Returning to Xiao Liang Mountain, Li Mu cast the Qingfeng Huanyu Technique to water the eleven mu of spiritual fields with spiritual rain.
Afterward, Li Mu flew towards Qingshui Town on his sword.
Along the way, Li Mu was cautious, slowing down and constantly monitoring his surroundings with his Divine Sense.
After meeting Wang Feng this time, Li Mu realized that the guy had not given up, and the matter was far from over.
Li Mu couldn't help but want to act and completely resolve this trouble; however, thinking about the previous Managing Disciple, Xu Lijin, who had only died recently, if something happened to Wang Feng at this time, the Sect would definitely send people to investigate.
Li Mu temporarily held back, remaining vigilant at all times, ready to meet any challenge, to see what else he could do.
…
About an hour passed.
Li Mu flew on his sword, looking down from above, and saw a ten-zhang wide river, its waves surging, flowing westward.
On a relatively flat area by the river sat a small town, with nearly ten thousand stone houses of varying sizes, arranged in a staggered manner, ‘cut’ in half by a main street. Several zhang high city walls clearly separated the town from the continuous wooden shack area outside.
Outside Qingshui Town, wooden shacks were connected one after another, forming a continuous expanse. The further away from the shack area, the sparser the wooden shacks became, with spiritual fields of various sizes scattered among them.
This small town was Qingshui Town. It looked larger than Qing'an Town and had many spiritual fields cultivated. However, for some unknown reason, many suitable barren lands for cultivating spiritual fields remained uncultivated.
Li Mu's heart stirred. He did not plan to go directly to the Sect's station in this town; instead, he decided to first understand the situation in Qingshui Town.
Li Mu landed near a secluded spiritual field outside the town, took off his Qingxuan Sect Outer Sect Disciple robe, changed into a black robe commonly worn by Loose Cultivators, and then walked towards the town, entering from the west gate.
Like other Cultivators in Qingshui Town, Li Mu paid the entrance fee and walked into Qingshui Town.
Inside the town, various shops lined both sides of the street, selling all kinds of goods: Yao Beast meat, Spiritual Artifacts, leather armor… a dazzling array. There were also food stalls, selling wine and food, selling pancakes… haggling, introducing goods, greeting customers… all sorts of sounds converged, making it incredibly lively.
“Boss, half a jin of braised venison, half a steamed spiritual goose, and a bottle of red ginseng spiritual wine,” Li Mu walked into a bustling tavern, found an empty seat, looked at the menu on the wall, and called out to the boss to order.
“Alright! Customer, please wait a moment!” The owner responded and began to get busy.
Soon, Xiao Er came with a wooden tray, placing the meat and spiritual wine one by one in front of Li Mu.
“Shopkeeper Chen, the usual, bring the table dishes.”
“Shopkeeper Chen, for three people, you arrange it.”
“Shopkeeper Chen, check please! The Spirit Stones are on the table.”
…
The tavern owner was a sixty-year-old man, likely experienced in the business, which was very good. He had many regular customers. When the owner was too busy, the regular customers skillfully ordered, paid, and found their own seats.
Li Mu ate his meat and drank his wine alone, listening carefully to the conversation of a few Loose Cultivators at the next table, indirectly learning about the situation in Qingshui Town.
“Youyan Valley is off-limits now! Two more people died yesterday.”
“How did they die? Killed by a flock of wandering geese?”
“No, they were killed by a second-order Profound Feather Eagle!”
“How could that be? Where did the Profound Feather Eagle come from?”
“They came with the flock of wandering geese! Every year during the breeding season of the Azure Spirit Fish, the red-headed wandering geese come to Youyan Valley to lay eggs and raise their young. This is also the breeding season for the Profound Feather Eagle.”
“How many Profound Feather Eagles are there? I wanted to catch more wandering geese during this time to earn some Spirit Stones.”
“Everyone thinks that, but those are second-order Profound Feather Eagles. If you encounter them, your life will definitely be in danger!”
