Elderly Martial Saint: Sixty Times the Cultivation Speed ​​at the Start

The group was delayed for three days in Wanfeng County, but when Yiyang arrived at the city gate of Hengyue, it was still five days earlier than the scheduled arrival date of the main forces from various prefectures.

The city walls of Hengyue Town are built of black basalt, with a height of thirty zhang (approximately 13 meters). The walls extend to the Wanyao Mountain Range on both sides, directly cutting off the entire valley passage. The surface of the city walls is pitted and uneven, bearing the marks of ancient swords and axes.

Yi Yang and his group of merchants stopped a hundred paces away from the city gate.

On the official road ahead, a long line of people were heading into the city. Porters pushing wheelbarrows carrying goods and merchants leading exotic beasts were all crammed together.

Uge dismounted from his black horse and tugged at the hem of his gray robe. Mu Yanluo jumped off the carriage and walked to Yiyang's horse in her cloth shoes.

"Lord Yi, let's part ways here," Uge said in the official language of the Great Yu Kingdom.

Yi Yang nodded. He knew that his mission was completely over after arriving here, and he would have to travel alone from Hengyue Town to the Wu Kingdom.

Wu Yanluo, standing to the side, also took off her hood and swung her braid over her shoulder.

She pulled a scroll from her bosom, handed it to Yi Yang, and said with a grin, "This is for you."

Yi Yang took the scroll with a puzzled look. The scroll in his hand was not thick, wrapped in animal hide, and tied with a thin rope. It didn't look special.

"What is this?"

"remuneration."

Wu Yanluo smiled. "You escorted us all the way, this is the reward I promised you."

Yi Yang recalled that the other party had indeed mentioned this before, but he had taken it as a joke at the time, never expecting it to be true.

He put the scroll into his storage ring, clasped his hands in a respectful bow, and said:

"Then I won't stand on ceremony."

Wu Yanlu tilted her head and whispered in Yi Yang's ear, "By the way, my real name is Mu Yanlu. Mu, the Mu of the Witch Kingdom."

When she transmitted her voice, her tone was relaxed, but her eyes were fixed on Yi Yang, as if observing his reaction.

Yi Yang's gaze fell on her face, but he didn't say anything.

Mu is the surname of the royal family of the Wu Kingdom.

"Miss Mu," Yi Yang replied telepathically, using a different form of address.

Take care on your journey.

Upon hearing this, Wu Yanluo laughed even harder.

"The same to you."

She patted Ug's arm and called out, "Uncle, let's go."

After saying that, she didn't say anything more. She turned around, took Uge's arm, and joined another cavalry team that was preparing to enter the city and was flying the flag of Southern Xinjiang.

The two figures quickly disappeared into the noisy crowd.

On the other side of Hengyue Town, there is a road leading to the Wu Kingdom. It is a trade route leading to the depths of the Wanyao Mountain Range, exclusively for caravans between the two countries. The surrounding monsters have been mostly cleared out, so it is relatively safe.

Yi Yang stood there, clutching the sheepskin scroll that still held the warmth of the girl's body, watching the direction they had disappeared in.

He withdrew his gaze and gave instructions to the troops:

"Xu Min".

"exist!"

"Lead the team into the city."

……

On the other side, Uge, who had blended into the Southern Xinjiang cavalry, lowered his voice and asked Mu Yanluo beside him in the Wu language.

"Your Highness, what did you give him?"

Wuyanluo, no, it should be called Muyanluo now.

She glanced back at the towering city walls of Hengyue, a slight smile playing on her lips, and said:

"It's nothing."

"It's just a map of a place in the Ten Thousand Demon Mountains where spiritual herbs grow."

Upon hearing this, Ug paused, his face filled with shock.

"That's..."

He wanted to say that the place was a location that the royal court had spent a lot of manpower and resources to find out, and the spiritual herbs growing there were of great use to even experts in the Profound Realm.

So you just gave it away to an outsider so easily?

"Uncle."

Knowing what the other person was thinking, Mu Yanluo interrupted him.

"This is just an investment."

Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried a certain confidence beyond her years.

