City Lord's Mansion, the city lord wore a mocking smile as he gazed at the Hongqing Pavilion.

He asked the steward beside him, "No one defied orders and collaborated with Azurecloud, right?"

The steward chuckled and said, "Our spies have been watching the Hongqing Pavilion. Initially, Huang Qiao and others arrived, but suddenly they all left. In Anqing City, it's still you who calls the shots, my lord."

Just as he finished speaking, another spy came to report.

"City Lord, someone entered the Hongqing Pavilion and hasn't come down since." The steward's face turned sour.

He had just claimed no one defied orders, and now someone was slapping him in the face?

The city lord raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "I'm curious to know who in Anqing City has the guts to ignore my orders."

"It's a woman in a black dress with a maid and a servant. We don't know their identities yet. We recognize all the important figures of Anqing City's factions, and they don't seem to belong to any local power."

The steward frowned, "Such a major collaboration isn't something ordinary people can decide on. These three are quite peculiar."

"Find out where they came from!" The city lord's voice turned cold.

"Yes!" The steward hurried away.

The city lord frowned, clearly displeased.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yang and Lingyunzi leisurely finished a pot of tea at the Hongqing Pavilion and took the remaining pot of wine with them.

The leftover wine was naturally for the other members of their sect to enjoy.

Lingyunzi glanced at Zhang Yang, then at the untouched glasses of wine on the table, and drank them all in one go.

Zhang Yang's eyelid twitched, "Uncle-Master, there's no need!"

"Waste not, want not!" Lingyunzi replied earnestly.

Zhang Yang was speechless, feeling a bit sour inside.

What had become of the once-thriving Azurecloud Sect, that Lingyunzi couldn't bear to waste a few glasses of leftover wine?

"Uncle-Master, let's buy some things first, then find an inn to meditate for two days, and finally go to the Xiao Clan to collect the money."

Zhang Yang spent over a thousand spirit stones and left the Hongqing Pavilion.

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Afterward, Zhang Yang went to various merchant associations and began a spending spree.

The Azurecloud Sect currently had no use for the tens of thousands of spirit stones they had, so it was better to convert them all into resources, especially talismans and medicinal herbs. Anything unnecessary could be sold for money.

However, Zhang Yang didn't buy any crafting materials because the Xiao Clan would soon compensate them with a batch, which should be sufficient for the time being.

After a round of purchases, leaving only five thousand spirit stones, he spent all the spirit stones, acquiring a large amount of talisman paper and medicinal herbs, as well as a bottle of spirit blood from a Nascent Soul Stage beast and a piece of beast hide, specifically bought for Hualingzi.

Once the shopping was complete, the two headed to an inn, set up a restriction formation in their room, and began meditating.

The spirit wine and spirit tea they had earlier hadn't been properly refined, so they took this time to refine and absorb them.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

Zhang Yang and Lingyunzi left the inn and headed to the Xiao Clan.

The Xiao Clan, having prepared in advance, welcomed Zhang Yang and Lingyunzi warmly upon their arrival.

"Here are the prepared copper ore, refined copper, violet copper... and a little copper essence. We really can't provide the rest. Would you consider accepting other items or settling with spirit stones instead?" Xiao Jianchun asked sincerely.

Zhang Yang inspected all the materials, put them away, and then looked at Xiao Jianchun, saying, "Let's settle with spirit stones! You're missing a third of the materials, which is quite costly. Does the Xiao Clan have that many spirit stones?"

Xiao Jianchun, seeing Zhang Yang agree, finally felt relieved.

When it came to spirit stones, he was confident and said with a smile, "Our Xiao Clan is one of the three major families in Anqing City, arguably the strongest. We do have some spirit stones. For the missing third of the materials, we are willing to compensate Azurecloud Sect with three hundred thousand spirit stones. What do you think?"

"No problem!" Zhang Yang agreed.

Spirit stones were also something the Azurecloud Sect was currently lacking, and this batch would last them for a while.

Xiao Jianchun promptly handed over the spirit stones to Zhang Yang and then lowered his voice, saying, "I've heard about the City Lord's Mansion situation. Our Xiao Clan still needs to live in Anqing City, so we can't openly defy the City Lord's orders. If you two are willing, we are willing to buy the remaining talismans from you at five hundred spirit stones each."

He intended to buy the talismans as a gesture of goodwill towards Azurecloud Sect.

