Eating bizarre things in public upgrades my status; the Special Affairs Bureau wants me to join them

A series of crisp clicking sounds rang out.

The spirit of Qingyang Mountain had completely lost its expression.

Because... all the tokens are gone.

He Li took them all, although he didn't know what use these tokens were to the spirit of Qingyang Mountain, or why it didn't want to take them all.

But that's not important. What's important is that He Li has already achieved his purpose in coming here.

With these tokens from the Blazing Sun Sect...

He, and others, can land on the overseas immortal mountains to explore that mysterious region of the middle realm.

However, on the other hand...

What's going on with this Qingyang Mountain spirit?

What is this thing anyway?

He certainly didn't qualify as a Qi Refiner, and a monster? Not quite either, since this thing was more like a highly intelligent being. He Li preferred to categorize it as a race different from humans.

As he examined the spirit of Qingyang Mountain, pondering its situation and considering how to deal with it...

The spirit of Qingyang Mountain also regained consciousness.

"You greedy and rude scoundrel!!!"

The spirit of Qingyang Mountain stared at He Li and rebuked him angrily.

The latter didn't care at all, and even grinned: "Oh yes, yes, I'm greedy, I'm rude."

"And then what? What can you do to me?"

"You!!!" The spiritual energy of Qingyang Mountain was half dead.

He wanted to hit He Li, but He Li had no physical form, and he felt that using magic wouldn't be very effective, since his most powerful lightning magic had no effect on He Li.

Other spells are even less useful.

This left him helpless and furiously impotent.

He Li continued to fan the flames: "What do you mean, 'you'?"

He was arrogant: "As a weak person, you should be aware of your own weakness."

"Now, I have something to ask you."

"Answering honestly is better for both of us."

"If you make me unhappy, then I'll smash this Qingyang Mountain to pieces so that your soul can return to the heavens and earth. Don't doubt me, because the consequences of doubting me are definitely something you don't want to see."

Upon hearing this, the spiritual energy of Qingyang Mountain smiled.

He has lived for thousands of years.

Even in the Middle Realm, even those high-ranking and powerful elders of the sects treated him with utmost respect.

Who would have thought that he would be threatened like this in this resource-poor, ant-infested lower realm? How could a mountain spirit, a being with the potential to become a god, be threatened like this?

He glared fiercely at He Li.

The latter sneered, "What? You're not convinced?"

As he spoke, He Li lifted his leg...

Bang! Crack!

With his heavy stomp on the ground, tens of thousands of tons of force erupted instantly, shattering the rocks beneath his feet. Huge cracks spread rapidly outwards from him like a spider web.

Upon seeing this, the spirit of Qingyang Mountain's unstable body, resembling smoke and energy, immediately bristled and swelled...

"stop!!!"

"I give up! I give up!!!"

Seeing that He Li was about to lift his leg, the spirit of Qingyang Mountain finally couldn't hold back and hurriedly spoke up to stop He Li.

Finally, he gave a stiff smile: "You...you can ask me anything, just ask!"

"I am but a mere spirit of a mountain rock..."

Why bother arguing with me?

Seeing his expression, He Li laughed: "I still prefer your unruly self from earlier. Why don't you revert to your old self?" How could Qingyang Mountain Spirit possibly respond to such a question?

He just chuckled and didn't say a word.

Seeing this, He Li curled his lip: "You thought you were so tough, but the result is just like that, tch~"

Upon hearing this, the spirit of Qingyang Mountain twitched violently.

"Be tough? Do you think I don't want to be tough?"

"But do you know how many years it has taken me from the moment I gained sentience to the point where I've been cultivating? Thousands of years! And that doesn't even include the time before I awakened my sentience..."

"Now that I'm tough, what if you really kill me? Not to mention I might not be able to succeed in my cultivation."

"After all, things are different now than they used to be."

"Even if I really can, what about thousands, or even tens of thousands of years?"

"Is it worth sacrificing thousands upon thousands of years of cultivation and current achievements for a mere matter of face and dignity? I don't know!" Qingyang Mountain Spirit couldn't help but roar in his heart.

On the surface, he still had to smile and put on a show.

"Yes, yes, you're right."

"How can we, the spirits of mountains and rocks, compare to humans?"

Okay, that's humble enough.

He Li narrowed his eyes: "Alright, enough nonsense. I'm asking you, are the overseas immortal mountains part of the Blazing Sun Sect's inner sect?"

