"Eleven thousand spirit stones, magical artifacts, pills, materials, etc., total value is about six to seven thousand spirit stones."

Moon Tempering Valley.

After counting the materials in the storage bag, his mood finally calmed down a bit.

At least he wasn't at a huge loss.

Unfortunately, the Tier Two materials, magical treasures, and Second Grade pills, medicinal materials he wanted were not there.

However, this was normal, as such things are treasures in a Foundation Establishment family's possession and are usually personally kept by Foundation Establishment experts.

"It's time to go to White Tiger City..."

Now, having obtained two Tier Two magical artifacts and a large amount of spirit stones, he could plan for Foundation Establishment.

The Foundation Establishment Pill's recipe was only missing one Second Grade medicinal material, and going to a loose cultivator's holy land like White Tiger City would make it easier to purchase.

Moreover, only there are Second Grade alchemists available.

He carried three Middle Grade Tier One storage bags, one of which contained his two core Tier Two magical artifacts, three Profound Shield Talismans, one Soul-Calming Talisman, several frequently used Upper Grade Tier One magical artifacts, and a total of about fifteen thousand spirit stones.

The Middle Grade Tier One storage bag had about ten cubic meters of storage space, roughly the size of a room, and was almost filled to the brim.

The other two storage bags contained other items obtained from the Zhao family and Profound Yang Sect.

The next morning, he left Moon Tempering Valley, heading towards White Tiger City.

The Zhao family?

Wang Dazhu, Chen Qingling?

The grudges were settled, but he never rushed to take revenge.

Cultivation was the most important thing, and if there was a chance for revenge, he would take it, but without a chance, he would just outlive his enemies.

This was Li An's strategy, never letting revenge cloud his judgment.

"It seems I have been targeted by the Demon Sect..."

However, this was a concern for him.

It's not the thief you fear, but the thief who plots against you... to think they'd set a trap for him eight years ago?

He had plans to conceal his identity, and he wouldn't expose himself on the way to White Tiger City.

On the way to White Tiger City, he changed his appearance multiple times.

Half a month later, he traversed the mountain paths he had walked before through the Cloud Illusion Mountain Range and saw a city ahead!

White Tiger City had arrived.

White Tiger City was built relying on the Rank Three spirit vein of White Tiger Mountain, with a wide open space in front of the city and surrounding undulating mountains.

Many people were coming and going before the city, and around noon, he queued to enter.

"New arrival, right? Entry fee is one hundred spirit stones."

After paying the spirit stones, Li An received a jade token, which noted his entry time into the city.

No inquiries about identity, name, or origin were a feature of White Tiger City.

White Tiger City was founded by a powerful loose cultivator, White Tiger Master, considering the needs of loose cultivators in such matters.

"Keep the jade token safe; you have only three days. After three days, if you want to stay in the city, you'll have to pay based on the area you reside in. If you lose your token or fail to pay, the city array will lock onto you, and in severe cases, you might lose your life."

The cultivator responsible for distributing jade tokens at the city gate reminded coldly.

Then Li An entered the city.

At the moment, he was disguised as a weathered middle-aged man, with his cultivation masked to the Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer.

White Tiger City covered an area of one hundred li, more bustling than Qingyang's marketplace, with thirty main streets, categorized into Tier One, Tier Two, and Tier Three based on proximity to the Rank Three spirit vein of White Tiger Mountain.

As the name implies, the Tier One area only had a spirit vein level of Tier One.

Spirit veins were incredibly important for cultivators; lacking a place with spirit veins meant the Great Dao wouldn't manifest, spiritual Qi would be thin, and it would be of no help to cultivators.

Moreover, during breakthroughs, apart from sufficient spiritual Qi impact, guidance from a spirit vein is needed; spirit veins gather the essence of creation, and using them can affirm one's creations.

A Tier One spirit vein could only sustain Qi Refining Stage cultivators' training and breakthroughs, of little significance to him.

Li An first found an inn in the Tier One area, using those three days to learn the basics of White Tiger City.

Three days later, he moved to the Tier Two area, where he paid one hundred days' worth of residence fees — two hundred spirit stones!

This portion of the "entry tax" required him to pay two spirit stones per day!

It didn't include food, drink, lodging, and other expenses.

Li An spent another fifty spirit stones to find an inn in the Tier Two area, using a small tip of a few spirit stones to ask the innkeeper about the situation in the Tier Two area.

That day, he walked down Jingyang Avenue, took a stroll around, and entered a store.

[Anshen Residence]

This was essentially a "real estate agency" shop.

"Distinguished guest, please come in~~"

A charming woman wearing a form-fitting embroidered dress led him inside. "My name is Manman. Are you new to the Tier Two area? What would you like to know?"

The woman glanced at Li An. Although he dressed quite ordinarily, she was still quite enthusiastic.

Those entering the Tier Two area had some capabilities, and one could not judge by appearance.

"Just looking around, trying to find a residence."

Li An indicated.

"What type do you want, distinguished guest? In what range of spirit stones? Manman can recommend something right away."

"No need, I'll look on my own for now."

"Alright, these are the resources we have available. You can take a look first."

Manman offered Li An a catalog, served some tea and water, exchanged polite words, and then turned to welcome other guests.

Li An flipped through the catalog's content; the resources were quite abundant, covering all areas within the Tier Two zone, with varying prices depending on location and housing conditions.

But the average monthly rent was about fifteen spirit stones!

The Tier Two area... generally, ordinary cultivators couldn't afford to live there.

Those able to come here were almost always Late-Stage Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators.

Li An already had a few places in mind but wasn't in a hurry to book and instead got up, stretched, and prepared to leave.

"Did you find something, distinguished guest?" Manman appeared timely.

Li An smiled slightly, placing two spirit stones on the table, "Not for now, thank you."

After speaking, he left.

Manman's eyes lit up looking at the spirit stones on the table.

This customer was quite generous.

In the days that followed, Li An frequently visited Anshen Residence to look at properties; sometimes, other staff would attend to him, but he would ask for Manman by name.

Each time, he'd tip a few spirit stones, but each time he found nothing satisfactory.

Back and forth, Manman grew curious and repeatedly took the initiative to inquire about Li An's intentions, but he only provided vague descriptions.

That afternoon, Li An arrived again.

"Brother Wei Ming, you're here again..."

Manman warmly greeted him, having transitioned from the perfunctory enthusiasm of their first meeting to a more familiar demeanor.

Wei Ming was the alias Li An used. He smiled and resumed looking through the catalog.

This time, Manman stayed by his side and whispered, "Brother Wei, I have something I think is particularly suitable for you..."

She then took a picture out of her pocket and handed it to Li An: "This is the best resource I have!"

Li An took a look and pondered, "It's very quiet here, and there's a small courtyard with the house. I quite like it, and the price is right, but the spiritual Qi seems a bit thin..."

Manman leaned close to his ear, whispering: "Brother Wei, internal news — this place is likely to become Lady Seventeen's fief!"

— White Tiger Master resided on White Tiger Mountain and had sixteen disciples under him.

Each disciple, the weakest being Foundation Establishment level experts, managed parts of the city.

These were the fiefs.

Security in the fiefs was much better, and the spiritual Qi of the spirit vein would favor those areas, typically the places with the densest spiritual Qi.

"Currently, no one knows about this, and this small courtyard once secured can be had for twelve spirit stones per month, but after a while, the price could double."

Manman explained.

Li An nodded and suddenly asked, "White Tiger Master only has sixteen disciples; who is this Seventeenth?"

Manman replied, "It's said to be a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the former Profound Yang Sect named Xu Qiuhui."

Li An couldn't help but be stunned.

...

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