The exchange rate for Spirit Stones to Demonic Stones at the black market was quite favorable, so Xie Linlang and Shen He exchanged a considerable amount.
Perhaps because they were big customers, the female cultivator introduced an intermediary who proactively asked Xie Linlang and Shen He if they had other needs, such as Spirit Pills and wondrous medicines, intelligence on the True Realm side, or unique True Realm magic artifacts and runes.
Shen He couldn’t help but mutter softly, “Why does it feel like we’re just reselling between the two realms?”
Xie Linlang said indifferently, “Exactly, because some True Realm cultivators have indeed never been to the Demon Domain, and not everyone on the Demon Domain side dares to travel to the True Realm.”
The intermediary chuckled and said, “That’s right. The Boundary Gate is right there, and anyone can come and go to trade, but you need to have your life to come back, don’t you?”
Shen He touched his nose and fell silent.
He even suspected that the desperate outlaws circling around the Boundary Gate had intricate ties with the intermediary before his eyes.
But it didn’t matter. They were Silent Night Palace disciples traveling with the main group, so they had nothing to fear.
Xie Linlang was very familiar with prices in the True Realm. If something was too expensive, he would lightly mention the material’s production area and wholesale price. The intermediary’s expression changed several times, realizing he was dealing with an expert, so he didn’t dare to overcharge too much.
In the end, the two not only purchased a batch of materials but also bought a pill furnace and some intelligence.
Pei Jiye had been lazily nestled on Xie Linlang’s shoulder without making a sound the whole time. Shen He and Xie Yu were Qi Refining Stage disciples who might buy materials needed by Golden Core Stage cultivators, but overall, they were for low-rank cultivators. These things were already dispensable to Pei Jiye.
When the gossipy female cultivator smiled so widely her eyes turned into crescents—her big customers had bought so much, earning her a hefty cut from the intermediary—she enthusiastically saw Xie Linlang and Shen He off upon their departure and even threw in a piece of minor gossip as a bonus.
“It’s unverified and sounds rather absurd, just for the amusement of you two Seniors.”
The female cultivator smiled brightly, revealing her neat white teeth. “It’s said that those Immortal Sect Orthodox Seniors want to perform maintenance and repairs on the Boundary Gate, possibly closing the passage in and out within the next three months. At that point, unless one has heaven-defying abilities, the Demon Domain and True Realm will be completely isolated.”
Xie Linlang paused in surprise, while Shen He looked incredulously toward the massive Boundary Gate waterfall connecting heaven and earth in the distance. “The Boundary Gate can be maintained?”
Of course the Boundary Gate could be maintained!
Night Senior’s feathers on his forehead stood on end. As the Jiye Palace Lord, he could hardly detach himself from Silent Night Palace’s sphere of influence—that was the price of the vile, forward-thinking debt of merits overdrawn by Silent Night Palace over ten thousand years ago.
Even though he had used Boxia secret art from Jiuxia Mountain to separate out a demon body, once the Boundary Gate fully closed, his connection to the main body would be severed!
Well played, Tianling Sect Master. Well played, Immortal Sect Orthodox. So the real poison plot was waiting here for him!!
Pei Jiye’s heart filled with shock and fury.
The Boundary Gate was the greatest pillar sustaining the abundant spiritual energy of the entire True Realm. The True Realm sects did indeed assess, probe, and repair it every hundred-plus years. Over countless ages, generations of cultivators had worked together to create the massive Boundary Gate waterfall as it stood now.
As the True Realm’s most prominent and powerful sect currently, a repair proposal initiated by the Tianling Sect Master had a high chance of passing.
But the problem was…
How had such a secretive and major piece of news leaked out? Even a random gossiping female cultivator knew it. Could it be false information?
Why had none of his old contacts from before sent any word?
Pei Jiye suddenly found himself in a dilemma.
If he believed this news, he absolutely could not go to Jiuxia Mountain anymore.
But that was impossible. Xie Linlang’s Mustard Seed Realm had opened, even undergone a mutation, possibly related to Xie Linlang himself—how could he not go?
Calm down. Pei Jiye thought rapidly.
His main purpose for going to Jiuxia Mountain this time was to use Xie Linlang’s Mustard Seed Realm to find Xie Linlang. The secondary purpose was to attend some meeting between the immortal and demon factions.
Pei Jiye roughly knew this group’s intentions, and he didn’t care. Worst case, everyone died together… Huh? Wait?
Could this be the Tianling Sect’s goal?
The Tianling Sect actually didn’t want him to attend that meeting!
But what about Gao Chunqiu? Hadn’t the Tianling Sect Master placed that man right in front of him on purpose, to notify him: I know your secret, so if you want me to shut up, come over quickly?
Pei Jiye didn’t know what medicine the Tianling Sect Master was selling in his gourd. He sneered inwardly. No matter what that bastard wanted, it all boiled down to strength in the end.
It was time to call Yao Huang back.
Pei Jiye’s eyes darted around, his scarlet eyes narrowing into slits like a sly, cunning fox.
He overheard Xie Linlang and Shen He chatting nearby; they had bought enough and planned to head to the Lakeside Market to rendezvous with the other Silent Night Palace disciples. Pei Jiye pondered briefly, then silently transformed into a streak of black light and vanished.
Just as Xie Linlang and Shen He listened to the female cultivator chat about recent True Realm news, Gao Chunqiu, cloaked in a hood, evaded any potential tails and arrived at what appeared to be an utterly ordinary pill shop.
