Chapter 19: The Nine Immortals' Zither Music (Part 1)

  After a while, Li Zhuangui returned and handed Ha Long a stack of silver bills, saying: "This is the draft of our Tongyuan City Tongdui Money House, which can be directly cashed in various countries on the continent of Shen Zhou. Young brother, you take it." Ha Long took the silver bill and thought to himself that with this money, he would have enough for his own expenses in the future. Just now, he had decided to sell the Huang Jing to Li Zhuangui not only because he was grateful for his help and admired his character, but also because he was thinking of himself. Ha Long didn't know the price of Huang Jing, if he sold it to someone else, he might lose money. He gave the Huang Jing to Li Zhuangui in front of so many people, and he would definitely get a fair price for it. There were more than ten pieces of such Huang Jing in his Qiankun ring, and if he wanted to sell them again, he could know the exact price. Li Zhuangui had profited from this deal, but Ha Long was no exception either? He casually put the silver bill into his pocket and said: "Li Zhuangui, I am a mountain man who has just come to the Central Plains, there are many things that I don't understand, please give me more guidance."

  Li Zhuanggui was overjoyed and smiled: "Thanks a lot to the little brother just now. From now on, you are the honored guest of our Hui Ren Medicine Shop, feel free to ask for anything. Oh, by the way, if you find more Huang Jing in the future, be sure to send it to me, I will buy it at the same price. Hope we can cooperate more in the future."

  "Haha, you're my god of wealth, that's for sure," said the dragon king. His expression turned slightly awkward as he continued, "Actually, I still don't know which country Tongyuan City belongs to even now. Please enlighten me."

  Li Zhuang's expression changed slightly, but thinking of Hailong's previous words that he was from the mountains, he relaxed and said: "Tongyuan City is one of the largest cities in Li Tang State. The surname Li is also the national surname of Li Tang State. Young brother, excluding those foreign countries, on this vast land of China, our Li Tang State occupies most of the Central Plains, with a powerful army of one million soldiers, and can be said to be the largest country."

  After listening to Li's explanation, Hailong finally knew where he was. When he and Zhanghao studied with the old scholar in the village, they had heard the old scholar explain that there were three countries in the Central Plains: Litang, Zhaosong, and Yuanmeng. Among them, the strongest and richest was indeed this Litang, as Li said, occupying almost half of the land in the Central Plains, while Zhaosong and Yuanmeng each occupied a quarter. Although the three countries occasionally had some wars due to conflicting interests, they generally coexisted peacefully. Litang occupied the central and northern regions of the Central Plains, while Zhaosong and Yuanmeng occupied the southwestern and southeastern regions respectively. If he wanted to return to the Western Regions, he would have to head in the direction of Zhaosong from Litang, and then continue westward to reach his destination.

  "Master Li," asked the Dragon King, "in which direction is Tongyuan City located in the Tang Dynasty? I want to go to Western Regions."

  Li said: "Tongyuan City is located in the north of our Li Tang State, and from here to Xiyu, there is a long way! You need to go west from here, passing through part of the land of Zhao Song State, and then continue west to reach Xiyu. The west side is very desolate, little brother, I advise you not to go. It's said that horse thieves are rampant over there, losing property is nothing, but if you lose your life, it's not worth it. Oh, by the way, little brother, I don't know what your name is yet? May I ask?"

  "Mr. Li, please don't be polite, my name is Hailong. Thank you for telling me these things. Although the Western Regions are dangerous, I still have to go there. I won't disturb your business anymore, and if I have the chance in the future, I will definitely come back to cooperate with you." As he spoke, Hailong stood up. With so much money in his pocket, he felt an itch in his heart, and was ready to make a big purchase in Tongyuan City. He wanted to buy some gifts for Zhang Hua and his masters.

  Li the shopkeeper smiled and said, "My name is Li Si. From now on, little friend, you mustn't forget me! The royal essence is precious. If you find it again, it's best to store it in a wooden box, so as to better preserve its efficacy."

  After bidding farewell to Li Si again, Hailong left the pharmacy. With money in his pocket, the air around him seemed different. He was a typical spendthrift, easy to earn and quick to spend. In just one day, Hailong, full of energy, almost visited every large shop in Tongyuan City, and half of the 100,000 taels of silver were spent by him. As long as he liked it, he would buy it immediately, whether it was food or something to use, without letting go of anything. All things were stored in his Qiankun ring. The suit with patches on his body had been put away, replaced by a sky-blue warrior suit. To show off his "heroism", he specially took out the seven-refined sword that he couldn't use yet and hung it on his back. As the saying goes, "people rely on clothes", now Hailong was like a young hero, wherever he went, there were people who came to greet him with a smile. This feeling of being flattered made Hailong feel particularly comfortable.

