The question Yang Ning asked concerned a secret of the Law Enforcement Hall. Without orders, it couldn't be disclosed. Qiao Bin instinctively glanced at Yang Ning. As a regular customer, he knew Yang Ning was just an ordinary shopkeeper at the Mountain Foot behind the Sword Sect. He had no cultivation, so he couldn't become a disciple of any peak, let alone go undercover in the Sun Moon Demonic Cult. Besides, the goods in Yang Ning's shop had greatly helped his Immortal Path. They were drinking buddies and incense buddies, and the two had almost nothing they wouldn't talk about.
A voice inside him kept muttering: This is a secret under the Hall Master's strict orders!
Another voice shouted: A secret? That's a secret from other people! Could it possibly be a secret from Brother Ning!?
Qiao Bin licked his lips. Just then, Yang Ning took a small glass bottle from his pocket. Amber-colored essential oil sloshed inside.
His eyes glazed over, and he swallowed. "Brother Ning, although you're my dearest friend, but..."
Before Qiao Bin could finish, Yang Ning took another bottle of essential oil from his pocket and tossed both bottles into the air.
With the Incense Ash Pot in his left hand and Lanzhou in his right, Qiao Bin immediately circulated True Qi beneath his feet and sprang into the air. He caught both bottles in his mouth and landed steadily.
Qiao Bin mumbled, "Heh heh, Brother Ning really knows people."
Seated on a little stool, Qiao Bin was half a head shorter than Yang Ning. He opened the essential oil and breathed in its scent. Without looking at Yang Ning, he lowered his head and began to speak, as though that could convince himself he was talking to himself rather than letting an outsider in on a secret.
"Yesterday, an undercover agent went to the Alchemy Room on Dan Peak to steal an alchemy recipe. Our people caught him. There's a Demonic Cult Talisman on his Heart Meridian. The Old Sect Master sealed it with a spell, and he's still being interrogated."
As he spoke, he carefully wrapped the essential oil in a handkerchief and put it away.
Yang Ning thought for a moment, then asked, "Was he a disciple of Dan Peak?"
Qiao Bin still didn't look up. Instead, he watched the ants on the ground. "He was the Junior Disciple Brother Dan Peak took in two years ago."
Yang Ning nodded thoughtfully. "Got it."
Yang Ning then asked about a few other trivial matters concerning the Law Enforcement Hall. In the meantime, Qiao Bin went through two more packs of Lanzhou. Only when the sky began to darken did he clasp his hands and take his leave.
Qiao Bin flicked a finger, and the sword at his waist flew out of its sheath, hovering in midair. He lightly leaped onto the blade. The "Jade Carefree" behind his head and his white robe fluttered in the gusts of Sword Qi. With his jade-like features, he cut an otherworldly figure as the Law Enforcement Hall's eldest disciple.
Standing on the sword, he once again pulled a stick of Lanzhou from the box and put it in his mouth, then patted himself down.
The next moment, his face froze awkwardly. He scratched his head and looked at Yang Ning.
"Brother Ning, got a light?"
Yang Ning laughed and scolded him. "You scoundrel." Then he tossed Qiao Bin the Lighter.
Qiao Bin clasped his hands in thanks, lit his Lanzhou, then moved his feet and flew away on his Flying Sword, a spark-spitting stick of Enlightenment Incense clenched between his teeth.
Watching Qiao Bin disappear into the distance, Yang Ning turned around and frowned. "Damn! He swiped my Lighter!"
Before long, Myriad Things Come was nearing closing time. The Cultivators all clasped their hands to bid Yang Ning farewell. After the last person left, Yang Ning entered the Thatched Cottage and went to the Memorial Tablet he kept there. He took up his brush and wrote: "Dan Peak spy captured." Then he lit three sticks of incense and bowed to the tablet of Late Father Yang He, murmuring, "Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits." The slip of paper turned to ash in the incense smoke.
Before long, two Spirit Stones quietly appeared before the tablet. Yang Ning weighed them in his hand and grumbled inwardly: What a cheapskate...
This world was divided between the Orthodox Faction and the Evil Faction. The Orthodox Faction was led by the Cloud Firmament Sword Sect and the Carefree Holy Land, while the Evil Faction followed the Sun Moon Demonic Cult's lead. Though the two sides hadn't yet fought a major battle, they were as incompatible as fire and water, constantly making underhanded moves against each other. Yang Ning was one of the spies the Sun Moon Demonic Cult had sent to the Sword Sect. Before he left, the Demon Sect had planted a talisman in his heart, just like the one in his captured comrade. He had to pass along intelligence every seven days; otherwise, the talisman would activate and kill him in an instant. Five days had passed since his last report.
Without Cultivation Aptitude, he had no way to enter any of the peaks through the proper channels and learn their arts. Fortunately, as a transmigrator, he had awakened a system. He could earn Spirit Stones to exchange for items in the Mall, and continually improve his physical strength. It was an alternative path, a different kind of cultivation.
Yang Ning pushed a little cart out from the corner of the room and began restocking. He thought, "Open the Mall."
The screen appeared again. Unlike the products in the Convenience Store from before, the goods in the Large Supermarket were dazzling in their variety.
[Food, Home Goods Section, Electronics Section, Hardware Section...], with all sorts of merchandise neatly sorted into categories. [Roast Duck: five hundred Tongbao, Massage Sofa: two Spirit Stones, Drone: five Spirit Stones...], with wholesale prices listed for every product.
The lv2 Mall had countless times more kinds of products than lv1. Yang Ning thought to himself, These goods could change the Cultivation World. If they sell well, the improvement to my physique will be simply immeasurable!
Yang looked around. Tobacco, Alcohol, and General Merchandise were neatly arranged throughout the Thatched Cottage. Over the past two years, this little shop had attracted quite a few Sword Sect disciples. Qiao Bin, who had just left, was one of them. Business was good. Starting from nothing, Yang Ning had saved enough Spirit Stones to upgrade the system by buying low and selling high. Along the way, he'd also gathered a few unimportant bits of Sword Sect news from his customers, led by the big-mouthed Qiao Bin, and passed them on to the Demon Cult to keep the talisman in his heart from activating.
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