Chapter 4: The Zhongjin Family (Part 2)

A professional came in and reported, “The patriarch has arrived with his men.”
A group of people rushed into the shop, led by an old man dressed in gold-threaded satin. The old man had light golden hair, and a faint bloodlike smell emanated from him—upon closer inspection, it was actually a rust smell. In Guo Shier’s words, he smelled like metal.
Unlike Jin Dabi, this old man was a professional at the first-tier physical altar level. He immediately sensed the slight soul pressure from the three people in front of him and realized they were indeed genuine high-level professionals. He stepped forward respectfully and said, “Zhongjin Family, first-tier altar level, Jin Yuan. I greet you, esteemed seniors.”
As per convention, Guo Shier and the others also introduced their professions and names; everyone was well-accustomed to this procedure.
Professionals who hadn’t reached the altar level weren’t very clear about the strength hierarchy among altar-level professionals, but Jin Yuan was different. He knew exactly what it meant to be a high-level altar professional. Especially with these three in front of him—each at least at the fifth-tier altar level—one of them could easily overwhelm all the professionals in the Zhongjin Family. The gap in strength was simply too vast.
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Jin Yuan, I plan to buy some gold-threaded satin. Um, shopkeeper, give him that jade talisman. I’ll exchange it for materials.”
Jin Yuan was stunned. No matter how precious gold-threaded satin was, how could it compare to the materials needed by professionals? He took the jade talisman hesitantly and, after a quick glance, widened his eyes. The materials listed inside were indeed extremely valuable; some were even unknown to him, and others required reference to his inherited memories to identify. He exclaimed, “You want to exchange these materials for gold-threaded satin?”
Guo Shier couldn’t help but laugh. “Of course it’s a fair exchange. You can pick one or two materials and calculate how much gold-threaded satin you can get in return.” If all the materials listed in the jade talisman were exchanged for gold-threaded satin, even the Zhongjin Family might not have enough to cover it.
Jin Yuan’s face turned slightly red. He realized he had said something inappropriate and said, “Senior, um… these materials are too precious. Any one of them would require countless pieces of gold-threaded satin to exchange for. There’s probably not enough of that in our continent.”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Just exchange as much as you have. You can pick one material.” He had an abundance of materials, and the list he showed were just some of the extras. In this world, he had collected a variety of unique items, including specialty fabrics and furs. Of course, he wouldn’t miss out on gold-threaded satin—it was purely a personal preference, unrelated to cultivation.

Jin Yuan said, “No problem, but with this exchange, the senior is at a disadvantage.”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “It doesn’t matter. If you like it, it’s worth it.”
With Jin Yuan present, the exchange went smoothly. Not only was all the gold-threaded satin from this shop taken, but that from other shops was also exchanged. It was likely that gold-threaded satin in Jin City would be in short supply for a long time, as even the existing stock was taken by Guo Shier.
Jin Yuan invited Guo Shier and the others to the Zhongjin family’s reception hall.
As soon as they sat down, Guo Shier said, “Jin Yuan, please help me… check if these two have been to your Jin City.” He handed over a jade talisman containing the images of Kuumu and Monier.
Jin Yuan examined it and said, “I’ve never seen them. Hmm, I’ll ask someone to look into it.” He called over a family disciple and asked him to copy the images and distribute them to inquire if anyone had seen them.
With the help of the family, it was much easier than Guo Shier searching on his own. Soon, all the Zhongjin family disciples had seen the images. Half a day later, someone reported that they had seen the people in the images. Guo Shier was overjoyed and quickly asked Jin Yuan to bring that person over.
Jin Yuan, knowing that Guo Shier and the others were here to find someone, relaxed a bit. He had been afraid that the three might be there to seek revenge. With their strength, they could sweep through the entire Zhongjin family—how could he not be worried?
A middle-aged man walked in. He was a master of talismans, looking very nervous. After entering, he bowed and said, “I see… I see the patriarch…” He was just a low-level professional. Having lived in Jin City for so long, it was strange he hadn’t met the family patriarch before—it would be odd if he weren’t nervous.
Although Jin Yuan was very respectful to Guo Shier and the others, he treated his subordinates differently. He asked indifferently, “What’s your name?”
The man trembled in fear before remembering that he had only focused on greeting and hadn’t introduced himself. He quickly said, “Jin Biao. My name is Jin Biao…”
Guo Shier asked gently, “Don’t be nervous. Have you seen the people in the images?”
Jin Biao looked at Guo Shier in confusion, not knowing who he was. Jin Yuan snapped, “Haven’t you met the senior yet?” Jin Biao trembled again. Someone whom the patriarch called a senior must be an extraordinary high-level professional. He stepped forward and bowed, saying, “Jin Biao greets the senior.”
Guo Shier waved his hand, saying, “No need to be formal. Just answer my question.”
Jin Biao nodded and said, “I have… I have seen the people in the images. It’s the man… I haven’t seen the woman.”
Guo Shier said happily, “Was it in Jin City?”

