Cultivator's Transaction

Afraid of missing any news and arousing suspicion, Chu Liang didn't bother with Yun Chaoxian anymore. He closed the door and took out the Soul Restraining Order to check it.

His divine sense entered the soul domain space, and he saw the golden messages within.

[Fifty-Nine]: "I got an Ancient Ape Essence. I can't use it myself and want to exchange it for other treasures. Does anyone want it?"

Oh?

So this group also served as a marketplace.

Immediately following was Sha's comment.

[Sha]: "Ancient Ape Essence is quite rare and can only be produced when the right time, place, and conditions align. If consumed by combat-type Yin souls or ghosts, it can significantly boost their fighting power. How many years old is your essence?"

[Fifty-Nine]: "Around three hundred years."

[Sha]: "That's still quite valuable. Let's see if the other two need it. If not, I can help you forward it to other soul domain spaces to inquire."

[Fifty-Nine]: "Thank you, Venerable Sha!"

His explanation was quite thoughtful, making Chu Liang instantly understand the item's purpose.

Among ghosts, there were unpredictable types like Painted Skin Demons and Soul Harvesters, as well as direct combat types like Sword-Wielding Ghosts and Rakshasa Ghosts. This Ancient Ape Essence might be like a Fierce Tiger Origin Nurturing Pill for ghosts, enhancing their strength.

Regardless of what it was, if it was for ghosts, he definitely couldn't use it.

But now that he was disguised as "Fifty-Eight," he was a bit unsure... could he use it or not?

He could only remain silent for now.

Not long after, another reply appeared.

[Sixty]: "I want it. What do you want to exchange for it?"

[Fifty-Nine]: "I haven't decided yet. As long as the value matches and it's useful to me, that's fine."

[Sixty]: "Then how about I exchange two Myriad Azure Leaves with you?"

[Sha]: "Myriad Azure Leaves can store many ghosts, which is much more convenient than the bottle technique we usually use. Moreover, ghosts residing within them can nourish themselves and increase their cultivation, offering many benefits. Two Myriad Azure Leaves are indeed enough to exchange for your Ancient Ape Essence."

[Fifty-Nine]: "Since Venerable Sha says so, then of course that's fine. Where are you now? Is there a Taotie City nearby?"

[Sixty]: "Yes, South Pass City Taotie City."

[Fifty-Nine]: "Then you send the Myriad Azure Leaves to Hundred Flowers City Taotie City, and I'll send the Ancient Ape Essence to South Pass City from here."

[Sixty]: "Okay."

With just a few words, a deal was happily struck.

At this point, Chu Liang made his appearance.

[Fifty-Eight]: "Ah, it's a pity he got there first."

[Fifty-Nine]: "Haha, senior, maybe next time."

[Fifty-Eight]: "Okay."

He simply popped in for a moment, then went offline again, his mission accomplished.

It was just a simple treasure transaction, so there wasn't much interaction. However, Chu Liang also analyzed some special information from it.

First, the Seventy-Two Paths Soul Harvesters were quite loosely connected.

Perhaps it was a common problem among demonic sects like the Nether King Sect, where infighting among fellow disciples was particularly severe. This led to them being wary of each other, even within the same sect.

Doing business through the Taotie Pavilion instead of face-to-face indicated that they didn't trust each other, and might not have even met.

This was, of course, good news for Chu Liang, who was lurking among them.

Furthermore, their method of exchange also gave Chu Liang some inspiration.

In the future, if the White Pagoda gave him rewards he didn't particularly like, he could also trade them this way for items he needed.

There was a small market on Shu Mountain where disciples could set up stalls, but he heard it was mostly small-scale trading with few genuine treasures. Chu Liang hadn't participated yet, but he could check it out next time.

As for outside Shu Mountain, it was the Taotie Pavilion they just mentioned.

All Taotie Pavilions across the world belonged to Taotie City in the Northern Region, one of the Ten Earths sects.

A thousand years ago, Taotie City was just an unremarkable third-rate immortal sect, historically built as a city gate to resist the demon race. After the demon race retreated, it gradually declined.

The city was located in the desolate northern land, with no special features other than being large in area.

Just as the sect was gradually declining, the newly appointed city lord of that generation had a sudden idea.

Since the area was large, why not leverage that advantage? He began sending out invitations to attract cultivators from all walks of life to Taotie City... to do business.

That's right, it was about attracting investment.

Attracting people to Taotie City for transactions.

Due to the special nature of cultivators, most transactions to this day were still conducted through bartering.

They exchanged what they needed for what they had; money was usually useless.

But the biggest problem with bartering was the information gap.

Perhaps what Zhang San in the Southern Region needed was in Li Si's hands in the Northern Region, and what Li Si in the Northern Region needed was in Wang Wu's hands in the Eastern Region, but they couldn't communicate effectively with each other and couldn't get what they needed.

Another important reason for this information gap was that many cultivators dared not reveal their treasures.

An innocent man is guilty because of his treasure.

