Chapter 173: Migration of the Continent

After acquiring the spirit stones, Hu Li strolled through the market once more before teleporting back to his residence.

At that time, Feng Ke'er was sleeping soundly.

Without disturbing her, Hu Li took the antidote, dissolved the spiritual mist enveloping his body, and went to the Alliance headquarters to pay the rent.

His total overdue merit points owed to the Alliance amounted to eight hundred and eighty, which, when converted into spirit stones, equaled eighty-eight thousand (excluding the conversion fee).

Three years and eight months is merely a snap of the fingers for a cultivator. Yet, the world is unpredictable; even in the blink of an eye, enough changes can occur to transform many things.

For instance, in less than four years, the External Affairs Courtyard had been expanded. The courtyard was now more than three times its original size, and the number of managers inside had multiplied significantly. Their respective duties had become much more detailed and specialized.

Influenced by this, Hu Li's current trip involved a much more cumbersome procedure.

In the past, he only needed to take his spirit stones directly to the elderly manager responsible for identity registration and cave mansion allocation.

But now, the External Affairs Courtyard had established a dedicated department for merit conversion, known as the Exchange Room. Aside from this specific location, the entire External Affairs Courtyard recognized only merit points, not spirit stones.

Upon arriving at the External Affairs Courtyard, Hu Li was greeted at the entrance with a "friendly reminder" that he must first go to the exchange office to convert his currency into the required amount of merit points.

Where was the exchange office?

Looking at the completely unrecognizable External Affairs Courtyard, Hu Li felt entirely in the dark.

Just then, a young boy in cyan robes happened to walk past.

Since mouths are made for asking directions, Hu Li stepped forward and opened his mouth to inquire.

Unexpectedly, the boy in cyan lifted his chin and asked, "Are you a newly ascended immortal?"

How long had it been since his last visit, and yet so many strange new tricks had popped up? Puzzled, Hu Li looked at the newly transformed minor spirit beast before him and nodded.

The boy in cyan quickly glanced around, pulled a roll of animal skin from his storage pouch, flashed it briefly in front of Hu Li, and then tucked it back into his narrow sleeve. He asked in a hushed voice, "This is the map and guide for the External Affairs Courtyard. Two superior spirit stones."

So that was how it was. Hu Li smiled.

The boy in cyan misinterpreted his smile, clenched his fist to cover his mouth, and continued in a suppressed tone, "Rest assured, Immortal, this guide uses the very writing commonly used in your lower realm. With this, I guarantee you will handle your affairs with absolute convenience."

It was merely two spirit stones. The little fellow's secretive, thief-like demeanor was rather amusing. Amused, Hu Li handed over two spirit stones.

The boy in cyan neatly tucked them away.

"Immortal, see that side door over there? You can also exit from that way." Pretending to point the way, he flicked his hand, and the roll of animal skin hidden inside his sleeve flew straight into Hu Li's wide sleeve.

Understanding the unspoken gesture, Hu Li accepted the animal skin scroll and thanked him with a chuckle.

The boy in cyan also put on a show of cupping his hands and bowing in return.

The boy in cyan had not lied. When Hu Li opened the animal skin scroll and glanced at the map and the small explanatory notes along its margins, cold sweat immediately broke out on his forehead: Great God Pangu!

After converting his spirit stones into merit points, as someone returning from secluded cultivation, he first had to go to the Identity Jade Token Management Office to cancel his seclusion status, and then proceed to the Cave Mansion Management Office to pay his overdue rent.

With more managers came finer divisions of labor. It was overwhelmingly troublesome.

Inside the Exchange Room, people were milling about in a lively bustle.

As soon as Hu Li stepped inside, a boy in cyan near the door handed him a small wooden plaque: "Immortal, please go to the right side and wait for your number."

What on earth did this mean? In a daze, Hu Li accepted the small wooden plaque. It was a black token about the size of a palm, with two lines of characters written in red lacquer on the front, while the back was completely blank and smooth.

Fortunately, one of the two lines was written in the script of the lower realm. That line read "Number Twelve."

Hu Li glanced toward the right side. Under the wall over there, four cultivators sat scattered, cross-legged on the floor.

In an instant, he understood—this was undoubtedly another new rule.