Once Azurecloud Sect left, he planned to sell part of the talismans to the City Lord's Mansion at a lower price, thus pleasing both sides.

After all, the Xiao Clan had mining collaborations with Azurecloud Sect, and the City Lord's Mansion should understand this approach.

As for any trouble from the City Lord's Mansion... the Xiao Clan had backing within the empire.

Zhang Yang shook his head slightly, "I'm not selling these talismans for the sake of selling them, but for the possibility of a long-term exclusive deal in the future. Since the Xiao Clan doesn't dare to offend the City Lord's Mansion, then forget it. Such good things will surely find buyers who appreciate them. We won't have trouble selling them."

Since he couldn't open up a sales channel and wasn't short on money right now, why sell the talismans?

Besides, five hundred spirit stones per talisman was too cheap and not worthwhile.

Seeing Zhang Yang unwilling to sell the talismans, Xiao Jianchun didn't press further, as it also aligned with the city lord's regulations.

After completing their purchases, Zhang Yang and Lingyunzi left the Xiao Clan, preparing to return to Azurecloud Sect.

As they stepped out of the Xiao Clan, Wang Mingyue and her two companions were already waiting outside.

"Let's head to Azurecloud Market together and check out the situation there," Wang Mingyue suggested.

Zhang Yang nodded and looked at Wang Mingyue's maid, "She probably can't fly!"

"We have a flying magical treasure!" Wang Mingyue raised her hand and took out a boat-shaped magical treasure. With a wave, it expanded, and the three of them boarded the flying magical treasure.

Zhang Yang was a bit stunned as he looked at Wang Mingyue. Having a personal flying vessel for travel—this wasn't ordinary wealth!

The two of them didn't hesitate, boarding the magical treasure and flying towards Azurecloud Sect.

Back at the City Lord's Mansion, the steward hurried over, his expression grave, "We still haven't found out where those three came from, only that they're from the Yunteng Empire."

The Yunteng Empire bordered the Cloudmount Empire, with relations that fluctuated between good and bad, with frequent minor skirmishes but no major conflicts.

"Foreigners?" The city lord's eyes narrowed, "Capture them!"

He wasn't afraid of Azurecloud Sect, let alone foreigners.

The steward was about to turn and issue the order when he saw a flying vessel passing overhead and quickly said, "Not good, they've escaped, heading towards Azurecloud Sect. It seems they've reached some agreement at the Hongqing Pavilion; otherwise, those foreigners wouldn't be heading to Azurecloud Sect. City Lord, should we pursue? If we do, we might offend Azurecloud Sect, and openly antagonizing them might not be wise for us."

The city lord hesitated for a moment but still instructed, "Order the Flying Dragon Guard to test the waters. If Azurecloud Sect's attitude is strong, return."

The Flying Dragon Guard was a military force composed of cultivators, powerful enough to deal with other cultivators.

"Yes!"

Subsequently, a flying vessel took off from Anqing City, pursuing Zhang Yang and the others.

"Hmm?" Wang Mingyue noticed the situation, "The Flying Dragon Guard of the Cloudmount Empire has been deployed. It seems Anqing City isn't entirely useless; they must have tracked us."

"Most likely!" The middle-aged man in green glanced at the flying vessel behind them and then at Zhang Yang and Lingyunzi.

Azurecloud Sect claimed they could protect them, and now that the Flying Dragon Guard was here, they wanted to see Azurecloud Sect's reaction.

Lingyunzi, already displeased with Anqing City for disrupting his talisman sales, saw the Flying Dragon Guard as a perfect outlet for his frustration.

He was about to make a move when Zhang Yang stopped him.

"Uncle-Master, let me handle this!" Zhang Yang smiled slightly, "It's also a chance for Miss Wang Mingyue to see our Azurecloud's stance and potential, to see if we truly match our plans and dreams. If you act, Miss Wang Mingyue might not be convinced; it's more persuasive if I do it."

Wang Mingyue glanced sideways at Zhang Yang. This was the Flying Dragon Guard of the Cloudmount Empire, with captains who were Golden Core cultivators and regular members who had all successfully reached the Sea-parting Stage. This Flying Dragon Guard's combat power far exceeded the Golden Core Realm.

She was curious to see how Zhang Yang, a mere Golden Core cultivator, would deal with the Flying Dragon Guard.