"This Young Master Li Xuan, his background must be quite significant," Qiu Ce mused aloud after seeing Li Xuan off, returning to the private room. Su Ya, standing by, nodded in agreement, considering that he could casually gift two million high-grade spirit stones just for tea.
"However, making friends with such a person wouldn't be bad," Qiu Ce said with a smile, standing up and waving his hand. A spatial ring landed before Su Ya. "These two hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones are my personal expense for your hard work. As for your commission, it's as usual."
With that, Qiu Ce turned and left, a satisfied smile on his face. Although he could tell Li Xuan intended to associate with him, or perhaps was interested in his position as a manager of the Star Radiance Merchant Guild, as long as it was within his authority, extending some convenience to Li Xuan wouldn't be an issue.
Su Ya accepted the spatial ring with trembling hands, her face filled with excitement. Even if Qiu Ce hadn't given her a single spirit stone, Su Ya wouldn't have dared to express any dissatisfaction. Moreover, the mention of "commission as usual" had her overjoyed for a long time. Even with a commission rate of five-thousandths, that amounted to two hundred and forty thousand. xxs 12
In an inn, Li Xuan casually set up a barrier before his mind stirred, and he took out maps of the Star Cloud Continent and the celestial map. After examining both thoroughly, Li Xuan gained a clearer understanding of the Star Cloud Continent and its surrounding continental worlds.
Following that, Li Xuan directly retrieved the jade slip containing intelligence on the Star Cloud Continent. As his divine sense probed into it, streams of information flooded his mind.
It took a full hour and a half before Li Xuan slowly opened his eyes. He had to admit, the Star Radiance Merchant Guild's intelligence gathering was exceptionally detailed, even including significant events within third-rate forces.
Naturally, Li Xuan focused more on the first-rate forces and the Three Sects and One Palace, as these were the entities that posed a threat to him.
What piqued Li Xuan's interest was a piece of intelligence within the jade slip concerning one of the Three Sects and One Palace: the Body Sect.
According to the information, the Body Sect would be recruiting disciples in three months' time, with no entry requirements. This was excellent news for Li Xuan.
Although Li Xuan's physique had already reached the Golden Bone Realm, he had sensed after leaving the Vast Continent that his body had not yet reached its limit. However, even by tempering his body with sword qi and sword intent, the effect was minimal.
Furthermore, Li Xuan's current body was already a sword body, and tempering a sword body with sword qi had lost its previous effectiveness. As for the Nine Revolutions of Spirit Grinding, while it could enhance his physical strength, Li Xuan felt uncomfortable without a clear direction.
The Body Sect, on the other hand, was a sect entirely dedicated to body cultivation. According to the intelligence, the Body Sect's leader possessed terrifying strength, his physical body having attained sainthood, capable of shattering the heavens with a single punch. Joining such a sect would undoubtedly allow Li Xuan to further advance his mastery of the physical body.
Li Xuan understood that his current cultivation had four directions:
One: Cultivating realms.
Two: Cultivating the sword dao.
Three: Cultivating the soul.
Four: Cultivating the physical body.
For realm cultivation, Li Xuan only needed to absorb spirit swords to break through. Sword dao cultivation required diligent practice, with no shortcuts. Soul cultivation could be enhanced using the Nine Revolutions of Spirit Grinding, as Li Xuan's soul strength was currently only at the Wandering God level, and the Nine Revolutions of Spirit Grinding could only withstand the sixth turn.
As for physical body cultivation, this was Li Xuan's current weakness. The Body Sect was undoubtedly Li Xuan's best option.
"There are still three months, so no need to rush," Li Xuan thought, then with a thought, he entered the Town Prison.
As Li Xuan entered, the Heavenly Dao Brush and the Azure Spirit Pagoda appeared before him. With the five powerful individuals within the first level of the Town Prison all having departed, Li Xuan felt a sense of loss. However, he quickly collected his thoughts and then with a thought, five King Swords shot out.
In the next moment, a King Sword was inserted into each of the five stone coffins.
*Hum!*
With a humming sound, Li Xuan felt the Town Prison vibrate slightly. Fortunately, the vibration quickly subsided, and Li Xuan's worries dissipated. Not only that, but Li Xuan then noticed that a set of stairs had appeared before him, leading to a gateway.
"Young Master, this is the entrance to the second level," the Heavenly Dao Brush said.
Li Xuan nodded slightly. Previously, the five stone coffins in the first level were suppressed by Heavenly Swords. After Li Xuan released Shi Lezhi and the others, the five golden swords were expended. The addition of the five King Swords had stabilized the first level, making it natural for the entrance to the second level to appear.
Looking at the gateway that had appeared, Li Xuan remained silent for a moment, not entering immediately. The Heavenly Dao Brush and the Azure Spirit Pagoda also did not speak, as the choice rested entirely with Li Xuan. Ultimately, they were merely Li Xuan's spirit artifacts, and making decisions for their master would be overstepping.
"The cultivators in the second level will undoubtedly be more powerful than those in the first. If they are kind, it would be fine, but if they are malevolent, it could be a disaster for me. Therefore, without absolute self-preservation capabilities, I will temporarily refrain from entering the second level."
After a long silence, Li Xuan slowly spoke.
Although Li Xuan was somewhat eager to enter the second level, as each level contained something left for him by his master, Li Xuan decided it would be best to wait until he broke through to the Saint realm before entering. Ultimately, his strength was still insufficient.
"Young Master, I actually think you could still go in. After all, even if you cultivate to the Saint realm, your strength would still not compare to those in the first level. Those in the second level are clearly even stronger," the Heavenly Dao Brush suddenly said.
Hearing this, the Azure Spirit Pagoda chimed in, "Little Brush, are you trying to trick the Master again?"
"You broken pagoda, what do you mean 'trick'!" The Heavenly Dao Brush was instantly enraged.
Li Xuan, however, was taken aback. There was something more to what the Azure Spirit Pagoda had said.
"Wait a moment, Little Pagoda, did you just say Little Brush is trying to trick me?" Li Xuan held up a hand, stopping the Azure Spirit Pagoda and Heavenly Dao Brush, and asked.
"Master, this broken brush is no good," the Azure Spirit Pagoda immediately replied.
The Heavenly Dao Brush, hearing this, lunged towards the Azure Spirit Pagoda. "You broken pagoda, believe it or not, I'll arrange for you!"
"Come on, who's afraid of whom!" The Azure Spirit Pagoda was not weak either, and enraged, it lunged towards the Heavenly Dao Brush.
Thus, to Li Xuan's stunned gaze, a brush and a pagoda began fighting within the first level.
However, being both treasure-grade existences, they could not harm each other. After a quarter of an hour, the Azure Spirit Pagoda and the Heavenly Dao Brush, seemingly fatigued, fell to the ground.
"You broken brush!"
"Pah, you broken pagoda!"
Li Xuan: "..."