During the journey to the new residence, which involved a leisurely flight on Manager Chiu's conjured spirit platform that carried them both across the mountain slopes and squares with impressive stability and speed, the lady manager kept up a running commentary that transformed what could have been a simple transit into something resembling an actual guided tour of the region.
She enthusiastically pointed out various mountain landscape features as they passed—that particular formation of rocks that looked like a sleeping dragon and was said to be auspicious for cultivation breakthroughs, the valley where a particular rare spiritual herb grew in abundance during spring months, the waterfall whose mist contained traces of water-element spiritual energy beneficial for certain types of practice. She shared historical anecdotes associated with different locations, explaining how a famous Inner Sect Grand Elder had achieved enlightenment while meditating on that peak three centuries ago, or how a legendary demon beast had once made its lair in that cave system before being driven away by Outer Sect's enforcers.
She discussed the significance of particular spiritual plants growing along the mountain pathways, identifying species by name and explaining their uses in alchemy or formation work. She analyzed the optimal flow patterns of spirit energy through this section of the mountain range, pointing out how the natural geography created channels and eddies in the ambient spiritual power that made certain locations more advantageous for cultivation than others, generally playing the role of an attentive tour guide who was genuinely eager to please an important client and ensure they appreciated the value of what they were purchasing.
Manager Chiu even recounted stories of various eminent and powerful figures who had visited this particular peak over the centuries—Outer Sect Elders of other mountain peaks who came to admire the scenery on Alchemy Peak during seasonal festivals, visiting dignitaries from allied Immortal Sects who'd been housed in these very manors during diplomatic missions, even a few famous Grand Elders who'd stopped here briefly during their wandering years and left behind poems carved into stone monuments that could still be found if one knew where to look.
"That pavilion there, you can just see it through the clouds," she said, pointing to a distant structure perched on a neighboring ridge, "was where the legendary Domaine Master, the Immortal Cloudwhisper, composed his famous 'Ode to Mountain Mists' some two thousand years ago. The words are still preserved there in his own hand, and many Inner Sect disciples make pilgrimages to study his Sword Intent calligraphy and contemplate the Cultivation Insights contained in the verses. Your manor is actually positioned such that you'll have an excellent view of that pavilion from your eastern windows, particularly beautiful during sunrise when the light hits it just so."
Upon actually arriving at the mountain manor itself and crossing the threshold through the impressive gate that marked the boundary of the property, the thoroughness of Mellisy Chiu's service became even more remarkable than the journey had been. The manor itself was genuinely magnificent, far exceeding anything Lordi had imagined he'd be living in even just a few weeks ago when he was sleeping in that cramped courtyard on Ghostshade Peak. The main building was a three-story structure built in traditional architectural style, with sweeping curved rooflines that suggested the wings of birds in flight and walls of some pale stone that seemed to glow faintly with absorbed moonlight even in broad daylight. Multiple smaller buildings surrounded it—what looked like a separate cultivation chamber, a storehouse, servants' quarters if one wanted to hire attendants, even a small garden pavilion positioned to overlook a koi pond that sparkled with water full of red and gold spirit fish. The entire property was enclosed by walls that served both aesthetic and defensive purposes, and everywhere Lordi looked he could see evidence of quality materials and expert construction that spoke of serious investment in creating a dwelling worthy of successful cultivators.
Mellisy proceeded to provide Lordi with an absolutely exhaustive, incredibly detailed explanation of every single formation array protecting the manor house, walking him through the property while pointing out components and control nodes that would have been invisible to untrained eyes. "Here, Mister Payne. You see these jade discs embedded in the manor's base at each corner? Those are the primary anchors for the defensive formation that creates a barrier around the entire property. The formation is a modified Nine Abyss Protection Array, capable of withstanding attacks up to the peak of Ninth Layer without failing, and it draws its power from the natural spirit flow running beneath this cliff face so you'll never need to manually charge it with Spirit $tones."
