Chapter 64 Going to the City to Listen to Storytelling!
At the construction site in the northern suburbs of Qingyun City, the rhythmic chanting of the workers shook the heavens.
"Earth carries all things! The Dao is within the mud! Add water! Keep mixing!"
Lei Mingzi was shirtless and covered in mud, leading tens of thousands of elite Disciples from the Zixiao Holy Land to frantically "comprehend the Great Dao." Their speed in laying bricks was ten times faster than even the most skilled Mortal bricklayers.
In the courtyard just a wall away, Lin Yuan covered his ears in pain.
"These guys, they can even make manual labor look like they're entering Qi Deviation. If I'd known, I wouldn't have let them build the wall; the noise is giving me a headache."
Lin Yuan sat up from his rocking chair and looked at Xiao Yuer, who was still honestly practicing her wood-chopping motions in the yard, and beckoned to her.
"Xiao Yuer, stop practicing. Go wash your face, change into clean clothes, and Revered Master will take you for a stroll in the city."
The little girl's eyes lit up. She immediately put down the rusty iron shard in her hand and obediently ran to the water vat to wash the dust off her face.
A moment later.
A handsome scholar in a moon-white robe, holding the hand of a little girl with twin pigtails and a candied hawthorn stick in her hand, strolled leisurely down the busiest central street of Qingyun City.
He didn't bring Old Wan, nor did he bring Tantai Jinyue.
In this bustling marketplace, Lin Yuan didn't show a single trace of Spiritual Qi fluctuation. He completely blended into the surrounding mundane atmosphere; no one would ever associate this lazy-looking young man with the legendary Red Dust Immortal who could cover the sky with a single hand.
"Is the candied hawthorn good?" Lin Yuan asked with a smile.
"It's delicious! Much easier to bite than wood is to chop!" Xiao Yuer answered unclearly while crunching a hawthorn berry. Tucked casually into her waist was the [God-Slaying Array Map Fragment], known as the number one killing array of the primordial era.
The two of them stopped and started along the way, soon arriving at a bustling three-story teahouse—the Spring and Autumn Teahouse.
This was the place in Qingyun City where information flowed most freely. Not only were there ordinary folk, but many Loose Cultivators at the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment Stages also rested here.
Lin Yuan ordered a pot of broken-leaf tea and a plate of peanuts, then found a secluded window seat on the second floor for him and Xiao Yuer.
In the center of the first-floor hall, a storyteller in a green robe, waving a folding fan, slammed down a gavel.
"Slap!"
"Listen up, everyone! Today we won't speak of ancient myths, but of two shocking wonders that have occurred in our Qingyun City these past few days!"
The storyteller snapped his fan open, his eyes mysterious: "Just a few days ago, at the antique market, Zhuge Xing, the Saint-to-be of the Central Province's Nine Palaces Holy Land, brought over a dozen experts to throw their weight around, attempting to force a white-robed scholar to sell a piece of scrap iron!"
The patrons in the teahouse instantly fell silent, all ears.
"Guess what? That white-robed scholar wasn't a Mortal at all, but a supreme Sword Immortal who has crossed the divide between immortal and Mortal!"
The storyteller grew more excited as he spoke, his voice suddenly rising: "That Sword Immortal didn't even draw his sword! He just gave them a faint glance and blew a gentle breath! Hu—!"
"With just that one breath, it transformed into a sky full of destructive Sword Intent! That Saint-to-be of the Central Province Holy Land and the dozen experts were blown into thin paper, stuck firmly to the wall. They couldn't even be scraped off; they became human murals on the spot!"
"Whoa—"
A thunderous exclamation instantly erupted within the teahouse.
"Blowing a Soul Transformation expert to death in one breath? My god, he must be a god descended from the Immortal Realm, right?"
"I was there! Those murals are still stuck on the wall; the people from the Nine Palaces Holy Land can't even retrieve the bodies!"
At the window seat on the second floor.
The mouthful of tea Lin Yuan had just taken was sprayed all over the window frame with a "pfft."
The corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.
Blew a breath? Destructive Sword Intent filling the sky?
I clearly just thought the mosquitoes were too noisy and used that scrap iron as a flyswatter to give it a casual wave! The imagination of these Mortals is just too ridiculous!
Beside him, Xiao Yuer blinked her big eyes, bit into her candied hawthorn, and asked curiously in a low voice: "Revered Master, is that human mural they're talking about the time you swatted a mosquito..."
"Shh."
Lin Yuan quickly covered the little girl's mouth and coughed twice: "Don't talk nonsense. That was a battle between experts; what does it have to do with ordinary Mortals like us? Just focus on eating your peanuts."
Xiao Yuer nodded obediently. If Revered Master said it wasn't him, then it wasn't. Revered Master had always been low-key; she understood!
The storyteller downstairs took a sip of tea to moisten his throat and struck his gavel again.
"But that's not all! Everyone, look up at the sky today. Doesn't it look much cleaner?"
The patrons nodded one after another; today was indeed a bright and sunny day.
"That's because the invincible fleet of the Central Province's [Zixiao Holy Land], which was circling over our Qingyun City intending to seize the Eastern Desolation's Spiritual Veins, has vanished!"
The storyteller lowered his voice, creating a spine-chilling atmosphere: "Nine whole warships, each with a Mahayana Stage Grand Elder sitting in command! Just yesterday at noon, they were completely wiped out without any warning!"
"Some say a Heaven-Swallowing Beast deep within the Eastern Desolation awakened, opened its bloody maw, and swallowed those nine warships in one gulp, leaving not even a scrap behind!"
Hearing the sound of the patrons gasping.
Lin Yuan leaned back in his chair and rubbed his brow helplessly.
What kind of 'Heaven-Swallowing Beast' nonsense is that?
Those experts who were 'swallowed into the stomach' are currently shirtless in a mud pit in the northern suburbs, excitedly mixing mud and laying bricks. And because they're working so hard, they'll even be eating steamed corn buns tonight.
"The rumors in this Mortal World are truly just tall tales." Lin Yuan shook his head, finding it quite comical.
Just as he was preparing to pay the bill and take Xiao Yuer to wander elsewhere.
The main door on the first floor of the teahouse was suddenly kicked open violently.
"Bang!"
Several Cultivators carrying heavy swords and wearing black sword robes strode in arrogantly. A small blood-colored sword was embroidered on their chests, and they emitted a thick Evil Qi.
The previously noisy teahouse instantly fell silent.
"It's the thugs from the Blood Sword Sect..." A Loose Cultivator's expression changed drastically, and he quietly lowered his head.
The leading Cultivator with a scarred face sneered, his eyes scanning the room gloomily before slamming a blood-stained longsword onto the storyteller's table.
"Old man, stop spreading your deluded lies! What Red Dust Immortal? What Heaven-Swallowing Beast?"
The scarred-face Cultivator shouted arrogantly: "Our Blood Sword Sect has already investigated thoroughly. There are no experts in that northern suburban area, only a newly born, ownerless Spiritual Vein!"
He looked around and raised his voice: "My Sect Leader has ordered! From today onwards, the northern suburbs of Qingyun City are blockaded! Anyone who dares to come within half a step of that dilapidated courtyard in the north will be killed without mercy!"
Hearing this, Lin Yuan, in the corner of the second floor, paused slightly.
He looked at the teacup in his hand, then at the arrogant scarred-face man downstairs.
"Blockade the north of the city? And seize my courtyard?"
Lin Yuan sighed and patted Xiao Yuer's head.
"Xiao Yuer, it seems those bricklayers who are helping you build the courtyard wall are going to have some new competition."