"An overseas immortal mountain?" The spirit of Qingyang Mountain was taken aback, then said, "The inner sect of the Blazing Sun Sect is located on an island. An immortal mountain? It doesn't deserve that title. The truly top-tier immortal mountains in the Middle Realm..."

"It's incomparable to it."

"Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou are truly immortal mountains that can directly connect to the upper realm."

"The Blazing Sun Sect... In the end, the Blazing Sun Sect is just an insignificant sect in the Middle Realm. How could it possibly use those top-tier immortal mountains rich in resources as its inner sect area?"

What?! Do the Three Immortal Mountains overseas really exist?

He Li was somewhat surprised.

But he quickly remembered something: "Tell me, didn't the Three Immortals Mountain once exist in the mortal realm?"

Suddenly, He Li pressed for an answer.

The spirit of Qingyang Mountain nodded: "Of course, many things that Qi cultivators in the Middle Realm have come from the Lower Realm. The Three Immortal Mountains were also forcibly brought to the Middle Realm by a powerful figure."

"Besides these, there are many other blessed lands that were originally occupied by powerful forces or great beings."

"They've all been moved to the Middle Realm."

"Some even moved to the upper realm!"

As expected! He Li nodded secretly.

The Blue Star originally existed in mythology, and there should be some prototypes of it, but now it can't be found at all. He suspects that it may have been forcibly moved to the Middle Realm by a powerful being.

Qingyang Mountain Spirit's words confirmed his guess.

"Okay, then I'll ask you again."

"You've been with the Blazing Sun Sect for so long, have you ever heard of a disciple named Xu Fu?"

He thought about asking.

Finally, he added, "That person most likely came down from the lower realm after severing the connection between heaven and earth. Think carefully, does the Blazing Sun Sect have such a Qi Refiner?"

"Or perhaps, he/she is a Qi cultivator from the lower realms?"

Xu Fu? The spirit of Qingyang Mountain frowned.

"No!" After careful consideration, Qingyang Mountain Spirit shook his head with absolute certainty, indicating that there was no such thing.

He Li was somewhat suspicious upon seeing this.

"Really? Think about it again!"

"Really not!" Qingyang Mountain Spirit said helplessly, "An existence like me doesn't have faulty memories. Our memories are like things in a box that can be opened and searched at any time."

"I have confirmed that I have never heard of a person from the lower realm named Xu Fu from the Blazing Sun Sect."

"but……"

The spirit of Qingyang Mountain seemed to have thought of something.

He continued, "However, the Blazing Sun Sect did indeed once take in a Qi Refiner who was suspected to be from the lower realm. His name was Xu Shi, and he was skilled in alchemy and was valued by the inner sect elders..."

"They went to the inner gate early in the morning."

Xu Shi? Holy crap, isn't that Xu Fu?

Xu Fu, also known as Xu Shi, courtesy name Junfang.

Why is this old guy using his old name after arriving in the Middle Realm? Could it be that he's afraid some people from the Lower Realm will come to the Middle Realm to cause him trouble?

For example... other Qi practitioners in the Qin Dynasty? Or even the First Emperor, who was obsessed with immortality?

Forget about that for now.

In conclusion, Xu Fu's situation has been confirmed.

That old thing is truly in the Middle Realm.

"Is he dead?" He thought about these things and couldn't help but ask the spirit of Qingyang Mountain.

The latter shook his head: "I'm not quite sure."

"Since the calamity descended, the secrets of heaven have become unpredictable. Many Qi practitioners have gone mad or even transformed into demons, while many more Qi practitioners have left the mountains to search for the so-called method to break the calamity."

"It seems that Mayor Xu has also left."

"However, as far as I know, he was already quite old when he arrived in the Middle Realm and relied on elixirs to prolong his life."

"His talent for alchemy was extremely high, but his talent for cultivation was abysmal. Even with the help of pills to prolong his life before he left, he didn't have much time left. Perhaps he had already died out there..."

Qingyang Mountain Spirit seemed to look down on Xu City.

His tone was full of contempt.

After all, the other party's cultivation aptitude seemed quite poor; they only managed to barely get into the inner sect by taking medicine...

How could the spirits of Qingyang Mountain possibly respect someone like that?

However, He Li has a different opinion!

Xu Fu may very well not be dead!