With the sect gaining rich profits, Su Yuan and Xie Tongyi were also rewarded by the sect. In addition to a large number of Spirit Stones, they were also allowed to purchase the sect's fourth-rank medicinal pills at sixty percent of the price.
The only difference was that Su Yuan had two chances, while Xie Tongyi only had one.
Even so, Xie Tongyi was so happy he couldn't close his mouth. He generously spent a lot of Spirit Stones to treat Su Yuan to a delicious meal at the "Dragon's Marrow Pavilion," satisfying his craving for food.
All of this was naturally thanks to Su Yuan and that Elder Zhang.
In the future, they could use this reward opportunity to buy the mid-grade medicinal pills needed for Core Formation.
Although sixty percent of the price still meant they had to spend more than half of their fortunes, it was undoubtedly like getting it for free.
'Martial Uncle Zhang is just too serious. It would be great if he could grace the Dragon's Marrow Pavilion with his presence to taste its fine wine and delicacies. Although we have long abstained from grain, an occasional indulgence is truly unforgettable and makes one's mouth water!'
Thinking of the grand spirit food meal Xie Tongyi had treated him to last time, Su Yuan, holding a jade slip as he walked upstairs, couldn't help but feel his craving return. He subconsciously patted his fat belly with one hand.
There was a lingering aftertaste of overflowing Spirit Qi. Those refined and cooked foods were not only excellent in color, aroma, and taste, but they could also slightly advance one's cultivation. It was truly killing two birds with one stone.
He was holding a jade slip from the Sect Master for Elder Zhang. A message transmitted instantly through a teleportation array like this had to be delivered immediately.
Su Yuan was initially very apprehensive about this Elder Zhang staying in Sacred Demon City without any sign of leaving.
If Zhang Ming were to be stationed here long-term, everything he had painstakingly built would go down the drain, making a wedding dress for someone else. In the future, all matters in the shop, big or small, would be decided by "Martial Uncle Zhang."
However, after several months had passed, his heart finally settled.
Let alone the fact that Zhang Ming never bothered with the shop's affairs, after half a year, he had even completely handed over the monthly transactions with the "Sacred Demon Palace" to him.
Zhang Ming would only occasionally go alone to find the cultivator surnamed Chu for a chat, but he no longer had any contact with their business transactions.
But with a Golden Core elder staying in the shop long-term, after discussing with Xie Tongyi, the two of them still took the shop's accounts to report.
At first, they were worried that this Elder Zhang wouldn't say anything but would resent them in his heart for being tactless.
Initially, Zhang Ming did go through them one by one, but after just two times, he impatiently shooed them out.
He demanded that they not come to him with such matters in the future, to handle them themselves, and just hand over the accounts to the sect regularly.
This made Su Yuan and Xie Tongyi not surprised but overjoyed. In addition, when Zhang Ming later arranged for them to inquire about a middle-aged human cultivator with a gaunt face, they finally knew the true purpose of this elder staying in "Sacred Demon City."
Thinking of the matter Elder Zhang had arranged, Su Yuan felt a wave of helplessness. He and Xie Tongyi had spent an immense amount of effort in the past few years to find the person Elder Zhang was looking for.
During this period, although they had found people who matched the appearance and cultivation, they were all denied by Elder Zhang. This made him and Xie Tongyi feel very uneasy.
However, fortunately, Elder Zhang had never urged or gotten angry...
As Su Yuan's mind wandered, he had already arrived at Li Yan's door.
He didn't dare to be slow with a jade slip transmitted by the Sect Master in this way. In the past few years, as the sect's income had grown more and more abundant, and considering that every time they sent pills and magic treasures from the sect, it required a lot of experts to escort them, and the danger was still great—just like when Li Yan had brought the pills and magic treasures over—Xing Ming finally decided to spend a staggering number of Spirit Stones to build a small teleportation array from the sect to the shop.
