Chapter 149 - 144: Mission: Hundred Flowers Assembly

Chapter 149: Chapter 144: Mission: Hundred Flowers Assembly

"The Moon-Picking Tower is a place that gathers all sorts of rare treasures and exotic beasts. As long as you have the money, you should be able to find anything below the level of a Soul Saint. Weapons, Secret Techniques, Escape Techniques, strange arts... you can get them all, as long as you have the money."

"And the last one, the Qingfeng Tower, is where you can taste all kinds of delicacies. Their methods of preparing Soul Beasts are particularly astounding. Plus, all the Soul Beasts used for food have been professionally sanitized and inspected, so you don’t have to worry about being poisoned. Some of their dishes even have the effect of increasing your Soul Power and physique!"

"On the fifteenth of March, the Snow Feather Tower will hold the Hundred Flowers Assembly in the evening. During the assembly, the Moon-Picking Tower will put all sorts of treasures up for sale, with various types of bidding."

"The Snow Feather Tower will also present many beautiful women to spend a wonderful night with those they are fated to be with. You could say it’s a night of treasures and beauties, with the two towers competing for splendor!"

The manager of the Scholars’ Association Hall’s third floor told Li Heng a great deal. The more he spoke, the more it seemed he had opened a floodgate of words, speaking almost endlessly.

"So, Snow Feather Tower and Moon-Picking Tower are both blossoming at once?" Li Heng asked uncertainly upon hearing this.

When the third-floor manager heard Li Heng speak, he was slightly taken aback before smiling. "Both blossoming at once?! My friend Li Heng, you truly have a way with words. That’s a fine metaphor, but if we’re really going to use one, it’s more like three are blossoming! This year, the Snow Feather Tower is ordering its food and wine from the Qingfeng Tower. I hear the cost per table is over three thousand Soul Crystal Coins!"

After listening, Li Heng had a general idea of the situation.

’This so-called Hundred Flowers Assembly is probably a rather unconventional ’treasure appraisal convention.’ For many people, it’s certainly an opportunity.’

’The Snow Feather Tower is a house of pleasure. I’m interested in the beautiful Courtesans, but that’s not my main objective. Just feasting my eyes on them will be enough. I’d better pass on spending the night with one... it’s not very safe.’

’When you’re away from home, it’s best to avoid that kind of ’fast food’ if you can.’

Therefore, compared to the Snow Feather Tower, Li Heng was more interested in the "blossoming" of the Moon-Picking Tower and the Qingfeng Tower.

After all, he’d be able to taste unique delicacies. Even a Soul Master who had lived in Li Liang City for years had a look of longing when speaking of the Qingfeng Tower.

The Moon-Picking Tower was even easier to understand. In Li Heng’s eyes, it was just an "ancient version of the Soul Energy Store." If he saw a treasure he needed, he would try to get it. If not, he would just treat it as a learning experience.

Seeing Li Heng fall silent, the third-floor manager seemed to think of something and continued speaking.

"There are a few rules for getting an invitation to the Hundred Flowers Assembly. I won’t go into the others, but the invitation you’re holding, Li Heng, originally belonged to Brother Zhou Hua. He went to great lengths to get it.

"He wanted to go to the Hundred Flowers Assembly to see if there was anything that could enhance the ferocity of his finished *Demonic Sound Heart Sutra*. That’s why he lost his composure when he saw the Wolf Bone Brush in your hand. After all, those people from Demon Sect Mountain are ruthless and rich! I hope you can forgive him, Li Heng!"

"You speak too gravely!"

Hearing this, Li Heng finally understood completely. He hadn’t really been bothered by the Wolf Bone Brush incident, so he just offered some polite words.

During their conversation, Li Heng asked about a few other things, and the third-floor manager and the other scholars provided him with some answers.

Li Heng finally had a general understanding of Li Liang City, and he also clarified the current date.

「The eleventh of March.」

There were about four days until the Hundred Flowers Assembly on the fifteenth of March.

Li Heng thought for a moment and decided to stay in this Dungeon for the next four days.

According to Gu Qingwu, she could guarantee that no one would disturb him for three days. To be on the safe side, before coming in, Li Heng had also used his Empty Cicada Longsword to carve dissuasive words on both the door and the wooden training dummy.

To make it look authentic, he had even deliberately imbued the carving with Sword Intent. He just wondered if Teacher Wen would be able to detect his Sword Intent if he was notified about military training.

