Chapter 438: Tianfeng Street

Ten days later, the city wall—tall as a towering mountain—could finally be seen in the distance.
Finding a deserted area, Lin Dong gave a signal, and everyone directed the eagle beasts to land. After the birds circled back up in the sky, Lin Dong and his group set foot on the official road.
“The capital city! Master Qiao is back!”
Looking at the mottled city wall that resembled those from ancient times, and then at the bustling gates filled with people and vehicles, even more lively than during riots, Qiao Tianhao couldn’t help but shout loudly.
Snap!
Cheng Bao raised his right foot, ready to kick the fly, but Feng Yue was faster—he slapped him on the back of the head, sending him stumbling forward three or four steps before he stopped.
“Worthless fool, don’t embarrass me.”
Qiao Tianhao touched the back of his head but didn’t care at all. Excitedly, he turned to Lin Dong: “Boss, after entering the city, I’ll take you to Wanxian Tower. Their food and drinks are famous throughout the capital. More importantly, the girls there—even the servants—are better than fairies. I guarantee you’ll be so entertained you won’t know where east is from west.”
Bang!
Yun Lan waved her sleeve, sending Qiao Tianhao flying backward. He slid five or six meters on the ground before getting up, disheveled. Yet, his face still showed uncontrollable excitement. Having lived in this place for over twenty years, he wouldn’t hesitate to share his excitement and enthusiasm, even if it meant taking a few punches or bleeding a little.
“Idiot, no matter how pretty the girls are, it has nothing to do with you,” Feng Yue snorted. He actually didn’t like the capital city very much—it was, in fact, his least favorite place. The reason? There was an imperial palace there, filled with countless eunuchs.
The word “eunuch” wasn’t very honorable in the Great Han Nation. Feng Yue had no interest in women. Most people who had reached the Mental State phase didn’t plan to get married or have children, but that was one thing; being unable to get close to women was another. Coming to this damned capital city, where people constantly talked about various eunuchs everywhere, really annoyed him.
“Old Man Yue, you don’t understand. We’ll spend the night at Wanxian Tower tonight. Then you’ll know what it means to be surrounded by beauty. You can’t touch them, but it’s still pleasing to look at.” Qiao Tianhao’s excitement clearly wouldn’t subside anytime soon. Imitating Lin Dong’s habit, he raised an eyebrow at Feng Yue and said generously, “I’ll treat everyone tonight. Order whatever you want.”

Yun Lan admitted defeat. Arguing with Qiao Tianhao was pointless; firm action was needed. But taking firm action seemed like overreacting to her.
Feng Yue slapped him, sending Qiao Tianhao spinning like a top toward the city gate.
“Cheng Bao, take Qiao Tianhao and go!” Lin Dong strode toward the city gate.
Cheng Bao approached Qiao Tianhao, struck him on the back of the neck with a knife hand to knock him out, then grabbed his right leg and dragged him toward the city gate.
After passing through the gate, which was over twenty meters long, a bustling and distinctive street came into view.
On the street, stalls were neatly arranged, all covered with black cloth, displaying a dense array of various spiritual materials. Lin Dong extended his mental senses to investigate the spiritual energy emitted by these materials—some were even of the sixth rank.
In the county town, even sixth-rank spiritual materials with mediocre medicinal effects were impossible to find in all the pharmacies. Yet here, right on the first street upon entering the capital, such materials could be seen at street stalls from time to time. The gap between the capital and the county town was indeed huge.
Upon further inspection, Lin Dong’s mouth widened slightly—these stall owners were all martial artists at the Mental State stage, with one even reaching the seventh level of that stage. Such strength was enough to make someone the head of a small sect.
Yun Lan, who had been to the capital once, saw Lin Dong’s surprise and explained, “This street is one of the two famous spiritual material streets in the capital. These stall owners are all registered martial artists with the Capital Martial Arts Testing Institute. They occasionally go to Tianfu Mountain nearby to collect spiritual materials and exchange any they don’t need for spiritual stones. The shops along the street take in spiritual materials from martial artists who prefer not to sell them at stalls, handing them over to pharmacies. The rank of these materials is generally lower, usually one or two ranks below those at street stalls. However, since the shops buy them at lower prices, the selling price is even lower than what the martial artists collect themselves.”
Lin Dong nodded. It made sense that the price was two or three ranks higher than that in county town pharmacies. Otherwise, if sixth-rank spiritual materials could be bought even at street stalls, the capital would be utterly absurd. Sixth-rank materials, with mediocre medicinal effects, would still cost at least ten thousand silver taels.

