Longevity: Starting From Getting Down The Mountain And Marrying A Wife

In the southern district of Qingyang City, there are a total of twenty-eight main streets, which are connected to numerous small streets and alleys.

The area is second only to the eastern district where the Lord's Mansion is located, covering over a million mu of land!

To put it more intuitively, it is roughly equivalent to one-tenth of the size of Zhong Yan's previous life's Guangzhou on Earth.

However, the entire Qingyang City has less than a million people, so in terms of population density, it appears unusually spacious.

The reason for this is that there are many large mansions in the city, ranging from tens to hundreds or even thousands of mu in size.

Especially in the southern district.

Many of these large mansions have very few residents.

For example, the Zhong Mansion, including the temporary resident Li Shangwen, has a total of nineteen people, but it occupies over 140 mu of land, and this is considered small.

Some independent cultivators live alone with one or two servants, yet they still occupy an entire mansion.

There are also many empty courtyards.

On the other hand, if you go to the so-called "slums" in the western district, you will see densely packed houses and people everywhere, beggars and refugees can be seen everywhere.

The wealth gap is extremely huge.

This is also the reason why Zhong Yan came down from the mountain to the mortal city. Even at the third level of Qi Refining, he was considered a wealthy person.

But if he were to go to the "Immortal City" where cultivators gather, he would be considered a "poor person" at the bottom, and it would be difficult for him to even rent a single room.

However, the Immortal City is built on top of spiritual veins, so cultivators have enough spiritual energy for cultivation without the need for formation cultivation rooms. It is incomparable to the mortal city.

But let's get back to the point.

Zhong Yan knocked on the door of this small courtyard, which was only a little over a hundred square meters. After waiting for a while, a slightly deep female voice came from the other side.

"Who is it?"

"Zhong Yan."

The other side seemed to pause for a moment before opening a corner of the courtyard door, revealing a face with a look of surprise.

There were no lights in the courtyard, only faint moonlight shining through, allowing one to vaguely see a beautiful face with bright eyes shimmering with a cautious light.

Zhong Yan dispelled the invisibility talisman and smiled, cupping his hands. "Zhong Yan is visiting late at night, I hope Fellow Daoist Yu won't mind."

Yu Qingyao looked at his face and seemed to have no intention of letting him in. "What business does Fellow Daoist Zhong have with me?"

"Fellow Daoist Yu doesn't plan on inviting me in for a cup of tea?" Zhong Yan's mouth curved into a friendly smile, suddenly thinking of ambiguous scenes from TV dramas in his previous life, like "come up and sit" or "have a glass of red wine".

Mainly because the other party was a widow living alone.

And he did come with that intention.

Yu Qingyao pursed her lips and hesitated for a moment before stepping aside. "Please come in, Fellow Daoist Zhong."

They entered the main hall and then went into a side room.

Even with the lights on, the whole courtyard was still enveloped in the darkness of the night.

"Please have a seat, Fellow Daoist Zhong," Yu Qingyao said and then left.

Zhong Yan looked around the room. Compared to his own home, this place seemed much simpler, with very few decorations. Even without using his divine sense, he could tell that there wasn't even a servant here.

Not long after, Yu Qingyao returned, wearing a formal green dress and her hair slightly tidied up.

A plate of spiritual fruits and a stack of spiritual cores were placed on the table, the cheapest kind found in the market.

Water was boiled and tea was brewed.

Yu Qingyao's movements were skilled, and there was a pensive look between her eyebrows. Although she guessed Zhong Yan's purpose for coming, she couldn't understand why he would seek out someone like her, with whom he had no relationship.

Not long after.

Yu Qingyao placed a teacup in front of Zhong Yan, revealing a smile for the first time, but it was somewhat awkward. "I can only offer Fellow Daoist a cup of tea."

"Thank you."

Zhong Yan picked up the cup and took a sip. It was just ordinary tea leaves.

This was the norm for most Independent Cultivators, even if the other party was a Qi Refining sixth-level cultivator.

