Chapter 49: Uninvited Guest, Legend of the Immortal City

The biting winter wind swept through the narrow, damp alleyways, carrying a few scattered snowflakes and rendering the surroundings all the more desolate. Yet, right in front of the "Cares-Away General Store," the atmosphere was uncharacteristically quiet. The rogue cultivators who usually formed long queues, eagerly waiting to pour out their troubles, now kept a wide distance. With expressions of awe and unease, they pointed fingers toward the depths of the alley.

That was because today, a group of uninvited guests had arrived here.

Five cultivators, clad in uniform black iron armor and exuding sharp, oppressive auras, blocked the entrance of the store. On the chest of each armor piece was embossed a lifelike drifting cloud emblem—the signature mark of the Liuyun Immortal City Law Enforcement Team.

At the head of the group stood a middle-aged man with a square face. Unlike his subordinates, he did not release any overt pressure, but as his eyes blinked and shifted, brilliant gleams flashed within them, naturally carrying the majestic dignity of one who had held a high position for a long time. His cultivation base was unmistakably that of the mid-Core Formation stage.

In Liuyun Immortal City, a Core Formation cultivator was already firmly entrenched in the middle echelons. Such a figure would normally not even deign to set foot in the middle three districts, let alone the filthy Mud Bottle Alley in the lower three districts. His very appearance signified something abnormal.

"Captain, this is the place," one of the team members said in a low voice. "According to the intelligence we gathered, over the past three months, at least seventeen rogue cultivators in the lower three districts have achieved abnormal breakthroughs in their cultivation. This includes various aspects such as alchemy, talisman-making, and cultivation bottlenecks. The only thing they all have in common is that they have visited this general store."

Another member added, "We suspect that some high-level grandmaster is here playing the mortal world for a game, or... harboring some unknown scheme. This could pose a threat to the stability of the Immortal City."

The Core Formation captain, named Shi Qing, did not speak. He merely stared quietly at the shabby, impoverished-looking shop before him. The old wooden board above the lintel, bearing the words "Cares-Away General Store," had ordinary handwriting devoid of any Daoist rhythm. Throughout the entire shop, from inside to outside, not the slightest trace of spiritual energy fluctuation could be sensed. It was as ordinary as a rice shop in the mortal world.

Yet, this extreme ordinariness, in a place like Liuyun Immortal City, was the most abnormal thing of all.

"You all keep watch outside. No one is allowed to approach," Shi Qing commanded in a deep voice, then stepped into the general store alone.

Inside the shop, Jiang Yiyi and Jiang Xiaobai were sitting behind the counter. Seeing Shi Qing enter, Jiang Xiaobai immediately stood up with a look of alertness. Her intelligent eyes flickered with an imperceptible purple radiance, and the phantom outlines of six tails vaguely rippled behind her. Jiang Yiyi was relatively composed. She stood up and asked with neither servility nor arrogance, "Senior, what would you like to buy?"

Shi Qing's gaze swept over the two young girls, and a slight jolt ran through his heart. The younger-looking girl, who appeared somewhat nervous, was someone even he found somewhat unfathomable. As for the girl who spoke, she was even stranger; despite appearing utterly devoid of any cultivation, she could remain entirely unruffled under his Core Formation aura, her eyes as clear as water.

"I am not here to buy anything," Shi Qing said straight to the point, his voice steady. "I am looking for your boss."

"Father is in the back courtyard. Please wait a moment, Senior." Jiang Yiyi turned and lifted the bamboo curtain that separated the inner and outer areas.

Shi Qing stepped through. The back courtyard was very small, featuring only a stone table, a few stone stools, and a few nameless mortal weeds planted in the corner. Jiang Xiuyuan was seated beside the stone table, holding a carving knife and working on a piece of ordinary wood.

Hearing the footsteps, he slowly raised his head and looked at Shi Qing with a peaceful gaze, as if he were seeing not a Core Formation cultivator, but a neighbor dropping by for a visit.

"Fellow Daoist, please take a seat," Jiang Xiuyuan gestured.

Shi Qing sat down opposite him. He attempted to peer through Jiang Xiuyuan's cultivation base, only to find that the man's Dantian was utterly empty, truly resembling that of an ordinary mortal. Yet, the profound, mountain-like bearing of returning to simplicity and naturalness raised his vigilance to the absolute maximum. He knew he had encountered an unimaginable existence.

