Three days later, Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong, and Shi ng officially headed out, setting off from Wanquan City and heading west toward the Celestial Mountains.
As they intended to see the sights, they didn’t move very quickly and chose to go through beautiful areas so that they could take in all the natural wonders this kingdom had and experience the local customs. They had quite a good ti.
Tang Jie seed to switch personalities, putting aside cultivating and joining Wei Tianchong in taking in the sights. Even Wei Tianchong had to wonder why Tang Jie had suddenly changed.
But he had no idea that, in Tang Jie’s eyes, all of this involved the operation of the world, and this was exactly what Tang Jie needed to experience in order to comprehend Insight.
Once one cultivated to a certain point, one would often feel like one had hit a wall. At tis like this, cultivation alone was aningless. One needed to head into the mortal realm and understand the Great Dao of humanity. But it was normally only those at Celestial Heart and above who would do this. Soone like Tang Jie who was comprehending Dao before Mortal Shedding only ca around once an eon.
On this day, the three of them arrived at the Upwater Plains.
Tang Jie pointed ahead and said, “Past the Upwater Plains is the Warsong Mountains. Past that is Duskland, the land of the Seven Absolutions Sect.”
Shi ng said, “Once we’re there, we’ll no longer be under the protection of the Basking Moon Sect, so we have to be careful with everything we do. When the ti cos, we should change out of school uniforms to avoid any problems.”
In Sageheart, the student uniforms were their protective umbrella and made it so that few people were willing to provoke them. But outside of Sageheart, the status of Basking Moon student was more harmful than beneficial. Although the Basking Moon Sect and the Seven Absolutions Sect were not mortal foes, they weren’t good friends either. In private, the Seven Absolutions Sect was probably quite willing to kill a few Basking Moon students. Otherwise, the Wandering Palace wouldn’t have been so cautious with even the location of the conference, choosing the very center of the Celestial Mountains.
In the carriage, Wei Tianchong shook his head. “It’s going to be difficult. Even if we change clothes, we’re not Duskers, so we’ll expose ourselves the mont we open our mouths.”
He wasn’t sitting in a carriage because he was spoiled. Rather, he was making a new puppet, and carving couldn’t be done while riding a horse.
Tang Jie was very satisfied to hear this from Wei Tianchong. It was a sign that he had made a lot of progress.
He smiled and said, “If it’s about accent, that’s not a big problem. Besides, though we may be traveling, that doesn’t an that everything will be peaceful.”
“Tang Jie, what do you an?” Wei Tianchong asked.
Tang Jie replied, “The materials you can buy at Basking Moon Academy are ultimately rather average. Duskland is rich with products, so if Young Master wants to make a good puppet, we can gather so resources while we’re on the road.”
Wei Tianchong shook his head. “Isn’t that essentially performing missions right under the nose of the Seven Absolutions Sect? Without permission, we’ll be in deep trouble if we’re discovered.”
Territorial divisions weren’t just nominal. In the first place, they had been made to divide up resources.
No matter how great one’s background, running to another country’s soil to steal its resources was essentially stealing from another sect. Those wandering warriors who cut down fiends with a sweep of their swords… haha, they could kill fiends, but they had to leave the treasures behind!
Thus, those warriors who walked the land in search of fortune simply weren’t plausible in the Rosecloud Domain, at least in any rational sense.
But Tang Jie didn’t dare, saying, “If a cultivator wants to achieve big things, they have to fight a little for it. And if we’re not drawing attention to ourselves, who will know?”
Wei Tianchong seed to get it. “Oh… you know, I was wondering why you had the sudden urge to head out early. I’m guessing you were intending to go hunting in the other countries from the start? Confess, Tang Jie! Were you not trying to make yourself a little money?”
Tang Jie raised his head back and laughed. “That’s a rare show of insight, Young Master!”
But he did not deny his plans.
He had his plans for this trip to the Celestial Mountains, but completing this plan was bound to be extrely difficult. Thus, Tang Jie had to think of a way that allowed him to make so preparations. So of this prep work couldn’t be finished in the school, so he had decided to get them done while on the road.
Tang Jie simply said, “Co on. If you have any questions, let’s wait until we’re past the border!”
He raised his whip and spurred his horse onward while Shi ng had the carriage closely follow behind him.
One day later, the trio had passed through the Warsong Mountains and co upon a vast plain. The sky was blue and the grass was a lush green, and the scene was right out of a painting, with clear skies all the way to the horizon.
It was the middle of winter, a season of ice and snow, but this place seed to be in the middle of spring.
This was the famous Evergreen Plain of Duskland.
“I’ve heard that this Evergreen Plain experiences spring throughout the year and is a gorgeous place. It seems like the rumors were true.” Wei Tianchong was so moved by this beauty that he ca out of his carriage.
“Tang Jie, where should we go next?” Shi ng asked.
“To the Watcher River. There’s a violet gold ore vein there that supplies the Seven Absolutions Sect. We’re going there to see if we can buy any.”
Violet gold was an excellent material for making puppets. Even integrating a small piece would massively boost the grade of the puppet.
This was a regulated resource of Duskland and was not sold to outsiders without permission. But where there was light, there was shadow, and there were always counterasures for policies and rules. There would always be a few bold miners who would hide so violet gold to sell.
