Sword Rises in the Blue Lagoon, Why Are All the Sword Cultivation Families Older Than Old Six?

Ye Xuan called out to a middle-aged man who was about to walk past and asked, "Greetings, friend, where can I find a beast-drawn carriage?"

The man looked at Ye Xuan and his companions and said, "It's over there," pointing to a group of beast-drawn carriages not far away.

Ye Xuan and his group walked to a carriage parked nearby and said with a smile, "Greetings, friend, to the Floating Life Restaurant."

The driver was a Foundation Establishment cultivator who earned spirit stones in his spare time. He smiled and said, "Please get on board. It's quite a distance to the Floating Life Restaurant. Hold on tight." After speaking, he drove the carriage away. Ye Xuan looked out the window at the scenery and sighed, 'Even the imperial capital of a third-rate power is so prosperous. One can only imagine what the higher powers are like. There's still a long way to go to become a dominant force.'

Half an hour later, the carriage slowly came to a stop. Ye Xuan took out a high-grade spirit stone and tossed it over, saying, "Thank you, friend."

The driver caught it and, upon closer inspection, saw how rich the spiritual energy was. He quickly pocketed it, smiled, and turned to leave.

Ye Xuan and his companions now stood on the street, looking at the Floating Life Restaurant before them. It was seven stories high with luxurious decorations. The three entered the restaurant, and a waiter, judging them by their attire, immediately recognized them as people from a powerful background. He quickly ran over and said with a smile, "Greetings, esteemed guests. What can I do for you?"

Ye Xuan replied with a smile, "Greetings, friend, is your manager here? I'm here to see him."

The waiter's eyes darted around as he sized up Ye Xuan and his companions. "May I ask what business you have with our manager?"

"Oh, friend, there's no need to worry. I was referred by your manager's good friend, Mu Bai. I'm here to inquire about a few things. I'll trouble you," Ye Xuan said, slipping two high-grade spirit stones into the waiter's hand. Having lived two lives, Ye Xuan understood these things. The waiter quickly pocketed the spirit stones and said to Ye Xuan, "Esteemed guests, please wait a moment. The manager happens to be in the building today. I'll go inform him right away." After speaking, he ran upstairs.

Soon, a man who appeared to be about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with the air of a refined young gentleman, walked over with the waiter and cupped his hands, saying, "You must be Ye Xuan, the head of the Ye family. I am Lu Ming."

Ye Xuan scanned him with his divine sense and found that he was at the first level of the Nascent Soul realm. He returned the greeting, saying, "Greetings, Fellow Daoist Lu. I apologize for the intrusion. I hope you can forgive me."

"There's no need to be so polite. Mu Bai's brother is my brother. Please, follow me upstairs." They arrived at a private room on the second floor. Lu Ming dismissed the others and said, "Brother Ye, if there's anything you need during your visit to the imperial capital, just let me know."

"This is my first time in the imperial capital, and I'm not familiar with the place. I'd appreciate it if Brother Lu could give me a general overview," Ye Xuan said.

"That's easy to say. I grew up in this imperial capital, so you've come to the right person. As for the imperial capital, there's no need to talk about the imperial family. The entire Great Qin Dynasty belongs to them. Beneath the imperial family are the four great clans: the Zheng family, the Long family, the Lin family, and our Lu family, four great Divine Transformation powers. Externally, there are two forces that cannot be provoked. One is the Xuan Yi Sect's residence. Brother Ye should know about the Xuan Yi Sect, the overlord of the Eastern Continent, unshakeable. The other force is the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion. This force mainly focuses on earning spirit stones, in other words, doing business. They won't interfere in the disputes of other forces. I've heard that they have branches throughout the entire continent. One can imagine how terrifying their strength is." As he spoke, he glanced at Ye Xuan, whose eyes remained calm.

Seeing that Ye Xuan didn't react, Lu Ming continued, "There's no need to pay attention to the other forces. Although I'm not valued by my clan, I'm not someone that any Tom, Dick, or Harry can provoke. Brother Ye, feel free to enjoy yourself! Sigh..." At this point, he let out another long sigh.

