Chapter 141 Mortals Play with Immortals: The "Crazy Zoo" of Changqing Tower
The morning in Tianqi City should have been accompanied by the clear chirping of birds and the distant sound of morning bells, slowly awakening in the thin morning mist.
But today, shortly after the grand assembly ended, the entire Vermilion Bird Avenue fell into an eerie, deathly silence, as if even time itself had been frozen.
The heavy and imposing sandalwood gate of Changqing Tower (Taiji Hall) was wide open, but the hundreds of nobles and aristocratic families outside, dressed in fine silks and satins and rolling in wealth, including those first-rate sect leaders who could cause an earthquake with a stomp of their feet in the martial arts world, were like a group of puppets frozen in place. Their mouths were wide open, their eyes were bulging, and they were staring intently at the "object" tied to the pillar of the hall.
The faint light of dawn slanted into the main hall, illuminating that corner perfectly.
It was a thick pillar carved from white marble, with a five-clawed golden dragon coiled around it, originally a symbol of the supreme imperial power. But at this moment, at the dragon's mouth, a pitch-black chain was attached in a very abrupt and discordant manner.
Looking down the chains, a figure dressed in a moon-white robe with disheveled silver hair was slumped on the cold floor in an extremely humiliating and bizarre posture.
Although his white robe was stained with dried dark red blood and dusty dirt, a discerning master craftsman present would be horrified to discover that the material of the cloth was not one of the rare and precious materials of this world! The subtle flow of energy on it was supreme pure energy capable of resisting spatial tearing!
And this person's face...
It was a face that was perfect to the extreme, as if the Creator had exhausted all his efforts to sculpt it.
Unfortunately, his face was now covered with crisscrossing bloodstains, and below his tightly closed eyes were two shocking tear tracks (left when he was so angry that he vomited blood).
What sends chills down your spine is the aura he exudes.
It was a kind of celestial aura that, though extremely faint and on its last legs, was in essence superior to all the rules of this world!
"Gulp."
Someone swallowed a large mouthful of saliva with difficulty amidst the deathly silence of the crowd.
The sound was exceptionally clear in the empty square, like a drop of ice water falling into a pot of boiling oil, instantly shattering the suffocating silence.
"This...this...Lord Sikong, you...you just said this person...who is he?"
It was the Marquis of Pingnan who spoke.
This elderly man, who had weathered countless storms in the imperial court and remained unfazed even when Mount Tai collapsed before him, now spoke with a voice trembling as if he were shivering in the cold wind.
His withered, bony hands gripped the arm of the guard beside him tightly, his nails digging deep into the guard's flesh.
Sikong Changfeng stood on the steps, holding a purple clay teapot, and slowly sipped a mouthful of top-quality pre-Qingming Longjing tea.
After experiencing the initial shock, the collapse of his worldview, and being forcibly "brainwashed" by Su Changqing, this once high and mighty gun master has now perfectly transformed into a qualified "Changqinglou MLM Grand Manager".
He took a deep breath, puffed out his chest, and his face was plastered with a capitalist smile that was a mixture of pride, snobbery, and a love of watching a good show.
"Lord Pingnan, are you hearing right? I just explained it very clearly and plainly."
Sikong Changfeng switched the purple clay teapot to his left hand, and with his right hand pulled out a gilded folding fan from his wide sleeve. He unfolded it with a "snap" and pointed it at the white-clad man chained to the pillar by a dog.
"Everyone, open your eyes wide and take a good look. This is no ordinary charlatan from the martial arts world. This is a true celestial being who tore through the void from the heavens last night, descending upon our Changqing Pavilion's backyard with earth-shattering thunderous power!"
"boom--!!!"
If Sikong Changfeng's price list just now left everyone questioning their existence, then this resolute confirmation is like a ton of dynamite detonating simultaneously in the crowd!
"An immortal?! Really an immortal?!"
"My goodness! The legendary immortals who ascended to heaven in broad daylight and lived as long as the heavens and earth actually look like this?! How... how did they get tied to this pillar?!"
"Are you blind? Didn't you hear what Chief Steward Sikong said? This immortal tried to dine and dash last night, but Mr. Su caught him!"
"Hiss—! Dining and dashing? Even immortals dine and dash? No! The point is, Mr. Su actually chained a living, breathing immortal here like a dog, using him as a welcoming decoration?!"
Crazy!
They've gone completely mad!
What is the purpose of these powerful and wealthy people in Tianqi City praying to gods and Buddhas and seeking elixirs and medicines on a daily basis?
Isn't it all just to absorb a bit of immortal energy, hoping for longevity or even immortality?
