Chapter 9: The Hundred Treasure Pavillion
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Fights within the Ye Clan usually weren’t reported to the Legal Division unless someone died. Even though Ye Ming had lost a servant of the Spirit Cultivating Realm, it didn’t affect him that much.
There was another reason that Ye Ming was afraid of telling the higher-ups. If the higher-ups knew of Ye Mo’s strength, they would definitely put him in an important position. Of course, Ye Ming wouldn’t be that dumb.
Even if Ye Ming wanted to take care of him, he would definitely take the matter into his own hands. If the news spread that Ye Mo had defeated Ye Ming, it would embarra.s.s Ye Ming. He would become a laughing stock if the news spread to other clans.
That’s why Ye Mo didn’t worry of any retaliation from Ye Ming. As long as he could get his hand on the Pill Refining Powder, he could continue his training without worry. If he was able to break through the Mortal Gate in his mind, then he himself would be more than enough to deal with 10 people at Ye Ming’s level.
After he had taken a first-grade Revitalization Pill, he began to meditate for 12 hours. With the combined efforts, his injuries were completely healed. As long as their Energy Center was not injured, any martial artists would be able to recover using these pills.
The Hundred Treasure Pavillion was a sanctuary for martial artists. As long as they had the money, they could buy all sorts of martial arts techniques, weapons, pills, and charms there. It was said that the Hundred Treasure Pavillion didn’t belong to any of the Limestone clan but belonged to the wealthiest clan in the kingdom, the Qi Clan, a clan with tremendous power with businesses all around the Tianwu Kingdom.
Ye Mo left the Ye Clan’s mansion through the back door. After a few turns here and there, he finally saw a pavilion made of gold. “Hundred Treasure Pavillion” was written on the sign in front of the three story building. Guards could be found at every corner of every floor.
Ye Mo walked into the pavilion. Many displays were laid out in the building with many eye-attracting products and materials on them.
A woman dressed in Chinese gown walked slowly towards Ye Mo’s direction, her s.e.xy figure moving with every step she took.
Ye Mo was dumbstruck by the woman as soon as he saw her. Every inch of her body shouted s.e.xuality, attracting quite a few pairs of eyes.
The woman noticed Ye Mo and asked, “Little brother, do you need any a.s.sistance?”
“For your information, I’m not little,” Ye Mo replied.
The woman were intrigued by Ye Mo’s reply. “That’s funny. You look like you haven’t reached adulthood yet,” teased the woman.
“What a nymph! Dad was right, beautiful girls will only be a man’s downfall.” Ye Mo stared at the woman’s face and immediately said, “I’m here to buy a Pill Refining Powder.”
“I’m sorry, little boy, all of our Pill Refining Powders are sold out. You’ll have to wait a few days before we stock up,” the women apologized.
Some of the sellers in the building sighed and wondered why the beauty of Hundred Treasure Pavilion, She Qiyin, suddenly changed her taste in man.
“Sold out! You’ve got to be kidding me…” Ye Mo replied in surprise. The Hundred Treasure Pavilion was the largest merchant guild in the city. It was impossible for anything to be sold out.
“Someone from Qin Clan came and bought out all of our Pill Refining Powders around noon yesterday.” Qiyin smiled.
The four biggest clans in Limestone City were formed by the Qin Clan, the Ye Clan, the Xiao Clan, and the Mo Clan. Of course, there were other smaller clans in the city, but they were nothing when compared to any of these clans.
The Qin Clan, the strongest clan in Limestone city, was the head of the four biggest clans. The head of the Qin Clan, Qin Hao, was the city lord of Limestone City and his younger sister was the concubine of the Tianwu Kingdom’s own emperor. To put it simply, the head of the Qin Clan is one of the emperor’s relatives.
Why would the Qin clan buy such a ma.s.sive amount of Pill Refining Powder? Ye Mo wondered. The amount of powder used in pill refining was one of the most important aspects. Even though a mere five ounces of powder might seem little, it was more than enough to refine hundreds of cauldrons worth of pills. Is the Qin clan going to ma.s.s produce pills or something?
Ye Mo had to leave without the Pill Refining Powder, but just as he was leaving, he noticed a piece of charm was sitting on one of the counters. The charm was drawn using spiritual energy itself and was emitting waves of energy. Even though Ye Mo could not understand what was drawn on the charm, he could feel the lightning element energy emitting from the charm.
