Bounty

Shi Yu scanned the bounty notices posted on the outer wall, which covered a wide variety of requests.

The most common were for item retrieval or accompanying someone on a trial to some dangerous location. Aside from those, there were also requests to locate missing relatives and friends, kill or capture enemies, provide clues about secret realms... and even some seeking dual-cultivation partners.

From the conversation of several cultivators nearby who were also reading the notices, Shi Yu learned that in the main city, there was an organization known as the Myriad Phenomena Tower that specialized in trading intelligence and issuing bounty missions, operating with far more structure and regulation.

They even maintained leaderboards, assigning graded evaluation points to bounty missions. Cultivators who completed tasks were ranked according to their accumulated points and awarded generous rewards, including but not limited to various pills, cultivation techniques, and spots for secret realm entries.

Furthermore, for bounty missions that required traveling with an employer, to prevent instances of mercenaries turning on their master, they would require the cultivators who took the contract to sign a binding pledge. This covenant resonated with the unseen realm of heaven and earth, binding them with karma, so unless pushed to absolute desperation, no one would dare violate it—greatly safeguarding the employer's security.

However, for the time being... the bounty notices posted outside this tavern had no major force backing or guaranteeing them.

If it were an ordinary bounty task, that would be fine, but what she wanted to post was a mission to hire people to accompany and protect her.

If the pay was too low, no one would be willing to take the job; if the pay was too high, being alone without any background to act as a deterrent, there was a real possibility that some cultivator might grow greedy and turn on her along the way.

Just as she was pondering her options, her side vision caught a middle-aged cultivator hurriedly approaching with a scroll in hand. Unrolling the paper at the tavern's entrance, he leaned in and shouted inside, “My young master is heading into the mountain range to gather herbs! We're only staying in the outer perimeter, not going deep, and heading south.

“Looking for twenty cultivators to accompany us! Requires the third layer of the Qi Refining Realm or above! Fifty low-grade spirit stones per person!”

A stir immediately broke out inside the tavern. Many people showed interested expressions, rising to walk over to the middle-aged cultivator.

Not far away, Shi Yu heard someone speak with a mix of envy and jealousy, “Whoa, twenty people at fifty spirit stones each—that's a thousand spirit stones in total! What a lavish expenditure!”

Fifty spirit stones per person was fairly standard among bounty tasks.

However, this mission merely entailed escorting and guarding an herb-gathering expedition, stayed strictly on the mountain range's outer rim, and recruited a large group. All these factors combined significantly reduced the danger involved.

Quite a few interested cultivators stepped forward to sign up, and the middle-aged cultivator recorded them one by one.

In just a short moment, the middle-aged cultivator called out, “Just one spot left!”

Shi Yu's thoughts raced. With such a large group entering the mountain range, ordinary spirit beasts would likely not attack rashly. Furthermore, they were heading south, which aligned with the direction of the volcano.

If she could join them, it would provide an extra layer of security on one hand, and on the other, blending into a crowd would keep her from drawing too much attention.

Once they got close to the volcano, she could find an opportunity to slip away from the group, investigate the cause of the strange sensation coming from the volcano, and then head back.

With this thought in mind, Shi Yu stepped forward and answered in a crisp voice, “Me!”

“Hmm?” Seeing the delicate, somewhat youthful youth standing before him, the middle-aged cultivator froze for a second before giving a kindly smile. “Little Daoist, we are looking for cultivators at the third layer of the Qi Refining Realm.”

Evidently, he did not believe that a young boy barely in his teens could have reached the third layer of the Qi Refining Realm.

Most of the people who frequented this tavern were rogue cultivators. Rogue cultivators struggled to cultivate; how could such a young lad possess a cultivation of the third layer of the Qi Refining Realm?

A few rogue cultivators behind who had been too slow saw the final spot being claimed by a youngster and cursed, “What are you butting in for? Go play somewhere else, kid!”

“Out of the way, out of the way!”

Shi Yu did not say much, circulating her spiritual energy as she looked toward the middle-aged cultivator.

Her divine sense was a cut above cultivators of the same realm, so even though the middle-aged cultivator was at the eighth layer of the Qi Refining Realm, he could not tell her exact cultivation at a glance.

Only now, when Shi Yu actively circulated her spiritual energy, did the middle-aged cultivator see it clearly.

The slower rogue cultivators behind also caught a clear sense of it, immediately shutting their mouths and stepping aside in embarrassment.

The middle-aged cultivator was slightly surprised, but he said nothing more. Nodding, he asked for Shi Yu's name and jotted it down.

