Dao Companions Help Me Live Forever

Chapter 41: Calm Waters

The atmosphere in the Wang Mansion settled down.

After returning, the first thing they did was to search for a good doctor to find a cure for the poison in their bodies.

However, this poison was developed by a cultivator, and its principles were completely different from those of ordinary doctors. Regular physicians had no idea where to start, and some even caused accidents due to their impatience.

Some people also tried to influence the princess through various means, hoping that she would speak up and stop Yu Xian.

But the princess seemed to tacitly approve of Yu Xian's actions, even refusing to see the county magistrate who came to plead on behalf of the Xia family.

Regardless of how weak the Fu Wang Mansion was, it was still the master of Changning County.

Being rejected by the county magistrate in front of everyone was a huge loss of face, and the Xia family held a grudge as well.

So, the person who claimed to be the nephew of the supervising imperial censor, Xia Zhu, had not been released from prison until now. It was said that he was being tortured with poisonous pills in prison and had lost all semblance of a person.

Xia's mother felt heartbroken for her youngest son and had a big fight with Xia's father, shedding tears every day.

Later, when there was no other way, Xia's mother knelt in front of the Wang Mansion for three days and three nights, refusing to eat or drink, begging the princess for mercy.

The princess, moved by their deep mother-son bond, ordered Xia Zhu to be kept under house arrest and not allowed to leave the Wang Mansion without permission.

Of course, this is all a story for later.

Since the day the Supplying Courtyard was wiped out by Yu Xian, many of the attendants were uneasy, afraid of what this supervisor might do to them.

They secretly contacted each other, vowing that if this supervisor dared to make any unreasonable demands, they would rather die than let him succeed.

But gradually, they discovered that this supervisor seemed to be really focused on investigating the case of the prince's assassination, although his methods were a bit extreme.

He didn't ask much of them on ordinary days, just that they had to report their daily whereabouts and assist the mansion guards in investigating the situation in Changning City.

Every seven days, there would be a major summary, and anyone who slacked off or did a perfunctory job would have the distribution of the antidote delayed.

And those attendants who didn't receive the antidote wouldn't die immediately.

Instead, they would gradually weaken, as if thousands of ants were gnawing at their bodies, howling day and night. Within a few days, they would be tortured to the point of being unrecognizable.

Usually, at this point, the supervisor would show mercy and give them the antidote to prolong their lives.

But anyone who had tried it once would not want to try it a second time. They could only cooperate obediently, sincerely hoping that this supervisor would quickly uncover the truth and catch the assassin.

It was not a good feeling to have one's life in someone else's hands.

And so, time passed, and after two months of investigating the assassination case, there was still no result.

People gradually got used to it, reporting their daily activities like clockwork, sending out people to cooperate with the mansion guards in monitoring the situation in Changning City.

As mentioned before, the attendants in the Supplying Courtyard were all elites in their respective fields and held important positions in their industries.

If it weren't for directly controlling them with poison, it would have taken Yu Xian a lot of effort to subdue them.

Take the strict head of the martial arts hall, for example. As one of the top martial arts masters in Changning City, he had taught countless disciples, not only from wealthy families but also beggars and dock workers.

Once he agreed to cooperate, the manpower he could mobilize should not be underestimated.

With this group of people cooperating, the three teachings and nine streams in Changning City became the eyes of the Wang Mansion.

If there were any strangers, they would be discovered at the first moment and secretly monitored.

As a result, the assassins had not been caught, but many undercover agents sent by the Guangnan rebels to Changning City were captured.

There were also several thieves who attempted to take advantage of the Wang Mansion's lack of a master and cause chaos in Changning City. Their whereabouts were discovered, becoming achievements for the local government.

The public security in Changning City suddenly improved.

...

On this day.

Supplying Courtyard, Room No. 2.

Yu Xian slowly calmed down his spiritual power, extending his hand, and a crystal-like object emitting a golden light gently fell into his palm.

This is Jinjing, a low-level refining material in the cultivation world, and one of the few artificial refining materials.

