After hearing Han Li's words, Lu Er was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but glance at their hands. When he saw the red ring, he finally showed a look of realization and said:
"So the Immortal Master intends to stay in this city for a long time? That's easy to handle. Have both Immortal Masters seen the houses built on the Sacred Mountain? You can just rent any place on the mountain to cultivate. According to other Immortal Masters, the entire Sacred Mountain is a natural spirit vein. The higher up the mountain the rented house is, the more abundant the spiritual energy will be, and naturally, the price will be more expensive."
"And if you don't like renting a house and prefer to cultivate alone, you can also rent a ready-made cave dwelling to have your own private area. But I hear that costs much more than a house! Moreover, whether it's a house or a cave dwelling, they are all charged by the century. You must pay the fee again every hundred years. If you can't afford the next payment at that time, the Immortal Masters from the Star Palace will take it back."
Lu Er explained it to Han Li with remarkable efficiency.
"Oh, does that mean as long as one has enough spirit stones, one can rent a place at the very top to cultivate?" Hearing this, Han Li showed a rather interested expression.
"The Immortal Master is joking. Of course not." Lu Er shook his head vigorously like a rattle-drum.
"The Sacred Mountain is divided into layers, with each spiral circle from bottom to top forming one layer, totaling eighty-one layers. The first fifty layers are open to outside Immortal Masters. As long as you have spirit stones, you can rent a cultivation residence. The last thirty layers are only for the Star Palace's lords. As for the very top layer, that's the Sacred Palace, the residence of the two Sacred Masters. No one is allowed to enter." Lu Er said with a slight embarrassment.
After thinking for a moment, Han Li said decisively:
"Alright, show us the way. Let's find a residence first."
"Yes, I'll lead the way right now. The Immortal Master can fly towards the Sacred Mountain. There's a pavilion at the foot of the mountain that handles these matters."
As soon as the words fell, the Divine Wind Skiff turned into a streak of white light and flew towards the distant giant mountain.
The giant mountain didn't look far, but Han Li flew for a full quarter of an hour before truly approaching its base.
Following Lu Er's guidance, the Divine Wind Skiff landed in front of a rather imposing pavilion.
Besides Han Li, there were quite a few cultivators coming and going here, with occasional flashes of light rising into the sky or descending.
Han Li looked around a few times, then led Qu Hun and Lu Er into the pavilion with its high steps.
Upon entering the building, he saw about a dozen cultivator-like people in the hall, talking with several white-robed cultivators at five or six isolated stone tables.
Some of these people looked extremely happy, some had worried frown faces, and there were even two who were bitterly pleading with the white-robed cultivator opposite them. Their expressions were truly varied!
Han Li silently observed everything before him, watching for a while.
"Immortal Master, that side is empty now. Should we go over there?" After a moment, Lu Er cautiously reminded Han Li.
Han Li naturally also saw the stone table that had just become empty, so he nodded.
But this time, Qu Hun took the lead and walked over, while Han Li followed behind him.
This change left Lu Er, who had always thought Han Li was the one in charge, stunned, and he followed with a slightly surprised expression.
"Senior, do you want to rent a courtyard on the Sacred Mountain? Which layer are you considering? The higher layers are more expensive!" The Star Palace cultivator looked Qu Hun up and down, then immediately showed respect.
It seemed that Foundation Establishment cultivators commanded respect wherever they went. This was also why Han Li had Qu Hun take the lead.
"A cave dwelling. Do you have any ready-made ones? The higher the layer, the better!" Qu Hun said expressionlessly.
"A cave dwelling? Senior, please wait a moment. I'll check!" Hearing Qu Hun's grand tone, the white-robed cultivator perked up and hurriedly took out a jade slip to start searching.
"Here we are! There are three on the thirty-first layer, four on the thirty-ninth layer, and two on the forty-seventh layer. Here are the prices, as well as the layout and functions of the cave dwellings." The white-robed cultivator placed several jade slips on the stone table one after another.
Hearing this, Qu Hun didn't stand on ceremony and grabbed them one by one to examine with his spiritual sense.
Han Li had always considered himself not short of spirit stones, and even among Foundation Establishment cultivators, he thought he was a minor tycoon.
But after seeing the rental fees for these cave dwellings, he was still shocked.
Never mind the cave dwellings on the forty-seventh layer; even the few cave dwellings on the thirty-something layers made Han Li's heart ache. For just a hundred-year usage period, the cost was as high as two or three thousand spirit stones. It was truly outrageously expensive!