After all, what Li Heng had mastered so far was merely a rudimentary, passive Sword Intent. The feeling of ease he felt when using his sword was a manifestation of this crude Sword Intent.

Therefore, Li Heng felt that Meteor University would likely support a student’s self-achieved epiphany, so dragging it out to a fourth day shouldn’t be a problem.

The third-floor manager had said that for these four days, scholars at the Soul Warrior realm could stay for free in one of the detached cottages.

However, they could only stay in the detached wooden houses without courtyards. If one wanted to live in a detached wooden house with a courtyard, they would either have to pay or be at the Great Soul Warrior realm to stay for free.

As for the food, it was rather ordinary. Although three free meals were provided, each meal only consisted of one meat dish and one vegetable dish. If you wanted extra servings or to eat a little better, you just had to pay.

"By the way, you mentioned earlier that the Qingfeng Tower has a daily supply of Soul Beasts. Do you know where they come from, and how they are inspected?"

Many ideas and thoughts flashed through Li Heng’s mind during their conversation. Since he was encouraged to explore on his own, he planned to verify them one by one.

"To guarantee freshness, the Qingfeng Tower’s Soul Beasts are slaughtered to order. As for the inspection process, I’m not sure," a scholar replied.

’Slaughtered to order?’

’That’s a lead!’

One of the thoughts that had flashed through Li Heng’s mind was to find a way to kill Soul Beasts and earn some Soul Energy points. After all, he was going to be here for four days, and it would be a waste to just wait around.

So, Li Heng indirectly asked for the location of the Qingfeng Tower. After getting the address, he took his leave and headed there.

As Li Heng was leaving the Scholars’ Association Hall, the third-floor manager handed him a map of Li Liang City and told him to feel free to look around the city.

Li Heng thanked him, went downstairs, and left. After he departed from the Scholars’ Association Hall, the remaining scholars were silent for a moment before starting a new round of conversation.

From Zhou Hua’s earlier attempt to borrow the brush to Li Heng’s later questions about the Hundred Flowers Assembly, everything naturally became the new topic of gossip for the group of scholars.

The map of Li Liang City was not a Soul Energy Item, so Li Heng did his best to memorize it as he looked at it.

His trip to the Scholars’ Association Hall had been quite fruitful. Li Heng felt that both the invitation to the Hundred Flowers Assembly and the map in his hand would be useful.

Unfolding the map of Li Liang City, he saw that the Qingfeng Tower was located in the western part of the city, quite close to the West City Gate, and it occupied a large area.

The Snow Feather Tower was in the south.

The Moon-Picking Tower was in the east.

All three major towers took up a large area on the map and were specially marked.

The large complex in the far north was the City Lord’s Mansion of Li Liang City.

Li Heng’s current goal was the Qingfeng Tower, so he wasn’t very interested in the other places. He gave them a passing glance and headed straight for his destination.

He hadn’t even reached the Qingfeng Tower yet. He was just walking down a nearby street when he saw a towering building with flying eaves and stopped in his tracks.

As soon as he had stepped onto this street, wisps of fragrance began to drift around his nose.

The aroma was complex. Besides a bitter note, there were also hints of sour, sweet, and spicy. Although it was a mixture, Li Heng didn’t find it unpleasant. On the contrary, he felt a faint stirring of excitement.

’Worthy of being one of the three great towers! To think the aroma alone is this incredible!’ Li Heng’s curiosity and anticipation were instantly heightened, and he quickened his pace.

When he reached the street near the West City Gate, an incredibly grand building with flying eaves came into view!

At first glance, he couldn’t even count the number of stories, but the flying eaves on each floor were gilded and adorned with carvings of some unknown Soul Beast.

The first floor was especially magnificent. A couplet hung at the main entrance. Li Heng didn’t recognize the characters written on it, but the material used for the couplet’s backing was, in terms of value alone, of Legendary grade—Twist-grain Aromatic Wood!

Between the first and second floors hung a gilded plaque, inscribed with the words "Qingfeng Tower."

Its material was of a value tier Li Heng had never even heard of before: Epic—Phoenix Blood Wood.

Upon seeing the plaque made from Epic-grade Phoenix Blood Wood, Li Heng couldn’t help but exclaim in amazement.

Just as Li Heng exclaimed, a clean-cut young man with a refined face and the two characters for "Qingfeng" embroidered on his chest walked up to him. He placed his right hand over his heart, bowed, and said,

"Esteemed Soul Warrior, you have a discerning eye! This way, please! Only a Private Room on the fourth floor or above would be worthy of your status!"