A charm! Ye Mo shouted in his mind. It was a charm that sealed his father’s Energy Center.
Occupations like alchemy or crafting were some of the most common professions, but a charm master was the most dignified job in the whole Lingwu Continent. They have the skills to create charms with different effects, some even able to control beasts to fight for them.
In all of the millions of people in Limestone City, there were only a total of three charm masters.
“What does this charm do?” Ye Mo went to the counter and asked.
“This is a level one lightning attack charm. It holds the power of lightning in it, and by placing it on a person’s palm, it enables that person to use a high damage lightning spell once,” explained the shopkeeper. “The power of the charm will go up if it is used by a martial artist who specializes in lightning elements. Most martial artists that haven’t reached the Spirit Cultivating Fifth Realm won’t dare to take the attack from this charm head-on.”
“That’s way too strong. How much does it cost?” Ye Mo asked.
“One gold.”
Ye Mo was instantly defeated by the extremely high price. Being a Charm Master does really fills one’s pocket. A simple charm like this one here could sell for one gold! Ye Mo was not stupid enough to spend a piece of gold on some charm. If he did not return with some Pill Refining Powder, Elder Yin would definitely be furious. “I’ll come again tomorrow.”
Ye Mo returned to his room to find that Ye Mei has already taken Xiao Cao back to her room. Even though Ye Mei was like a spoilt princess, she cared for her personal servant a lot. Also, Xiao Cao was hardworking and caring. Anyone would’ve loved her as long as they weren’t too spoilt.
Senior Fu has already prepared Ye Mo his dinner. He went straight back to training. Even without the help of a Spirit Cultivating Pill, Ye Mo was able to awaken two of his dragon energy channels. But Ye Mo’s training had become slower. It was still too far fetched for a person to open his mind’s Mortal Gate in a short time.
Ye Mo spent the whole night trying to break through his mind’s Mortal Gate with the two channels of dragon power. Experiencing headaches and dizziness were norms when a martial artist tried to break through this mind’s Mortal Gate. That could very well be the reason why most chose to target that specific area after they had broken through all other Mortal Gates.
Ye Mo switched to targeting his legs’ Mortal Gates when he had reached his pain threshold. When his dizziness had cleared, he went back to his mind’s Mortal Gate again. If the two channels of Dragon Energy ran out, the Rising Dragon Pillar would automatically absorb natural energy to replenish the two channels of Dragon Energy.
The next day, Ye Mo practiced martial arts the whole morning. He rushed to the Pill Refining Room after he had his lunch and waited for Elder Yin to arrive.
“Ye Mo! Prepare the fire! I’m going to refine 10 cauldrons worth of Spirit Fortifying Pills today,” Elder Yin shouted with his rough voice and came in carrying various herbs.
“Why are we making such a huge amount of pills today?” asked Ye Mo.
“The Limestone Champion List’s Tournament is in two months time. The clan leader has asked me to make more Spirit Fortifying Pills for the young masters hoping to break through their current limits before the tournament,” replied Elder Yin as he suddenly felt something was off. “You little brat! Don’t ask so much! Hurry up and start the fire! By the way, did you get the Pill Refining Powder?”
The Limestone Champion List is a list of the most powerful martial artists under the age of 16. Only the top 10 strongest of the whole city could make it to the list.
Even though the four big clans were peaceful on the outside, they had been comparing each other in secret for as long as anyone could remember. The top spots of the Champion List were one of the things that they always fought over. The top five martial artists of the list had the chance to be scouted by one of the Three Major Alliance.
“I went to the Hundred Treasure Pavillion yesterday, Elder Yin. Their powders were all bought by the Qin Clan,” Ye Mo replied.
As soon as he heard the reply, Elder Yin continued his shouting, “You better go and find me some Pill Refining Powder! I won’t be able to refine any pill without it. If that happens, I’m going to send you to the Legal Division and charge you with embezzlement! And why isn’t the fire made yet?!”
“Hmph! That’s it! I’m quitting after I get him his Pill Refining Powder!” Ye Mo rued and went to start the fire. Even though they belonged to the same clan, people like Ye Changsheng got a free pa.s.s from all the hard labor; they had the privilege to use both the Spirit Enhancing Pill and Spirit Fortifying Pill while Ye Mo was relegated to starting fires in the Pill Refining Room. “Power! This was all because of the difference in power!