Ye Xuan was puzzled as to why Lu Ming suddenly sighed and asked, "Brother Lu, what's wrong?"

"Speaking of this, I can't help but think of Mu Bai," Ye Xuan said, "Brother Lu, feel free to speak." Seeing that he was unaware, Lu Ming continued, "He was a prodigy, someone who had a chance to compete for the position of the next generation head of the Mu family. When I met him, it was more than thirty years ago. At that time, he was full of vigor and had reached the peak of the Purple Mansion realm. I had just entered the Purple Mansion realm. During an expedition, he unfortunately encountered a high-level demon beast, and people from other families in the imperial capital secretly targeted him. I almost fell. Mu Bai saved me. I can still remember his confident smile. Later, I invited him to the imperial capital, wanting to show him around, but all he had in his mind was cultivation, so I became his little follower, going out on expeditions together. A year later, he told me he was going back to break through to the Nascent Soul realm and compete for the position of clan leader. But just three days later, I heard the bad news that Mu Bai was being hunted down, and his life or death was unknown. I thought, how could that be? His protectors were all Law Manifestation realm cultivators.

My father was afraid that I would implicate the family, so he forbade me from going out. One rainy night, I secretly ran out and went to the courtyard where we usually stayed. The heavy rain didn't stop all night, until dawn when Mu Bai, covered in injuries, fell into the courtyard. I quickly checked and found that his aura was still there, but his Purple Mansion was broken and many of his meridians were severed. I took out all my savings and bought healing pills from the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, but in the end, they only allowed him to maintain his Purple Mansion realm cultivation, and he would never be able to step into the Nascent Soul realm. In the end, he chose to leave without saying anything, until a few days ago when I received a message from him. I guessed that his background must be extraordinary." After speaking, Lu Ming slowly turned his head and looked at Ye Xuan.

"I didn't expect Brother Mu Bai to have such an encounter," Thinking of this, he thought of the healing pills that came out of the system, which would definitely be useful to Mu Bai. He was thinking when Lu Ming said, "Brother Ye, forgive me for being nosy, but since Brother Ye has come to the imperial capital, you should stay here with me first. Just let me know if you need anything."

Ye Xuan came back to his senses and said, "I wonder if Brother Lu knows anyone at the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion. The main reason I came here was to purchase some resources."

"That's easy to say. I know a deacon at the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion. I'll take Brother Ye there tomorrow. Brother Ye, stay here for today. Oh, right, tonight the imperial capital's courtesan will appear at the Spring Breeze Pavilion. Would Brother Ye like to go and appreciate her together?" Lu Ming said, smiling mischievously at Ye Xuan.

Ye Xuan quickly replied, "Brother Lu, please do as you wish. I still prefer peace and quiet."

"Brother Ye, why are you just like Mu Bai, so boring, so boring. Then I'll leave now, see you tomorrow," Lu Ming said, pulling out the fan from his waist and leaving with a smile.

Nothing happened overnight. The next morning, Ye Xuan was still sitting cross-legged in meditation when the door of the room rang, and a voice came in, "Is Brother Ye there?"

Ye Xuan recognized Lu Ming's voice and opened the door, noticing that Lu Ming's aura was a bit chaotic. He said, "Brother Lu, you're injured."

"It's nothing, just a minor injury. Let's go, we'll go to the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion now," Lu Ming said nonchalantly.

"If Brother Lu needs help, you can also tell me. Maybe I can help you," Ye Xuan thought that the highest cultivation in the Great Qin Dynasty was the Law Manifestation realm, so it shouldn't be too difficult to deal with.

"It's still those two beasts from the Zheng family and the Long family. They couldn't stand that I got a silk scarf from the courtesan and joined forces to deal with me," Lu Ming said angrily.

Ye Xuan was speechless when he heard this. "Okay, let's go to the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion first."