Chapter Four Hundred and Forty – Xu Ling City
Shang Wei Ming suppressed the excitement he felt inside. His attitude became increasingly respectful. “Dong Sheng Cloud Island is actually a gathering of cloud islands. Other than the main island, there are more than thirty eight thousand cloud islands of various sizes. These cloud islands are divided into different price categories based on the size, position, and ling veins. The biggest and best batch of cloud islands have basically all been sold. The remaining are mostly medium sized and small cloud islands, as well as fragmented cloud islands.”
Zuo Mo asked interestedly. “What is the situation of medium, small, and fragmented cloud islands?”
Shang Wei Ming’s explanation was very detailed. “Fragmented cloud islands are the smallest cloud islands. They are mostly less than one hundred mu in size, and usually will not have ling veins. They are mainly used as residences by lone xiuzhe. The little island I own is just forty mu. Cloud islands above one hundred mu and below one thousand mu are considered little cloud islands. Many have ling veins but they are very pricy. Islands over one thousand mu and below fifty thousand mu are considered middle cloud islands. These cloud islands usually have ling veins of good quality, some with ling lakes and springs so one can make ling fields. The large cloud islands above fifty thousand mu have been mostly sold, and the requirements to buy one are much stricter.”
Zuo Mo pondered for a while. With how many people they had, they probably needed to buy a middle-sized cloud island, and it had to a larger one. He asked, “What is the price of a middle-sized cloud island.”
As expected, a Big Boss!
Shang Wei Ming was overjoyed inside. Suppressing his excitement, he said, “Usually, it is one third-grade jingshi per mu.”
“This price isn’t cheap.” Zuo Mo was slightly alarmed. Tens of thousands of pieces of third-grade jingshi definitely was not a small sum.
“It really isn’t cheap!” Shang Wei Ming said emotionally. “This jie is filled with the cloud sea, the only place to land are the cloud islands. Those lone islands that do not have protection are not worth anything. Eliminating those, there aren’t many cloud islands left. Adding on that the situation outside is slightly tense, the price of cloud islands have risen in recent days.”
Zuo Mo paused. “Why is that?”
“Too many people have come to the jie recently,” Shang Wei Ming explained. “Cloud Sea Jie is remote, and is situated at the intersection between the borders of the Four Realms. In the past, there were not many that came from the outside. The situation has now drastically changed. This place is far from the front lines. Entering the jie here is difficult from the jie river, and many must rely on transportation formations,. If the situation turns for the worst, we can simply destroy the transportation formation and be safe. In these past two years, xiuzhe from other places have started gathering here, so everyone hasn’t had good days.”
“How come?” Zuo Mo asked back.
“The prices of commodities have risen greatly! Cloud Sea Jie is different than other places, the jie river is hard to travel through so we rely on transportation formations. But if supplies are transported through transportation formations, the consumption of jingshi used on them is significant. If I hadn’t accumulated some wealth in the past and bought a fragmented cloud island, I won’t even have a place to live with how high the prices are now.” Shang Wei Ming shook his head and sighed.
“So it’s like that.” Zuo Mo was thoughtful.
They flew closer to Dong Sheng Cloud Island. Soon, they landed on the big island.
A xiuzhe whose clothes had a bright script of “Xu Ling” flew over and swept his gaze over the Black Turtle behind Zuo Mo. “Area Four, number one hundred and thirty. Docking costs three pieces of third-grade jingshi a day. Prepayment is twenty pieces of third-grade jingshi, and the deposit ten pieces of third-grade jingshi.”
At the side, Shang Wei Ming explained. “The ships cannot enter the city and must stay at the docks ahead. Area Four is used to store small ships. There are special storage areas on the docks. Boss, remember to arrange for people to guard it.”
Zuo Mo finally felt the pain of the high prices here. However, when he heard Shang Wei Ming’s last sentence, he instantly became wary. “It’s not safe?”
Shang Wei Ming had a grimace. “It was alright before but ,currently, it is not too good. There were several people whose merchandise had been stolen.”
“Oh.” Zuo Mo nodded. He then asked, “If we encounter people stealing, is it alright to kill them?”
Shang Wei Ming’s heart suddenly jumped. In this instant, the other had seemed to suddenly become a whole other person and exuded a dangerous presence. When Shang Wei Ming looked closely, he only saw a smiling Big Boss. He was suspicious that his eyesight had gone bad. He forced a smile and said, “If they are truly thieves, it is alright to kill them. However, it is best not to kill if possible. Harmonious business is best.”
“Harmonious business, very reasonable!” Zuo Mo nodded.
Under the guidance of the Xu Ling Sect disciple, the Black Turtle was put away at Area Four, bay one hundred and thirty, and they paid the fees. Gongsun Cha, Xie Shan, Zong Ru flew out of the ship, the others stayed inside. Zuo Mo did not want to attract too much attention. With Eldest Shixiong, Xie Shan, Zong Ru, and himself, as long as they did not meet a yuanying xiuzhe, there was little worry for their safety.
As for xiuzhe that were in the stage of yuanying, Zuo Mo had never seen one before, not even in Bloody Sky Metropolis Jie.
As they left the harbor, a straight blue stone road about five zhang wide appeared in front of everyone. The both sides were lined with a row of stone lamps. The stone lamps were not constructed from high quality materials but Zuo Mo noticed that the pillars of each stone lamp were engraved with complex formation scripts.
A large scale formation!
Zuo Mo’s heart shook slightly. These regularly arranged stone lamps were a part of a large scale formation! He cloud clearly feel the fine ling power vibrations that were unique to formations.
