Integrating the matter of Ji Yueze,
Li Qiuyun understood that perhaps Chen Ye had other business, forcing him to come to Moon Rhinoceros Lake.
"Qiuyun is indeed astute... I’m precisely here for the Xu Family matter."
Chen Ye nodded.
Being new here, naturally, everything was based on Li Qiuyun’s opinion.
It was good to inquire about some news, to understand what had recently happened in the Moon Rhinoceros Lake District.
The two of them found the Lake Heart Cottage, and it truly lived up to its name.
The inn’s main building was surprisingly constructed on a giant painted pleasure boat, with carved beams and painted pillars, green tiles and red eaves, floating on the surface of the lake, exuding an elegant ambiance.
After settling in, the two went to the tea house on the inn’s first floor.
The tea house was already full of cultivators, grouped in threes and fours, talking loudly.
Chen Ye ordered a pot of spirit tea, a specialty of Moon Rhinoceros Lake, and sat across from Li Qiuyun, sipping tea while listening to the cultivators’ conversations around them.
"Uncle Chen, don’t have too much hope... In such tea houses, most are idle people boasting. In a moment, I’ll take you to find someone from the Listening Wind Pavilion."
Li Qiuyun whispered, explaining to Chen Ye.
"The Listening Wind Pavilion is an intelligence agency spread across the Yan Kingdom and the Qi Kingdom. It’s said that the Listening Wind Pavilion and the Formless Ghost Collection are actually one entity, both created by the Formless True Man."
Chen Ye’s heart moved, quietly grateful that he was on this trip with Li Qiuyun.
If he had come to Moon Rhinoceros Lake District alone, he wouldn’t even be aware of the existence of the Listening Wind Pavilion, let alone know where to find it.
In fact, he was also very curious about the Xu Family’s background.
If it were truly the True Dragon Lineage, how could it have fallen to become a loose cultivator family in the market?
After all, the Xu Family was just a trivial background story in the game, only summarized in a sentence or two, so Chen Ye didn’t know much about it.
Even about the True Dragon Lineage, it was just a speculation made by Chen Ye through Qing Jun’s lineage.
However, the Listening Wind Pavilion has been rooted in the Yan and Qi regions for hundreds of years, and might know something about the Qi Family.
Chen Ye sipped his tea, waiting for someone from the Listening Wind Pavilion to arrive.
Meanwhile, he listened in on the conversations happening around him.
Just as Li Qiuyun said, most people were boasting.
If there were truly valuable information, would it be revealed directly in public?
Yet, it wasn’t entirely without value.
By listening in, Chen Ye got a rough idea of the current forces within the Moon Rhinoceros Lake District market.
The forces were mainly divided into two sects and five families.
The two sects were Lingyin Sect and Ten Thousand Puppet Sect.
And the five families were Xu, Ji, Mao, Li, and He Families.
Among them, only the Xu and Ji families could be considered prosperous, while the other three families had only one or two Foundation Establishment True Men.
Li Qiuyun was from the Li Family, only a branch descendant.
Suddenly, Chen Ye’s ears perked up.
"Have you heard? The Mist Forest on the east side of the market seems to have been unsettled recently!"
A bearded man at the neighboring table lowered his voice, speaking mysteriously.
"Mist Forest?"
His companion was surprised upon hearing this,
"Isn’t that place perpetually shrouded in poisonous miasma, with high-tier demon beasts lurking? It’s said that even late-stage Qi Cultivation cultivators dare not venture deep."
The bearded man chuckled: "Times change! I have a distant nephew, bold enough to sneak to the outskirts of Mist Forest to gather herbs a few days ago, and he saw a glow rising to the sky from deep within the forest, suspected to be a secret realm emerging!"
"Secret realm?!" At these words, not only did their neighboring table turn their attention, but several nearby tables of cultivators also perked up their ears.
The bearded man, pleased to have captured everyone’s attention, continued proudly: "Absolutely true! It’s said that within the glow, palaces and pavilions could be vaguely seen, with a thousand auspicious lights, certainly no ordinary scene! Many well-informed families and solitary experts have secretly sent people to investigate!"