The method is simple, just continuously refine gold with the cultivator's mana.

Under the long-term refining with mana, the external spiritual energy will continuously accelerate and penetrate into the pure gold. Then, the nature of the pure gold will gradually change and become Jinjing that is more suitable for the structure of spiritual energy.

Many cultivators who have just entered the cultivation world make a living by processing refining materials like Jinjing.

After all, this method requires no cost and not much skill, as long as one invests their mana.

Ordinary Qi Refining early-stage cultivators, with weak mana, can process three jin of Jinjing in a day and need to rest for a day to recover their mana.

As for cultivators like Yu Xian in the Qi Refining later stage, even if they only use half of their mana, they can process thirty jin in a day!

He has fifteen thousand liang of gold in the Wang Mansion, which is equivalent to one thousand five hundred jin. He can complete the processing in just fifty days.

In the cultivation world, ten jin of Jinjing can be exchanged for one liang of spiritual sand. One thousand five hundred jin of Jinjing is one hundred and fifty liang of spiritual sand, which is equivalent to twelve and a half spiritual stones, equivalent to the savings he had for four years.

Of course, genuine Qi Refining later-stage cultivators would not engage in such low-cost activities.

Even if they casually hunt a low-level monster, they can sell it for more than ten spiritual stones.

Moreover, most self-cultivators at this stage have a unique skill to rely on for their livelihood.

Although most people have no chance with "formation, pill, instrument, and talisman," there are still many people who work part-time in ordinary professions such as spiritual planters, spiritual farmers, and spiritual tailors to earn income.

"The resources of the mortal world can be exchanged for spiritual stones, but the intermediate costs are too high. Only powerful cultivation families like the Lin family and the Jiang family have enough transportation capacity to lower the costs. It is simply not suitable for ordinary self-cultivators."

Yu Xian has been idle these days, so he melted the gold in his hand and turned it into refining materials.

Anyway, his mana can be replenished with the help of Yulan, so it would be a waste not to use it.

He caressed the Jinjing in his hand and pondered to himself.

"Although the Kingdom of Yue is a mortal dynasty, just the various basic cultivation resources transported to the Jiang family every year would probably amount to tens of thousands of spiritual stones. Over time, it is a terrifying number.

Not to mention other hidden benefits.

Money moves people's hearts. No wonder the Lin family couldn't help but cause trouble in the Kingdom of Yue."

"Fortunately, I'm just taking advantage secretly. They shouldn't notice me.

Also, I've been back for almost two months, and there has been no movement in the city, and no one has contacted Ding Gongfeng.

It seems that the Lin family cultivators really assassinated the prince and left.

Or maybe I've been worrying too much.

The Lin family never really cared about the Prince.

Those two Lin family cultivators who left that day really treated me as a secluded old cultivator passing by, rather than a cultivator of the Wang Mansion. Or maybe they never reported my information.

That's right, they fled in the face of danger and didn't save their companions. How could they possibly tell the truth to their superiors? It's better to keep it hidden and report it as a disappearance, which is more beneficial to them."

"Then, from now on, I will guard my own territory in the Wang Mansion, hidden in plain sight.

No matter how turbulent it is outside, with the Wang Mansion as a golden signboard, the splashes won't reach me."

Yu Xian's thoughts extended all the way, and he planned his future life in the Wang Mansion.

With this, he let go of his worries, and his heart couldn't help but feel light, and his mana also became active.

If this were the cultivation world, this mental exercise might help him make some progress in his cultivation. But this is the mortal world.

Although the spiritual energy in the air continuously gathered, forming a thin vortex of spiritual energy, even after the spiritual energy dissipated, he only replenished some mana.

"It's a loss for me, but it's a gain for me. Besides, with Yulan here, I don't need these fancy insights."

Yu Xian endured the bitterness in his heart and muttered to himself, pretending to be indifferent.

But after enduring for a long time, he couldn't help but curse in his heart.

"Damn it, my first enlightenment in life ended so hastily!"

(End of this chapter)