Jin Biao said, “No, it was in the wild… That time, I was going to collect some materials when I saw him by our family’s Xiyin Mine. He asked me a few questions, which is why I remember him… And he was also a high-level professional. I couldn’t tell exactly what rank he was, but he put a lot of pressure on me.”

Guo Shier asked, “What did he ask you?”

Jin Biao replied, “He asked me… the way to the Jinyan Yuan Well.”

Guo Shier couldn’t help but stand up and pressed further, “Jinyan Yuan Well? Did you see just one person? Was there anyone else around?” Ying Mo and Luo Zhan also became excited. Knowing Guo Shier’s feelings for Kuumu and Monier, they couldn’t help but smile—finally, they had a clue. Finding someone in this world was extremely difficult, especially professionals. Once they left their hometown without indicating their whereabouts, it was almost impossible to locate them.

Jin Biao trembled slightly. To be honest, he really didn’t want to talk to these important people because of the pressure. He said, “I… I only saw one person. I didn’t see anyone else…”

Guo Shier asked, “Did he go to the Jinyan Yuan Well?”

Jin Biao replied, “Well… I don’t know. I just told him the direction of the Jinyan Yuan Well and then left.”

Guo Shier asked, “When was that?”

Jin Biao said, “A year ago…”

Guo Shier fell silent for a moment before saying, “Thank you. Here, take this. You can go now.” He threw a talisman bag at him, containing some materials. Jin Biao didn’t dare to look inside. He took the bag, bowed, and left. It wasn’t until he was far away from the door that he wiped his sweat. He glanced at the talisman bag just once before his mouth fell open in astonishment.

The materials Guo Shier casually gave him were nothing special to him, but in Jin Biao’s hands, they were priceless—rare treasures, many of which came from high-level mutated talisman beasts. Overjoyed, Jin Biao did a somersault. These materials were enough to cover all the costs and items needed to advance to Grand Sage. Trembling, he packed them up and ran away at top speed.

Guo Shier asked, “Jin Yuan, have you been to the Jinyan Yuan Well?”

Jin Yuan replied, “I haven’t.”

Guo Shier and the others looked surprised. Ying Mo couldn’t help but ask, “How is it possible you haven’t been?”

Jin Yuan smiled bitterly. “That place is extremely dangerous. Only true high-level professionals dare to enter. My strength isn’t enough. I’ve only been near the Jinyan Yuan Well; I never dared to go deeper.”

