Chapter 391: A New Home
Lu Er blankly stared for a moment before involuntarily turning his gaze to the hands of Han Li and Crooked Soul.
Having seen their red rings, he revealed a flash of sudden insight and gave Han Li a thorough explanation, “So it turned out you Immortal Masters intend to take up long term residence! This matter is quite simple. Do you Immortal Masters see that building on Sage Mountain? If you wish to cultivate, you only have to go to there and rent a building. I’ve heard other Immortal Masters say that a natural spirit vein flows through Sage Mountain. The higher the building, the greater the amount of Spiritual Qi. Of course, the price increases as well. If you don’t wish to rent a building and want your own personal cave residence instead, it will cost far more than renting an ordinary residence! Furthermore, regardless of whether it is a building or a cave, you will have to pay a fee every hundred years. If you do not pay when the time comes, the Star Palace will repossess the residence by force.”
“Oh, so long as I have enough spirit stones, I’ll be able to rent a cultivation area at the highest height?” Han Li revealed an interested expression.
Lu Er shook his head as if he were beating a drum with it and spoke with embarrassment, “Immortal Master jests, that obviously isn’t possible. Every circle of buildings on Sage Mountain is considered a layer, coming to a total of eighty-one layers. The first fifty layers are open to foreign cultivators and can be rented as a cultivation residence so long as one has the spirit stones. The last thirty layers are reserved for the elders of the Star Palace. As for the last layer, that is where the Sage’s Palace two Lord Sages live. Nobody is allowed to enter.”
After a moment of thought, Han Li decisively said, “Fine, point the way! Let’s find a residence first before anything else.”
“Yes, your subordinate follows your orders. Immortal Master should fly towards the base of the mountain. The buildings there take care of these matters.”
Just as he finished speaking, the Divine Wind Boat turned into a streak of white light and flew towards the huge, distant mountain.
The huge mountain had appeared somewhat near but it still took a quarter hour of full speed flight to reach the base of the mountain. Under the guidance of Lu Er, the Divine Wind Boat descended in front of an imposing pavilion.
There were quite a few cultivators coming and going, occasionally flying off or landing with flashes of light.
After a quick examination of the area, he brought Crooked Soul and Lu Er to the towering pavilion.
Upon entering, Han Li saw over a dozen cultivators. Six of them were sitting alone at a couple of stone desks while talking with cultivators wearing white clothes. The white clothed cultivators appeared miserable and two of them were even pitifully begging. It made for a rather interesting scene as not a single one of their expressions were the same.
Han Li silently watched the scene from the side.
“Sir Immortal, there is no one at the desk over there. Should we go over?” After a short moment, Lu Er carefully called out to Han Li. Han Li turned his gaze towards the recently cleared stone desk and nodded his head.
But as Crooked Soul was the one to lead this time, Lu Er was left bewildered as he had recognized Han Li to be the master.
“Senior wishes to rent a residence at Sage Mountain? Which layer would you like? The higher the layer, the more expensive it will be!” The Star Palace cultivator examined Crooked Soul for a moment before speaking with a respectful tone.
It seemed that Core Formation cultivators were seen with veneration regardless of the location. This was the reason why Han Li had Crooked Soul step forward.
“I want a cave dwelling. Are there any available? The higher the layer, the better!” Crooked Soul expressionlessly said.
“Cave dwelling? Senior is quite wealthy. I’ll go take a look.” Having heard Crooked Soul’s arrogant tone, the white-clothed cultivator hastily took out a jade slip and started to search through it.
“I got it! There are three caves on the thirty-first layer, four caves on the thirty-ninth layer, and two caves on the forty-seventh layer. Here are the prices of the cave residences as well as their floor plans and capabilities.” The white-clothed cultivator then place several jade slips onto the stone table.
When Crooked Soul heard this, he bluntly took the jade slips on the table and looked through them with his spiritual sense.
Han Li had believed that since he wasn’t lacking in spirit stones and that he could be considered somewhat wealthy among Core Formation cultivators, he would be able to afford the cost of a cave residence. But once he looked at the prices, he felt his heart drop.
The cost of a cave residence at the thirty-ninth layer left Han Li feeling heartache, not to mention the forty-seventh layer cave. Also, these were just the costs of merely a hundred years of use. The price went up to three thousand spirit stones, a price that was far beyond reason!
