ATPnovel Chapter 431 Eight Great Families! The Influence of the Old Eunuch!
Chapter 431 Eight Great Families! The Influence of the Old Eunuch!
The waiter glanced around, and seeing that none of the other three tables of guests were paying attention, he lowered his voice and said, "Senior, you're too kind. On the surface, the City Lord's Mansion calls the shots in Old Dragon City. City Lord Long Xiaotian is at the early Nascent Soul stage and has been ruling the city for three hundred years; no one dares to offend him. But in reality..."
He paused, then lowered his voice even further: "The eight great families are the ones who truly control Old Dragon City."
"The Eight Great Families?" Chen Fan asked with curiosity.
"Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li, Zhou, Wu, Zheng, Wang," the waiter rattled off, "These eight families all come from beyond the realm, with unfathomable backgrounds. Take the Zhao family, for example; I've heard they're from some Great Yu Cultivation Kingdom, and they have more than one Nascent Soul cultivator in their family. The Qian family isn't simple either; they have close ties with the Great Zhou Cultivation Kingdom..."
"Outside the realm?" Chen Fan feigned surprise. "Isn't the sealed land inescapable?"
The waiter chuckled, "Senior, you must be new to Old Dragon City. Just because you can't get out doesn't mean you can't get in. I've heard that every hundred years, the seal loosens, and the powerful forces from beyond the realm take the opportunity to send people in. The eight great families migrated here during that time and have been rooted in Old Dragon City for almost a thousand years."
Chen Fan suddenly realized, and poured the waiter another cup of wine: "What is the relationship between the eight major families and the eight major sects?"
"We keep to ourselves." The waiter downed his drink in one gulp and started talking, "The Eight Sects govern eight kingdoms, and Old Dragon City is a no-man's-land. The eight major families have been operating here for many years, and their influence is deeply entrenched. Take the City Lord's Mansion for example. Although the City Lord of Dragon City is surnamed Dragon, he married a daughter of the Zheng family, and his son married the eldest daughter of the Wang family... Tell me, isn't that a mess?"
Chen Fan seemed to be deep in thought.
The waiter added, "However, the eight great families are not a monolithic entity. The Zhao, Qian, Sun, and Li families are close, while the Zhou, Wu, Zheng, and Wang families form a united front, and there is much open and covert competition among them."
Just then, another person came in through the door.
He was a tall, thin man dressed in a gray cloth outfit, and his cultivation level was at the late Foundation Establishment stage. As soon as he entered, he went straight to the table of the three Core Formation cultivators, bowed, and said, "Elders, I have inquired thoroughly."
The cultivator surnamed Zhao raised his eyes and said, "Speak."
"News has come from the Qingyun Sect that Daoist Qinglian immediately went into seclusion after returning to the sect, and his injuries are said to be quite severe. Zhou Shan has also returned to Old Dragon City to report back to the Wang family," the tall, thin man said quickly. "Furthermore, it seems the eight sects intend to form an alliance against the Great Abyss!"
"As expected." The scholar surnamed Qian closed his folding fan. "The Eight Sects can't sit still anymore."
Madam Sun frowned: "What about the old eunuch? Has he been found?"
"No." The tall, thin man shook his head. "He disappeared without a trace after that great battle. Some guess he's still in Dayuan, others guess he went to Caogu, after all, Tianxiangzi was seriously injured, and he has a close relationship with Caogu."
The cultivator surnamed Zhao pondered for a moment, then waved his hand: "Keep an eye on it, and report back immediately if there's any news."
"Yes." The tall, thin man bowed and withdrew.
Chen Fan silently drank his wine, making a mental note of all the information.
After several rounds of drinks, the three Core Formation cultivators paid their bill and left.
The one-eyed old man also got up unsteadily, left a few spirit stones, and left.
Only Chen Fan and the two Foundation Establishment cultivators remained in the tavern.
After sitting for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Chen Fan finally got up and left.
It was already afternoon when I left Zuixianju.
The autumn sun hung high in the sky, and there were even more pedestrians on the street. Chen Fan mingled in the crowd, seemingly wandering aimlessly, but in reality, his divine sense always enveloped a hundred feet around him.
He paused slightly as he passed a shop called "Wanbaolou".
