Free Web NovelChapter 479: Chapter 261: Zi’an County (2)
Each major city governed eighteen county towns, and beneath the county towns were various scattered villages.
The Cultivation Immortality Sects managed the major cities and county towns.
Through this casual chat, Cheng Zongyang had more or less heard what he wanted to hear.
But he couldn’t very well keep asking about other things, such as the Ice Realm, the Fire Realm, Cultivators, Cultivation Immortality Sects, the Land of Broken Spirits, and so on. Otherwise, his origins would truly become suspicious.
He could only learn about these things slowly by heading to Zi’an County. Of course, he didn’t think the other man would know that much anyway.
After asking for the way to Zi’an County, just as he was about to leave, Cheng Zongyang suddenly asked, "Brother Wang, any idea how much this deer would sell for?"
"Money?" Wang Shou was taken aback for a moment, then smiled. "This is just an ordinary wild animal, not an Exotic Beast or a Demon Beast. It’s not worth much for consumption, purely for filling one’s stomach. If you sold it to a butcher, you’d probably only get a dozen or so Spirit Crystals."
’Spirit Crystals?’ Cheng Zongyang paused, making a mental note of this currency. He mused internally, ’So they don’t trade in gold and silver, but Spirit Crystals. And from the way he said it, this must be the lowest denomination of currency.’
"In that case, I won’t be taking it. It’s a gift for you, Brother, as thanks for clearing up my confusion. Farewell."
With that, Cheng Zongyang cupped his fists in a salute and, ignoring Wang Shou’s calls, immediately headed down the mountain.
When he reached a county road intersection at the foot of the mountain, Cheng Zongyang finally had a vague concept of this world.
He didn’t rush on his way. Instead, he found a deserted spot and entered the Wilderness World.
He told Ding Xing what he had heard and had him record it.
Luo Dingran was busy with other matters and couldn’t always stay here, so he had Ding Xing do the recording.
He had to record everything about this world and organize it into a volume later. When he returned to Jade Peak County, he would have a detailed account of the Cultivation Immortality Realm.
At the same time, it would allow Luo Dingran and Ding Xing to use this information to form some theories about this world.
After re-emerging, Cheng Zongyang continued on his way to Zi’an County.
Along the way, he contemplated the structure of this world.
The eight major cities were named after the Bagua, and he wondered if there was some meaning behind it. Why else would there be only eight Cultivation Immortality Cities?
As he traveled, Cheng Zongyang saw all sorts of travelers on the road.
Some rode on beasts, some flew by Controlling Items, and others, like him, walked on two feet, rode horses, or sat in sedan chairs.
Moreover, along the way, he often overheard Martial Artists with weapons in hand yearning for Breaking the Mirror and Transcending the Ordinary, and common people expressing their envy of Cultivators.
It was all just bits and pieces of conversation, and he never heard the full story. But at the very least, he could confirm that this world also had Martial Artists and ordinary people.
He walked for two hours before he finally saw a great city in the distance, surrounded by a majestic, towering wall!
Even from afar, he could see the thickness of the walls, which still stood firm after enduring the ravages of time, embedded with mottled black bricks. Below the enormous main wall, three gates were set: one large and two small!
"Holy crap, a city this huge is just a county town?!" Cheng Zongyang was a bit stunned.
On his way from Xiangyang Prefecture to the coast, he had seen the scale of a Commandery City, but it couldn’t even compare to this County Town!
The closer he got, the more he felt his own insignificance!
The County Town’s walls alone were about a hundred meters high! Cheng Zongyang didn’t understand why they had to be built so tall, and each brick... it was no longer just a stone, but a massive block like those used to build the pyramids!
’What a massive undertaking!’ Cheng Zongyang was shaken. The walls of this County Town alone were enough to astound him!
Of the one large and two small gates, the former was used only by a few people in sedan chairs, while everyone else passed through the two "small" gates.
One for entry and one for exit, all in an orderly fashion.
But these "small" gates, by Cheng Zongyang’s visual estimate, had to be over twenty meters high and thirty meters wide.
The main gate was twice the size of the small ones!
’Looks like there’s a certain class-based etiquette even in the County Town.’ Cheng Zongyang continued to speculate. Not wanting to stand out, he followed the crowd into the County Town.
Fortunately, there was no fee to enter the County Town. It was also open twenty-four hours a day, with no apparent curfew.
This meant that everything in the County Town was open around the clock, and business could be conducted all day long.
