88: Yes, I am Yu Shu!

An ancient Immortal City, sprawling amidst towering mountains, could only be seen as a blurry outline, discernible only with the aid of Purple Fiend Eyes.

Now, they were approaching the gateway of Five Elements Immortal City.

The number of Cultivators coming and going was immense; they rode various escape lights, and massive flying boats, hundreds of feet long, with white sails unfurled, presented a spectacular sight.

Shi Chuan, riding his Willow Leaf Magical Artifact, was hidden among the many escape lights heading towards the Immortal City's main gate.

However, all Cultivators, upon nearing within a hundred feet of the Immortal City, would put away their Magical Artifacts and enter the city on foot.

The Immortal City had an Anti-Air Formation, and only Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators, after receiving an Immortal City token, would not be suppressed by it; Qi Refining Cultivators, apart from that, could only travel on foot.

However, Cultivators with some Spirit Stones would often contract a spirit beast mount for transportation.

Following the guidance on the communication Jade Slip, Shi Chuan quickly found the members of the Zhang Clan who were waiting for him.

The Zhang Clan party consisted of three people; in the middle stood an elderly Qi Refining seventh-layer Cultivator with a slightly hunched figure, while the other two, a man and a woman, appeared to be middle-aged and in their early twenties respectively, both possessing excellent figures and appearances, and both at the sixth layer of Qi Refining.

Shi Chuan, who knew some information about the Zhang Clan, could tell from this scene that this represented the most elite Cultivator strength of the Zhang Clan.

“This old man, Zhang Lingxi, greets Fellow Daoist. May I ask if Fellow Daoist is Yu Shu, Daoist Yu?”

The white-haired Zhang Lingxi looked at Shi Chuan, who was clad in purple robes, with a slightly weathered face that gave no clue to his cultivation depth, and politely cupped his hands in greeting.

“Indeed, I am Yu Shu, and this is my token.”

Shi Chuan nodded in response, taking out a spiritual item from his Storage Pouch, along with a Jade Slip that Black Spring Zhenren had once given to Yu Shu.

Zhang Lingxi quickly reached out and took the Jade Slip, inspecting it with his Divine Thought. His expression remained calm, showing no emotional changes.

“Excellent, this is indeed Old Ancestor's Jade Slip; there is no mistake.”

“Daoist Yu, you must be tired from your journey. Our Zhang Clan has already prepared a banquet and is just waiting for your arrival.”

“Also, these two are the two stewards of our Zhang Clan.”

Zhang Lingxi introduced them, stepping aside.

“Greetings, Daoist Yu. My name is Zhang Qidao. If Daoist Yu has any needs within the Family, you can tell me, and I will do my best to fulfill them.”

Zhang Qidao cupped his hands in greeting, his attitude polite.

“Greetings, Daoist Yu. My name is Zhang Wanrong, and I manage many affairs within the Family. Please guide me.”

Zhang Wanrong smiled and bowed, showing an eager-to-please attitude towards Shi Chuan.

“Oh, Clan Chief and the two stewards are too polite. Let's return to the Family first. I do have a few small requests that I'd like to ask the Clan Chief and the stewards about.”

Shi Chuan responded with a smile.

During his previous seclusion, the intelligence showed several white intelligence reports concerning the Zhang Clan. One of them was that the old Clan Chief of the Zhang Clan was nearing his end.

However, there was no Qi Refining Late Stage Cultivator within the Family to maintain the Family's business in the Immortal City, and their efforts were becoming increasingly insufficient.

Once the old Clan Chief passed away, some of the businesses managed by the Zhang Clan would certainly be swallowed by other small families. Without a Qi Refining Late Stage Cultivator's name attached, they would not be able to secure any business.

In the Immortal City, strength was paramount. Only families with Qi Refining Late Stage Cultivators were qualified to operate shops and other businesses within the city.

Shi Chuan knew that the Zhang Clan had a request for him. Yu Shu himself was a ninth-layer Qi Refining Disciple of the Demon Sect, and Black Spring Zhenren must have informed the Zhang Clan members of this beforehand.

