Lu Yang's knowledge of the cultivation world was far from comprehensive. Before entering the Dao Seeking Sect, everything he knew had come from the elderly storyteller. During his year in the Dao Seeking Sect, his store of knowledge regarding cultivation had grown at an astonishing rate, but none of the books he read covered how to get off a flying boat.
Who would write about something like that in a book anyway?
When it came to common knowledge about daily life in the cultivation world, he still could not compare to someone like Tao Yaoye, who had grown up in an established clan of cultivators.
As for flying boats, he only knew that they were an enterprise belonging to the Falling Coin Chamber of Commerce, and that the way to disembark was to jump off—the exact method of doing so was unknown to him.
Every year, the flying boats brought in massive fortunes, but to the Falling Coin Chamber of Commerce, this was merely a trivial, insignificant venture.
The Falling Coin Chamber of Commerce was the largest merchant guild in the Central Continent. The forces backing it were mysterious, and its rare treasures were beyond count. As long as one had enough spirit stones, one could even purchase immortal treasures that existed only in legends and had never been seen by mortal eyes—such as relics from the Buddhist Kingdom, sacred bones from the Demon Domain, or Dao fruits of immortals.
If anyone dared to default on a debt to the Falling Coin Chamber of Commerce, or harbored wishful thinking and attempted to steal from them, the several mighty cultivators who had vanished without a trace served as a warning to the world.
Legend had it that there was once a mighty cultivator known as the Thief King, who was proficient in the Dao of Space. Snatching another's storage space was as easy as retrieving an object from his own pocket. Distance was nothing more than a meaningless sequence of numbers to him; with a single stride, he could cross countless mountains and rivers, traveling from the far west of the Central Continent to the lands of extreme winter.
He had even stolen belongings from Tribulation Transcendence powerhouses.
The thieving profession held an unwritten precept: never steal from the Falling Coin Chamber of Commerce.
Originally, the Thief King adhered to the ancestral code of thieves, having nothing to do with the Falling Coin Chamber of Commerce. But as his fame grew, and countless renowned experts banded together to hunt him down yet failed to touch even the hem of his robe, he gradually came to feel that these mighty cultivators were nothing special. He believed he had already surpassed the forefather of thieves, so why should he continue to observe that rigid ancestral code?
He arrogantly put out word that he would steal a treasure from the Falling Coin Chamber of Commerce that very night.
The world assumed that either the Thief King's spatial Dao would prove so profound that he would steal the treasure without making a sound, or a titanic battle would erupt within the chamber between the Thief King and the powerhouses backing them.
No one expected that absolutely nothing would happen that night. From then on, the Thief King never appeared again, vanishing without a trace.
Lu Yang's embarrassment lasted only a short while. When the time came to jump, the strangers had no time to keep staring at him.
Raising their paper umbrellas, the crowd leapt off one after another, disembarking in sequence.
Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye moved as well.
High in the sky, several strangers opened their umbrellas, looking from afar as tiny as sesame seeds. Lu Yang was different. With a pull of the cord behind his back, his parachute popped open with a bang, appearing strikingly conspicuous in the high sky.
Normally, at such a height, Lu Yang would have been very nervous.
Right now, however, he had no mind for such thoughts.
It was far too embarrassing.
Fortunately, everyone had different destinations; only Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye were heading to Taiping Township.
As soon as they arrived in Taiping Township, they received a warm welcome from the township head, who seemed to have known they would arrive well in advance.
"Immortals, you're finally here! The sight of you two leaping from the flying boat was truly extraordinary."
Lu Yang opened his mouth, but in the end, he did not ask how the man had known when they would arrive.
"I am Lu Yang, and she is Tao Yaoye. We are both disciples of the Dao Seeking Sect. The mission notice's description of the demon bird was not very detailed, so we ask the township head to inform us in detail."
Originally, the township head had prepared a welcoming feast—they would have a few drinks first, and after a round or two, he would present some local specialties before detailing the demon bird matter and asking for their help. Whenever people from above came down on official business, that was how things were done.