’It’s free to enter this town, but I’ll have to charge for entry into Jade Peak Immortal City in the future, right? No charge for ordinary people. For Martial Artists, regardless of their Cultivation, it should start at one tael.’
As Cheng Zongyang planned in his mind, he entered the County Town. Instantly, a clamor like a million buzzing bees flooded his ears. If not for his adaptive Talent, he really wouldn’t have been able to stand such a noisy environment.
As far as the eye could see, the County Town’s incredibly spacious streets were meticulously planned. Traffic flowed in and out in an orderly manner. The streets were lined with shops, their dazzling array of goods attracting people from all over. In the open-air markets set up in the spaces between some of the shops, the hubbub of human voices was deafening; the cries of hawkers, the sounds of bargaining, conversations, and shouts rose and fell in a lively spectacle!
A sudden tightness formed in Cheng Zongyang’s chest.
Experiencing this peak of prosperity, an urgent desire to build Jade Peak County into such a place welled up within him!
He even had the illusion that this place *was* Jade Peak County!
"This is what I want Jade Peak Immortal City to look like!" Cheng Zongyang slowly exhaled, releasing the pent-up feeling.
It was only then that he noticed the shops here weren’t just one or two stories high; almost all of them were seven or eight stories or more. There were even many pavilions with a dozen or more floors!
The first and second floors were probably shops, but Cheng Zongyang guessed that the layouts of the Third Level and above were for places like "inns" or "apartments for rent."
At this point, he seemed to understand why the County Town’s walls were so high.
"They’re making full use of the County Town’s space," Cheng Zongyang remarked with emotion.
Only by building upward could they accommodate more people! This was something he would also have to do when he renovated Jade Peak County in the future.
As he walked, Cheng Zongyang was like a tourist, a complete country bumpkin who had never seen the world, like Granny Liu visiting the Grand View Garden.
Elixir Shops, Weapon Shops, Medicinal Material Shops, Beast Taming Workshops, Restaurants, brothels, Gambling Houses, and more.
There were also many street vendors.
"Come, come, Tier One Fire Spirits gathered from the Fire Realm! Only three Low Grade Spirit Stones each!"
"Brother, come take a look! A thirty-year-old Spirit Medicine dug up from Water Spirit Mountain! Extremely rare, you can’t miss it... Brother, just take a look..."
"...Alright, that’s thirty-six Spirit Crystals in change. No take-backs after you leave!"
"Clearance sale! A family heirloom, a Second Grade Grass and Wood Technique!"
"Come, come, Bone Purifying Powder to improve your Spirit Bone aptitude! Only fifty Spirit Crystals a portion..."
"...No, these Medicinal Materials are all fresh, none of them are damaged! How can you lie with your eyes wide open and say they’re damaged?! I’m not selling to you, I’m not selling! I worked hard to dig up these Medicinal Materials; they’ll sell just fine..."
"..."
Cheng Zongyang’s head was spinning from the sights, and by watching the transactions without buying anything himself, he gradually figured out this world’s monetary system.
As he had guessed, Spirit Crystals were the lowest denomination of currency.
A single Spirit Crystal was about the size of a mung bean, and one hundred Spirit Crystals could be exchanged for one Low Grade Spirit Stone.
The Fire Realm and Ice Realm each had a special product, called Fire Spirits and Ice Spirits. Their value varied depending on their Tier.
They could be used not only as Artifact Refining Materials but also to aid in Alchemy and Cultivation. Thus, market demand was quite high. However, due to over-extraction from the Ice Realm, Fire Realm, and various mountains by the people of the Life Realm, many resources had become rather scarce.
As for the total amount of Spirit Stones in this world, he estimated that it probably wasn’t very large either.
But slowly, Cheng Zongyang began to notice something was off.
The area belonging to the Life Realm wasn’t very large, yet it had to support so many ordinary people, Martial Artists, and Cultivators. With only the resources of the Life Realm, over hundreds of years, if not completely depleted, shouldn’t they be dwindling more and more?
And yet, it could still supply the needs of so many people, and the price system was quite stable.
’Where’s the problem?’
Cheng Zongyang made a mental note of this question and continued to wander through the County Town.
He saw that the County Town actually had parks and a winding inner river, its banks lined with brothels, filled with the fragrance of red sleeves.
He continued to record many things, as well as some inspiration he could use for Jade Peak County in the future.
He focused on prices, consumption levels, the power structure of Zi’an County Town, the situation with the Immortal Sects, and so on.
He overheard a great deal from various places, and by gathering it all, he was able to refine his intelligence manual considerably.
