Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 407: Intelligence on Wilderness Province

After parting ways with Meng Jingzhou, Lu Yang’s luck did improve significantly.

On the way to the nearest city, Lu Yang valiantly defeated mountain bandits and rescued two noble young ladies. Despite their effusive gratitude, Lu Yang firmly refused their requests to marry into their families, bidding them farewell and departing with an air of loftiness.

Later, he ran into robbers attacking a convoy of armed escorts. Lu Yang lent them a hand, and the young miss of the armed escort agency was extremely moved. She said that it was her first time overseeing the convoy in escorting goods, and if not for Lu Yang’s timely intervention, the escort mission would have failed, severely damaging their agency’s reputation. Impressed by Lu Yang’s extraordinary skills, she invited him to join their armed escort agency and even offered him the position of Head Armed Escort.

Unsurprisingly, Lu Yang declined again.

Finally, Lu Yang encountered a young lady hosting a martial arts contest for marriage. She invited heroes from diverse backgrounds, proclaiming she would wed whoever defeated her.

At the sight of this, Lu Yang quickened his pace and hastily left. “I've long heard of the heroism and mettle women in Wilderness Province possess and how they often go out and about. I’ve finally seen it for myself today.”

The people of Wilderness Province were known for their boldness and heroism, and the same applied to the women there. Unlike most women in the Central Plains, who were confined to their boudoirs, the women here engaged in similar pursuits as men.

With Meng Jingzhou by his side previously, Lu Yang never had the chance to witness it.

“It’s a pity that Old Meng’s sparse fortune prevents him from seeing this.” Lu Yang thought of Meng Jingzhou with schadenfreude. “That said, public security in Wilderness Province is really poor. There aren’t so many mountain bandits and robbers elsewhere.” ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

After passing through these “beauty trials”, Lu Yang arrived at the nearest city.

The walls were built from giant bricks and exuded a rugged grandeur reminiscent of the Demon Suppression Pass, yet with a distinct style of its own.

“Yuanshan City.”[1] Lu Yang raised his head and softly read the name of the city before entering its gates.

Since the Luodi Merchant Guild operated businesses dealing with intelligence brokerage, purchasing their reports would be the most efficient way of understanding local affairs.

However, there was some information that the Luodi Merchant Guild didn’t dare to sell, such as intelligence regarding the Five Great Immortal Sects, especially the Dao-Seeking Sect.

Thus, Yun Zhi’s victories over her peers and all the sect leaders during the Immortal Sect Grand Tournament were not within the scope of information the merchant guild would peddle.

Lu Yang noted how extremely few people were aware of Yun Zhi’s existence. Without special means, they wouldn’t even know her name. Even if they did learn of her existence, they simply regarded her as just another unremarkable disciple of the Dao-Seeking Sect with nothing worthy of their attention.

He speculated that this stemmed from Yun Zhi’s rare public demonstrations and the merchant guild refraining from selling such information.

As for the other four immortal sects, the merchant guild still sold bits of information here and there—for example, that the number of people in the Hanging Monastery had reached a historic high, now exceeding twelve members, and that the abbot had cultivated the Mouth-Shut Chan Meditation to comprehend the true meaning of Buddhism, so he no longer spoke and only communicated by beating people.

As for intelligence concerning the imperial court, the merchant guild would exercise discretion in selling it. For example, they didn’t sell the information that the Taciturn Daoist Priest and the Minister of Justice were locked in the same prison cell and that the entire Ministry of Justice had to relocate their office because of it.

Arriving at the merchant guild, Lu Yang bought their most detailed Wilderness Province intelligence report, and the first entry already struck him like thunder.

“The daughter of Wilderness Province’s governor organized a birthday banquet. The governor sent out invitations to various factions, asking them to send their representatives to offer their blessings and celebratory gifts. At the birthday banquet, talented young men from these factions showcased their all to win a smile from the governor’s daughter. However, the governor is now suspected of receiving bribes, and these factions are suspected of bribing influential figures. All involved have been arrested.”

