For cultivators at Jin, not visiting the dynasty was a regrettable lacking. Not entering the city at the capital area didn’t count as visiting the capital either. The richest and most fun locations were naturally inside.
“Young Lord, where are we heading to?” The driver’s name was Ma Long, a thin fella around the age of thirty who used to be a slave to six different masters.
Each of his purchased prices had been quite high because he had a unique skill - able to remember everything he had seen.
It could be said that he knew all the big streets and small alleys in the capital. Because of this, he had a higher quality of life compared to ordinary slaves.
A person can be born wretched but they must have something they’re good at in order to survive.
“To the main ward of the Yin Gou.” Feiyun ordered while opening the card from Divine Consort Ji.
The content was brief with only three words, “Southern Sky Temple”, written by an ink stick.
The characters were beautiful and contained the dao.
“This is a woman with writings worth as much as gold.” Feiyun brought the letter closer and smelled it. There was a faint and irresistible white-mist scent to it.
White-mist flowers were extremely rare. Rumor has it that there were only three trees in the Sacred Spirit Palace. The petals turned into perfume could give women eternal beauty.
This unique characteristic made them as expensive are rare spirit pills. Money wasn’t enough to buy them.
Despite being a place of business, the Yin Gou Ward was built like a palace with many buildings and pavilions. The exquisite craftsmanship here was uncommon.
This main ward at the capital was even more impressive and majestic, spanning for several dozen miles. There was nothing you couldn’t find here.
“Visitors to the ward must have a spending-power assessment before being handed a plaque. Different levels open up different areas.” An old man with a kind face told Feng Feiyun and brought him into a palace.
This palace was the farthest one away, meant to determine a customer’s purchasing power.
Those who could come to the main ward were all extremely wealthy.
The currency here wasn’t gold, only spirit pills and grasses.
One True Mysterious Spirit Grain was worth 30,000 gold. This was the lowest price at the main ward.
The lowest level of True Mysterious Spirit Stone was worth 300,000 gold.
A millennium spirit grass was worth 3,000,000 gold.
The guests were also divided into different levels. For example, those who can only spend below 300,000 gold, or one spirit stone, were considered “one star”.
Those who can spend ten spirit stones were two stars.
Three stars at one hundred stones. Normally, those who can spend this much were at the Giant level, the old elders of the cultivation world.
Four stars required being able to spend one thousand hundred stones. These were the masters of gigantic sects and clans.
At ten thousand stones was five stars. The entire Jin Dynasty had less than a hundred consumers of this level.
The customers at the Yin Gou Ward were normally at one or two stars.
“May I ask for your background, Young Noble?” A female examiner glanced at Feiyun then at his back. After noticing the lack of beautiful servants, she became less enthusiastic and said flatly: “Those who can’t spend 30,000 gold can’t enter the ward.”
This was a relatively large amount. At any city in Grand Southern, it could feed millions without a problem.
However, the capital was the congregation of the wealthy. 30,000 gold was only mid-level, no match for those who truly had money.
Feiyun didn’t blame her at all. After all, the noble youths would have guards and slaves together with him while he only had a carriage driver. It was his own fault being looked down upon like this. [1]
Feng Feiyun smiled and said: “I’m here to buy beast souls.”
He didn’t explicitly state that he could afford 30,000 gold, only his reason for being here, in order to not embarrass her too much.
Only the rich could afford beast souls so he kept it implicit.
This young woman was still a worker at the ward so she had been trained thoroughly. Even though she didn’t think Feiyun could spend that much, he could still be a “one-star” customer.
“Very well, I am responsible for checking the customer’s identity. Please take out something that can prove it.” The young woman said.
The ward was a public place and naturally wouldn’t care whether one was a good or bad person. However, in order to gauge someone’s spending power, they couldn’t make the person take out all of their prized and secretive possessions either.
These workers were very smart and could assess someone’s star level based on their articles of clothing, identity, and cultivation.
Feiyun’s expression froze: “I… I don’t have anything to prove my identity. How about I perform my saber technique for you to see?”
Feiyun didn’t know what to say. As the young lord of the Feng, he didn’t even have a plaque to prove his identity. It would have been nice if he didn’t return the order of the Divine King. He could have used it as the perfect answer right now.
The young woman stared at him as if he was a monster. ‘Who the hell is this guy? He’s clearly from the backwater. Does he think the Yin Gou Ward is a carnival or something for his entertainment?’
Recently, many prodigies came to the capital thinking that they were capable and cool. The truth was that they were only little lords in tiny cities, not worth a single fart at the capital.
She had seen too many like that. But now, there was another guy who wants to prove something with a blade dance? ‘Who the hell do you think you are, proving your identity in this manner? You think you’re the number one genius of the Jin Dynasty?’
Of course, she had enough restraint to keep it to herself. She had forgiven him since he was only a village boy who didn’t know any better.
After a brief pause, she said: “Well, if you don’t have any way to prove your identity, just to go the martial art floor to test your cultivation. If it is at a certain level, it is also a type of identification.”
Feiyun heaved a sigh of relief and happily said: “Where is this martial art floor? Why don’t you take me there? This is my first time at the Yin Gou Main Ward so I don’t know a lot of things. I’ll have to bother you more.”
He was sincere this time. He lacked the time and wanted to do many things at the ward. He might be lost without a guide.
“But… I have to examine the other guests.” The young woman was going crazy. ‘Why do I have to deal with this stupid guy?’
Feiyun said: “There are other examiners here, it’s fine without you. I can give you a handsome payment too.”
Numerous guests came to the ward each day. This examining palace alone had more than fifty workers. All were pretty women, she was only one of them.
She couldn’t change his mind nor did she wanted to offend a customer. In the end, she agreed to take him to the martial art floor.
Feiyun followed right behind her and politely asked with a smile: “What is your name, Miss?”
She was truly losing her patience. Those who could work as a receptionist at the Yin Gou Ward were all carefully chosen. After all, only beautiful women could make rich men obediently hand over their money in the shortest time.
She had a disgusted flash in her eyes, thinking that she had figured out what kind of person he was. This was someone who thought he could get whatever woman he wanted just because he had money.
As expected, this person was walking even closer with her. Despite her disgust, she didn’t show it on her face and answered: “My name is Shan Yi.”
“San Yi…” Feiyun murmured and thought that something wasn’t right. ‘This woman just played me. Oh well, I’m here to buy beast souls for my Myriad Beast Physique, not a woman.’ [2]
His Myriad Beast Physique wasn’t completed just yet. In order to finish it before the royal examination, the Yin Gou Ward was the only place that could accommodate so many souls.
Shan Yi took him to a wide field outside of the ward. It was connected to the identity examination palace earlier.
The cultivators here were using their cultivation to verify their identity. There was an endless line waiting.
Despite being a high-level establishment, it still had plenty of guests, the most at the capital. The amount of money it made each day was beyond description.
Many workers were here to check as well. These people were very powerful in their own right. Shan Yi brought Feiyun before a stage and whispered something to one of the examiners. She then came back and said that he may begin.