Building a sect from scratch.

Chapter 374 Song Bozheng's Cottage
"It's alright! Have you been to Longshan Port? There's a free trade market there, and there are even more people there! But things are expensive there, and most of the businesses there are big-time sellers because they have to pay stall fees and such, so we don't like going there... But the leader and Huadao like to go there to buy things, like raw materials, pills, and talismans. It's quite cost-effective if you buy a lot! But for us small-time buyers, it's cheaper to come here!"

As Guantangbao spoke, he casually passed through the "gate" of Chang'an City, leading a bunch of night owls inside.

The two had walked a few steps when they turned and entered an alley.

As the population of Chang'an City grows, the NPCs are increasingly squeezing the land they buy from the City Lord's Mansion into the spaces around the existing houses. The weapon repair NPC that Guantangbao mentioned lives in a relatively tall but somewhat narrow detached house.

The small house was squeezed between two spacious rooms on the left and right, making it look rather pitiful, but it had five floors, so the space was probably not small.

The soup dumpling was clearly familiar with the place; as soon as it saw the house, it quickened its pace and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

The sounds coming from behind the door were somewhat ethereal, as if they were very close, yet they also sounded a bit distorted, which was quite strange.

Guantangbao hurriedly called out towards the door, "Master Song! Master Song! Are you there? I'm Guantangbao! I've come from Wuwang City!"

"Hold on!"

No sooner had Master Song finished speaking than a loud thud was heard, as if something had fallen from a great height, accompanied by a soft gasp of pain.

However, perhaps because the owner of the sound was concerned about his image, the strange cry of pain stopped almost immediately after being heard by the soup dumpling and the night owl.

A minute or two later, the door was opened.

The person who opened the door was a male cultivator who looked relatively young, but his clothes were very strange. He was wearing shorts that only reached his knees and a round-necked t-shirt. If it weren't for his hair being styled in a bun, the group of night owls would have thought he was a player!
No—it even feels like returning to the real world!

A puddle of night owls stared somewhat dazedly at this "Master Song".

The soup dumpling seemed quite used to this, and greeted the male cultivator happily: "Master Song! Long time no see! My friend wanted to order a pill furnace, so I recommended you! Look, this is him, his name is 'A Lump of Night Owl'!"

"Oh, thank you, thank you! I happen to be free recently! [A Night Owl], right? My name is Song Bozheng. Nice to meet you—is that how you say it? Haha, I've been studying flower language for a long time, and I think I'm pretty good at it!"

Upon hearing Song Bozheng's words, the group of night owls finally realized that the other party had been talking about the language of flowers the whole time!
Surprised, he was even a little stunned. When Song Bozheng extended his hand to shake hands, he hurriedly reached out with both hands to shake hands, saying awkwardly, "Hello, boss! My nickname is Old Cat, you can just call me Old Cat!"

"Hahaha, you're not old at all!" Upon hearing the nickname "Night Owl," Song Bozheng burst into laughter, saying, "All the disciples of your Taiyin Sect are young! I bet you're only in your twenties or thirties, while I'm over two hundred years old!"

A group of night owls were so surprised they didn't know what to say, and instinctively exclaimed, "Wow, that's amazing!"

"Haha, come on in, come on in. My room is a bit messy, let's go to the rooftop to talk!"

As Song Bozheng spoke, he led the two into the house. The house was indeed as he had described, a complete mess. Upon entering, they saw all sorts of timber piled up in the open space near the entrance. Further inside was a huge, high-ceilinged hall, seemingly extending to the fifth floor of the building. On the floor of this hall were scattered many strange objects, some resembling knives and swords, others like square tripods—presumably all custom-made. But the strangest of all was a huge "lotus platform."

It has a flat shape, surrounded by a ring of pink lotus petals, with a green tabletop in the center that looks like it has a soft, satin-like sheen, as if it were made of cloth or wrapped in some kind of cloth.

'Is this a sofa?'

As a group of night owls were secretly speculating, the soup dumpling simply asked out loud—

"Master Song! What is that thing that looks like a giant lotus flower?"

Song Bozheng followed their gaze and explained, "That? It's a spiritual artifact commissioned by a disciple of the Taiyin Sect. She calls it a 'flying device' or 'flying machine,' and said she wanted it to imitate something like 'Guanyin Bodhisattva.' I just finished making it and haven't had time to notify her to come and pick it up yet!"

"It's outrageous, but there's a hint of logic to it all..."

With a complicated expression, Guan Tangbao couldn't help but ask, "Um, I'd like one too. How much does one cost?"

Song Bozheng recalled for a moment and said, "Her request is quite complicated. She insists that the countertop be made with a sponge mat, and I spent a lot of money to get the sponge from the Quanxian tribe! That's why the cost is high! I sold it to her for over a thousand yuan! But if you want it, I'll sell it to you for eight hundred yuan, provided you find the sponge yourself. If you don't want the sponge mat, it can be even cheaper!"

"hiss--"

Not only did a bunch of night owls gasp at the price, but even the usually well-off soup dumpling felt a pang of regret.

Although the exchange rate between spirit stones or Taiyin paper money and RMB is currently fluctuating and not very stable, it is still at least several tens of yuan. Even at the friendly price given by Song Bozheng, eight hundred yuan, it would be tens of thousands of RMB!

Of course, for a true tycoon, spending tens of thousands of dollars on equipment in a game is nothing. But Guantangbao is only moderately wealthy and not a tycoon. Even if he could afford it, he would feel the pinch. So he could only drool in his heart while painfully refusing three times in a row: "No, no, no, it's too expensive. I can't afford it! I'll think about it when I have more money in the future!"

"You are a weapon cultivator yourself. When your cultivation level is high and your knowledge is broad, you can refine them yourself!"

Song Bozheng knew her economic situation and hadn't expected her to buy any, so he casually offered a word of comfort, then lightly jumped off the ground and floated up into the air, leaving a group of night owls nearby stunned.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, Baozi knows, you just need to use your spiritual power to jump. I've set up an array on the ground to send you up here!"

Song Bozheng's voice came from above their heads, sounding somewhat distorted. The night owl finally understood why the voice he had heard before had that timbre.

The soup dumpling turned to a bunch of night owls with a smile and introduced, "Yeah! This is super fun! You should have already mastered Qi cultivation, right? It's like using your spiritual energy outwards, just imagine hitting yourself with your spiritual energy!"

However, the night owl scratched its head awkwardly: "Well, actually... I haven't yet guided my Qi into my body..."