"You know better than I do what's going on in our Witch Kingdom right now. Those people in the royal court are all only focused on their own positions, and the brothers are fighting each other to the death. Sooner or later, we'll need a strong enough outside help."

"I think highly of this person."

"It's worthwhile to invest in him now, before he really matures."

U-G looked at the confident expression on his princess's face, opened his mouth, but said nothing more.

He just thought about it silently in his heart.

Hopefully, Your Highness's judgment is correct.

……

As soon as I stepped through the city gate, the surrounding noise hit me.

The streets of Hengyue Town are wide, though not as spacious as those of Qingzhou, but still far exceeding the scale of other prefectural cities. It doesn't seem like a major town at all, with shops lining both sides of the streets.

They sell weapons, elixirs, spiritual materials—they have everything.

The shops have signs hanging at their entrances; some are written in Dayu Mandarin, some in Wuguo script, and some have both languages ​​side by side.

The streets were very crowded with pedestrians.

A burly man carrying a large sword, a woman with a soft whip wrapped around her waist, and a merchant from the Wu Kingdom dressed in an animal skin coat. Their languages ​​mingled together, and the noise drowned out the sound of horses' hooves.

Yi Yang rode on his strange beast horse, his gaze sweeping across both sides of the street.

On the streets, martial artists at the Qi and Blood Realm are as numerous as hairs on a cow, and those at the Inner Qi Realm can be seen everywhere.

He sensed no fewer than twenty True Qi Realm experts on this street alone.

These people had varying degrees of aura, but without exception, they all carried a fierce and bloodthirsty spirit, honed through trials and tribulations on the brink of life and death.

but.

There wasn't a single expert at the Tongxuan Realm.

Yi Yang understood.

Those experts at the Profound Realm have already entered the core area of ​​the important town and it seems they won't be wandering around the outer city.

Yi Yang and his group of more than 30 people rode horses slowly along the wide main road.

The black armor of the Zhenfu Guard, the uniformly worn goose-feather sabers, and the flag representing the Xuntian Division at the front of the procession drew the attention of the hurried martial artists and merchants on both sides of the street, who voluntarily made way for them.

"They're here so early. Which prefecture's patrol force is this? They look quite elite."

"Judging from the banner, it's the Zhenfu Guard."

"The one leading the group, judging from his appearance, should be Yi Yang, the one on the recent list of heroes, right? A big shot!"

"He doesn't look like it. Wasn't he supposed to be an old man? This guy looks to be only in his forties."

Under the watchful eyes of countless people, Yi Yang and his group passed through three main streets and arrived at a temporary residence of the Sky Patrol Division located in the center of the city.

At the entrance of the garrison, a civil official dressed in the uniform of the Sky Patrol Division was frantically dealing with several groups of martial artists who came to report.

Upon seeing Yi Yang's group, the clerk's eyes lit up, and he quickly jogged over to greet them, saying:

"May I ask if you are Lord Yi Yang from Suining Prefecture?"

"I am a patrolman at the Tiantiansi Office in the important town of Hengyue. My surname is Chen."

"Lord Yi, you've arrived very early, a full five days earlier than the transfer order stated."

Yi Yang nodded and replied, "Patrolman Chen."

"Has my accommodation been arranged?"

Upon hearing this, Patrolman Chen looked somewhat troubled. He rubbed his hands together and said cautiously:

"Well... Lord Yi, I'm so sorry. You've arrived too early; we haven't had time to make arrangements yet."

Yi Yang raised an eyebrow, asking with some confusion, "No arrangements made?"

That's right.

Chen Xunwei wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"The situation in Hengyue Town is rather complicated. The Sky Patrol Bureau, the Trade Bureau, and various sects are all here, and they don't get along very well with each other... how should I put it."

He lowered his voice and continued, "So our rule here is to wait until everyone has arrived before assigning accommodations. Otherwise, if one family stays somewhere and another stays somewhere else, or if someone has a big yard and someone else has a small yard, it could easily lead to trouble."

Yi Yang understood what was said immediately.

Hengyue Town is a very complex place. Various factions want to occupy a good position, and no one is willing to submit to anyone else.

To avoid offending anyone, the Sky Patrol Division decided to wait until everyone was present before dividing the spoils together.

"So where do you plan to put me up?"