Seeing that Qu Hun's expression changed slightly and he remained silent, the cultivator opposite seemed to guess what was on his mind and explained with a smile:
"Senior! Our Sacred Mountain's spirit vein, while I dare not say it's the first in the Starry Sky Sea, is certainly among the top five. Even cultivating at the foot of the Sacred Mountain is much better than the best locations of ordinary spirit veins. As for after passing the thirtyth layer, the cultivation speed can be increased by almost a quarter or more. That's why the cave dwelling fees are so expensive. But it's definitely worth it!"
Hearing this, Han Li frowned slightly.
At this moment, Qu Hun had already finished examining all the jade slips.
"This one then!" Under Han Li's instructions, Qu Hun grabbed a jade slip and handed it over. It was for a cave dwelling on the thirty-ninth layer with relatively complete functions.
"Alright, the fee is two thousand seven hundred spirit stones!" Seeing that Qu Hun really wanted to rent the expensive cave dwelling, the white-robed cultivator was equally delighted in his heart and hurriedly said efficiently.
This time, Han Li didn't let Qu Hun act. He took out over twenty mid-grade spirit stones from his storage bag and handed them to the other party.
"This is the restriction token for the cave dwelling. With this token, you can freely enter and exit the cave dwelling. But after a hundred years, this token will be taken back. I hope the Senior will keep it safe." As soon as the cultivator received these spirit stones, he smiled broadly and took out a yellow token, handing it to Qu Hun.
Qu Hun took the token and turned to leave without saying a word.
Han Li and Lu Er, who hadn't dared to interject, quickly followed him out of the building.
"It's really frighteningly expensive! Just finding a place to cultivate costs so many spirit stones." As soon as he walked out of the pavilion, Han Li let out a long breath and muttered somewhat gloomily.
This had significantly reduced his wealth!
"I wonder, where would the two Immortal Masters like to go next?" Lu Er stole a glance at Han Li and asked softly.
He had long been astonished by Han Li's generous display of spirit stones.
In the past, he had served as a guide for other cultivators, but those Immortal Masters would spend at most ten or a few dozen spirit stones.
A expenditure of two or three thousand spirit stones, he had only heard of before. This was the first time he had seen it with his own eyes.
Immediately, Lu Er became even more respectful towards Han Li, and his confidence in receiving his reward greatly increased.
After all, with such generosity from the other party, as long as he made them satisfied, they certainly wouldn't default on his small amount of spirit stones.
"Take me to the city's market district, and also introduce the larger shops to me." Han Li glanced at Lu Er and said casually.
Then he took Qu Hun and Lu Er onto the Divine Wind Skiff again and soared into the sky.
...
More than half a day later, Han Li was lying on a large wooden bed, with his hands behind his head, thinking about something.
Not long ago, under Lu Er's introduction, he had familiarized himself with all the important places in Heavenly Star City, then given the agreed-upon reward to Lu Er before parting ways.
After watching Lu Er leave happily, he came alone to this cave dwelling on the thirty-ninth layer that he had rented at an exorbitant price.
This cave dwelling was indeed as described in the jade slip. Not only was it relatively secluded and quiet, but it also had a rather large empty medicinal garden.
What made Han Li even more satisfied was that the spiritual energy here was incredibly abundant, truly far beyond what ordinary spirit veins could compare to.
Even compared to his old cave dwelling in the Tian Nan region, the difference was significant.
This made Han Li feel it was quite worth it!
The restriction formation that came with this cave dwelling was also extremely powerful, not inferior to his simplified version of the Inverted Five Elements Formation.
Even so, Han Li didn't feel at ease relying solely on the cave dwelling's original formation to protect himself. He planned to rest a bit, and then tomorrow, set up his own few grand formations outside this formation.
Only then would it truly be secure, and he would have time to re-plan his cultivation strategy.
Thinking and thinking, Han Li fell into a sweet sleep without realizing it.
Over the past few months, he had been flying on magic treasures, and he was truly exhausted!
Early the next morning, as soon as Han Li woke up, he began bustling about nonstop.
He set up three more grand formations outside the cave dwelling in one go, then planted various medicinal herbs and spiritual medicines in the empty medicinal garden, to be used later for accelerating the growth of spiritual herbs.
Finally, he went to the market district and bought a large amount of high-quality jade. After returning to the cave dwelling, he embedded these jade pieces into a secret room of about ten zhang in size, covering every inch of space.
After turning the stone walls of the secret room into jade walls, Han Li carefully released the Gold Devouring Beetles into it.
He had high expectations for these highly ranked strange insects, planning to train them well so they could lend him a hand in the future.