Chapter 35: Immortal Peach Mountain
Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Immortal Peach Mountain
After warning Gumu Sheng and making sure he wouldn’t be fooled, Li Ping headed toward the Inner City.
The main body of the Immortal City’s Tier Three Spirit Vein was located beneath Cyan Dragon Mountain, fanning out from there. Most areas in the Inner City reached the level of a Tier Two Spirit Vein, but this dwindled to Tier One by the time it extended to the Outer City.
Therefore, if he wanted to rent a cave abode of Tier Two or higher, he had to go to the Inner City.
As for Cyan Dragon Mountain, that was the domain of Fenglan Master and her followers. Aside from her disciples and a few of the Heroic Clans sworn to her, even the Foundation Establishment Honored Guest Elders who joined later were not qualified to build their cave abodes there. They could only reside in the Inner City.
It was said that if danger struck, at a true moment of life and death, the Immortal City’s Tier Three Grand Array could shrink its defensive perimeter to cover only Cyan Dragon Mountain.
At that time, the Array’s power would become unbelievably great, capable of withstanding a siege from several Core Formation Cultivators.
...
Upon entering the Inner City, Li Ping didn’t head to the area where he had rented a cave abode for his Foundation Establishment breakthrough. Instead, he chose a slightly more remote direction.
When he broke through to Foundation Establishment, he had been short on funds, so he had only rented a Tier Two Lower Grade cave abode.
But now, with his Tier Two Middle Grade Talisman-making skills, he wasn’t too concerned about the Spirit Stones needed to rent a cave abode. Moreover, he had too many secrets. It would be quite inconvenient to be crowded together with several hundred other Cultivators on the same Spirit Vein.
Li Ping’s primary target for renting a cave abode this time was a Spiritual Mountain in the Inner City called Immortal Peach Mountain.
Immortal Peach Mountain was an offshoot of the Cyan Dragon Mountain range. It was over two thousand feet tall and possessed a Tier Two Upper Grade Spirit Vein.
Although Immortal Peach Mountain was located within the Immortal City’s Inner City, ownership of this Spiritual Mountain didn’t belong to the city’s official administration, but to the Meng family, a Cultivation Clan.
The Meng family’s ancestor had followed Fenglan Master deep into the Cloud Mist Mountain Range to exterminate the Demon Wolf Race, performing meritorious service.
After the Immortal City was established and rewards were distributed based on merit, Fenglan Master bestowed Immortal Peach Mountain upon the Meng family.
But surprisingly, the Meng family’s ancestor did not settle his descendants on Immortal Peach Mountain. Instead, he chose another location for his clan to flourish.
At the time, many people were curious why he would forsake a perfectly good Tier Two Upper Grade Spiritual Mountain and instead make his descendants’ lives harder.
However, that Meng ancestor’s subsequent actions earned everyone’s great admiration.
After obtaining Fenglan Master’s approval, the old ancestor instructed the Meng clansmen to build more than ten elegant cave abodes, each on a plot of over 150 acres, in the most scenic spots on Immortal Peach Mountain and rent them out.
Such high-quality cave abodes naturally attracted many prospective tenants, all of whom offered high prices to rent one.
But the Meng family set a requirement for all applicants: they had to possess a cultivation-related skill of Tier Two or higher!
And not just any of the hundred cultivation arts would do. The tenant’s skill had to be on the list of skills the Meng family had publicly released.
When Li Ping first saw what the Meng family was doing, his initial reaction was: ’They’re clearly implementing a talent acquisition policy to attract artisans of Tier Two or higher to settle here. I never thought Cultivators would pull this kind of move.’
But his next reaction was: ’This is great news!’
He had reached the Tier Two level in his Talisman-making skill, and Talisman Maker was a profession ranked quite high on the Meng family’s list of sought-after skills.
Without a doubt, he met their talent acquisition criteria!
Then, after some investigation, he was even more pleasantly surprised.
...
To date, the highest-grade Pill Li Ping had ever seen was the Foundation Establishment Pill, which was a Tier Two Upper Grade Pill.
In the entire, vast Immortal City, only two Alchemists could refine a Pill of this grade.
One was the master of the Immortal City, Fenglan Master. In addition to her Core Formation Stage Cultivation, she was also a Tier Two Upper Grade Alchemist.
The other was the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Loose Cultivator, Master Hu Feng. He, too, was a Tier Two Upper Grade Alchemist.
The Qi Condensing Pill that Gumu Sheng used to break through to the Late-stage of Qi Refining came from one of Master Hu’s disciples.
After coming to the Immortal City from the outside world, Master Hu had repeatedly received invitations for the position of Honored Guest Elder, but he was unwilling to be bound by the city’s rules and had always lived on Immortal Peach Mountain as a Loose Cultivator.
He cultivated while also taking on Alchemy commissions to earn cultivation resources.
If Li Ping could move into Immortal Peach Mountain, he would be able to be neighbors with this Master Hu.
Then, being so close would give him the perfect opportunity to activate his ’peerless talent’.
...
Arriving at the management office at the foot of Immortal Peach Mountain, Li Ping stated his purpose.
The one who received him was a short, elderly man whose Cultivation was at the Late-stage of Qi Refining.
Hearing Li Ping’s purpose, the old man quickly stood up and said respectfully, "Senior, you wish to rent a cave abode on Immortal Peach Mountain? Then you must possess a cultivation-related skill of Tier Two or higher, I presume? That is one of the necessary conditions for renting a cave abode."
Li Ping nodded. "I am a Tier Two Talisman Maker. I should meet the requirements."
Hearing this, the old man’s face blossomed into a smile. "Since Senior is a Tier Two Talisman Maker, you naturally meet the requirements. However, as per our rules, my Meng family must first verify Senior’s skill level. I hope Senior won’t take offense."
"That’s to be expected." Li Ping nodded, already mentally prepared. "Is the verification here?"
The old man shook his head repeatedly. "Of course not. I am not qualified to verify Senior’s skills."
"Then?" Li Ping asked, curious.
The old man immediately explained, "It will be my Meng family’s Ancestor. He happens to be on Immortal Peach Mountain today. I will lead you to meet our Ancestor right away, Senior."
"Lead the way."
"Yes, Senior!"
...
Under the old man’s respectful guidance, the two of them walked toward the Meng family’s Ancestor’s location.
As they walked, Li Ping observed his surroundings.
The Meng family’s ancestor hadn’t given up this prime location on Immortal Peach Mountain and given it to a group of Tier Two artisans out of charity.
The industrial cluster effect produced by a group of Tier Two artisans living together and complementing each other’s weaknesses was extraordinarily powerful.
Tier Two artisans needed to rely on their skills to earn resources, while other Cultivators with specific needs were willing to pay a high price to hire them.
The Meng family had built a platform between the two, connecting the Tier Two artisans living on Immortal Peach Mountain with those who needed their services.
At the same time, they built many shops at the foot of the mountain to sell the daily output of the Tier Two artisans and supply them with raw materials.
The resources earned through this were a very considerable sum, far more than they could have made by managing the Spiritual Mountain themselves.
The Meng family invested all these earned resources into cultivating their younger generation, resulting in an extremely high success rate for their descendants. They even had several Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
From what Li Ping had gathered, the Meng family’s strength was likely one of the top two among all the factions subordinate to the Immortal City.
This made him sigh in admiration. ’The Meng family’s ancestor was a person of great wisdom.’