Qingtian Market

"Qingtian Market currently had four peak True Qi cultivators, all at the fifth level of the Sense Imprint Realm. One was Senior Sister Qian Yu; the other three were disciples you took in back when you were at Yinlian Village."

"Below them were fourteen ordinary True Qi cultivators, myself included."

"Below them were another two hundred True Qi cultivators, chosen from the best of the best. We didn't take in just anyone."

"Inside and outside the market, eleven layers of formations had been laid out, including Spirit Gathering, Mist, Sword Qi, Dragon Binding, and Vajra formations. Unless a Qi Refining Immortal Master came in person, breaking through would be all but impossible."

"The market had five main sources of income—"

"The first was rent. Ghost Mother Mountain was dangerous, both within and around it. Ordinary Inner Qi and True Qi cultivators faced danger out there, so most were willing to rent or buy a house in Qingtian Market, where they could rest in peace and cultivate. The market now had four hundred permanent tenants and twenty-three homeowners. Even more people came and went, staying for a few days at a time. The annual rent brought in about a hundred thousand taels of gold."

"The second was taxes. Qingtian Market lay near Ghost Mother Mountain, where demonic beasts were numerous and spirit herbs grew everywhere. Many Rogue Cultivators brought their treasures to the market to trade for pills, magical artifacts, talismans, formation flags, and the like. As a result, quite a few Rogue Cultivators skilled in alchemy, artifact forging, talisman-making, and formations settled in the market and opened shops. They made up the bulk of the tax revenue. The rest came from Rogue Cultivators renting temporary stalls. All told, taxes brought in around a hundred and ten or twenty thousand taels of gold each year."

"But rent and taxes were minor sources."

"The market had shops of its own, as well as two plots of Spirit Land for cultivating spirit herbs. It also recruited and trained alchemists. That was where it made the most money: three or four taels of Spirit Sand a year."

"The fourth was hunting demonic beasts. The market had plenty of True Qi cultivators, with Inner Qi cultivators below them and True Qi cultivators above. Together, they could form battle arrays and pack quite a punch. They went out several times a year, and came back with spoils every time."

He had spent more than ten days at home.

One day,

Zhao Xiaoshuang led Meng Nan out, showing him around the market and telling him about Qingtian Market's inner workings.

"Chen De."

"Wang An."

"Chu Zhongliang."

Meng Nan knew all three.

Going by the course of his first life, Wang An needed no introduction. At twenty-three, he had reached the True Qi Stage, and in Meng Nan's second life, Meng Nan had taken him on as a disciple.

The other two—

Chen De.

Chu Zhongliang.

Meng Nan had heard of them in his first life and met them in his second. Both were decent people, with a measure of talent. In his first two lives, they had reached the Inner Qi Stage before turning eighteen, but neither had managed to reach True Qi before turning twenty-four.

In this life, Meng Nan had discovered and trained them early. In the end, all three—Wang An and his two junior brothers—had entered Tianlin Cave one after another, becoming the talk of the town for a while.

Meng Nan's standing in Yinlian Village rose considerably after that, becoming all but unshakable.

Unfortunately, Tianlin Cave had undergone a major upheaval. None of the three had reached True Qi before the old Immortal Master passed away and the new one fled. Their prospects had vanished with him.

Otherwise, cultivating in Tianlin Cave, all three would have had a chance to reach Qi Refining and glimpse the realm of Immortal Masters.

Now they were all in their sixties or seventies. Though they had reached the peak of True Qi, their hope of becoming Immortal Masters was still slim.

Then there was Qian Yu.

Qian Yu had reached True Qi early, but becoming an Immortal Master would be difficult for her too.

Of the four, three were Meng Nan's disciples, while Qian Yu was his friend. Meng Nan had even given her a Suoluo Seed to help her reach True Qi.

That was why Meng Nan had taken the lead when they left Angming City and later established Qingtian Market.

Meng Nan had contributed enormously to the market's success.

Now it had nearly twenty True Qi cultivators and two hundred True Qi cultivators. Its upper-level combat strength alone was ten times that of the old Yinlian Village, and its overall quality was far higher.

Qingtian Market feared no one beneath the Immortal Master realm!

After making the rounds,

Meng Nan met Qian Yu, Chen De, and the others, then returned with Zhao Xiaoshuang. After that, Zhao Xiaoshuang took out an object.

"So this is Spirit Sand?"

Meng Nan scooped up a handful of fine grains. Each one was irregularly shaped, and about half the size of a grain of rice.

"Places where spiritual energy gathers in the world are called Spirit Lands, Spirit Eyes, or Spirit Mines."

"Spirit Sand Veins are the most common of these, and the Spirit Sand they produce is a great boon to cultivation."