"Heh, Old Hee, you’re boasting again, if it were truly an ancient secret realm, why would you share it with us?" Someone couldn’t help but sneer.
This immediately displeased Old Hee.
He stomped the table fiercely, pointed at the ceiling, and swore:
"If I’m lying, then... let me be struck by lightning! I swear I’m not making this up, many saw it, and in the Mist Forest, two girls in Qi Cultivation stage obtained United Tier Two Flying Swords from the secret realm!"
Two girls, Tier Two Flying Swords?
Chen Ye perked up when he heard this.
The reason being that his two disciples were precisely the United Flying Sword pair.
But no matter how he thought, it couldn’t possibly be his two disciples.
"Heh, Uncle Chen is worrying again? Why do you freeze at the mention of two girls?"
Li Qiuyun, unaware of Qing Jun and Zhiwei’s possession of United Flying Swords, assumed Chen Ye missed his disciples, and teased him.
"Indeed, I overthink. Even we have just arrived at Moon Rhinoceros Lake District. With such a long distance, the two girls couldn’t make it even if they ran tirelessly." Chen Ye chuckled.
Meanwhile, the loose cultivators continued their heated discussion.
After all, within the cultivation realm, such fortuitous encounters are undoubtedly the most attractive.
The cultivator who had doubted Old Hee now appeared more serious upon hearing of the Tier Two Magical Treasure: "Old Hee, is this true? Which family’s girls are so lucky to obtain a Tier Two Magical Treasure?"
Tier Two Magical Treasures could only be fully wielded by Foundation Establishment cultivators!
If it appeared in the hands of Qi Cultivation cultivators, it would be like a child carrying gold through a bustling market, attracting countless covetous eyes.
Old Hee, full of satisfaction, motioned with his hand for everyone to calm down: "How would I know which family’s girls? But, ah, those two girls are not simple, one dressed in black, the other in a white dress, extremely ruthless, and I hear they have dealt with several usual bullies in the market, they’re known as the ’Black and White Double Evil’!"
"Black and White Double Evil?"
The other cultivator, lost in thought, said, "Yesterday, I also heard this name... it seems to be true."
"Isn’t it so!" Old Hee slapped his thigh, "That’s why I say there’s definitely something good in the Mist Forest! Otherwise, how could those two young female fiends obtain a Tier Two Magical Treasure? I reckon there might even be Tier Three or Four treasures in that secret realm!"
With previous cultivators confirming, the surrounding cultivators were now full of eagerness, eager to rush into the Mist Forest to search for themselves.
Listening to these conversations, Chen Ye found himself full of questions.
Two young girls? Black and White Double Evil? Tier Two United Magical Treasure?
Connecting these clues, Chen Ye buried his doubts about his two troublesome disciples again.
But reason told him this was impossible.
By now, they should be safely staying in the Lingyin Sect.
"It must be a coincidence, it must be a coincidence..." Chen Ye sipped his tea.
In his view, these two young girls were most likely some so-called Granny Tong, as the cultivation realm is full of those who appear youthful despite their real age.
Even if they weren’t a thousand-year-old demon woman, those brazen enough to flaunt Magical Treasures must have significant backing, how could they be mere loose cultivators?
"It must be a coincidence, it must be a coincidence..." Chen Ye muttered, taking a sip of his tea.
He viewed the matter calmly, thinking that these two girls were likely some elder women whose appearance had reverted to that of youth.
How could they, who dare to flaunt magical treasures in public, have come from a loose cultivator background without significant backing?
Just as a reminder, Old Hee is still enthusiastically discussing the matter.
"The Listening Wind Pavilion is about to open, I reckon. We should head there." Li Qiuyun suddenly said, standing up,
Her father often dealt with the Listening Wind Pavilion, or she wouldn’t know about this place either..."
Chen Ye understood, recalling how unremarkable Li Yanfeng seemed when teaching him flying sword.
However, Li Yanfeng, being a Qi Cultivation Stage flying sword instructor, his battle power was far beyond ordinary people, certainly not as simple as it seemed on the surface.