Building a sect from scratch.

Chapter 113 NPCs and Chang'an City
Du Cihuai skillfully led his junior sister Ling Xuan on a cloud to the Taiyin Sect's headquarters, and then used a teleportation array to travel to Chang'an City.

Upon exiting the teleportation array, a huge red banner came into view, and behind the banner, fluttering in the wind, stood a very tall building. The building had a unique style, consisting of white walls, red pillars, and blue tiles, and its imposing presence made it stand like a towering mountain in the distance.

Such a distant view, coupled with the banners standing at the city gate, would normally be a very solemn scene, but...

The flag has a rather unusual design: a crooked, messy golden line on red fabric, with a five-pointed star of the same color on the left side of the line.

Seeing Ling Xuan staring blankly at the banner, Du Cihuai scratched his head and introduced, "This is supposedly called the 'Holy Dragon Brother (Rising Dragon Hiccup) Banner.' It's the banner of their Chang'an community. The two circles with a dot in the middle are the eyes, the top has two horns, and the four short lines below are claws. It looks like a dragon, so it's called that."

"What a strange name, and... its appearance is strange too."

"It's alright, you'll get to know them after you stay a while. They're all nice people, just a little odd, they never walk properly. By the way, since we're in Chang'an, we definitely have to try the milk tea from YaYa Milk Tea Shop!"

As Du Cihuai spoke, he pulled Ling Xuan to queue at a simple shop near the banner. The shop looked dilapidated, but the queue was several meters long, indicating that it was very popular.

"Duck Duck Milk Tea Shop?"

"It's a milk tea shop opened by a fellow Daoist. They sell all kinds of drinks, and I heard they've recently added desserts. I thought I'd bring you here to try them out!"

Du Cihuai introduced, "And that over there is a hot pot restaurant. It's always packed, but it's not open at this time. The Daoist friend who owns the hot pot restaurant is particularly lazy; he only opens it at noon every day! There's also a place that sells pan-fried buns, and next to that is a barbecue restaurant. Barbecue restaurants are similar to hot pot restaurants; they only open in the afternoon and evening. Don't be fooled by how dilapidated the houses around here are; they're all prime commercial properties! And I heard that they're already planning to renovate and rebuild them soon, creating a food street near the city gate to make it easier for them to 'invest'!"
"Junior sister doesn't know what 'going into a dungeon' means, right? It's an illusion over there at the cold pool. Once you go in, you can randomly encounter low-level demons from the Nine Netherworlds. It's said that because that place is a passage to the Nine Netherworlds, the Taiyin disciples guard this passage in this way."

Ling Xuan listened with great interest, but couldn't help but complain, "Senior brother, you...you seem to have only come once, right? It feels like you're already back home."

Du Cihuai said smugly, "You know what, I actually bought an apartment off-plan in Chang'an! The price isn't too bad either. The cheapest 'apartment' only costs a dozen or so spirit stones! A decent townhouse is only a hundred or so spirit stones, which is about the price of a low-grade yellow-rank spirit weapon. It's a great deal!"

"So cheap!?" Ling Xuan was shocked for a moment, then asked in confusion, "Wait, what is 'off-plan property'? And what are 'apartment' and 'townhouse'?"

"Off-plan properties involve first registering your intention to purchase to raise funds, then building the houses based on the number of registrations, and then waiting for a period of time before you can receive your house. 'Apartments'... well, they are multi-story buildings with many rooms on each floor, and they are sold by the room."

"What can you do in a room, just put a bed in it to sleep?"

"No, no, no, it is indeed by the room, but a room in the 'apartment' is not like the single bedroom in our sect disciples' rooms. It is a room composed of many partitions, and the space is very large!"

"What about the townhouses?"

"Look, those are the row houses!"

Du Cihuai pointed to a row of uniquely styled yet simple houses in the distance and said.

It still features white walls, blue tiles, and red pillars, looking grand and simple, but the style is different from any style Ling Xuan has seen in Guangcheng Sect.

"Does this mean each room houses one household?" "Of course not. See that courtyard gate? Each courtyard gate corresponds to one household, and the entire three floors upstairs are all connected!"

"That's really cheap!"

As Ling Xuan spoke, she had long forgotten that in a mortal town, a complete courtyard house only cost a dozen or so taels of silver.

"Right! And I've already inquired, there's a protective array around Chang'an City, it's very safe! After we buy the milk tea, I'll take you to get your temporary residence permit and identity jade token, it'll be very inconvenient without these two!"

"Temporary residence permit? Identity jade tag?"

"The identity jade token is a token given to you upon entering the city to register your identity. It proves your legal right to enter and leave Chang'an City and has no other use. The temporary residence permit, on the other hand, is a license to temporarily reside in Chang'an City. Actually, it's not a big deal if you don't get one, but once you have one, you can enjoy various benefits in Chang'an City, such as free public transportation... well, although we cultivators probably don't need it, and free access to the library. The library is a huge library in Chang'an City, containing hundreds of cultivation manuals and explanations of various techniques, and even more books of all kinds, totaling more than a thousand, and it is said that it is still growing!"

This time, Ling Xuan was genuinely surprised: "Hundreds of cultivation manuals and explanations of techniques!?"

"That's right, completely free! You didn't expect that, did you? But they're all low-level ones. They're fine for those below the Golden Core stage, and while there are many for those above the Golden Core stage, they're not publicly available. You have to apply based on your cultivation level."

Ling Xuan looked conflicted: "But...aren't they afraid of their skills being stolen?"

Du Cihuai said with admiration, "I asked them this question, and they said, 'Value can only be created through exchange.' If it weren't for the fact that cultivation manuals and techniques for those above the Golden Core stage are too dangerous, they probably would have made all the manuals public!"

The two chatted for a while, and soon it was their turn in line.

"Hello, senior. I'd like a honey peach green tea, full sugar and ice. Junior sister, which one would you like to try?"

"I..." Ling Xuan looked at the dazzling menu on the counter, hesitated for a long time, but finally decided to try her senior brother's taste: "I'll also have a honey peach green tea!"

"Then two honey peach green teas, both with full sugar and ice, please! Thank you so much!"

Ling Xuan looked at Du Cihuai strangely, somewhat puzzled by her senior brother's polite attitude.

Having been fellow disciples for many years, the two had developed a tacit understanding. Du Cihuai secretly transmitted his voice, saying, "The employee of this milk tea shop, this one, is a thousand-year-old demon! His cultivation is truly remarkable!"

"A thousand-year-old...great demon!?"

Ling Xuan's eyes widened, filled with disbelief.

"That's right! And if you see a cat that hasn't yet transformed into human form stopping you and talking to you when you enter the city, be careful, that's the head constable of Chang'an! There are quite a few demon cultivators in Chang'an!"

(End of this chapter)