Chapter 23: Fallen Deep Into a Vortex Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios Su Zimo stepped out of the cave. The spirit monkey was waiting for him outside. The spirit monkey laughed ‘gaga’, pointing to the inside of the cave. He winked and made faces at Su Zimo with a strange expression. He even wiggled his body a few times. Su Zimo cursed and laughed. “This damn monkey. You know everything.” In actual fact, although Su Zimo had not heard of the Joyful Reunion Powder, he could vaguely guess the purpose and effect of this drug. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦 He had studied for more than a decade. Su Zimo would not take advantage of another person in a perilous state, not to mention that both of them met by chance. “How are your injuries?” Su Zimo asked. “Wowo.” The spirit monkey waved its hands to express that it was fine. The spirit monkey’s physique was amazing and body healing capabilities were extremely strong. It would recover in a few days’ time. After being silent for a while, Su Zimo said softly, “I’ll be leaving.” “Oh?” The spirit monkey widened it’s big eyes. They were filled with puzzlement. In the cognition of the spirit monkey, Su Zimo was similar to him. He lived in the Cang Lang Mountain Range, had no one to rely on or turn to, and had no strings attached. Su Zimo pointed to the direction of Ping Yang Town and said, “There is a town about a few dozens of kilometers from Cang Lang Mountain Range. My home is over there. I have to go back now.” The spirit monkey stopped shouting. Tears welled up in its eyes. It looked a little sad. Turning its back, it quietly licked the wounds on his body. Su Zimo felt a little complicated too. In Su Zimo’s eyes, the spirit monkey was no longer the initial savior that it was. The spirit monkey was a friend whom he ate, lived and shared weals and woes with. Su Zimo had also thought of bringing the spirit monkey with him but this was not realistic. On one hand, Su Zimo was worried that the spirit monkey could not get used to the outside word. On the other hand, he was worried that he would not be able to protect the spirit monkey. The spirit monkey was obstinate and unyielding. It was also eccentric and untamed. He did not know what kind of huge trouble it would stir up outside. Life outside might not be safer, happier and more carefree than life in the Cang Lang Mountain Range. “Comrade, you can come in.” At this moment, the gentle voice of that lady could be heard coming from inside the cave. It broke the pin-drop silence outside the cave. Su Zimo patted the spirit monkey’s shoulders and stepped into the cave first. Although the night was dark, after cultivating The Mystic Classic of the Twelve Demon Kings of the Great Wilderness, Su Zimo’s eyesight was superb. At the sight of Yao Xue, he could not help being slightly stunned. Yao Xue’s beauty was astonishing. Her beauty surpassed that of Shen Mengqi and was comparable to Die Yue. It was just that she did not have the unique charisma on Die Yue. Yao Xue had just gotten out of the cold lake. Her black tresses were still wet. She looked like a beauty who had just gotten out of a bath, with a touch of gentleness. She was very attractive. Su Zimo was a little distracted but resumed his normal self after a moment. Looking at the current Yao Xue, he guessed that the effect of the Joyful Reunion Powder had already faded. Su Zimo nodded at Yao Xue and walked to his usual resting place. He searched out the few small cloth bags from the Joyful Clan and fidgeted with them curiously. “Comrade, I still don’t know your name?” Yao Xue smiled and asked. “Su Zimo.” Su Zimo responded without even looking up. He continued to fidget with the cloth bags in his hands. Yao Xue looked at Su Zimo, who was not far away. Recalling the embarrassing state that she had been in when poisoned by the Joyful Reunion Powder, she could not help blushing and feeling shy. Yao Xue gently gritted her molars. Her distracted eyes glancing everywhere. She tried to appear casual as she asked, “Just now... I... ” “Just now, Miss lost your consciousness. Nothing happened.” Before Yao Xue could finish her words, Su Zimo added. “Oh.” Yao Xue furrowed her brows when she discovered that Su Zimo seemed reluctant to respond to her. He had been fiddling with the storage bags in his hands. She could not help feeling a little annoyed at heart. After watching by the side for a while, Yao Xue could not help asking, “Comrade, you don’t seem to be a cultivator?” Su Zimo paused. He observed Yao Xue’s eyes and said calmly, “I don’t have a spirit root.” At