Chapter 244: Ruling the World (13) - Descendant of Qingling

"Fang... Buxin..."

Hongce's voice caught slightly. Weathered and drawn out, his words carried a faint trace of distant reminiscence.

With his sharp mind, Jiuyou instantly caught the fleeting anomaly.

"From your tone, Daoist friend, it seems you know this person," he said in a deep voice. "Could you have crossed paths in the past?"

"Not deeply," Hongce sighed softly, slowly recounting the past. "At best, we were mere acquaintances. This man's talent was breathtaking, far surpassing anyone of his generation. Back when this old man was still stuck at the Middle Nascent Soul Stage, struggling to advance, he had already reached the Peak Nascent Soul Stage. He roamed freely across Ganzhou, his reputation unmatched."

"In the past, he allied with several mid-to-late Nascent Soul rogue cultivators from Dayan to found the Precious Heaven Pavilion—the massive merchant association that now spans the entire Continent. You must have heard the name. Back then, the Precious Heaven Pavilion was unparalleled in its prime, nearly monopolizing half of Ganzhou's cultivation trade."

Hongce shook his head slightly, harboring a touch of lament.

"Yet right at the peak of the Precious Heaven Pavilion's prosperity, Fang Buxin suddenly vanished without a trace. He stayed hidden for hundreds of years, completely unheard from. Although this dealt a heavy blow to the Precious Heaven Pavilion, they continued to grow to this day. When I first broke through to Deity Transformation, I once tried to divine his fate and whereabouts on a whim. Bizarrely, the heavenly secrets were nothing but blurry chaos. I couldn't locate him at all."

"The only thing I could glimpse was that he seemed trapped in the rift between life and death—neither fully alive nor truly dead. Deep within that chaos, a faint glimmer of new life hid, making it impossible to tell what was real and what was false. But never mind. These are dusty old tracks, not worth dwelling on. Since you wish to settle past grudges, Daoist friend, I will help you this once."

As his voice faded, the starlight filling the pavilion suddenly surged to life. Motes of starlight flowed and shifted, crisscrossing the air.

A full half-quarter of an hour later, the boundless starlight gathered, condensing into a dazzling, pure white orb of light that slowly drifted in front of Jiuyou.

Jiuyou swept it with his divine sense. Confirming the information inside was correct, he raised a hand and pocketed the orb. He offered a slight bow of thanks, then turned and left the pavilion.

The information recorded in the orb was clear: Shang Ming, the Grand Supreme, Fang Buxin, was currently located in the heartland of Dayan, just outside the Dayan Imperial Capital.

The territory of Dayan was quite similar to the Heaven and Earth Alliance in the Heavenly Abyss Sea. It belonged neither to the Righteous Path nor the Demonic Path, drifting outside the bounds of both orthodox and unorthodox factions. It was a chaotic mix of people where countless merchants gathered, dotted with market towns and cities like stars on a chessboard. Moreover, it was the foundational seat of the Precious Heaven Pavilion General Alliance.

Relying on its uniquely blessed commercial foundation, Dayan boasted the most prosperous spirit stone trading system in Ganzhou. Righteous and Demonic cultivation methods, the bones and remains of demonic beasts, rare spiritual pills, heavenly treasures, and unique oddities rarely seen in the world—all could be found here.

The cultivators of Dayan valued profit over slaughter; they rarely initiated fights themselves but loved stirring up wars across the world. For thousands of years, the many conflicts across eastern and western Ganzhou, Southern Frost, and the Northern Plains all had Dayan forces fanning the flames from the shadows. This was simply because when the world fell into chaos, business opportunities emerged. Times of rampant war were the absolute best moments for them to reap massive profits.

To the current Jiuyou, a distance of ten million miles was nothing more than a fleeting half-day's journey.

It did not take long before he set foot within the borders of Dayan. Retracting his spiritual light, he changed into a composed golden robe and slowly walked toward the Dayan Imperial Capital.

In his thousand years of walking the world, this imperial capital was the most prosperous and bustling massive city Jiuyou had ever seen. Even the imperial capitals of the Dayong and Dahan empires he had seen in the past paled in comparison. Fortunately, he had just personally witnessed the miraculous starry sea of the Heavenly Palace, broadening his horizons far beyond what they used to be. Thus, upon seeing this grand spectacle, his state of mind remained perfectly tranquil.

The Dayan Imperial Capital stretched continuously for hundreds of miles. Its vast territory was densely packed with houses and pavilions that rolled out to the very edge of the horizon. Mortals and cultivators lived together in symbiosis, blending mortal livelihoods with immortal charm.

