A day passed in the blink of an eye.
At this moment, Ye Xuan was about three hundred miles away from Hongtu Town. In his line of sight was a canyon with only a single path leading forward. People bustled back and forth along the road, making the area exceptionally lively.
At the end of this road, nestled among the mountains, lay a massive and magnificent town. Surrounded by mountains on all sides, the town was accessible by only this one main road. Each mountain was incredibly steep. In other words, unless one could fly, this road was the only way in or out of the town.
The town’s geographical layout made it extremely easy to defend and virtually impossible to attack. This canyon acted as a natural moat to fend off enemies.
Perhaps due to the surrounding high mountains, the sprawling town only occupied a third of the available land. The rest of the area was nothing but barren yellow earth. This buffer zone was left intentionally to prevent sudden landslides from burying the town.
Ye Xuan passed through the canyon and arrived at the town gates.
This was Niu Family Town.
The three large characters for "Niu Family Town" gleamed under the sunlight. The town walls towered dozens of meters high, imposing and grand. Hanging at the entrance was a golden Ox Head Banner. It fluttered in the wind, exuding a commanding presence. However, Ye Xuan saw clearly that beside the golden Ox Head Banner, there was another flag. Embroidered on this flag was a two-headed snake.
"What are you staring at, kid? Pay up."
A low growl suddenly snapped Ye Xuan out of his observation. He asked in confusion, "Pay up?"
"Heh, you must be from the countryside or some small town, right? Entering Niu Family Town requires a toll of fifty taels of silver. If you don’t have the money, get lost and stop blocking the people behind you."
Ye Xuan was somewhat surprised; he had never heard of needing to pay a toll just to enter a town. Of course, this was largely due to his lack of life experience. The Ye Family assumed that because he had wandered for over a decade, he must have been through a lot and seen much of the world. Otherwise, how could he act so decisively? In reality, he had spent the entire thirteen years isolated within the Profound Cloud Sect, effectively living as a hermit deep in the remote mountains. While his perspective was elevated, it was strictly limited to cultivation.
When it came to human customs and worldly affairs, he knew very little. As for his decisive and ruthless nature, that simply stemmed from having died once before.
"Alright, I’ll pay."
After handing over the silver taels, Ye Xuan stepped into Niu Family Town. Upon entering, he discovered that it was several times more prosperous than he had imagined. The moment he walked in, a chorus of street peddlers’ cries washed over him.
"Step right up, don’t miss out! Freshly excavated items from ancient ruins, potentially primeval treasures! Each item is only a hundred taels of silver!"
"Come take a look! All kinds of wondrous medicines and pills! A single pill will keep you safe and sound if you’re feeling under the weather! Little brother, want to buy one?"
"Weapons for sale! Having a handy, high-level weapon is like having extra lives! Our shop has everything from Human Level to Yellow Level weapons! As long as you have the money, I can even get my hands on a Profound Level weapon for you!"
Soon, the weapon shop caught Ye Xuan’s attention.
"Yo, young man, looking to buy a weapon? What level do you need? How about a Yellow Level weapon? Even a low-grade Yellow Level weapon can injure a Cultivator below the 3rd Layer of the Strong Spirit Realm."
Weapon levels directly corresponded to a Cultivator’s realm. Mortal Level weapons could kill experts in the Mortal Spirit Realm, but were useless against those in the Strong Spirit Realm; they simply lacked the necessary hardness and durability.
"Did you just say you can procure Profound Level weapons too?"
"Little brother, you want a Profound Level weapon? Like I said, it’s not impossible to get one. But do you have the currency to pay for it? And I’m not talking about silver notes, but Frenzy Soul Crystals."
"Frenzy Soul Crystals!"
Ye Xuan furrowed his brows. Naturally, he knew what Frenzy Soul Crystals were. They were crystals containing special energy, condensed by Cultivators in the Frenzy Spirit Realm to guide cultivation.
As everyone knew, the cultivation process involved breaking through the Hidden Veins within the body. Where these Hidden Veins were located, how to break through them, and how much power was required to do so—these questions had once plagued their ancestors. Consequently, those ancestors expended great effort to create crystals like the Mortal Soul Crystal, Strong Soul Crystal, and Frenzy Soul Crystal to facilitate the cultivation of future generations.
