Chapter 225: Ziguang Pavilion

“Alright, my King.” The response from outside was the crisp voice of a Tongzi.

The curtains opened, and that person said, “Please bring the Dongyi tribe friends to me and lead the celestial Daoist to Ziguang Pavilion.”

The Tongzi could not help but be curious, as the Ziguang Pavilion was at the east side of the palace. Every morning, the Ziguang Pavilion get the first glimpse of the sunlight and the scenery there was breathtaking. Only privileged guests would be allowed to enter there. Now that the celestial market was about to start, only six guests stayed at the pavilion. All of them were either famous demon kings, highly cultivated Daoist and one of them was an important guest from the Taishang Daoist Sect.

The Tongzi did not expect the Xuantong Demon King would assign to him to welcome such an honorable guest.

Shen Lian and Jimeng did not wait for long until a flying ark landed from the sky. The flying ark was spacious and a Tongzi was standing on it.

Shen Lian turned his head to the platform and said, “Xuantong Demon King has sent someone to pick you.”

The Tongzi first looked at Jimeng and his troops and then secretly sized Shen Lian up. With his vision, he could tell that this young Daoist was someone incredible. With just one look, the Tongzi felt like he has seen the vastness of the ocean of clouds and had an extensive sense of amplitude.

The troopers went on the flying ark with the Tongzi.

The flying ark was large and extremely stable.

Tongzi first turned to Jimeng, “Little master of the Dongyi tribe, our King summoned me to bring you to him.” He then turned to Shen Lian and said, “And Sir, I will arrange a room for you to rest at the Ziguang Pavilion.” He communicated with Jimeng with spiritual telepathy but used the common language when speaking to Shen Lian.

Shen Lian nodded his head gently.

Jimeng nodded his head too and turned to Shen Lian, “I have yet to ask how should I address you?”

Shen Lian smiled and answered, “You can call me Mister Qing Xia.”

He replied in the Dongyi dialect and the Tongzi had no idea what he was saying.

Shortly, the flying ark arrived at the celestial market, also the territory of the Xuantong Demon King. Shen Lian briefly analyzed the place and the Demon King had definitely spent quite a bit of it. Just the Forbidden Technique of Xiaozhu Clouds itself had shown the depth of the Demon King’s mana. Even if he was not as powerful as a celestial demon like Mister Sea, he was probably not far away from that level.

The cultivation of the demon race was different from humans. After shapeshifting, their power could only be estimated. Unless the demon achieved the supreme level of the ‘Great Saint’, otherwise it was hard to say if there were any breakthrough in the middle period.

Actually, this was nothing strange as the Nine States of Cultivation did not exist back then. During the ancient times, achieving Huandan was known as the ‘Jin Dan way of Dao’ and the next stage where they departed from being a commoner was known as ‘Tian Xian’,heavenly immortals.

The Tongzi firstly invited Shen Lian to the Ziguang Pavilion. The gap between the pavilions was big and there were nine independent structures that coincided with the numbers of Jiugong, ‘Nine Palace’. However, the Qi of vitality in this area was not considered strong.

The moment Tongzi arrived, a servant came to welcome. She was a human cultivator but her level of cultivation was low and it seemed like she just reached Qiaodong. The servant had a complicated Qi of Dao but she had a complete body with a long figure and a pair of arms that was semi-exposed; she looked a little pale but had a pretty face. The girl secretly analyzed Shen Lian and thought he was a brilliant person.

Tongzi said to the servant, “This is an honorable guest of the King. Please treat him well. Also, which three rooms of the Ziguang Pavilion are still vacant?” There were nine floors to the Ziguang Pavilion and each floor could only host one person. Despite that, it has never been full. The pavilion was extremely quiet on most days and if it was not for the celestial market that offered several precious treasures, people would not have come.

The servant accepted the orders and replied with a soft voice, “Regarding your question, the three available rooms are the first, fifth and the seventh room.”

Tongzi turned to Shen Lian and asked, “Zhenren, where would you like to stay?”

Shen Lian replied, “The seventh room.”

Tongzi nodded his head and said, “She will bring you there. I will have to bring them to meet my King.” He was referring to the Jimeng and the Dongyi tribe troopers. As Shen Lian was an experienced cultivator, Tongzi would never let Shen Lian wait for too long and that was why he personally ushered Shen Lian to the Ziguang Pavilion.

Shen Lian smiled, “Sure, please go ahead.”

Tongzi bowed and left.

The servant said, “It’s rare for the manager to personally welcome an honorable guest. Please follow me in.”

She carried herself gracefully.

Shen Lian leisurely followed behind her and asked, “Considering that you are of the human race, why are you working here?”

The servant smiled and replied him in a gentle voice, “My name is Fenghe, you can call me by my name. The sea around the area was blessed by the King and that prevented much unnecessary dispute. The King said that demons can be rude and not detailed oriented, and that would easily piss our celestial guests off. That’s why he recruited low leveled cultivators that were scattered around the area to see if anyone is interested to work here.

The servants are grateful for the King’s kindness and that’s why we agreed to come here and obey the King’s demands. Besides, we always have special guests like you during the celestial market season and maybe these honorable guests would offer some cultivation tips and that’s the best thing that can happen to us.”

