From a certain perspective, Hua Jian had done an excellent job with this reception task.
She had successfully mingled with the Qian family members who came to greet her, forming a bond as thick as that of sisters.
Even though she was passive, she did receive them, right?
After this matter was done, Hua Jian was actually free as a bird.
She could do whatever she wanted next, and none of the dirty or tiring work needed her involvement.
They wouldn’t let her do it either. The only restriction might be that she had to stay at the Ten Thousand Flowers Valley’s stronghold in Frozen Winter City, and couldn’t just find a place to stay outside.
As Hua Jian expected, the Ten Thousand Flowers Valley’s stronghold in Frozen Winter City was still a grand tavern full of flowers and willows.
Although certain businesses weren’t displayed openly, with a bit of attention, one could see that this place still offered various special services.
Moreover, the various servers moving through it had high-quality looks and quite graceful figures.
One could tell at a glance they were seasoned veterans who had been through many battles.
“Lady Saintess, please follow me. Your room is on the top floor. We’ve had people clean it day and night, awaiting your arrival…”
Upon seeing Hua Jian, the tavern’s manager immediately attached herself like a loyal dog, personally leading the way with extreme enthusiasm.
If Hua Jian’s identity weren’t meant to be publicized, she would probably have laid a red carpet on the stairs and arranged people to scatter flowers on both sides, welcoming Hua Jian’s arrival with the grandest ceremony.
“If the Lady Saintess has any other requests, please tell me. Everyone at the Red Flower Building is willing to go through fire and water for you!”
As she spoke, the manager made a gesture to Hua Jian.
This sentence was likely asking if Hua Jian had any special needs, such as whether she needed someone to warm her bed, and if so, what requirements she had for the bedmate.
What could be done? People from Ten Thousand Flowers Valley would certainly care about such matters.
“I don’t like experienced ones.” Hua Jian paused in her steps and said half-jokingly.
“That’s right. The Lady Saintess has a noble status. Ordinary people are not qualified to serve you.”
The manager didn’t take Hua Jian’s words as a joke. After all, the two maids Hua Jian brought with her had a very pure aura about them.
These two were definitely innocent girls untouched by worldly affairs. A Saintess naturally had higher standards.
They had to be pure and exclusively hers. The Saintess wouldn’t care for ones that had been used by others.
“May I ask what type the Lady Saintess prefers? I’ll fetch a few for you right away.”
“Do you have all types?” Hua Jian had thought this question would stump the manager, but she didn’t expect such a simple agreement.
Did this tavern even have resources specially prepared for high-demand clients like her?
“Hahaha, the Lady Saintess jest. There are many guests with high demands for servers. We keep many pure ones here, precisely for times like this.”
“They don’t mind?”
“Without our shelter, they wouldn’t even have food to eat. What’s there to mind or not mind?”
The manager laughed twice and answered very bluntly.
The Northern Border was not a place suitable for human living.
Frozen Winter City, under the rule of the Qian family, was the best place in the Northern Border, yet tragedies still occurred.
As for other parts of the Northern Border, they were characterized by survival of the fittest and the strong devouring the weak.
Those people in the Red Flower Building were all picked up by Ten Thousand Flowers Valley from various places.
If the Valley hadn’t picked them up, their fate would have been even worse.
Although the Valley’s purpose was also to exploit them, at least it gave them a legitimate job with which they could support themselves.
Of course, that “legitimate” had to be taken with a grain of salt. At least in Hua Jian’s eyes, this job wasn’t so legitimate.
“It sounds like you’re doing good deeds?”
“Not exactly good deeds. Just each taking what they need.” The manager waved her hand.
She wouldn’t claim to be a good person. She knew very well what Ten Thousand Flowers Valley was about.
These taken-in people would also be secretly screened by the Valley.
Those with cultivation talent would be secretly recruited to join the Outer Gate.
Those without cultivation talent would stay here as laborers for life.
If they wanted to leave, they could, as long as they repaid the spirit stones the Valley had spent on them over the years with interest.
However, the interest charged by the Valley was quite high, and ordinary people could basically never pay it off.
If someone was willing to ransom these people, the Valley would welcome it even more.
Then they’d add more interest and thoroughly fleece the sucker.