"To activate it, you simply channel your spirit energy into this control formation here in the main hall—like so—and the barrier will rise within seconds. You can adjust the opacity if you want privacy or leave it transparent if you prefer natural light. It also includes subsidiary functions for temperature regulation, spiritual energy concentration enhancement, and even minor illusion effects if you want to make the manor appear abandoned from outside."
She explained every restriction and ward guarding against intrusion with similar thoroughness—the alarm formations that would alert him to any unauthorized approach within a hundred meters, the suppression arrays built into the walls that would hamper the cultivation and movement abilities of any intruder, the emergency escape formations keyed to his spirit signature that could transport him to several pre-designated safe locations if he ever needed to flee quickly.
She analyzed the subtle considerations of the building's Feng Shui and geomantic positioning that made this particular location especially advantageous for cultivation—how the cliff face protected against northern winds while capturing southern sunshine, how the elevation placed it in an optimal zone of the local spirit flow's energy output, how the orientation of the main building created harmonic resonance with natural energy flows that would subtly enhance any cultivation practice conducted within.
Mellisy continued her remarkably thorough orientation with the kind of patient expertise. She discussed in considerable detail which seasonal variations in spiritual energy flow he could expect throughout the year, walking him through the cyclical patterns that governed cultivation practice in this particular region of the mountain range and explaining how a truly skilled practitioner could adjust their techniques accordingly to extract maximum advantage from these natural fluctuations.
"You'll find that during the spring months, typically from the third lunar month through the fifth, there's a pronounced upswelling of wood-element energy that saturates the entire peak," she explained, gesturing broadly to encompass the surrounding landscape visible through the manor's expansive windows. "This makes spring particularly beneficial for body refinement practices, as the wood element naturally supports growth, regeneration, and physical strengthening. Many disciples time their breakthroughs in body cultivation to coincide with peak spring energy for precisely this reason. Conversely, autumn brings a surge of metal-element energy that sharpens and refines. This period is ideal for work on spiritual sense cultivation, for honing mental clarity, for anything requiring precision and cutting through to essential truths. The metal energy is less forgiving than wood but incredibly potent for the right applications."
She went on to describe the subtler variations as well—how summer's fire energy could accelerate certain alchemical processes but required careful management to avoid overheating reactions, how winter's water energy slowed everything down but allowed for deeper, more stable foundation building that paid dividends later. She even pointed out specific locations on the manor property that were positioned to best capture each seasonal energy type, showing him meditation spots that would be optimal during different times of year based on how the sun's path changed and how local geography channeled ambient spiritual power. It was the kind of information that would have taken Lordi years to discover through personal experimentation, handed to him casually as if it were nothing more than basic customer service.
Spirit $tones, it seemed, didn't just open doors in the demonic sect—they summoned an entire entourage of helpful people who were genuinely eager to ensure those doors opened as smoothly and pleasantly as possible, who would bend over backwards to provide value that justified the premium prices being charged.
Beyond the seasonal cultivation advice, Mellisy shared dozens of other minutiae that demonstrated both genuine expertise accumulated over years of managing premium properties and what appeared to be a sincere desire to ensure customer satisfaction that went beyond merely avoiding complaints. She explained which nearby grand markets in the various commercial districts offered the fairest prices for raw alchemical materials, noting which vendors were honest and which had reputations for adulterating their goods with inferior substitutes. She recommended specific shops for purchasing formation materials, spiritual tools, cultivation resources of various types, providing names and even mentioning that Lordi could use her name when negotiating to potentially receive preferential treatment. She discussed which restaurants in the inner sect commercial district served the best spirit beast cuisine—apparently there was a place called the Golden Phoenix Pavilion that specialized in rare fire-attribute beast meat prepared by a chef who'd trained under the Eastern Divine Cuisine Fraction of Inner Sect, and another establishment called Moonlit Waters that focused on aquatic spirit beasts and had supposedly perfected a method of preparing Deep Sea Leviathan that preserved all the spiritual potency while eliminating the toxic elements. She even mentioned which tea houses were popular gathering spots for different factions, which bath houses offered the most restorative spiritual water treatments, which tailors could craft robes with subtle defensive formations woven directly into the fabric.