If a person flaunted their treasures and what they wanted to exchange for them to the whole world, what they would likely attract wouldn't be businessmen, but bandits.

In short, under various limiting factors, transactions among cultivators were quite inconvenient at that time.

The emergence of Taotie City provided such a venue, allowing cultivators from all over the world to list what they had and what they needed in the city, making it clear at a glance, convenient and fast.

With the reputation of Taotie City as a guarantee, the information of all traders was strictly confidential. Both parties would hand over the items for exchange to Taotie City, and after Taotie City confirmed everything was correct, they would deliver them to both parties.

The entire process was simple and safe. Although Taotie City charged high handling fees, there was no longer any need to worry about being ripped off. Most cultivators paid this fee willingly.

In fact, mainstream cultivators like Chu Liang, who came from the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten, couldn't fully appreciate this need.

Because large sects had abundant resources and a large number of people, a circulation had already formed within the immortal sect. Just like the Sword Exchange Pavilion and the Four Halls in Shu Mountain, they served the function of circulating these resources.

Moreover, being backed by a major sect, there's no need to worry about being cheated even when trading with outsiders.

However, for the vast number of non-mainstream cultivators, these were painful experiences, and the appearance of Taotie City was a godsend.

Of course, building such a reputation didn't happen overnight.

It took several generations of people in Taotie City, spending hundreds of years, to finally become a recognized trading place for cultivators across the land, joining the ranks of the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten.

In recent years, Taotie City has also expanded its business beyond its own sect's mountain gate.

This involves opening Taotie Pavilions in major cities.

Both parties can trade anonymously at any location, with Taotie Pavilion handling the delivery, completely free of worries.

While conducting these businesses, Taotie City did not forget its own heritage. They used the large amount of money earned to arm the sect, and their disciples also became stronger and stronger.

Today's Taotie City disciples are famously known for their reliance on items.

They are simply rich.

While other immortal sects were still competing in hard power and techniques, Taotie City built its own moat by establishing credibility as a platform, doing logistics, and then using early returns to increase its strength.

In Chu Liang's view, the entire rise of Taotie City could only be described as professional.

The night passed without incident. Early the next morning, after a simple wash-up, Chu Liang went next door to find Yun Chaoxian.

He heard grunts and shouts from inside. The fellow was bare-chested, practicing martial arts in the room.

Chu Liang couldn't help but mutter to himself, Do you muscular men just not like wearing clothes?

After this fellow's clothes exploded in Hidden Forest Mountain yesterday, he came all the way to Kaoshan City bare-chested. With his upper body exposed and carrying a weapon, he was almost stopped by the city guards. He had to find a place to buy clothes first, wrap up his halberd, and only then was he able to enter the city gate.

"Brother Chu, you're up." Seeing Chu Liang enter, Yun Chaoxian stopped his movements and said with a smile, "I was just about to call you. I've already tracked the location of the Heavenly Sound Wave. Let's go and kill that fellow now!"

"Okay." Chu Liang smiled, then paused, and suddenly asked, "Brother Yun, do you have any simple and easy-to-learn martial arts techniques? Can you teach me a couple of moves?"

With the sudden increase of ten tigers' strength, having only physical power felt somewhat wasted. If he could learn a couple of quick martial arts skills from Yun Chaoxian, it would be even better.

If it were high-level cultivation methods or secret manuals, he definitely wouldn't ask casually. But for simple moves for beginners, Yun Chaoxian probably wouldn't mind teaching him a couple.

"Huh?" Yun Chaoxian was also a bit curious. "Brother Chu, why do you suddenly want to learn martial arts?"

"Because... yesterday in Hidden Forest Mountain, I saw your heroic and invincible demeanor, and I greatly admired it. It's hard not to have a desire to learn," Chu Liang replied sincerely.

"Hehehe..." Hearing this, Yun Chaoxian immediately couldn't hide his smile and waved his hand repeatedly, saying, "You flatter me, you flatter me. Since you haven't practiced martial arts before, it's easy to teach you a couple of introductory moves. What weapon do you usually find most handy?"

Chu Liang answered without hesitation, "A brick."

Yun Chaoxian: "?"

I don't know why, but writing this book every day makes me very nervous. Maybe it's because I have expectations for the results. When I first started writing the previous book, I didn't expect any results every day, I just wrote whatever came to mind, and I was in a much better mood then.

I actually planned to make some changes with this book. While the overall style won't change too much, it will still be a bit different from the previous book. When I started writing, I was very worried that old readers would find it less interesting than the previous book. Fortunately, not many people have said that. As of today, only a few comments have mentioned it, which is better than I expected.

The leveling-up genre, the invincible genre, long-term and short-term plots, and the use of memes are all being toned down. Anyway, the reading experience will definitely be different, but these are all efforts I'm trying to make for better results. I don't know if I'll succeed, but I have to try.

If you feel it's not as good as the previous book, there's actually no need to compare it to the beginning of the invincible genre. Just treat it as a normal story. If you can read it easily and enjoyably, then just keep reading.

The overall atmosphere is still about spreading joy and love. This definitely won't change.