In their original concept, immortals were supreme beings who were high above them and could annihilate them with just a glance!
They need to worship them!
But now?
That supreme being in their hearts is like a rag doll, tied to a pillar in this mundane tavern, with a price tag and open to all!
This intense visual impact, this most devastating clash between long-held beliefs and reality, caused the minds of everyone present to instantly freeze.
"Cough cough... Pfft!"
Just then, the white-robed immortal, who had been tied to the pillar, slowly awoke amidst the cacophony of noise, which resembled a bustling market.
He opened his eyes blankly; they had lost their silvery-gray starlight due to his severe injuries and had become somewhat cloudy.
A sawing sound, like a broken bellows, emanated from his chest cavity; it was the friction of his broken immortal bones. Each breath brought excruciating, bone-crushing pain.
He is the Immortal Lord Xuan Kong.
The supreme inspector who governs the three thousand great worlds in the upper realm.
An ancient being that has lived for a full 30,000 years.
He tried to mobilize the immortal power within his body, but was horrified to discover that his immortal roots and immortal veins...
Even the connection with the Heavenly Dao Network of the Upper Realm was completely blocked by a terrifying restriction that he could not understand at all!
Now, apart from his still relatively strong physical body, he is not even as good as any ordinary person in the lower realm who knows a little martial arts!
"Where...where am I...?"
Xuan Kong Xianjun struggled to turn his stiff neck.
What came into view was neither the ethereal celestial palace of the upper realm nor the Jade Pool shrouded in spiritual energy.
Instead, it was a thick pillar, a cold chain around his neck.
And... outside the door, a huge, dark swarm of people were staring at him with the kind of excited, greedy, and incredulous look one might give a rare animal... these mortal ants!
"Look! The immortal has awakened! The immortal has opened his eyes!"
A gasp of surprise rippled through the crowd.
Xuan Kong Immortal Lord was stunned.
His brain, which had been stagnant for 30,000 years, was momentarily unable to process what was happening.
Mortals and ants?
These filthy mortals from the lower realms, who aren't even worthy of carrying his shoes, actually dare to look at him with such direct, even scrutinizing and appraising eyes?!
"How...how dare you!"
Xuan Kong Immortal Lord felt like his lungs were about to explode with anger.
In the past, when he went down to the mortal realm to inspect, the natives of which world did not kneel on the ground, not daring to even think of looking up at him?
He tried to unleash the pressure of a celestial lord, wanting to crush these audacious ants into mincemeat.
He struggled to stand up.
"Splash—"
The black chain around his neck emitted a very crisp metallic clanging sound.
The other end of the chain was firmly fixed to a white marble dragon pillar.
He had just straightened his back a little when the chain yanked him hard, and because he lost his balance, he fell face-first into the dirt in an extremely embarrassing manner.
His cheek pressed heavily against the cold, slightly dusty floor.
"Wow! Are the gods giving us a grand salute?"
In the crowd, one of the bolder martial arts practitioners suddenly shouted something at the top of his lungs.
"Hahahahaha!"
Immediately, a burst of laughter erupted from the crowd.
At this moment, the natural awe these mortals felt for the "immortals" began to crumble miraculously with this fall and this laugh.
So even gods can fall flat on their faces and get nosebleeds, making them look ridiculous!
"You...you uncivilized beasts of the lower realm..."
Xuan Kong Xianjun's face was pressed tightly against the ground. He could clearly smell the sour stench of the mortal world, a mixture of dirt and spilled wine from the previous night.
This taste was more nauseating than the most potent poison to an immortal who had only drunk celestial dew for 30,000 years.
The endless sense of humiliation was like a thousand barbed steel knives, cruelly strangling his immortal heart!
He's the Xuan Kong Immortal Lord! How could he be chained up here like a dog, mocked by a bunch of mortals?!
That man… that devil who wielded a broken kitchen knife and annihilated all my magic with a single finger… who is he?!
Just as Xuan Kong Xianjun was on the verge of utter collapse and despair, an even more devastating voice rang out from above.
"Grand Steward Sikong!"
Shen Wansan, the head of the Shen family, a fat man who was rolling in money, was struggling to push through the crowd and ran down the steps, sweating profusely.
He held up a thick wad of gold notes, and his small eyes, squeezed into slits by fat, gleamed with a ravenous light unique to businessmen.
"Here are ten thousand taels of gold notes! Cash! Absolutely cash!"
As Shen Wansan waved the gold notes, he pointed at the Xuan Kong Immortal Lord who was paralyzed on the ground, his voice trembling with extreme excitement:
"I want to buy the 'Touch the Fairy Robe' package! I want to feel what a real fairy feels like!"