  The sky had already darkened, and there were very few people on the main street. Hai Long was preparing to find a place to stay for the night before continuing his journey tomorrow. As he walked, a gray figure suddenly flashed in front of him, moving at an extremely fast speed, and in just a few strides, it had already arrived right in front of him. Behind the gray figure, a pink figure caught up with an even faster speed, and was about to catch up.

  A dark shadow quickly appeared beside Hailong, grabbed his shoulder and flung him towards the pink figure. Hailong saw that it was a handsome young man with an extremely pale face, as if he had encountered something terrifying. Unprepared, Hailong stumbled back several steps, just blocking the path of the pink figure. The pink figure hesitated for a moment, and the gray shadow had already disappeared into the crowd.

  A surging aura charged towards his chest, and Hailong subconsciously urged on his magic. He raised his right hand to block the attack. With a loud crash, Hailong stumbled backward five or six steps before regaining his footing. A cold light flashed, and a gleaming sword was already pressed against his shoulder. Upon closer inspection, the owner of the sword was a girl wearing a pink dress. The immense pressure made it hard for Hailong to breathe, and he was shocked in his heart because the girl in front of him was obviously a cultivator, and her cultivation far surpassed his own.

  "Ah! You're being unreasonable, young lady, what are you doing?"

  The girl's appearance was very beautiful, her skin was fair and delicate, a pair of big eyes were filled with anger, the precious sword in her hand tightened, and instantly a shallow wound appeared on the sea dragon's neck. She said sternly: "Tell me, where did your companion go? Hand him over quickly, otherwise, I will take your life immediately." The civilians on the street saw this scene and were frightened, scattering in all directions, and the street became empty instantly.

  "What companion? I'm alone, where did this companion come from? Miss, have you misunderstood?"

  The girl angrily said: "You're misunderstanding, you and that rascal are clearly in cahoots with each other. Why else would you block my way for him? Quickly tell me his whereabouts, otherwise don't blame me for being impolite."

  Hailong wanted to make excuses, but the dense footsteps suddenly came. The girl's face changed, "Nasty city guards, what are you meddling in?"

  A flower appeared before his eyes, and the Sea Dragon felt his body lift off the ground. In a flash of light, the girl grasped his shoulder with one hand, her foot on the flying sword as she shot towards the sky and descended outside the city like lightning.

  Hailong calmed down and clearly felt a surge of magical power entering his body, completely locking down his own magic, unable to exert even the slightest bit of strength. He could only let the girl manipulate him at will. "Miss, you really got the wrong person. Just now it was that grey-robed man who pulled me back, that's why I blocked your way. Ah! You've caught me, and this place is so high up, falling down wouldn't be fun at all."

  The girl glanced at the sea dragon with disdain and said, "Don't try to fool me, if you don't hand over that scoundrel today, don't think I'll let you off."

  Hailong thought to himself, "Why am I so unlucky? I barely escaped the pursuit of the Demon Sect, and now I've run into this female calamity. 'Miss, didn't that lecher take advantage of you?' Actually, I think that lecher looked quite handsome just now, you're not exactly losing out either! Besides, this has nothing to do with me, why are you making things difficult for me?"

  The girl's face turned bright red as she angrily shouted, "You're looking for death!" As soon as her hand loosened, Hailong's body instantly plummeted towards the ground like a free-falling object. At this moment, they were still at least a kilometer away from the ground, and Hailong was so frightened that his soul flew out of his body. He quickly activated his recovered magical powers to try to slow down his descent. However, his cultivation was still too shallow, and although he managed to slow down his fall somewhat, if he really fell all the way down, he would still be unable to escape death. In his heart, he secretly thought, "This time, I'm probably going to meet my maker! It seems that speaking carelessly is indeed not a good idea."

  Just as the Sea Dragon had lost all hope, a pink figure appeared again. With a tight grip on his shoulder, he was back on the flying sword. The Sea Dragon's face was deathly pale and his voice trembled with fear: "Ah, ah, you scared me to death! Miss, you..."