Guo Shier nodded and said, “So, how much do you know about the Jin Yan Yuan Well?”
Jin Yuan replied, “The Jin Yan Yuan Well… it’s extremely dangerous. I don’t know what’s inside; I only know that countless professionals have died there. In ancient times, our Jin family lost hundreds of altar-level professionals there. None of those who went in ever returned. That’s why our Jin family has a rule… no one is allowed to enter the Jin Yan Yuan Well.”
Guo Shier asked in confusion, “Is it that serious?”
Jin Yuan smiled bitterly. “Even without this family rule, we wouldn’t dare to enter. Our family has only a few ancestors. Losing one would be unbearable. Who would dare to go in?”
Guo Shier suddenly realized something and said urgently, “Damn it! My master went in! Jin Yuan, give me the coordinates of the Jin Yan Yuan Well.”
Jin Yuan said, “No problem. I have the coordinates of the entrance, but not those of the inside. Even if I did, it wouldn’t help. I heard you can’t enter using a talisman gate.” He gave Guo Shier the coordinates of the entrance and added, “Be careful. If you need anything, you can prepare it in Jin City. I’ll help gather it.”
Guo Shier shook his head. “No need to prepare. We’ll leave right away. Maybe we’ll come back again when we return.” Anxiously, he entered the coordinates into the interdimensional talisman, opened the talisman gate, bid farewell to Jin Yuan, and then entered through it with Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan.
…
The Jin Yan Yuan Well.
Luo Zhan stood by a huge cave entrance. It was impossible to tell how big it was—standing at the edge, one couldn’t see what was on the other side. It was an irregular-shaped entrance, resembling a tadpole, with a deep gorge at the end of its “tail,” just as bottomless.
Guo Shier peeked in and said, “It’s shrouded in mist. We can’t see the bottom. Is this the entrance? Why is it so big?”
Eagle Demon said, “I don’t know. It’s strange. I don’t sense any danger. Jin Yuan described it as extremely perilous…”
Guo Shier shook his head. “We’ll find out once we go down. Let’s go!” He leaped down like a meteor, letting out a howl. Eagle Demon followed, smiling and saying, “This guy…” Luo Zhan also jumped down. None of the three controlled their fall; they simply fell freely.
Three figures pierced through the mist and plummeted straight down.
Bottomless. Unfathomable.
Ten minutes later, Guo Shier grew impatient. He shouted, “Use the altar! Free fall… it’s too slow.”
All three activated their altars, and their speed increased sharply as they turned into three streams of talisman light, racing downward.

Another ten minutes passed, and Guo Shier said, “Stop!” The three of them hovered in midair, with complete silence around them. Looking up, they could already make out the outline of the cave entrance, shaped like the mouth of a gourd. Looking down, it remained immeasurably deep. Guo Shier exclaimed in surprise, “What kind of place is this? There’s still no bottom in sight!”

Far below, a thin layer of black mist floated, making it impossible to see where the bottom was.

Eagle Demon hesitated for a moment and said, “Could it be another natural talisman array…?”

Guo Shier wasn’t sure either. He called out to Old Shuai, “Old Shuai, Old Shuai, come out and take a look. There’s something strange here.”

Old Shuai poked his head out and said, “I’m busy… What’s the matter?”

Guo Shier said, “This is the entrance to the Golden Flame Well. Take a look… Is there anything strange?”

Old Shuai leaned down to look. After a while, he said, “I don’t see anything wrong. Let’s continue.” He didn’t retreat back into the altar but continued to watch below.

Guo Shier said, “Okay!” The three of them continued descending quickly.

After passing through the layer of black mist, they slowed down. Guo Shier kept creating lighting talismans. The surroundings were shrouded in mist, and even with the lighting talismans, it was impossible to see more than a hundred meters ahead. The three of them had to slow down their descent, as no one knew what lay below.

It grew darker around them. Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan also created lighting talismans. They could no longer see the pinprick-like entrance in the sky above. Thick mist rolled above, and under the light of the talismans, colorful glows appeared around them. Their speed also slowed down further.

Old Shuai said, “I feel heat…”

Guo Shier nodded. “The air currents are rising. It must be very hot down there…” As they continued to descend slowly, the upward air currents grew stronger.

Eagle Demon wondered, “What’s down there? Such strong heat currents… Could it be underground magma?”

Guo Shier said, “It seems like it, but we can’t see yet. Be careful. Let’s slow down further. This place is strange.”