With the count filled, he rolled up the scroll and called out to the crowd, “Everyone, my name is Xie Cheng. Seven days from now at noon, we shall meet right here.”

This bounty mission came at just the right time, saving her the trouble of posting one herself.

Shi Yu looked around. Among the twenty cultivators, those at the third and fourth layers of the Qi Refining Realm were the majority, numbering thirteen in total.

There were four others at the fifth layer, while the remaining three were somewhat blurred under her divine sense probe, likely around the sixth layer of the Qi Refining Realm. These three appeared very familiar with one another, and upon closer inspection, their features bore a resemblance—they were probably three brothers.

After wrapping up his instructions, the middle-aged cultivator departed. The crowd scattered as well, returning to their drinking or chatting.

Shi Yu turned around and headed toward Tongyi Pavilion.

With seven days left before departure, it was the perfect opportunity to make some preparations.

Tongyi Pavilion was not far from the tavern, located on the same street; she reached it after taking a turn.

When she arrived at the entrance, business in the shop was thriving. Jiang Qihe and several shop assistants were running around in a bustle.

Now that the spirit beast riot had ended, the cultivators gathered at the defense line gradually returned to the market. The foot traffic in the market restored the lively atmosphere from when Shi Yu first arrived, and the shops along the streets saw their business improve several fold.

Furthermore, with the riot over, Tongyi Pavilion's severed supply chains were systematically restored, and its previous plight finally passed.

A sharp-eyed assistant noticed Shi Yu first and quickly nudged his manager to alert him. Manager Jiang turned around, and upon seeing Shi Yu, joy spread across his face. Assigning his current tasks to others, he hurried over to greet her.

“Young Master Shi, you haven't been here in quite a while!”

During this period, Shi Yu had handed off the selling of spirit talismans and purchasing of spiritual materials to Chen Er. Now that Jiang Qihe finally saw her in person, his tone held a playful touch of resentment.

Shi Yu smiled faintly and stated her purpose: “Manager Jiang, does your shop have any cultivation techniques for sale?”

Jiang Qihe froze for a moment, cleared his throat, and said, “Young Master Shi, if you are looking for jade slips, we absolutely have none—”

“Ordinary handwritten copies will do. Do you have any?” Shi Yu had not expected a rare commodity like a jade slip in the first place.

Jiang Qihe hesitated, saying, “Well... we do have some, but I'm afraid they won't catch your eye, Young Master. They're all low-grade techniques that aren't worth much.”

In Jiang Qihe's mind, he had long regarded Shi Yu as a disciple traveling for experience from some major clan or powerful sect, or someone under the meticulous guidance of a powerful master.

Either way, she had to have a strong background; otherwise, how could one explain such incredible Talisman Dao attainments at such a young age?

Under this impression, Jiang Qihe was naturally embarrassed to offer the lowest-tier techniques sold in the shop.

Yet he heard Shi Yu say, “It doesn't matter. Bring out whatever you have.”

Jiang Qihe did not understand Shi Yu's intention, but he did as she requested, bringing out all the available technique manuals in the shop and piling them on the counter.

Shi Yu scanned through them one by one. As Jiang Qihe had said, these were indeed the lowest-tier and widely circulated, run-of-the-mill techniques.

Even their names were generic titles like 《Basic Sword Art》 and 《Basic Whip Art》; even the 《Lesser Swallow Steps》 that Chen Er had given her was among them.

Yet precisely because they were widely circulated, they were easy to acquire and very cheap.

Secret exclusive manuals, even if they were similarly Tier-1 low-tier techniques, would cost several times more, to say nothing of whether one could even find them for sale.

Fortunately, although these techniques were ordinary, once refined and enhanced by the Yin-Yang Fate-Tapping Bell, they would be more than enough for the time being.

In the end, Shi Yu picked out a saber technique manual, 《Basic Saber Art》—the scimitar she kept hidden against the side of her boot felt fairly comfortable to use.

Next, she selected a spell manual, 《Fire Cloud Palm》, which perfectly suited her Fire-attribute Spiritual Meridian.

Browsing to the end, she saw a rhythm-type technique manual titled 《No Thought of Return》. Shi Yu thought for a moment and took it as well. Because she frequently drew talismans, concocted pills, and refined artifacts, her divine sense surpassed cultivators of her realm by a fair margin, making music-based techniques an excellent auxiliary tool.

Knowing that biting off more than she could chew would yield nothing, Shi Yu stopped after selecting these three techniques, and additionally replenished a good number of spiritual plants and materials.

Jiang Qihe calculated the price for her, rounded down the total, and warmly saw her off.