A fist-sized piece of violet gold could decide the fate of an entire family, so many people would take the risk.
Tang Jie knew that there was a black market near the Watcher River that specifically sold cultivation resources that couldn’t see the light of day. Besides the resources gathered by poachers, illicit goods gained from murder were also sold there. And because it was located on the border between two countries, once these items left the country, they were difficult to trace down and could be sold for greater profit. Thus, the trade was quite profitable.
But these three were newcors and unfamiliar with the lay of the land. As they were wondering what to do, they spotted a convoy approaching from the distance.
There were around twenty large wagons, each one packed with goods and escorted by guards. It appeared to be a rchant caravan.
When the caravan people saw Tang Jie’s group of three, they conversed among themselves, and a few monts later, three riders broke off from the caravan and ca toward Tang Jie’s group.
Their leader was a girl of sixteen or seventeen, wearing the customary clothes of the border folk, with hair organized into ten-so braids and adorned with all kinds of accessories. They ca close before stopping, and the girl shouted, “Hey, are you guys from Sageheart?”
Tang Jie and the others exchanged looks, not knowing how to reply. If they said they were, they might suddenly be attacked. While they weren’t afraid of fighting, in a foreign land, it was best to be cautious.
The girl seed to be able to tell how apprehensive they were, and she giggled. “Since you’re not answering, you probably are. Don’t be afraid. We of the Ayia Tribe are the best hosts. There must be so connection between us for us to et, so you should co over and have a cup of kumis. Of course, if you’ve co to do trade, if you need any of our goods, we can make a deal.”
Only now did Tang Jie’s group realize that because they also had a carriage, the other party had taken them for traders. Traders and caravans would lose nothing and only gain from interacting with each other. After all, business was business.
Of course, this also depended on the situation. Tang Jie’s group was richly dressed and small in number, so it was easy to tell that they weren’t bandits. This was why the other party had co out to et them. If they had been a large group without any wagons or goods, the other side probably wouldn’t have been so proactive.
“Then we’ll have to bother you,” Tang Jie said, taking the offer. This would also allow them to understand the local customs.
They followed the girl to et the caravan master, a middle-aged man who was the father of this Ayia Tribe girl, Cai’er. The Ayia Tribe was small in number, but they were broadly spread over the Rosecloud Domain, found in every country. They mostly lived as traders and shepherds and were known to be people who lived their lives on horseback.
Through their conversation, Tang Jie learned that this Ayia Tribe caravan was headed over to the Watcher River to do business. As Watcher River had ore veins and was also located near Sageheart, it had a bustling marketplace. Whether they were from Sageheart or Duskland, many traveling rchants ca through the area, both big and small.
As he had co to gather the resources he needed, Tang Jie had brought so of Sageheart’s specialties with him. But as he was a cultivator, he didn’t need to carry these goods on a wagon like ordinary people, and had placed them in his Mustard Seed Bag instead.
Of course, anything that could be put in a carriage probably wasn’t very valuable in the first place.
Sure enough, after asking, Tang Jie found that the caravan didn’t have any materials that were very valuable, but he didn’t mind and asked about the local customs. The Ayia people traveled all over the place and had broad experiences, and their stories were quite interesting. Conversing with them was quite fruitful for these students who were leaving their holand for the first ti.
As they walked and talked, they saw quite a few convoys on the road. It turned out that they had co at the perfect ti, for it was ti for Watcher River’s big market.
The big market was the annual country fair held in Watcher River. At this ti of year, caravans from all around would co here to trade, so this ti of year had the greatest number of business deals.
The scale of the convoy grew larger and larger, and what had been one convoy beca four, several hundred people in all. It was quite the imposing group, and almost everyone was from the Ayia Tribe.
Cai’er explained that this was the habit of the Ayia Tribe. This also made it easier to coordinate, and if they encountered any bandits, they could work together to fend them off.
On the evening of the next day, they arrived at a lake.
The lake water was clear, grass faintly visible beneath the surface. There was a mountain in the distance, but it was capped with white snow, making it seem like spring and winter were two neighboring sisters.
“This is Horserest Lake, and past Horserest Lake is the Watcher River. We’re going to rest here for today so that we’ll be full of energy when we get to the market tomorrow,” Cai’er excitedly said to Tang Jie’s group.
Perhaps because she had grown up in the caravan and rarely had the opportunity to chat with outsiders of the sa age, she was quite happy to chat with them. Moreover, Tang Jie’s group was from a school, so they were humble and polite.
That night, the caravan made camp at the shore of Horserest Lake, the Ayia people lighting a big bonfire to cook their food. After dinner, they circled the bonfire and danced, spreading their enchanting and lodious music throughout the area.
Of course, with the dancing and singing, there was also a show.
Twenty riders ca out of the crowd, both n and won. While laughing, they ca up to a white line drawn out on the ground.
There was a shout, and the twenty riders set off, every female rider followed by a male rider. The male riders were saying sothing as they followed behind, but the female riders ignored them, focusing on riding their horses. Once they had galloped a certain distance, the riders turned their horses around, and it was ti for the female riders to pursue the male riders, but rather than talking, they raised their horse whips and lashed the n. The n spurred their horses into a furious gallop, but they didn’t dare to strike back, and all the while, the crowd roared with approval.
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