Tianshui Pavilion is the largest and most luxurious restaurant in Zhongdu. It is packed with guests every day. Especially during festivals, it becomes a gathering place for the rich and powerful.
It has the most exquisite decorations, celebrity 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 is standing outside the door, constantly clasping his fists and saluting the visitors, saying apologetic words.
Although the disappointed guests were very unhappy, and anyone who came back disappointed on the first day of the new year would not feel comfortable, but they knew better the power behind Tianshui Pavilion, and no one dared to cause trouble in Tianshui Pavilion.
What the guests were most curious about was who had the energy to take over the entire Tianshui Pavilion.
You know, usually when a prince comes, he just reserves a box.
"Mo Yan, you go back first!" Li Shiming got off the carriage and ordered Mo Yan who opened the curtain for him.
He did not notice the commotion 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 guests are not accepting outsiders today!" When he walked to the door, the shopkeeper bowed and said.
Li Shiming was slightly startled. Didn't he say that the party was on the third floor? How come this place was fully booked?
No matter how unfamiliar he is with Tianshui Pavilion, he can tell the grade of Tianshui Pavilion just by looking at the appearance of the building.
"I have an appointment with someone on the third floor!" he said with a smile.
"Sir, please come in!" The shopkeeper put on his most sincere smile and made an invitation gesture. Then he turned to the waiter beside him and ordered: "Take the master up here!"
The big shopkeeper was so sophisticated that he did not doubt Li Shiming's words at all.
Although he didn't know who was attending the party on the third floor this time, he did know who had booked this building. It was the chief steward next to the emperor who came to do it in person.
Li Shiming walked into Tianshui Pavilion amidst the inquiring, scrutinizing, and doubtful eyes of everyone outside the door, and was led to the third floor by the waiter.
"Sir, I can only send you here!" The waiter bowed and smiled.
Li Shiming nodded, knowing in his heart that this was a gathering of monks, so it was naturally impossible for mortals to get close.
The third floor is clearly visible, with a hall in the middle and three private rooms on each side.
The hall was empty, and based on his guess, the gathering was probably in a certain box.
"Little Friend Li is here!" Just when he was about to search among the boxes, a voice came, and then a door of light appeared in front of him.
Through the light door, he saw many people sitting in the middle of the hall.
The person in charge was Gu Jia, who was waving to Li Shiming.
It turns out that the third floor is actually covered by a magic circle. Even if a mortal enters the third floor, he cannot see the gathering of monks.
"I've met Brother Gu, I've met all fellow Taoists!" Li Shiming entered the light gate, saluted Gu Jia, then clasped his fists and made a bow around him.
His eyes swept over the people present and found that there were monks he knew among them.
For example, the old monk of the Hao family who sells talisman paper and talismans, the monk Deng who sells magic weapons, the monk Liu who sells spiritual plants, the monk Zhang who sells spell books, and several monks who Li Shiming remembers but does not know their names.
Of course, there were twenty-six monks sitting in the hall, and he had only seen a handful of them.
"Fellow Taoists, this is Li Xiaoyou whom I recognize. Please take good care of me!" Gu Jia introduced with a smile.
"Since it was introduced by fellow Taoist Gu, we will naturally take care of it!" A monk immediately answered, and the other monks agreed one after another.
Only the old monk from the Hao family looked at Li Shiming with a hint of suspicion.
The first time he saw Li Shiming, he felt a sense of déjà vu, but he could not remember when he had met Li Shiming.
The Hao family made a big mistake some time ago, losing two monks, causing the Hao family's strength to drop drastically.
The most serious thing was that a monk at the third level of Qi Refining and a fourth-level Qi Refining monk were killed at the same time, which made people in the city panic, and no monks dared to go to the city.
This gathering of monks was originally a tradition of nearby monks. Meeting Gu Jia on the first day of the new year and sending over the spiritual stones due for the next year was also a way to deepen the relationship with Gu Jia.
The companies hosted by Fangshi do not want any of them to come into contact with Gu Jia on their own, which would make one of them grow bigger and break the original balance.
As for handing over the spirit stones before the profits from the market are received next year, this is also a helpless move.
If Fangshi's business is not good, the extra spiritual stones will be used to honor Gu Jia. If Fangshi's business income exceeds the original estimate, then the spiritual stones that were due before will be made up at the next first day gathering.
No monk will interfere with this matter. This is not the interest of a cultivating family. They supervise and check each other.
"Tell me why you want to hold a market in the city?" Gu Jia asked after introducing Li Shiming and continuing the previous topic.
"Fellow Daoist Gu, this is a decision we made after discussion. After the two monks of the Hao family were killed last time, no monks came to the market. Even the monks who often came to the market to sell items were rumored to not come to the market for safety reasons.
Come here!" Brother Deng said, spreading his hands.
"Little friend, have a cup of spiritual tea. This is what I brought from my sect!" Gu Jia smiled and pushed a cup of spiritual tea to Li Shiming, then turned to look at Brother Deng, with a serious expression on his face.
: "Tell me the truth about what happened?"
Obviously, he knew what these casual cultivators were thinking. It was probably because the murder of two Hao family monks made them worried, and they wanted to use his influence to reorganize the market.
But the problem is that the previous Fangshi borrowed his name, but now that Fangshi has opened in the city, it is to borrow his strength. This is somewhat dangerous.
Although it is extremely rare for casual cultivators to defeat Gu Jia, and most of the casual cultivators in Zhongdu join the sect for themselves or their descendants, they will never offend the monks stationed in Tianhai Sect.
But who can tell clearly about the world of immortality? If Gu Jia is allowed to take risks, there is no reasonable explanation that cannot be justified.
Li Shiming picked up the spiritual tea in front of him and took a sip. He felt a spiritual energy explode from his belly, and the spiritual energy vortex absorbed the spiritual energy on its own.
Feeling the changes in his body, he did not stop and poured a cup of spiritual tea into his mouth, not even letting go of two tea leaves.
The spiritual energy vortex frantically 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 couldn't help but shine. What kind of spiritual tea was this? It could increase his spiritual power so much all at once. If he drank another cup, he would probably be promoted to the third level of Qi Refining on the spot.