Yang Xuesheng

Chen Ganliu went through the Great Vehicle Myriad Flower Fist move by move, exhaling and shouting, "Hah!" When he threw a punch, white smoke seemed to rise from the air itself. The force of his fist surged several steps outward, ringing with vibrations.

This fist manual had five levels, but martial artists' fist manuals were of an exceedingly low tier. Even merging all five levels into one only brought it up to the equivalent of Qi Refining Layer One.

To gain more means of turning things around, Chen Ganliu could not practice the Azure Emperor Jia Yi Art day and night. To avoid harming his body, he needed to alternate exertion with rest. Thus, he had not stopped practicing his fist techniques during this period.

Over the past few days, he had already broken through the final level and cultivated the Great Vehicle Myriad Flower Fist to perfection.

For an ordinary martial artist to train this style of fist to such a level, even with outstanding talent, would require twenty or thirty years of hard work. But for a cultivation-world Qi Cultivator, even one as poorly gifted as Chen Ganliu, it took no more than a few months.

Chen Ganliu withdrew his fists and feet and thought to himself, "Recently, my cultivation of the Azure Emperor Jia Yi Art seems to have advanced much faster. I wonder if it's because practicing fist techniques has strengthened my body, allowing it to nourish my Qi cultivation—or..."

He raised his head and glanced at Mind-Wandering Zen above him, thinking, "Or could it be related to this Immortal Flying Blade?"

Chen Ganliu had, after all, cultivated across two lifetimes. Although his combined time in both lives had not even brought him to Qi Refining Layer Three, his cultivation experience was still rich. The last time Mind-Wandering Zen had forcibly achieved Body-Sword Unity with him, he had suffered terribly, but he had also faintly sensed that his realm had loosened slightly.

"It's still such a pity. If I had that Wind Bead in hand, I could surely begin cultivating the Heavenly Demon Vein Shifting Method. If I could gain one more spiritual vein, wouldn't my cultivation shoot forward by leaps and bounds?"

"I wonder if I can buy a Demon Race inner core at Jinyun Immortal Market to use in cultivation."

Chen Ganliu tidied himself up a little and released Talisman Black Donkey, planning to continue on his way. He had stopped just now because the martial artist's true qi within his body had stirred, and the Great Vehicle Myriad Flower Fist seemed on the verge of breaking through.

Now that the Great Vehicle Myriad Flower Fist Manual had indeed broken through to the fifth level, there was naturally no reason to linger.

He sat atop Talisman Black Donkey and circulated his Azure Emperor Jia Yi True Qi for a while. When he opened his eyes, he saw a village not far away and thought, "I've forced myself onward without rest, day and night, all the way here. My body is already having trouble holding up. I might as well rest for one night, recover my strength, and continue tomorrow."

"I've already fled this far. If Immortal Encounter Sect and those two Demonesses meant to pursue me, they would have caught up long ago. If they haven't come after me, there's no need to keep frightening myself."

Chen Ganliu entered the village and saw that it was peaceful, with people clearly living and working in contentment. He found a kind household, bought some food, and asked to stay the night.

The family was quite hospitable and led him to a side room.

At last able to take a short nap, Chen Ganliu lay down on the bed and promptly fell into a deep sleep.

After he fell asleep, the hand hidden in his sleeve relaxed. The Mind-Wandering Zen Blade flew into the air and circled once above his head. It seemed to find the ceiling too low with Chen Ganliu sprawled on the bed, so it descended onto his forehead, where it remained standing upright.

When Chen Ganliu woke, he felt completely refreshed. He reached out and grasped the Mind-Wandering Zen Blade from his forehead, tucked it back into his sleeve, left a small amount of silver, and departed without saying goodbye.

Once he left the village, he released Talisman Black Donkey again. This time, he did not stop any longer and reached Jinyun Immortal Market in one go.

Jinyun Immortal Market was different from Suiyang Immortal Market. It had never barred ordinary mortals from coming and going. Although it was hidden deep in the mountains, herb gatherers, woodcutters, and even people who deliberately sought immortals and pursued the Dao would occasionally stumble inside. There were even households that had passed down knowledge of the immortal market through the generations and came here specifically to do business with cultivators.

