After smoothing out all the injuries and hidden dangers within his body, Ji Yuan did not immediately leave the quiet room.
He took out his magic treasures and artifacts one by one, then placed them before himself, repairing the damage they had sustained in this battle.
In reality, the Heavy Water Bead and the Profound Sky Spirit Devouring Pagoda were fine. They had not suffered much damage and had even benefited greatly from it, with one absorbing a large amount of water essence and the other devouring much pure spiritual energy.
Conversely, the Three Talents Treasure Coin and the pale blue long whip that was cultivated with his life had suffered considerable damage in this battle.
Especially the former, not only was its spiritual energy completely depleted, but its spirituality was also damaged due to the excessive activation of its power. Without a period of careful nurturing, it would be difficult for it to recover its former glory.
"It seems I've never given you a name."
He reached out and grasped the pale blue long whip, suddenly murmuring to himself.
As soon as his voice fell, a faint light flickered on the long whip, as if responding to him.
This artifact, forged by a master craftsman of the Heavenly Ingenuity Pavilion and evolving nine layers of innate restrictions within, was destined to be cultivated with his life. It was as if it already possessed a trace of spiritual awareness.
"You and I are both innately close to the water element, so I shall call you Yuan Chen."
Ji Yuan said with a smile.
The Yuan Chen Whip also flickered with a faint light, seemingly very pleased with this name.
Both were innately close to the water element, and the character 'chen' (辰) was implicitly associated with water, while 'yuan' (元) was a homophone for the 'yuan' (源) in his name, also encompassing the meaning of primordial beginnings of heaven and earth.
However, just as Ji Yuan and the Yuan Chen Whip were expressing their satisfaction, the white jade flying sword in his dantian suddenly stirred up waves in the sword qi lake, and even the long sword on his back emitted a faint sword cry at the same time.
The white jade flying sword named Xiaobai, and the ancestor's sword of Yuan Bao, were both expressing their displeasure.
But Ji Yuan paid them no mind. He placed the Yuan Chen Whip and the Three Talents Treasure Coin into wooden basins separately and began to pour various spirit liquids containing pure spiritual energy into them.
Seeing the two magical artifacts self-repairing their damaged areas and replenishing their depleted spiritual energy in several spirit liquids, he then closed his eyes again and began to circulate his cultivation technique.
Before this, he had also taken a Water God Pill.
Instantly, water vapor permeated Ji Yuan's body, and incense desire power was released from the elixir. After being slightly refined by his magic power, it surged towards his brow and merged into his three souls and seven spirits.
As for the medicinal power within the elixir, it became even purer under the intake and output of the Profound Sky Spirit Devouring Pagoda, and could be easily refined into his own magic power without much effort.
The abundant water vapor contained within the Water God Pill, under his intentional control, was continuously integrating into the six opened acupoints.
These six acupoints, which nourished the Heavy Water Beads, were already filled with a large amount of pure spiritual energy, dense pure water vapor, and a small amount of water essence drawn from the lake's heart.
At the same time, under the nurturing of these three elements, the quality of the six Heavy Water Beads was quietly improving. Although the progress was very slight and slow, it was undeniably present.
Even without Ji Yuan investing too much energy, after a certain period of time, the six Heavy Water Beads would improve on their own.
This would indeed save him a significant amount of time, allowing him to focus more on other matters.
Another ten days passed before he concluded this cultivation session. He put away the two fully repaired magical artifacts, opened the door, and walked out of the quiet room.
As Ji Yuan walked through the estate, he rarely saw disciples of the Nine Xuan Sect. Instead, he saw many servants and distinguished guests temporarily residing there.
These guests came from various factions. Some were visiting friends at the Nine Xuan Sect, while others were there to discuss business. Regardless of the reason, without a special permit token, they were required to stay there and await news.
As a sect that dominated an entire commandery, under normal circumstances, the Nine Xuan Sect would naturally not allow factions to ascend the mountain directly. All were required to wait in the market town, with disciples of the Nine Xuan Sect acting as intermediaries.
After leaving the residence named "Qunxing Mansion," Ji Yuan boarded a carriage that was always waiting at the entrance and headed towards the Mingxin Pavilion branch in the market town.
His departure from the Nine Xuan Sect's mountain gate this time was not only to verify his suspicions but also for the most important matter of contacting Mingxin Pavilion.
Otherwise, without this annual contribution, it would have a significant impact on his cultivation.
Before long, Ji Yuan arrived at the Mingxin Pavilion's branch in the market town by carriage. However, as he walked in, he couldn't help but freeze in place, looking at a very familiar figure not far away with some confusion.
As if sensing his gaze, the person subconsciously turned around. Upon seeing the young Daoist at the entrance, the person first paused for a moment, then walked towards him with a light smile.
"Oh, isn't this our special contributor?"
Liu Ruyan asked with feigned surprise, a hint of teasing in her voice.
Hearing this, Ji Yuan gave a wry smile, his confusion deepening.
"Why are you here?"
He asked.
She was the shopkeeper of Qianyu City, and during the disaster relief, she had successfully become Qian Nishang's confidante. Even if she were to be promoted, she wouldn't possibly be sent to a place a commandery away, would she?
The market town outside the Nine Xuan Sect was indeed a prosperous area in Feiyun Commandery, gathering most of the transactions in the commandery. Even cultivators from surrounding commanderies often liked to come here.
However, Mingxin Pavilion's business was basically confined to Luoxia Commandery. For other commanderies within Lingyang Prefecture, they only maintained personal connections and conducted direct supply transactions.
For market towns like this, Mingxin Pavilion had never expected to earn money from them. They were more often used as a contact point.
"Naturally, I applied for a transfer!"
Liu Ruyan rolled her eyes and led him to the third floor, to a private room used for entertaining distinguished guests.
