Immortal Path Space

Chapter 369: The Tavern

After returning to Mountain Valley, Wang Hong took a stroll around the area where he had initially planted the Devilish Vines and the Red Powder Skull Flowers. To his delight, both the Devilish Vines and the Red Powder Skull Flowers were still thriving, untouched by any harm.

Not only had nothing gone missing, but he had also stumbled upon several Storage Bags. In the places where he found these Storage Bags, there were also some human and Demonic Beast remains.

It seemed that during this time, someone had attempted to infiltrate Mountain Valley but had accidentally met their demise at the hands of the Devilish Vines.

Wang Hong gathered the remaining bones and tattered Daoist Robes, disposing of them to prevent these eerie remnants from lurking among the vines.

Next, he transplanted some Devilish Vines from his Spatial Storage and, after planting them, attempted to manipulate them using his mental commands.

He discovered that he could still control and command these recently transplanted Devilish Vines, though their responsiveness was slightly inferior compared to when he controlled them within his Spatial Storage.

He believed that these Devilish Vines had great potential for the future and decided to cultivate more of them.

Within Azure Void City, the once bustling streets were now desolate, with only a few people to be seen. Those with combat capabilities had been deployed to the frontlines to resist the encroaching Demonic Beasts.

Wang Hong walked through the empty streets, feeling a sense of desolation. Suddenly, he spotted a tavern that still had a decent number of patrons inside. Seeing an opportunity for a break, he decided to step inside.

"I'll have a pot of Spirit Wine and a few appetizers," Wang Hong ordered after finding a seat by the window.

Upon hearing Wang Hong's request, the waiter had a troubled expression and said, "Esteemed guest, I regret to inform you that we no longer have any Spirit Wine. Currently, we only offer ordinary alcoholic beverages and some Spirit Tea."

"Are you telling me that this tavern doesn't have a single pot of Spirit Wine?" Wang Hong found this quite perplexing.

"Esteemed guest, you must have just returned from the frontlines. You might not be aware, but the situation there has become extremely dire. Resources are being rapidly depleted. Strategic items like Spirit Wine have been scarce for the past month or two. Now, only a handful of merchants in Azure Void City still have limited supplies of Spirit Wine. Additionally, other Spiritual Objects within the city are also in short supply. Tier-one Pills, which used to be readily available, are now hard to come by," the waiter explained. Wang Hong had not been aware of the current state within the city since he had recently returned from the frontlines.

"I see. In that case, please bring me a pot of Spirit Tea."

Soon, the waiter brought Wang Hong a pot of Spirit Tea. He took a sip and frowned slightly; the Spirit Tea was bland and lacked the rich Spirit Qi he had hoped for. Nevertheless, he chose not to complain. Given the current circumstances, there was no need to be too particular.

If he wanted good wine and fine tea, he had plenty in his Spatial Storage. He could enjoy them at his leisure once he returned.

At that moment, a burly man in the tavern spoke up, "I wonder if we can hold out this time. I've heard that the Demonic Beasts from the Eastern Sea Demon Clan and the Western Demon Tribe have both converged on our Azure Void City."

"Ah! What's even more infuriating is the actions of those Treasure Hunters earlier. They disrupted everything. If not for them, the East Zhou Cultivation Realm wouldn't have ended up like this," another cultivator lamented.

"Not just that, the depletion of resources is also due in large part to the havoc caused by those Treasure Hunters."

As the cultivators in the tavern continued to chat after having a few drinks, they seemed to possess an extensive knowledge of the Cultivation World. They discussed every aspect of current events as if they were experts.

Sipping on subpar alcohol and discussing matters that concerned the entire Cultivation World, they appeared to be burdened with a sense of responsibility despite not having a single Spirit Stone to their name.

"I heard that all the cultivators who went to the first defense line to repel the Demonic Beasts didn't make it back alive. Not a single one survived."

"I happen to know a thing or two about this. My second cousin's elder brother is a disciple of the Qingxu Sect. At least one team managed to return this time. There were only around a thousand of them, but they broke through the Beast Tide's blockade and fought their way out of the tens of thousands of Demonic Beasts, eventually reaching the second defense line," a cultivator said, his face flushing with pride as if he had accomplished the feat himself.

"Such powerful individuals! Even Golden Core cultivators would find it difficult to break through, right? Do you know who led them?" the initial cultivator inquired.

The first cultivator took a look around and saw that the others were paying attention. He then spoke in a mysterious tone, "I happen to know this as well. The leader this time was a senior cultivator surnamed Qi. He is a descendant of the Nascent Soul Ancestor of the Qingxu Sect. My cousin's elder brother was just a menial servant for Senior Qi, so that's how I got to know about it. Senior Qi led from the front, covered in blood, and endured countless injuries, yet he continued to fight until the very end. Without Senior Qi's efforts, it would have been almost impossible to break through the blockade and reach the second defense line. But please, let's not mention this to others."

Wang Hong was taken aback upon hearing this. How did the leader of this mission become Qi Shaoqing? He wondered if this lower-tier cultivator was spreading baseless rumors or if Qi Shaoqing had deliberately released this information.

For now, he had no intention of arguing with the lower-tier cultivator, as it was just hearsay. Besides, it was better not to attract unnecessary attention.

"Your information might be incorrect. I heard that the main force and the leader of the mission were different individuals. This was witnessed by many cultivators on the second defense line and is easy to confirm," another cultivator at a nearby table interjected.

The cultivator who had spoken earlier felt slighted by the contradiction and heatedly replied, "I got my information from a reliable source. Why would you doubt me?"

The dispute escalated quickly, with both cultivators turning red and nearly coming to blows.

Wang Hong didn't hear anything valuable from the argument and decided to leave the tavern. He headed to his East Zhou Trading House, and as he approached, he noticed a long queue stretching all the way outside.

Walking into the shop, he inadvertently gave the impression that he was cutting the line, causing some of the cultivators waiting to become anxious. A few even prepared to confront him.

Inside the shop, however, it was surprisingly calm. The shopkeeper and the assistants were all idle.

"East Master! East Master has returned!" one of the assistants exclaimed with excitement upon seeing Wang Hong, rushing upstairs to inform Xu Lun.

The cultivators who had been waiting outside heard that Wang Hong was the East Master of the shop and breathed a sigh of relief. Some even regretted their earlier aggressive stance, grateful that they hadn't taken action against the young man.

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