Chapter 483: The Nine Tripod Suppression Barrier Formation
The middle-aged man in simple cloth robes was no ordinary person.
The man had hidden his presence almost flawlessly. Alas, even without using any secret techniques, the experience of Su Yi’s past life was enough for him to tell at a glance that this was a Spirit Dao cultivator!
Someone like this was unquestionably powerful and influential even within Nine Tripod City.
Yet now, he’d appeared before the city gates, and he'd taken the initiative to strike up a conversation with Su Yi. This naturally made Su Yi question the man’s intentions.
This was why Su Yi was so rude earlier; he did it on purpose to see how the other party would react.
Who’d have thought that the man wouldn’t seem the least bit offended? It seemed he really was just curious to see what Su Yi noticed while examining the city walls.
Su Yi thought for a moment, then said, “Why is someone like you concerned about the city walls?”
The middle-aged man smiled. “I’m just curious to hear what you discovered.”
Su Yi couldn’t be bothered to test him any further. He pointed to the walls and said, “If the restriction isn’t fixed soon, it’s sure to fall apart within three to five years. Should it circulate at full power, it’ll only last three uses at most before it’s completely destroyed.
The middle-aged man’s?pupils constricted. His smile disappeared; it seemed he was startled.
Some time passed before he looked at Su Yi as if seeing him for the first time. He then asked for guidance once more. “Fellow Daoist… How did you determine that?”
“I used my eyes, of course,” said Su Yi.
“...”
The middle-aged man couldn’t help but grimace and shake his head. He could tell that Su Yi was unwilling to reveal the details.
However, Su Yi’s words?really had startled?him. He would never have guessed that a man so young could discern such secrets just by examining the wall!
“That’s it, then. Farewell.” Su Yi couldn’t be bothered to chat with a Spirit Dao cultivator any longer, so he turned and proceeded into the city.
“Fellow Daoist…”
The middle-aged man was just about to say something when Su Yi waved without so much as turning to look at him. “Intimate conversation between strangers is a taboo. We don’t know each other at all. If you keep asking questions, you’ll get on my nerves.”
The middle-aged man was stunned, and his gaze turned strange.?This little punk… isn’t polite at all!
It was only after watching Su Yi and his companions fade from view that the man looked away. He gazed at the city walls. His eyes, as clear as a lake, narrowed. A long time passed in silent contemplation.
“The Nine Tripod Suppression Barrier… can only be activated three times?” He couldn’t help but recall Su Yi’s words, and despite himself, he frowned.
A hunched, unassuming elder in gray robes appeared soundlessly beside him. “My lord, should I invite that young man back?”
“No need.” The middle-aged man waved the offer away, his gaze rife with meaning. “Could you determine the Nine Tripod Suppression Barrier’s condition just by looking at the city walls?”
The gray-robed elder shook his head. “The Nine Tripod Suppression Barrier is an ancient and miraculous formation. Before suffering the corrosion of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness, it was the third most powerful restriction formation on the continent. How could one such as myself see through its mysteries at a glance?”
The man in simple cloth robes sighed. “You’re right. It was once the third strongest restriction in the world. Even now, I’ve never once heard of someone discerning its secrets just by gazing at the city walls.”
The gray-robed old man seemed to realize something. He exclaimed, “My lord, don’t tell me that young Origin Palace cultivator noticed something?”
The middle-aged man’s eyes flashed. “It’s still difficult to say. I’ll know for sure after I find him and confirm what he saw.”
The old man in gray whispered, “My lord, should I send someone to tail him?”
The middle-aged man in simple cloth robes laughed. “So long as he stays within city limits, finding him will be as easy as can be.”
“Let’s go. We should head back.” With that, the middle-aged man turned and entered the city.
The streets were packed with pedestrians. Despite the crowd, no one, regardless of their cultivation, seemed to sense the middle-aged man’s existence.
He walked amidst the red dust of mortality without alerting even gods or ghosts!
The gray-robed elder followed him, but he kept a low profile. He was just another anonymous blip in the crowd. Although people saw him, he didn’t attract any attention.
They were master and servant. One transcended the masses, while the other blended into the crowd.
The juxtaposition made it all the more interesting.
……
Within the city’s walls was yet another bustling scene.
The streets were wide, fully one hundred feet across, and they spread out in all directions, dense as a web. The buildings lining the streets and alleyways had an old-fashioned charm; all carried the weight of the years.
Unlike the world’s more typical cities, practically every store in Nine Tripod City was somehow connected to cultivation. They sold all manner of spiritual medicines, materials, pills, and talismans, among other resources.
At the same time, there were all sorts of venues intended for use by cultivators: weaponsmiths, pill refining furnaces, martial arts arenas, etcetera.
Of course, there were plenty of money pits to eat, drink, and play at too.
Although true cultivators could abstain from food, that didn’t mean they lost their taste for worldly pleasures.
Cultivators would scramble over certain delicacies prepared with spiritual materials.
If asked to summarize their feelings in one sentence, Bai Wenqing and Yuan Heng would say something like this: Nine Tripod City really lives up to its reputation as the city all cultivators long for!
Su Yi was pleased too. He could tell that the resources available in Nine Tripod City would be enough to sustain his cultivation until he reached the Spirit Dao!
Of course, that was on the condition that he had enough money to purchase them.
Su Yi wasn’t worried about this. With his methods, earning money in the city couldn’t be simpler.
