Eternal Life: Hundredfold Rewards-Chapter 280 - 171: Beihua State, Qian Country!

On the road, Qi Chuan casually captured a few cultivators at the Qi Refining Second and Third Layers, cast spells to inquire, and immediately learned about the current location and more specific regional information.

"So, it turns out we have indeed arrived in Beihua State. The Ten Thousand Miles Sky Transmission Talisman is truly miraculous..." Qi Chuan mused.

According to the inquiry, Qi Chuan discovered that his current location was within the Qian Country of Beihua State.

Beihua State is different from Nanhua State.

Nanhua State is just one of the nineteen states of the Celestial North Domain, an extremely ordinary state, and calling it a small state wouldn’t be inaccurate.

However, Beihua State is the number one large state in the Celestial North Domain. Its area is several times larger than Nanhua State, and so is its strength.

First, regarding the mortal world structure, unlike Nanhua State where the sects directly govern the mortal realm, Beihua State has over a hundred countries, each with a highly revered emperor ruling each country under the name of imperial power.

However, this is only on the surface.

In truth, these hundred countries are all under the manipulation of the cultivation forces behind the scenes, not daring to defy their will. With just a thought from these cultivation forces, a country might have to change its emperor.

Of course, under normal circumstances, the cultivation realm tries not to interfere with the running of the mortal world. Sometimes, even when imperial power is unstable or a country faces a crisis like a severe drought or cold, the cultivation forces would send people over to help the country through the crisis.

Of these hundred countries, the majority are under the long arm of three cultivation sects of Beihua State.

They are Cangjian Pavilion, Yin Yang Talisman, and Myriad Flowers Immortal Sect.

Each of these three cultivation sects governs at least a dozen, even dozens of mortal countries.

Why is this so?

The reason is simple; these three cultivation sects are all colossal entities, Nascent Soul major sects!

Indeed, Beihua State has three Nascent Soul major sects, far surpassing Nanhua State, which only has the North Magnetic Divine Palace as a single Nascent Soul major sect.

It’s only after these three Nascent Soul major sects have divided various areas that the remaining small portion of countries are governed by the remaining cultivation forces of Nanhua State.

Currently, the Tier One metal vein where Qi Chuan is present is located within the territory of Qian Country, inside Dafeng County, and belongs to a sect known as Luoxia Sect.

This Luoxia Sect is actually not a major sect, just a Foundation Establishment sect, with only one Foundation Establishment Early Stage Cultivator in the entire sect, who is referred to as the Supreme Elder of Luoxia Sect.

As for the sect leader of Luoxia Sect, they only possess a Qi Refining Perfection cultivation.

The jurisdiction of Luoxia Sect isn’t the whole of Qian Country but just governing the counties of Dafeng, Dashan, and Dalin.

"The structure of the cultivation realm and mortal realm in Beihua State is quite different from that in Nanhua State. It’s quite interesting," Qi Chuan showed a keen interest, intending to explore further.

Not long after, Qi Chuan flew out of the Tier One metal vein, reached beyond the mountain range, and found a Qi Refining Fifth Layer cultivator inside a small pavilion on the mountainside, who was being verbally instructed by a middle-aged beautiful woman.

Originally, this middle-aged beautiful woman was also mining within the vein. However, after associating with this Qi Refining Fifth Layer cultivator, she was exempted from mining work and received more Spirit Stones as a monthly reward than regular miners.

As for this Qi Refining Fifth Layer cultivator, aged over fifty but still looking like a middle-aged person, was originally a steward of Luoxia Sect and was sent here to manage this Tier One metal vein.

When Qi Chuan seized and questioned him, his face turned deathly pale, trembling, nearly kneeling to the ground, providing detailed answers to every question, even going above and beyond, which made Qi Chuan’s questioning much easier.

Through the steward from Luoxia Sect’s responses, as well as corroborating with the information from those cultivators below Qi Refining Third Layer in the mining tunnels, Qi Chuan found the data to be more credible.

During the questioning, the middle-aged beautiful woman shrank back into the bed corner, her body trembling, not daring to raise her head.

