Chapter 279: Wind and Snow Overwhelm the Five Provinces
The Orphanage received donations from kind-hearted people and had its doors and windows repaired.
Cotton clothes and quilts in the West Market were selling out fast and began to be in short supply.
Meanwhile, the high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital started to hire artisans to inspect their underfloor heating and test their flues.
Many winter brews made from Spirit Seedlings were also being sent to various provinces along the official roads, presenting a clear picture of preparations for winter.
However, no one expected that the first truly heavy snowfall of this winter would be so immense, instantly covering the five northern provinces of You Province, Yun Province, Feng Province, Zhong Province, and Qing Province, and lasting for several days and nights.
Due to the grandeur of this snow, many snow-viewing parties were held by Sect Disciples in Shengjing, leading to a harmonious and carefree atmosphere on the streets and in the gathering places of cultivators in Shengjing during the snowy days, as they clinked cups and mingled.
There were also some Worldly Families from the south who specifically came to Shengjing and rented several courtyards to enjoy the snow.
This was because observing the changes of the four seasons was also a way to comprehend the Heavenly Dao, which was beneficial for cultivation.
Seeing this, Chong Wang immediately waved his hand and rented the Winter Garden in Shengjing, taking the opportunity to host an Immortal Appreciation Event, displaying a dazzling array of Spirit Treasures and Magical Artifacts he had collected in the exquisitely landscaped garden.
Ni Mountain was in Shengjing, and as the saying goes, 'the nearest water pavilion gets the moon first.' Tianshu Academy Disciples were naturally the first to see that batch of exquisite treasures: resplendent Magical Robes, weapons that cut iron like mud, incomparably profound Magical Artifacts, and expensive Spirit Treasures, all of which were dazzling to the eye.
However, the most eye-catching item displayed in the Winter Garden was a set of Sword Arts, said to have been passed down by ancient Sword Dao Immortals.
Besides this set of Sword Arts, there was also a Body Refining Cultivation Technique, also originating from ancient times.
Upon seeing these two secret arts, the Tianshu Academy Disciples' expressions were a bit strange.
They felt that these two items had a very clear target, seemingly designed to attract a specific person.
Most importantly, Chong Wang's purpose in almost emptying his family's coffers to host this Immortal Appreciation Event was not to make money, but to strengthen his advantage in the imperial court and suppress the Jiancha Department.
In other words, these items were essentially free, not for sale.
And this targeting was clearer than any sword or Body Refining secret art.
Li You did receive an invitation from Chong Wang and was very tempted.
It must be said that those who are skilled in calculation truly know how to capture people's hearts, almost every move striking a chord.
However, what was surprising was that Ji You, who was tempted by this, did not appear at the Immortal Appreciation Event.
On the morning of the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, he descended the divine path from Ni Mountain Tianshu Academy, wrapped in a large black cloak, and waited for a long time in the freezing cold.
At this time, the sky was not yet fully bright, still a hazy gray in the distance.
Due to various banquets, a strong, lingering scent of wine hung in the air.
Before long, from the direction where the wine scent drifted, three Jiancha Department carriages came along the road and slowly stopped in front of Ji You.
These carriages were different from those used by the post stations; their tops and bottoms were inlaid with Spirit Stones, and when they moved, they were lifted by Qi, traveling as fast as flying.
At this moment, the curtain of the first carriage was drawn open, and Kuang Cheng, Jiancha Department Supervisor Mu Qing, and Jiancha Department Deputy Supervisor Peng Dongyang, exhaling cold air, poked their heads out.
“Ji Gongzi, long time no see.”
“Where are we going first?”
“Luyang County in Yun Province.”
“No time to lose, let’s go.”
Ji You jumped onto the carriage, entered the compartment, and sat next to Kuang Cheng.
Peng Dongyang and Mu Qing looked at him, unable to resist exchanging glances.
Although the Jiancha Department was not part of the Immortal Sect, because their primary duty was to deal with Immortal Sect Worldly Families, they were very clear about what had happened before.
The female cultivator from Feng Province entered the Inner Courtyard, but the Elder Council’s Disciple unexpectedly failed the examination.
Someone went to cause trouble, pointing the finger at Ji You, resulting in one withdrawing from the academy and another hiding in the back mountain under the guise of closed-door cultivation.
If others didn’t understand why this was, it might be excusable, but the Jiancha Department understood very well.
Because just this summer, an Evil Seed appeared, and Mu Qing had personally witnessed him cleave a mountain with one sword strike.
His cultivation was definitely not as simple as everyone had seen; just like his status at Tianshu Academy, though still a student, the high-level members of Tianshu Academy already treated him completely differently.