Holding his numbered token, he walked over, lifted his robes, casually found a spot near the wall, sat cross-legged in meditation, and obediently became the fifth person in line.

Before long, another boy in cyan ran out from the front and called out, "Number Eight."

Someone immediately stood up and handed over their token.

"Immortal, please follow me." Collecting the token, the boy in cyan led him to a large crimson desk against the east wall.

Seated behind the desk was a young male manager with an unfamiliar face.

Observing coldly from the sidelines, Hu Li quickly figured out the exchange procedure.

When the boy in cyan called out "Number Twelve," Hu Li stood up and, just like the four before him, handed over his token. Before the boy could speak, he took the initiative to ask, "Respected Envoy, I have been in secluded cultivation for many years and am unaware of recent events. I am here today to pay my cave mansion management fee. Could you tell me if the rules here have changed?"

The boy in cyan gave him a sidelong glance. "Not at all. Please follow me, Immortal."

As long as they hadn't changed, that was fine. Hu Li walked up to the large crimson desk and requested the young male manager to convert eight hundred and eighty spirit stones.

The male manager took his identity jade token without even lifting his eyelids: "Eighty-eight thousand superior spirit stones, and the conversion fee is four hundred and forty."

It was actually this much cheaper! Hu Li honestly paid out the spirit stones.

The male manager looked up, gave him a cold glance, let out a soft snort, picked up a spiritual brush, and tapped Hu Li's identity jade token: "Here, take it. Eight hundred and seventy-five merit points. Verify it."

Hu Li was stunned: "Respected Envoy, didn't I exchange for eight hundred and eighty merit points?"

The male manager replied in a muffled voice, "Do you really think you're still a newcomer? After deducting the drafting fee, you can only exchange for this much. Furthermore, let me kindly remind you that the drafting fee is standard practice here, exactly the same everywhere."

He should have said so earlier; it was just old wine in a new bottle. Hu Li supplemented another five thousand or so spirit stones to purchase an additional fifty merit points.

At the Identity Jade Token Management Office, Hu Li did not see the elderly female manager from before. The new manager was a ruddy-complexioned, plump middle-aged woman.

Just like at the exchange office, she flicked her spiritual brush across Hu Li's identity jade token, canceling his seclusion status while simultaneously deducting five merit points.

Finishing up, she returned the jade token and kindly suggested, "You've been in seclusion for over three years, and many changes have occurred in our Southern Spirit Continent. You would do well to inquire about them."

Hu Li accepted the token and cupped his hands in gratitude.

As for the manager of the Cave Mansion Management Office, her primary concern was his intention to renew his lease—he had already lived in the Southern Spirit Continent for a full three years and, according to relevant regulations, was permitted to relocate to another spirit continent.

Hu Li did not give a definitive reply. This matter required consulting Feng Ke'er upon his return. Given his status, he had to listen to his master.

With a flick of her spiritual brush, the manager collected eight hundred and eighty-five merit points: "You may continue to reside here until the end of this month. If you wish to stay longer, you must come back and renew your contract before the end of the month."

Skeptical, Hu Li took his identity jade token: "It seemed that renewals used to be at the beginning of the month."

The manager shook her head with a muffled tone: "There's nothing we can do. There are simply too many people."

It appeared that numerous changes had indeed taken place over the past three years. After leaving the External Affairs Courtyard, Hu Li did not immediately teleport back to his cave mansion; instead, he wandered outside until nearly curfew time.

"What? One day in the spirit realm is one year in the lower realm?" Feng Ke'er had woken up long ago and looked stunned upon hearing Hu Li's report.

Hu Li nodded: "The Alliance stated this is a decision originating from the God Realm. The passage to the lower realm now opens only once every five hundred days. Consequently, over the past three years or so, two more batches of lower-realm cultivators have ascended. It is said that our batch totaled fewer than ten cultivators, whereas the combined total of these two ascensions exceeds several hundred people. The Southern Spirit Continent is currently overcrowded. The manager at the Cave Mansion Management Office mentioned that the Alliance branch is considering whether to increase the cave mansion management fees."

That was bound to happen. Feng Ke'er sighed: "With so many newcomers arriving, the Alliance will undoubtedly tighten its management of the Southern Spirit Continent, and major noble families will also come to recruit fresh talent. From now on, the Southern Spirit Continent will definitely become even more bustling. We might as well just move to another spirit continent."

