201: Chapter 201 Eight Directions Pavilion, Gray-Robed Old Man

Jiang Changge sat in the teahouse for about an hour, listening to those fragmented conversations, finished the last sip of clear tea in his cup, and then got up to leave.

He was naturally aware of the recent anomalies in the Southern Wilderness. Although he was currently in the Central Plains, the connection between Kunlun and the Southern Wilderness had never been severed.

Before leaving the Southern Wilderness, he had already sent a message to Qingxuan, asking him to closely monitor the abnormal movements throughout the Southern Wilderness.

Especially the locations where those grey mists appeared, to see if there was some fixed pattern to follow, and whether there were any signs of human interference behind these natural disasters.

Qingxuan's reply was concise and clear: currently, no signs of human manipulation had been found, but the spread range of the grey mist was slowly expanding, and no source had been found for the time being.

Jiang Changge was not surprised by this. If that Qi of Tribulation was truly manipulated by humans, it would be impossible to hide so deeply under the noses of the major forces in the Southern Wilderness.

If it was truly formed naturally, then it required even more vigilance, because naturally formed Qi of Tribulation is often more difficult to predict and deal with than man-made ones.

He did not delve deeper for the time being, just asked Qingxuan to continue paying attention and report any abnormal changes immediately.

In the following days, Jiang Changge headed north, passing through the vast plains and hills in the southern part of the Central Plains.

The scenery of the Central Plains was completely different from the Southern Wilderness; the cities were larger, there were more Cultivators, and the concentration of Spiritual Qi permeating the air was significantly higher than in the Southern Wilderness.

He walked and stopped, occasionally pausing for a while at the markets along the road, and occasionally going out of his way to take a look when he sensed the lingering charm of some ancient Formation in the deep mountains.

But most of the time, he just strolled forward, unhurriedly, moving as freely as a leisurely crane.

Along the way, he also explored several rumored ruins and Secret Realms, but most were limited in scale, and the residual Spiritual Power fluctuations were too thin to trigger the System's hundred-fold critical strike sign-in threshold.

As for people of destiny, he hadn't even encountered a shadow of one.

He was not in a hurry; accepting disciples was a matter of fate, and it could not be forced.

Two months passed quietly.

On this day, Jiang Changge arrived at a large city named Huaiyang.

The city gates were built of blue-grey giant stones, about several zhang high, and the two characters "Huaiyang" on the lintel were written with vigorous brushwork, glowing with a warm luster under the afternoon sun.

The streets in the city were wide, the flow of people was like weaving, and shops stood in great numbers, far more prosperous than those cities in the Southern Wilderness.

The air was filled with the mixed scents of various Spirit Medicine, Magical Artifacts, and Talismans, and the rising and falling shouts and conversations intertwined to form a vivid picture of market life.

He walked along the main street for about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, and stopped in front of a nine-story pavilion.

The pavilion was built entirely of blue jade, with upturned eaves and corners, and bronze wind chimes hanging from the eaves, making a crisp and pleasant sound in the wind.

A plaque hung on the lintel, inscribed with three gilded characters — Bafang Pavilion.

Jiang Changge looked up at the plaque, his gaze lingering for a moment on the barely perceptible Spiritual Light pattern on the edge of the plaque, and then he stepped inside.

He did not come here to buy Medicinal Pills or Magical Artifacts; the Top-Grade Spirit Stones, Heaven Rank Medicinal Pills, and various Magic Treasures piled up in the System warehouse were already enough for him to use for who knows how long.

What he truly cared about was a breath he faintly sensed when he stepped into this city.

That breath was even more powerful than Undergoing Tribulation, similar to the breath of Immortal Zizhu, presumably a Red Dust Immortal walking in the Mortal World.

This was the first time Jiang Changge had encountered a living Red Dust Immortal, so naturally, he wanted to get to know him.

At this moment, that breath was inside Bafang Pavilion.

The moment Jiang Changge stepped into Bafang Pavilion, a maid dressed in blue-grey clothes came up to greet him, with a proper smile on her face, and bowed slightly:

"Senior, welcome to Bafang Pavilion. I wonder what you are looking for? Medicinal Pills, Magical Artifacts, Talismans, or Cultivation Technique Jade Slips? This Junior can lead the way for you."

Jiang Changge waved his hand, his tone indifferent: "No need, I will look around myself."

The maid was slightly stunned, then sensibly took a step back and said nothing more.

She knew the rules of Bafang Pavilion; some customers did not like to be followed, and since the other party had made his attitude clear, she would not pester him.

Jiang Changge did not stay on the first floor for long, his gaze swept over the Jade Slips and brocade boxes displayed on the shelves, and then he walked straight towards the stairs.

His pace was unhurried; every time he went up a floor, the concentration of Spiritual Qi permeating the pavilion increased significantly.

The second floor was mostly Magical Artifacts and Talismans, and occasionally customers would stop to examine them amidst the flowing Spiritual Light, talking in low voices with their companions.

He did not stop and continued to walk up the stairs; the scene on the third floor was completely different from the first and second floors.

The area of this floor was slightly smaller than the one below, and the shelves around were not displaying finished Medicinal Pills or Magical Artifacts, but stones of various sizes.

Those stones had different shapes; some had surfaces as smooth as mirrors, some were covered with fine cracks, and others were wrapped in a layer of grey stone skin, looking no different from ordinary mountain stones.

If one wanted to probe with Divine Sense, they would find that a layer of barrier blocked it, making it impossible to investigate.

There were not many people on this floor, only a few customers scattered among the shelves, each bowing their heads to examine the stones in front of them.

In the corner, there was a long table with several cut-open raw stones on it, the cut surfaces smooth, revealing the warm Spiritual Light inside.

It seemed that the third floor of this Bafang Pavilion was in the business of stone gambling.

Jiang Changge was just about to withdraw his gaze when he heard a suppressed, joyful exclamation not far away: "High Grade!"

He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a middle-aged Cultivator in a brocade robe holding a raw stone that had just been cut open with both hands. At the cut surface, a warm emerald green Spiritual Light was revealed. That Spiritual Light was rich and pure, obviously the luster that only High Grade spiritual materials possessed.

The middle-aged Cultivator's face was full of undisguised joy. He turned to look at a Grey-robed Elder who was slowly picking stones nearby, his voice filled with sincere gratitude:

"Old man, thank you for your guidance just now. If it weren't for you helping me pick this stone, I wouldn't have been able to cut out such a good thing."

The Grey-robed Elder heard this and just waved his hand, not saying much.

He was wearing a simple robe, his figure was thin, and he looked just like an ordinary old man seen everywhere on the street.

But the moment Jiang Changge's gaze fell on him, he confirmed that this person was the target of his trip.

That breath, deeper than Undergoing Tribulation, although compressed to be extremely restrained, was still clearly discernible in his eyes.

A Red Dust Immortal, a Red Dust Immortal in the true sense.

Jiang Changge did not rush forward, but stood still not far away, his gaze falling on the shelf in front of the elder.

Deep within his pupils, a layer of extremely faint light flowed slightly, as if starlight was compressed within his pupils, which would be almost impossible to notice if not deliberately observed.

This was the eye technique he had comprehended from the "Creation Sutra", called Starry Myriad Phenomena, based on the ten thousand Laws of the Dao, capable of observing the essence of all things in heaven and earth.

The Great Dao has ten thousand paths, each with its own form, and what he cultivated was exactly what encompassed all ten thousand paths, so this eye technique could penetrate all appearances in his hands and reach the most fundamental level of things.