The spiritual stones they earned were mostly used to buy elixirs for cultivation. Who had so much extra money to waste on ordinary spiritual tea, wine, or fruits that didn't have as much effect?

People like Zhong Yan, Li Henian, and Bai Siyuan, who often risked their lives to engage in side businesses, were the minority.

If it weren't for triggering the system and becoming a talisman master, Zhong Yan was confident that he would be better than the other party, but not by much. Even if he had money, he had to save it to buy resources. How could he afford the kind of extravagant lifestyle found in brothels?

He still remembered the first time he went to the "Qinghu Villa" to attend the Lantern Festival gathering. He shamelessly drank more than three jars of spiritual wine.

"Fellow Daoist Zhong came here for the Xue Family's matter?" Yu Qingyao spoke before waiting for an answer and continued, "I can't help with this matter. I plan to stay in Qingyang City for a long time."

Zhong Yan smiled and asked, "Don't you want to hear the conditions?"

Yu Qingyao stared at him and shook her head directly. If it weren't for Zhong Yan's status as a talisman master and his wide network of friends in the city, she wouldn't even let him in. How could she take the initiative to provoke the trouble caused by Xue Shanhua?

Zhong Yan nodded, picked up the cup, and took another sip of tea. He said arrogantly, "In my eyes, Xue Shanhua is just a jumping clown. Killing him is no different from crushing a stinky bug."

Yu Qingyao remained expressionless. "Then why did you come to me?"

Zhong Yan looked at her and said, "To deal with Xue Shanhua, I didn't look for anyone else in the city. The things I need you to do, I can do them myself. The reason I came to you is because I want to invite you to consider joining the Zhong Family."

This was the truth. He originally planned to investigate Guo Qingxue and Xue Hongyi's background himself, but after visiting the Yang Family, he decided to find Yu Qingyao.

"Join your Zhong Family? Become a guest of your household?" Yu Qingyao was taken aback and asked in return. Then she blinked and thought that maybe Bai Siyuan had said something, causing her face to flush. She immediately released her spiritual sense to investigate the surroundings of her courtyard, afraid that Zhong Yan had brought reinforcements. At the same time, she sneered, "Marry you? Just because of your somewhat handsome face?"

She felt insulted by being flirted with. It was really audacious of him to come and bully her alone, without any backing, wanting to drag her into dealing with Xue Shanhua together!

Fortunately, there was nothing abnormal around the courtyard. Zhong Yan wouldn't resort to force. As a Qi Refining fourth-level cultivator, she wasn't afraid of him.

Zhong Yan poured himself a cup of tea and couldn't help but find her fierce appearance somewhat cute.

The two had only met a few times in public and had a casual acquaintance.

But since he wanted to bring her into the family, Zhong Yan naturally wanted to understand her more deeply and investigate the matter thoroughly.

He spent eight spiritual stones to buy her information from Yang Yanqing, and it was a thick stack.

Because of this, he changed his plan and took the initiative to come to her.

Yu Qingyao, a person from Haiyan City in the Yan Kingdom, had water, wood, and earth attributes as her spiritual roots. At the age of eleven, she joined the Danxia Sect to begin her cultivation. At the age of nineteen, the Danxia Sect was destroyed and merged by the Wuxing Sect, and she became an Independent Cultivator...

At the age of twenty-four, she left the Independent Cultivator team and became Dao companions with a teammate of the same cultivation level. They moved into Qingyang City together, but the following year, they went out to escort goods and were attacked. Her Dao companion died, and she returned alone...

Now, at the age of twenty-nine, she had reached the Qi Refining sixth level.

She usually kept to herself and had a relatively low presence among the cultivators in Qingyang City.

She was very timid and had lived alone in Qingyang City for four years, only going to the Yangquan Market three times, and not even once a year. Each time, she would be accompanied by at least three other cultivators from the city.

Yang Yanqing had invited her several times to join in safe business transactions, but she had always refused.