"That was my thought as well," Hu Li furrowed his brow, "Only, Master, you don't have an identity jade token..."

"Who says I don't have an identity jade token? Look at what this is." Feng Ke'er opened her right hand, revealing a white jade token resting in her palm.

Taking it for a close inspection, Hu Li stroked the jade token and sighed with deep emotion: "Master has finally not suffered those ten tribulations in vain."

Feng Ke'er blushed deeply. Since when had this fox become so sentimental?

The matter of moving was thus settled. Over the next three days, Feng Ke'er and Hu Li traveled separately to explore the remaining three spirit continents: the Eastern, Northern, and Central Spirit Continents.

After much deliberation, they ultimately decided to move to the Central Spirit Continent.

Among the three spirit continents, the conditions in the Eastern Spirit Continent were undoubtedly the best. The only flaw was that it gathered countless wealthy and powerful aristocratic families, leaving no room for the two of them to survive there temporarily.

The remaining Central and Northern Spirit Continents were roughly comparable in all aspects.

Since Hu Li entered the Dao through commerce, he naturally leaned toward the Central Spirit Continent, which possessed the most developed economy in the entire spirit realm. Following a Saint-grade alchemist, he was highly confident in gradually seizing a share of the spirit realm's alchemy market, building a brand-new commercial empire from scratch. When that time came, master and servant working as one—coupled with his master's exceptional innate talent and supported by this commercial kingdom—how could they fail to achieve the Great Dao?

Well, truth be told, he secretly wanted to prove himself to be the finest natal guardian beast. Of course, he would never admit to this little hidden ambition even if beaten to death.

Upon hearing his plan, Feng Ke'er pressed a hand to her forehead: After all this plotting, it turned out this trap was an inspirational farming novel.

Who said immortals were devoid of human emotions and desires, refusing mortal sustenance? Very well, this Great Immortal shall start from the very bottom as a humble petty merchant.

There were still ten days remaining before their cave mansion lease expired. Feng Ke'er dove back into her spatial sphere to busy herself.

Doing business required startup capital. Hu Li only had about four thousand spirit stones left on him. Such meager capital was not even enough to cover their settlement deposit in the Central Spirit Continent. Indeed, each of the five spirit continents had its own localized policies. For instance, the Alliance branch in the Central Spirit Continent explicitly stipulated that anyone settling there must first deposit ten thousand spirit stones per person. If they resided in the Central Spirit Continent for a full century and wished to relocate, the Alliance branch would refund the deposit in full upon completion of the departure procedures. Plainly speaking, it was a security deposit system.

Therefore, to raise this deposit, Hu Li once again had to disguise himself as a peddler of stolen goods.

This time, he went to the markets of the Central Spirit Continent to scavenge for medicinal herbs—damn it, the goods in the Southern Spirit Continent were far too expensive, with average prices being five times those in the Central Spirit Continent.

That was outright extortion of newcomers!

Thus, the master and servant split the labor: one handled procurement and sales, while the other focused exclusively on alchemy. Ten days later, when they tallied their accounts, they had netted a staggering three hundred thousand spirit stones! This was more than enough for them to rent a small shop in the Northern Spirit Continent.

And that was secondary. More importantly, within a mere ten days, Hu Li had actually established a reliable, small-scale sales network within the Southern Spirit Continent.

Naturally, it operated under the guise of selling illicit stolen pills, maintaining an underground nature.

Conducting legitimate business between two spirit continents did not require extra official fees, but it did necessitate obtaining permission from both Alliance branches. Such permission was essentially a privilege reserved exclusively for aristocratic families; not even spirit stones could buy it.

Of course, Hu Li could also have chosen to remain an honest, petty wholesaler in the Central Spirit Continent. However, doing so would have severely limited his profit margins, yielding hardly any significant earnings in spirit stones.

Consequently, Hu Li chose to take a calculated risk and engage in smuggling.

"A horse grows fat only on nocturnal grass," as the saying went.

Feng Ke'er laughed and remarked: "No merchant is without guile!" Years later, a fellow named Marx would dissect their fundamental nature with absolute precision. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to cast recommendation votes or monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation!)