Arrangement

A small boat pulled up to shore. The docks bustled with people coming and going; perhaps due to the nature of the mines here, travelers could enter and leave freely, with no inspection checkpoints to speak of.

After concealing his figure and appearance, Chu Mu followed the crowd and passed through without hindrance, entering the marketplace known as Jade Lake Bay.

The marketplace covered a considerable area. Perhaps because it had once been a settlement for miners, it lacked the strict planning of an ordinary marketplace and instead carried the chaotic feel of a shantytown.

A main street ran through the marketplace, winding crookedly onward. Along both sides stood pavilions and shops, some grand and towering, others dilapidated and decrepit, their contrast stark.

Judging from the shop signs alone, it was not difficult to see that the lofty buildings were mostly strongholds established in this marketplace by outside forces, while the somewhat ruined and disorderly places were largely occupied by local cultivators of Emerald Lake.

Stalls could be seen everywhere along both sides of the street, and those behind them were mostly local Emerald Lake cultivators. Under their distinctive customs, female cultivators wore animal-hide clothing adorned with bird feathers, while male cultivators mostly went bare-chested, decorated with the fangs of beasts. This was nearly the norm in this marketplace.

This unique custom had a long history behind it.

After all, in the Cultivation World, apart from the very few powers organized as actual nations, most so-called kingdoms existed in the form of families, alliances, or sects.

The Southwest Nations were somewhat different, existing mainly as tribal groups bound together by family bloodlines.

The names of these so-called nations—such as Ten Thousand Mountains Kingdom, Gu Luck Kingdom, and even Great Chu—were essentially merely titles passed down from ancient times.

After all,