He had not expected the two to be so prompt and resolute. A flicker of joy rose in his heart, and he silently praised them—as expected of disciples from an immortal sect.
Tao Yaoye sized up the township head. He was at late-stage Qi Refinement, but his early foundations had been poorly laid, and his spiritual energy contained many impurities. With no hope of Foundation Establishment, he was merely an ordinary cultivator with nothing remarkable about him.
When the demon bird was mentioned, the township head wore a troubled expression. Taiping Township was already rather isolated, with few travelers passing through. Now that word of the demon bird had spread nearby, even traveling merchants were unwilling to approach the area.
He had reported the matter to Quhe Commandery, but the commandery was short-handed. Seeing that the demon bird had not harmed anyone, they told him to wait until they could spare someone to send to Taiping Township.
That wait had dragged on for twenty days.
"It was about twenty days ago. Tailor Feng came running into the street, shouting at the top of his lungs that a great man-eating monster had entered his home, terrifyingly powerful.
"When the neighbors heard this, they were frightened out of their wits. A man-eating monster is no small matter. There are only around thirty cultivators in Taiping Township, and my cultivation is the highest among them. As township head, Tailor Feng and the neighbors came to find me.
"Before slaying a monster, one must inquire about the situation, so I asked Tailor Feng, 'You say the great monster eats people—who did it eat?'"
There was a vast difference in danger between a monster that had eaten people and one that had not. Humans were the spirit of all living things, naturally endowed with opened spiritual apertures. Once a monster tasted human flesh, it would crave the flavor and go on to eat a second person, a third person... bringing calamity to the region.
"Tailor Feng said, 'I don't know who the monster ate, but it can speak! It definitely learned to speak because it ate people!'"
There were indeed folklore rumors claiming that if a monster ate humans, it would be able to speak the human tongue and assume human form, but that was pure hearsay.
Cultivation for the demon race was hardly so simple. Speaking human speech required refining and transforming the transverse bone in the throat, which required at least late-stage Qi Refinement.
"Tailor Feng said the monster was brightly colored. At first, he thought it was just a bird that had lost its way in the mountain forests. The demon bird sat behind him, watching him sew clothes without moving an inch, when it suddenly spoke. Tailor Feng was so terrified that he bolted from the shop.
"Seeing that Tailor Feng couldn't offer any useful information, I had everyone wait at a distance while I quietly crept closer on my own, and I saw the demon bird.
"Its feathers were vivid and glossy, with distinct red rings around its eyes. At a glance, it clearly was no ordinary bird—what ordinary bird would dare to look so ostentatious?
"The demon bird opened its beak and asked me, 'Who are you? Where is Zhang Guanjia?' Its tone was quite urgent.
"I was puzzled. Zhang Guanjia is a cultivator in our township, only at the third level of Qi Refinement with mediocre cultivation. How could he have any connection to a demon beast?
"At the time, I tried my best to relax, making myself appear unthreatening, and politely asked, 'May I ask why the Demon King seeks Zhang Guanjia?'
"The demon bird gave no answer, flapped its wings, and flew out of the tailor shop.
"Since then, the demon bird has been flying all around Taiping Township, feeding on the grain in the fields and speaking human words. Although it doesn't eat people, what mortal wouldn't be frightened upon seeing a monster? Thus, everyone has been living in constant terror these past days, terrified that the demon bird might suddenly turn feral and swallow everyone whole."
"Have you exchanged blows with the demon bird? How strong is it?" Lu Yang asked.
The township head shook his head. "That demon bird spends all day in the air, elusive and difficult to track.
"Furthermore, I cannot discern its cultivation, which means it is at least at the seventh level of Qi Refinement like myself. I was worried that if the demon bird had no intention of harming anyone to begin with, my rash attack might backfire and provoke it instead."
Lu Yang nodded. The township head's conduct was entirely reasonable.
Chapter 18