It was Chen Ganliu's first time at Jinyun Immortal Market. He felt that it was entirely different from both Shuangyun Immortal Market and Suiyang Immortal Market. First of all, it was more than ten times livelier. Most of the people were ordinary mortals. Of the remainder, most were demons still covered in fur and horns, not yet transformed into human shape. Only a tiny minority were human cultivators.

Demons had to reach Qi Refining Layer Eight, the realm of Qi Refining Transformation, before they could use the inner core within them to shed their demonic forms and take on human bodies. Before that, although they could cultivate various wondrous abilities, they still retained the forms of birds and beasts.

In his previous life, Chen Ganliu's cultivation had been too low, and he had not dared come to Jinyun Immortal Market. Although he had seen a few demons, he had truly never seen so many.

There were wild boars carrying shoulder poles, old cats wearing white caps, long snakes winding along, fierce tigers dressed in clothes, butterflies as large as millstones fluttering through the air, and sentient vessels clanging and charging about. It was as though he had arrived in the Kingdom of Lion Camel from Journey to the West. But the Kingdom of Lion Camel was a land of evil, where all the people had been eaten by demons. Jinyun Immortal Market, by contrast, mingled humans and demons together. There seemed to be no conflict at all, and the scene was rather harmonious.

Chen Ganliu was deeply startled, his guts trembling and his legs shaking. He pinched several talismans, his breath half-released yet half-held. Just as he was trying to steel himself and take a look around, someone slapped him on the shoulder. Then he heard a familiar voice cry out in surprise, "Little Daoist, why have you come here again?"

Chen Ganliu was equally astonished. He saw a young woman with bright eyes, pearly teeth, and a radiant smile. She was an "old acquaintance," and he hurriedly called out, "Third Ancestor Hu, why have you come here to buy things again?"

The young woman could not help bursting into laughter. "Don't call me that!"

"And you're not allowed to call me Little Fox Immortal, either."

The young woman had always mistakenly believed that Chen Ganliu was the disciple of a Spiritual Gate Daoist. After all, when she had encountered him at Chen Family Village, only Spiritual Gate had possessed any cultivation there. Cultivators were not sweet potatoes that could simply be dug out of the ground by the handful. They had to have some background.

She was also rather surprised and thought to herself, "Why did Spiritual Gate send his disciple all the way here? What exactly does he want to buy? I didn't ask him last time."

"Forget it. Whatever happens with He Shan Sect has nothing to do with me."

Chen Ganliu knew that the young woman was no ordinary person and did not dare offend her. "I want to buy something like an inner core."

The young woman was slightly surprised. "He wants to buy an inner core? With Spiritual Gate's little bit of cultivation, he has no use for such a thing."

"That's it. Someone from He Shan Sect must need it to refine some magic treasure."

She said to Chen Ganliu, "Demon inner cores aren't cheap. Did you bring enough Talisman Coins?"

"Some sellers don't even accept Talisman Coins. They only want spirit stones. Did you bring any spirit stones?"

Chen Ganliu nodded. Of course he had both Talisman Coins and spirit stones.

The young woman pondered for a moment. "Does your elder have any requirements regarding the inner core's attributes?"

Chen Ganliu hurriedly replied, "None at all."

The young woman looked him over once more and thought, "With such little cultivation, he still dares carry so much wealth. He must have an elder protecting him nearby." She gave a light laugh. "Do some work for Third Great-Grandmother, and I'll help arrange a business opportunity for you afterward."

Chen Ganliu was overjoyed and hurriedly called out, "Th-thank you..."

The young woman noticed that he did not know how to address her and was hesitating. She smiled. "My name is Yang Xuesheng."

Chen Ganliu obediently called her, "Chen Ganliu greets Sister Xuesheng."

The young woman was eighty or ninety percent satisfied with the title. Seeing that Chen Ganliu was still young, she tacitly accepted this "free little brother" and said, "Come along with me."