Chapter Seventeen: Tang Yi's Decision

"I want to fly higher, fly higher, fly fly fly, fly left, fly right... I'm flying, flying, flying!" After traveling through the starry sky for the better part of a day, Tang Yi finally reached the planet previously indicated by the woman. Tang Yi was zig-zagging through the sky alone. Although his flight path was erratic, his general direction remained consistent. Before long, he arrived at a sizable city.

"Hey, you fellow up there, come down! Where are you looking? Yes, you, I'm talking to you! Come down, come down!" At the city gate, a middle-aged man shouted loudly at Tang Yi, who was still zig-zagging in the air.

"Hmph, that's more like it!" The man nodded with satisfaction after Tang Yi landed. "Although this place is remote, Ye Tian City is, after all, the main city of Ye Tian Planet. It's not a place where a little fellow at the Celestial Immortal stage can just fly around as he pleases."

"Oh, understood. Many thanks!" Tang Yi thanked the man and prepared to enter the city gate.

"Hold on. This is the main city. To enter, you need to apply for an entry pass and pay a deposit of one medium-grade immortal stone, for a total of two medium-grade immortal stones. You'll get your deposit back when you leave upon returning the pass!" The man reached out and blocked Tang Yi.

"Hmm, this too? Are all main cities in the Immortal Realm like this?" Tang Yi asked, puzzled.

"More or less. Most main cities are the same. Looks like you're a real country bumpkin. Hurry up, leave your immortal sense imprint on the master token and take the secondary one. Two medium-grade immortal stones—alright, off you go!" The man said impatiently.

Tang Yi entered Ye Tian City and scanned his surroundings. He noticed that a formation was running within the city; if he hadn't landed and walked in, he certainly would have been in for some trouble.

"A Qi-gathering formation, not bad at all. The immortal energy here is at least five times denser than outside. A medium-grade immortal stone is well worth the price." Tang Yi nodded with satisfaction.

Although Tang Yi had earned some income from collecting "ferry tickets" previously, it was far less than he had imagined. In the World of Cultivation, Tang Yi could be considered incredibly wealthy, but after ascending to the Immortal Realm, he had become a penniless nobody. He wasn't exactly penniless anymore, but he was still a bottom-tier loser.

"Sir, are you looking to rent a room?" Standing before an inn, a waiter greeted Tang Yi enthusiastically. "Our establishment owns a hundred rooms with high-density immortal energy in Ye Tian City. The 'Heaven-grade' rooms offer twenty times the density; there are only five places in the entire city that provide such high levels!"

"Oh, the Heaven-grade room is available, right? How many immortal stones per day?" Tang Yi asked, interested.

"It's only two medium-grade immortal stones per day, and there's a generous gift package included. It's an absolute bargain!" The waiter said, his face beaming with joy.

"Two? With twenty times the density, that’s about right! I'm only staying here for a few days anyway, and I do have some medium-grade immortal stones." Tang Yi considered for a moment and said, "Fine, I'll take the Heaven-grade room. I'll stay for five days. Here are ten immortal stones, lead the way!"

The waiter took the stones, visibly delighted, and led the way with a cheerful grin. It was no joke—he could earn a commission of ten low-grade immortal stones from this, which was his entire monthly salary at the inn. Someone like him, at the Earth Immortal stage, was at the very bottom of the Immortal Realm's hierarchy. Life in the current Immortal Realm was not easy.

The inn was, in fact, an immortal artifact—a high-quality one. Its primary function was to gather immortal energy, and each room featured insulation against immortal sense probing and multi-layered defensive formations. There was also a large defensive formation on the outermost perimeter, ensuring decent safety. Given such an establishment, one had to wonder who the owner was.

"Sir, here is the jade key for your Heaven-grade room, please keep it safe!" After using the jade key to unlock the door, the waiter handed it to Tang Yi. "If you need anything, sir, please use the communicator on the table; I'll be at your service immediately! Also, here is the welcome gift package for the Heaven-grade room. Since you are staying for five days, the boss says you get one extra day free. So, you can actually stay for a total of six days." The waiter took a jade box from his spatial ring, placed it on the table, and then retreated from the room.

Tang Yi closed the door and activated all the room's formations. He then sat at the table and opened the jade box.

"Hmm, this is what they call a grand gift package? It's just some local specialties. Better than nothing, I suppose—maybe they're worth a few immortal stones elsewhere!" Tang Yi closed the box, tossed it into his spatial ring, closed his eyes, and sent his immortal sense into his sea of consciousness.

Since entering the Immortal Realm, Tang Yi's sea of consciousness had begun a series of changes. They weren't violent, and they weren't fast, but they were steady. All his ability spheres had detached from their pedestals and were floating in the sky of his consciousness, while the land within began to sink and gradually dissolve into the ocean.

Tang Yi could see the seawater slowly vaporizing; the entire space was becoming increasingly foggy and hazy. The light from the numerous spheres had become blurred. The "Attraction" ability sphere in the center was currently pulling the nearest sphere toward it, seemingly intent on merging with it. The light of the Attraction sphere was a faint, foggy white, while the sphere being pulled was a cyan-green—it was the "Immortality" ability.

"Sigh, what is going on here? Even with my super-comprehension, I can't quite figure it out. Forget it, I should first take stock of my current assets." Tang Yi exited his sea of consciousness and entered his spatial ring to inventory his belongings.

This spatial ring had been a gift from the Real Person Tianji; it was quite spacious, measuring a full thousand miles in size. Inside was the umbrella-shaped flying ship—a priceless treasure, though Tang Yi didn't dare bring it out now. It was off-limits for the time being... it was essentially a long-term fixed deposit. Next to the ship was the mountain of miscellaneous items he had gathered from collecting ferry tickets. There were immortal stones of all grades; he had five top-grade ones—three given by the Duan brothers, one from Real Person Tianji, and one from that eccentric old man. There were over eight hundred medium-grade stones and thirty thousand low-grade ones. Aside from those, there were weapons and equipment, but their quality was quite low; the best was only a third-tier supreme-grade item, the star chart given by Real Person Tianji. There were also jade slips containing common immortal techniques, arts, and miscellaneous notes from the Immortal Realm. However, Tang Yi's own abilities were far more valuable than those items. Having gone through the jade slips, Tang Yi had already begun creating his own immortal techniques.

"If I had more jade slips on immortal arts and techniques, it would be even better; I could create even superior ones. But it doesn't matter. To me, these techniques are like computer operations, and the arts are like applications within the system. As long as I reserve upgrade space and interfaces, any technique or art is a piece of cake." Tang Yi pondered, "Reading through these miscellaneous notes has given me some understanding of various aspects of the Immortal Realm, but it's not comprehensive enough. It seems I need more information. Sigh, the Immortal Realm lacks a 'Newbie's Guide to Immortal Cultivation' like the ones in the World of Cultivation. I should write one when I have time to benefit those who come after me."

Tang Yi stayed in his room for a full day. After careful consideration, he decided on his development path in the Immortal Realm: an equipment-focused route, much like his cultivation path. With his abilities, he had a bright future in artifact refining. In fact, Tang Yi had read a jade slip explaining that because the great war between immortals and demons over eighty million years ago had swept through the entire realm, many advanced methods and techniques for refining, alchemy, and formations had been destroyed and lost. Consequently, in the current Immortal Realm, immortal artifacts above the immortal-grade were extremely rare.

"That's it! My journey to wealth and prosperity begins right here!" Tang Yi shouted as he stepped out of his room the next day, startling a group of waiters.