"There weren't any escape techniques."
Song Chengan made a round through the market, but did not see anything he needed.
"I can only check the shops."
Song Chengan looked toward the rows of shops lining both sides of the street.
"Take a look around, sir. Let me know if you need anything."
The moment Song Chengan stepped inside, the shopkeeper came over.
"Do you have any escape techniques?"
"Escape techniques? This way, sir."
Hearing this, the shopkeeper led Song Chengan to a shelf.
The shelf was filled with manuals on escape techniques.
"They're all basic escape techniques, most suitable for Dao Seed Realm cultivators."
"Let me see."
Song Chengan said as he began looking through the pile of escape techniques.
Metal Escape Technique?
Wind Lightning Escape?
Water Escape?
They were all basic Five Elements Escape Techniques.
Metal Escape Technique or Water Escape?
I'll choose Earth Escape.
After some thought, Song Chengan selected an Earth Escape Technique.
In truth, he wanted the Wind Lightning Escape Technique more.
It was the fastest one.
But unfortunately, the Wind Lightning Escape Technique cost three hundred Talisman Coins.
That was a little beyond what he could afford.
"I'll take this Earth Escape Technique."
"One hundred and fifty Talisman Coins."
Song Chengan took out the Talisman Coins and paid.
His head began to ache.
Was this the bitter life of a Rogue Cultivator?!
Even the most basic escape technique cost one hundred and fifty Talisman Coins!
"Shopkeeper, do you have any true qi cultivation methods that can extend one's life?"
"True qi cultivation methods?"
Song Chengan nodded. "Exactly."
The shopkeeper smiled. "Sir, you think too highly of Old Ge."
"Every true qi cultivation method is an incomparably precious thing, a foundation that can be passed down through a Lineage or sect."
"How could a tiny shop like mine possibly have such a thing?"
Was that so?
That made sense.
A method for cultivating true qi was something that could serve as a sect's inheritance.
It would be absurd for a small shop to have one.
"Do any shops in this Ghost Market have such a true qi cultivation method?"
"This..." The shopkeeper fell into thought. "If there is any shop in the Spirit Mound Ghost Market that might have such a thing, it would only be the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce."
"The Phoenix Chamber of Commerce?"
"At the end of the street."
At the end of the street,
Song Chengan saw the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce Shopkeeper Ge had mentioned.
Its vermilion building stood a clear tier above all the others.
Yet there were very few customers coming and going.
It could even be called desolate.
Song Chengan walked inside.
The moment he entered, Song Chengan felt the strength of the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce.
The serving girls were all exceptionally tall and graceful, with outstanding looks.
When the serving girls in the chamber saw Song Chengan enter, they did not come forward to greet him. They merely smiled at him.
"Please browse as you wish, sir. If you need anything, just ask us."
The serving girl beside him spoke in a crisp, pleasant voice.
Song Chengan nodded.
He felt rather comfortable.
Unlike the shops in Lingqiu City, where someone would follow you the moment you entered and relentlessly try to sell you things.
Song Chengan looked around.
A Low-grade Magic Treasure, seven thousand Talisman Coins?
A Storage Ring, one zhang in every direction, three thousand Talisman Coins?
A three-hundred-year Fire Dragon Fruit, two thousand Talisman Coins?
Song Chengan looked at the fifty Talisman Coins in his pocket... Fine, I'm just looking. I'm not buying.
Evergreen True Qi!
A lower first-grade true qi cultivation method. It did not excel at killing, but cultivating it could extend one's life.
One hundred thousand Talisman Coins!
Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures of equal value could be exchanged for it.
One hundred thousand Talisman Coins!
Song Chengan sucked in a sharp breath.
At the Demon Suppression Division, he earned one hundred Talisman Coins a month.
Completing a mission rewarded anywhere from fifty to one hundred Talisman Coins.
He could probably complete four or five missions a month.
Even if he earned three hundred Talisman Coins a month, that would only be three thousand six hundred a year... one hundred thousand!