the sound of these words, there was not the slightest bit of contempt in Yao Xue’s eyes. On the contrary, there was a flash of shock and regret. This subtle change made Su Zimo feel a little positive about Yao Xue. Yao Xue approached Su Zimo. She sat on the ground, not minding the dirt and mess. She said jokingly, “Then I won’t address you as comrade anymore. It’s only right that I call you Mister Su.” “It’s up to you.” Su Zimo smiled. Yao Xue pointed at the cloth bags in Su Zimo’s hands and said, “This thing is a storage bag. It is a very common item in the cultivation world. Almost everyone will bring one with him. It is a Cosmos Bag and can store a lot of items.” “Oh?” “However, the storage bag will only open after one uses spirit qi to stimulate it.” While talking, Yao Xue took a storage bag and patted it with her palm. A pile of items dropped onto the ground. Most of them were bottles and jars. There were also dozens of stones the size of a fist. “These are spirit stones. This is something that a cultivator cannot do without. There are three grades of it – supreme-grade, middle-grade and inferior-grade. These few are inferior-grade spirit stones.” “As for spirit root, it can be categorized into five grades – pseudo spirit root, ordinary spirit root, superior-class spirit root, earth spirit root and the most rare heaven spirit root... ” Yao Xue was very smart. Seemingly, she could tell that Su Zimo was very curious about cultivators. Hence, she tirelessly told him about the common information of cultivators. Die Yue hardly talked about such things. Hence, Su Zimo could not help but be immersed in this information. One party was humble to learn and the other party spoke without any reservation. Before they knew it, it was already dawn and one night had passed. Even if one was a cultivator, he would feel tired after having a sleepless night. Su Zimo looked apologetic. He got up and said, “Miss Yao, regarding this information on cultivators, thank you for teaching me generously. I have gained a lot.” Yao Xue smiled and said, “If you wish to thank me, give me three pieces of wolf skins. This is also my purpose for this trip.” There were hundreds of wolf skins inside this cave. Su Zimo waved his big hands and said, “Take as much as you want.” Yao Xue said, “Actually, everything on the spirit beasts are treasures. To a Talisman Master, hides are a necessity. You have so many spirit beast hides in the cave. If you sell them, you will be able to get many spirit stones in return.” Yao Xue had told Su Zimo earlier. In the cultivation world, there were four types of cultivators with a very special status. Their status was even higher than that of ordinary cultivators. The Elixir Refinement Master could refine elixirs. There were numerous kinds of elixirs with a wide scope of usage. To cultivators, elixirs were indispensable. The Weapon Refinement Master could refine various types and grades of spirit weapons. To cultivators, spirit weapons could significantly improve their ability and were also indispensable. The Talisman Master could create talismans. The Augmentation Talisman that Yao Xue used to block the attacks of Joyful Seven earlier was one of such talismans. Without the Augmentation Talisman, Yao Xue would have long been defeated and captured. The Array Formation Master was proficient in the formation of arrays. Many of the major clans had major defensive array formations. If the cultivators were to fall into any of the arrays set up by opponents, they would be restrained everywhere and their lives might even be threatened. Of course, the prerequisite for becoming one of these four types of cultivators was the possession of a spirit root and becoming a Qi Refinement Warrior. Su Zimo shook his head and said, “Even if I can exchange for spirit stones, I have no use for them.” “Why not?” Yao Xue said immediately, “You have to know that one piece of inferior-grade spirit stone is worth a thousand taels of gold. In some trading houses of the cultivation world, various and numerous kinds of items are available for sale. One will have to use spirit stones to trade for these items. If you have enough spirit stones, you can even assign some assignments and engage the Qi Refinement Warriors to complete them. Of course, the higher the realm that the Qi Refinement Warrior is at, the higher the cost of hiring.” Upon hearing this, Su Zimo’s heart wavered. He had a vague feeling that these spirit stones might really be of some use. After pondering for a while, Su Zimo asked again, “At what realms were the Joyful Seven at?” Yao Xue