“If you want high-grade spiritual materials, you have to go to Tianfeng Street,” Yun Lan continued. “Compared to this street, Tianfeng Street not only sells spiritual materials but also spiritual beast inner pills, spiritual pills, and spiritual artifacts. The overall prices are lower than those of similar items in other shops, but bulk purchases are required. On Tianfeng Street, many shops have seventh-tier spiritual materials, seventh-tier spiritual pills, or spiritual artifacts, and there might even be eighth-tier or sixth-to-seventh-tier materials and pills for cultivation assistance. Of course, such items appear once every three to five years in small quantities, and their prices are exorbitant.”
Lin Dong was surprised. “Where do these shops get such high-grade spiritual materials, pills, and artifacts?”
“They claim to hire experts to hunt spiritual beasts or refine spiritual pills and artifacts. In reality, most of these shops are run by various major sects,” Yun Lan said with a smile. “Our Tianjian Sect has a shop called Wandan Guizong, which specializes in selling refined waste spiritual pills or defective spiritual materials. Occasionally, they bring out a few high-grade items, usually during slow business times to boost their reputation.”
“Wandan Guizong? The name sounds mighty and elegant, but it doesn’t quite seem like a shop…” Lin Dong clicked his tongue, puzzled. “Does Tianwei Pavilion not know about this?”
“With Tianwei Pavilion’s strength, they would surely find out. Besides, Tianfeng Street has a history of five to six hundred years—there’s no way they wouldn’t know,” Yun Lan shook her head.
“Then why do they allow major sects to set up bases right under their noses?” Lin Dong grew even more confused. “Who knows, when the imperial court is at odds with these sects, they might hide inside these shops under the pretext of buying spiritual materials and artifacts. With thirty to fifty in each shop, that couldenough to turn the entire capital upside down.”
“Then we can just seal these shops when the time comes,” Yun Lan said with a smile. “During times of peace, it’s beneficial for both sides when major sects sell large quantities of spiritual materials and pills in the capital.”
“Beneficial?” Lin Dong was slightly puzzled. With a group of experts gathered in the capital, the person in the palace must feel threatened.

Yun Lan explained, “The sects can use these shops to exchange spiritual weapons, elixirs, and materials that they don’t need for silver, and then purchase lower-tier spiritual weapons, elixirs, or materials that they do need. At the same time, the disciples from various sects stationed at these shops can visit each other and often engage in barter transactions. For example, our Tianjian Sect, being a pill-making sect, can use high-tier elixirs to exchange for high-tier spiritual weapons or unnecessary high-tier materials from other sects. Trading on Tianfeng Street is much more convenient than trading with larger sects near our own sect, and it allows us to get what we need more easily.”

“What about the Great Han Kingdom?” Lin Dong pressed further.

“As for the Great Han Kingdom, with so many warriors and even strong fighters gathered in the capital, it indeed poses a significant threat. But as long as Tianwei Pavilion monitors things properly, and considering its location isn’t far from Tianfeng Street, it’s entirely possible to prevent any major problems. As for the benefits…” Yun Lan organized her thoughts before continuing, “The sacred mountains and rivers of the Great Han Kingdom, aside from a small portion under Tianwei Pavilion’s control, are mostly occupied by various sects. In essence, spiritual weapons, materials, and internal pills are mostly in the hands of these sects. The resources controlled by Tianwei Pavilion must be used to support warriors who are loyal to the court and have the potential to become strong. Even those with poor talent or those who are willing to submit to the Great Han Kingdom’s rule cannot be ignored—using some lower-tier elixirs and weapons to win them over is necessary. Most of these lower-tier elixirs and weapons are purchased from Tianfeng Street, with only a small part produced or collected by Tianwei Pavilion itself.”

Lin Dong realized that the various sects used Tianfeng Street to acquire the spiritual weapons and elixirs they wanted to strengthen their power, while the Great Han Kingdom used it to buy large quantities of such items to win over many warriors and enhance its own strength. Both sides seemed to benefit from this arrangement, but it was hard to say which side gained more.

“After the inn opens, let’s take some time to check it out,” Lin Dong suddenly thought of a good idea and chuckled. “Then we can see if we can open a shop there too on Tianfeng Street.”

Yun Lan asked, “Do you want to exchange cultivation aids with other shops?”

Lin Dong nodded. “We have plenty of Qinglan Fruits, Wanhong Fruits, and Lingyun Tree branches. We can definitely exchange them for many cultivation aids and elixirs.”

Yun Lan shook her head. “The problem is that Tianwei Pavilion will definitely investigate new shops, and they might end up investigating Linji Inn as well.”

Lin Dong smiled. “We don’t have to show up in person.”

“You mean…” Yun Lan’s mind stirred. “Have Old Master Ding or Senior Feng step in? In that case, only the people of our Tianjian Sect would know the details. No matter what, Tianwei Pavilion would find it very difficult to track down Lin’s Inn.”
Lin Dong nodded and turned to Feng Yue beside him, smiling and saying, “Senior Feng, are you interested in becoming the owner of a pharmacy?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Feng Yue wasn’t interested, but since Lin Dong had asked, he wouldn’t refuse.
Lin Dong snapped his fingers and convinced Old Man Ding to show up at the pharmacy occasionally. With two top-tier experts running the pharmacy, it wouldn’t be strange if there were good items inside. Moreover, with their strength, they would definitely not attract the attention of Tianwei Pavilion’s people when returning to Lin’s Inn.
Once the pharmacy opened, business would surely thrive, with plenty of spiritual herbs and materials for cultivation coming in. If it weren’t for the urgent need to open the inn first, and the fact that Ren Qingsong, who already had enough Hanfeng fruits to last a month or two and was one of the three managers of Tianwei Pavilion’s Spiritual Materials Department, could provide quite a few cultivation aids, Lin Dong might even feel inclined to head straight to Tianfeng Street right away.