Chong Wang must have realized this point; some time ago, he spent a fortune to buy a Sword Art and a Body Refining Cultivation Technique from Qionghua Pavilion, all to attract him.
But perhaps no one expected that Ji You, at this moment, ignored it completely and left the city with them.
Then the carriage slowly started, and lifted by Magical Artifacts, it sped out of the city, heading towards the northwest.
After speeding for a long time, the group left the populated areas, and the vast wilderness stretched out, a boundless expanse of white, not a single blade of grass visible.
Because the path they were traveling was an official road, they could see some scattered villages along the way.
The atmosphere in the carriage was good at first, with much casual conversation; Peng Dongyang even brought up Xiang Fu's entry into the Inner Courtyard, as if testing the waters.
However, upon seeing the villages along the road, everyone in the carriage instantly fell silent, and their expressions gradually became solemn.
This was because the visible houses were mostly submerged by the heavy snow, and countless houses had collapsed.
And near these collapsed villages, human figures buried under the wind and snow could vaguely be seen.
This year's snow was too heavy and lasted too long; what was considered a marvel by those Immortal Sect Disciples in Shengjing had now become a disaster.
After watching for a while, everyone suddenly felt a surge of Qi from within the carriage.
The next moment, they saw Ji You rushing out, his swift figure carrying a fierce aura, carving a deep snow trail in the snow, with towering snow waves in his wake.
Before long, Ji You landed outside the courtyard wall of a collapsed thatched hut.
He slowly squatted down, looking at the small figure curled up under the collapsed house.
It was a little girl, completely frozen stiff. Ji You, without a word, stretched out his hand, gathered Spiritual Qi at his fingertips,
and touched her brow, slowly transmitting Spiritual Qi into her body.
After a long time, the girl seemed to thaw, then collapsed limply onto the ground.
But Ji You's Spiritual Qi continued to flow out, even though all of it rushed out of the little girl's Qi orifices and dispersed into the world, he did not stop.
After a long time, Ji You exhausted all the Spiritual Qi in his body, squatted on the ground in silence for a long time before slowly getting up.
Truly, being an Immortal is useless; things that cannot be done still cannot be done.
The Jiancha Department's carriage had now changed course towards Ji You's location, and finally, the carriage slowly stopped. Kuang Cheng and the others got out together, watching this scene.
He got out in a hurry, not wearing much, his thin figure trembling in the freezing cold: “Brother Ji.”
“Why did you come down?”
“I thought you found a living person.”
Ji You was silent for a moment, then draped his large cloak over him: “The situation is more serious than imagined. We need to consider food and refugee resettlement first. Resettlement depends on the specific situation, and food should be transported from Feng Province.”
Kuang Cheng, wrapped in the black cloak, glanced at the little girl on the ground, looking at him as if he wanted to say something but ultimately said nothing.
So the carriage continued forward, and at the same time, a handwritten letter from Ji You was sent to Feng Province by a supervising official traveling with them, riding at top speed.
After so many rounds of joint harvesting, joint cultivation, and joint reclamation, Feng Province's efficiency in transmitting information up and down had become extremely high.
Upon receiving the letter, someone immediately opened the warehouse doors and called for carriages to begin loading grain.
“……
“Did Ji You still not go to Chong Wang’s place?”
“No, he left. A few mornings ago, someone heard that he left Shengjing.”
“That’s strange. I heard that a Prodigy from Yong Province took a liking to a blade in Chong Wang’s possession and traveled thousands of miles to get here. Why is Ji You completely unmoved?”
“Perhaps he doesn’t think highly of it…?”
“Nonsense. I heard people say that with his greed, he would pick up a few free stones by the roadside.”
For the next few days, the winter snow still did not stop, and snow-viewing parties in Shengjing continued one after another.
The Winter Garden rented by Prince Chong's Mansion also welcomed wave after wave of guests, and some important figures also couldn't resist coming to stroll around.
However, as time passed, these cultivators, while enjoying themselves, gradually began to frown.
This was because they discovered that the price of Spirit Stones had suddenly started to increase dramatically, making people's scalps tingle.
Actually, it was well-known that Spirit Stones always increased in price every winter, because transportation was difficult in winter, and costs naturally increased.
But slowly, people began to realize that something was wrong.
This year's Spirit Stone price increase was simply outrageous, so much so that many cultivators who planned to break through during this season had to stop.
“A small stone that only sold for a few taels of silver in the middle of the year now costs more than ten taels?”
“They’re just using high transportation costs as an excuse to earn more money; the price will definitely drop later.”
“But I’m still waiting to break through!”