With this whole system in place, the tavern was actually profitable.
The money earned each year not only sustained its own operation but also gave back to the main Valley.
“With constant natural disasters in the Northern Border and demonic cultivators running rampant, there are countless homeless people. Our line of work is essentially a business with no capital.”
Even though she herself was from the demonic path, the manager’s words clearly distinguished Ten Thousand Flowers Valley from other demonic cultivators.
Probably because the Valley didn’t actually engage in those large-scale city massacres.
Regarding this, Hua Jian couldn’t give a comment. Based on her common sense from her previous life, what the Valley did was not good.
But this world was, after all, not the world she was familiar with. In this world with various supernatural powers, the evils she knew of were not really considered evil.
The simplest example was murder. In her previous world, killing was a great crime. But here, who hadn’t taken a few lives?
Even the City Guard, who would handle murder cases, didn’t investigate because murder was a crime, but because it would affect the city’s public order.
If you killed someone outside the city, no one would care. As long as you didn’t kill too many at once, no one thought it was a problem.
Even Hua Jian herself had come to think this way. So when Ten Thousand Flowers Valley took in people with no way out and made them do those things… Hua Jian could only condemn it in her conscience.
As they spoke, they had arrived at the private room on the top floor of the tavern.
This entire floor now belonged to Hua Jian. The various furnishings inside were extremely luxurious, even more exquisite than Hua Jian’s residence in the Valley.
There was also a balcony overlooking the center of Frozen Winter City.
Looking out from here, one could see the huge complex of pavilions at the city’s center, gleaming with silver light like a palace made of ice and snow.
That was where the Qian family lived, called Frozen Winter Inner City by the people here.
Hua Jian squinted and observed carefully. She seemed to see a somewhat blurry phantom surrounding the outer perimeter of the Inner City.
Out of curiosity, she directly asked the manager beside her what that was. And the answer she got was not unexpected.
“That is the City Protection Array of the Inner City. Legend says it was personally forged by an immortal from ancient times. Even when the demons invaded the Northern Border, this array stood firm, preventing the Northern Border from completely falling into demon hands.”
Although outwardly there was no separation between the inner and outer parts of Frozen Winter City, in secret, there were still differences.
However, generally this difference was not very obvious.
As long as they didn’t encounter too powerful an enemy invasion, the Inner City’s array wouldn’t have much effect.
To be fair, aside from demons who only knew destruction, other demonic cultivators would have to be stupid to provoke the Qian family, the local emperor of the Northern Border.
Was the Northern Border too small to find a place to cause trouble?
Or did they think their fists were hard enough to compare with an immortal’s array?
Rather than take the risk of being beaten up by the Five Great Sacred Sects together just to gnaw at the Qian family’s Inner City array, they might as well find a remote small city in the Northern Border and have a blood sacrifice.
The demonic path was evil, but most of the time, they weren’t stupid.
“Can I visit the Inner City?”
“Naturally, but…” The manager hesitated for a moment. “Your status is special. If you are recognized by some people in the Inner City, it might cause trouble.”
The Inner City not only had Qian family members, but also cultivators from the Saint Sect stationed in the Northern Border.
And Hua Jian’s attire was so conspicuous.
Once she entered the Inner City, she would probably be recognized immediately.
In that case, both sides would be very awkward.
The Saint Sect would have to give face to the Qian family and couldn’t directly attack Hua Jian in the Inner City, and Hua Jian couldn’t just happily continue shopping and having fun after encountering Saint Sect people, right?
Additionally, the Qian family would also be very awkward.
It would be difficult whether they intervened or not.
It could be said that if Hua Jian ran to the Inner City, everyone in the Inner City would feel uncomfortable.
“Simple! I’ll just change clothes and go.” Hua Jian rolled her eyes.
Since she couldn’t appear there as the Ten Thousand Flowers Valley Saintess, she would just change her identity.
She didn’t think she would be recognized at a glance after taking off her Saintess uniform.
She wasn’t some world-famous super celebrity. Who knew what she looked like?
“Prepare a set of inconspicuous clothes for me. I’ll need them tomorrow… Actually, just tell me a place that sells clothes. I’ll go pick them myself.”
