Chapter 178: Paying Lip Service
This was a very vast city. There were not even obvious city walls here. There was a wide river outside. The two rivers intersected and became the border of Sea City. On the other two sides of Sea City, there was an extremely dangerous river.
Li Yuanqing stood in front of the wide bridge and waited in line. Behind him was a pet.i.te girl. It was the Man-eating Vine. The two of them had left Ping City and arrived at Sea City.
There were a few bridges outside Sea City, but it seemed like only two had been opened recently. Moreover, if they wanted to go over, they had to line up here. There were more than ten people in front of Li Yuanqing. Most of them were humans.
Li Yuanqing listened to the two humans in front of him complain as he queued.
“The search has become much stricter recently. I have to pay more spirit stones to go over later.”
“Isn’t that so? We were still thinking about how they were saying to make humans and demons equal. Can we really do it?”
“Keep your voice down. The City Lord is just talking about this. How can he really be on equal footing with us?”
The two of them looked bitter and vengeful. They moved forward slowly with sad expressions.
“Master, didn’t Hai Changping agree to do this well? Why did he change his mind after he returned?” The Man-eating Vine said angrily.
“It’s fine. We’ll know how he does things as long as we go in and take a look.”
The Man-eating Vine was not used to dealing with such things at all. “These guys are very cunning. They say one thing but do another behind our backs. Sister shouldn’t have let him go back.”
The two people who were chatting in front heard Li Yuanqing and the Man-eating vine’s conversation and looked over curiously. Seeing that the two of them looked unfamiliar, they did not come up to chat.
“Are the two people at the back crazy? Why are they talking about strange things?”
“Who knows? They don’t look like anything. Normal people should stay away from them. Don’t get us into trouble.”
It was simple to do this inspection. They just had to ask a few questions when they got there and then pay some toll according to their intentions. These little demons were narrow-minded and did not want much. They could be dealt with two spirit stones.
Li Yuanqing crossed the bridge and caught up to the two people in front with the Man-eating Vine.
The two of them were afraid that it would be too late to avoid them. Who would have thought that Li Yuanqing and the others would chase after them?
“Fellow Daoist.” Li Yuanqing stopped them. Although the two of them were very unwilling, they still stopped obediently.
“Fellow Daoist…”
“I heard that the two of you had a discussion just now. It seems that this city is quite unfriendly to the human race?”
The two of them looked at each other and sized Li Yuanqing up. “Brother, you’re from outside, right?”
“I came to Sea City from Ping City to do some business.”
“From Ping City?” He looked at Li Yuanqing in confusion. “Then why are you here instead of staying in Ping City?”
Li Yuanqing smiled and replied, “I have liked to wander around since I was young. I’m quite safe in Ping City now, but I still want to travel around and see more scenery.”
“What’s there to see?” He muttered, “You Ping City people are lucky to be carefree. You don’t have to think about anything and still come here to suffer.”
His brother beside him tugged at his clothes. Li Yuanqing followed their gaze and saw the two demons checking them behind him.
Li Yuanqing did not think too much about it. Just as he was about to ask more, the two of them hurriedly planned to leave.
“Fellow Daoist, I’m not done asking. Why are you leaving in such a hurry?”
“Little brother, don’t ask so many questions. Since you’re already here, follow the rules here obediently. Don’t talk so much. Sometimes, if you talk too much, you won’t even know how you died.”
“How can that be? Didn’t City Lord Hu Jiujiu just sign a contract with City Lord Hai just last month? Didn’t the humans in Sea City also receive the same treatment? Why is there so-called differential treatment?”
“Don’t mention it…”
The two of them walked as they spoke, but even so, they attracted the attention of the demons. Seeing that the demons were about to handcuff them, the two of them bade farewell to Li Yuanqing in a panic.
“Little brother, listen to my advice. Don’t ask so many questions. It’s enough as long as you can survive here. Don’t ask too much about other things. It’s not good for you to ask too much.”
After saying this, he hurriedly left Li Yuanqing. He watched them leave and pondered silently. He was not in a hurry to leave.
The two demons who had been paying attention to the situation rushed over.
“What are you doing? Murmuring here?”
They came forward and questioned Li Yuanqing.
Li Yuanqing replied, “I was asking these two big brothers about some things that I needed to pay attention to when I’m doing business here, but they left without saying anything.”
The demon asked carefully, “Did the two of them leave without saying anything just now?”
“That’s right. These two big brothers seem to have something urgent to deal with. I just spoke to them a few words and they can’t wait to leave. It seems like we can only ask after we get inside.”
The two demons looked at each other and reminded Li Yuanqing, “You just have to take care of yourself in Sea City. Don’t ask too much.”
“Brother, don’t worry. I definitely won’t cause trouble here.”
“You’d better not cause any trouble.”
After the two demons warned them, they let Li Yuanqing and the Man-eating Vine go.
The Man-eating Vine was furious and wanted to attack. However, with Li Yuanqing suppressing her, the Man-eating Vine could not carry out the operation.
“Master, why didn’t you let me do it just now? What ability do those two fellows have to dare to shout at you like that? If you ask me, I would just kill him!”
Li Yuanqing patted her little head and said angrily, “You have a bad temper. Have you forgotten why we’re here?”
“I haven’t forgotten.”
“Then that’s fine. We’re here mainly to exchange some goods. It’s best to keep a low profile. As long as they don’t do anything overboard, there’s no need to fuss over it with them.”
“Master, your temper is really too good. These people are bullying us. Moreover, Hai Changping is clearly lying to Sister!”
