Chapter 176
From the meat shop, Wang Lu took his two best friends and went towards the city center. After confirming the basic environment of this city, Wang Lu felt at ease knowing that the Beast Master School control of this Moral Enlightenment City was limited; it might be assumed that their division didn’t treat this city as that important, and their main force was still in the vicinity of the Grand Cloud Mountain. The one practicing vegetarian here were mostly their younger disciple of Qi Cultivating and Foundation Establishment Stage.
The only troublesome issue here was the fact that these young disciples could go rampant by forcing their view on the city populace clearly indicated that the influence of the local power or even the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals was on the decline… perhaps even the relevant institution had already been closed.
For a city the size of this Moral Enlightenment City, there would always be offices set up by local big sects or Union of Ten Thousand Immortals to receive the wandering cultivators. At the city center, Wang Lu saw more than ten floating houses, as well as large numbers of Immortal Cultivation facilities. Visible cultivators present were also very common there. That being the case, naturally, there should be no shortage of offices. If there were Beast Master School people looking for trouble now, however, it might not be so smooth.
After looking for an hour plus several times asking for directions, Wang Lu finally found the office of the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals in the Moral Enlightenment City; it was a quaint but sophisticated small building. On the doorway hung a plate that was written with: Moral Enlightenment City Office of Union of Ten Thousand Immortals, Grand Cloud Hall, Cloud Region Department… It seemed like the office head of this place has been deeply influenced by the vernacular movement that the words on the signboard were very easy to read.
People of the Moral Enlightenment City had obviously already known about this office. Although it was located within the city center, it was easily overlooked as not many pedestrians passed by, and there were no guards at the entrance either. Wang Lu walked passed the gate and saw a single spacious hall. A girl around twenty-two or twenty-three years old sat behind a counter with a seemingly bored look. Seeing Wang Lu and the others came in, she immediately hung a seriously lacking in warmth smile. “Fellow Daoists, welcome to the Moral Enlightenment City. Please register your information here as per the regulation, then you can receive the guidebook of our place and enjoy the convenient services that correspond with your identity…”
This was basically the universal rule everywhere. From his mustard seed bag, Wang Lu took out his and Liu Li’s documents and handed them over, and then waited for the verification.
“Oh, you’re Yue Lu and Yue Xian from Yue Family of the Celestial Water Lake of the Cloud Region?” After reading the information in the document through a spell, the girl in charge of the reception saw the unique seal of the Celestial Water Lake of Yue Family and nodded.
Celestial Water Lake, this Noble Immortal Cultivation Family, though not powerful, has years of inheritance, thus, could reluctantly be counted as a prestigious house—at least in the local area. The cultivation base of the two cultivators before her seemed average, but since they were of noble origin, at least they knew the rules and etiquette, and thus would not cause any trouble.
However, she could never think that these two shining credentials were actually forged by Yue Xinyao on Wang Lu’s behest… On this trip in the Cloud Region, at least in the beginning, Wang Lu planned to act low-key. Previously, when they entered the Cloud Region boundary, they camouflaged the Cloud Wave Boat so that its silver coating made it look like a second-hand flying boat, yet inline with the Yue Family cultivator’s identity.
“Then, please receive these two guide handbooks. They described the basic situation and precautions in the Moral Enlightenment City and the surrounding area. In addition…”
Without waiting for the receptionist girl to finish, Wang Lu directly put down three pieces of spirit stones on the table. “Bring out the advance handbook.”
Seeing those spirit stones, the girl’s face immediately lit up, and she hurriedly pulled out a thick, obviously more comprehensive, guide book. More importantly, the book wasn’t free, however, it was only priced at two spirit stones; she would take the additional piece as her extra income.
Wang Lu took that advance handbook and then handed a piece of spirit stone. “I want to look for someone.”