“This… Actually, there’s a ready-made clothing store nearby with good business, called the Cloud Tailoring Pavilion…”
“That’s the one. Xinrui, Xia Hui, let’s go.”
Before the manager could finish her words, Hua Jian directly floated out the door.
She didn’t want to wear this Saintess uniform for even a moment.
Wearing such thin clothes in this freezing cold place was the perfect example of the saying “choose style over warmth.”
If she weren’t a cultivator, she probably wouldn’t even be able to leave the door.
Once outside, she would freeze into an idiot.
“Saintess, slow down! That store is…”
If the manager had spoken a little faster, if she had floated a little slower, Hua Jian might have heard the most crucial latter half of the sentence.
This Cloud Tailoring Pavilion was a business of Jade Pool.
Not that Jade Pool cultivators were doing side jobs here.
The Jade Pool cultivators who could be sent to the Northern Border were all capable of standing on their own.
There was no way they would open a shop here.
The actual boss here was a member of the Qian family, selling clothes in the Jade Pool style.
The profits were split thirty-seventy: the Qian family took thirty percent and Jade Pool took seventy.
Even so, this place was still considered half the territory of the righteous path.
When Hua Jian, the Ten Thousand Flowers Valley Saintess, rushed straight in wearing her own Saintess uniform, she nearly scared the girls in the store to death.
Imagine: you are an ordinary cultivator working in a Saint Sect business.
That day, you are preparing to close up shop.
Suddenly, a person who looks exactly like the legendary demonic path Saintess in both dress and appearance charges fiercely into the store.
Question: What is this suspected demonic path Saintess here for?
First, to cause trouble for the Saint Sect and show off the demonic path’s spirit.
Second, to buy clothes.
How could it be the second one?
A demonic path Saintess was still a Saintess.
Would she lack clothes?
Would she personally come to buy clothes?
“This is Frozen Winter City! Don’t you dare cause trouble!” The owner of this store was a Ling King.
After Hua Jian stormed in aggressively, she almost instinctively drew her sword and pointed it at Hua Jian’s nose.
“I am a member of the Qian family! I’m not afraid of you!”
The other employees hid behind the store owner, and the cultivators maintaining order in the store also blocked Hua Jian’s path, looking ready to fight to the death.
This left Hua Jian speechless, alternating between laughter and tears.
She really just wanted to buy some clothes, not to pick a fight.
If she really wanted to cause trouble, how could she choose a place like this?
If word got out, wouldn’t it just bring shame to the Valley?
After four years, the Ten Thousand Flowers Valley Saintess strikes again, and her target is the Cloud Tailoring Pavilion in Frozen Winter City!
What?
You ask what the Cloud Tailoring Pavilion is?
Oh, it’s a clothing store opened by the Qian family under the name of Jade Pool, selling only ordinary clothes, not even Spiritual Garments.
Look, is that reasonable?
If she, a Saintess, wants to cause trouble, she should do something big, right?
“Calm down, everyone calm down! I’m here to buy things.” Hua Jian quickly raised her hand, signaling everyone to calm down. “I’ll pay! I won’t default on the bill!”
But her current face and the clothes on her body were really not convincing. Not a single girl in the Cloud Tailoring Pavilion believed Hua Jian’s words.
“Ten Thousand Flowers Valley Saintess, what exactly are you after?”
“Keep your voice down.” Hua Jian quickly waved her hand at the door, closing the store’s door.
Then she breathed a sigh of relief and said earnestly to the wary employees, “Think about it—I am the Saintess. What would I come here to do?”
The employees exchanged glances. One little girl carefully muttered a whisper.
“Robbery?”
Hua Jian slapped her forehead. “This Spiritual Garment on me is enough to buy your entire building several times over. Why would I need to rob you?”
Everyone’s eyes fell on Hua Jian’s Spiritual Garment. Seeing the various constantly shifting patterns on it, Hua Jian’s words gained a bit more persuasiveness.
Indeed, it seemed the Ten Thousand Flowers Valley Saintess had no need to rob them.
But in that case, the Saintess also had no need to patronize their store!
The Saintess didn’t lack money. How could she lack clothes?
“I really just came to buy clothes. Just think of me as the most ordinary customer. We do a straight cash-and-carry deal, okay?”
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