Each crystal corresponded to a major realm. Their purpose was to help Cultivators in that specific realm effectively pinpoint the locations of their corresponding Hidden Veins, allowing them to break through.
For instance, Ye Xuan was currently at the 7th Layer of the Strong Spirit Realm. To advance to the 8th Layer, he first needed to increase the volume and purity of his Spiritual Qi, and then attempt to break through his eighth Twin Vein. Only those who had successfully cultivated past this stage knew the exact location of this Hidden Vein. But even if an experienced senior told you its general location within the human body, you could still make a mistake.
This was where the Strong Soul Crystal, corresponding to the Strong Spirit Realm, came into play; it could guide the power within your body to the precise location. As for whether one could actually shatter the bottleneck of the Hidden Vein, that depended entirely on the depth of the Cultivator’s own foundation.
The only reason Ye Xuan’s grandfather had managed to break into the Strong Spirit Realm was because the Fang Family had shown mercy and gifted him a few Strong Soul Crystals. The Strong Soul Crystals had allowed Ye Zeyun to accurately locate his first Twin Vein. Then, relying on twenty years of accumulated foundation, he successfully broke through it.
In contrast, the Fang Family’s Great Elder, Fang Tianming, had been stuck at the peak of the 9th Layer of the Strong Spirit Realm for fifty years simply because he lacked Frenzy Soul Crystals and didn’t know where to break through his new Hidden Vein. It was only by sheer luck, right before his lifespan was about to end, that he blundered into a successful breakthrough.
"Frenzy Soul Crystals... I indeed don’t have any."
"I figured you didn’t. Little brother, don’t bite off more than you can chew. You’re so young, I bet you haven’t even entered the Strong Spirit Realm yet, right? I have a longsword here, low-grade Yellow Level quality. Wielding this sword, you could pierce the skin of Cultivators below the 3rd Layer of the Strong Spirit Realm—assuming, of course, that they are caught off guard and actually let you hit them."
"How much is it?"
"Only a hundred taels of gold, or a hundred Strong Soul Crystals."
"That’s too expensive. I don’t have the money."
"Damn it, if you don’t have money, you should have said so earlier! Stop wasting my breath. Shoo, shoo!"
Hearing that Ye Xuan was broke, the shop assistant unceremoniously shooed him away.
Ye Xuan chuckled and walked over to the neighboring medicinal herb shop. The shop wasn’t large, taking up only half a standard storefront. Yet, the herbs inside were all Spirit Medicines. Not only did they have Yellow Level ones, but there was even a stalk of Profound Level Spirit Medicine!
Ye Xuan finally understood why anyone entering Niu Family Town was willing to pay the toll. It was because Niu Family Town sold things that simply couldn’t be bought in other towns. However, the truly good items here weren’t sold for real gold or silver, but rather for Frenzy Soul Crystals—or even Super Soul Crystals.
Soon, Ye Xuan arrived at a teahouse. His purpose for visiting Niu Family Town was to gather information on the Niu Family; he wanted to know exactly how strong they were. The best place to gather intel was always a teahouse.
Just as he reached the entrance and before he could step inside, a burly man was sent flying backward out the door. Crashing to the ground, the man lay there, gasping weakly as his life slipped away.
"Your woman has long since been my dog. I’m in a good mood today, so I’ve decided to spare your wretched life."
An arrogant voice drifted out from the teahouse. The speaker was a young man of about twenty-two, with a narrow face and thick eyebrows. He was dressed in lavish clothes, with a golden ox head embroidered on the upper left side of his chest. He was a member of the Niu Family.
Beside the young man, a young woman was crawling on the ground like a dog. She had a full, voluptuous figure and could certainly be considered a beauty. But her eyes were completely dull and lifeless.
"Let’s go, bitch!"
The young man grinned widely and straddled the young woman like a mount.
"WOOF, WOOF..."
The young woman let out a few hoarse barks and crawled away from the teahouse like a dog.
"Xin’Er!"
The burly man’s eyes were bloodshot and practically tearing at the seams. He desperately tried to get up, but his injuries were simply too severe.