"Tianlin Cave, where Tianlin Immortal Master lived, was a Spirit Land—a place favored by heaven and earth, and an excellent place to cultivate. There was also a Spirit Sand Vein in the cave, which produced several catties of Spirit Sand each year. Seven caves with the densest spiritual energy had been carved into the mountain. The first was Tianlin Immortal Master's cultivation cave. The others were reserved for his disciples with the highest cultivation and the best chance of reaching Qi Refining. Immortal Master Zheng was the one who broke through in one of them."

"Qingtian Market has a small Spirit Sand Vein. It's the foundation of the market and produces four or five taels of Spirit Sand a year. That's the market's fifth source of income."

After cultivating for sixty years, many things that had once been secrets were no longer mysterious.

Spirit Sand, for instance.

After his first life ended, Meng Nan had seen Spirit Sand listed in his "unlock progress," but he had never heard of it before. He had asked around in his second life, too, but still hadn't found out anything.

Yet in this life, from the very beginning, he knew all about Spirit Sand. He even had a handful of it in his own hands.

"Spirit Sand."

"Spirit Lands."

"Back then, when Tianlin Cave built its eight cities, each city had been built on a Spirit Land. They had even discovered several small Spirit Sand Veins beneath the city sites."

The memories surfaced. In his vast notes covering sixty-four years, he had recorded Spirit Lands. His summary had specifically highlighted the eight city sites, Spirit Lands, and Spirit Sand.

Construction had begun in Year 40 of the Immortal Era.

In Year 18, those tiny Spirit Lands and veins hadn't been discovered yet. If Meng Nan returned to reality and claimed them ahead of time, he could mine Spirit Sand from them.

Spirit Sand could be used to complete his unlock progress.

Spirit Lands could help him cultivate and break through.

"Right!"

"And there's that spell, too!"

Thinking of it, Meng Nan turned to the summary of his cultivation over the past sixty-odd years—

Thunder Illumination Scripture.

Palm Thunder.

Blood Arrow Secret Technique.

Giant Spirit Mysterious Technique.

Gale Thunder Sword Technique.

Hundred Transformations, Thousand Illusions, Cloud and Mist Movement Technique.

"Gale Thunder Sword Technique supplements Pine Wind Swordplay."

"Hundred Transformations, Thousand Illusions, Cloud and Mist Movement Technique supplements Spirit Wandering Steps."

"I've been cultivating the Blood Arrow Secret Technique all along."

"Palm Thunder is a spell that goes hand in hand with the Thunder Illumination Scripture. I got it while building the cities."

Every spell had its origins. Each had been carefully planned in advance, then meticulously selected before being kept.

The Giant Spirit Mysterious Technique, like the Blood Arrow Secret Technique, was something Meng Nan and Zhao Xiaoshuang had stumbled upon while out and about.

The Blood Arrow Secret Technique had helped the couple immensely over the years. Paired with the Iron Token and Essence Blood, they had made full use of the technique.

But the Giant Spirit Mysterious Technique was different.

"This technique is impossible to cultivate."

"Cultivating it requires devouring vast amounts of spiritual energy and Spirit Sand, mixed with quite a few spiritual materials. Only then can you refine a Giant Spirit."

"You've spent a great deal of effort on it over the years, pouring in quite a lot of Spirit Sand and materials, but the Giant Spirit Mysterious Technique still hasn't worked. The Giant Spirit's body is only a prototype."

"Far too difficult."

Seeing Meng Nan bring out the Giant Spirit Mysterious Technique, Zhao Xiaoshuang shook her head.

When the couple first obtained this technique, its promise had convinced them they had found a marvelous art, a true method of cultivation. But once they began practicing it, they discovered obstacles at every turn.

Cultivation was difficult.

Resources were hard to come by.

It was far more difficult than when Meng Nan had first begun learning alchemy.

Over the following decades, Meng Nan had spent nearly two catties of Spirit Sand on it, but the Giant Spirit Mysterious Technique was like a bottomless pit. It simply couldn't be filled.

It left them caught between advancing and retreating.

In a bind.

Zhao Xiaoshuang had given up on it long ago. Only Meng Nan kept persevering, using a small amount of Spirit Sand and spiritual materials every year to study it carefully and fill several thick stacks of notes with his insights.

He had made quite a show of it.

But he still hadn't succeeded.

"Giant Spirit."

Unconcerned with the past, Meng Nan felt a surge of excitement.

With the Spirit Lands and Spirit Mines beneath Tianlin Cave's city sites, all he had to do was find them ahead of time, then use the spiritual energy and Spirit Sand there to cultivate. Perhaps he could finally lay a solid foundation for the Giant Spirit Mysterious Technique.

A secret technique so difficult and exacting to cultivate would surely be formidable once mastered.

"Worth a try!"

Meng Nan thought to himself.