This was the advantage of cities of cultivators.
Anywhere else, no matter how vast and far-reaching his abilities, he couldn’t find a place to obtain cultivation resources.
Ever since he awakened the memories of his past life, the resources he used along the way were practically all trophies he’d collected from his enemies’ corpses….
It wasn’t that he preferred to do it that way. Rather, even if he wanted to purchase cultivation resources, he couldn’t find a suitable place to do so…
“Master, something didn’t seem right about that man we met earlier,” Yuan Heng said suddenly.
“That was a Spirit Dao cultivator, and he had another Spirit Dao cultivator tagging along as his attendant. He was naturally no ordinary person,” Su Yi said casually.
He was currently pondering whether he should refine a batch of pills to trade for spirit stones, or whether he should forge and sell weapons instead.
However, refining pills and refining tools were both draining. It took too much time and effort. Someone as lazy as Su Yi disliked this sort of “hard-earned money.”
“A Spirit Dao cultivator!” exclaimed Yuan Heng. Spirit Dao cultivators weren’t like cabbage; you couldn’t find them just anywhere. Outside of the Great Xia, they practically only existed in legend.
Even in the Great Xia, they were rare and seldom seen peak-level existences!
Who’d have thought they’d bump into one before even stepping through Nine Tripod City’s gates?
Even more unbelievably, the middle-aged man in simple cloth robes had another Spirit Dao cultivator accompanying him as his attendant!
“Nine Tripod City’s accumulations are simply too terrifying. We bumped into someone like that by chance? This really is a city of immortals built in the human world,” sighed Yuan Heng.
“You’re wrong,” said Su Yi, his gaze profound. “Our meeting with that middle-aged man was no mere coincidence.”
Yuan Heng’s expression shifted. “Master, are you saying he came here looking for us?”
Su Yi nodded. “Yes, unless I am mistaken. However, he showed no sign of ill intentions; I imagine there’s something else he’s after. Assuming I’ve interpreted the situation correctly, he’ll come looking for me again before long.”
Yuan Heng said solemnly, “Master, should we prepare just in case?”
A single Spirit Dao cultivator might not be enough to instill dread in their hearts, but this was a Spirit Dao cultivator with another Spirit Dao cultivator for an attendant. Who could possibly disregard him?
“No need.” Su Yi waved Yuan Heng’s concerns away. A hint of loneliness and melancholy appeared on his brow, and he sighed. “It’s been a long, long time since I’ve had a satisfying battle. I’d just love it if a worthy opponent showed up on my doorstep.”
Yuan Heng and Bai Wenqing looked at each other. Both were silent.
Others feared nothing more than being targeted by a Spirit Dao cultivator. Who’d dare imagine that Su Yi was downright eager for it?
However, they’d both spent enough time at Su Yi’s side that they’d grown accustomed to the carefree, natural way he said utterly shocking things. Thus, they weren’t actually that surprised…
“Miss Bai, I have something I’d like to ask of you.” As they strolled the city, Su Yi suddenly recalled something. He took out a jade pendant and passed it to Bai Wenqing. “Please ask around and see if you can find out where Cloudmarsh Tower is. Then, take this pendant there. Say you need a temporary place to live, ideally somewhere out of the way and quiet.”
The jade pendant was purple and about the size of a palm. Its surface was carved with a divine bird bathed in flame. Its wings were spread, and it encompassed Yin and Yang. It was shaped like a dragon, but it was feathered, and it had the face of a bird.
A dragon sparrow totem!
This was the jade pendant Hua Xinfeng gave Su Yi when they parted ways.
Su Yi had only just arrived in Nine Tripod City. Finding a place to rest their feet was the most urgent item on their agenda.
And the simplest, least troublesome way of doing that was by using the dragon sparrow jade pendant.
Bai Wenqing accepted the pendant with both hands, then said, “Senior, once I’ve finished my task, how should I find you and Daoist Brother Yuan Heng?”
Su Yi took out a talisman and passed it to Bai Wenqing. “Carry this. That way, I’ll be able to locate you.”
This was a Rhinoceros Horn Talisman. They came in a set, and their function was simple. No matter where they went, the wearers could sense each other.
Bai Wenqing hurried off.
“Let’s continue our walk through the city,” said Su Yi as he continued ahead.
Yuan Heng stuck close to him. He understood that his master wanted to get a feel for the ambiance and environment of Nine Tripod City, but that he also wanted to see if they could pick up on Ge Qian’s presence while they were at it.
Yuan Heng also knew that, as someone who practiced the Xuanwu True Essence Sutra, he was the key to accomplishing this!
It was only after they’d walked for four hours that Su Yi lost interest in sightseeing and experiencing what this bustling, prosperous city had to offer.
He had Yuan Heng hire a carriage, which he comfortably sprawled out in. He told the carriage driver to take them in a circle around the city.
The carriage driver was accustomed to this sort of business, and he smiled and named his price. “Ten tier-five spirit stones, no haggling!”
Nine Tripod City was just too enormous. Even at top speeds, riding a carriage around it would take hours.
This price made Yuan Heng wince.
He suddenly realized an enormous problem.
Although the imperial capital was as flourishing as an immortal city in the mortal world, the cost of living was extraordinary. Everything was terrifyingly expensive.
Never mind laying down roots and settling down, ordinary cultivators would probably not even be able to survive here…
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