The merchant guild even thoughtfully appended the relevant legal clauses and precedent cases as a stern warning.

“The newly appointed governor of Wilderness Province took office and delivered a speech titled Rectifying the Crooked Customs of Wilderness Province, requesting that all local officials study its contents.

“The Barbarian Tribe’s coming-of-age ceremony proceeded as scheduled. The young barbarian, Man Gu, survived for over seven days in the wilderness and slaughtered nearly a hundred Golden Core demon beasts, attaining victory.

“This brat Man Gu only mentioned he was going home to visit his family. Turns out he was taking part in the Barbarian Tribe’s coming-of-age ceremony,” Lu Yang muttered in realization. He hadn’t seen Man Gu in some time and was puzzled why a simple family visit would take so long.

He had heard of the Barbarian Tribe’s coming-of-age ceremony. It required those on the cusp of adulthood to be thrown into the most perilous wilderness. Surviving past seven days would count as passing, but those who managed to slaughter demon beasts would earn an even higher evaluation. Rankings were also determined by the quantity and quality of their kills.

“The Barbarian Tribe still upholds this tradition?” The Everlasting Immortal Fairy sounded faintly surprised. This was a tradition I had left with the Ancient Barbarian Tribe. I didn’t expect it to endure to this day.

“The Corpse-Driving Sect’s grand tournament has concluded. The victor, Huang Ming, just turned eighteen and is at the Basic Golden Core Stage. He has already been taken in as the sect leader’s final disciple. The runner-up, Zhao Po, also just turned eighteen and is at the Basic Golden Core Stage.”

Lu Yang lingered on this piece of news for a few extra seconds. Reaching the Basic Golden Core Stage at just eighteen must mean incredible talent. Even among the Five Great Immortal Sects, such cultivation speed is rare, surpassed only by me and Meng Jingzhou.

“Two geniuses... the Great Era is approaching,” Lu Yang remarked. Had these two been born in the golden age of ancient times, they might even have qualified to serve as stepping stones for the Everlasting Immortal Fairy’s rise.

“The Seven-Emotions Valley has developed a new curse. Those afflicted will hear the incessant buzzing of mosquitoes while sleeping or in seclusion. It is unavoidable even if one covers their ears, driving victims to become irascible.

“Seven-Emotions Valley—I remember they’re a first-class sect in Wilderness Province specializing in curses,” Lu Yang murmured. His knowledge of the Seven-Emotions Valley was limited.

“The White Paper-Hatted Man (real name unknown, real identity unknown) has a bounty of one million spirit stones. By splitting himself into two people, he feigned his own capture to claim the reward before departing carefreely. Wilderness Province’s authorities have since raised the bounty to two million spirit stones.

“The rising star of the barbeque world, One More Time Barbeque Shop, has thirty branches in Wilderness Province, and their business is thriving. According to the chain, they have a passion for barbecue and hope to spread its flavor across the entire province, with plans for setting up more stores within the province.

“The home of Corpse Drivers, Qingming Chain Inns... Why are there advertisements in this?” Lu Yang was slightly annoyed. I paid for intelligence, so why are there advertisements interspersed inside?

In fact, the information about One More Time Barbeque Shop was also an advertisement, but since Lu Yang took sixty percent of the profits, he let it slide.

“Why is there no intel on battles between Fusion cultivators?” Despite the dazzling assortment of information on Wilderness Province, Lu Yang hadn’t lost sight of his original goal to uncover clues about the walking corpse horde in Jianshi Village.

“Oh, I’ve found it. There really was one recorded fight between Fusion cultivators. It was two months ago.

“Let’s see what happened... Two Fusion cultivators had a falling out in their relationship and filed for divorce, coming to blows fighting over custody of their child.”

Lu Yang, “...”

Rubbing his temples in frustration, he began entertaining the possibility that the walking corpses had simply gotten lost.

1. “Yuanshan” translates to something like “distant mountain.” ☜

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