"This junior, Shi Qing, unworthily serves as the captain of the third team of the Liuyun Immortal City Law Enforcement Team," Shi Qing cupped his fists, lowering his posture significantly. "I apologize for rudely disturbing Senior's quiet cultivation and hope you will forgive me. However, since Senior has opened a 'Cares-Away' shop here to enlighten the lowest-tier rogue cultivators, I wonder... what is your ultimate aim?"

This was both a probe and an interrogation.

Jiang Xiuyuan put down the carving knife, picked up the teapot on the table, and poured a cup of hot tea for Shi Qing. The tea was mortal tea; the water was mortal water.

"I have no ulterior aims," he smiled faintly. "I am merely here to experience life with my daughter and, incidentally, to listen to some stories."

"Listen to stories?" Shi Qing clearly did not believe it.

"Indeed," Jiang Xiuyuan looked at him, his gaze seeming capable of piercing the human heart. "Just like your story. You have been stuck in the mid-Core Formation stage for a full hundred years, haven't you? The cultivation technique you practice emphasizes the words 'steadiness' and 'suppression.' That is why your actions are calm and meticulous, and your spiritual energy is as solid and condensed as a boulder. But have you ever considered that although a boulder is steady, it is also lifeless? Although the vast ocean is suppressed, it loses the vitality of the tides."

Shi Qing's pupils suddenly contracted, and his hand holding the teacup tightened abruptly. The other party had not only seen through his cultivation bottleneck at a glance, but had also articulated the core contradiction of his cultivation technique! This was the greatest inner demon that had plagued him for a century without a solution!

"Every day, you suppress the various forms of 'instability' within the Immortal City, and in time, you have also suppressed your own heart into a stubborn stone. You only know how to suppress, yet you have forgotten how to channel. You only seek 'immobility,' yet you have forgotten that 'flow' is the essence of life and cultivation." Jiang Xiuyuan picked up the half-carved wooden sculpture on the table—it was an eagle spreading its wings, poised for flight.

"Upon a boulder, why can an eagle not be born?"

A single sentence, like a thunderclap from the nine heavens, exploded violently within Shi Qing's mind!

*Upon a boulder, why can an eagle not be born?*

"Boom!"

Deep within Shi Qing's body, the Core Formation, which had been like solidified magma, trembled violently, and a fine crack actually split across its surface. An unprecedented, vibrant breath of vitality flowed out from that fissure, instantly unblocking all his congested meridians. The bottleneck that had troubled him for a century showed signs of loosening at this very moment!

He abruptly stood up, his face filled with shock and wild joy. He bowed deeply—deeply and respectfully—toward Jiang Xiuyuan, his voice trembling with emotion: "Thank you, Senior, for your gracious enlightenment! Shi Qing... will never forget this kindness!"

He had encountered a fortune of cosmic proportions today. The seemingly mortal entity before him possessed a realm so high it surpassed his imagination. A single word from this person surpassed a hundred years of his bitter cultivation!

"There is no need to thank me," Jiang Xiuyuan waved his hand and picked up the carving knife once more. "I am merely a storyteller. The path, after all, must be walked by oneself."

Shi Qing bowed heavily once again, then respectfully withdrew from the back courtyard. Walking to the entrance of the shop, he issued a command to his subordinates with a severity he had never shown before:

"Hear my command! From this day forth, within a radius of a hundred zhang around the 'Cares-Away General Store' in Mud Bottle Alley is designated as a forbidden zone! No one, under any circumstances, is permitted to come and disturb this place! Violators will have their cultivation crippled and be expelled from the Immortal City!"

The five team members looked at each other in dismay. Though bewildered, seeing the captain's expression of deep awe and reverence, they knew the person inside was someone they could never afford to provoke. In unison, they shouted, "Understood!"

Soon, the law enforcement team retreated like a receding tide.

Only then did the rogue cultivators watching from afar dare to approach slowly. They did not know what had transpired inside, but they had all witnessed the Core Formation captain, Shi Qing, display an attitude approaching humble reverence upon his departure.

From then on, a legend began to quietly spread throughout the entire Liuyun Immortal City, from the lower three districts all the way to the upper three districts.

Legend had it that deep within the most chaotic Mud Bottle Alley of the Immortal City, there was a mysterious general store.

The owner of the shop could dispel all the sorrows in the world.

A single word from him could make stubborn stones nod in agreement and withered trees bloom with spring.