"I want to experience what it feels like to touch a real deity!"
Shen Wansan's shout was like adding fuel to a boiling oil pot.
The powerful and wealthy people who were initially just watching the spectacle and were still hesitant about the "ten thousand taels of gold to touch the gods" were instantly awakened.
Yup!
This is a living immortal!
Although he looks a bit disheveled now, even tied to a pillar like a drowned rat, he is still a genuine immortal who fell from the sky!
Just to touch it, let alone ten thousand taels of gold, even a hundred thousand taels would be worth it!
"I'll bid 15,000! I want to touch it first!"
"Get out of my way! I was here first! Grand Steward Sikong, I have twenty thousand taels of silver here! Give me a front-row seat!"
"I...I want to take a picture of the painting! No, I want to make a rubbing of the places the immortal touched! That'll cost extra, right?"
The crowd erupted in cheers once again.
The powerful and wealthy, who were just moments before overwhelmed by the aura of divine power and the sense of absurdity, now seemed to have had some extremely wicked brain circuit opened up, and began to frantically ponder the commercial value of this "immortal".
After all, being able to touch an immortal with your own hands is something you can brag about for a lifetime, and even tell your grandchildren about!
"Quiet! Everyone, be quiet!"
Sikong Changfeng snapped his folding fan shut and roared with his inner strength, finally calming the chaos in the room.
At this moment, the expression on the face of the Third City Lord of Snowmoon City, a dignified spear immortal, was extremely interesting.
There was shock, absurdity, and a slight reluctance to look, but more than anything, there was... a flutter in my heart.
That's right, it's love at first sight.
Shen Wansan's shout opened a new world for him!
Ten thousand taels of gold to touch?
This isn't touching a fairy, it's searching for a gold mine!
Sikong Changfeng was never stupid; on the contrary, he was a shrewd businessman to the core. However, most of the time, he used this shrewdness in managing Snow Moon City and planning Long Spear.
But after following Su Changqing for a while, he finally understood.
What's the point of social standing or the prestige of a prestigious family? Nothing beats real money!
As long as you don't lose your life and can make money, then everything is fine!
As a result, Sikong Changfeng's gaze changed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
He first glanced furtively at the second floor.
Su Changqing was leaning against the railing, holding a bunch of freshly peeled grapes in his hand, looking down at the group of "money-giving children" with a calm expression and a half-smile.
Li Hanyi stood to the side with her arms crossed. Although she didn't say anything, the slight upturn of her lips clearly showed that she didn't dislike the situation.
Little Nuomi was perched on the railing, her big, round eyes wide with excitement as she watched the spectacle.
She didn't quite understand why these people suddenly started scrambling to touch that dirty "fairy uncle," but she instinctively felt that it must be a lot of fun.
Seeing that Su Changqing did not intend to stop him, Sikong Changfeng immediately understood.
He cleared his throat, reopened the folding fan, and put on his standard business smile.
"Everyone, everyone, please calm down."
"Changqinglou has always adhered to a set of rules in its business."
"You can touch the immortal if you want."
"but--"
Sikong Changfeng drew out the last syllable, satisfied as he watched as everyone's attention was drawn to him.
"You have to queue, you have to pay extra, you have to be polite and courteous."
"First, you can touch, but you can't hit, you can't curse, and you can't spit on the immortal's face. Otherwise, it will be considered damaging Changqinglou's property, and you'll be killed on the spot!"
"Secondly, the basic package costs 10,000 taels of gold, which is only for touching the hem of the garment. If you want to touch the hand, it costs 30,000 taels; if you want to touch the head, it costs 50,000 taels; if you want to ask questions... it starts at 100,000 taels, depending on the immortal's mood."
"third……"
Sikong Changfeng's smile grew even brighter.
"Today's event is a special offer, with limited spots available. The highest bidder wins."
These words caused an uproar in the room.
Xuan Kong Xianjun, who was paralyzed on the ground, was completely frozen.
From the moment Shen Wansan first shouted "I want to touch it," he already felt his worldview shatter.
But it wasn't until Sikong Changfeng openly stated these rules and treated him like a "rare and exotic animal" that could be sold at a fixed price and in parts that he truly understood what it meant to be worse than dead.
That was a humiliation a hundred times more intense than having one's immortal bones shattered, one's immortal power sealed, or one tied to a pillar!
"You...you all..."
Xuan Kong Immortal Lord raised his head with difficulty, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, his chest heaving violently.
Those eyes, which should have been high above, looking down on the mortal world, were now filled with resentment, anger, and humiliation.
"How dare you humiliate me like this! I am an inspector from the celestial realm! How dare you mortals treat me like livestock to be bought and sold?!"