Chapter 332: Purchasing Intelligence

After a Few Rounds of Drinks.

Han Yuan and the other two bid Farewell to Qin Ming, saying, “Daoist Lu, the three of us still need to go back to the headquarters of the Myriad Dao Merchant Alliance to report. We cannot stay here for long. We’ll leave it at that for today. We’ll go first.”

“Eating this type of meal always means running around on the road. One really can’t help themselves!”

“Alright, since the three of you have important matters to attend to, Lu will not keep you any longer. If there’s an opportunity next time, you can come to Mirror Snow Pavilion to find Lu to get together,” Qin Ming said with cupped hands as he got up.

“If Daoist Lu has free time, you can also come to the Myriad Dao Merchant Alliance in Central Continent as a guest. The three of us will welcome you immensely,” Liu Ye said with a smile that bloomed like a flower.

“Daoist Lu, please stay here, no need to see us off,” Gao Feng also bid farewell to Qin Ming.

“We three also often have to do tasks in this Southern Region. I believe we will meet again soon, hehehe!”

“Therefore, Daoist Lu does not need to be polite.”

“Then I wish Fellow Daoists a safe journey.”

……

After Qin Ming parted ways with Han Yuan and the other two, he did not go directly to the branch of Mirror Snow Pavilion in the marketplace.

Instead, he followed the intricate streets of Lingxu Marketplace, turning left and right, and arrived in front of a large pavilion.

The decoration of this pavilion was extremely luxurious and grand, with golden brilliance and glory, carved dragons and phoenixes. On the central plaque, three large characters were engraved in a spirited manner——’Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion’.

This shop was one of the largest powers here. It was a branch of the Thousand Opportunities Merchant Company, which was founded by Hua Tianxiong, the True Person Qin Ming had coincidentally met when he first arrived on Qilin Island.

The intelligence that Qin Ming needed could only be obtained in complete and detailed information from such a long-established great power.

When he came, he had already learned from Gu Qingzhao that the foundation of Mirror Snow Pavilion here was still shallow, and many things were not yet perfect.

Inside the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion, several maidservants with graceful figures were receiving guests in the front hall.

One of the young maidservants in a smoke-like gauze skirt, upon seeing a guest entering the shop, her beautiful eyes immediately brightened, and she put on a professional smile, preparing to step forward to receive them.

But she saw that Shopkeeper, a middle-aged man, was sitting behind the counter, drinking tea with an old god attitude, and quickly put down the teacup in his hand, then stood up and said, “Mo He, you step back, this guest will be received by me personally.”

“Yes!”

The maidservant’s heart moved, and she couldn’t help but glance at Qin Ming a few more times. Not many people could be favored and received by their Shopkeeper.

It must be a high-level client.

She had to obey the Shopkeeper’s order, and, feeling resentful, bit her lip and looked away from Qin Ming with reluctance.

And, their Shopkeeper was in the Foundation Establishment Late Stage. Anyone who could be called Fellow Daoist, their Cultivation was at least in the Foundation Establishment Mid Stage or above.

“This Fellow Daoist looks very unfamiliar. Is this your first time in Lingxu Marketplace?”

“I am Wei Hong, the Shopkeeper here. Please, come to the second floor!”

Shopkeeper Wei said with a smile on his face.

Qin Ming nodded and couldn’t help but sigh. He didn’t expect that here, Foundation Establishment Late Stage was only qualified to receive people on the second floor.

After going upstairs.

Shopkeeper Wei casually ordered someone to serve a pot of ordinary tea, poured water for Qin Ming, and then asked, “I wonder what the Fellow Daoist needs? Or are you selling items?”

“I heard that your Merchant Guild is known for its well-informed information. Therefore, I would like to have the latest intelligence on the various powers of Great Jin,” Qin Ming said, sipping a little tea.

“Intelligence on the various powers of Great Jin?”

A hint of surprise appeared on Shopkeeper Wei’s face, and he was even more certain that the other party was a cultivator from outside.

However, he had an exceptionally high level of professional ethics and did not inquire about the client’s identity information. Instead, he ordered the subordinate beside him to bring several information jade slips and place them in front of Qin Ming.

“This Fellow Daoist, this is the latest intelligence on the various powers of the Great Jin Immortal Dynasty, and it was updated within the last ten days.”

“I believe that since you are looking for This Pavilion, you should know that the President of this Merchant Guild is Hua Zhenren, and the Backer is Li Fire Palace. Therefore, the authenticity of all information is absolutely reliable and trustworthy, with a ten-fold compensation for any falsehood.”

“The intelligence here is divided into four grades, with First Grade intelligence worth one thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.”

“Second Grade intelligence costs eight hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.”

“Third Grade intelligence costs five hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.”

“Fourth Grade intelligence costs three hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.”

Qin Ming nodded when he heard this, then picked up a First Grade intelligence jade slip from the tray and started to examine it:

“The Great Jin Cultivation World is vast and boundless. Currently, the actual Nascent Soul level powers are no longer under one dominant power, but have increased to three. The old established Li Fire Palace occupies Central Continent, with a profound foundation.”

“Secondly, the Myriad Dao Merchant Alliance. This Merchant Alliance’s power spans several large cultivation worlds around. Although the nominal Alliance Master of the Merchant Alliance is at the Golden Core Realm, such a large-scale Merchant Alliance has hundreds of Merchant Guilds affiliated with it. Such a vast commercial empire must have a Nascent Soul True Monarch behind it to hold it down, but the Nascent Soul Offering of the Merchant Alliance is quite mysterious and has never shown its face.”

“Finally, the newly risen Divine Dao Mountain”

“Divine Dao Mountain is located in the Southern Frontier region, and the west borders another large cultivation world, called the ‘Great Li Cultivation World’.”