The shop is three stories high with an impressive facade, and cultivators come and go in a constant stream. In the lower right corner of the plaque, there is an inconspicuous character "Zhao".
"The Zhao family's businesses..." Chen Fan thought to himself, and stepped inside.
The shop was very spacious, divided into sections for pills, magical artifacts, talismans, and materials. Upon seeing Chen Fan enter, the shop assistant greeted him warmly: "What would you like, senior? Our shop has everything—pills, magical artifacts, talismans, and materials—at fair prices."
Chen Fan glanced at the counter, his gaze settling on a row of jade bottles: "Do you have any pills to nourish the soul?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" The shopkeeper quickly led him to the medicine section. "Second-grade Nourishing Spirit Pills, three in a bottle, 120 spirit stones. Third-grade Soul Condensing Pills, one in a bottle, 500 spirit stones. We also have fourth-grade Soul Stabilizing Pills, but those are the shop's prized possessions, and the shopkeeper must personally..."
"Take a look at the Nourishing Spirit Pill," Chen Fan interrupted him.
The shop assistant took out a jade bottle and uncorked it.
The aroma of the pill was overwhelming; it was indeed a second-grade Spirit Nourishing Pill, of above-average quality.
Chen Fan took it, looked at it, and shook his head: "The medicine isn't potent enough."
The shopkeeper was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "If you find the second-grade pills insufficient, senior, we have even better ones. However... you'll have to go to the third floor."
"The third floor?" Chen Fan raised an eyebrow.
"The third floor is the VIP area, only for seniors at the Core Formation stage or above, or... guests who spend over five thousand spirit stones," the waiter said cautiously. "If you need high-grade pills, I can guide you up."
Chen Fan hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Lead the way."
The waiter was overjoyed and quickly led Chen Fan through the lobby and up the side stairs to the third floor.
Unlike the bustling first and second floors, the third floor was extremely quiet. The entire floor was divided into several private rooms, separated by screens, with soft carpets on the floor and landscape paintings hanging on the walls. The spiritual atmosphere was several times stronger than that of the downstairs.
"Please have a seat, senior. I'll go and invite the manager." The waiter led Chen Fan into a private room, served him some spiritual tea, and bowed before leaving.
Chen Fan sat down, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.
The tea was a fine "Cloud and Mist Spirit Tea," with a sweet aftertaste and a calming effect. He sipped the tea while looking around.
The private room was elegantly furnished, with tables and chairs made of century-old spiritual wood. The landscape painting on the wall was actually a magical artifact, with clouds and mist flowing slowly in the painting and faint fluctuations of a magic array.
"They're certainly willing to invest," Chen Fan thought to himself.
Shortly after, footsteps were heard.
The curtain was lifted, and a well-to-do middle-aged man entered, dressed in a dark gold robe, with a fair complexion, no beard, and a friendly smile.
His cultivation level was at the early stage of Core Formation, and his aura was calm and steady, clearly indicating that he had long held a high position.
"My name is Zhao Wenchang, manager of Wanbaolou," the middle-aged man said with a cupped hand and a smile. "I heard from the shop assistant that you need high-grade pills to nourish your soul?"
Chen Fan stood up and returned the greeting: "Chen Mu, a rogue cultivator, greets Manager Zhao."
"Fellow Daoist Chen, please have a seat." Zhao Wenchang sat down in the main seat, gestured for the waiter to serve tea, and then asked, "I wonder what kind of elixir Fellow Daoist Chen needs? There are many kinds of elixirs for nourishing the soul, each with different effects, so we need to prescribe the right one for the right condition."
Chen Fan pondered for a moment and said, "To be honest, a friend of mine was injured in a battle, damaging his soul's essence. Ordinary spirit-nourishing pills are no longer of much use. I've heard that Wanbaolou has many treasures, so I came to try my luck."
"Damaged the very essence?" Zhao Wenchang frowned slightly. "That's troublesome. Injuries to the essence of the soul can only be healed with elixirs of at least grade four. Our shop does have a grade four Soul Restoration Pill, but..."
"But what?"
"The price is not cheap." Zhao Wenchang held up three fingers. "Three thousand high-grade spirit stones."
Chen Fan's heart stirred.