Tianshui Pavilion is the largest and most luxurious restaurant in Zhongdu. It is always packed with guests every day, and especially during festivals, it becomes a gathering place for the powerful and wealthy.
There are the most exquisite decorations here, famous calligraphy and paintings can be seen everywhere, and all kinds of rare ornaments are dazzling.
Today's Tianshui Pavilion is different. The chief shopkeeper of Tianshui Pavilion stands outside the door, bowing and saluting to the guests and saying sorry.
Although the disappointed guests were very unhappy, as no one would feel comfortable returning home disappointed on New Year's Day, they knew better what forces were behind Tianshui Pavilion, and no one dared to cause trouble in Tianshui Pavilion.
What the guests were most curious about was who had the power to book the entire Tianshui Pavilion.
You have to know that normally no matter which prince comes, he would just book a private room.
"Mo Yan, you go back first!" Li Shiming got off the carriage and instructed Mo Yan who opened the curtain for him.
He did not notice the hustle and bustle at the entrance of Tianshui Pavilion. It should be said that on this day, the entire Zhongdu city was extremely lively, especially this street with a strong commercial atmosphere.
"Sir, Tianshui is not accepting outside guests today!" He walked to the door and the head shopkeeper bowed and said.
Li Shiming was slightly stunned. Didn’t they say that they would have a party on the third floor? How come they booked the entire place?
No matter how unfamiliar he was with Tianshui Pavilion, he could tell the grade of Tianshui Pavilion just by looking at the building's appearance.
"I have an appointment on the third floor!" he said with a smile.
"Young Master, please come in!" The head shopkeeper put on his most sincere smile and gestured for invitation. Then he turned to the waiter beside him and ordered, "Bring the young master upstairs!"
The chief shopkeeper was a worldly-wise man and did not doubt Li Shiming's words at all.
Although he didn't know who was having the party on the third floor, he knew who had booked the building. It was the emperor's chief steward who personally booked the building.
Li Shiming walked into Tianshui Pavilion amid the inquiring, scrutinizing, and puzzled gazes of the people outside the door, and went to the third floor under the guidance of the waiter.
"Sir, I can only take you this far!" the waiter bowed and smiled.
Li Shiming nodded. He knew in his heart that this was a gathering of monks and it was impossible for mortals to get close.
The third floor is clear at a glance, with a hall in the middle and three private rooms on each side.
The hall was empty, and he guessed that the party should be held in a private room.
"Little Mr. Li is here!" Just as he was about to search in the boxes, a voice came, and then a light gate appeared in front of him.
Through the light door, he saw quite a few people sitting in the middle of the hall.
The chief among them was Gu Jia, who was waving to Li Shiming.
It turned out that the third floor was covered by a magic circle. Even if a mortal entered the third floor, he would not be able to see the scene of the monks' gathering.
"Hello, Brother Gu, and hello to all the fellow Taoists!" Li Shiming entered the light gate, saluted to Gu Jia, then clasped his fists and made a circle salute towards all four sides.
His eyes swept over the people at the scene and found a monk he knew among them.
For example, the old monk from the Hao family who sold talisman paper and amulets, Monk Deng who sold magic tools, Monk Liu who sold spiritual plants, Monk Zhang who sold spell books, and several other monks that Li Shiming had impressions of but did not know their names.
Of course, there were twenty-six monks sitting in the hall, and he had only seen a very small number of them.
"My fellow Taoists, this is my friend Li. Please take care of him!" Gu Jia introduced with a smile.
"Since it was Brother Gu who introduced us, we will naturally take care of him!" A cultivator immediately responded, and the other cultivators echoed him.
Only the old monk from the Hao family had a hint of doubt when he looked at Li Shiming.
The first time he saw Li Shiming, he had a sense of déjà vu, but he could not remember when he had seen Li Shiming.
The Hao family had a big scandal some time ago, with the death of two cultivators, which caused the Hao family's strength to decline significantly.
The most serious thing was that a cultivator at the third and fourth levels of Qi Refining were killed at the same time, causing panic in the market town, and no cultivator dared to go to the market town.
This gathering of monks was a tradition of nearby monks. Meeting with Gu Jia on New Year's Day and delivering the spiritual stones that were to be paid in the next year was also a means to deepen the relationship with Gu Jia.
The several companies organized by the market city did not want any of them to contact Gu Jia alone, as that would allow one of them to become too powerful, thus disrupting the original balance.
As for handing over the spirit stones before receiving the profits from the next year's market, it was a helpless move.
If the business in the market is not good, the extra spirit stones will be used as a tribute to Gu Jia. If the business income in the market exceeds the original estimate, the spirit stones that should have been paid previously will be compensated at the next New Year's Day gathering.
No cultivator would do anything about this matter. This is not in the interest of a cultivator family. They supervise and restrain each other.
"Tell me why you want to hold a market in the city?" After introducing Li Shiming, Gu Jia continued with the previous topic.
"Fellow Daoist Gu, this is the decision we made after discussion. After the two cultivators from the Hao family were killed last time, no cultivators came to the market. Even the cultivators who often came to the market to sell items are rumored to not come for safety reasons!" said Monk Deng, spreading his hands.
"My friend, have a cup of spiritual tea. I brought this from my sect!" Gu Jia smiled and pushed a cup of spiritual tea to Li Shiming. Then he turned to look at Monk Deng, with a grim look on his face, and said, "Tell me what happened?"
Obviously, he knew what these independent cultivators were thinking. They were probably worried because two Hao family cultivators were killed, so they wanted to use his power to reorganize the market.
But the problem is that the previous market was borrowing his name, but now that the market has been opened in the city, it is borrowing his strength, which is somewhat dangerous.
Although it is extremely rare for a casual cultivator to be able to defeat Gu Jia, most of the casual cultivators in Zhongdu join the sect for themselves or their descendants, and will never offend the garrisoned cultivators of Tianhai Sect.
But who can tell clearly about the affairs of the world of immortal cultivation? If Gu Jia is asked to take risks, it would be unreasonable without a reasonable explanation.
Li Shiming picked up the spiritual tea in front of him, took a sip, and then he felt a surge of spiritual energy exploding from his stomach. The spiritual energy vortex autonomously absorbed the spiritual energy.
Feeling the changes in his body, he did not stop and poured the entire cup of spiritual tea into his mouth, not even leaving out the two tea leaves.
The spiritual energy vortex madly absorbed the explosive spiritual energy in his body, increasing the amount of spiritual energy in his body by more than half. He felt that he was not far from the third level of Qi Refining.
His eyes lit up. What kind of spiritual tea was this that could increase his spiritual power so much in an instant? If he drank another cup, he would probably be promoted to the third level of Qi Refining on the spot.