Holding Xu Luoshui's hand, Yu Dazhi was strolling leisurely through his fragrance shop.
The former was tall and graceful, the kind of beauty that turned heads without trying. Her distinctive hairstyle and the sleek, upgraded version 2.0 black Heavenly Silkworm Stockings clinging to her long legs made her almost impossibly alluring.
And the latter had no interest in chatting. His thoughts were consumed by those legs that stirred up flames of desire inside him. All he wanted was to hold them in his arms and enjoy them thoroughly.
The clone was already used to that heated look in his eyes. Over the past six months, her relationship with him had pretty much been confirmed.
The development had surprised many within the sect. Only Mu Qingling sighed softly when she heard the news.
During this time, Xu Luoshui's cultivation hadn't improved much. She had only reached the fifth layer of Qi Refining and was expected to break through to the sixth after the New Year.
Yet that single level up had already cost her nearly five thousand spirit stones.
Even Cheng Qian didn't dare imagine how much more it would take to reach Foundation Establishment, let alone Golden Core or Nascent Soul. The mere thought made his scalp tingle.
As for Senior Brother Xiao Wenchuan, he was still in seclusion. When he finally emerged, he might discover that the adorable junior sister he once knew was slowly slipping further and further away.
"Senior Sister Luoshui, tomorrow the Skyshadow Flying Boat from Anshun Immortal City will arrive at the sect. Let's go check it out together."
"Anshun Immortal City? Skyshadow Flying Boat?" Xu Luoshui tilted her head in confusion.
Yu Dazhi slapped his forehead. He had forgotten that this little girl came from a farming background. How would she know any of that?
He quickly explained, "You know about the New Year, right? It's the day after the end of the Expansion War, marked as the start of a new era. That tradition has been kept till now."
"Damn, I thought it was that New Year," Xu Luoshui muttered under her breath. "Good thing I didn't talk much about it with anyone."
"What was that?" Yu Dazhi asked.
"I said of course I know. I just haven't seen much of the world. Doesn't mean I'm dumb."
"Haha, I didn't mean that at all."
"Keep talking."
"Alright. Every two years, Anshun Immortal City, the capital of Anshun Prefecture, sends out a giant flying ship to visit the stationed bases of various Golden Core sects. It's like a mobile marketplace where cultivators can buy and sell all sorts of goods. We call it the Skyshadow Flying Boat. The city itself is built on a fourth-grade spiritual vein and is protected by a Nascent Soul cultivator."
"You've been to Anshun Immortal City?"
"Of course, more than once. It's way more prosperous than our place. The whole city is built along the mountain range. It's massive. I can't even describe it to you. But if we ever get the chance, I'll take you to see it for yourself."
"I really want to see it. The farthest I've ever traveled was from Lingyun Market to here." Xu Luoshui sounded a little self-conscious as she said that.
"Don't worry, Senior Sister. Once we reach the peak of Qi Refining and go out to travel, I'll definitely take you."
"We can only go once we reach peak Qi Refining?"
Yu Dazhi thought she just wanted to see what a fourth-grade spiritual vein city looked like and didn't think much of it.
"If we travel on our own using flying swords or something, it's safer to wait until we're at peak Qi Refining. But if we're just heading to Anshun Immortal City, we can take the Skyshadow Flying Boat."
"There are no restrictions to visit the Immortal City?"
"Haha, Immortal Cities are built differently from cultivation sects. They welcome all kinds of visitors. If there's any restriction, it'd be spirit stones. Taking the Skyshadow Flying Boat costs five thousand spirit stones. That's the cheapest ticket."
"Wow, the flying boat business makes that much money?"
"You think that's something?" Yu Dazhi said with a proud grin, slipping back into bragging without even realizing it.
"Do you know how much it costs to use a cross-domain teleportation array in Anshun Immortal City?"
"Teleportation array?"
"Yeah. It's a formation that can send people across domains. It's built by fourth-rank formation masters and powered by spirit crystals. Those things only appear in large spirit stone mines. One spirit crystal is worth ten thousand spirit stones, but even ten thousand stones might not buy you one."
"You know so much." Xu Luoshui looked at him with admiration.
Yu Dazhi's vanity was thoroughly satisfied.
"That's nothing. Using the teleportation array costs five spirit crystals, and that's just to go to the nearest domain."
"Then don't cultivators all travel that way? If they do, it's basically daylight robbery."
"Well, it's not that simple. The cost of building and operating a teleportation array is enormous. Yes, it's profitable, but not everyone can afford it. Most cultivators either join a large cross-domain trade caravan and ride ships even bigger than the Skyshadow Flying Boat, or they travel on their own.
"But traveling alone is dangerous. They say even if a Foundation Establishment cultivator is incredibly lucky and faces no accidents along the way, by the time they reach another domain, they might already be old."
"It's really that far?"
"Of course. Many cultivators spend their whole lives without leaving their home prefecture, some never even leave their sect's territory."
"One day I want to see the world beyond," Xu Luoshui said quietly.
"When we reach the Golden Core stage, we can go wherever you want. If we become Nascent Soul cultivators, it's said it only takes a few months to reach other domains."
For once, Yu Dazhi didn't mock her in his heart. Deep down, he also longed for the outside world.
The two of them chatted a bit more about business. Eventually, with lingering glances and reluctant hearts, they finally parted ways.
******
Back at her cave residence, Xu Luoshui stripped down completely and stepped slowly into her bath. Warm spiritual water enveloped her body, washing away the exhaustion of the day.
Over the past six months, her 'direct selling' work had gone so smoothly it almost felt unreal.
Luckily, the sect's top leaders were all focused on the beast tide threatening the borders, with no time to worry about internal affairs. The other high ranking cultivators within the sect were also busy with their own matters.
While the inner sect affairs were technically managed by a few older Foundation Establishment elders, in truth, they were run by the top ten inner disciples.
Since the sect-wide competition hadn't begun yet, disciples like Xiao Wenchuan and three others who had recently advanced to Foundation Establishment had no time to get involved in sect affairs. Their lives were more important right now.
The rest of the senior disciples either didn't want to get involved or were focused on stabilizing or suppressing their cultivation levels. No one wanted to make a breakthrough at such a sensitive period.
As a result, the day-to-day management of the inner sect had quietly fallen into the hands of Liu Xingzhi.
And the 'hidden hand' behind him, handpicked by the sect master to assist the man, was none other than Xu Luoshui.
No wonder the direct selling operation had flourished.
Every cultivator who questioned it was either driven out or shut down by the two of them using various methods, and the influence of direct selling only grew stronger.
Some people saw what was happening and, realizing they couldn't beat it, simply joined in. They paid the required spirit stones and became part of the crowd, hoping to ride the wave rather than be swallowed by it.
******
Meanwhile, Cheng Qian was preparing for the next day. He had cleaned himself thoroughly and made sure everything was in order. Tomorrow, he planned to make a trip to the inner sect.
He now possessed an inner sect token. And who had given it to him? Naturally, it was his cousin, Xu Luoshui.
With her current status and influence, giving someone a token like that was no big deal.
If he wasn't worried about drawing too much attention to himself, he would've moved into the inner sect already. He could've picked a cave with strong spiritual energy and focused on his cultivation there.
He also wanted to check out the Skyshadow Flying Boat from Anshun Immortal City. It might be the safest way out if he ever had to run.
He had looked into several escape routes before, but most of them required passing through many marketplaces, zigzagging all the way to Guanlan Prefecture. From there, he'd have to follow a river within the prefecture and drift downstream to leave the domain.
As for the cost in spirit stones? To Cheng Qian, compared to his safety, those things were worthless.