By the time Mellisy finally finished her exhaustive orientation, having covered what felt like every conceivable aspect of life as a resident of this premium manor property, and performed a graceful bow to signal she was taking her leave, assuring Lordi one final time that he should feel absolutely no hesitation about contacting her personally if any questions or issues whatsoever arose with the property or if he needed any additional assistance settling into his new home, Lordi felt his head spinning slightly with the sheer volume of information that had been compressed into the last hour or so. It was simultaneously helpful and overwhelming—like drinking from a fire hose when you'd only asked for a cup of water.
As their tour concluded and the administrative details were nearly wrapped up, with Mellisy already beginning to gather the various documents and jade slips she'd brought for reference, she paused as if suddenly remembering one additional detail that deserved mention. "Oh, Mister Payne, before I depart there's one more service I should inform you about," she said, turning back to face him with that same professional smile firmly in place. "The Hall of General Affairs provides complimentary household staff to all esteemed guests who select superior-grade accommodations like this one—it's part of our standard package for premium properties, included in your rental fee. We'll assign two menial labor disciples as servants to your residence completely for free as a gesture of our gratitude for your patronage. These individuals will handle all the tedious domestic tasks—cooking, cleaning, general maintenance, laundry, whatever household chores you'd prefer not to waste your valuable cultivation time on. After all, someone of your status shouldn't be bothering with such mundane matters when you could be focusing on advancement."
She gestured casually as if this were the most natural thing in the world, just another amenity like the defensive formations or the temperature control arrays. "We maintain quite a diverse selection in terms of demographics and capabilities: male servants, female servants, young and energetic types or older individuals with more experience and discretion, various temperaments and specialized skill sets. Some are trained in basic alchemy assistance, others in formation maintenance, some are simply good at remaining invisible and unobtrusive while ensuring everything runs smoothly. And if you happen to have interest in more exotic options—" here her tone shifted slightly, taking on a carefully neutral quality that somehow managed to imply entire worlds of possibility without stating anything explicitly, "—perhaps servants from demi-human races with unique capabilities, or if you have any particular, shall we say, specialized preferences or requirements that might be considered somewhat unusual or unconventional by normal standards, well, we can absolutely accommodate those requests as well. It would just require a modest supplementary payment beyond the base package to arrange for something custom-tailored to your specific desires, but we pride ourselves on our ability to satisfy even the most unique requests our valued clients might have."
"No! Oh, I mean no thanks. Thank you! That's very kind of you to offer, truly, but it won't be necessary at all!" The rejection emerged from Lordi's mouth perhaps more vehemently than was strictly warranted by the situation, his voice sharp with an instinctive rejection. He could see her eyebrows rise fractionally at his tone, a flicker of surprise crossing her features before her professional mask reasserted itself, but Lordi couldn't bring himself to care about seeming rude or ungrateful in this particular moment.
The fundamental reality that Lordi had learned through bitter, painful, nearly-fatal experience was that anything described as being "for Free" or offered as "Gratitude" had developed an incredibly deep and visceral association with lethal disaster in his mind.
Every single time the AwfulOS System had offered him something supposedly "FREE", it had inevitably resulted in catastrophic complications that had very nearly killed him.
So when Mellisy casually offered to provide him with servants for "FREE" as an expression of "GRATITUDE," every alarm bell in Lordi's mind started clanging simultaneously at maximum volume.
Lordi quickly manufactured some vague excuse about preferring complete privacy for his alchemical training, claiming that having other people present in his residence would be too distracting when he was working with volatile materials and complex formations that required total concentration.
