Chapter 120: A New Arrival

Zi Xuan soon arrived in the cultivation world. After stepping down from the teleportation platform, he began to look around, feeling the quality of the air. He realized that the spiritual energy here was indeed far superior to that of Earth, and it contained no impurities that could damage the meridians. Training in such an environment would surely allow cultivation to progress unimpeded, with his power rising at the speed of light. As he surveyed his surroundings and pondered silently, he walked out of the teleportation platform, only to be blocked by two guards at the entrance.

“Kid, which sect are you from? How dare you try to leave without paying the teleportation fee? You’ve got some nerve!” one guard shouted arrogantly, not taking Zi Xuan, a Golden Core stage cultivator, seriously at all. He blocked Zi Xuan’s way. Judging by his cultivation, he seemed to be at the mid Foundation Establishment stage, but his attitude was extremely arrogant. Zi Xuan did not hide his cultivation level, and the guards definitely knew that Zi Xuan’s power was higher than theirs. For them to ignore this fact, there were only two possibilities: either they had a powerful backing and didn’t regard Zi Xuan as a threat, or they had seen so many Golden Core cultivators here that they considered them insignificant.

Whichever the case, Zi Xuan was not someone they could afford to provoke. Another point that gave him pause was that someone of mid Foundation Establishment stage was assigned as a guard here, which implied that such cultivators were extremely common. On Earth, with such power, he could be an elder in a prestigious family.

Fortunately, the guards spoke the same common Mandarin as in Huaxia, so Zi Xuan didn’t have to pretend to be deaf or mute here.

Since Zi Xuan was new and unfamiliar with the local customs, he didn’t dare to act arrogantly. He had come to find someone, not to cause trouble. Getting into trouble now would not benefit his future plans. So he immediately lowered his head and apologized humbly: “Brother, I’m really sorry. I was lost in thought just now and forgot to pay the teleportation fee. Please forgive me! You see, I left home in a hurry this time and didn’t bring much with me. How about this—let me offer this for now as compensation.” He then took out two premium thousand-year ginseng roots from his storage ring, handing one to each guard while carefully observing their expressions.

Of course, Zi Xuan was not without spirit stones or better items. Last time, Tang Wei had placed many valuable items in their storage tools to conceal the secret of the Zi Zhu space. This time, those items came in handy. However, since Zi Xuan did not know the teleportation fee nor the value of spirit stones here, it was safer to use the ginseng as payment. Given the quality of the spiritual energy, such ordinary thousand-year ginseng should be easy to find here.

Zi Xuan’s ring only contained high-grade and top-grade spirit stones. Using any of those would expose his wealth and invite unnecessary trouble. Moreover, if he asked about the teleportation fee now, they would know he was a newcomer and likely question him extensively, which he wanted to avoid.

No matter the true value of the thousand-year ginseng here, Zi Xuan, being clever, could judge from the guards’ faces. If they looked indifferent, he could offer another; if they showed even a hint of pleasure, he could safely ask his questions. This approach was both offensive and defensive, allowing him to conceal the fact that he was an outsider.

Sure enough, after receiving the ginseng, the two guards nodded approvingly. “Not bad, kid. You know how to show respect. Got questions? We’re in a good mood today—maybe we’ll tell you what you want to know!” The teleportation fee was twenty lower-grade spirit stones, and these ginseng roots could fetch over a hundred lower-grade spirit stones each in the market. Offering two at once suggested he had a favor to ask. This was an unspoken rule here; the sect leaders would turn a blind eye as long as no major problems arose. Otherwise, how could inner disciples compete fiercely to come here? It was because the teleportation guards here had lucrative side earnings.

This place was under the influence of the Wujian Sword Sect. Recently, the sect had been recruiting disciples externally. This kid might be trying his luck. After all, being a Golden Core cultivator ruling a low-tier planet was good, but lacking resources to advance was limiting. Joining another sect as an outer disciple could provide better opportunities, and with some merits, he might even enter the inner sect. Either way, even if he joined the sword sect, these two guards were inner disciples of Wujian Sword Sect, key talents trained by the sect. No matter what, he would only be bowing and scraping before them. Entering the inner sect would depend on his luck.

Zi Xuan did not know the guards’ thoughts, but from their expressions, he could tell they were satisfied. Hearing their hint to ask questions, he no longer felt annoyed. He took out a photo of Tang Wei from his space and asked, “Have either of you seen this girl in the past two days?”

One guard pursed his lips, thinking he was someone with ambition, but it turned out he was looking for a woman. Still, since they had accepted the gift, they had to take a look. After glancing at the photo casually, he said, “Never seen her. Such an ordinary woman, even if I had, I wouldn’t remember. Brother, you should ask someone else,” and passed the photo to the other guard before returning to his post.

The other guard was slightly more attentive. He looked at the photo carefully, frowned in thought, then replied, “I’m not sure if I’ve seen someone like this. Maybe, maybe not. You’d better search elsewhere. Thousands come and go here daily, with shifts changing four or five times a day. Finding an answer here is unlikely.”

Zi Xuan felt somewhat discouraged by this ambiguous answer but still thanked them and left the teleportation hall. Checking his space, he found there was still no contact. Where had Wei Wei gone? Things were clearly more complicated than he had imagined. His next task was to find a place to understand the local situation better. From their tone, the cultivation world seemed to contain many planets.

Asking nearby people, Zi Xuan soon found the nearest market. The market bustled with people—Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Nascent Soul cultivators were everywhere. Occasionally, a few Golden Core cultivators wandered about. Zi Xuan quickly found his footing and acted more cautiously. Finally, in a bookstore, he found the information he sought.

The cultivation world encompassed nine major star systems, each with at least ten thousand planets. Discovered planets were classified by the concentration of spiritual energy into four categories: high-grade, mid-grade, ordinary, and low-grade planets.

Each star system had at most a dozen high-grade planets, and about 10% were mid-grade—roughly a thousand planets. Ordinary planets accounted for 30%, and the rest were low-grade.

High-grade planets boasted the richest spiritual energy and the largest areas, occupied by several major powers. Numerous smaller sects and families affiliated with these powers also resided on these planets. Inevitably, conflicts arose wherever people lived, especially among these competing forces, making battles on high-grade planets the fiercest.

Mid-grade planets had significantly less spiritual energy and were more common. Small independent forces cleverly claimed them while the major powers were distracted by their disputes. These planets were like chicken ribs to the big powers—neither worth much nor easily abandoned. So, the small forces ruled them autonomously.

Ordinary planets were generally avoided by powerful figures. They were home to scattered cultivators with little strength or impoverished small sects and families. Other forces seldom ventured there.

Low-grade planets were essentially mortal realms where no cultivators went.

Only planets containing mineral veins or spirit stones attracted the major powers, who would seize and station guards there.

Each planet had a teleportation array linked via star system coordinates. With spirit stones and coordinates, one could teleport anywhere within the star system. Teleportation fees between planets in the same system were twenty lower-grade spirit stones—ten for activating the array and ten for receiving. Fees between different star systems were double.

The cultivation world’s universal currency was spirit stones. Top-grade spiritual energy was rare, making it highly valuable. What once traded for about a hundred high-grade spirit stones now fetched seven to eight hundred or even over a thousand. One high-grade spirit stone could be exchanged for one hundred medium-grade stones, and one medium-grade for one hundred lower-grade stones.

Inner disciples at mid-tier sects, typically Qi Refining stage, earned twenty lower-grade spirit stones monthly, while outer disciples earned ten. Salaries increased with cultivation level.

If Zi Xuan’s space could be accessed now, their wealth would surpass the combined reserves of ten top-tier sects.