“Unlike Great Jin, the Great Li Cultivation World is a genuine Demonic Path Cultivation World, with a chaotic order.”

“The jade slip also specifically noted: Divine Dao Mountain is suspected of receiving covert funding and support from the Nascent Soul level power ‘Yin Demon Sect’ in the Great Li Cultivation World.”

Qin Ming saw this, and all the thoughts in his mind instantly connected into a complete line.

“It adds up, it adds up!”

“Everything adds up!”

Qin Ming was extremely familiar with the Great Li Yin Demon Sect mentioned in the jade slip. When he traveled in Wu Kingdom, the three Mid-Golden Core Demonic Path Envoys he annihilated came from the Yin Demon Sect. Wasn’t this a coincidence?

“In this way. No wonder Divine Dao Mountain was able to compete with Li Fire Palace and not fall behind shortly after becoming a newly advanced Nascent Soul power, and there’s a major Demonic Sect pushing it from behind.”

“It seems that this pool of water in Great Jin is not ordinary deep!”

“I will have to be extra careful in my actions in the future.”

After Qin Ming finished reading the information on the jade slip in his hand, although he felt the price was a bit high, it was still worth the price. He obtained the information he wanted to know.

Moreover, his current possessions were abundant, and this amount of Spirit Stones was nothing.

Shopkeeper Wei saw Qin Ming’s serious expression, as if he was deep in thought, and couldn’t help but reveal a self-satisfied smile, and said to Qin Ming, “How is it? The content inside… didn’t disappoint the Fellow Daoist, right?”

“Mm!” Qin Ming nodded, only replying faintly.

Afterwards, he picked up another First Grade information jade slip and began to examine it.

In this jade slip, what caught Qin Ming’s eye was a very complete and detailed map of the Great Jin Cultivation World, and it was comprehensive, introducing the geographical environment and local customs of various places.

It was a world of difference compared to the one Gao Feng gave him.

“I didn’t expect that this map also clearly marked out the distribution map of various powers.”

In the Great Jin Cultivation World, besides the three major Nascent Soul Hegemon Level powers, there were more than two hundred Golden Core powers, which truly broadened Qin Ming’s vision.

“So many Golden Core powers, compared to the four Golden Core powers in the Southern Wilderness Cultivation World. I don’t know how many times more,” Qin Ming was secretly astonished.

However, even though Great Jin’s cultivation resources were rich and Spiritual Energy was abundant, it hadn’t reached the point where Nascent Souls were as common as dogs and Golden Cores were everywhere.

The Golden Core Cultivators of Great Jin were mostly at the Early Stage Golden Core.

After all, when it came to the Golden Core stage, every breakthrough to a Minor Realm was extremely difficult.

The bottleneck of the Mid-Golden Core realm had trapped eighty percent of the Golden Core Cultivators.

Not to mention, breaking through to the Late Golden Core.

Here, the Great Cultivators in the Late Golden Core were also few, and finally, the Nascent Soul True Monarchs, could be counted on three fingers.

“So this is Five Elements Mountain.”

Qin Ming’s vision was attracted by a Super mountain range.

“This place is located on the boundary line of the Southern Region of Great Jin, and the exploitation of a Low-Grade Fourth-Order Spirit Vein with a vast reserve scale triggered the contention between Li Fire Palace and Divine Dao Mountain.”

Seeing this, Qin Ming also understood the reason for the outbreak of the battle.

A Fourth-Order Spirit Vein, that was a rare Strategic-Level Resource that could give rise to Nascent Soul Great Beings.

“Around the resource competition, interests are eternal.”

“It seems that this is the real face of the Cultivation World, and it is an unchanging melody throughout the ages.”

This made Qin Ming recall those days when he was in the Cloud Marsh Wilderness.

The chaos of Qingyang Marketplace was also caused by the Spirit Feather Sect pioneering and discovering a Third-Rank Spirit Vein.

It was the same now in the large Cultivation World.

Qin Ming put aside these distracting thoughts and continued to read on.

“Li Fire Palace and Divine Dao Mountain have been at war for decades, and countless cultivators have died or been injured, already harming the Foundation.”

“If the fighting continues, both sides have realized that there are quite a few powers that are eager to see them both suffer, watching with Hostile Intent and preparing to seize the opportunity.”

“Therefore, the two major powers started negotiations at Five Elements Mountain, introducing a third-party power, the ‘Myriad Dao Merchant Alliance’, to intervene and, according to the agreement, jointly develop the Spirit Vein resources within Five Elements Mountain by Li Fire Palace and Divine Dao Mountain.”

“And the Myriad Dao Merchant Alliance, as the mediator, will obtain the ownership of establishing marketplaces along the Five Elements Mountain.”

“Even the current Lingxu Marketplace, where I am, has the Myriad Dao Merchant Alliance as its largest Background.”

The Myriad Dao Merchant Alliance didn’t have to spend any effort and got a great Cheap for nothing. They only needed to be a Peacemaker, so why not?

After Qin Ming finished reading and understood the Ins and Outs of the upper echelons’ Game in the Great Jin Cultivation World, he couldn’t help but feel a thousand emotions.

In addition.

There was also an extremely sensational piece of information that Qin Ming knew about.

That was the Background of Su Yuqing.

“Brother Su has always been hiding it from me. No matter how I probed indirectly, he wouldn’t reveal a single piece of information about his Background.”

“I didn’t expect that the Longting Lake Su Clan of Great Jin Central Continent was one of the four Golden Core Aristocratic Families that separated from Li Fire Palace back then.”

“Hehehe!”

“Su Clan, the first Alchemy Aristocratic Family of Great Jin, that’s interesting.”

……