Chapter 146 – The Illusionary Riches of Human Society (1/2)

Looking down from this vantage point, Ancient Wind city seemed like a series of steps, and the rows upon rows of roofs and buildings were built upon these steps. Currently, all of it was doused in a layer of red light.

Many people flowed through the intersecting streets and alleyways. There were vendors selling breakfast, people buying groceries, and travelling merchants who had risen early. It was a clamorous sight of society.

The sight from here was extremely vast and wide, which opened his mind and allowed him to see further as well.

“So the scenery here was actually so magnificent?” Li Qingshan sighed in surprise slightly. He took in a deep breath and began practising martial arts, moving his arms and legs around.

He sensed the flow of true qi through his body. After eating nine Qi Gathering pills last night, it had strengthened slightly yet again. His cultivation at the second layer was gradually consolidating.

He was not in a hurry to revert to daemon form and eat a huge quantity of pills.

That was because he could feel he would remain here for a while, and he would have to go back to Jiaping city for his next portion of Qi Gathering pills. Instead of eating a large number of pills and suffering from a temporary shortage, it would be better for him to take it slowly. The daemon core would naturally absorb a part of it.

He found a set of clothes from the past owner of the room and changed out of his Black Wolf uniform. Afterwards, he left the place and made his way down a series of stairs. He ordered some local specialty snacks in a store with the word ‘tea’ written on a plaque.

He felt like he was a tiny step closer to completing his great dream of eating all the delicacies of the world. Afterwards, he went off on a stroll in satisfaction. He purposefully moved very slowly so that he could appreciate the scenery along the way.

Who knows how long it had been since he had settled down and done something like this. Ever since he began cultivation, every single day was tense and pressing. Even when he returned to human society and arrived in the ancient Jiaping city, he had to deal with an endless number of problems constantly.

He had punished the wicked, assassinated a powerful opponent, and taken precautions against enemies. Even when he had the slightest leisure, he had to take advantage of every moment to cultivate, afraid to relax even by the slightest bit.

He had almost forgotten what leisure was like. He recalled the past, those times he spent on Crouching Ox hill, watching over the ox as it grazed, looking at the mountains, playing a reed flute, and avoiding the oppression of his elder brother and his wife. Unknowingly, a morning passed like this.

It seemed like two completely different lives. They each had their own charms, but he preferred his current lifestyle more. He was not someone who would lament about the past.

Ordinary people seemed to walk on level crowds, getting married, having children, covering daily necessities, until they passed away. On the other hand, cultivators seemed to be climbing a mountain that they could never reach the top of. Every time they made progress, they would see new things. Their lives would be elongated, spared from the grasp of death.

An official notice had already been placed before the government office. They even stationed a literate, minor officer there to read it aloud, announcing that all the property of the Qian family would be auctioned off in seven days.

Several hundred people gathered in front of the government office, forming a tight encirclement. They all pointed or indicated at it as they discussed.

Li Qingshan stood within the crowd and stared at it for a while like everyone else. The district magistrate sure was fast.

Afterwards, he passed through the crowd and entered a small bookshop. He paid two taels of silver and purchased several books of leisure, including poems, history, and random essays in general. Afterwards, he checked out a musical instrument shop and spent thirty-five taels for two scores and a jade flute.

Returning home, he sat down on the rocking chair below the grape vines and casually flipped open a book, reading through it carefully. The sun had already risen into the sky, turning from red to white. It pierced through the dense leaves of the grape vines and scattered on the slightly yellow pages as well as his face.

Right now, he seemed especially like a teenager and not a fearless cultivator, a decisive Black Wolf guard when it came to killing. The sharpness of his chiselled face seemed to mellow slightly, while his gaze that was like drawn blades was sheathed once more. They became deep and clear.

The spirit turtle’s daemon core gradually revolved within his body with unprecedented translucency. Water vapour flowed out from him naturally, moistening his clothes.

He failed to notice that he had become completely engrossed by a great war within a history book.

That was a certain type of mood and a certain way of cultivating.

A bow that was not in use had to be unstrung. He eased up from being so tense, nurturing his mind and body, only so that he could shoot an even more powerful arrow in the future, perhaps soon.

Not every single person could be so leisurely. There was a small town several dozen kilometers from Ancient Wind city. It was called Shangguan town, as most of the people living there had Shangguan as their surname.

Although they possessed a rare surname, they were not some clan of the martial arts society. The people were just the most ordinary common people.

However, there was a family in the town who went from being an ordinary family to the wealthiest and most influential family in the town, just because they produced a daughter who bore the surname Qian. They had whitewashed walls and jade-green tiles with countless servants. There was cheerful singing everyday. Everyone in the village was envious of them.

A rider in black on a fine, white horse slowly advanced along the path that connected Shangguan town to Ancient Wind city.

Qian Rongzhi looked at Shangguan village on the horizon from afar. Her mind that had been as still as water suddenly became a mess. She could not help but tighten her grasp around the Water-splitting barb on her waist. The cold weapon brought her a sliver of warmth.

The sun blazed in the sky, yet there was a sliver of lingering gloom in her eyes. She mocked herself, “Qian Rongzhi, oh Qian Rongzhi. You really have overestimated yourself.”

She had been taken away from this family. After she became accomplished with cultivation, Qian Yannian permitted her to return home and see her family. Ever since then, she frequently returned. She treated every single person in the family with great warmth. She wanted Qian Yannian to believe she treasured her ties and her past. Moreover, she wanted to make the Qian family believe they could control her using these people.