Boshui City.
This was a large city located in the Northern Region of the Chenping Continent, in the southern part of the Western Ke Country.
The city walls were mottled, bearing the marks of years of weathering.
The carriage carrying Chen Yan and Youyou slowly made its way towards the city gate of Boshui City.
Before the gate of this majestic city stood six garrison soldiers, all clad in fine armor and holding long spears.
"Squad Leader, look."
One of the younger garrison soldiers said to their Squad Leader, gently nudging the bearded Squad Leader, who had a scar by his eye, twice in the side with his elbow.
The Squad Leader shifted his gaze to the carriage approaching the city gate.
It was not a carriage from Western Ke Country.
The garrison soldiers could tell at a glance that the people riding in that carriage were definitely not from Western Ke Country.
According to the laws of Western Ke Country, a local riding in a carriage that didn't meet the size and specification requirements would be sent to prison.
Most likely, they were merchants from a foreign land.
The garrison soldiers quickly exchanged glances and nodded to each other.
There was some easy money to be made again.
For low-ranking soldiers like them guarding the city gates, their meager military pay was simply not enough to support their families.
Extorting and blackmailing traveling merchants, especially foreign merchants unfamiliar with the area and afraid of causing trouble, had long been an unspoken way to make a living.
The carriage slowly rolled up to the entrance of the city gate tunnel. The Squad Leader raised his hand, signaling for the carriage to stop.
But the carriage didn't stop, merely continuing its journey into the city.
As the carriage passed by the Squad Leader, a hand with distinct, pale, and elegant knuckles extended from the cloth curtain on the side of the compartment. Even more pleasing to the eye were the few taels of loose silver held in that hand.
Seeing this, the Squad Leader hastily stepped aside, clearing the way for the carriage heading into the city.
Catching the few taels of silver tossed from the carriage, the Squad Leader watched the carriage depart with a smile.
Classy people. Dealing with classy people was just good.
"Squad Leader, how much did they give?"
The younger garrison soldier immediately crowded over. The Squad Leader instantly clenched the few taels of silver in his hand, hid it behind his back, and put on a stern face:
"Go on, get going, all of you, back to your posts. It's hardly any money at all."
"That's not fair, Squad Leader!"
"Yeah, don't break the brothers' hearts!"
"Stop your nonsense here. I'll take you all drinking tonight."
"The side dishes won't be just a plate of peanuts again, will they? Last time you treated us, Squad Leader, it was a single plate of peanuts for the six of us to share. At least let us see some meat!"
"Exactly, exactly, don't break the brothers' hearts!"
"Break your hearts my ass!"
...
The carriage continued on its way into Boshui City.
Chen Yan suddenly recalled that time years ago when he, dressed in commoner's clothes, went alone to Taiyun City and ended up being stopped by some greenhorn guard.
Ever since then, whenever he visited cities of mortal dynasties, he would always prepare some loose silver for greasing palms.
Thinking about it carefully, a full twenty years had passed since that time.
If that greenhorn guard from back then was still alive, he'd be over forty by now, probably not a greenhorn anymore.
Chen Yan had come to Boshui City to gather intelligence.
As the largest city in the southern part of Western Ke Country, Boshui City naturally attracted quite a few immortal cultivators.
Of course, over eighty percent of them were Rogue Cultivators, with a minority being disciples from second or third-rate immortal cultivation sects stopping here.
As for disciples from first-rate sects and above, they rarely came to this place.
In the northwest corner of Boshui City, there was an immortal family tea house. Nominally, it was an enterprise of the local Boshui City immortal cultivation family, the Fang Family, but those with sharp eyes knew that the Yulai Pavilion had a hand behind this tea house.
The Yulai Pavilion was a first-rate sect on the Chenping Continent, making a living by selling information.
Back when Chen Yan was still in Yunyang City in the Southern Region, he heard that the young master of the Duan Family in Yunyang City, Duan Ruijie, often frequented the Yulai Pavilion's tea houses, listening to the storytellers inside recount interesting anecdotes about the Five Great Sects.
However, in recent years, the Yulai Pavilion had been having a tough time on the Chenping Continent.
Because Ke Xinhong, the Chief Disciple of the top-tier immortal cultivation sect Poyuan Cliff on the Chenping Continent, was murdered five years ago.
Chen Yan had some impression of Ke Xinhong. Back during the Floating Light Summit Dao Inquiry, it was by defeating Ke Xinhong that Si Youyou became the champion of the Floating Light Summit in one fell swoop.
This person's character was rather arrogant and flamboyant, making him quite unlikable, so he had also made quite a few enemies within the immortal cultivation world of the Chenping Continent's Northern Region.
The reason he was murdered, according to rumors, was precisely because the Yulai Pavilion leaked information about his whereabouts, leading to Ke Xinhong's final fate of being ambushed and killed.
Since then, the Yulai Pavilion had been viewed with hostility by many immortal cultivation sects on the Chenping Continent.
Especially Poyuan Cliff. As one of the top-tier sects on the Chenping Continent, Poyuan Cliff's influence was not to be underestimated.
In the end, the Pavilion Master of the Yulai Pavilion had to personally ascend Poyuan Cliff to apologize and pay a substantial compensation before the matter was reluctantly settled.
After this incident, the Yulai Pavilion no longer operated as openly as before. Instead, they adopted a method of cooperating with local immortal cultivation families in various cities to continue opening tea houses and selling information.
Chen Yan took Si Youyou into this immortal family tea house, gave the shop attendant three low-grade spirit stones, and said they wanted to drink the best tea here.
The shop attendant said that wasn't enough.
Chen Yan said he would add two more.
Then the shop attendant turned and walked towards the depths of the tea house to report.
This was the coded language used in tea houses opened by the Yulai Pavilion for buying and selling intelligence.
After about ten breaths of time, the shop attendant returned and invited Chen Yan and Si Youyou to follow him to a private room on the tea house's second floor.
Inside the room sat a thin, withered old man with a gray beard.
As a cultivator in the Passable God Realm, Chen Yan could see through the cultivation realm of this thin old man at a glance: he was in the Qi Sea Realm.
In these parts, that counted as a top expert.
"What would you two like to know?"
The thin old man said.
"First, tell me everything you consider to be major events that have recently happened on the Chenping Continent."
Chen Yan said.
The thin old man raised his right hand and extended three withered fingers:
"Three pieces."
Chen Yan flicked three high-grade spirit stones from his sleeve, letting them fall onto the table before him.
"The Kongshan Sect has been making major moves recently. Within three months, they have purged forty-seven immortal cultivation sects, among which were even two top-tier sects. After the Great Dao's revival on the Chenping Continent and True Person Caiyun's return to Kongshan, it seems the Kongshan Sect wants to prove that even after suffering such great losses over the past twenty years, they can still dominate everything."
The thin old man explained thus:
"Then, the Wind Ravine Valley, a week ago..."
Chen Yan listened as the withered old man recounted everything for him one by one, but for him, this intelligence wasn't enough.
"Alright, that's enough."
Chen Yan spoke up:
"I want one piece of information."
"Please speak."
The thin old man said.
"Currently, on the Chenping Continent, how many True Persons in the Immortal Ascension Realm have appeared in total?"
"Five pieces."
Chen Yan lightly flicked his sleeve again, and five high-grade spirit stones rolled onto the tabletop.
"According to current reliable intelligence..."
The thin old man said slowly:
"Four. Possibly five."