Winding spiritual rivers and intersecting streets crisscrossed the ground. Up in the void, long suspended pathways forged from rare spiritual ores stretched in all directions, connecting floating palaces and layered pavilions. Whether cultivator or mortal, anyone could step onto them as they pleased, making travel extremely convenient.

The charm of the Five Elements was on full display here: crystal-clear water pathways condensed from flowing streams, verdant wooden paths spliced together from ancient timber, cold gleaming metallic routes paved with refined gold, and heavy, simple roads piled high with thick earth. The various thoroughfares intersected in a dazzling, breathtaking array of colors.

Spiritual beasts and insects roamed all over the city, while rare birds and exotic monsters circled low in the sky. Countless merchant spirit boats and giant warships were moored in the void ports, radiating an imposing grandeur. The streets bustled with heavy traffic and a boiling cacophony of voices. Pedestrians either walked through the marketplaces or flew low on magical treasures, streaming endlessly in a scene of eternal, unfading prosperity.

Standing amid such a grand mortal scene, Jiuyou's expression was indifferent. His thousand-year-old, weathered heart was completely unmoved by the surrounding clamor. He stood quietly outside the imperial city, his deep gaze taking in this bustling world that hid endless disputes and schemes of profit.

Jiuyou slowly stepped into the bustling streets of the Dayan Imperial Capital. He retracted every trace of his aura into his flesh, not leaking a single speck of spiritual light. He walked calmly through the endless stream of people. Though he looked perfectly ordinary, he naturally possessed a profound, quiet disposition that far exceeded the cultivators around him, making him completely out of place in the bustling crowd.

Passing through the scattered streets and alleys, he arrived at the very center of the imperial city. A magnificent giant pavilion towered majestically before him—it was none other than the Precious Heaven Pavilion's imperial capital branch. The entire hall was lavishly carved and painted, wreathed in endless spiritual light. Countless rays of precious light cascaded down from the pavilion's layers, and sealed within every halo of light were heavenly treasures and exotic oddities.

A sea of people surged at the base of the building, with cultivators from all factions stopping to browse and select treasures in a ceaseless flow. This place was bound by an ironclad law forbidding cultivators from flying. Even if an old Nascent Soul monster visited, they had to strictly abide by the rules and proceed on foot.

Despite this prosperous spectacle, this place was still merely a subordinate branch of the Precious Heaven Pavilion, not the true foundation of the General Alliance.

Jiuyou calmly stepped inside. His gaze remained clear and resolute, completely ignoring the dazzling array of precious treasures around him as he walked straight toward a counter on the first floor.

Behind the counter, a middle-aged manager was methodically directing his subordinates to handle business. Catching a glimpse of Jiuyou slowly approaching, his eyes narrowed slightly—he couldn't sense the depth of the man's cultivation at all. Having cultivated for many years and read countless people, he instantly restrained his expression and plastered on the deferential look unique to merchants. He hastily cupped his hands to greet him as a senior, simultaneously signaling for an attendant to come serve the guest.

Jiuyou gave a slight nod, ignoring the manager's eager courtesy. His gaze swept past the crowd, landing on a young girl beside the counter who had yet to shed her childish innocence.

The girl's cultivation was extremely low, merely the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining, making her completely inconspicuous inside the Precious Heaven Pavilion where cultivators were everywhere. But Jiuyou's gaze was locked dead onto a jade pendant hanging around her neck.

It was just an incredibly ordinary mortal jade. Worn for years, it had long since developed a thick patina, its edges chipped and broken. It looked thoroughly unremarkable.

Yet, looking at this jade pendant, Jiuyou's heart swayed slightly, plunging him into dust-covered mortal memories.

Being stared at so directly by Jiuyou's distant gaze, the little girl felt flustered. She subconsciously covered her cheek and timidly took a half-step back.

"S-Senior..." she asked in a tiny voice. "Is there something wrong with my face?"

Seeing this, the middle-aged manager immediately panicked. He hurriedly stepped forward with an apologetic smile to explain.

"Please forgive her, Senior. The maids of our Precious Heaven Pavilion only serve as reception staff and never sell their bodies. I hope you won't misunderstand."

Jiuyou ignored the manager's urgent defense. His gaze returned to the girl, his voice carrying a drawn-out depth that had weathered the ages:

"Little girl, are your ancestors from Dahan? Was your grandmother named Zhang Qingling?"