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Her words have changed Shen Lian’s impression of the Xuantong Demon King. This demon king was indeed different from other demon cultivators and his thoughts and ideals were more like of the human race.

The purpose of organizing the celestial market was for enlightenment as after all, civilization began with trade.

During the ancient times, the rise of human beings was made possible because of the ability to utilize tools to communicate with others. Cultivators were ahead of the demon race because demon race was disorganized and extremely bad at exchanging opinions. The accomplishments of a supreme demon king were often accompanied by luck and opportunities, and the journey was generally very excruciating. The population of the demon race expanded rapidly over the years but those who achieved the level of the demon king were not anywhere stronger than the human race. Furthermore, it was tough for them to unite together, let alone emphasize on inheritance like the human race.

Shen Lian smiled, “You sure made Xuantong Dao friend sound really interesting. Does he usually meet people?” Since Xuantong Demon King was a unique demon, Shen Lian addressed him as a Dao friend. To Shen Lian, he did not care about the cultivation level of a person. What matters to him was the mind and wisdom of a person.

If he could not make any connection with a person, then that particular person would not interest him.

Fenghe answered with her head down, “You’ll have to ask the manager about that. But it shouldn’t be difficult for the guests of the Ziguang Pavilion to meet the King.”

Shen Lian nodded his head and followed Fenghe to the seventh floor.

Every small structure of the Ziguang Pavilion were known as the Ziguang Pavilion. What sets them apart was the number from one to nine. The decorations and facilities of the nine floors were similar to each other and very simplistic.

There was nothing valuable in the room but it felt fresh and clean.

Shen Lian thought to himself, “Xuantong Demon King sure isn’t vulgar. I expected he would decorate the area for honorable guests lavishly to make it look extravagant. Who knew that it would look so minimalistic.”

Judging from every aspect, Xuantong Demon King could be considered as a Daoist in demon cultivation. Shen Lian could not help but get more curious about him.

Fenghe pointed at the bell on the top right-hand corner and said, “Please use this bell to summon me if you need anything. The King has some magical tea here and if you want to drink, I can brew it for you now.”

Shen Lian responded, “Well then, please make me a pot of tea.”

He was not in a hurry to dismiss Fenghe but instead, he leisurely observed the room. It was spacious with no bed but a futon weaved by an unknown grass. With just one look, Shen Lian could tell that the futon was weaved using the Qingxing Ruyi chant.

This was an exclusive spell by the Water Moon Temple and it was very useful for concentration and meditation. He wondered if this futon was a gift from the Water Moon Temple or if the Xuantong Demon King knew how to use it. He had heard stories about the king picking up several spells from a different sect, and even sneaked into the Xuantian Sect once. Maybe he indeed learned the spell.

A seven-stringed zither was placed in front of the futon.

Looking outwards from the side, he could see the vast ocean of clouds and could hear the sound of the wind.

It sure was fun to be able to stay in a place like this once in a while

Even if Shen Lian was not picky about his accommodation, he felt that this place was a little too serene and quiet.

Soon enough, the fragrant of the magical tea spread throughout the room. Shen Lian looked at the tea table as Fenghe made him tea. Snow-white tea foams floated on the surface of the teacup and it shined along with Fenghe’s wrist.

Once the tea was brewed, Fenghe politely served him, “Please enjoy your tea.”

Shen Lian smiled, “I don’t feel like having tea now, please have if on behalf of me.” It was the Xueya Tea and it was rich in soulful aura. Cultivators who took it would have a peaceful state of mind and it was good for the body. But to Shen Lian, this cup of tea could not satisfy him.

Fenghe did not know to drink or not to drink and responded, “You’re putting me in a tough situation.”

Shen Lian replied, “Go ahead. This tea is good for you but it’s’ nothing to me.”

This was the first time Fenghe had encountered someone so approachable like Shen Lian. She was very touched by his thoughtfulness and did not know how to thank him. All she could do was to finish the cup of tea and bow to him deeply.

Shen Lian allowed her to bow once and then asked, “When will the celestial market commence?”

Fenghe replied, “It will start in the next ten days.”

Shen Lian asked, “Do I trade with a system of barter or something else?”

There was no standardized form of currency in the world of cultivation. Low leveled cultivators would generally use objects with refined Qi of vitality, spiritual stones, elixirs or jewelry that contained Qi of vitality. Cultivators who achieved Huandan and above could easily occupy a territory that was rich in Qi of vitality to sustain themselves.

These items were no use to them as they could just use some energy and absorb the vitality of heaven and earth.

If this was used as a trading currency, many immortal Daoren of Dao sects would have used it to become rich.

Thus, the barter system was used although it may seem backward compared to the currency trade in the human world. This system was more relevant and practical as a Daoist who was willing to trade would have a corresponding demand. It was a trade that compliments both parties.

Fenghe who benefitted from Shen Lian’s kindness replied him with even more courteous, “You could convert your instruments and Dao talisman to Yiyuan Elixir with the King and someone would evaluate the value of the item. We would never put our guests in an unfavorable situation. A genuinely good item would garner a price that matches it and the seller could then determine if it is of the right price.”