“No need to rush. If you trust me, check again in a few days, and it will definitely have dropped. At that time, your current money will be able to buy ten times more.”
Amidst the clinking of cups, some, eager for breakthroughs, were displeased with the skyrocketing price of Spirit Stones.
But there were also those who weren't in a hurry to break through, maintaining an optimistic attitude, believing that while Spirit Stone prices always rose annually, they usually soared only to quickly fall back down.
However, in reality, there was no sign of the Spirit Stone price increase stopping, let alone falling.
Many cultivators, seeing the Spirit Stone price change day by day, also began secretly hoarding goods, causing prices to climb even higher, at one point even leading to supply shortages.
Yet, none of these people understood why the Spirit Stone price was so abnormal.
Liu Junchi of Lingjian Mountain had also arrived in Shengjing at this time, invited by Chong Wang to attend the Immortal Appreciation Gathering in the East Courtyard.
After watching the singing and dancing in the courtyard, he invited Zhao Yunyue to stroll arm in arm, his expression slightly emotional as they walked.
Two years ago, to obtain backup Medicinal Pills from the Dan Sect, Liu Junchi had visited Shengjing once. At that time, Chong Wang took a liking to him and wanted to marry Zhao Yunyue to him. It was then that he met Dou Yuankong through Zhao Yunyue.
Unexpectedly, not long after, he heard that something had happened to Dou Yuankong.
So, after arriving in Shengjing yesterday, he took time to visit Dou Yuankong, seeing him in a state of madness and idiocy, sighing several times about the impermanence of life.
Zhao Yunyue seemed not to have taken his words to heart, lowering her gaze as she walked with him to the West Courtyard, where she looked at the Sword Manuals and Body Refining Cultivation Techniques displayed in the courtyard, her expression suddenly becoming somewhat complex.
Just then, his Junior Brother Peng Peng, who had come with him, arrived, panting as he cupped his hands and said, “Senior Brother, I’ve searched several shops, but I can’t buy any.”
“Can’t buy any?”
“There’s still stock, but it’s too expensive. There’s not much difference from the price in our Ling Province, and the money we brought isn’t enough.”
“?”
Liu Junchi paused slightly, a hint of surprise in his eyes.
His trip to Shengjing wasn't entirely to see Zhao Yunyue; primarily, it was to purchase Spirit Stones.
Because the prices of Spirit Stones in Ling Province, Yu Province, and Yong Province were all rapidly rising, he had assumed that Shengjing, being closer to the Spirit Stone production area, would be better, but he hadn’t expected it to be the same.
What’s going on? Have all the Spirit Mines in Qingyun World been dug dry?
Liu Junchi couldn’t help but look at Zhao Yunyue: “Yunyue, do you know why the Spirit Stones keep rising in price?”
Zhao Yunyue snapped out of it and looked up at him: “The snowy region demon stone stopped transportation, so the inventory naturally increased in price.”
“Stopped transportation?!”
“This year’s heavy snow has been continuous, causing a disaster. The northern regions are severely affected. It’s said that someone issued an order a while ago, that throughout the entire winter, the official roads in Feng Province must make way for disaster relief grain.”
New Spirit Stones couldn't be transported in, so Spirit Stone shops with keen senses would raise the prices of their existing stock. This was normal business logic.
A hint of confusion flashed in Liu Junchi’s eyes: “The snowy region demon stone’s price increase is due to its scarcity, but why have Yun Province Stone and Zhong Province Stone also risen so sharply?”
“In the past two years, Yun Province Stone and Zhong Province Stone were impacted by the snowy region demon stone and had poor sales, so they started reducing production a year ago. There isn’t much inventory at all, and now with the freezing weather, they can’t be mined.”
“According to what you’re saying, does that mean there will be no Spirit Stones available for the entire winter?”
“That depends on the disaster situation.”
Peng Peng suddenly noticed a problem: “What do the disaster and Spirit Stones have to do with each other? Who issued the order daring to leave us Immortals without Spirit Stones, yet demanding the transportation of disaster relief grain?”
Liu Junchi also reacted, his expression instantly becoming serious: “Could it be your Great Xia Dynasty’s Emperor?”
“The right to use that official road in Feng Province belongs to Ji You, and only he has the authority to order a halt to transportation.”
“?”
Zhao Yunyue had been distracted since this morning, precisely because she had heard about this matter from her father, Chong Wang.
Ji You didn't come to the Immortal Appreciation Gathering, nor did he care about any Sword Manuals or Body Refining Cultivation Techniques. He had left Shengjing very early to go provide disaster relief. This news was actually not a secret; besides a few newcomers to Shengjing, most others had already heard about it.
