Cultivation: Being Immortal

Chapter 239:

Bing State – Yucheng City

Lin Jiang is very sensitive to risks. Yi Zhibai has invited him to invest several times, which has already revealed his wealth. This worries Lin Jiang a lot.

He doesn’t trust people easily. If Yi Zhibai and the others are successful, they might not have any bad intentions towards him. But if they encounter setbacks, it’s not certain anymore.

Lin Jiang doesn’t want to take this risk, so after leaving the gambling place, he starts planning his escape.

In spiritual jade’s shop, there were some Lin family members acting as supervisors. Lin Jiang discussed with them and asked them to send messages back to the Lin family and send more people.

The Lin family on the other side was very efficient. They were in desperate need of money, so within half a month, more than ten people arrived.

Lin Jiang decided to entrust all the business to them, including his restaurants. He gave the Lin family 50% of the shares and let them manage everything.

He also introduced Yi Zhibai and others to the Lin family, helping them establish connections. Once everything was arranged, Lin Jiang quietly left Yucheng City.

However, Lin Jiang didn’t return to the Lin family. He couldn’t go back to Yun State either. He went to a place called Zhongzhou, known as a sacred land for cultivating immortality.

Zhongzhou is the ancestral land of the human race. It is where the human race began to rise and establish itself in this world. It is now the strongest region in the cultivation world, even surpassing the Qing State, which is represented by the four major families.

After a long journey, Lin Jiang arrived at the territory of the Shenmu Sect. The Shenmu Sect is one of the most powerful forces in the cultivation world, and it is led by Tao Achieving Ancestor.

Apart from the Tao Achieving Ancestor, the most remarkable thing about the Shenmu Sect is a divine tree. It is a towering tree, reaching thousands of feet in height and cannot be hugged by nearly a hundred people. It has been alive for an unknown number of years. According to legend, this tree existed during the time of the Thunder Emperor. There are rumors that the tree has already reached the Disaster Crossing Period and only needs to overcome the Heavenly Tribulation to ascend.

There are countless rumors, but it is certain that this divine tree is the source of the Shenmu Sect’s greatest power, unmatched by any other.

"A tree passes on for generations, even when people are gone."

Lin Jiang stood outside Shenmu City, hundreds of miles away, and could still see that precious tree. It truly was a treasure.

Lin Jiang learned from the mistakes in Yucheng City and put Small Shadiao into the Spirit Beast Bag. This made Small Shadiao, who was used to freedom, very unhappy. Lin Jiang promised two bottles of Beast Spirit Pill before Small Shadiao agreed.

Shenmu City is a larger city than Yunzhong City, with more people and higher cultivation levels. But the territory is also larger, with a radius of over a hundred miles. The housing prices are not as crazy as in Yunzhong City.

Lin Jiang rented a residence and settled down comfortably. After half a month of exploration, Lin Jiang had a basic understanding of Shenmu City.

Shenmu City is a comprehensive city, with dozens of large commercial establishments. Almost all major forces in the central region, including Bing State and other provinces, have their commercial establishments here. Various resources are extremely abundant. As long as you have money, you can buy many resources that cannot be obtained elsewhere. Of course, the prices are very expensive, with high markups.

However, this is actually suitable for someone like Lin Jiang. Various adventures and opportunities are not suitable for him. If he wants good things, he can only buy them from the market. That’s why a big city is Lin Jiang’s first choice.

Another month passed and Lin Jiang acquired a remote small shop. The shop is very small, only twenty to thirty square meters. Lin Jiang opened a small shop for spiritual talismans. He didn’t expect this small shop to make money. It was just to cover up his identity. Otherwise, as an independent cultivator, staying at home all the time, focusing only on cultivation, it wouldn’t be convincing.

Lin Jiang didn’t even hire anyone, he directly made Small Shadiao act as a shop assistant. For this, Lin Jiang specifically bought him a treasure that conceals his aura. This way, even a Nascent Soul cultivator would find it difficult to discover his true identity, reducing unnecessary trouble.

After everything was arranged, Lin Jiang began to close himself off intermittently. For over three hundred years, Lin Jiang rarely stayed in seclusion for long periods of time. Instead, he would practice for a while and then take a few days to relax. If he stayed closed off for too long, he was afraid he would go crazy.