Although Black Spring Zhenren had found Yu Shu to act as an enforcer to protect the Family, Black Spring Zhenren would never have imagined that the Zhang Clan, which he had funded, would have fallen into such disarray in the Immortal City.

Currently, the management of the Zhang Clan dared not Cultivate outsiders. Unfortunately, among the Zhang Clan descendants, there hadn't been a single dual Spiritual Root member in recent years; most were five or four Spiritual Roots.

The only three Spiritual Root member had died outside the city last year, leaving no trace of his body.

From then on, their Zhang Clan had fallen into decline.

However, Black Spring Zhenren also hadn't anticipated the joint siege of the Jiao Demon Sect and Purple Cloud Sect, and thus couldn't offer timely assistance, leading other families competing with the Zhang Clan in the Immortal City to disregard Black Spring Zhenren's concerns.

They began to severely suppress the Zhang Clan.

“Good!”

“Let's return to the Family first, Daoist Yu, please follow me.”

Zhang Lingxi still wore a faint smile, his tone and expression unchanged.

Zhang Qidao, behind him, was momentarily stunned, then quickly responded with a smile, saying there were no problems.

The young-looking female Cultivator also nodded repeatedly.

With the Zhang Clan, including Zhang Lingxi, providing a guarantee, Shi Chuan quickly obtained his identity token. Loose Cultivators without a fixed residence were required to pay one Spirit Stone per month in the city.

However, Cultivators like Shi Chuan, who were affiliated with the Zhang Clan, did not need to pay Spirit Stone fees.

From this point alone, it was evident that Five Elements Immortal City was truly a source of vast wealth; the entrance fees alone, in Spirit Stones, were enough to fill its coffers.

If one could fill a few Storage Pouches in the Immortal City's treasury, how wonderful would that be!

However, with his current low strength, he could only dream for now.

After entering the city.

All four of them rode horned horses with strong hind legs as mounts. These horned horses had Yao Beast Bloodline, making them agile and swift as wind when they ran.

After nearly two quarters of an hour.

They arrived at the Zhang Clan's stronghold, the Eastern Suburb Ward.

It was the outermost ward of the Immortal City's Formation.

In the event of a Yao Beast tide invasion, this outermost ward would be the first to be abandoned, serving as a buffer zone.

The Eastern Suburb Ward was a relatively remote area; the Spiritual Qi concentration here was only around first-order superior. However, due to cheap land prices, many immortal cultivation families chose to establish their strongholds here.

After the four of them entered the Eastern Suburb Ward, they soon arrived at the courtyard where the Zhang Clan resided. It was a three-courtyard residence.

On the ancient plaque above the courtyard gate, the characters “Zhang Mansion” were inscribed.

The servants at the gate respectfully bowed to Shi Chuan and the others, while Shi Chuan unceremoniously walked at the forefront, as if entering his own home, and began to look around.

Zhang Lingxi, behind him, slightly shook his head at Zhang Qidao, whose expression had subtly changed.

“Daoist Yu, please slow down. I'll introduce you to the layout of the mansion and a few of our young juniors in Zhang Mansion.”

Seeing this, Zhang Wanrong, at his side, nodded slightly to Zhang Lingxi, then a sweet smile appeared on her face as she followed after Shi Chuan's retreating figure.

Stepping into the courtyard.

There were rockeries and pavilions, a spirit pond with brocade carp.

And swaying green bamboo.

The courtyard environment was acceptable, but in Shi Chuan's opinion, the Spiritual Qi concentration was too low.

It was similar to the Qiao Clan in Three Thousand Spirit Valley's Bei Yuan Mountain. In this Five Elements Immortal City, not every Cultivator who entered the city could enjoy cultivating with a third-order Spiritual Vein; these third-order Spiritual Vein resources were firmly controlled by the upper echelons of the Immortal City.

Only the inner city area of Five Elements Immortal City had third-order cultivation rooms. To rent one, the monthly Spirit Stone rental fee alone was a considerable sum for ordinary immortal cultivation families.