Chapter 296: Chapter 187: Taking a Concubine (Part 2)
Then there were the Demon Blood Dancers from the Western Realm and the East Sea Ink Jade Beauty Slaves, all of them filled with an exotic charm.
He couldn’t help but sigh. ’This Cultivation Realm truly is a wicked place.’
Lü Zhong had no interest in trying something new. His purpose for buying concubines was crystal clear: he needed them to help with his cultivation. He had no desire to purchase concubines with mysterious backgrounds and decided to stick to buying those bound by a Spirit Contract, as he had planned.
This would prevent future complications and save him from worrying about trouble brewing within his own walls.
The Human Market had no shortage of legitimate concubines under Spirit Contract. Some were female cultivators from the Changchun Domain who had willingly become concubines to obtain resources, while others had come from other regions in the Southern Barbarian territories after hearing of the Changchun Domain’s wealth. The quality was much better than in the great market of Lingyue, but naturally, the prices were also higher, forcing Lü Zhong to choose carefully.
’Too tall? No.’
’Too skinny? Too bony.’
After looking around, he found he still preferred a more voluptuous figure.
Before long, two new concubines were standing behind him. Both possessed Qi Refining cultivation, and their beauty was enough to make the moon hide and flowers blush in shame. They were curvy in all the right places, and decidedly not the "Yangzhou Lean Horses" type.
One was named Jiang Xueqiong. She carried herself with a natural grace and came from a branch family of a great cultivation clan.
The other was named Mo Ying, a Daoist Nun from Huanhua Temple.
The conditions for taking both of them were the same: in addition to guaranteeing their supply of cultivation Pills, he had to provide a monthly allowance of fifteen spirit stones. In the future, as their cultivation levels rose, this allowance would have to increase accordingly.
This was the going rate in Changchun Immortal City.
The Spirit Contract was signed for a term of ten years. Upon its expiration, Lü Zhong would have the priority right to renew it under the same conditions.
This priority right might seem absurd, but such was the way of the world.
Those with the talent could learn the Hundred Skills of Cultivation and earn Spirit Stones. Those without could only rely on the assets they were born with, using their bodies to acquire cultivation resources.
This was true for both men and women.
In the Human Market, there was no shortage of male cultivators for sale either.
Dignity was irrelevant. After all, in the Cultivation Realm, they scorned the poor, not the prostitutes.
If one day their cultivation succeeded and they founded their own clan, becoming an ancestor, outsiders would still have to respectfully address them as "Senior." And if anyone dared to gossip behind their back, they could just beat them, kill them, and burn the evidence to vent their frustration.
After a thousand years, when all who knew them have turned to dust...
...who would remember that the great ancestor of a clan was once a mere concubine or gigolo?
After some thought, Lü Zhong decided to choose one more concubine.
After all, the Jade Vein Technique couldn’t be mastered overnight. It required soaking in a medicinal bath at least a hundred times.
With three of them taking turns, they would at least have a chance to catch their breath. Otherwise, assisting his cultivation every single day would be too much even for a cultivator’s iron constitution. If he wasn’t careful, someone could actually die from exhaustion.
Just as he was thinking this, a fragrant figure crashed into his arms.
It was a female cultivator at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer, with about average looks.
Her aura, however, was quite good—alluring and delicate, the kind of woman who would inspire pity in anyone who saw her.
He didn’t know what she had done, but a Foundation Establishment True Cultivator was leading a group of people in hot pursuit behind her.
Sensing the pursuers closing in, the female cultivator cried out in alarm. She grabbed the corner of Lü Zhong’s robes and pleaded with a pitiful charm, "Senior, I am willing to become your concubine! I only ask that you protect me!"
"Oh?" Lü Zhong regarded her with a faint, unreadable smile.
A spiritual light flashed in his eyes as he activated his Qi Observation Skill.
He took a closer look. ’It really is an Yin Yuan Body.’
This type of Spirit Body was a far cry from the Lotus-Yin Primordial Body. It lacked the power to help a cultivator break through a Small Realm, but it had the advantage of containing a much more potent Yin Yuan, which was exactly what he needed for his cultivation right now.
He looked the female cultivator up and down and concluded she was likely a grifter.
’And judging by the furious expression on the Foundation Establishment Cultivator chasing her, he’s probably another one of her victims.’
"Fellow Daoist, I must ask you to hand that woman over to me," the portly, middle-aged cultivator said as he approached. Sensing that Lü Zhong’s cultivation was higher than his, he suppressed his anger and cupped his hands in a fist.
"And for what reason would that be?" Lü Zhong asked.
"It’s..." The man hesitated for a moment before explaining via voice transmission.
Just as Lü Zhong had guessed, this female cultivator, Shui Sujun, was indeed a grifter who used her Yin Yuan Spirit Body to run a "no-capital" business.
She would first use sweet talk to trick someone into signing a fake Spirit Contract, then knock them out with a drug right before they were about to do the deed, and make her escape.
If the middle-aged man hadn’t been cultivating a certain Secret Skill that allowed him to wake up in time, he would have lost both his money and the girl.
"And that’s how it went," the middle-aged man said, frustrated.
He had thought he could come to Changchun Immortal City to have a bit of fun, to sample some higher-class "goods" than what was available in the Workshop Market back home.
He never imagined he’d be the one getting fleeced.
After hearing the story, Lü Zhong almost burst out laughing.
But he managed to hold it in. He looked at Shui Sujun in his arms and said, "A moment ago, you said you were willing to be my concubine. Was that a serious offer?"
Upon hearing this, the woman in his arms quickly produced a Spirit Contract, her face filled with gratitude. "Yes, Senior! Please, sign this Spirit Contract. I am willing to serve as your concubine for three years to repay you for saving my life!"
"No. Sign this one."
Lü Zhong ignored the Spirit Contract Shui Sujun offered and took out a standard template instead—the same kind provided by the Human Market that he had used to sign with Jiang Xueqiong and Mo Ying.
"This..." Shui Sujun’s expression changed.
"What? You’re not willing? Then forget it." Lü Zhong withdrew the Spirit Contract and turned to leave with his two concubines.
Just then, a Law Enforcement Team slowly approached in the distance. The Human Market was part of their patrol route.
When Shui Sujun saw the Law Enforcement Team approaching, she finally started to panic.
She would rather fall into the middle-aged man’s hands and let him have his way with her for three to five years than be caught by the Law Enforcement Team.
If they caught her, the minimum punishment would be ten years of labor in the Bitter Mine.
After so many years of mining, even if she did get out, who knew what kind of wretched state she’d be in.
