destiny eternal calamity

Chapter 185 Infiltrating Pingyang

Third Qingwan had been waiting for a long time on the first floor of Kunlun Palace. When she saw Li Wei come out of the room, she came up to greet him.

"Brother, this is a ceremonial sword that my adoptive mother asked me to give to you."

Third Qingwan handed a bronze sword to Li Wei.

Li Wei knew that this thing, like the ceremonial sword that Zhong Kui Yao Hua had given him a thousand years ago, could prove his identity.

However, this time he was not prepared to openly travel to the human royal court as an envoy of Kunlun.

Without saying much, he accepted the sacrificial sword.

"Qingwan—you're not leaving in the next few months, are you?"

Li Wei had wanted to ask this question yesterday, but he didn't say it out loud. Now, he has finally brought it to the forefront.

Upon hearing this, Qingwan knew that he was asking her about suppressing the Demon Clan.

After all, she had already reached the Supreme Realm of cultivation and was eligible to join the Demon Clan.

"No, it will probably be almost another year."

"That's good. I'll be back soon."

Li Wei breathed a sigh of relief and said to Third Qingwan.

"Yes, come back soon, brother."

Third Qingwan's words reminded him of Long Xiaoxiao. The two had similar personalities, both being lively and adorable.

After bidding farewell to Third Qingwan, Li Wei left Kunlun and flew towards the Human Royal Court.

Because he was afraid that Lin Ruhai would cause trouble on his own, Kunlun did not inform the other party about this operation.

Zhong Kui Yaohua gave Li Wei one month.

If Li Wei still hasn't figured out the truth a month later, Kunlun will forcefully intervene.

Only then will Kunlun inform Lin Ruhai to participate in the matter as an assistant.

The human royal court was no longer in Zhuolu City at this time, but had moved its capital to Pingyang City during the reign of Tao Tang.

Pingyang is located roughly to the west of Kongsang Mountain, much closer to Kunlun than Zhuolu City.

The original Zhuolu City, bordering the Eastern Demon Realm, remained prosperous.

However, it is possible that the Tao Tang clan did not fully trust those seemingly friendly Eastern demons, which is why they chose to move the capital.

Li Wei set off from Kunlun to Pingyang City, but he had to pass through the Western Demon Realm first.

Along the way, he also encountered some foolish monsters, but they could not last more than a round against him.

As for the great demons above the Void Realm, they are all living happily in their own caves.

If life were easy, who would bother to brave the wind and rain every day?

He arrived at his destination after only one day and one night.

Of course, he could only fly at full speed for half a day on his own; for the other half of the day, Xie Youshan secretly used the power of heaven and earth to carry him.

Upon arriving at the location, Li Wei did not immediately land; instead, he used the Invisible and Formless technique.

"Honey, your technique is really interesting! It even allows you to become invisible!"

Xie Youshan was enveloped by Li Wei's true energy, and under the distortion of light and shadow by the power of heaven and earth, she and Li Wei disappeared from sight, which greatly surprised her.

"Martial arts are inherently ever-changing. Shanshan, you are a Celestial Venerable, so you must be able to see the intricacies of this technique."

Li Wei gently stroked Xie Youshan, who was perched on his right arm, and briefly explained the core principles of the "Invisible and Formless" technique.

Xie Youshan immediately understood the principle behind it and exclaimed that she was a genius.

When Li Wei first saw Xiao Shuying use this technique, he was also amazed.

After all, it's optical invisibility, and it only requires the Dharma Aspect Realm to cultivate, which is too much.

Of course, this technique requires a high level of spiritual strength and computational ability, and most people simply cannot even begin to learn it.

Even in the Xiao family, only a few people in each generation can learn it.

And there have been very few people like Li Wei who have reached perfection in their cultivation over thousands of years.

Xie Youshan originally wanted to ask Li Wei for this technique to study and see if the demon race could cultivate it, but after learning about the difficulties involved, she immediately gave up the idea.

She needs to focus on refining the power now; everything else is secondary. It's really unnecessary to spend time cultivating a technique that's not of much use to her.

While using the Invisible and Formless Technique, Li Wei also used the Hundred Faces and Thousand Images Technique to disguise himself as a somewhat weathered and taciturn man.

Then he secretly sneaked into the city, and under the cover of the mirage, the guards on the city did not discover his whereabouts at all.

By this time, the morning market in the city had already opened. Li Wei lurked outside a butcher's stall, listening to the conversations of passing customers for a while before moving into the shadows and disappearing without a trace.

Then, speaking in fluent Gyeonggi dialect, he went to chat with people and asked where he could rent a room.

Because his accent sounded like that of people from the surrounding areas, he hardly aroused any suspicion among the people of Pingyang, and they quickly received a reliable answer.

Li Wei followed the directions, walked five blocks forward, then turned right, and sure enough, saw a brokerage firm specializing in rental services.

At this time, the human race had not yet developed a complete identity system, and renting a house did not require many procedures; all that was needed was to sign a document, put your fingerprint on it, and pay the money.

An hour later, he rented a small courtyard at the end of the street.

He was surprised that the rent of three taels of silver for only one month was comparable to that of the capital city of Liguo in later generations.

After settling in, Xie Youshan emerged from his sleeve as soon as they entered the main house in the small courtyard.

"Tsk tsk tsk, honey, I didn't realize you were so suited to be a spy."

Xie Youshan didn't transform into human form; she remained petite and delicate, perched on Li Wei's shoulder, keeping watch.

"Qin Yuan investigated for a month using his identity as the inspector but didn't find anything. The other side is definitely on guard against Kunlun. If I enter the city openly, even if there are any clues, they should have eliminated them."

What Li Wei didn't say was that he planned to practice in Pingyang City and accumulate experience in infiltration, which would make it easier for him to infiltrate Wei Capital in the present world later.

"The prices in the Youchao Dynasty are outrageous. I don't know if he made them himself or if the Tao Tang Dynasty left him with a mess."

Li Wei took out a few knife coins he had just exchanged and said.

The weight of these knife-shaped coins is similar to that issued a thousand years ago during the reign of Ji Yuanhong, with fifty knife-shaped coins being equivalent to one tael of silver.

One knife coin was equivalent to twenty cash in later times.

But he just glanced at the vegetable prices at the market.

A pound of pork cost a full two dollars. A thousand years ago, resources were supposed to be scarce, and prices in Zhuolu were not this high.

"I do know the prices of goods traded between our Shen tribe and other tribes. Domesticated animals like these are generally priced at one tael of silver, which can buy about two hundred catties. A live pig can only be sold for two or three taels of silver."

"I suspect the imperial court skimmed a lot of profits from it," Li Wei said, tapping his finger lightly on the table as he sat down in the room.

"I know, that's called a tax," Xie Youshan said, quick-wittedly.

"That's right, but the tax imposed by the Youchao clan is a bit too heavy."

Li Wei frowned slightly.

Qin Yuan investigated for a month but found nothing because he was a powerful demon destined for heaven and had become accustomed to a life detached from worldly affairs.

Li Wei, taking a commoner's perspective, discovered a major problem with prices in Pingyang City after only half a day there.

Ultimately, whether a country is in trouble can be determined by looking at the lives of its ordinary citizens.

No matter how prosperous and peaceful a corrupt dynasty may be, it cannot solve the problem of the lower classes not having enough to eat.