“It’s fine. We will investigate what Hai Changping did. There’s no hurry now.”
Li Yuanqing’s domain slowly stopped after a period of great progress. This was also the reason why Li Yuanqing was here. Sea City was vast and rich in resources. There were many treasures flowing inside.
Li Yuanqing had taken a fancy to these treasures, which was why he had come all the way here.
After entering the city, he asked around and found many places to go.
The exchange of supplies in Sea City was very frequent because this place was open and crowded. In particular, the demons would stop here when they went to various dangerous places.
The treasures they had obtained would also be here. They would try their best to trade them, so there were several very developed markets in Sea City.
These markets were Li Yuanqing’s goal.
Li Yuanqing naturally knew that Hai Changping was up to no good, but he could not be bothered with him now.
Although Sea City had announced that the humans and demons were equal, they had not removed the restrictions on the inner and outer cities. Humans could move into the inner city, but the price of transition was very high.
The purpose of this price was very simple. It was to use the high price to reject the humans.
Although they seemed to have agreed very decisively on the surface, they were still far from being sincere. At the very least, they were not sincere at all.
The main markets were all gathered in the inner city. Li Yuanqing wanted to go to the eastern market and even checked the entrance of the inner city.
The eastern market was very large. The people coming and going were mainly demons, but there were many humans now. Most of these humans were from the outside, and the local humans of Sea City rarely appeared here.
It was also because the humans in Ping City and Rong City had been liberated that the demons in Sea City did not dare to be too ostentatious. They treated the humans kindly.
“Sir, take a look at this. This is a top treasure. Spirit Transformation cultivators use this black iron sword very well.”
“Look at my thousand-year-old Lingzhi. I’m selling this treasure at a low price today. Whoever buys it will definitely make a killing!”
“Sir, look at the two stones in my hand. They contain iron essence. If you take them to refine weapons, you can directly increase the entire quality by a level.”
The people along the street were trying their best to sell. The things they placed here were strange and varied.
Li Yuanqing was already sick of the things circulating in Ping City. His eyes naturally lit up when he arrived. He found everything interesting.
In the end, Li Yuanqing was attracted by a botanical garden.
This garden stall was quite big. There were all kinds of strange things placed inside. These plants made Li Yuanqing’s eyes light up. What it lacked the most in its domain were these diverse species. These plants were a very good choice.
Next door to the botanical garden, in a huge garden, the howls of wild beasts could be heard from time to time. Most of them were vicious beasts.
“Let’s take a look here first.”
Li Yuanqing stepped into the botanical garden. The plants in the botanical garden were lush and full of fruits. All of them were very fat.
Li Yuanqing stopped in front of the pavilion.
A waiter hurriedly welcomed Li Yuanqing when he walked in. The waiter was pet.i.te and cute with two long ears on her head, looking strange.
“Sir, what do you want to see?”
Li Yuanqing pointed at the grape rack in front of him and asked excitedly, “Where did you get these grapes from?”
“Sir, these are all from our shop. They were searched from outside and are very precious.” As she spoke, she plucked a bunch of grapes from the grape rack. “Sir, you can try this thing. It tastes very sweet and delicious.”
“I want this entire shelf.”
“What?”
“I said, wrap up this entire shelf.”
“The entire shelf?”
“Sir, you might not know, but this thing’s growth ability is very strong. It only needs one leaf to reproduce.”
Li Yuanqing took out a small cloth bag. He had just placed dozens of spirit stones inside.
“Is this enough?”
The demon was stunned when she opened the cloth bag and took a look. Although these grapes were quite rare, they were not precious without spiritual energy. Why was there a fool who offered such a high price?
“Enough, enough. Sir, you’re really generous. I’ll call the shopkeeper over now!”
Soon, a fat and round middle-aged man walked out. The middle-aged man also had a pair of short furry ears.
“This is that guest.”
“Sir, what do you like? Feel free to choose.”
As the shopkeeper spoke, he began to dig up the shelves. He did not even ask further and directly removed the grape shelves.
“I wonder if you’ve brought anyone? How do you plan to transport them?”
“No need.”
Li Yuanqing waved his hand and the grape rack that was originally there instantly disappeared.
The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment before looking at Li Yuanqing with much more caution.
“Sir, if you need anything else, feel free to ask. As long as you like anything here, feel free to ask.”
Li Yuanqing strolled around with the shop owner. Their botanical garden was quite imposing and s.p.a.cious. He felt comfortable as he strolled around.
Moreover, Li Yuanqing had seen many plants that only existed in the world he had lived in before. There were also many fruits. Not only grapes, but also kiwi, honeydew, and all kinds of fruits.
This surprised Li Yuanqing greatly. He even made a very generous purchase here. He almost moved the entire shop.
The shopkeeper was grinning from ear to ear. He had been in business for so long, but he had never seen such a generous man. Good lord, he was almost treating them like a warehouse.
By the time Li Yuanqing left, half of his small shop had been emptied.
“Sir, your storage treasure is really s.p.a.cious. It can fit so many?”
The shopkeeper could not help but be interested in the treasure in Li Yuanqing’s hand. Although their shop was not very big, it was impossible for them to store half of it with just a storage Dharma treasure.
How would he know that Li Yuanqing held a small world in his hand? If he put it in, it would only be used as a seed.
After Li Yuanqing finished shopping, he went to the shop next door. He bought many more vicious beasts and placed them in his domain. This time, the domain that had expanded many times previously was even more lively.
These vicious beasts were very careful when they first arrived, but after slowly familiarizing themselves with the environment, they started causing trouble here.