Green Bamboo Mountain Market was named after "Green Bamboo," and most of its buildings were tall-legged structures made from Spirit Material green bamboo.
Though it was called a market, there were actually only a few dozen buildings, barely enough to form a single street. Together with the itinerant stalls squeezed into every available gap along the street and around the square, they made up the most prosperous Cultivation World market within several hundred miles.
Fang Xi arrived at the market entrance and saw a layer of faint white mist. This was the market's protective formation, rumored to be capable of withstanding a Foundation Establishment Cultivator's attacks for quite some time.
He did not dare be careless. He took out a bamboo token bearing the identity information of a spirit farmer.
A flash of spiritual light flickered, and the mist on both sides immediately dispersed, revealing the previously blurred buildings within.
"Drunken Immortal Tower," "Hundred Refinements Workshop," "Pill Cauldron Pavilion," "Hundred Skills Tower," "Thousand Mechanisms Hall"...
Several of the largest buildings immediately came into view.
These were also the market's most important trading venues, where hundreds or even thousands of spirit stones changed hands every day.
Fang Xi's gaze swept over "Drunken Immortal Tower." He subtly rubbed his lower back, then turned around with an unchanged expression, as though the suggestive music drifting into his ears was nothing worth mentioning.
It's only a Charm Technique. Don't even think about disrupting this young master's Dao heart!
If only my purse weren't so empty...
It had to be said that female cultivators and ordinary servant girls gave people completely different feelings.
It was like the difference between an ordinary phone and its Pro Max version in his previous life.
Cultivators passed by sporadically along the main street.
Scholars, monks, Daoists...
Old men, women, children...
Some carried swords, some bore enormous wine-red gourds on their backs, some had spirit birds with them, and some rode demonic beasts...
They came in every color and shape under the sun.
In the past, Fang Xi had stared blankly at this scene for half a day, earning himself ridicule as a country bumpkin.
Now, however, he viewed the matter from a much deeper angle.
"Mid Qi Refining, mid Qi Refining, Late Qi Refining..."
"As expected... even if there are a few early Qi Refining cultivators, they're either servants or juniors brought out to broaden their horizons..."
"The Cultivation World truly places strength above all else. It's really not easy to get by."
Fang Xi curled his lips.
If he had the choice, of course he wanted to live quietly in the Great Liang World.
Unfortunately, the Great Liang World... did not have a long life ahead of it.
With the concentration of Spiritual Energy there, cultivation techniques could hardly make much progress, let alone break through major realms.
And the native Blood Qi Martial Arts did not seem particularly long-lived either...
Fang Xi had not yet been driven into a dead end, so he certainly would not consider hiding in a Lesser World.
He swept his gaze over the various stalls and began selling the Stone Dragon Lizard and the other materials he had accumulated during this period.
Selling such trifles at a major shop would only invite ridicule. He could only get rid of them in a place like this.
"Brother Liu, I'm telling you, a Stone Dragon Lizard with such perfect features really isn't expensive... And this Spirit Grass of mine took me nearly running my legs off to find..."
After a long while, Fang Xi had nearly talked himself hoarse before finally receiving three Spirit Crystals.
He identified the direction, arrived at a square, and familiarly made his way to a stall.
It was a husband-and-wife stall. The cloth, less than half a zhang wide, was covered with all kinds of spirit talismans.
First-grade Low-rank "Protective Talismans," "Ice Seal Talismans," "Flame Talismans"...
Then, with a sidelong glance, Fang Xi even saw the "Minor Lightning Talisman" placed right in the center, surrounded like the moon among stars!
"Master Zong, congratulations on successfully drawing a First-grade Mid-rank talisman..."
He smiled and offered his congratulations to the stall owner.
Master Zong looked about thirty years old. He was tall, fair, and plump, with two small mustaches, and his smile was exceedingly amiable, like a worldly businessman.
Fang Xi had also seen his Dao companion, who delivered talisman paper and materials to him—a female cultivator surnamed Lu. He had been deeply impressed by her figure.
The couple worked together, with the woman handling the talisman paper and the man drawing the talismans. Relying on their quality goods and low prices, they lived quite comfortably. It was just that he did not know what had happened recently; they seemed to be under considerably more pressure for Spirit Crystals.
"Oh, it's Little Friend Fang..."
Master Zong smiled and asked, "How did the Ice Seal Talismans I recommended last time work against demonic insects?"
"They were incredible. In this bitter winter, the power of the Ice Seal Talismans rose faintly, and the Stone Dragon Lizards had nowhere to flee..."
Fang Xi nodded. "Give me a few more Protective Talismans..."
These talismans are only used for protection during secluded cultivation. One costs a Spirit Crystal, so I wonder why this boy wants so many...
Master Zong shook his head and grumbled inwardly. However, cultivators valued privacy above all else, so he did not ask aloud.
After trading for several Protective Talismans, he asked again, "Do you still want Ice Seal Talismans? I'll give you a cheaper price—three Spirit Crystals each..."
"Master Zong, you lowered the price again?" Fang Xi's eyes lit up, looking just like a housewife from his previous life who had spotted a discount.
"Alas, it's because... the one at home is pregnant again!"
Master Zong sighed.
Cultivators absorbed the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth through their spirit roots and could accomplish all sorts of inconceivable things, but they had more difficulty bearing children.
Even if a child was born, it might be an ordinary person without any spirit root.
Master Zong, however, was an exception. He already had three children, two of whom possessed spirit roots.
And now, it was his fourth child.
It was said that the Situ Family was very interested in Master Zong and wanted to borrow his seed, but he had politely declined...