Good heavens, an inherited true qi cultivation method.
No wonder Shopkeeper Ge had said Song Chengan thought too highly of him.
Song Chengan now felt that he had thought too highly of himself as well.
Song Chengan silently left the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce.
He felt that he needed to find a way to earn some Talisman Coins.
But... Song Chengan stopped after walking out of the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce.
He had thought of a problem.
A low-grade true qi cultivation method alone cost one hundred thousand Talisman Coins.
Yet Boss Bai had given him two true qi cultivation methods.
One was Heavenly Radiance Dao Qi.
The other was Southern Bright Illusory Fire True Qi!
One was Lower Second Grade, and the other was Middle Sixth Grade!
How much would those be worth?
Song Chengan did not know.
Song Chengan stood silently before the chamber of commerce for a long time.
He had once suspected that The Boss might harm him.
Looking back now, he had truly failed to appreciate kindness.
Those two true qi cultivation methods were enough to buy Song Chengan's life.
"I should buy some herbs for refining Spirit Essence Pills first!"
Song Chengan said.
The herbs required for Spirit Essence Pills were:
Stone Spirit Grass, Earth Vein Yellow Jade, and Red Bamboo Flower.
Song Chengan casually bought them from the roadside.
They cost only four Talisman Coins in total.
They were very cheap.
That was probably because only low-level cultivators used this kind of pill.
Once one's realm was higher, its effects would no longer be so obvious.
"It's like going to the fair when I was little."
"I wanted everything, but had no money."
Song Chengan sighed and left the Ghost Market.
One hundred thousand Talisman Coins.
I need to earn money with my life on the line.
Song Chengan thought to himself.
Song Chengan opened his eyes.
"My cultivation has broken through to the Late Dao Seed Stage."
Song Chengan was somewhat surprised.
It had happened as naturally as water flowing into a channel.
His cultivation had broken through to the Late Dao Seed Stage.
"Late Dao Seed Stage. Next comes the Peak Dao Seed Stage."
Every cultivation realm was divided into four minor stages.
Early stage, middle stage, late stage, and peak!
The late stage meant that one had basically completed cultivation through every phase of that realm.
The peak, meanwhile, was a special state. It meant one had reached perfection in that realm and could break through at any time!
"I need to prepare a Foundation Establishment Method!"
"It all takes money!"
A true qi cultivation method merely allowed a cultivator to embark upon the path of cultivation, cultivate specialized true qi, and complete cultivation in the Dao Seed Realm.
But for the Foundation Establishment Realm beyond that, one needed to find a specialized Foundation Establishment Method.
"It is said that Foundation Establishment has three ranks."
"The highest is Dao Platform Foundation Establishment, the middle is Immortal Platform Foundation Establishment, and the lowest is Mortal Platform Foundation Establishment."
"What a headache."
"I don't have any Foundation Establishment Method at all right now!"
"The Phoenix Chamber of Commerce may have one, but right now I'm truly too poor to afford it!"
Song Chengan had always felt that he was poor, but he had not expected to be this poor.
"No wonder cultivation speaks of wealth, companions, methods, and land!"
"I've heard that the great sects give their favored geniuses resources and focus on cultivating them."
Song Chengan no longer wanted to be a wage slave at the Demon Suppression Division. He wanted to join a great sect.
"Come to think of it, First Boss Bai said that cultivators' aptitudes were also divided into high and low grades."
"I wonder what grade my innate talent is?"
Song Chengan was curious about his own aptitude.
He was self-taught.
He had no sect.
Nor did he have a master.
If he had to name a master, it would be First Boss Bai.
But First Boss Bai also seemed to be teaching someone how to cultivate for the first time, so he clearly did not know how to test someone's innate talent.
He had merely handed Song Chengan a true qi cultivation method and told him to see whether he could cultivate it.
Since he could cultivate it, he had simply continued cultivating ever since.
"I can test it if I get the chance."
"Maybe I'm that peerless genius, one in ten thousand."
Before you continue