Chapter 144 - 140: Yunyang Marketplace
The three of them set out before dawn.
With a storage pouch hanging from his waist, Old Sun walked at the rear while the cultivator from the Wang family led the way.
His name was Wang Lu, a Qi Refining Sixth Level cultivator in his early thirties. With an ordinary face and a taciturn nature, he walked at a brisk pace.
Li Yuan followed in the middle.
On the way, Wang Lu explained the mission as they traveled.
"Once we arrive at Yunyang Marketplace, there are three tasks."
He held up three fingers without turning his head.
"First, you and Old Sun are responsible for gathering intelligence. See if anyone has recently sought out Pill Refiner He to have a Foundation Establishment Pill refined, or if any unfamiliar cultivators are active in the marketplace who might be connected to that group of bandit cultivators."
A second finger went up.
"Second, you will create Spirit-Refining Talismans for Pill Refiner He. This is one of the conditions of the Wang family’s cooperation with him. He wants the talismans, so we provide them. The Wang family will supply the materials, and the finished Spirit-Refining Talismans go directly to him."
He lowered his hand.
"Third, I’ll handle intelligence on other fronts. You don’t need to worry about it. If anything comes up, I’ll find you."
Li Yuan grunted in acknowledgment.
Old Sun chimed in from the back.
"So I’m just supposed to chat up Pill Refiner He and fish for information?"
Wang Lu didn’t turn back.
"More or less. You two are acquainted, so it’ll be easier for you to talk."
"Just don’t overdo it."
Li Yuan heard Old Sun mutter something, but it was too quiet for him to make out.
The three traveled north along a road wider than the one outside Qinghe Marketplace.
The road’s surface was packed hard, wide enough for three flatbed carts to travel side-by-side.
There were more than twice as many pedestrians on the road as near Qinghe Marketplace. A scattered mix of cultivators and mortals walked about—some riding short-legged beasts, others carrying large and small bundles, and a few merchants pushing flatbed carts.
They walked for a full day.
In the afternoon of the next day, a gray silhouette appeared on the horizon ahead.
It wasn’t a fence; it was a city wall.
The grayish-brown stone wall stood thirty or forty feet tall, stretching out so far that neither end was visible. Atop the wall, guards stood watch at regular intervals—cultivators whose auras were mostly in the mid-to-late stages of Qi Refining.
The city gate consisted of two massive ironwood doors, with an opening wide enough for six or seven people to walk abreast. A long line had formed at the entrance, waiting to get into the city.
Yunyang Marketplace.
It was less a marketplace and more a city.
Its scale was more than ten times that of Qinghe Marketplace. The length of a single wall was equivalent to the entire perimeter of Qinghe Marketplace. Inside, one could vaguely make out layers of rooftops and pavilions, their upturned eaves glinting in the sunlight.
The three of them lined up to enter the city.
Someone at the gate was collecting an entry fee. Two Spirit Stones per person, counted by head, regardless of cultivation level.
Wang Lu took out six Spirit Stones from his storage pouch and paid for all three of them.
Once inside the gate, the city was even larger than it had appeared from the outside.
The main street was extremely wide, nearly three times the width of East Street in Qinghe Marketplace. It was paved with polished bluestone slabs that shone brightly. Buildings lined both sides in dense rows, most of them proper shops with neat storefronts and tidily written signs hanging above the doors.
The cultivators walking the streets were generally a level higher in cultivation than those in Qinghe Marketplace. Mid-to-late stage Qi Refining cultivators were everywhere.
Li Yuan even felt an extremely oppressive aura once, which he guessed belonged to a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
Something almost impossible to encounter in Qinghe Marketplace was just a fleeting ripple on the streets here.
Wang Lu had clearly been here more than once. He walked without pause, leading the other two across the main street, into a side alley, and after two more turns, stopped before a three-story inn.
The inn’s shopkeeper was a middle-aged man at the Qi Refining Fifth Level. Seeing Wang Lu produce a Token, he immediately and attentively came forward to greet them.
"Three rooms." Wang Lu slapped the Spirit Stones down on the counter.
The Shopkeeper registered them efficiently and handed over three keys.
The three went to their respective rooms upstairs to drop off their things. The rooms were small but clean, a significant improvement over their lodgings at the mine and the herb garden.
After they had put their things away, Wang Lu was waiting in the corridor.
"First, we’re going to meet someone."
He gestured toward Li Yuan with his chin.
"Old Sun, you wait at the inn. We’ll talk after we’ve finished our meeting."
Old Sun waved his hand and turned back into his room.
Wang Lu led Li Yuan out of the inn. They walked a short distance down the side alley and turned onto another street. This one was narrower than the main street, but the shops on either side were clearly more high-end, with storefronts of polished bluestone and signs carved with various hall names.
At the end of the street was a standalone residence with its own courtyard. The courtyard wall wasn’t high, and there was no sign hanging over the door, only an inconspicuous bronze plaque nailed to it, engraved with the character ’He’.
There was no attendant at the door, which was half-open.
Wang Lu stepped forward and knocked twice on the doorframe.
"Come in."
A deep voice called from within.
The two of them pushed the door open and went inside.
The courtyard wasn’t large. In the center stood a half-person-high medicinal furnace, its lid sealed and unlit. In a corner of the yard were several crates of medicinal herbs, stacked neatly. Against a wall stood a stone table and two stone stools.
A man was sitting behind the stone table.
He appeared to be in his early fifties, tall and solidly built, a good half a head taller than Li Yuan. He had a square face, a broad jaw, and a short, graying beard. His hands rested on the tabletop; his fingers were long, but the knuckles were thick, and his nails were neatly trimmed.
’A Foundation Establishment Cultivator.’
’His aura is steady and heavy, like an anvil resting on a tabletop—quiet, but with immense weight.’