Currently, she still earned spiritual stones by escorting spiritual medicines and spiritual rice, but she only participated in large groups of cultivators for transportation, being extremely cautious.

Occasionally, she would join the hunting demon team or the herb picking team of a cultivation family, but these tasks were also of extremely high safety, and the rewards were minimal.

So, even though her aptitude is good, three years ago she broke through from the fifth level of Qi Refining to the sixth level, but she is still in the early stage of the sixth level and has made no progress.

If it weren't for Qingyang City, her cultivation at the sixth level of Qi Refining would be considered "expert" level, and she would have probably found another place to survive.

Especially after learning about her early experiences as an Independent Cultivator, Zhong Yan was speechless.

Generally speaking, apart from those who are forced to become Independent Cultivators due to poor aptitude or various other factors, the majority of those who choose to become Independent Cultivators are ruthless, daring, and have strong survival skills.

This woman can be summarized in eight words - "timid as a mouse" and "the queen of survival".

A person like this, even if they are two levels higher, Zhong Yan is confident that he can easily defeat her. Just throwing a few second-grade talismans from his storage bag would make her scream in pain.

"How much is the rent for this courtyard?"

Zhong Yan asked calmly, not paying any attention to the spiritual sense she released.

Yue Qingyao's face turned cold as she replied, "Two pieces of low-grade spirit stones per year."

"That's not a small amount."

With two pieces of low-grade spirit stones per year, plus the daily consumption of maintaining the formation, she would probably just have enough with her income and wouldn't be able to save much money to buy pills.

Yue Qingyao stood up and said, "If Fellow Daoist Zhong has no other business, I would like to rest."

Zhong Yan remained unmoved and smiled, "In response to your previous question, I can provide you with Foundation Building pills."

Yue Qingyao pretended to be disdainful and smirked, "Do you think I'm ignorant and don't know the approximate income of a first-grade talisman master? You should consider your own Foundation Building problem first!"

Zhong Yan didn't waste any words. He waved his hand and three storage bags appeared on the table, which were taken from three bandits and hadn't been sorted yet.

Yue Qingyao scanned them with her spiritual sense and her expression changed slightly. There were a few pills, a few talismans, a few materials, and a total of more than ten pieces of spirit stones, but the six Law Weapons were valuable.

Before she could figure out the pile of questions in her mind, Zhong Yan waved his hand again and a dagger with a cold light appeared on the table.

Yue Qingyao looked at it and scanned it with her spiritual sense, exclaiming, "A third-grade Law Weapon?!"

Generally, few late-stage Qi Refining cultivators could use a third-grade Law Weapon.

Originally, Zhong Yan had planned to take this dirty thing to Fan City and find an opportunity to sell it to buy a wife with spiritual roots. But now that he didn't lack spirit stones, he just threw it into the storage bag to collect dust.

Yue Qingyao was shocked in her heart and looked at Zhong Yan with disbelief. She had already guessed that these things were looted, and the three storage bags were evidence. Who would hang so many storage bags on their waist for no reason, attracting attention?

However, she couldn't understand how Zhong Yan, a fourth-level Qi Refining cultivator, could obtain a third-grade Law Weapon. It completely exceeded her understanding.

Seeing her expression and comparing it to the information about her, Zhong Yan wanted to laugh out loud, but he calmly waved his hand again.

Crash~

Two thousand pieces of spirit stones were piled on the ground, shining brightly with spiritual energy.

Yue Qingyao's pupils contracted, her breathing became rapid, and her head was "hit" by these three waves of hand movements, making her dizzy.

For the first time, a thought emerged in her mind - kill him and run away!

When this thought came up, she was startled herself. Her right hand unconsciously clenched into a fist, and her palm began to sweat. Her expression changed unpredictably as she started to retreat.

Zhong Yan saw her reaction clearly, and his gentle smile suddenly turned into a cold laugh, "If you make a move, I might even have a higher opinion of you."