Xing Ming's move was nothing short of grand. Just building this small teleportation array had cost the sect five to six hundred years of accumulated resources. This was something even a first-rate sect would have to think twice about.
However, fortunately, with the "Sacred Demon Palace" as a major patron, the monthly income of Spirit Stones could now match the previous annual income. Not to mention that more and more cultivators were coming to seek medicinal pills and magic treasures.
That was why the "Ghost Flood Dragon Clan" was unwilling to give up this juicy piece of meat and wanted to kill Zhang Ming in one fell swoop.
And it was precisely because the "Ghost Flood Dragon Clan" had quietly hoarded a large amount of cultivation resources over the years that they were able to establish many extremely secret places, making it impossible for Li Yan and Xing Ming to find them.
For this reason, Xing Ming also knew that once the "Elder Dragon Flood Dragon's" injuries recovered, he would definitely fight "Falling Star Valley" to the death. He and Li Yan also had to kill the other party as soon as possible.
Although the construction of this teleportation array would make the sect a little tight for a while, "Falling Star Valley" had a foundation of over a thousand years of accumulation. Coupled with the current income, he believed it would be replenished and filled up very quickly.
However, after spending such a price, the small teleportation array that Xing Ming built could only transmit small, inanimate objects, and the quantity could not be too much at one time.
The distance was over eighty thousand li. Fortunately, it only needed to be activated with mid-grade Spirit Stones each time. If there were more things, they would just teleport them a few more times.
Also using mid-grade Spirit Stones to activate a teleportation array, the one in the Malevolent Spirit Sect could not only teleport living creatures but also teleport them hundreds of thousands of li.
The difference between the two was the vast disparity in the level of the formation masters who built them, especially the grade of the raw materials used to build the formations, which were worlds apart.
Even with the foundation of a super sect like the Malevolent Spirit Sect, they only had a few.
Su Yuan spoke respectfully in a low voice outside the door.
"Elder Zhang, there's a message from the Sect Master!"
There was no movement in the room. Su Yuan's face remained respectful, and he repeated it a few more times. The room remained silent.
He stood for a little while longer, then could only helplessly bow slightly and slowly retreat backward.
This Elder Zhang was either cultivating in his room or would quietly go out and disappear. He and Xie Tongyi had encountered this situation before when they came to ask for instructions.
Although he hadn't been here for more than a year, he already knew that Elder Zhang had quietly disappeared again.
"I don't know when Elder Zhang went out. I'll come back later to present it to him!"
Now, only Zhang Ming lived on this floor. No one dared to live on the same floor, and once Su Yuan and the others returned to the backyard, all their movements were very careful. Although every room here had sound-proof restrictions, so they were not afraid of others speaking loudly, that was a Golden Core cultivator, whose senses were very keen.
No one wanted to inadvertently anger the other party, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Now Su Yuan and Xie Tongtian were already thinking of renting or buying another courtyard in the city for Zhang Ming to live in alone.
It was just that in this "Sacred Demon City," every inch of land was worth its weight in gold. Buying a courtyard would cost a shocking amount of Spirit Stones.
At the same time, it wasn't something you could buy just because you wanted to. There were plenty of rich sects here. This matter had to be reported to the Sect Master before making any plans.
Just as Su Yuan entered the back of the shop, Zhao Min in the "Sacd Demon Palace" also received a voice transmission talisman. The moment she saw the voice transmission talisman, a smile appeared on her cold and fair face.
"The year or so you mentioned has already turned into almost three years. It's just that the clue I was investigating has been broken again. This will disappoint you, won't it?"
As she thought, she had already sunk her divine sense into it. Just a few breaths later, Zhao Min suddenly raised her head and murmured to herself.
"Junior Brother, how could this be, how could this be..."
At this time, at the south gate of "Sacred Demon City," a stooped, gray-robed old man with a conical hat slowly walked over.
The Demon Guard Army at the city gate immediately stopped the stooped, gray-robed old man wearing the conical hat.