  Looking at the sea dragon's appearance, the girl couldn't help but reveal a hint of a smile. It was only then that the sea dragon noticed that this girl was extremely beautiful, with a wild beauty completely different from that of the Floating Daoist. Her proud figure, although wrapped in a pink dress, could still be clearly discerned. The girl said: "Little boy, do you know your limits now? If you don't tell the truth, I'll let you fall down."

  Hai Long calmed down his intense heartbeat, crying and laughing at the same time: "But I really don't know that person! Even if you kill me, I still won't recognize them. How can I tell the truth? Miss, please spare my life. My family depends on me for a living, with an 80-year-old mother above and a child who hasn't reached full moon below!"

  The girl snorted, saying: "Who do you think you're fooling? You're obviously a cultivator, what family burdens could you possibly have? I'm a disciple of Qian Hui Valley, don't even think about trying to deceive me."

  Qian Hui Gu, Hai Long's eyes lit up instantly, and he hurriedly said: "I know Qian Hui Gu, my ancestor was friends with you guys? Miss, do you know Tong He Zhen Ren? And also Zi He Zhen Ren."

  The girl was taken aback and said: "Do you know Master Tong He?"

  "Hai Long nodded and said, 'Yes! I saw them just the other day. I'm a disciple of Lian Yun Sect, and my master ordered me to return to Lian Yun Sect first. We're fellow practitioners, so you can't kill me, Master Sister!'"

  The young girl snorted, saying: "Who is your sister, don't try to get close to me." A flash of light, she urged the flying sword to fall down, at this time, they had already left Tongyuan City, and under the girl's urging, floated down onto a small hillside.

  Hailong felt for the first time that having a solid footing was so wonderful, panting heavily, taking advantage of the girl not sealing his powers, he quickly summoned all his magical artifacts, with the protection of Xīng Lán armor, he suddenly became much more stable.

  The girl looked at the star-blue armor on him with disdain, saying: "You think you can rival me with this treasure? Tell me, where did you see Master Tong He?"

  Hailong knew that the girl in front of him might have been hundreds of years old, and for his own life, he had to respectfully say: "Senior, I saw your master uncle at the Mantra Heart Sect. I followed two ancestors to the Mantra Heart Sect to participate in the Seven Sects Gathering, but later, the ancestor thought my cultivation was too shallow, so they sent me back to Lianyun Sect first."

  The girl's face slightly eased, and she muttered: "Fan Xin Zong, so you're really a disciple of Lian Yun Zong. But Lian Yun Zong is in the Western Region, how did you end up here? Hmph, are you deceiving me?"

  Hailong nodded repeatedly, saying: "Ah! No, senior, I am indeed from the Lianyun Sect. If you don't believe me, you can check my cultivation of the Tianxin Decree. Originally, I should have returned directly to the Western Domain, but on the way, I encountered people from the Demon Sect. To avoid their pursuit and killing, I had no choice but to take a detour northward. Senior's cultivation is profound, and you must have the ability to sense the truth. Then you should be able to feel that I am telling the truth!"

  The young girl's face turned slightly red, although her cultivation was not weak, but it was only comparable to that of Ling Tongzi. The Dao fetus had just been formed and hadn't yet distinguished the true nature of his sect's cultivation method, let alone his heart being in harmony with it. Looking at Hai Long's anxious appearance, she asked somewhat doubtfully: "So, you're saying you really aren't a accomplice of that lecher?"

  "Hai Long said helplessly, 'I really am not! How can I explain it to you so that you'll believe me? Look at the star-blue armor on my body and this illusory dragon, they are all authentic treasures of our Lianyun Sect. If I were a member of the evil cult, how could I use such authentic treasures?"

  Feeling the magical power emanating from Xing Lan's armor and Huan Long, the girl couldn't help but believe him a little. She said, "In that case, I was wrong to suspect you. You don't have to call me Senior either. Our Qian Hui Valley and your Lian Yun Sect have different generations, so just call me Sheng Jiejie."

  Hailong's heart finally put down his guard and cautiously asked: "Shijie, since you've already confirmed my identity, can I go now?"

  The girl's face turned cold and she said: "No way. You have to catch that scoundrel with me, only then can you prove your innocence, otherwise, how can I easily trust you?"

  Sorry, I've been feeling unwell lately, my waist and back muscles are extremely strained. Went to see a doctor today, so I'll be back a bit late tonight. Will update another chapter around 11 pm.