How much shit would that be in a day? You’d probably need boxcars to haul it, and even then you’d never finish hauling it all.

Yuchi casually and leisurely mulled things over as he took one last look at the overall situation in the State Capital. Then he grabbed a bite to eat at a roadside stall, winked at a female cultivator passing by, and finally followed the clues straight to a Courtesan girl. When he actually saw what the Courtesan looked like, Yuchi still gave a small approving nod.

A Courtesan really is a Courtesan, huh. Just looking at her you can tell she’s a pretty nice kind of woman. First time in a new place, if you’ve got questions you can just ask the Courtesan.

"Young master, are you here for divination, fortune-telling, site selection, date selection, or to scout out news? Or perhaps to listen to music, chat, rest, have some fun in bed? Or maybe you’re here about bookkeeping, business, social connections, and so on?"

The young lady asked softly.

So professional, huh... Yuchi sat down with a bitter little smile. "Miss, just chatting is fine. I’m an out-of-towner, first time in the State Capital, mainly just want to ask about a few things."

The Courtesan sat down close beside Yuchi, her fragrant shoulder proactively leaning against his side. She even took the initiative to pour him a cup of clear wine, smiling as she gestured for Yuchi to ask whatever he liked.

"First question: why is the State Capital called the State Capital? What’s so special about it that, compared to it, the other big cities can’t even be mentioned in the same breath?" Yuchi was quite curious.

The Courtesan immediately understood what Yuchi meant, guessing what answers the customer was looking for. This was basic professional literacy for a Courtesan; right now Yuchi clearly wanted to understand some of the deeper aspects of the State Capital.

So, she said:

"Let’s not talk about the State Capital’s population, economy, or battle power. Those are things other big cities all have too. At most it’s just you being a bit stronger and me a bit weaker; none of that is really the key."

"The main thing is that the State Capital can make the rules. Right now all rules for the Four Major Institutions, sects, big cities, and so on are set by the State Capital. And once a rule passes the State Capital’s deliberations and is formally enacted, then everyone in the Third State has to obey, whether the rule is good or bad."

Yuchi nodded. This kind of thing was within expectations, but to actually pull it off meant the State Capital had to be overwhelmingly powerful in a full, three-dimensional way. This wasn’t about whether Xufu Town could compare or not; it was that, looking over the entire Third State, aside from the State Capital, was there even another existence this savage?

Can’t afford to mess with these big shots... Yuchi switched topics. "Second question, may I ask if you know the Qi Family?"

"I do indeed." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"First off, the Qi Family is a fairly well-known clan within the State Capital. The family itself isn’t a top-tier clan, but they do business by escorting caravans. Their business is cross-state—like delivering goods from the Third State directly to the Fourth State, or going to a location specified by a customer and then charging the corresponding fee in gold and silver."

"The Qi Family Patriarch is Qi Lin. His talent is Ninth Grade, and his cultivation is somewhere between Nascent Soul Stage First Layer and Nascent Soul Stage Third Layer."

"Qi Lin’s wife is Lu Zhiran. Her talent is Ninth Grade, and her cultivation is between Spirit Storage Stage Seventh Layer and Spirit Storage Stage Thirteenth Layer."

"Qi Lin’s eldest daughter is Qi Jinyu. Her talent is Ninth Grade, and her cultivation is between Spirit Storage Stage First Layer and Spirit Storage Stage Second Layer."

"Qi Lin’s second daughter is Qi Shuiyu. Her talent is Ninth Grade, and her cultivation is between Golden Core Stage Seventh Layer and Golden Core Stage Ninth Layer."

"Qi Lin’s third daughter, Qi Hongyu. Her talent is Ninth Grade, and her cultivation is between Core Formation Stage Seventh Layer and Core Formation Stage Ninth Layer."

"Qi Lin’s youngest daughter is Qi Baiyu. Her talent is Eighth Grade, and her cultivation is between Foundation Establishment Stage First Layer and Foundation Establishment Stage Fifth Layer."

Yuchi: "..."

Holy shit, what kind of barbarians are this whole family, are they all just fronting like monsters?! Aside from the third and youngest daughters, literally any one of the others could step out and solo the entire Ascension Gate, and they wouldn’t even blink doing it. So this is what a State Capital family is like? This brutal?

And other than Qi Baiyu, the whole family’s talent is Ninth Grade? Feels like they were all forcibly boosted up there by dumping Spirit Root Pills into them, right? Now this is what you call the power of money. As for why Qi Baiyu isn’t a Ninth-Grade Spirit Root yet, it’s probably because she’s still young, so those Spirit Root Pills are being fed to her slowly, yeah?

Also, this Courtesan seems to know a bit too much—she can even roughly judge the other side’s cultivation level? Did she eat some kind of memory bread or something, to remember this much? Yuchi was impressed—truly impressed by how well-informed this Courtesan was. He’d really broadened his horizons.

Yuchi couldn’t help but give a wry smile as he handed over the silver and asked the Courtesan, "May I ask how I should get to the Qi Family?"

No problem, I’ll just point you along a route first. I also provide route-drawing services~ The Courtesan accepted the silver with a beaming smile and decisively drew a route for Yuchi. "Young master only needs to follow this road straight ahead and there will be no problem."

The Courtesan worked very efficiently; in no time a route was marked on the map. Yuchi nodded—this way he could head straight for the Qi Family, mainly to find Qi Baiyu and ask about where Medicine Master Valley was, and incidentally see whether that man’s Divine Soul had recovered.

With that, Yuchi immediately brought up his third question. "Girl, do you know Lanyu Medicine Workshop? And do you know where Lanyu Medicine Workshop is located?"

"Lanyu Medicine Workshop, hmm."