Yue Qingyao's mind was in chaos. Seeing Zhong Yan's calm and composed demeanor, she realized that he wasn't worried about her malicious intentions. She was afraid that if she made a move, she would be killed instead. For a moment, her mind was a mess, filled with thoughts like "he's hiding his cultivation" and "there are experts secretly supporting him".

"What do you think?"

"This is just the tip of the iceberg for me, Zhong."

Yù Qīngyáo swallowed her saliva and took a deep breath before saying, "If I marry you, will all of this belong to me?"

Zhōng Yán chuckled, "You look average, but you have quite the imagination!"

Yù Qīngyáo felt embarrassed and her face turned red and white. Did she really look just average?

"If you look down on me, why do you want me to marry you?" she asked.

"Because in Qingyang City, you are the only female cultivator with a simple background," Zhōng Yán replied.

"It's because you think I'm easy to bully!" Her tone was noticeably weaker.

Zhōng Yán waved his hand, collected all the items, and took out a stack of papers and a pile of talismans, placing them on the table.

"These are the Xue Family's information, mainly about Guo Qingxue. You can decide whether to do it or not. If you do it well, I will consider letting you into the Zhong Family."

The situation was reversed.

Turning the tables.

Yù Qīngyáo widened her eyes, looking stunned. Oh my god, he came to ask me to be his partner, to ask me to do something, and now he's only considering letting me in after I've done it?!!

Immediately, she bit her lip, a hint of grievance flashed in her eyes, and she forced herself to calm down and said coldly, "Are you threatening me?!"

After exposing so much wealth, if she didn't do it, she was afraid she would become a corpse tomorrow. She had no doubt that Zhōng Yán dared to do it and could do it.

"Do you think anyone has the qualifications to be with me?" Zhōng Yán sneered and took a step towards her.

"Don't come any closer!" Yù Qīngyáo looked panicked, drew a long sword from her storage bag, held it tightly in her hand, and scanned her surroundings with her spiritual sense as she stepped back.

As Zhōng Yán approached step by step, she didn't have the courage to make a move. Instead, she slowly lowered the sword, leaned against a pillar, and her eyes welled up with tears.

Zhōng Yán stood still, raised his hand, and slowly reached for her pretty face.

Yù Qīngyáo watched as the "devil's claw" got closer and closer, unable to hide, so she turned her face slightly.

Zhōng Yán pinched her chin, adjusted her position, and examined her. She looked good, with rosy lips and white teeth like a young girl.

He lowered his head and leaned in, squinting his eyes as he enjoyed the scent, and smiled, "If I were to threaten you, I would make you strip naked now and enjoy myself under me!"

The man's breath was close, just inches away from her.

Yù Qīngyáo's heart pounded, she bit her lip, her face filled with shame and anger, and tears streamed down her face.

Zhōng Yán let go of her, stared at her seriously, and said, "Think about it, this might be your chance. With your courage, I believe you won't dare to speak out of turn. If you manage to escape the city, I won't pursue it. If you do it, tonight is an opportunity, and there should be rewards."

After speaking, Zhōng Yán turned and walked away.

As he reached the courtyard, he turned his head and smiled, "By the way, being timid isn't necessarily a bad thing. Fortunately, you didn't act impulsively, otherwise I would have to be ruthless and destroy a beautiful flower."

In the end, he still wanted to scare her.

In fact, although he wasn't afraid of Yù Qīngyáo, without the assistance of formations or external forces, he could only rely on a large number of second-grade talismans to protect himself. How could he possibly kill her?

The reason he dared to do this was based on the information he bought with those eight spirit stones, which completely grasped her temperament.

He left the yard.

Zhōng Yán couldn't help but feel emotional. This was the absolute advantage brought by experience, temperament, and information.

Cultivators like Yù Qīngyáo, when faced with a slightly complicated dangerous situation, would die the fastest.

The only way to survive was to be cunning.

In this regard, she had self-awareness and did well.