The girl was startled at first, but then she seemed embarrassed. “Em, I’m not trying to deceive you, but if it were two or three years ago, let alone looking for someone, as long as the price is right, we could even buy individuals for you. However, now that the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals is preparing to withdraw from the Moral Enlightenment City… although several offices that do basic operations are still maintained, no one has actually man them. Even if you pay in advance, we can hardly come up with the results.”
That said, the girl still quietly took that piece of spirit stone.
Wang Lu nodded and said, “I can see that this Moral Enlightenment City office is indeed a bit rundown.”
“However, although we can’t provide you with various kinds of business anymore, I have stayed here for several years, so if it’s just a simple news, I can still help you look it up.” The girl’s eyes were sparkling as she said these.
Wang Lu chuckled and then handed over five pieces of spirit stones. “The person that I want to find is Zen Master Gou Ruo.”
“Zen Master Gou Ruo?” The girl immediately furrowed her brows. “Em… I haven’t heard any famous monk cultivators nearby.”
The girl tightly grasped the five spirit stones with her hand, not wanting to let them go. However, she really couldn’t think of anyone named Zen Master Gou Ruo, which made her gradually anxious. Although this young, handsome guy of Yue Family was quite extravagant, he was clearly not a fool. Profiting for a bit of extra income was quite alright, but if she annoyed him… not many people in the office could help her today.
While she was stewing in anxiousness, the girl suddenly saw a mottled dog, which was gnawing a piece of bone, by Wang Lu’s foot; her eyes immediately went bright.
“I don’t know the man you’re looking for, but I can give you a piece of news.” The girl somewhat proudly said, “In this Moral Enlightenment City and even in the surrounding area of Grand Cloud Mountain, it is best if you don’t walk around with your spirit pet so publicly, especially if your spirit pet is a dog.”
Wang Lu asked, “How so?”
The girl cautiously leaned forward and then whispered, “Because of Beast Master Sect. Beast Master Sect, you know? Recently, they have been collecting a variety of spirit pet, particularly pet dogs. Whenever they saw one, they immediately took it, even by force or deceit.”
Wang Lu smiled and kicked the dumb dog’s hind legs with his foot. “Collecting pet dog? They probably look down on this kind of mottled dog variety.”
The girl shook her head. “That’s hard to say. I heard that as long as it has intelligence, it belongs to the category A spirit pet, and they would take them all. They’re probably going to do something big.”
Wang Lu asked, “Are they planning to make a feast of hundred dogs?”
The girl was surprised. “Don’t say those words casually like that!”
However, the warning eventually came too late. As soon as she said that, they heard two cold humph from outside the building; there were two cold looking white clad women standing outside.
That receptionist girl of the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals immediately shuddered; she hurriedly said, “Today the office closes early. I have to close the door.”
Wang Lu also no longer cared anymore. He patted Liu Li who was eating snacks and gave a kick to that stupid mottled dog. “Let’s go.”
——
Outside the door, the two women blocked their path. These two women have rather unfriendly eyes.
Wang Lu also, in turn, looked at them. Needless to say, they were from the Beast Master School. They seemed to be of twenty-six or twenty-seven years old with cultivation base of middle-level Foundation Establishment. That being the case, one could surmise that their natural aptitude, even within the Beast Master School itself, was just average—after all, though they looked like twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, their actual age was over thirty. If even the ageless method couldn’t save them, how could their natural talent be any good?
Compared to Liu Li who had cultivated for more than ten years and had biological age around twenty-five or twenty-six but appeared like a fifteen or sixteen years old teenager—not to mention her appearance wouldn’t change too much her entire life, the contrast was really too strong.
These two middle-aged women stared at Wang Lu for some time until finally, one of them with big round face warned, “Be careful what you say later on. Seeing that you’re also a person with spirit pet, you shouldn’t have said this kind of despicable joke!”
Then they no longer blocked the path because previously, they had also heard the origin of Wang Lu and Liu Li. Although the Celestial Water Lake of Yue Family wasn’t strong, ultimately, it was still a noble Immortal Cultivation Family. There was no need to make a fuss just because of a joke.