“Isn’t the Qingxuan Sect going to deal with it? What if the Profound Feather Eagle attacks the town?”
“How to deal with it? One Profound Feather Eagle requires at least two Foundation Establishment Cultivators to take down. A pair, male and female, would require four Foundation Establishment Cultivators to be dispatched, and who knows how many Profound Feather Eagles there are? Where would Qingshui Town get so many Foundation Establishment Cultivators?”
“Alas! The wolf pack was just driven away! Now there are Profound Feather Eagles. This life is too difficult!”
“Who isn’t saying that! If it weren’t for the Tai Mo River separating us, Qingshui Town would have been overrun by Yao Beast packs long ago.”
…
“Have you heard! The Chen Family discovered a mineral vein, and their prospecting team encountered a Yao Beast pack on their way back to report to the Family, and most of them were wiped out.”
“I heard about it long ago. The Chen Family’s prospecting team discovered a cold iron mine in Xiao Ling Mountain. As a result, this news was relayed back by an insider from the Ling Family, and then the Wang Family got the news from the Ling Family. The three Families are now in a dispute!”
“Wow! So that’s how it is! What’s the situation with the three Families now? Will they start fighting?”
“They can’t fight. The Qingxuan Sect is suppressing them from above! The mineral vein will definitely be developed according to the old rules: the Qingxuan Sect will take seventy percent of the profits, and the rest will be contested by the other Foundation Establishment Families. When has it not been like this? The three Foundation Establishment Families are all preparing to set up a Dao fighting platform to compete for the mineral vein shares!”
“I wonder if this cold iron mineral vein is large. If it were a large mineral vein, that would be great. Perhaps the Qingxuan Sect could send a few more Foundation Establishment Disciples down, so we wouldn’t have to live in fear all day!”
“Yes! Some Inner Sect Disciples from the Qingxuan Sect entered the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range some time ago and haven’t come out yet.”
“Beyond Lingtian Mountain, who knows how many demonic creatures are in the mountains. They must have all perished there.”
…
“This time I almost didn’t make it, Big Brother Lu, this hunter Cultivator profession is too dangerous, I want to quit!”
“Alright! After this drink, we’ll go our separate ways!”
“Brother Lu? Do you have other avenues?”
“No good avenues, but I have a brother whose spiritual fish catch is pretty good, I want to try that!”
…
Li Mu drank the spiritual wine and ate the delicious Yao Beast meat, pricking up his ears to listen to the low chatter of the guests at the neighboring tables. Various hot topics about Qingshui Town all fell into his ears.
The situation was pretty much as Li Mu expected. The environment Qingshui Town was in was much more dangerous than Qing'an Town. The nearby spiritual mountains, secluded valleys, forests, and even the riverbed were filled with various Yao Beasts. However, precisely because of its rich Cultivation resources, it attracted a large number of Loose Cultivators to make a living in this town.
This was also why the wooden shack area outside Qingshui Town expanded again and again, looking much larger than Qing'an Town.
Li Mu ate heartily and drank small sips of wine, staying in the tavern for over an hour, indirectly obtaining a lot of information about Qingshui Town.
He confirmed that the three Foundation Establishment Families in Qingshui Town were in conflict over the division of mineral vein shares, and Nangong Hong, the Managing Disciple of the Qingxuan Sect in Qingshui Town, was using this opportunity to mediate and reconcile the Dao fighting among the three Foundation Establishment Families.
Now, with the mediation unsuccessful, Nangong Hong had become the fair host of the main Dao fighting assembly for the three Foundation Establishment Families, and his status in Qingshui Town was rising.
Li Mu learned a lot of news and confirmed one thing: this Senior Brother Nangong was very intelligent and resourceful, nothing like the foolish Wang Feng who forgot danger for profit and dared to make a fatal move against him without investigating his true combat strength.
Moreover, even knowing that it was impossible, he still acted as if he would entangle to the end, simply an idiot.
“Xiao Er, check please!” Li Mu called Xiao Er, casually placed ten lower spirit stones on the table, and turned to leave the tavern.