Immortal Freeloader 126 (Patreon)

Returning to Markas was always a pleasant feeling. Too bad I didn’t have time to go back to my base and linger happily while I worked.

Instead, I stopped by the spirit vein to recharge the reserves of my flying boat before I moved to my real destination. The cell that was holding the Foundation Establishment prisoner.

I watched him for a while before showing myself, to see how he was coping with imprisonment. He had a large smile on his face as he continuously used his Qi to slowly wear down the formation, trying to reach the formation disk. With his current speed of progress, it would have taken months for him to succeed, but he continued to work steadily.

He was determined, which didn’t surprise me. While the disciples from the sects treated the Foundation Establishment as a guaranteed step, for the itinerant cultivators, it represented the peak. I had seen thousands of itinerant cultivators in the market, and he was one of the few Foundation Establishment cultivators.

One didn’t climb those heights without impressive determination.

I was so glad that I had created a fake weakness to keep him busy. Maybe reinforcing that impression would be helpful, I decided even as I fiddled with the formation slightly, creating a function where the density of the Qi increased slightly as he progressed ‘destroying’ the formation.

Once that addition was complete, I pulled back first. When I walked forward again, I was walking loudly enough to give him a chance to stop fiddling with the formation. When I arrived again, he was sitting at the center of his cave, meditating.

“How’s the prison life,” I asked smugly.

He responded with a pressure wave, trying to put me on my knees. I made a show of trying to resist, until my knees buckled. He smirked even as it cost him some of his precious Qi reserves. Only when he was about to fail, I moved back, seemingly in defeat.

[Cultivation Difference Bonus - 140; Insult Bonus - 240 (Capped)]

[380x Return - 14,291 Qi Strand]

I was getting better and better at manipulating the pointless pride of the cultivators to earn some valuable insults.

“Better than walking around like a headless chicken, you spoiled waste of space,” he answered.

“You sound just like my pathetic cousin. And, I’ll show him, just like I’ll show you,” I replied. “But first, I have some questions for you,” I said.

“Never,” he answered.

I shrugged. “If you prefer to die, I’m happy to oblige,” I said as I walked toward the formation disk.

“No, wait,” he said, quick to change his attitude. “As long as you promise to let me go when your task is finished, I’ll answer any questions except my own secrets.”

“Fair. I swear on my honor,” I replied, not bothering to make it look particularly believable. I didn’t need to. Not when he was just stalling for time. Amusingly, depending on how helpful he was being, I might actually let him go.

After all, he knew absolutely nothing about me.

“Ask your questions,” he said.

“Let’s start with something simple. I want you to give me a list of every item you have discovered while exploring the Misty Mountains, their locations, and how much you have sold them for,” I said, even passing him a map I had drawn based on what I had seen at the base.

“Really, that’s what you want?” he asked, looking surprised.

“Yes. I need to understand what’s at the outskirts if I’m to discover the secrets of the Misty Mountains,” I declared proudly like I was arrogant enough to discover the secrets of it when generations of other cultivators failed.

To be fair, I was trying to do exactly that, but only because I had a near-omnipotent cheat.

“Fine,” he said. “But that’s the only thing I will reveal to you this month. If you want more, you need to pay,” he challenged, quick to turn into a bargain.

“That, and any question I might ask to clarify what you have written on the list,” I replied. “The other questions, I’ll pay you in talismans.”

We bargained a bit on the number and the quality of the talismans, but he was quick to accept a lowball offer. Ultimately, he was just trying to keep himself alive until he could escape, making it an easy deal.

It took almost an hour for him to write a full list, which included a huge list of items, the environment they were discovered, the sales price, and where he had sold them. I wasn’t planning to make use of the trade aspects. I was more interested in what lay in the deeper parts. Hopefully, asking for more questions would conceal my true aim somewhat.

Only somewhat.

I was checking both his vital signs and his Qi movement through a detection formation to see if he was writing falsehood. Amusingly, the alchemy technique I had received included some information on how to detect falsehoods through the Qi movement.

