Mortal Mage

"Master, I have learned from the town that this world is the Cuiyun Fairyland, which contains several continents. We are in the Chenfeng Continent." Li Xucheng came down from the bridge and walked towards Zhang Mingxuan and continued; "The most urgent thing is to find a sect to protect us, so that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel."

"Li Jing just gave me a jade slip that allows me to go to Xianyuan Gate."

Zhang Mingxuan took the jade slip in his hand and showed it to Li Xucheng.

"I just heard that the Xianyuan Sect is the best in the world, but it is hundreds of thousands of miles away from here. Why don't we go to the nearby Chenfeng Sword Sect to test our prowess first, maybe we can meet the phoenix again?"

Li Xucheng raised his head and looked toward the eastern mountain peak expectantly.

Zhang Mingxuan thought for a moment and shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't enter this fairy mountain without a jade slip."

"My disciple has reached the third level of Qi Refining and has spiritual roots, so he may have a chance to climb the mountain. Master, you can wait for me at the foot of the mountain for three days. I will climb the mountain alone to try my luck."

Zhang Mingxuan stood up and paced by the river for a long time, looking thoughtful. If Li Xucheng went into the mountains, he would have no one to protect him.

He thought again: in this world, monks are not allowed to kill mortals, so the law must be very strict.

"I'll leave you some spirit stones for emergencies. I'll wait for you in Qingniu Town for three days. If I can't see you, I'll assume you've entered the Sword Sect, and I'll go to the Xianyuan Sect alone."

He took out a handful of mid-grade spirit stones from his storage ring and nodded to Li Xucheng.

Li Xucheng rubbed his shoulders, looking hesitant.

Master's attainments in formations are extraordinary and quite extraordinary. I'm afraid he wants to use this to test whether my greed for money has not changed. He taught me the seventh-level trap formation of the Qi training stage. If I can reach the foundation-building stage in the future, I can rely on this trap formation and become the mainstay of the sect.

The teleportation formation to the upper realm has complicated mechanisms, but he activated it easily. I should be cautious and not be attached to it, and must not have any improper thoughts. If I am too greedy, I am afraid that I will be expelled from the sect by him in the future, and my progress in the formation will come to a halt.

"Master, if I have the chance, I can use this mid-grade spiritual stone to buy a spiritual vein to save millions of people in Canglang. I am a criminal, and I will never accept it!"

Li Xucheng said righteously, not taking the spiritual stone handed over by Zhang Mingxuan; "Master, please wait for my news in three days. I will go and come back quickly."

He shook his head and left without looking back, taking advantage of the starry night to enter the forest alone.

Zhang Mingxuan was about to speak, but Li Xucheng was no longer visible in the darkness.

With a sigh, he returned to Qingniu Town and found an inn to stay in.

The breathing method was left behind by him in Taicang. When he was in Taicang, he did not have many spirit stones on him, so he did not practice it much. He also forgot most of the contents recorded in the method, so he simply stopped practicing it and asked the waiter of the inn to find a pen, ink, paper and inkstone, so that he could recall and draw the structure of the teleportation array.

"I already roughly understand the functions of most of the runes in the teleportation array, but I don't know what these three runes are used for."

As soon as one picture is finished, another one begins.

I don’t know how many days passed, but the room in the inn was filled with densely packed drawings.

"This should be the basic underlying structure of the teleportation array. The rest is to cultivate spiritual power. Only by relying on the spiritual power in the body can we carefully lay out and draw runes. This array should be feasible."

"It's just that these three runes seem useless, yet they also seem to be of great use."

Zhang Mingxuan squatted on the ground, staring at the three incomprehensible runes on the blueprint, puzzled.

"Sir, do you still want to stay in the hotel?"

Outside the guest room, the innkeeper knocked on the door and asked.

"How many days has it been?"

"Sir, you have been living here for a month."

"Oh, has any old man come to see me?"

Zhang Mingxuan patted his sleeves and stood up, collecting all the blueprints in the room into his storage ring. He then took out two silver ingots from the storage ring and put them in front of his chest for daily expenses, and then opened the door.

"No one has ever come to look for you."

"Well, then I won't stay at the hotel today. How much silver do I need to pay you?"

"Sir, you have stayed for a total of thirty days. The room fee is three hundred coins, and the tea and food fee is two hundred and twenty coins."

Zhang Mingxuan rummaged around in his arms and found that the smallest silver coin in his chest pocket was a ten-liang ingot.

He looked embarrassed.

He had Tianze's official silver in his hands.

It is a capital crime for civilians to use government silver. This is known to be the case in Taicang and Canglang.

Previously, gold was not a concern because it was traded under the guise of immortals and was not a real transaction.

"Sir, if you think it's too expensive, I can round off the decimal and make it 500 coins."

Zhang Mingxuan shook his head, took out a ten-liang silver ingot from his bosom and handed it to the shopkeeper with a smile.

The shopkeeper took the silver ingot with a puzzled look on his face and turned over to look at it.

Under the silver ingot was stamped the words "Ten taels of official silver from the Ministry of Revenue in the 150th year of Tianze".

He squinted his eyes and took a bite. It was real silver.

"Sir, your silver is fine, but... what country is Tianze from? This is pure official silver..."

“Tian Ze… This was given to me by the immortal. I don’t know either.”

Zhang Mingxuan told a lie.

"This... Sir, please wait a moment."

After a moment's hesitation, the shopkeeper took out a pair of scissors, cut off a corner of the official silver, and then weighed it.

"Sir, look, I've cut off just half an ounce."

He raised the scales in front of Zhang Mingxuan's face.

"No problem, no problem." Zhang Mingxuan also didn't understand the scale, so he took the silver with a corner cut off and asked, "Shopkeeper, do you know how to get to Xianyuanmen?"

The shopkeeper raised his eyelids slightly, put away the silver, and replied solemnly, "If a mortal is going to Xianyuanmen, I'm afraid he can't go there."

"Why?"

"Because there is only one way to get to Xianyuan Gate, and that is the flying boat that passes by Chendu once a year. It is said that the money a mortal earns in a thousand years cannot afford a trip on the flying boat."

"Well, do you know how much it will cost?"

Zhang Mingxuan asked, stroking his chin.

The shopkeeper shook his head and said, "I don't know about that, but if you can take the carriage to Chendu today and reach Chendu within two months, then the flying boat passes by Chendu every August, so you should be able to catch it."

"That flying boat is not something that we mortals can afford."

The store owner added.

"Is there anyone from Qingniu Town going to Chendu? This is the last carriage trip this month."

Outside the inn, a few horses neighed, and Zhang Mingxuan strode out of the inn; "Yes! I'm going to Chendu."

"Nine ounces of silver! Pay first!"

A middle-aged groom greeted.

There were four people in the carriage: an old man, two children of eight or nine years old, and Yun.

"Zhang Mingxuan!"

Yun glared at Zhang Mingxuan with angry eyes. She was still wearing her nightgown, but it was covered with dirt. The old man in the carriage with two children kept a distance from her.

"This... Can the store refund my money? I'll take the next one!"

"You can get off the car, but you can't get your money back. Go!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the coachman had already started the carriage and was riding away.

"Give me back my ring!"

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