"Steward, there's a misunderstanding. I... I haven't done anything. I was just following procedure to request the jade talisman. It's that old thief with deep schemes who deliberately provoked me!" Liu Yinyue confessed truthfully, but no one believed her.

"Hum! Enough! If you dare oppose me, you better consider the consequences!" Steward Jinhua glared coldly at the few people from Si Shui Commerce Association.

Before long, all the members from the previous commerce associations boarded the spiritual ship, and it was the turn of the nine from Si Shui Commerce Association.

This also meant that the safest route to leave the Celestial Cyan Domain towards the Ten Thousand Merchants Domain was about to close.

Cultivators who did not board the spiritual ship basically had no hope left.

Their fate, after all, would either be to be captured by the alliance patrol team and taken to the front line, or to risk breaking through the Ten Thousand Laws Palace's defense at the border of Celestial Cyan Domain and traverse through the vast spirit starved land to reach the Ten Thousand Merchants Domain.

No matter which option, for cultivators below Core Formation, it was almost certain death.

Two months ago, when the business alliance's spiritual ship descended, bringing many goods from the alliance as well as cultivators from the alliance, it caused a mix of people at this Qi Family Immortal City, making it impossible to casually take people to the front line like other immortal cities.

And now, with the spiritual ship departing, it naturally became irrelevant to distinguish whether they were commerce cultivators from the Ten Thousand Merchants Domain. All of them could be taken to the front line.

"The last spiritual ship jade talisman!" Before long, when Si Shui Commerce Association was moving goods onto the spiritual ship, news that there was still one last ticket available was spread by the old housekeeper.

"Dear friend, please do me a favor. This is all of Guo's possessions, totaling seven thousand spirit stones. Please accommodate me!"

"Young friend, I possess Fake Pill cultivation and am willing to sign a ten-year spirit contract with your association. Could this be agreeable?"

"Godfather, if you can help me escape the inferno, I will acknowledge you as my godfather and dedicate my life to repaying your life-saving grace."

"Yuan Lang, this girl will entrust herself to you in the future..."

...

In that instant, Yuan Yishui's sea of consciousness was boiling, with countless transmissions surging madly.

"Those who are prospective Tier Three Talisman Masters can receive this spiritual ship jade talisman for free and obtain honored guest elder treatment..." In the end, he used the fundamental interests of Si Shui Commerce Association as bait.

Unfortunately, skills above mid-second tier had been snatched by the previous commerce associations.

After all, in the Ten Thousand Merchants Domain, skill instructors of the Hundred Arts of Cultivation were the core production force, determining the success and failure of commerce associations.

Especially the way of Talisman Masters, with its unique nature, has always been among the top three in the cultivation realm alongside Pill and Artifact Masters, and is even more challenging.

So, until the last moment, the prospective Tier Three Talisman Master he was waiting for still did not appear.

Helplessly, Yuan Yishui switched to bidding with spirit stones.

"Eight thousand spirit stones!"

"Eight thousand five hundred spirit stones."

"Nine thousand spirit stones, this is all I have."

...

Recently, hundreds of cultivators flowed into Qi Family Immortal City every day, most of them at the Foundation Establishment Stage, initially mainly loose cultivators, with more family and sect cultivators arriving later.

"Is there a higher bid?" Yuan Yishui asked via transmission.

"Wait! I... I am a late-second tier Pill Master, willing to sign a spirit contract with your association." At the last moment, a female cultivator disguised as a beggar hurriedly arrived.

"Wanzhi!" Li Ji'an scanned with his divine sense, feeling a surge of joy.

Though this disciple is usually not very smart and somewhat pedantic, at this crucial moment, she showed courage.

"Oh? Can your identity be verified?" Yuan Yishui looked at the beggar-like Guo Wanzhi with some delight, questioning her alchemy skill.

The fear was that at this critical moment, she might deceive him just to board the spiritual ship.

Guo Wanzhi instantly felt confused; how should she prove her alchemy skill? This was beyond her expectations.

The crux was that Si Shui Commerce Association had little time left. Once all goods were loaded, all personnel must board the spiritual ship, leaving no possibility for Guo Wanzhi to brew a pill on the spot as proof.

"Old Yuan, no need to verify, I believe this fairy is an experienced Pill Master!" Li Ji'an spoke up in time.

Originally a bit anxious, Guo Wanzhi was attracted by his words and turned her head to look, showing a subconscious expression of gratitude upon seeing his face. However, inexplicable aversion also arose upon seeing it.