The moment Li Yuan stepped into the courtyard, he felt it. The Spiritual Qi in the entire yard seemed to be suppressed by the man’s presence, making it feel thinner than outside.
’Spiritual pressure.’
’So this is the spiritual pressure of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. It’s not something he’s actively releasing; it’s an oppressive feeling that comes from his very existence.’
Pill Refiner He glanced up at Wang Lu, then at Li Yuan.
"You brought him?"
Wang Lu took the Spirit-Refining Talisman he had previously collected from his sleeve and placed it on the stone table.
"This is the sample."
Pill Refiner He picked it up and flipped it over to examine the arrangement of the Spirit Patterns on the front. He pressed his finger against the Talisman Core, then turned it over to look at the back.
"It’s passable. The craftsmanship itself is decent, but I doubt he’s had much practice with this particular one."
"But it’s good enough."
His tone was flat, neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.
He placed the Spirit-Refining Talisman back on the table, his gaze shifting to Li Yuan.
"Thirty sheets in half a month. Can you do it?"
"I can."
Pill Refiner He nodded. Without any pleasantries, he turned his gaze to Wang Lu and drank from the teacup on the stone table.
"If there’s nothing else, that’s all for now. Just bring the items over directly once they’re finished."
The two bid their farewells and left the courtyard.
"We’ll provide the materials for the Spirit-Refining Talismans."
He paused and glanced at Li Yuan again.
"The finished Spirit-Refining Talismans go directly to Senior He, and you’ll earn contribution points for the Talisman Hall."
Li Yuan grunted in acknowledgment.
’There was no mention of payment. But it went without saying. The Wang family was providing the materials for the Spirit-Refining Talismans, and the finished products went to Pill Refiner He. This was the condition of their cooperation. The reward from Pill Refiner He was for the Wang family.’
After returning to the inn, Wang Lu gathered the three of them and reiterated the mission.
"You and Old Sun are responsible for finding news about the bandit cultivators. Wander around the marketplace, listen to see if any out-of-town cultivators are looking for Pill Refiner He or other Pill Refiners to perform alchemy."
He glanced at Li Yuan and Old Sun.
"I’m going to take care of other matters, so I won’t be operating with you. If you have any news, we’ll meet back at the inn."
With that, Wang Lu left.
Old Sun came out of his room, clapping his hands together.
"Come on, let’s go for a walk."
Li Yuan followed Old Sun out of the inn, down the side alley, and onto the main street.
Li Yuan got a more detailed look at the main street of Yunyang Marketplace than when he had first entered the city.
The street was extremely wide, paved with flat bluestone slabs, and flanked by shopfronts packed one after another. Pill Shops, Magical Artifact Shops, Spirit Grass Shops, ore shops, Talisman shops, and Cultivation Technique shops—the variety was complete. The characters on the signs were mostly carved rather than handwritten, giving them a uniform look.
Most were proper shops, with door panels, counters, and clerks.
The biggest difference from Qinghe Marketplace was the scarcity of Loose Cultivator stalls.
On the entire main street, one could hardly see any Loose Cultivators squatting by the roadside with their wares spread on a cloth. Occasionally, at a street corner or alley entrance, you might see a cluster of three or five stalls, but they were all confined to designated areas, separated by stone railings and clearly distinct from the shop areas.
The total number of Loose Cultivator stalls was probably less than half of what one would find in Qinghe Marketplace.
Old Sun muttered as they walked.
"Yunyang Marketplace is the territory of the Primordial Yang Sect, so the rules are stricter here. If you want to set up a stall, you have to register and pay a fee first. The locations are assigned, too; you can’t just set up anywhere. That’s why there are so few Loose Cultivator stalls, and most business goes through the shops."
Li Yuan didn’t reply, his gaze sweeping over the shops on both sides.
The goods in the shops were indeed a cut above those in Qinghe Marketplace. Through the doors and windows, he could see various pill bottles, Magical Artifacts, Spirit Grass, and ores displayed on the counters. Their quality and auras were much better than what was commonly seen in Qinghe Marketplace.
But, similar to Qinghe Marketplace, all the items in the shops were sealed.
Not sealed by being covered with a cloth, but by a thin barrier of Spiritual Power that shielded the counters. The items were displayed behind this barrier, visible but untouchable. If you wanted to examine an item, you had to ask a clerk, who would then remove the barrier and take the item out for you.
Li Yuan passed two shops, his gaze sweeping over the items inside through the barriers.
Pill bottles were lined up in rows, with labels on them indicating their names and prices. Magical Artifacts hung on racks, each with a small wooden plaque in front of it providing a description.
All of it behind the barriers.
He didn’t go inside and ask the clerks to take out items one by one for him to touch. A single shop had dozens of items at least, and asking a clerk to take each one out for inspection before putting it back would draw too much attention.
Li Yuan pulled his gaze away from the shops and continued down the street.
The Loose Cultivator stalls, on the other hand, had no barriers. The goods were laid out directly on cloths, but the stalls were too few, the variety was limited, and most of the items were miscellaneous goods of low to medium grade.
Li Yuan squatted down in front of a few Loose Cultivator stalls to take a look, his fingers brushing against several items.
No reaction.
He continued on.
After walking the entire length of the main street, Li Yuan had a general assessment of the situation in Yunyang Marketplace.
’Lots of goods, high quality, and a massive scale. But it’s completely different from Qinghe Marketplace, where I could casually touch things at the stalls. Here, most items are locked behind the shops’ barriers. If I want to check them one by one for entries, I’ll have to find another way.’
Old Sun walked beside him, lost in his own world, occasionally stopping to exchange a few words with a Loose Cultivator on the roadside, asking about this and that.
The sun was already sinking in the west. The two of them turned off the main street back into a side alley and headed toward the inn.