Before leaving, Qi Chuan naturally cast a spell to make the two forget the recent events before turning into an Escape Light and leaving. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Beihua State is different from Nanhua State, with no less than three Nascent Soul major sects. The number of powerful Core Formation sects is certainly several times that of Nanhua State, making it too risky to venture out recklessly."

"Currently, within Dafeng County of Qian Country, there is only one Foundation Establishment sect, Luoxia Sect, whose Supreme Elder is only at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage. I can easily annihilate them, so staying here is extremely safe."

"Therefore, the plan for now is to lay low in Dafeng County for a while, gather intelligence, and only act once I have thoroughly understood the local structure and styles of other strong sects in the surrounding area."

"According to the recent investigation, fifty miles from this Tier One metal vein, there is a cultivation marketplace built by Luoxia Sect. On regular days, many cultivators come and go, welcoming external loose cultivators without questioning their origins. I might as well stay in that market for a while to find out more about Luoxia Sect and the other cultivation sects inside and outside Qian Country."

With these thoughts in mind, without stopping the Escape Light, Qi Chuan headed directly southeast towards the thirty miles away Xiaoxia Restaurant.

Given Qi Chuan’s current speed, the distance of fifty miles was quickly covered.

Xiaoxia Restaurant was established on a moderately-sized Cyan Mountain, where the top was naturally flat, with a sizable open space, around ten streets, and numerous shops of various sizes set up along both sides of the streets.

There were actually quite a few cultivators coming and going, with at least a hundred people in sight.

Even though it’s just a hundred people, it’s already considered a lot. Even in some official marketplaces under Wind Moon Sect’s name, the number of cultivators on the streets can be fewer than this.

Although there were many cultivators on the streets, most of them were between Qi Refining First Layer to Third Layer. Those in the Qi Refining Middle Stage were seldom seen, and those in the Qi Refining Late Stage were even rarer.

Clearly, the quantity of cultivators was adequate, but the quality was insufficient.

Nevertheless, for Qi Chuan who wanted to lay low and gather information, this kind of cultivation marketplace was perfectly suited and was also the safest choice.

Thus, Qi Chuan changed into a Low Tier Magic Robe, disguised his cultivation to appear at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, landed beneath Cyan Mountain, and then leisurely flew towards Xiaoxia Restaurant on top of the mountain.

"Halt."

As soon as Qi Chuan flew to the marketplace gate of Xiaoxia Restaurant, a Qi Refining Third Layer cultivator wearing a standard Magic Robe approached.

This cultivator, appearing youthful, glanced at Qi Chuan, and a trace of surprise appeared in his eyes, evidently recognizing the Spiritual Pressure of Qi Refining Fourth Layer emanating from Qi Chuan.

However, although he recognized that Qi Chuan was a realm higher than himself, a strong Qi Refining Middle Stage cultivator, the young man’s expression remained respectful, saying to Qi Chuan, "Fellow Daoist, anyone entering Xiaoxia Restaurant must pay ten Broken Spirit Pearls if they don’t have a shop here."

"Reasonable."

Qi Chuan nodded.

While at Wind Moon Sect, many markets would charge entry fees, though the starting fee would usually be one Lower Grade Spirit Stone. But possibly due to Xiaoxia Restaurant being smaller or Luoxia Sect setting a lower entry fee to attract more traffic, they only charge ten Broken Spirit Pearls.

One Lower Grade Spirit Stone can be exchanged for a hundred Broken Spirit Pearls, so ten Broken Spirit Pearls is just equivalent to one-tenth of a Lower Grade Spirit Stone.

Running his hand over the Qiankun Bag at his waist, a Lower Grade Spirit Stone appeared in Qi Chuan’s palm. He handed it to the young cultivator, apologetically saying, "Sorry, I don’t have any Broken Spirit Pearls on me, only Lower Grade Spirit Stones. Is that acceptable?"

In truth, there were no Broken Spirit Pearls in his Qiankun Bag, only Lower Grade Spirit Stones at best.

Qi Chuan remembered having a few Broken Spirit Pearls, perhaps they got misplaced during a move.