However, as she prepared to turn around, the other woman pulled her sleeve. That woman with big round face slightly gawked for a moment and then as her eyes followed where her Martial Sister pointed at, she was immediately startled.
At this time, Wang Lu didn’t have the mood to listen to these two middle-age women’s crap and was ready to walk away. However, when he just took a step, he heard the woman with big round face behind him speak.
“Fellow Daoist, please wait a moment.”
“What the hell!?” Wang Lu was incredibly surprised; in this broad daylight, these two ugly middle-aged women actually wanted to conspire against him!?
Are you of Beast Master School or Yinyang Sect? Otherwise, how could you be this desperate!?
The next moment, however, that woman with big round face pointed at the mottled dog in front of Wang Lu. “May I ask, this little fellow should be your pet right? Would you mind parting away with your treasured one [1]?”
Wang Lu frowned. “Cut… treasure?”
Then he lightly kicked the stupid dog with his foot. “Hey, they say they want to castrate you, what do you think?”
“Woof!” Panic stricken, the extremely hard piece of marinated-in-soy-sauce bone immediately crushed by its jaws.
The woman with big round face raised her eyebrows. “I mean, this thing is fated with the Beast Master School, so we intend to buy it.”
Wang Lu smiled. “How much do you want to pay?”
The woman with big round face hesitated because she knew that the other side was not a poor cultivator so it would be too unrealistic to come up with low price.
“I will give you one thousand spirit stones!” While shouting, the woman with big round face felt as if her whole body ached; that number was her several years of saving!
Wang Lu revealed a contemptuous smile of “someone looking down on the poor”, then he turned around and walked away.
“Wait a minute! It’s two thousand!” Unexpectedly, her Junior Sister raised the price.
As a cultivator of the Beast Master School, their cultivation base was not high, but their eyesight in discerning spirit pet was quite good. Though on the surface there was nothing special with Wang Lu’s mottled dog, its body hid an astonishing power. Although they couldn’t distinguish its breed, they at least were absolutely certain it was not an ordinary one!
Such a spirit beast would really be a waste if left in the hands of people of the Yue Family. However, if they could obtain this thing and present it to the elder within their sect, they would enjoy endless benefits. The two thousand spirit stones that they must come up this time would result in, at the very least, ten or twenty times profit in the future!
Unfortunately, this kind of one thousand or two thousand spirit stones was not unusual to Wang Lu. He strode away in big strides without any regret at all.
These two Senior and Junior Sisters looked at each other in dismay. However, when they were pondering over whether they had more valuable objects in their possession, they saw Wang Lu stop his footsteps before turning around and asking, “Money, I do not lack. However, I do want to find someone.”
These Senior and Junior Sisters were overjoyed and immediately said, “Rest assured, all the area in the vicinity of this Grand Cloud Mountain has already long been the site of our Beast Master School; even if it is a bug, we can still find it!”
“I’m looking for Zen Master Gou Ruo.”
“Zen Master Gou Ruo?” The woman with big round face turned awkward, obviously, she had never heard of such baldy. Her Junior Sister, on the other hand, rolled her eyes and then said with a smile, “I seem to have some impression.”
Wang Lu raised his eyebrows. “Oh?”
“I heard my Master said that person is an expert.”
The Junior Sister had been carefully observing Wang Lu’s reaction as she said those words. Unfortunately, Wang Lu seemed indifferent; he did not react at all.
“This is not a good place to talk, why don’t we find a place and have a cup of tea?”
With that, she tried to pose some seductive posture. This Junior Sister was indeed a lot more beautiful than her Senior Sister.
At the same time, she couldn’t suppress some ominous light that flickered from her eyes. In this Moral Enlightenment City, there were several areas that the people of Beast Master School could do whatever they please.
Wang Lu froze for a moment.
Then he decisively reached out his hand to hug Liu Li on the shoulder.
“I’m sorry, I already have someone that I like.”