Mellisy accepted it with a gracious nod that suggested she'd heard similar explanations before from other clients. "Of course, Mister Payne, I completely understand. Many of our serious alchemist residents prefer to work in solitude. The offer remains open should you change your mind in the future—simply contact my office and we can arrange staff within a day or two."
Only after the gate closed behind his departed escort with a solid thunk that echoed in the sudden silence, did Lordi allow himself to truly relax. He stood in the main hall of his new manor for a long moment, just breathing.
When he allowed himself to actually think about it clearly, Lordi realized this represented a genuine milestone in his lone journey through this devil's domain that called itself a cultivation world.
Although he'd been a nominal Outer Sect member of the Abyss Pit Sect for some time now, this was actually the first occasion on which he possessed a living space that truly belonged to him in any meaningful sense, that he could actually call his own without qualification or asterisk.
According to the property documents and the manager Chiu's introduction, this particular manor house complex bore the rather elegant name "Lantern Cliff Residence." Mellisy had mentioned that as the official leaseholder, Lordi possessed the authority to rename the property to anything he preferred if the current name didn't suit his taste. However, Lordi found himself completely indifferent to such superficial matters as naming. He had far more practical concerns occupying his attention. He decided he would simply continue using the existing designation going forward.
The total area encompassed by the manor house property measured approximately ten-plus acres when he mentally calculated the boundaries, which represented genuinely spacious accommodations by Outer Sect standards.
The complex contained far more than just basic living quarters. In addition to a dedicated quiet chamber specifically designed and optimized for cultivation practice and breakthrough attempts—properly sound-insulated and equipped with spirit flow gathering formations—the property included a formal reception hall suitable for entertaining guests and conducting business with appropriate dignity.
There was an elegant garden space designed for peaceful contemplation and the refinement of one's temperament through communion with natural beauty.
Beyond these expected features, the property also boasted a small-scale martial arts training ground specifically designated for practicing combat techniques and testing out destructive spells in a controlled environment. The ground surface and all four surrounding walls of this practice area were heavily reinforced with complex runic inscriptions, creating protective barriers capable of withstanding impacts from attacks at or below the Early Phase of Foundation Stage strength without sustaining damage. This ensured that even if training exercises went wrong or techniques misfired, the property itself wouldn't be destroyed by accidents.
Additional specialized facilities included a proper beast pen designed for housing and raising demon monster battle pets or spirit creatures, complete with appropriate confinement formations and feeding mechanisms.
There was a medicinal herb garden plot specifically optimized for cultivating elixir plants. The property featured a private alchemy lab fully equipped for elixir refinement, a forge workshop suitable for artifact crafting and tool creation, and even a dedicated Dao Fulu inscription room with proper preparation surfaces and storage for spirit inks and human skins as Fulu paper.
Beside the main quiet chamber, the previous owner seemed to have even taken advantage of an underground spring to construct an open-air bathing pool, creating a luxurious amenity designed for relaxation and recuperation during breaks between intensive cultivation sessions. The natural spirit energy infused in the spring water would provide passive benefits even during leisure time.
Furthermore, in the depths of the garden area, tucked away with appropriate discretion, there stood more than a dozen additional small buildings—servant quarters that could accommodate household staff, or alternately could be repurposed as residences for concubines or family members if the occupant chose to maintain such arrangements.
Lordi wandered through his new property at a leisurely pace, taking time to properly examine each section and familiarize himself with all the various facilities and features. The more he explored, the more satisfied he became with his choice.
After conducting a complete circuit of the entire property and carefully checking for any hidden monitoring formations, trap mechanisms, or other unpleasant surprises that might have been left behind by previous occupants or installed by sect officials—and finding nothing concerning after his thorough inspection—Lordi finally allowed himself to fully relax.
Confident that his new residence was secure and private, he proceeded directly to the private alchemy lab and sealed the door behind him. It was time to begin making productive use of all these premium facilities he'd just paid for.