After the maid served tea and withdrew, she began to explain everything in detail.
Originally, Qian Nishang had intended to send a confidante to establish contact with Ji Yuan here. After all, he was destined to be tied to the Nine Xuan Sect in the future and would eventually hold great power.
Even without the status of a special contributor of the Qian family, Qian Nishang would undoubtedly do her best to maintain the relationship between them and deepen this bond of incense desire.
However, now that the Qian family had finally turned things around, not only was there no longer the covetous gaze of the Li family, but they had also absorbed many of the opponent's businesses and assets. It was indeed difficult to send some of the confidantes who had suffered hardships to Feiyun Commandery.
Although the branch in this market town was the headquarters of all Mingxin Pavilion's forces in Feiyun Commandery, it was still somewhat of a nominal promotion with a hidden demotion.
Liu Ruyan, who was transferred to Guanxia City, took the initiative to apply and willingly accepted the position, and it took her a month to rush to this place.
"Was the journey very arduous?"
Ji Yuan pondered for a moment and asked with a somewhat serious expression.
Upon hearing this, Liu Ruyan was slightly taken aback. In her impression, this young Daoist, while not heartless, was very indifferent to everything outside of himself and his close friends and family.
Although he seemed to converse pleasantly with people and even joked after getting to know them, he always gave off a sense of distance, as if he were miles away.
She had known Ji Yuan for over a year and interacted with him several times each month, but they had never become friends. Based on her understanding of him, he would never have asked such a question.
"It wasn't arduous, but I did encounter a few dangers. Fortunately, your shadow companion was with me, along with the experts from Mingxin Pavilion. We managed to reach Feiyun Commandery without any major incidents,"
Liu Ruyan said with a smile, her beautiful eyes flickering.
She seemed to recall something and, after a few breaths, asked with interest, "Is Xia Dong doing well with you?"
Ji Yuan was stunned. He suddenly realized that ever since arriving at the Nine Xuan Sect, he had neglected this young girl. He was usually busy with his cultivation and rarely paid attention to her.
Xia Dong, who had been sent by Qian Nishang, also quietly cultivated by herself or accompanied Zhang Zhiya to brew tea and play chess. She had never actively disturbed him.
"She... should be doing quite well, right?"
Ji Yuan grinned, saying with some uncertainty.
Hearing this, Liu Ruyan immediately glared at him with annoyance, then earnestly "educated" him, telling him that even if she was just a maid, he should never ignore her.
"Enough! Let's talk about business first!"
After a long while, Ji Yuan couldn't take it anymore and quickly said.
Liu Ruyan gave him a sidelong glance. Although her eyes showed some resentment, she still straightened her expression and then took out some items from her accompanying "Mountains and Rivers Bag."
There was a jade token, three signal arrows, and a wooden box as thick as an adult's forearm, all neatly placed in front of Ji Yuan.
"This jade token grants you the authority to mobilize all Mingxin Pavilion forces within Feiyun Commandery, allowing you to travel more conveniently outside,"
She said, pointing to the jade token.
Although Mingxin Pavilion did not focus on expanding its business outside of Luoxia Commandery, it had established a branch in every first-class county town to provide convenience for its own people and to cultivate local connections.
"These three signal arrows, once used, can shoot straight into the sky. Even during the day, they are clearly visible from more than ten miles away."
Any force belonging to Mingxin Pavilion, upon seeing a signal arrow activated, must rush to support it as quickly as possible, regardless of what they are doing.
Liu Ruyan solemnly reminded him that they could only be used when encountering significant trouble or a life-threatening crisis.
Because once a signal arrow was activated, the news would spread throughout Feiyun Commandery, bringing significant repercussions.
"This wooden box is engraved with dozens of restrictions, and it houses a communication flying sword. It can contact anyone within a thousand miles, provided that person also possesses such an item and you have exchanged beacons with each other."
Liu Ruyan pointed to the wooden box, "However, under normal circumstances, you should not be greedy for the convenience of this item, because driving it once requires at least tens to hundreds of spirit stones, depending on the communication distance."
This item was for Ji Yuan to use in special, urgent situations. For normal communication, he would still need to send someone to this market town.
Hearing this, Ji Yuan's wrist flicked, and he almost dropped the wooden box on the table. A strange look appeared in his eyes.
Consuming tens to hundreds of spirit stones per use?
One must know that the price of one spirit stone is equivalent to fifty silver snowflakes, which is equivalent to spending thousands of taels of silver snowflakes for each use!
Ji Yuan was so reluctant to even see such a money-eating ancestor, unless it was absolutely necessary!
"Oh, right. Normally, you need to put one or two low-grade spirit stones into it each month to maintain its spirituality."
As if remembering something, Liu Ruyan reminded him kindly.
If spirit stones were not added for a long time to nurture the spirituality of the communication flying sword, it would at best shorten the communication distance, and at worst, it would become unusable thereafter.
Ji Yuan was silent for a long time, then suddenly looked up with a serious expression, "Can I not have this thing?"
"..."
Liu Ruyan covered her face and couldn't help but sigh softly.
She knew this young Daoist loved money, but she hadn't expected him to be so obsessed with it. Just for the sake of spending one or two spirit stones a month, he was willing to give up something that even cultivators of the third realm did not possess.
"I think you should still take it. After all, it can still play a very important role at critical moments."
Liu Ruyan saw that Ji Yuan was about to shake his head and refuse with a serious expression. Suddenly, she had a flash of inspiration and said, "This item is worth at least tens of thousands of taels of silver outside, and it is a treasured item of Mingxin Pavilion!"
The next moment, the swift Daoist hugged the wooden box in his arms, then said with a serious expression, "Since it is the goodwill of the owner, I cannot refuse."