Fang Xi nodded. Two cultivator offspring might even become three. That pressure... was practically three great mountains.
The miserable fate of middle-aged men in his previous life was vividly reflected in Master Zong. Fang Xi even felt that the man's luxuriant hair was showing signs of balding ahead of schedule.
Still, that had nothing to do with him.
"My Ice Seal Talismans and Flame Talismans are excellent, whether for protecting oneself and fighting on the Dao or for killing pests..."
Master Zong was racking his brains over the several little divine beasts at home that devoured Spirit Crystals when Fang Xi suddenly asked, "May I ask how much this 'Minor Lightning Talisman' costs?"
If a First-grade Low-rank talisman was merely equivalent to an early Qi Refining spell attack, then a First-grade Mid-rank talisman had undoubtedly reached the level of a mid Qi Refining attack!
Master Zong was rarely stunned. He then revealed an expression of anguish and reluctance. "This First-grade Mid-rank talisman took this old man a great deal of effort to draw. I wasted who knows how much talisman paper. If you really want it... take it for one and a half Spirit Stones..."
"One and a half?"
Fang Xi looked embarrassed. "Could you make it a little cheaper?"
"You still want it cheaper?" Master Zong glared at him, but then it was as though the weight of life had bent his back. His expression softened. "Unless you buy a few more Low-rank talismans."
"In that case, add one Low-rank 'Golden Light Shield Talisman.'"
Fang Xi answered with equal anguish.
In the end, he successfully obtained the "Minor Lightning Talisman," comparable to a mid Qi Refining expert's full-strength strike, along with several Low-rank talismans.
For this, not only did every penny from selling the materials he had brought to the market vanish, but quite a bit of his savings went with it.
Fortunately, after touching the Golden Light Shield Talisman in his robe, Fang Xi felt much safer.
Although this talisman could at most withstand one or two early Qi Refining spell attacks in the Southern Barrens Cultivation World, things were different in the Great Liang World.
"Let's go, let's go. Looking any longer will only add to the sorrow..."
Fang Xi stood before a stall selling pills, his feet seeming to have taken root.
He was currently in a period of advancing with fierce momentum. With pills to assist him, he might be able to break into Qi Refining Fourth Layer and enter the mid Qi Refining stage!
Unfortunately, pills were generally more expensive than talismans!
What a pity... Other transmigrators become profiteers between two worlds and live in indescribable comfort. How did I end up in this state?
Fang Xi had always been extremely cautious regarding trade between the two worlds.
Only after confirming that he possessed barely enough strength to protect himself in the Great Liang World did he dare reveal a little of the Cultivation World's goods.
But in the Cultivation World, he did not dare reveal anything unusual.
After all, his cultivation was too weak, while cultivators possessed countless strange abilities. Who knew whether someone might have a unique method of investigation?
At the very least... I'll have to wait until Late Qi Refining. No, at least mid Qi Refining...
Fang Xi had always acted with extreme caution, and after obtaining his heaven-defying opportunity, he became even more so.
If he could avoid fighting and cultivate peacefully, smoothly, and without setbacks all the way to Foundation Establishment and Core Formation... who the hell would want to fight a life-and-death battle?
Just as he was preparing to leave Green Bamboo Mountain Market, a commotion suddenly rose from the street.
Then, as though contagious, the commotion continued spreading in every direction.
Faintly, voices mentioning "ruins," "treasures," and "cultivation techniques" drifted over.
Fang Xi paused briefly, and immediately heard a piece of news from a nearby cultivator.
"What? A Lesser Secret Realm was discovered in Purple Nether Mountain, suspected to be a cultivator's ruins? Cultivators have already brought ancient cultivation techniques and Foundation Establishment Spirit Items out of it?"
This news was like gunpowder, igniting the longing in every cultivator's heart!
Ancient cultivation techniques!
Foundation Establishment Spirit Items!
These were things they might not obtain even after seeking them their entire lives.
The Cultivation World was simply like this. Rogue Cultivators at the bottom could spend their entire lives achieving nothing and still fail to touch the threshold of Foundation Establishment.
But if they encountered an immortal opportunity and obtained ancient inheritances and wondrous pills, they could soar like a roc riding the wind ninety thousand li in a single day, becoming an immortal above the clouds!
Just like Fang Xi!
His spirit root was nothing special, merely a low-grade Wood Attribute variant, and he cultivated the common Evergreen Art. Even after another sixty years, he might not reach Qi Refining Perfection, much less break through the natural chasm of Foundation Establishment!
And it had long been said in the Cultivation World that after the age of sixty, a cultivator's chances of Foundation Establishment would drop sharply!
But with a top-tier cultivation technique and the aid of pills, breaking through to Foundation Establishment within five or ten years was entirely possible!
This was the opportunity countless cultivators sought with all their hearts!
"What kind of Foundation Establishment Spirit Item is it?"
A female cultivator's eyes reddened as she seized the male cultivator beside her who knew the news and demanded loudly.
"It's a bottle of 'Earth Fire Sha Qi'! It's immensely useful for breaking through the Blood Qi Gate..." The male cultivator murmured dreamily, his face full of yearning and longing.
"What a pity it isn't a Foundation Establishment Pill." An old cultivator beside them stamped his feet and sighed.
"Where would there have been Foundation Establishment Pills in ancient times?" A Scholar nearby chuckled. "People today aren't necessarily inferior to the ancients. This Foundation Establishment Pill was personally developed by Master Shutong, the foremost alchemist of the past thousand years. It harmonizes the three Foundation Establishment barriers into one, allowing them to be broken through in the space of a day... It can increase one's chances of Foundation Establishment by a full thirty percent!"
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