Reaching for the Mountains

Fifty-five bottles of Grain Avoidance Pills, thirty bottles of All Wonders Pills.

This was Luo Chen's harvest for the month.

He had only refined fifty bottles of Grain Avoidance Pills. The extra five had been part of that Short-Lived Ghost's inheritance.

The thirty bottles of All Wonders Pills, meanwhile, had been an unexpected delight.

This time, he had actually succeeded with three batches, all of them low-grade.

Arranging the pills across the azure stone slab, Luo Chen planted his hands on his hips and looked forward eagerly to today's market day.

Old Taoist Chen arrived later than usual, as always.

The moment he saw Luo Chen, his old eyes were full of resentment.

Fifty Spirit Stones!

He had only just gotten them back last time, and this brat had borrowed them again.

He had already made up his mind. No matter how Luo Chen sweet-talked him today, he would definitely collect that debt!

Definitely!

"Little Luo, your pill refining skill has improved again!"

The corner he had previously ceded to Luo Chen had never been filled before.

Yet today, jade bottles packed the space so densely that there had to be at least fifty or sixty of them, nearly filling it completely.

This showed that Luo Chen's pill refining skill had undoubtedly improved again.

Luo Chen chuckled. "It's all thanks to Fellow Daoist Chen's generous help. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had the capital to refine more pills."

"Hmph, good that you know." Old Taoist Chen snorted, then said sternly, "I lent them to you before because this old man was kind-hearted, but today you must return those Spirit Stones no matter what."

"Of course, of course!"

Luo Chen looked every bit like someone who borrowed and repaid.

Only then did Old Taoist Chen's expression improve somewhat. With a debt still outstanding, he truly could neither eat nor sleep in peace!

Suddenly, he gave a soft cry of surprise.

"Eh!"

"Little Luo, you've reached the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining Stage?"

Luo Chen asked curiously, "How could you tell?"

"This old man has practiced the Spirit Eye Art. Observing qi and examining spiritual power are merely minor tricks." After boasting for a moment, Old Taoist Chen looked puzzled. "Aren't you blessed with Five Spirit Roots? To break through into the Mid Qi Refining Stage at your age is quite something."

The Spirit Eye Art was a low-tier spell. It used spiritual energy to make one's vision clearer while also granting the ability to observe qi and examine spiritual power.

Among low-tier spells, it was known alongside the Fireball Spell, Wind Riding Art, Attraction Art, and Healing Spell as the five essential spells of the Qi Refining Stage.

Unfortunately, aside from the Fireball Spell, Luo Chen knew none of the other four.

The Entangling Spell and Fireball Spell had both been fortuitous encounters obtained by the original owner back then.

The Cleanse Spell was merely one of the most worthless spells. He had traded a bottle of Grain Avoidance Pills for it at the market back then.

Old Taoist Chen looked at Luo Chen with a strange expression.

He had probably never imagined that one day, Luo Chen would become a Mid-Stage Cultivator like himself.

Although there was no earth-shattering difference between Mid-Stage Cultivators and early-stage cultivators, their maximum spiritual power could directly double!

They could also use all sorts of combat methods with ease.

Early-stage cultivators were merely at the very bottom of Great River Market.

Without a useful skill, they could only do odd jobs for others and be ordered around at will.

But the middle stage was different. One could join all kinds of forces and accept all manner of well-paid tasks.

It could be said that only Qi Refining mid-stage cultivators truly possessed the means to survive in Great River Market.

Faced with the old man's doubts, Luo Chen merely smiled and said he had been lucky.

In truth, this had merely been what should have happened.

One Qi Nourishing Pill had provided him with an enormous amount of spiritual energy, directly pushing his progress bar to 96/100.

The remaining spiritual energy he needed had been accumulated over these past twenty-odd days through day-and-night cultivation with the Perfect-Grade Evergreen Art and Soul Calming Incense.

Breaking through to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer had come as naturally as water flowing into a channel.

After helping Old Taoist Chen arrange the Talisman Skins, Luo Chen pointed curiously at the spot where Wang Yuan usually set up his stall.

"Brother Wang hasn't come to set up his stall recently?"

"Don't tell me you don't know about the major event in the Outer City Area lately?" Old Taoist Chen looked at him oddly.

Luo Chen wore a completely bewildered expression.

"That makes sense. You live too far out. If you haven't been paying attention, it really is possible you wouldn't know."

Old Taoist Chen explained it to himself, then said meaningfully, "The Great River Gang and the Connecting Cloud Commerce Alliance have formed an alliance recently."

