Inside the storage bag were two hundred top-grade spirit crystals.
"Let me have a look."
The green-skirted girl released her spiritual sense too. When she saw the top-grade spirit crystals inside the storage bag, she froze, then her eyes sparkled with stars. “So many top-grade spirit crystals!”
“It really is true what they say—crime pays! That kid’s a world-class kill-star. If I’d known he was this loaded, I’d have hustled him even harder—maybe I could’ve squeezed out even more top-grade spirit crystals!” The old man sighed as he tied the storage bag back up and carefully stowed it away, already wondering if he should swap out the wine in his flask for something tastier and pricier.
Hearing this, the green-skirted girl retorted, “Grandpa, how can you be like this? He gave you so much divination money, and you’re still badmouthing him!”
To the green-skirted girl, that boy seemed sunny and handsome—mainly handsome. How could someone that good-looking possibly be a world-class kill-star?
It just didn’t make sense to her!
Meanwhile, Ian Song and his group kept heading toward the imperial capital of the High Zhou Imperium. Traveling with stops and starts, it took them more than half a year to finally reach the nearest upper-tier city to the capital—Sky Ruins City.
The High Zhou Imperium covers a vast territory, but aside from the imperial capital, there are only seventy-two upper-tier cities. The capital itself is on a whole different level.
Sky Ruins City has a teleportation array that leads directly to the capital, but the fee is sky-high. Most cultivators would rather spend extra time traveling by treasure-ship, or use their own ships if they have them. The rest can only fly by sword.
Sky Ruins City was insanely prosperous, with over a hundred million cultivators. Shops, restaurants, teahouses, and even brothels were all booming with business.
Ian Song and his group had passed through several upper-tier cities on the way, but none could compare with Sky Ruins City.
After finding a decent-sized inn to stay in, Lila Li took Wendy Lin and Stone Ling out shopping. Ian stayed behind at the inn—he’d spent more than a year traveling from the Tang realm to here.
Converted to Divine Temple time, that was over a hundred years—so his followers had all made huge progress in their cultivation.
The number of Fusion-stage experts under his command had already broken one hundred.
Not long ago, Lila Li had a sudden inspiration and went into closed-door cultivation inside the Divine Temple—she broke through to the Fusion stage in one go. Ian, on the other hand, had taken so many Frost-Soul Pills that his foundation was too solid, making breakthroughs much harder for him.
For him, just spending more time wasn’t enough—he needed opportunities and battles to keep advancing.
During the half-year since entering the High Zhou Imperium, he’d also picked up a ton of information about the place.
Gathering intel was just a habit—whether he’d actually use it, he’d figure out later.
His goal in coming to the High Zhou Imperium was to complete the System’s second mission. During this time, he’d also collected a lot of info on the top ten of the Rising Talents Ranking.
First on the Rising Talents Ranking was Blaze Shen, an early Fusion sword cultivator. His strength was terrifying—he once fought three Fusion experts alone, defeating a late Fusion and two mid Fusion opponents working together. He’s hailed as the best young sword cultivator since the Black-White Sword Immortal and is nicknamed the Little Sword Immortal.
He comes from Sword King Palace, a great sword sect only slightly weaker than the Phoenix Heaven Church.
Second on the Rising Talents Ranking was Lara Glass, a female cultivator known as the Flute Fairy. She entered the Dao through music, and her self-created Brahma-Heaven Eight Tones is absolutely unique. She’s also at early Fusion, and once used her Brahma-Heaven Eight Tones to defeat a late Fusion opponent.
Third place was also a woman: Sherry Rivers, an early Fusion cultivator and Saintess of the Phoenix Heaven Church. She’s been carefully nurtured by the church since childhood, and her talent is off the charts. Add in her stunning beauty—anyone who’s seen her face can’t stop thinking about her. That’s why people call her the Heavenly Maiden.
Her battle power is just as impressive. She’s never fought a late Fusion expert, but once hunted down five mid Fusion evil cultivators by herself and killed them all within three months.
Fourth on the list was Pure-Void, also at early Fusion. He’s from Still-Thought Zen Courtyard, one of the Eight Great Buddhist Monasteries. His Zen cultivation is profound, and he loves slaying demons—he’s earned the nickname Demon-Slaying Monk, and the number of Fusion-stage demon kings he’s killed isn’t small.
Fifth was Jason Cloud, the Saint Son of the Phoenix Heaven Church. He’s also at early Fusion, but is known for keeping a low profile. He’s only fought publicly once—just ten moves, and he took down a mid Fusion opponent.
The sixth and ninth-ranked geniuses are both at late Soul-Split, but all four have the power to challenge higher realms—defeating Fusion experts while only at Soul-Split. The tenth-ranked genius is an early Fusion cultivator.
That tenth-ranked cultivator is Scar Yishang, a rogue cultivator with astonishing talent. He refuses to join any major sect, so he can’t access advanced manuals or divine abilities. The cultivation method he uses now is a continuation he created himself from an incomplete manual.
Creating a new cultivation method is incredibly difficult, especially at high levels. But Scar Yishang managed to reach Fusion with his self-created technique—he’s a true genius. That’s why all the major sects, the imperial court, and even the Phoenix Heaven Church have tried to recruit him.
But what’s puzzling is that he turned them all down—and got laughed at by plenty of people for it.
With his talent, he could have joined any sect and received top-tier training, learning advanced techniques and divine abilities. Those high-level methods could’ve been his for the taking, but he insisted on forging his own path—which really made people scratch their heads.
Two hours later, Lila Li, Wendy Lin, and Stone Ling returned from shopping, each carrying plenty of little trinkets.
At that moment, at the city gate of Sky Ruins City, an old man carrying a battered “Heaven-Secret Diviner” banner and a green-skirted girl arrived, both looking travel-worn and tired.
Hurry up, good granddaughter—Grandpa’s wine flask has been dry for a whole day! Once we get into the city, I’m definitely going to drink my fill!
Got it! she replied, sounding exhausted.
The two of them entered the city and finally stopped in front of an inn. The old man clapped his hands. “This one’ll do.”
This inn looks pretty expensive—maybe we should pick another? The green-skirted girl hesitated when she saw the size of the place.
Heh, don’t be so stingy—your grandpa’s not short on spirit crystals anymore!
The old man grinned proudly, but then a look of regret crossed his face. “Too bad—I haven’t met another fat sheep like that calamity-star kid since. If I ever run into him again, I’m definitely going to fleece him hard!”
Hearing this, the green-skirted girl rolled her eyes and didn’t bother arguing. “Let’s just stay here,” she said, sounding tired.
Most inns these days offer both food and lodging.
As soon as the pair entered the inn, a server greeted them warmly: “Are you here to eat or to stay?”
“Eh?” the old man suddenly exclaimed, his gaze landing on a window-side table.
The green-skirted girl followed her grandfather’s gaze and was just as surprised, secretly thinking: Could it really be such a coincidence?