Wanwantong

"Can you do it or not? If not, let's go find someone who can! We finally managed to buy information about this suspected abandoned cave dwelling of a Nascent Soul cultivator from the black market. Don't dawdle so much that someone else beats us to it!"

They were extremely anxious in their hearts. After all, this was information they had spent a hundred spirit stones to buy from the black market.

At a price of a hundred spirit stones, anyone could guess that it wouldn't be sold only to them.

They had recently cultivated to the ninth level of Qi Refining. Fearing that their breakthrough to Foundation Establishment might not go smoothly, their clan had sent them out to gain some experience.

Not long after they set out, they arrived at Yuanling City, which was not far from their clan. It just so happened that the black market in Yuanling City had newly opened. They took the initiative and bought this first-hand information right when the Wanwantong Information Shop in the black market first opened for business.

However, as the news of this black market's opening spread, this information would sooner or later be bought by various people.

This was the abandoned cave dwelling of a Nascent Soul cultivator! When the time came, there would inevitably be many Foundation Establishment or even Golden Core cultivators arriving after getting the news. At that point, the three of them, mere Qi Refining cultivators, wouldn't even get the scraps.

Although the information shop only claimed this news was eighty percent true, the Wanwantong Information Shop was the most authoritative information channel in the entire Southern Spirit Domain. Even though they had always cultivated behind closed doors in their clan, the reputation of the Wanwantong Information Shop was like thunder piercing their ears.

If Wanwantong said it was eighty percent true, it was practically guaranteed to be real!

Therefore, even though a hundred spirit stones was a significant sum for the three Qi Refining cultivators, they gritted their teeth and bought it.

After all, they had all heard that every time Wanwantong released news about an abandoned cave dwelling, those who were the first to successfully enter it received rewards worth hundreds or thousands of times the price of the information!

If they could enter it and successfully obtain the fortuitous encounters within this Nascent Soul cultivator's cave dwelling, let alone Foundation Establishment, even reaching the Golden Core stage would no longer be a difficult matter!

However, the three fledgling Qi Refining cultivators clearly lacked a clear understanding of themselves. They only thought about how this was a Nascent Soul cultivator's cave dwelling and must contain many treasures or fortuitous encounters, forgetting that their cultivation was merely at the Qi Refining stage. Whether they could even get inside was a problem in itself.

These three cultivators were all under thirty years old. In the past, they had been carefully nurtured and cultivated as the hopes of their clan. Their knowledge of the world was mostly theoretical, having grown up under the halo of being the clan's hopeful geniuses. Now that they actually encountered a real situation, they were completely at a loss.

Outside, it was already night.

A bright moon hung leisurely in the night sky, surrounded by twinkling stars that gazed down upon this land.

Inside the room, Liao Pantu was sleeping soundly.

He was completely unaware that outside, three Qi Refining cultivators were scheming against his cave dwelling.

At the same time, tens of thousands of miles away in the Wanwantong Southern Spirit Domain Headquarters, inside a newly established room responsible for distributing and selling information to Yuanling City, a Golden Core cultivator dressed in a yellow shirt walked in and said to the people inside:

"The latest update from the higher-ups just stated that the Nascent Soul cave dwelling nine hundred miles north of Yuanling City, which had been abandoned for decades, suddenly showed signs of human presence today. After the Seventh Spirit Venerable performed a divination, it is preliminarily believed that the master has returned. Quickly send this news urgently to the Yuanling City branch shop, and hurry to intercept the information and stop its sale!"

Inside the room, the Golden Core cultivator responsible for sending information to Yuanling City heard this and immediately sent the news to the Yuanling City information shop through Wanwantong's special urgent communication methods.

Not long after, he received a reply from the other end.

After listening to it, he turned to the Golden Core cultivator behind him who had relayed the news and said:

"It's done. The information has been withdrawn and is no longer listed. They said the entire black market just opened today, and the foot traffic isn't large. This piece of information was sold exactly once right when they opened. The customers were just a few little Qi Refining cultivators, so it's nothing to worry about."

Hearing this, the yellow-shirted cultivator breathed a sigh of relief:

"That's good. However, even though it's just three Qi Refining cultivators, tell them to keep an eye out. Don't let them ruin our Wanwantong's reputation. If it's necessary to make a move, tell them to handle it cleanly. Don't let the backers behind these Qi Refining cultivators find out."

The Golden Core cultivator in the room smiled and said:

"Relax, our Wanwantong's reputation can't be ruined."

Saying that, he added:

"But speaking of which, it's quite strange. I remember that the Third Spirit Venerable specifically divined that Nascent Soul cave dwelling a few days ago for the upcoming opening of the Yuanling City shop, intending to use it as the finale piece of information for the cave dwelling ruins section. Didn't they say that there hadn't been the slightest trace of human presence in that cave dwelling for decades?

How did such a blunder happen exactly on the day of the opening? The Third Spirit Venerable makes the fewest mistakes among the nine Spirit Venerables..."

The yellow-shirted cultivator only shook his head and said:

"Who can say for sure? But you shouldn't say these things outside. Be careful lest it reaches the ears of the Third Spirit Venerable, or you'll have a hard time getting by in our Wanwantong..."

"Of course. I just spoke too quickly for a moment. Please don't take what I just said to heart, Senior."

"That's easy to say. It's just that in a couple of days, the higher-ups will send another batch of information to restock Yuanling City. When the time comes, you have to save a few good pieces of newly arrived cave dwelling information for me."

"Ha, that's nothing. Rest assured, Senior, leave it to me!"

Receiving his answer, the yellow-shirted cultivator turned and left this Yuanling City liaison room.

However, the moment he stepped out the door, the smile originally on his face completely vanished. He cast an extremely indifferent glance at the closed door.

He coldly snorted in his heart: In a couple of days, when you privately give me the information, that will be the day you are expelled from Wanwantong!

Early the next morning, Lin Xiao, having had a full night's sleep, finally opened his eyes. Looking at the pitch-black, jade-like canopy of the bed made of Soul-Nourishing Wood, he couldn't quite react for a moment.

This sleep had been incredibly comfortable for him; he felt it was the most comfortable sleep he had ever had in his entire life.

Sitting up, he saw Senior Liao sipping tea at a completely golden table not far away.

This Senior Liao really had an obsessive hobby for tasting tea.

Liao Pantu, who was pouring himself tea, saw him sit up and said with a calm expression:

"Since you're up, come over here. I'll tell you about the situation in this Southern Spirit Domain we are currently in."

"The cultivation world is extremely vast—so vast that even I, as a Nascent Soul cultivator, still have many places I haven't visited. The region we are currently in is called the Southern Spirit Domain. Within this Southern Spirit Domain, there are a total of thirty-six cities and eighteen sects, and within each city, there are numerous cultivation clans. Yet, this Southern Spirit Domain is only considered a remote area in the cultivation world."

Hearing this, Lin Xiao was greatly astonished. He never expected that someone with a cultivation level as high as Senior Liao would still have many places in the cultivation world he had yet to visit. Moreover, the location where he had set up his cave dwelling was actually considered nothing more than a remote area to the cultivation world!