Chapter 163: Chronicles of the New Capital (Part Two)

Ji Mo cast a faint glance at the woman and then looked away. Her gaze fell upon the shopkeeper, quietly waiting for his verdict. The shopkeeper looked at the newly arrived female cultivator, then glanced back at the expressionless Ji Mo, and gave a light cough. "Ahem, Princess Chixia, you know the rules of this pavilion. Unless the customer agrees, items that have already been sold cannot be transferred."

"I like this magic garment. How dare you refuse?" Princess Chixia was well aware of the Spirit Weapon Pavilion's rules and could not find fault with the shopkeeper, but that did not mean she would let Ji Mo off the hook. No sooner had the shopkeeper finished speaking than Princess Chixia let out a cold snort, stepped right in front of Ji Mo, fixed her gaze on her like a sword, and said word for word.

Ji Mo simply treated her as if she were thin air. Taking half a step sideways, she walked past her, approached the shopkeeper, and said, "Shopkeeper, please give me the garment."

The Spirit Weapon Pavilion was a grand establishment with vast resources. Normally, a customer like Ji Mo would not warrant the personal attention of the shopkeeper. However, there were quite a few patrons in the shop today. When Ji Mo entered, all the assistants were busy attending to others. Seeing that no one was free and reluctant to leave the customer hanging, the shopkeeper had stepped forward himself. Fortunately, Ji Mo was extraordinarily generous, purchasing a fifth-tier spirit weapon and a startlingly valuable fifth-tier magic garment right off the bat, making it well worth the shopkeeper's personal attendance.

Little did he expect that just as the transaction was about to be completed, Princess Chixia would barge in. If it were a local customer, upon seeing Princess Chixia vying for the same item, most would have yielded to her. The rule of the Spirit Weapon Pavilion was never to disregard the interests of its customers; once an item was purchased by a prior customer, it would never be sold to a newcomer for profit without the original buyer's explicit consent.

While the Spirit Weapon Pavilion would never act against a customer's interests, it equally refused to meddle in disputes between customers. If the patrons harbored misgivings toward one another and chose to willingly cede the item, the pavilion naturally had no say in the matter. Yet Ji Mo was clearly not the type to meekly hand things over. After casting a single glance at her, the shopkeeper said nothing more, neatly packed the magic garment, and handed it to Ji Mo.

"Let's go," Ji Mo said, taking the garment and turning her head to Qiuli and Lan Mo before spinning around to leave the Spirit Weapon Pavilion. The other patrons in the shop were astonished to see someone dare to completely disregard Princess Chixia, while secretly and helplessly mourning for the three women in their hearts.

With a dark expression, Princess Chixia watched the backs of the three women. Gnashing her teeth, she instructed the guards beside her, "Follow them!" Had the Spirit Weapon Pavilion not forbidden violence on its premises, she would have taken the lives of Ji Mo and her companions on the spot.

Once outside the Spirit Weapon Pavilion, Ji Mo's gaze fell upon Lan Mo. "Lan Mo, what are the best dining establishments in Xinyue City? Hurry up and take me to sample them." Su Ting had been gone for several years now, and Lan Mo had not been by her side during that time either. She had not tasted fine cuisine in ages, and the little gluttons in her stomach were already kicking up a fuss.

"When it comes to culinary arts, the city's most renowned establishment is undoubtedly the Star-Gathering Moon-Simmering House. Its head chef is hailed as the number one spirit chef in Lanfeng. We can go and try their dishes," Lan Mo replied, her eyes flashing slightly.

"The Star-Gathering Moon-Simmering House? What an outrageously arrogant name—as if they could even simmer the bright moon in the sky! Hehe, I wonder how this chief spirit chef's culinary skills compare to my Senior Brother's. Just for the sake of this name alone, we ought to go take a look," Ji Mo said with a bright gleam in her eyes, clapping her hands in delight. She was not the only one rejoicing; Little Gold was equally excited. That fellow had always been a massive foodie, and a thoroughly picky one at that.