It was just that newcomers like Liu Junchi, due to being out of touch with information, simply didn't know.
In fact, as this news spread, the lively atmosphere in Shengjing City had already begun to gradually fade, and even those who drank late into the night became fewer.
It wasn't that they had begun to pity suffering, because if that were truly the case, Qingyun World would not have turned into such a ghastly state.
It was just that after many people learned about this matter, whenever they recalled the scenes of singing and dancing from a few days ago, they felt as if their own appearance was like some kind of demon or monster, and their hearts always felt uneasy.
People often said that Ji You was extremely cunning, capable of enduring for years to secretly cultivate and enter the academy.
Later, Dou Yuankong, presumptuously using Spirit Stones as bait, and with the cooperation of others, lured him to his death in the Snow Region, leading to him being ridiculed as the most worthless cultivator.
Some also said that if one wanted to assassinate Ji You, no profound schemes were needed; simply throwing silver along the way would lure him away.
But later, he suddenly disappeared at the Tiandao Conference, went home, and brought people to harvest wheat.
He didn’t want to obtain any free Sword Manuals or Body Refining Cultivation Techniques; he went out of the city to help with the disaster.
He was faking it; what he cared about was not money at all, nor the Immortal Dao, let alone Ascension.
Many people laughed at him back then, saying that even though he entered the Inner Courtyard, he couldn't enter the Immortal Hall, which was equivalent to not entering at all. But until now, the Disciples of Tianshu Academy have begun to believe that he truly doesn't care.
They even genuinely felt that Ji You completely looked down on Immortal Sects and never intended to enter Tianshu Academy.
So today, for the sake of the common people’s food, he cut off the Spirit Stones for cultivators.
Liu Junchi’s eyes widened after hearing this: “This Tong Xuan Realm, is he trying to die?!”
Peng Peng also widened his eyes: “Cutting off Spirit Stones at such a time when they can’t be mined, it’s over, this Ji You is finished.”
Zhao Yunyue frowned upon hearing this: “Why is this moment so critical?”
“The end of the year is when the most people break through, because they can use the power of Medicinal Pills.”
“The Dan Sect’s Medicinal Pills?”
“Yes, it’s said that the Dan Sect’s Medicinal Pill quota for this year has been allocated and is about to be transported down the mountain. Many people are waiting to hoard Spirit Stones to refine them into Medicinal Pills for breakthroughs. How can he survive by cutting off Spirit Stones at this time?”
Zhao Yunyue realized upon hearing this that she had indeed overlooked the timing of the Dan Sect’s Medicinal Pill distribution.
Indeed, the Dan Sect’s Medicinal Pills are distributed in winter, and many cultivators hoard Spirit Stones to await the bestowed Medicinal Pills, using them to borrow the Medicinal Pill’s power for breakthroughs.
Ji You cutting off the Spirit Stone supply at this time would truly drive many people mad.
However, Zhao Yunyue suddenly recalled the strange quietness of Tianshu Academy a while ago, thinking that if the rumors were true, then probably no one could do anything to him.
In fact, cutting off the supply of Spirit Stones throughout the entire Qingyun World, leading to a gradual shortage of Spirit Stones, indeed had a huge impact.
Not long after the news spread, people had already traveled to Feng Province to investigate.
As expected, the Sect Disciples who arrived in Feng Province saw numerous grain carts already departing from the State Prefecture, After inventory、Check、Dispatch and storage，Embarking on the long snowy journey westward。after being inventoried, inspected, dispatched, and stored, embarking on the long, snowy road westward.
All the snowy region demon stones were blocked outside the Northern Border, and even the Yao Race’s transport teams were kept at the pass by Feng Province. Although they were well-fed and well-treated, it was essentially equivalent to being detained.
Qingyun World has always prioritized Immortals, and the common people toil to support Immortals. How could Immortals accept such a situation?
At this moment, Ji You had just arrived in Luyang County, the most severely affected area. He hadn't even had time to rest after getting out of the carriage when the surveillance officer who had gone to Feng Province to deliver a message handed a dispatch to Peng Dongyang.
Peng Dongyang unfolded the letter and found it contained orders from several great Immortal Families of Qingyun World, demanding the immediate transportation of snowy region demon stones into the city.
So, after much deliberation, he handed it to Ji You with a complex expression.
Although the Jianchachu (Surveillance Department) was in charge of Spirit Stone transportation, it was, after all, a government office of a mortal Dynasty and could not defy an Immortal’s decree.
Ji You stood in the vast, white, icy world. After reading the letter, he immediately recalled the little girl huddled in the corner, and with a livid face, he tore it up.
What the hell, demons and monsters.