The Shenmu Sect had a unique advantage in the cultivation of spiritual crops because of that divine tree. It far surpassed the Five Elements Sect in this aspect. Furthermore, the Shenmu Sect produced and sold their own goods. They grew excellent medicinal herbs and had great alchemy techniques, which allowed the medicines in Shenmu City to be far superior to those in other normal regions. This greatly benefited Lin Jiang’s cultivation.

······

"Xiao Brother"

"Xiao Brother"

In the blink of an eye, a year had passed. On this day, the owners of several shops near Lin Jiang’s small shop came in. Lin Jiang had already boiled water and brewed tea, waiting for them.

In Shenmu City, Lin Jiang didn’t change his name and still went by the name "Xiao Yi." After all, he hadn’t planned to completely sever ties with the Five Elements Sect and the Lin family.

"You Taoist friends came at just the right time. The tea is still hot."

Lin Jiang smiled. Humans are social creatures, and Lin Jiang was no exception. After arriving in Shenmu City, he proactively visited the surrounding shops, slowly expanding his network and integrating into the small community of Shenmu City. The people visiting Lin Jiang’s shop were all owners of nearby shops.

Their strength is not as good as those big merchants, so they secretly form alliances and help each other. When someone comes to their shops and they don’t have goods, they will recommend each other or secretly borrow goods, etc. It’s not as hostile as imagined, but rather very united. After all, in a place like Shenmu City, it is very difficult for small merchants to survive. Their enemies are those big merchants.

"Old Luo, learn something from Brother Xiao. Every time we gather, he brings out the best tea. Your tea is the worst, even an ordinary person can drink it."

"How can I compare with Brother Xiao? Brother Xiao only has his brother, but I have a big family to support. There are more than 20 people. Of course, I have to save some."

"Who made you have so many?"

"Nonsense, I only had seven, and six of them are daughters. There’s only one son. It’s my stupid son who can have so many children. What can I do?"

"Old Luo is useless. He keeps trying to have a son before and when he finally has one, he complains that his son can have too many children. I have to go and tell his son to have more children and tire him out."

"Yes, yes, yes."

"Don’t rub salt on Old Luo’s wounds. More than 20 mouths will wear him out. Let’s talk about the recent news. Making money is our priority."

Lin Jiang quickly changed the subject. Adult social interactions are not that simple. They all have a purpose. Lin Jiang associates with these people to obtain more information in order to earn resources and benefits.

"The biggest news lately is the wedding between the chief of the Shenmu Sect, Duanmu Ling, and the saintess of the Spiritual Moon Sect. It is said that the Shenmu Sect has offered a Five Layered Divine Fruit as a dowry to marry the saintess of the Spiritual Moon Sect."

"The Five Layered Divine Fruit, isn’t that the divine item that can help the Nascent Soul advance to Soul Changing stage? The Shenmu Sect suffered a big loss."

"That’s not necessarily true. The Shenmu Sect wouldn’t make a bad deal. We don’t know the specific reasons."

"Speaking of the current saintess of the Lunar Spirit Sect…"

As the topic emerged, everyone became interested. The Shenmu Sect’s sacred tree, located at the top of the 10,000-meter-high tree crown in the shape of a pyramid, is divided into nine layers. Each layer bears fruit. The higher the level, the fewer the quantity. The Five Layered Divine Fruit can be used as the main medicine for advancing to the Soul Changing stage, it is extremely precious. It is a treasure that all cultivators in Shenmu City dream of.

Lin Jiang has been in Shenmu City for over a year and has long known about this. He also knows that the Shenmu Sect occasionally sells some of these divine fruits. Lin Jiang has coveted them for a long time. If he could obtain one, even if it’s a three or four layered divine fruit, it would be very beneficial to him. Perhaps he could refine it into a treasure for forming his infant.

Although Lin Jiang already has a Purple Origin Taoist Fruit from the Five Elements Sect, he knows his aptitude. One pellet is probably not enough for him. Now that he heard about the divine fruits, he immediately became enthusiastic and pulled a few people to gather information. These few people have been in Shenmu City for many years, and in terms of connections, they are much stronger than him.