Situated in the most prosperous district of Xinyue City, the Star-Gathering Moon-Simmering House was a five-story restaurant. When Ji Mo and Lan Mo arrived before its entrance, they paused to look it over. The establishment was exquisitely decorated; even the front doors and the welcoming steps exuded an understated luxury beneath their archaic and grand facade. The greeters at the door were two exceptionally beautiful female cultivators at the advanced Core Formation stage. Judging solely by their demeanor and attire, it was clear that those who frequented this place were either immensely wealthy or of high nobility.

Do not assume that one's status in the cultivation world cannot be discerned by external appearance. Compared to the mortal realm, the class distinctions within the cultivation world are far more pronounced. Some garments and accessories are crafted from rare raw materials by Grand Array Masters specializing in such techniques. Unlike the mortal realm, certain magical garments and adornments in the cultivation world truly require individuals of immense strength and deep pockets to afford and wear.

The yellow robe Ji Mo wore was indeed a magic garment, but it appeared entirely unremarkable, and ordinary people could not discern anything special about it. The blue robe Lan Mo wore was similarly ordinary. She was an eighth-tier Core-Refining body cultivator; while an eighth-tier body cultivator was a formidable existence in remote regions, in Xinyue City, it amounted to very little. Outwardly, Ji Mo appeared to be a spirit cultivator at the intermediate Core Formation stage. Because of her Heavenly Fiend Body-Refining Art, anyone who had not engaged her in combat could not possibly perceive her true body-refining cultivation level.

As for Qiuli, the magic garment Ji Mo had just bought for her had not yet been put on, and since she was merely a Qi Refiner, she was entirely overlooked. In short, these three female cultivators, accompanied by an inconspicuous golden lightning beast, formed the most mundane combination imaginable. In Xinyue City, one could see eight thousand such people a day without even witnessing ten thousand. The fact that the three of them would actually enter the Star-Gathering Moon-Simmering House came as quite a surprise to onlookers.

Fortunately, since the Star-Gathering Moon-Simmering House was hailed as the premier dining establishment in the new capital, the service staff possessed exceptional standards and would not look down on people just because Ji Mo and her companions were plainly dressed and possessed low cultivation levels. Even if the greeters inwardly held little regard for the group before them, their faces showed no trace of it, and they courteously ushered the three into the main hall.

The Star-Gathering Moon-Simmering House comprised five floors. The first and second floors were open dining halls, while the third through fifth floors consisted of private VIP rooms. Only guests on the fifth floor were privileged enough to have the renowned chief spirit chef personally cook for them. Ji Mo originally intended to find a seat in the ground-floor hall, but upon listening to the service staff rattle off the menu items prepared by the famous Spirit Chef Lan, the attendant immediately shook his head and politely recited the establishment's rules to them.

"Are there still vacant VIP rooms on the fifth floor?" Ji Mo asked, unwilling to give up.

"Apologies, the VIP rooms on the fifth floor of this establishment are reserved exclusively for VIP clients holding Purple Gold Cards!" The attendant responsible for receiving them was a handsome male cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage. After hearing Ji Mo's question, he cast a rather astonished look her way. He thought to himself: *Where on earth did these bumpkins come from? She is certainly very beautiful, but hopelessly ignorant not to even know the basic rules of the Star-Gathering Moon-Simmering House.* Yet his smile remained unblemished as he gave a most courteous reply.

"Hmph, a bunch of bumpkins like you actually want to enter the VIP rooms of the Star-Gathering Moon-Simmering House? What a pipe dream!" Just as the attendant finished speaking, a mocking female voice rang out.

Truly, enemies often cross paths. The woman who suddenly interjected was none other than Princess Chixia, who had clashed with Ji Mo and the others at the Spirit Weapon Pavilion not long before. Seeing Ji Mo leave the pavilion, she had instructed her guards to tail them. Initially intending to dispatch them halfway, upon learning that they had come to the Star-Gathering Moon-Simmering House, she changed her mind and followed them inside instead.

"It's you again, ugly hag. Who are you calling a bumpkin?" Ji Mo was somewhat startled by this abruptly intruding voice and was about to speak, but her resident sharp-tongued troublemaker, Little Gold, was a step faster. Little Gold widened his eyes and shot back with lethal venom.