The technique wasn’t foolproof. It was far from it, even. It was more like a polygraph, which was famous for generating false positive results. The trick of reading Qi included in the alchemy technique wasn’t too much better.

Still, it didn’t have to be. I had managed to catch a vicious surge in a few times while he was writing the information. I had a feeling that he was neglecting some key information that would turn those locations into death traps.

It was a simple but effective plan. If I die, he could slowly free himself without any risk of my betrayal. Too bad for him that not only I was far more capable than he could even imagine, but also I didn’t have any need to actually raid most of the places directly.

“Here, every discovery and the related transactions I had made during the last decade,” he declared generously. He was a good liar.

“Fine,” I muttered as I started to check the sales. At first, I was focusing on the mentions of good spiritual plants, which combined well with my ability to raise more. While Markas or the surrounding space didn’t need any additional Qi from plants, transferring it was a significant challenge.

I would have to create multiple bases deeper into the mist to have any hope of actually reaching the old capital of the Everdawn Empire according to the map, let alone exploring it steadily.

However, my first idea was to talk to the buyers of the spirit plants and see if I could make a bulk purchase before maybe creating an opportunity to recycle them through the System in some manner. Or better, find someone that could buy them for me. I just needed to create a believable situation.

Maybe the Treasure Pavilion would be willing to resell, I thought as I checked how many of those plants had been purchased by the Treasure Pavilion. The answer turned out to be … none. Just like they had purchased no minerals, cultivation techniques, or other items.

The list showed that the only thing they had purchased was the remains from the ruins. Apparently, they weren’t particularly choosy. They purchased anything that came from the ruins of the Misty Mountains.

And, their payments had been incredible. Apparently, not only he had purchased multiple techniques from them, but even his Foundation Establishment pill came from them. It was important, because that pill had a near-legendary existence among the itinerant cultivators. Apparently, it was a must for them to step out of the Qi Gathering stage.

A great variety of products, all for the ruins of the Everdawn Empire. They must have been really rich to commit all those rewards for something with no immediate reward. It wasn’t just the fact that they were selling the products. The fact that no one dared to attack their Pavilion despite it holding that many treasures was a better indicator of their real power.

All that might, and they were still interested in the secrets of the Everdawn Empire … yet they didn’t interfere directly. That alone confirmed two things. Not only the secrets were more valuable than I had realized, but also they were more valuable. It was not a happy realization.

I decided to follow up, playing the role of the arrogant rich kid even more.

“I have a question about the Treasure Pavilion. Do they buy nothing else than the antique remains?” I asked.

“You didn’t know that?” he asked, surprised. “Just where did you come from to not have the Treasure Pavilion to even not know the rules.”

I shrugged. “Back home, it’s the servant's job to buy and sell stuff. I could hardly be bothered. I studied the noble art of talismans,” I explained.

He looked incredulous. “Really?” he asked, and I nodded. “Yes. The treasure pavilion only accepts the items from the ruins. Too bad I don’t have the skills to forge fakes, or I’ll be really rich,” he said, the latter part clearly a trap.

“Oh, maybe I should see if I could fake a calligraphy or two. I’m a true expert,” I replied arrogantly, letting him believe that he had convinced me.

After that, I followed with a lot of other questions about the other traders to get a better understanding of the situation, which also gave me the location of a few itinerant alchemists who purchased these plants in bulk.

However, I noticed that none of the alchemists he revealed was at the Foundation Establishment realm. The ones he gave up were already useless to him.

“Alright, that’s enough for today. We’ll talk later. And, I hope none of those information turns out to be a lie, or I’ll start cutting fingers,” I warned him.

“I would like to see you try,” he answered, hitting me with another wave of pressure.

[Cultivation Difference Bonus - 140; Insult Bonus - 240 (Capped)]

[380x Return - 6,870 Qi Strand]

He was truly a model prisoner.