Patrolman Chen smiled and said, "How about... Lord Yi finds an inn in the outer city to stay for a few days? We'll make arrangements for you as soon as the main force arrives."

Yi Yang didn't say anything.

Xu Min listened from the side, his expression somewhat unpleasant.

"Patrolman Chen, my master is the Deputy Chief Inspector, how can you send him to stay at an inn?"

Patrolman Chen looked distressed and said, "Lord Xu, it's not that I don't want to make arrangements, it's just that I really can't. There are rules about this from above, and I, a mere patrolman, can't make that decision."

Yi Yang waved his hand, "Alright, no need to make any arrangements."

He turned to Xu Min and instructed him:

"Go find a courtyard and rent it."

Xu Min was stunned for a moment.

"rent?"

"Um."

Yi Yang took out a stack of silver notes from his storage ring and handed them to Xu Min.

"Find a bigger one, one that can accommodate more than thirty people."

Xu Min accepted the silver note, replied "Yes," and turned to lead his men to find a house.

Chen Xunwei stood there, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping himself.

"Lord Yi, you..."

"I'll handle it myself, no need to trouble you."

After finishing speaking, Yi Yang didn't wait for a reply and turned to leave with Xu Min and the others.

Chen Xunwei watched his retreating figure and sighed.

Half an hour later.

Xu Min found a courtyard.

The courtyard is located in the northern part of the outer city, not far from the main street. It is a three-section house with plenty of rooms.

The landlord was an elderly martial artist in his fifties, surnamed Zhao, whose strength was only at the Inner Qi Realm.

Old Zhao sized up Xu Min's group, a hint of suspicion in his eyes, and asked, "How long do you plan to rent it?"

"Rent for one month first."

Upon hearing this, Old Zhao held up one finger and said:

"One thousand taels."

Xu Min's expression changed, and he exclaimed in shock, "A thousand taels? Are you robbing me?"

But Old Zhao remained calm and unhurried.

"Young man, you must be from out of town. Don't you know what the market is like in Hengyue, this important town? In the past month, people from all walks of life have flocked here, and the demand for houses can't keep up with the supply."

He patted the door frame of the yard.

"My three-courtyard house can accommodate more than thirty people, and the location is quite good. One thousand taels is not expensive."

Xu Min wanted to haggle, but Yi Yang came over.

"Alright, one thousand taels it is."

Seeing Yi Yang's attire, Zhao Laohan knew he was the person in charge, and his eyes lit up.

"readily!"

He took out a contract from his pocket and handed it to Yi Yang.

"Sign up, pay the money, and the keys are yours."

Yi Yang took the contract, glanced at it, and seeing no problems, signed it. He then counted out a thousand taels of silver from his storage ring and handed it to Old Man Zhao.

Old Zhao accepted the money and grinned from ear to ear.

"Sir, you've come early. In another ten days or half a month, once all the troops from Qingzhou have arrived, even if you offered two thousand taels, you might not be able to rent such a fine courtyard!"

As he spoke, he handed the key to Yi Yang, saying, "You can use the yard as you like, just return the key to me when you leave."

Old Zhao took the silver and left.

Xu Min stood at the entrance of the courtyard, looking at that figure from behind, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

"Sir, this old man is too greedy. One thousand taels..."

"normal."

Yi Yang pushed open the courtyard gate and went inside. "Hengyue Town is going to become more and more lively. One thousand taels isn't expensive."

Xu Min didn't say anything more and beckoned the Zhenfu Guards into the courtyard.

The group of more than thirty people were divided into rooms and settled in.

Yi Yang chose the largest and quietest room in the center as his residence, and asked Xu Min to arrange the others in the side rooms on the east and west sides.

Everything is settled.

Yi Yang went into his room, closed the door, and locked it.

He walked to the window, opened it, and took a look.

In the courtyard, the Zhenfu Guards were cleaning the rooms on the drill ground, with Xu Min supervising them. Everything was in good order.

Yi Yang felt relieved and closed the window again.

He walked to the bedside and sat down to calm himself down.

Then, he took out the yellowed booklet tied with hemp thread from his storage ring.

"The Mind-Monkey Guardian Technique: The Dynamic Image Chapter"