Immortality begins with inheriting the myriad arts of cultivation.

Chapter 163 Rejection of Request

I received an invitation from Li Ping.

Gu Musheng arrived quickly.

Li Ping immediately asked him about Dai Sangyu's annulment of the engagement, and Gu Musheng nodded to confirm the authenticity of the news.

At the same time, he also told Li Ping that Huang Yunzi was not threatening him but was serious.

The merchant guilds affiliated with Ziyun Valley, Xijianchi, Qingmu Sect, and several other sects closed down and left the Immortal City not long ago.

In addition, all caravans transporting spiritual rice, spiritual herbs and other resources to the Immortal City were stopped by the three sects and were not allowed to set foot in the Cloud Mist Mountains.

Furthermore, the three sects organized patrol teams to apprehend all cultivators who attempted to smuggle themselves into the Immortal City.

As for the cultivators who left the immortal city, they did not stop them.

The effects of all this by the three sects have already been faintly visible in the Immortal City in just a few days.

For example, the price of monster materials began to decline, while the prices of finished products such as spirit talismans, spirit weapons, and spirit rice began to rise slowly.

Especially for resources produced in spiritual lands, such as spirit rice and elixirs, the Immortal City is extremely dependent on the Western Wilderness for transportation and supplies. After the three sects cut off the supply, the Immortal City has no way to make up for the shortfall in the short term.

Speaking of the Immortal City's predicament, Gu Musheng specifically reminded Li Ping: "By the way, brother, you absolutely mustn't try anything opportunistic this time. Master is no longer involved in worldly affairs; it's Senior Sister Dai who's handling these matters. She's someone who hates evil as if it were her enemy. If she catches you doing something wrong, your life might be in danger."

Li Ping nodded. He wasn't short of spirit stones, so naturally he wouldn't do anything speculative.

The speculation during the last beast tide was also Gu Musheng's idea, and had nothing to do with him.

But Gu Musheng's words reassured him. The three sects, including Ziyun Valley, only prohibited cultivators from coming to the Immortal City, but did not prohibit them from leaving the Immortal City.

This means that he can leave at any time if he wants.

Before Gu Musheng left, Li Ping reminded him again: "Be careful. Also, if anything happens in an emergency, remember to tell me immediately."

Gu Musheng readily agreed to Li Ping's instructions.

Zhang Tie arrived in the evening. As soon as he arrived, he apologized to Li Ping and explained why he was late.

As the logistics manager of the Immortal City, he had to take care of the overall supply of materials for tens of thousands of cultivators in the city during this period. He was so busy that he was almost constantly on the go.

When Bailin went to find him, he was still busy.

I've been so busy until now that I finally had time to see Li Ping.

Li Ping didn't take it seriously and asked him about the conflict between the Immortal City and Purple Cloud Valley.

Zhang Tie's words were largely the same as Gu Musheng's, but as the person in charge of logistics, he was more pessimistic about the situation in Xiancheng.

Rogue cultivators come to the Immortal City to earn spirit stones and acquire cultivation resources. However, once the prices of goods in the Immortal City skyrocket while the prices of raw materials continue to fall, making it unprofitable for them, they will leave without hesitation.

Zhang Tie believes that if the three sects continue to blockade the city, the city's output can only support about one-fifth of the existing cultivators at most. The other rogue cultivators will have to leave the city and find another way to make a living.

Of course, in this situation, cultivation families that occupy an entire immortal mountain outside the immortal city will greatly benefit.

With the import of spiritual rice and herbs blocked, resources produced in their spiritual lands can fetch high prices.

Therefore, Cheng Yao's previous decision has now brought the Wang family a major development opportunity.

Soon, Zhang Tie also left.

Li Ping shook his head slightly and returned to the training room to go into seclusion.

Actually, he was slightly annoyed.

The feud between Immortal City and Purple Cloud Valley had been going on for several days, yet he was completely unaware of it.

Zhang Tie and Gu Musheng didn't tell him the news right away; he eventually learned about it from Yu Menghan.

Of course, they are also quite busy with their own affairs, which is understandable.

Moreover, after Li Ping expressed his desire to see them, they immediately dropped everything and came to see him.

Li Ping had no reason to blame them.

After all, Zhang Tie and Gu Musheng were his sworn brothers, not his slaves.

After adjusting his mindset, Li Ping returned to the training room and immersed himself in rigorous training.

……

Not long after, Meng Qing also came to his door, asking him to produce a large number of low-level spirit talismans in order to stabilize prices in the immortal city.

This time, Li Ping refused her request without hesitation.

During the last beast tide, she came to them for help.

Li Ping considered that he owed her a favor, and also hoped to exchange it for some high-level materials from the Immortal City to refine magical artifacts, so he agreed to her request.

Now that the favor has been repaid, he has no further needs from the Immortal City authorities.

Furthermore, this incident was triggered by Dai Sangyu's capricious decision to annul the engagement.

He couldn't possibly waste his cultivation time to make up for the consequences of Dai Sangyu's willfulness.

Li Ping clearly told Meng Qingyi that if Meng Qingyi encountered personal troubles, he would provide assistance to the best of his ability, but he was powerless to help with matters concerning the Immortal City.

After repeated attempts to persuade him failed, Meng Qingyi could only force a smile and leave.

Afterwards, the Meng family patriarch visited, hoping that Li Ping could spare some time to draw more talismans, and the Meng family was willing to buy them back at a high price.

Li Ping also refused his request, citing the need for seclusion and intensive self-cultivation.

The patriarch of the Meng family assumed that Li Ping was still angry that he hadn't informed Yu Menghan beforehand. After a wry smile, he said nothing more and turned to leave.

