Wandering the Market Town

Luo Yu Lei's visit to provoke Chen Heng was merely a minor interlude in his cultivation journey, not even worth mentioning.

After discreetly resolving the matter, he took his old servant, Uncle Fu, and left Jade Spring Artifact Pavilion through the back door.

He planned to take advantage of the final stretch of the South Foothill Gathering to have a good browse around the market town.

Before leaving the shop, he specifically disguised himself. Wearing a bamboo hat and holding a treasure sword, he posed as a sword cultivator passing through the market town.

As for the old servant Uncle Fu, he naturally made some corresponding changes as well.

Their disguises, while not seamless, were such that it would be difficult to discern their true identities without special means.

The reason for being so secretive was mainly to guard against any unforeseen circumstances.

Although fighting was strictly forbidden in the market town and the Chen Family had a Foundation Establishment Ancestor overseeing it, it was still best to proceed with caution.

The Southern Foothills Market was situated by a bay of the Li River. It occupied a considerable area, roughly circular in shape, with mountains on three sides and water on one.

The main body of the market consisted of a network of wide, intersecting streets, housing several dozen pavilions, shops, and temporary cave dwellings.

More than half of these pavilions, shops, and temporary cave dwellings belonged to the three major Foundation Establishment Families: Chen, Luo, and Wu, and they also constituted the central area of the market.

Within a radius of several hundred meters around the central area, a ring of temporary stalls was distributed.

Most of these were set up by rogue cultivators who couldn't afford to rent shops.

They only needed to pay one Spirit Stone per day, which was quite cheap.

Further out, beyond the nominal area of the Southern Foothills Market, were areas where rogue cultivators who couldn't settle in the market town had built their own residences.

Due to its proximity to the second-tier spiritual veins of the Southern Foothills Market, the spiritual energy in the outer areas was quite good, much better than in the spirit-lacking wilderness.

These areas were inhabited by a large number of rogue cultivators and their descendants who lacked spiritual roots.

Adhering to the principle that where there is a market, there is consumption, none of the three major families drove away these cultivators and mortals. Of course, they also did not provide them with protection.

Consequently, the outskirts of the Southern Foothills Market were quite chaotic.

Chen Heng's destination was the temporary stalls where the rogue cultivators sold their goods, hoping to find some valuable materials by chance.

Before long.

The master and servant duo moved from the central area of the market town to the outer regions.

This area was even livelier than the streets and shops in the market's center, with rogue cultivators setting up stalls everywhere.

The goods they sold were also a motley assortment, with shouts and calls echoing endlessly.

This reminded Chen Heng of going to market fairs in his previous life before online shopping became popular; the bustling scene before him was quite similar.

It was a pity that after online shopping became popular, he rarely went to market fairs anymore.

Chen Heng weaved through the various stalls with great interest, while the old servant Uncle Fu followed him at a leisurely pace, like a shadow.

He walked and stopped, beginning to wander aimlessly.

He did discover quite a few spiritual items that were excellent value for money.

Some that were beneficial to him at the moment, he purchased directly, such as an unremarkable piece of black ore from an old cultivator's stall.

Although it didn't emit much spiritual light, Chen Heng recognized it at a glance as a piece of Crimson Flame Profound Crystal that had fallen to the ground after an eruption of earth fire, cooled and solidified, and then been coated with volcanic ash.

It was a top-quality fire-element treasure material, high-grade first-tier, and was priced at only two Spirit Stones.

Chen Heng naturally pocketed it with ease.

Whether used for his own artifact refining or sold later, it would be a substantial profit.

Some items were not immediately useful, so he didn't force himself to buy them.

For example, a seemingly ordinary Talisman Brush on the stall of a female cultivator with a proud bosom.

Based on Chen Heng's current artifact refining skills, it was quite extraordinary and would definitely not be a loss for any talisman master below the second-tier.

However, for him, there was no need for it.

After all, the majority of the Spirit Stones Chen Heng currently possessed came from Luo Yu Lei's gift – three hundred Spirit Stones.

Although the mid-grade first-tier treasure fan he had refined himself was definitely worth the price, spending Spirit Stones gifted by an adversary to find treasures at rogue cultivator stalls, even as a reincarnated person, made it difficult for Chen Heng to suppress his joy.

Before long.

Chen Heng arrived at a simple stall displaying various items.

Most were ordinary spiritual herbs and ores, Yao Beast materials, along with some damaged magical artifacts, low-grade talismans, and elixirs...

Initially, he glanced over them, finding nothing particularly eye-catching or valuable.

Just as he was about to move to the next stall, his gaze was suddenly drawn to an inconspicuous small object amidst a pile of junk in the corner.

It was a fragmented piece of jade, seemingly part of a magical artifact, but it also seemed to hold some other mystery.

Looking at the stall owner, he was a thin young man of about twenty years old, with only a second-tier Qi Refining cultivation, ordinary appearance, and simple clothing.

Seeing this, Chen Heng approached calmly and casually asked, "How much for these pieces of ore?"

The thin young man looked up at him and replied indifferently, "Everything on the stall is one Spirit Stone, no bargaining."

Chen Heng raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

He casually picked up five pieces of ore, including the incomplete jade, tossed down five Spirit Stones, and then got up to leave.

The gaunt young man didn't say anything either. He pocketed the Spirit Stones and continued his business.

To him, the items on his stall had been inspected countless times. If any spiritual treasure concealed itself, that was just his fate.

This made Chen Heng, who glanced back, think a little more highly of the young man.

Fortunate to obtain it, fated to lose it. This was the proper attitude for a cultivator.

After all, a treasure one couldn't hold onto from the start was a sign that one was never meant to have it, so why force it?

Chen Heng didn't let his thoughts wander too much. Instead, he put the five pieces of ore, including the incomplete jade, into his storage and continued to wander around the area.

Later, he spent another ten Spirit Stones at a stall to buy a shield with damaged artifact patterns.

And he also acquired a piece of gray stone that couldn't be probed with mana for five Spirit Stones.

Before long, he reached the end of the area and returned to the stall he had started from.

Chen Heng looked up and saw Luo Yu Lei, accompanied by a group of Luo Family disciples, also wandering around like him, with the intention of finding hidden gems.

Feeling a bit unlucky, he lost the mood to continue browsing. He immediately returned to the Jade Spring Artifact Pavilion through the back door with his old servant, Uncle Fu.

That night.

The moon hung high in the sky.

With the lamplight flickering like a bean, the east wing room was quiet, isolated from the last vestiges of the market town's clamor.

Chen Heng sat by the window. On his desk, the day's acquisitions from the market town were laid out in a row:

The dark outer shell of the Crimson Flame Profound Crystal gave off a faint matte sheen under the lamplight; the broken shield's artifact patterns were dim, its cracks ferocious; the gray stone was lifeless, resembling ordinary rock.

Finally, there was the incomplete jade, which had been bought along with a pile of ore.

Chen Heng's gaze finally settled on the incomplete jade.

This jade was only about the size of a palm, its edges chipped and uneven. Its entire body had a murky cyan-gray hue, like a piece of low-quality scrap, casually tossed in the corner of a stall, utterly unremarkable.

Even when deliberately taken out now, not the slightest spiritual energy fluctuation could be detected from it.

However, when he first glimpsed it in the market town, the [Water-Fire Harmony] inscription in his sea of consciousness had produced an extremely faint, fleeting tremor.

This tremor was extremely subtle, almost an illusion, yet it was enough for him to pinpoint it amidst a pile of ordinary clutter.