Li Ji'an was helpless too. Mainly, Huang Jie's appearance was indeed somewhat frivolous, with his heart nature being licentious, lewd, and ruthless. Over time, his gaze made people uncomfortable.

The key is, once the Faceless Mask activates the essence blood and divine soul, the longer the duration, the more one's heart nature is assimilated. Currently, Li Ji'an's Faceless Mask has only three people: True Man Fu of Fiery Sun Sect, Master Jade Pill, and Huang Jie.

The first two, naturally, he dared not trigger in public; he's uncertain if Master Chunyuan is hiding among them.

So, he could only activate Huang Jie's essence blood and divine soul.

Thus, it is almost certain that for a long time in the future, he would have to live with Huang Jie's mask, his heart nature assimilated.

Hence, from the start, he might as well play his nature, so later when assimilated, it wouldn't feel too disconnected.

"Elder Huang..." Yuan Yishui's eyelids twitched slightly, glancing at Li Ji'an.

The first was Yao Rui; Li Ji'an was so casual, Yuan Yishui didn't think much about it, at least Yao Rui's magical power aura was indeed strong, and her displayed strength was convincing.

However, at this moment, Elder Huang's blatant smile made Yuan Yishui suddenly realize.

Could the earlier female cultivator be because of this too?

In an instant, his perception of Li Ji'an dropped significantly.

"Old Yuan, don't you believe me?" Li Ji'an winked at Yuan Yishui.

Seeing Yuan Yishui still hesitating, Li Ji'an directly revealed the Black Gold Token again.

"Heeding the Elder Order!" Yuan Yishui stopped struggling.

He then handed the jade talisman to the disguised Guo Wanzhi.

"...Thank you!" Guo Wanzhi took the spiritual ship jade talisman, still feeling somewhat like in a dream.

Then, disregarding Li Ji'an's uncomfortable gaze, she slightly bowed to him.

"Hehe, fairy, no need to be overly courteous. We should board the spiritual ship first." Li Ji'an smiled heartily, ready to lead Yao Rui and Guo Wanzhi onto the ship.

However, Yao Rui, originally beside Li Ji'an, narrowed her long eyes at this moment.

She sneered and looked at Li Ji'an from the side, filled with disdain and aversion.

Meanwhile, images of her solemn, righteous, and serious senior brother constantly flashed through her mind.

"Senior brother, where did you go?" Just as all commerce associations boarded the spiritual ship, she meticulously probed everyone but still found no trace of her senior brother.

Both she and her senior brother had late Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation, theoretically even if Li Ping'an disguised himself, she should recognize him by familiarity with his magical power aura. But unfortunately...

"Hold on!" Just as Li Ji'an led Guo Wanzhi and Yao Rui to the spiritual ship's steps, a malicious voice sounded.

Soon, Steward Jinhua's grand chief steward with a big belly and holding his moustache, squinting his eyes into slits, looked at Li Ji'an's group.

"Housekeeper Yuan, we have the Holy Palace's approval to come to this domain for little business, so we'd better not do anything against the Holy Palace's rules. If you make my business alliance ashamed of yourself, it cannot be forgiven."

Yuan Yishui smiled with wrinkles forming on his face, feeling secretly distressed.

After two breaths of silence, he chuckled in response: "Supervisor Liu's reminder is noted. I'm just worried that I might overlook something and cause a mistake. So, everything is based on your association's actions as guidelines. As long as your association does not violate the rules, I can assure you, our Si Shui Commerce Association will also have no mistakes!"

"Hehe, Housekeeper Yuan knows well that my Jinhua Commerce Association is closely linked with the Five Blessings Commerce Association; we share weal and woe, so we naturally wouldn't do anything out of line, just worried you might have blurry eyes and make a mistake.

For the harmony between our business alliance and the Holy Palace, Liu took it upon himself to assist Housekeeper Yuan with the inspection." Supervisor Liu smiled and flew over, blocking the entrance to the spiritual ship for the Si Shui Commerce Association group.

Yuan Yishui's face looked bitter, but as the weaker party, he couldn't afford to be tough.

Weak countries have no diplomacy, and the same goes for their Si Shui Commerce Association.

Jinhua Commerce Association aligning with the Five Blessings Commerce Association, he truly dared not resist at all.

Reluctantly, he could only signal Li Ji'an with his eyes.

Li Ji'an smirked, continuing to ascend the steps.

"Are all of you from Si Shui Commerce Association? You few look unfamiliar, could you be fugitives chased by the Holy Palace or deserters trying to escape to the Ten Thousand Merchants Domain?" Supervisor Liu grinned while staring at Li Ji'an's group, speaking frankly.