……

In the following months, Li Ping occasionally disguised himself and wandered around the Immortal City, discovering that the city had indeed become quite desolate.

As Gu Musheng had said, large shops such as Yuya Palace and Lingbao Pavilion had all closed down, leaving only Wanfa Pavilion, which was directly under the jurisdiction of the Immortal City, still open for business.

In the small shops run by local cultivators, the prices of finished products such as talismans, magical artifacts, and elixirs have also increased to some extent.

On the street, cultivators would complain from time to time that if the price of spirit rice continued to rise, they would starve to death.

Back at Xiantao Mountain, Li Ping inquired about the price of spirit rice from Bai Lin.

He was a Foundation Establishment cultivator who had long since abstained from grains and was free from the worries of food and drink, but Bai Lin was only a Qi Refining cultivator, and she still needed to eat spirit rice to sustain her life.

With the price of rice rising, he planned to give Bailin more money for household expenses.

Unexpectedly, Bai Lin proudly stated that the Bai family of Gaojishan cultivates spirit rice themselves, and she has been receiving spirit rice from the family without spending any spirit stones.

Li Ping nodded, it seemed that Zhang Tie was right.

This joint blockade and embargo imposed on the Immortal City by the three sects has brought a wave of development opportunities to cultivators such as the Bai family and the Wang family who operate spiritual lands outside the city.

While he was at it, Li Ping also checked Bai Lin's cultivation level.

She broke through to the ninth level of Qi Refining two years ago. More than a year and a half has passed, and now she has completed about half of the ninth level of Qi Refining. In about two more years, she will be able to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage.

As for the Foundation Establishment Pill, Li Ping had already prepared it for her.

She will receive it when she is ready to attempt the Foundation Establishment stage.

……

Time flies, and before we know it, it's the end of the year.

In the training room, Li Ping was giving the Seven-Colored Illusionary Butterfly its last treatment of the year.

As usual, he infused four strands of health-preserving mantra power into the water, then ignored the faint emotion of "I want more" that came from it and simply moved his hand away.

Seeing that he had finished treating her, Yu Menghan hurriedly probed the Heavenly Profound Crystal with her divine sense to check on the condition of the Seven-Colored Illusionary Light Butterfly.

A moment later, she put away the Heavenly Profound Crystal, her eyes filled with barely suppressed joy.

After two years of treatment, the Seven-Colored Illusionary Butterfly's injuries have shown a slight but steady improvement under Li Ping's care.

Now, even if she takes the Seven-Colored Illusionary Butterfly out of the Heavenly Profound Crystal, it can maintain its vitality and will not die immediately.

The general situation is that he went from being completely paralyzed and needing oxygen to maintain his vital signs to being able to breathe on his own.

The treatment results can be described as encouraging.

As is customary, a spiritual fruit is offered as a token of gratitude.

She was about to turn and leave when Li Ping called her back.

Li Ping wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with a smile, "If Fairy Yu is not busy, I have some questions I would like to ask you."

"Fellow Daoist Li, please ask," Yu Menghan waved his hand and spoke in a very forthright manner.

Li Ping asked, puzzled, "Fairy, could you tell me about the conflict between Immortal City and Purple Cloud Valley? It's been almost a year. Does Purple Cloud Valley have no other tricks up its sleeve besides blockades and embargoes?"

Actually, what he wanted to ask was what the current situation was.

"So Fellow Daoist Li wanted to ask about this matter." Yu Menghan shook his head: "If it were just the Immortal City, then Ziyun Valley would certainly not just use a blockade and embargo. However, both Ziyun Valley and the Immortal City are members of the Defenders Alliance. Before the Defenders Alliance makes a ruling, Ziyun Valley will not resort to force."

Li Ping only learned about it after Yu Menghan recounted it.

It turns out that the Azure Cloud Secret Realm in Donghua Mountain produces the vast majority of Foundation Establishment Pills in the Western Wilderness.

This secret realm is controlled by Jixia Immortal City. In order to obtain the Foundation Establishment Pill, other forces in the Guardian Alliance do not dare to offend Jixia Immortal City too much, and Ziyun Valley is no exception.

Moreover, Jixia Immortal City has nearly ten Core Formation cultivators, including Alliance Leader Xiao, the number one cultivator in the Western Wilderness.

In terms of strength, it far surpasses other sects.

In this dispute, Ziyun Valley believes it is in the right and is willing to wait for the ruling of the Weidao Alliance.

The Qinglong Mountain lineage, being weaker than the Ziyun Valley, could only silently endure the blockade and dared not resort to force.

The situation reached a stalemate.

Li Ping asked curiously, "It's been almost a year, why hasn't the Defenders of the Righteous Alliance and that Alliance Leader Xiao made a ruling yet?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Menghan revealed a sly expression: "Fellow Daoist Li, if your friend has a conflict with someone, but you know your friend is in the wrong, how would you intervene to mediate?"

Li Ping suddenly realized.

Fenglan Immortal City is a thorn in the side of the Guardian Alliance embedded in the Cloud Mist Mountains, used to counterbalance the three sects of Ziyun Valley.

Now that the two sides are at odds, the Defenders Alliance will definitely side with Fenglan Immortal City.

However, in this dispute, Dai Sangyu broke her promise first, so the Weidao Alliance cannot be too biased towards her.

What should we do in this situation?

On the surface, they stalled for time, while secretly figuring out the bottom lines of both families and mediating between them.

The reason why it has been so long without a result is most likely because the two parties have not reached an agreement on the terms.

In short, with the Defenders Alliance keeping things under control, the two sides won't fight, so he can rest assured.

"Thank you for clearing up my doubts, fairy." Li Ping said with a smile.