"Halt! What, never been to 'Sacred Demon City' before? If you have property in the city, then show your permanent token. Otherwise, show a temporary token, or pay Spirit Stones."
The stooped, gray-robed old man raised a face full of wrinkles, but his eyes were bright and full of spirit. The Demon Guard soldier who stopped him had already scanned him with his Divine Sense.
'Heh, Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation. Barely passable.'
He thought to himself, but his face remained stern as he stared at the other party.
There were two types of tokens for entering "Sacred Demon City." One was for those who had property in the city, which was considered permanent residence. They would be issued a white token.
After all, the money they spent just to buy a courtyard was already a huge amount of Spirit Stones. The taxes paid to "Sacred Demon City" were enough for these Demon Guards to cultivate in seclusion for a hundred years.
Corresponding to the white token was the black token. This token would be issued to first-time visitors after they paid the Spirit Stones.
The Demon Guard only needed to sweep it with their Divine Sense to know how many days the number of Spirit Stones in this token would allow them to stay in the city.
After the time was up, if you were still in the city, the black token would also fly away on its own. At that time, if you tried to leave the city without a token, you would be severely punished.
Of course, if you were just leaving the city temporarily and there was still a balance of Spirit Stones in the black token, you could take it with you. The number of Spirit Stones would be deducted again when you re-entered the city.
"Oh, this old man is here for the first time. How many Spirit Stones do I need to pay?" the stooped, gray-robed old man asked in a somewhat hoarse voice.
The Demon Guard was used to seeing rogue cultivators like this coming for the first time.
The Forsaken Continent was vast and boundless. Many cultivators might never have traveled here in their entire lives, either because they deviated in their direction and went to other places, or because those cultivators had already died on their journey.
"Simple, three low-grade Spirit Stones per day!" the Demon Guard said coldly...
Inside "Sacred Demon City," the stooped, gray-robed old man slowly walked down the street. The occasional swaying of his conical hat told others that he was constantly looking around.
This was a common habit of all first-time visitors. The reason why they rarely used their Divine Sense to probe their surroundings was because mid-to-high-level cultivators often appeared here.
For a Foundation Establishment cultivator like the stooped, gray-robed old man to randomly release his Divine Sense might be suicide. Even if the other party couldn't kill you in the city, how many could escape after being targeted by a strong person? So, the stooped, gray-robed old man also sensibly used his eyes to constantly look around.
He walked and stopped like this. After walking for an hour, he had already walked further and further to the side, gradually reaching the edge of the main city area.
This was the eastern part of "Sacred Demon City." The houses here began to become smaller and were connected in a messy patch. The number of crisscrossing alleys was also increasing.
As the stooped, gray-robed old man walked, he turned into an alley. He first looked left and right, then after a slight sensing, he immediately backed out.
In this way, he entered seven or eight more alleys, and finally stopped in one of them.
This was a long, narrow, and secluded alley open at both ends. The sound of footsteps could be heard on the ground.
The stooped, gray-robed old man stood in the alley and released his Divine Sense to scan the surroundings again. From the many dilapidated courtyards around, only a few dog barks could be heard occasionally.
He stood like this for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, and not a single person passed through the alley.
Soon, the stooped, gray-robed old man turned into an afterimage and quickly circled the alley, then stopped under a relatively dark courtyard wall.
Under the dark sky, the gray sunlight enveloped the old man in the conical hat in shadow.
The stooped, gray-robed old man's Divine Sense was still spread out. He took out a voice transmission talisman, whispered a sentence, and then threw it out casually.
If someone had been tailing the stooped, gray-robed old man all this time, they would have discovered that this place was not far from the east gate of "Sacred Demon City," but he had not entered through the east gate before.
Inside a cave residence in the "Sacred Demon Palace," Zhao Min's gaze seemed to be able to penetrate through heavy obstacles, looking in a certain direction in the palace.
She squeezed the voice transmission talisman in her hand, then loosened it, then squeezed it again. Her long fingers turned white, and sweat seeped from her palm...