xueqi was even more astonished.

"Yes," Tian Linger confirmed, then said in a showing-off tone, "Senior Sister Lu, let me tell you, Junior Brother is amazing. Not only can he refine many miraculous Magic Treasures, but his Cultivation..."

"Cough, cough," Seeing Tian Linger rambling on, Meng Li quickly interrupted.

Immediately after, he changed the subject: "Senior Sister, Senior Sister Lu is still carrying a package."

Tian Linger instantly realized she had talked too much, stuck out her tongue, and then extended her hand to Lu Xueqi: "Senior Sister, give me your package."

Lu Xueqi nodded, took off the package, and handed it to Tian Linger: "I'll trouble you, Junior Sister."

"It's nothing," Tian Linger replied, taking the package and storing it in her storage ring...