Chapter 111 – A Great River and a Great City (2/2)
Diao Fei remained silent.
Originally, Li Qingshan wanted to get some more information from him, but he saw how Diao Fei was extremely cautious, so he shrugged and returned to his room.
Diao Fei suddenly asked, “Sir, may I ask for your name?” After arriving at Jiaping city, this teenager might end up becoming a powerful competitor.
“Li Qingshan.”
As if he had heard this name somewhere, Diao Fei pondered it for a while, but he struggled to remember where he had heard it. He also returned to his room, but he did not catch a wink of sleep that night, remaining vigilant the entire time.
As soon as Li Qingshan returned to his room, he felt something and opened the window, looking out into the distance. All he saw was a figure leaping off the ship while the vessel was closer to the shore, landing on a sandy bank and quickly vanishing into the thicket. From the shape of her body, he could tell that she was Qian Rongzhi.
Li Qingshan could not help but sigh that the woman really was quite impressive with her thinking and resoluteness. She must have realised something was wrong when Qian Rongming did not return. She did not try to investigate the matter, nor did she question anything, directly leaping off the ship and fleeing.
Shaking his head, Li Qingshan tossed this matter to the side. He took out a bottle of Qi Gathering pills and opened it to take a look. There were only three pills in there ,and each one was the size of a longan. He took one out and ate it, beginning to cultivate.
As expected, with the assistance of the products of external alchemy, his rate of cultivation sped up slightly. The medicinal effects filled up his true qi, which circulated through his body. As he inhaled and exhaled, time passed rapidly, and very soon, he had absorbed a Qi Gathering pill. Li Qingshan took out another Qi Gathering pill and ingested it.
If other Qi Practitioners saw this, they would definitely be stunned. How could pills be eaten like candy? Although pills could drastically increase the rate of cultivation, that did not mean a person could easily become a master just because they possessed some pills and medicines. They all required talent, hard word, guidance, or even luck.
And, there was a limit to the pills that could be ingested. It was not as simple as eating as many as one could before turning it all into energy. Otherwise, all actual alchemists would be supreme masters. The nine Qi Gathering pills from Qian Rongming were originally a quantity to be consumed over three months. He would eat a pill every ten days and slowly refine its effects.
And, this was for Qian Rongming, someone who was favoured by the clan and could consume pills relatively faster. The usual speed was a pill every half a month to ensure that none of its effects would go to waste. No one ate them like Li Qingshan.
This was all because it was impossible for a mere Qi Gathering pill to remain in Li Qingshan’s body for ten days. He had to convert it into true qi desperately. If he were any later, it would be stolen by the daemon core and forcefully converted into daemon qi. As such, it was guaranteed that not a single bit of it would go to waste.
Li Qingshan was obviously unaware of this. He even felt pleased that it really would be faster when consuming pills while cultivating. When he ate the seventh Qi Gathering pill, he successfully reached the second layer with the Innate Method of Practising Qi. Due to the sumeru ring refining his true qi, he did not come across any bottlenecks at all.
He stood up and sensed the extremely pure true qi raging through his body. His entire body seemed to become much lighter.
He stowed the last two Qi Gathering pills away. He could hear with great clarity that a clamour was ringing out from the distance. The ship also became noisy. He could vaguely hear many people say, “We’ve reached Jiaping city!”
Li Qingshan made his way out in a hurry to take a look. The lower deck was already filled with people. On the other hand, the river itself had come across a great mountain that it looped around.
After making it around the bend, a grand city sat between the mountains and the waters, unfolding before Li Qingshan’s eyes. More accurately, it could not be called a city, as it was not walled at all. It seemed more like a modern metropolis.
This was where two great rivers met, where the Yi river merged into the Clear river. Jiaping city was developed on the banks of the two rivers. Rows upon rows of houses, buildings, towers, temples—both daoist and buddhist—sprawled out in all directions, followed by boundless, golden fields. Large flocks of birds flew freely in the blue sky above the city.
Li Qingshan had never seen any ancient cities before, but he believed that this city was even grander and more bustling than the places renowned throughout history for their prosperity, like Hangzhou or Yangzhou. The absence of city walls demonstrated the absolute confidence of the ruler here. They did not need to rely on an earthen wall to protect themselves.
Only small cities like Qingyang required the existence of walls to protect themselves from the attacks of bandits and the like. There was not a single truly large city with city walls. This was a city that Qi Practitioners ruled, so if there really were enemies that could threaten the city, they would not be people that a stone wall could stop. It would instead affect the city’s development.
Li Qingshan finally understood why Ye Dachuan had been overjoyed when he was transferred here as a vice district magistrate. Even if he was just a junior scribe here, he would be much better off than remaining in Qingyang city. So, just how prosperous would the Clear River city that ruled over the entire Clear River prefecture be? He was unable to imagine what the commandery city of Ruyi would be like.
Everything before him made him understand that this was not simply a world of the ancient times. The existence of Qi Practitioners heavily affected everything in this world, making it seem like a legend, adding a layer of wonder to it all.