said, “Those two guarding the spirit monkey were the weakest. They are Level 5 Qi Refinement Warriors. The one who escaped and the fat-faced one were the strongest. They are both Level 8 Qi Refinement Warriors. The remaining three were Level 7 Qi Refinement Warriors.” Su Zimo nodded. One year of training and experience had not been in vain. Now, even Level 8 Qi Refinement Warrior was not his match. Su Zimo even had a hunch that Level 9 Qi Refinement Warrior would also be in danger if he were to close in on him! Of course, this was on the pretext that the other party would not execute the Sword Kinesis Flight at the first instance. In fact, Sword Kinesis Flight would deplete a lot of spirit qi. In fights and battles, be it Qi Refinement Warrior or Foundation Establishment Cultivator, they would save as much spirit qi as possible for use in attacking the opponent. With both feet on the ground, the other party could still defeat you by controlling the flying sword even if one were to execute Sword Kinesis Flight. Hence, in the midst of killings and fightings, almost none of the Qi Refinement Warriors or Foundation Establishment Cultivators would execute Sword Kinesis Flight and attack at the same time. This would not only cause distraction but also deplete a lot of spirit qi. Of course, it would be a different matter when it came to the Perfected Golden Core realm. The ability of the Perfected Golden Core was vastly different from the two mentioned before. One of the abilities was that the Perfected Golden Core could completely lift himself off the ground without relying on any foreign object! “Where do we go to sell these items?” Su Zimo had quite a huge harvest yesterday. He had six storage bags. There were about seven hundred pieces of spirit stones in total. In addition, there were other flying swords, elixirs and so on. Yao Xue said, “In the Great Zhou Dynasty, the largest trading house is the Sky Treasure Pavilion. Sky Treasure Pavilion will set up branch stores In the town of cities where cultivators gather. Most of them are situated in the cities of the various states where the kings live in.” “Sky Treasure Pavilion?” Su Zimo said in slight puzzlement. He frowned. “There seems to be one in Cang Lang City.” When he was studying at Cang Lang City previously, Su Zimo had unintentionally heard of Sky Treasure Pavilion. He heard that it was a place that was even more mysterious than the palace. The gathering of the cultivators? Cang Lang City, Sky Treasure Pavilion? Su Zimo narrowed his eyes, seemingly pondering about something. “Since they are cultivators, why would they intervene in pugilistic and royal court affairs of the mortal world?” Su Zimo asked again. Yao Xue explained, “The Qi Refinement Warrior’s life span is almost similar to that of ordinary people. Even a Foundation Establishment Cultivator’s life span is at most over a hundred years. It is so hard to attain alchemy. When they see that they have no hopes of attaining alchemy, most of the Qi Refinement Warriors and Foundation Establishment Cultivators will enter the royal court and enjoy a materialistic and carefree life in their remaining years.” “Of course, when there are traces of cultivators in various states, most of them belong to the Qi Refinement Warriors. However, it is said that in the Great Zhou Dynasty... one of the armies is solely formed by the Foundation Establishment Cultivators and there are even some Perfected Golden Cores in the dynasty. This is the reason why the Great Zhou Dynasty stands towering like a giant and dominates the various states!” Countries such as Da Qi and Yan all belonged to the vassal states and had to pay tribute to the Great Zhou Dynasty every year. Su Zimo suddenly had a realization. “It is no wonder the Great Zhou Dynasty hardly intervenes in the battles of the various states. This is because the rise and fall of any states will not threaten the rule of the Great Zhou Dynasty.” “That’s right.” Yao Xue nodded. After pausing for a moment, Yao Xue smiled and said in a profound manner, “The Cang Lang City is one of the cities in the state but Sky Treasure Pavilion set up a branch there. It seems that the City Lord of this city is conceiving a huge plan.” Sky Treasure Pavilion would only set up a branch in places where the cultivators gather. This implied that Cang Lang City had many cultivators! What did the City Lord of Cang Lang want to do? Was it related to the Su family? Su Zimo vaguely felt that the Su family had very likely gotten itself into a massive vortex, and it would be shattered into pieces in the event of any slip up!