After his secluded cultivation hit a snag, Li Wuyang decided to go out and clear his head. While he was at it, he could put his dream of "getting rich" into practice—by browsing the cultivation market near the Qingyun Sect and seeing whether he could score an overlooked treasure.
He disguised himself as an ordinary Foundation Establishment stage rogue cultivator—keeping a low profile—and brought along Little Fire, who had likewise changed form into an ordinary little puppy, as well as Yingying, who was disguised as a tiny sparrow. In high spirits, he arrived at Qingyun Market.
The market bustled with people, and hawkers' cries rang out nonstop. It was far smaller than the Myriad Spirits Market in the primordial world, but it was lively enough.
"Come take a look! A peerless sword unearthed from an ancient Sword Immortal's cave abode! Only one hundred high-grade spirit stones!"
"Don't miss out as you pass by! A ten-thousand-year Blood Ginseng King! Eat it and form a Golden Core on the spot! Clearance sale price!"
"Fellow Daoist, please wait! I can tell from your extraordinary bones that this incomplete copy of the Buddha's Palm... ah, no, the Qingyun Sword Art, is destined for you!"
Listening to those familiar sales pitches, Li Wuyang felt as if he had somehow returned to an antique market back on Earth. He looked around, and drawing on his experience scavenging junk in the primordial world, he quickly realized... they were all fakes!
That so-called peerless sword was covered in rust. A sweep with divine sense revealed its loose internal structure; it would probably snap with a hard bend. That "ten-thousand-year Blood Ginseng" had barely any spiritual energy—it was clearly a radish soaked in some special potion! And as for that incomplete sword art... heh, the contents were complete nonsense, worse than something he could make up himself.
"Ah, morals are declining and people's hearts are no longer what they used to be." Li Wuyang shook his head with a disappointed sigh.
Just as he was about to head home, an inconspicuous stall in a corner caught his attention. Its owner was a scruffy old man sleeping with drool running from his mouth. A few pitch-black stones, several wilted medicinal herbs, and a chipped broken bowl lay on the stall.
Yet the Great Dao Imprint within Li Wuyang's sea of consciousness produced an extremely faint resonance with the largest black stone!
There's something here! Li Wuyang was delighted, but his face remained calm. He strolled over, casually picked up the black stone, and weighed it in his hand. "Boss, how much for this lump of coal?"
The old man woke at the disturbance, wiped his drool, and gave it a bleary glance. "Oh, that? Picked it up by the roadside. I used it to weigh down my pickle jar. Ten low-grade spirit stones, and it's yours."
Li Wuyang suppressed his excitement and was just about to pay when a slick-looking young master with a folding fan suddenly darted out from beside him. He snatched the black stone away and shouted, "This young master wants this stone! I'll pay twenty low-grade spirit stones!"
Li Wuyang froze. Someone was actually trying to cut in? He looked at the young master. His cultivation was only at the late-stage Qi Refining stage—a typical spoiled young dandy.
"Fellow Daoist, surely there's such a thing as first come, first served?" Li Wuyang frowned.
"First come, first served? In Qingyun Market, anything our Liu family sets its eyes on belongs to us!" The young master raised his nostrils arrogantly, while the two lackeys behind him rolled up their sleeves with vicious expressions.
Seeing the situation, the old stall owner shrank his neck in fright and did not dare make a sound.
Li Wuyang laughed. He had not expected to encounter such a classic scene even in this low-tier cultivation world. He had wanted to keep a low profile, but unfortunately, his strength—and his backing—would not allow it.
He sighed and looked at the young master as though he were an idiot. "Kid, didn't your mother tell you that snatching other people's things will bring bad luck?"
"You dare insult me?!" The young master flew into a rage. "Get him!"
The two lackeys charged forward, howling.
Li Wuyang could not even be bothered to act. He merely gave Little Fire, disguised as a little puppy by his feet, a meaningful look.
Little Fire yawned, opened its mouth, and gave a light puff—pfft! A tiny spray of sparks flew out and landed precisely on the two lackeys' crotches.
"Ahhh—! Fire! My balls!" The two lackeys instantly became rolling gourds, screaming as they slapped at their crotches. The sight was painfully hard on the eyes.
The young master was dumbfounded. Pointing at Li Wuyang, he stammered, "Y-you used demonic sorcery!"
Li Wuyang shrugged. "You can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. Who saw my dog breathe fire? Clearly, your servants carelessly played with fire and set themselves ablaze."
At that moment, the market patrol cultivators were alerted and rushed over. Their leader was Zhao Gan, whom Li Wuyang had met once before.
The instant Zhao Gan saw Li Wuyang, then the Liu family servants rolling on the ground and the terrified Liu family young master, his scalp went numb. He hurriedly bowed. "S-Senior Li! Are you all right?"
That address of "Senior Li," along with Zhao Gan's respectful attitude, left both the onlookers and the Liu young master stunned. Zhao Gan was an outer sect steward of the Qingyun Sect, a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator! Yet he was treating this seemingly ordinary rogue cultivator with such respect?
Li Wuyang waved a hand and pointed at the black stone in the young master's grasp. "I'm fine. This kid just wanted to steal something I had my eye on."
Zhao Gan's face darkened as he shouted at the young master, "Liu Neng! You have some nerve! How dare you offend Senior Li! Return the item to Senior Li at once and apologize!"
Liu Neng was practically in tears. How could he have known that this man who looked like a rogue cultivator had such a terrifying background? He hurriedly returned the black stone with both hands and apologized, trembling.
Li Wuyang took the stone, weighed it in his hand, and smiled at Zhao Gan. "Steward Zhao, your law enforcement is impartial. Not bad, not bad." Then he gently said to the terrified old stall owner, "Boss, I'll take the stone. Here are ten low-grade spirit stones."
The old man accepted the spirit stones with trembling hands, feeling as though he were dreaming.
Li Wuyang left happily with the stone in hand. Behind him, Liu Neng stood in a daze amid the wind, while the crowd of onlookers broke into lively discussion.
"Who was that? Even Steward Zhao called him Senior?"
"No idea. He looked like someone who kept his true abilities hidden!"
"Liu Neng really kicked an iron plate this time! Hahaha!"
After leaving the market, Li Wuyang looked at the black stone in his hand and chuckled. "I came looking to score an overlooked treasure, but the treasure delivered itself to me—and even threw in a face-slapping show. Definitely not a loss!"
He felt that life in the Spiritual Stream Realm seemed to be getting more interesting.
(End of Chapter Forty-Four)
Before you continue