“Xu Ling City is one of the large cities in this area since Xu Ling Sect, a seal formation cultivation sect, is very strong. They put great emphasis on trading of materials. If Boss has merchandise of this kind, you may want to sell them directly to Xu Ling Sect. The prices they give are very fair. If the amount of the transaction is large, they will also give small concessions,” Shang Wei Ming said.
Zuo Mo now understood. So Xu Ling Sect was a formation sect. No wonder!
“There are many disciples in Xu Ling Sect so the amount of materials used each day is astounding. The talismans and seal soldiers they forge are very good and easy to sell. They are from Tian Huan Realm, and have great power. They managed to establish themselves quickly after arriving in Cloud Sea Jie. After developing for such a long time, their reputation in this area is very good,” Shang Wei Ming said.
Zuo Mo thought of a question. “The materials which aren’t easy to transport, can’t you plant them?”
“People do,” Shang Wei Ming said, “but ling farming requires ling fields, animal raising requires ling lakes and springs, and xiuzhe who are professionals, and also time. Unless they plan to stay here in the future, their efforts will only go to benefit other people. Right now, everyone wants to stay here for the safety, but when the war ends, how many people are willing to remain here?”
Zuo Mo nodded. “That’s true.”
No matter if it was growing ling plants or animals, they were not quick endeavors. They needed constant care. If one did not plan on establishing a home here, then no one was willing to spend so much effort and not gain anything.
Shang Wei Ming explained in great detail and Zuo Mo also listened carefully.
Zuo Mo’s procession did not attract any attention. They didn’t wear any talismans, and their clothing looked normal. Their expressions were normal and did not have the pride of experts. Gongsun Cha had a shy and bashful smile hanging on his face looking like the boy next door. The female xiu that passed by looked with interest at Gongsun Cha for a while. When they saw the shy blush on Gongsun Cha’s face increased due to their interest, they giggled.
Zuo Mo saw this and laughed. Who could think that the fearsome Lil’ Miss, that wouldn’t even blink an eye when killing thousands, was embarrassed by a few girls.
Shang Wei Ming couldn’t help but also laugh. “This young brother is very handsome!”
Zuo Mo roared with laughter. Wei Sheng laughed lightly. Xie Shan and Zong Ru did not dare, and could only force themselves to repress laughter. Their expressions look very strange.
Shang Wei Ming was confused. He didn’t know what was humorous about what he said.
The tendons in Gongsun Cha’s forehead pulsed but in the eyes of other people, it was filled with the innocent adorableness of youth. It caused the female xiu on the road to laugh again.
A daring female xiu ran over. “Hey, what are you called?”
Gongsun Cha’s face suddenly became as red as an apple.
Zuo Mo couldn’t resist any longer. He squatted on the ground and slammed his fist as he laughed. Xie Shan and Zong Ru’s expressions almost twisted, looking like fish that were suffocating.
“You are so shy!” The female xiu was not afraid of strangers, her black eyes filled with liveliness. She reached out a snowy white hand. “I am A Mu Lian!”
Staring at the snowy white hand in front of him, Gongsun Cha stilled.
“Let’s be friends!”
Gongsun Cha felt his face was burning. He didn’t know what to do with his hands, his heart filled with unprecedented panic, as he unconsciously made a sound!
The laughter of A Mu Lian’s fellows came from the distance. Gongsun Cha was even more distraught.
“Haha, you’re so cute!” A Mu Lian was very happy.
One of the older female xiu in the group urged her to leave with a smile.
“Ah! I have to go!” The female xiu jumped up and turned to leave. After a distance, she waved her white hand at Gongsun Cha, and then formed it into a funnel to shout, “Don’t forget my name, I’m A Mu Liang!”
A Mu Lian’s group quickly disappeared.
Zuo Mo fell backwards as he laughed. He had never seen Gongsun Shidi so panicked and clueless before. He used this matter to tease Gongsun Cha along the way but Gongsun Cha kept his head down and did not respond to Zuo Mo’s teasing.
Seeing Gongsun Shidi’s burning face and soulless expression, Zuo Mo suddenly felt very good.
This little detour raised everyone’s spirits as they walked towards the city gates.
———
The city gate of Xu Ling City was not large. Many Xu Ling Sect disciples were guarding the gate. Behind them were many large and tall seal soldiers. They did not question the people passing by and only came up to inspect any disturbances, like when there were fights.
It was possible to see all kinds of flying talismans in the sky, but the most common were paper cranes. This made Zuo Mo feel a sense of kinship.
Entering the city doors, a wave of sound crashed into them.
“Third-grade Yellow Armor Strength Warrior, with endless strength, suitable for all kinds of manual labor, long-lasting and durable! Essential for building and digging in mountains!”
“Third-grade Grass Puppet, making tea, pouring water, washing clothing and sheets, for all purposes, your best servant!”
“Sprint Lightning Seal! Sprint Lightning Seal! Xu Ling Sect’s Sprint Lightning Seal! Only one hundred pieces of third-grade jingshi! Do not pass this opportunity by!”
The familiar yet unfamiliar scene caused Zuo Mo’s mind to blur. After so much killing and danger, the hawking of wares on the street caused Zuo Mo to be so moved he wanted to cry in this moment.
He pushed down the soreness in his nose and grinned.
This feeling was really good!
Translator Ramblings: After a hundred chapters, they finally reach safety. Also, this is sort of the end of the arc. Don’t want cliffhangers? Come back in about one hundred chapters … …