Having seen Crooked Soul become silent, the cultivator seemed to have guessed what he was thinking. He explained with a smile, “Senior! Although we don’t dare to call Sage Mountain’s spirit vein the best in the Scattered Star Seas, it is undoubtedly in the top five. Cultivating at even the base of Sage Mountain is far faster than the best spot at an ordinary spirit vein. As for each layer above the thirtieth, cultivation speeds increase by an entire fourth. As such, the expensive price is completely worth it!”
Han Li frowned in response and had Crooked Soul read through the jade slips once more.
“I’ll have this one!” Under Han Li’s command, Crooked Soul handed over the jade slips and indicated a more capable cave residence on the thirty-ninth layer.
As Crooked Soul wanted to rent an expensive cave dwelling, the white clothed cultivator swiftly responded in excitement, “Understood, that will cost two thousand seven hundred spirit stones!”
This time, Han Li didn’t have Crooked Soul act. He personally took out twenty-seven mid-grade spirit stones and handed them over.
“This is the cave residence’s authority medallion. It allows you to enter and leave the cave residence at well, but after a hundred years, the medallion will be revoked. Please carefully take care of it.” After taking the spirit stones, he took out a yellow medallion and handed it over to Crooked Soul.
After taking the medallion, Crooked Soul wordlessly turned around and left.
Han Li and Lu Er, who hadn’t dared to speak, closely followed him out.
“A truly astonishing price! It actually cost that many spirit stones to secure a cultivation area.” After walking out of the pavilion, Han Li let out a long sigh before muttering to himself. This purchase had consumed a significant portion of his fortune.
Lu Er stole a look at Han Li and asked with a whisper, “Is there anywhere else that you two Immortal Masters wish to go?” He had been greatly shocked when Han Li had spent such a huge quantity of spirit stones. Although he had seen other cultivators act as such when he had guided them, they only spent several tens of spirit stones at most. This was the first time he had seen such a big spender who could spend nearly three thousand spirit stones in one sitting.
Suddenly, Lu Er became even more respectful towards Han Li, now confident that he could potentially acquire an even greater reward. After all, Han Li spent money quite liberally. So long as Lu Er satisfied him, he was certain he wouldn’t short him any spirit stones.
Han Li quickly glanced at Lu Er and casually said, “Guide me to the city’s market and give me an introduction of the larger stores.”
Afterwards, the Divine Wind Boat soared through the sky in a streak of light.
……
Half a day later, Han Li was lying on a large wooden bed with his hands cushioning the back of his head.
Not long before, Lu Er had given him an introduction of the most important locations in Heavenly Star City. They then parted ways after Han Li gave Lu Er his payment. Having seen Lu Er depart with a delighted expression, Han Li returned to the cave residence on the thirty-ninth layer that he had paid an enormous sum for.
The cave residence exactly matched what was described in the jade talisman. Not only was it isolated and peaceful, but it also had a large medicine garden. But what was most to Han Li’s satisfaction was the abundant Spiritual Qi present. As described, the spirit vein in the mountain was truly beyond ordinary. His old cave residence in the Heavenly South Region couldn’t possibly compare. All of these benefits left Han Li feeling satisfied with his purchase.
The cave residence’s formation spell was extremely impressive. It was no weaker than the simplified Five Elements Reversal Formation.
Although this was the case, Han Li didn’t feel at ease with just the cave’s formation spell protecting him. He decided to have a short rest and would place down several of his formations tomorrow. After he finally felt his home was secure, he would have time to make plans for his future cultivation.
With that thought, Han Li unwittingly fell sound asleep. He had been flying nonstop these last few months and was truly quite tired.
On the morning of the second day, Han Li started to busy himself after waking up.
He laid down three great formations outside of his cave residence, and planted all kinds of spiritual herbs in the empty medicine garden for future maturation. Lastly, he went into the market city and bought a large amount of high-quality fine jade. After returning to his cave residence, he embedded the fine jade into every inch of a hidden, forty-meter wide room.
After all the surfaces of the hidden room were completely covered in jade, Han Li carefully released the Gold Devouring Beetles into the room.
He held high expectations towards these high ranking wondrous bugs and planned to train them well so they could assist him in the future.