"Isn't that perfectly normal?"

The Connecting Cloud Commerce Alliance was a renowned loose cultivator force in the Jade Cauldron Domain, with businesses spread throughout marketplaces large and small across the domain.

Its main business was transporting and selling Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures from various places, profiting from the price difference.

Naturally, this involved transportation.

As had been mentioned before, Storage Bags were not something ordinary loose cultivators could possess. And for such large-scale business, a mere handful of Storage Bags would not be much use.

Thus, the Connecting Cloud Commerce Alliance had always enjoyed a good working relationship with the local Great River Gang.

The Great River Gang made its living from the Lancang River around Great River Market.

Since ancient times, both at home and abroad, water transport had always been one of the most profitable businesses, with countless industries tied to it.

It was only natural for the Connecting Cloud Commerce Alliance to ally with the Great River Gang and engage in deeper cooperation.

Old Taoist Chen shrugged. "But it's not normal for the Great River Gang to want a piece of the mountain business."

"The mountain business?" Luo Chen asked in surprise. "Isn't that Mountain Shattering Gang territory?"

"Heh!"

Old Taoist Chen sneered. "What Mountain Shattering Gang territory? The Million Mountains of the Eastern Wasteland belong to demon beasts. Not even the Extreme Eastern Six Great Upper Sects would dare claim it as their business."

"Uh..."

"Put it this way: the Great River Gang has set its sights on several safe routes into the mountains that the Mountain Shattering Gang has explored over the past century."

Old Taoist Chen liked spreading gossip, and he also liked gathering it. After all, such information cost nothing.

Sometimes, when he encountered high-level cultivators from elsewhere, he could even sell those tidbits for a few Spirit Stones.

He had investigated it thoroughly. The Great River Gang was serious this time.

At first, they sent people to explore safe routes into the mountains themselves, suffering heavy losses.

Later, they set their sights on the paths the Mountain Shattering Gang had blazed.

Naturally, the Mountain Shattering Gang was unwilling, and all sorts of conflicts followed.

The Magic Tools Wang Yuan had sold a month ago were spoils seized by Mountain Shattering Gang cultivators after they killed Great River Gang members in the mountains.

Now the conflict had intensified, and their struggle was no longer confined to the mountains.

At night in the Outer City Area, battles between the two gangs broke out from time to time.

As Luo Chen listened to the gossip, his mind began to turn.

"You deliberately mentioned the alliance between the Connecting Cloud Commerce Alliance and the Great River Gang earlier. Could it be that the Great River Gang's actions were instigated by the Connecting Cloud Commerce Alliance?"

Once he voiced that question, Luo Chen's thoughts began racing even faster.

"Right. The various Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures and demon beast flesh obtained by the Mountain Shattering Gang through hunting are all sold to the major forces at high prices. The Connecting Cloud Commerce Alliance isn't a sect force, so naturally they wouldn't be satisfied with those prices."

"By allying with the Great River Gang now, they also want to raise up a rival to compete with the Mountain Shattering Gang for food."

"If they truly succeed, the price they pay to acquire resources in the future will be much lower."

Old Taoist Chen gave a grunt of agreement.

"You're not stupid, brat. That was my thought too. Otherwise, why would the Great River Gang suddenly set its sights on the mountains right around the time of the alliance?"

After agreeing, he let out a deep sigh.

With the two gangs carrying on like this, the already unsafe Outer City Area became even more chaotic.

Some loose cultivators were also mingling among them to fish in troubled waters, leaving those honest and law-abiding loose cultivators to suffer.

"Wang Yuan has become quite famous lately. While guarding the mountain road, he killed five or six Mid-Stage Cultivators and even slew a Qi Refining Eighth Layer cultivator from the Great River Gang."

"It's perfectly normal that he didn't come today."

Old Taoist Chen shook his head. "If this chaos keeps up, I plan to move into the Inner City."

"Little Luo, what about you?"

Luo Chen fell silent.

His home lay in the most remote Southwest Corner, bordering the Howling Moon Mountain Range. It was far from the Ancient Origin Mountain Range and Great Snow Mountain, where the Mountain Shattering Gang mainly operated.

Even if conflict erupted, it probably would not affect his area.

But what if it did!

"I'll wait and see. The rent and deposit required for a place in the Inner City are no small sum."

Living in a marketplace was never easy.

Living in the Inner City was even less something ordinary loose cultivators could afford.

With a sigh, Luo Chen gathered himself and forced out a smile as he welcomed today's customer.

"Fellow Daoist Zeng, good morning. The usual?"

"The usual!"