CHAPTER 800: 800 PAST

The three children obediently followed behind Tan Shaoting, as the four of them entered the workshop with two Spirit Stones each.

The Spiritual Energy here wasn’t too dense, but it was still stronger than outside.

"Let’s go eat first. You all rushed off after advancing, so now you can have a proper meal."

Though the workshop was small, the Spirit Food here was truly impressive.

Tan Shaoting even packed a lot to take with them, so Qi Yan and the others could enjoy it later.

This was the best place to gather information; the father and his sons sat in the Spirit Food House drinking tea, listening to others’ conversations.

Most discussions were about the recent Beast Tide; many of the high-level cultivators had left the workshop since it was still close to the battlefield.

They didn’t hear anything useful, and as it was already quite late, the father and his sons also departed.

"Let’s head to Duobao Pavilion."

Many demon beasts had been sold to the Duobao Pavilion. They were fairly reputable.

"What do the four of you need?"

"Do you accept demon beasts here?"

"Yes, we do." The attendant became more enthusiastic. Although the battlefield was nearby, since the workshop was so small, the disciples from the sects wouldn’t come here to sell.

The local cultivators required cultivation resources, so the demand for demon beasts was quite high.

This time, four unfamiliar cultivators came to sell demon beasts, which made the attendant eager.

Tan Shaoting took out a Storage Bag, "What’s the price for Fourth-tier Demon Beasts?"

"Friend, please come with me to a private room. I’ll invite our shopkeeper to come over personally."

The attendant warmly poured them Spiritual Tea before heading out to find someone.

Soon, a Foundation Establishment cultivator entered.

Tan Shaoting currently appeared to be at the Qi Cultivation Twelfth Layer. Naturally, he had to stand and greet the Foundation Establishment cultivator upon entry.

"No need for formalities, friend. I heard from my colleague that you’re looking to sell demon beasts."

"Yes, we just came back from the battlefield. We happened to be eating here, so we wanted to ask if Duobao Pavilion is accepting them."

"Of course, we are. May I know the grade and species you wish to sell?"

"Senior, we’re selling Fourth-tier Demon Beasts. May I know the price?" Tan Shaoting placed the Storage Bag on the table as he spoke.

The shopkeeper chuckled upon seeing the quantity. There were indeed quite a few.

"Our purchase price for Fourth-tier Demon Beasts is eight Spirit Stones each. It used to be higher, but this is the current rate."

"That’s indeed low." Previously, the selling price at Duobao Pavilion was ten Spirit Stones per beast, which meant a difference of two stones per beast. With a large quantity, this added up to a significant difference.

"Friend, I’ve already inspected the beasts you’re looking to sell. My maximum authority permits a price of nine Spirit Stones each. How does that sound to you?"

Tan Shaoting hesitated for a moment. "Alright, I’ll sell them to Duobao Pavilion."

One Storage Bag contained exactly a thousand Fourth-tier Demon Beasts, totaling nine thousand Spirit Stones.

"Friend, that’s a total of nine thousand Spirit Stones."

"Senior, one moment. I’m interested in purchasing Thunder Shocking Pearls. Does Duobao Pavilion have any?"

"You’re in luck. Three days ago, we received ten Thunder Shocking Pearls. Miss Zhao from here reserved two, leaving eight remaining."

"I’ll take them all. What’s the price?"

"The price of Thunder Shocking Pearls has increased. Each costs two thousand one hundred Spirit Stones."

"Alright, I’ll take them all. Nothing is more important than life."

"Wise choice, friend. Indeed it is."

In addition, they purchased some talismans. Thus, trading a thousand Fourth-tier Demon Beasts netted eight Thunder Shocking Pearls, which, along with talismans, wasn’t enough. Extra funds from their own pocket were needed.

After leaving the Duobao Pavilion, Tan Shaoting asked his sons, "Shall we stay here for a few days?"

All three of them nodded, having no objections. It didn’t matter where they were.

They found the workshop’s management office and rented a cave abode. It cost fifteen Spirit Stones per day, definitely not cheap.

The four of them shared one cave abode, paying for ten days in total.

Tan Shaoting’s actions were wise. Multiple Golden Core Masters, five or six, were now in the mountains where they’d advanced.

They carefully searched and found the cave where the family had stayed.

Tan Shaoting had already cleaned up before leaving, leaving no trace of them behind, causing the searchers to frown.

"No trace of their aura. Let’s split up and search."

"How should we search? There’s no clue at all."

The masters were vexed, reluctant to give up their chase.

"Let’s split up. Search both sides of the mountain range."

"What level of cultivation might have caused the anomaly?"

"It’s likely at least a late-stage Foundation Establishment attempting to break through to Golden Core. None of us experienced anomalies upon forming our core."

"So we’re looking for someone at a level similar to ours?"

"It seems so. There’s no record of low-level cultivators causing anomalies."

"Okay, let’s go and check it out."

After forming their cores, they’d received numerous pieces of information, each intriguing enough to distract them from cultivation. But reaching this stage, they were unwilling to give up.

If cultivation had been impossible from the start, they wouldn’t have felt so unwilling.

Given newfound hope, there was no way they’d let go.

The four of them split into two groups, each searching for suspicious individuals.

Tan Shaoting took his children into the cave abode, activated an Array, and, still uneasy, added his own Array, before finally entering the space together.

Here, they could finally relax.

They didn’t cultivate, mainly because they’d been on edge lately. Tan Shaoting felt for his children and allowed them a moment of relaxation.

Though the space wasn’t rich, it was enough for the father and sons to unwind together.

Tan Shaoting retrieved some snacks his wife had prepared long ago. Though lacking Spiritual Energy, they were simply delicious treats.

After spending a day in the space, they returned to the cave abode to cultivate.

On the third day, there was a knock at the entrance.

With a frown, Tan Shaoting went out, only to find it was the area’s leader.

"Friend, the management office has issued an order. All outsiders need to come over."

Tan Shaoting knew they’d been found and felt a bit tense inside.

"Alright, we’ll go over right away."

Returning to the cave abode, he said, "Let’s go to the City Lord Mansion. It must be the anomaly from that day that got noticed. We’ll make a trip there."

The three children were a bit nervous, but Tan Shaoting comforted them with a few words. "It’s really nothing. Don’t worry."

Tan Shaoting had great confidence in his cultivation technique for concealing his Spirit Root and cultivation levels.

Retrieving his Array Plate, the father and sons proceeded to the management office.

There were hardly any people there, indicating very few cultivators had come here.

"Master, these are the outsiders who have come to our workshop in recent days."

Sun Zhenren frowned; they were all just Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators.