Rest Day

Inside the Spirit Stone Mine Canyon, in a wooden hut.

Cheng Buzheng placed all his belongings in his storage bag. Scattered across the one-zhang space were various odds and ends, along with only twenty-four Spirit Stones, faintly gleaming.

"I wonder if these twenty-four Spirit Stones will be enough to buy everything I need?"

Cheng Buzheng thought with some concern.

Then he considered the matter. He didn't even know where the nearby cultivators' marketplace was!

At that thought, he immediately stood up and went outside to look around, hoping to see whether any cultivators were preparing to head to the marketplace.

If he still couldn't find out, he'd have only one last option: ask a Senior Brother he didn't know.

The Senior Brothers who had seen him knew his cultivation level. He had advanced from Qi Refining Level 2 to the Third Level of Qi Refining in just one year. Although he could explain it plausibly, there was no guarantee that some suspicious Senior Brother wouldn't grow wary. That would be trouble!

Before long, Cheng Buzheng was wandering around the residential area. Whenever he saw a few cultivators talking, he slowed down to listen in on their conversation.

He wandered for a long while.

Still, he didn't see any miners heading out to replenish their supplies, which left him somewhat disappointed.

Seeing this,

Cheng Buzheng had no choice but to focus on fellow disciples who hadn't seen him before. Most of the Senior Brothers in the canyon had already seen him, though, so finding a suitable person wasn't easy.

His gaze unconsciously swept across the canyon.

Suddenly,

His eyes paused on the Octagonal Pavilion. He had definitely never met the Senior Brothers stationed in the pavilions in the canyon's four directions.

The Octagonal Pavilions were all built halfway up the mountainside. He could climb up with some effort, but it would look too deliberate.

Cheng Buzheng decided to keep wandering while waiting for one of the Senior Brothers stationed in an Octagonal Pavilion to come down. If he didn't learn the exact location today, he planned to follow a cultivator leaving the canyon.

Most cultivators went out to trade for supplies, though some might be heading out on private business.

If he was unlucky and happened upon a miner out on private business, he could simply ask in the wilderness. That would also avoid any trouble with robbery or ambushes.

Having made up his mind, he wandered around the canyon in a relaxed mood. Although he saw many cultivators going out in groups of two or three, he continued to wait.

As expected, the day passed without results.

The next day,

Cheng Buzheng went to the Spirit Stone Mine entrance and found the young Guard Senior Brother who had escorted him through the formation. After reporting to him, he left the Spirit Stone Mine.

He went some distance beyond the Formation Entrance and stopped only when he reached a place the Guard Senior Brother inside the formation couldn't see. Then yellow spirit light flashed.

In an instant,

Cheng Buzheng sank into the earth, descending six zhang underground before returning toward the formation entrance.

Before long, spirit light flashed at the formation entrance.

Three cultivators—a pair of middle-aged men and an elderly-looking cultivator—came out one after another.

The three chatted and laughed as they headed off into the distance.

This group stood out. Most cultivators who went out hurried along, but these three looked as if they were going somewhere to eat and drink.

Cheng Buzheng, underground, couldn't help but notice them. He immediately decided to quietly follow.

The three, entirely unaware, continued chatting and laughing, yet their feet never slowed as they ran.

Half a day later,

They arrived at a stone wall and walked straight into it, vanishing from sight.

Seeing this,

Cheng Buzheng didn't act right away. Instead, he waited for a while. He still couldn't be certain.

There was a good chance this was the cultivators' marketplace, but to be safe, he decided to wait a little longer.

He wasn't in such a hurry that he couldn't spare a little time. In all things, caution came first.

Before long,

Cheng Buzheng saw another cultivator walk into the stone wall. After that, cultivators kept coming and going from time to time.

At last, he was sure this had to be the marketplace. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a scene like this.

He used his Divine Sense to investigate the area. Seeing no one nearby, he flashed with yellow light, and a figure appeared out of nowhere.

Cheng Buzheng looked toward the distant stone wall and realized it was nothing more than a low-level illusion. Any cultivator could see through it at a glance. The formation had been arranged to keep ordinary mortals from disturbing the place.

Cheng Buzheng pretended to be like the cultivators before him and walked straight into the stone wall.

After entering the formation, he saw a Stone Gate Tower ahead. Three large characters were carved into the lintel: "Spirit Stone Market."

Once he entered the Stone Gate Tower, he realized that this place was completely different from the outside.

The Spirit Stone Market was crowded with cultivators, though most, like him, were in the Early Qi Refining Stage, chiefly at levels one and two. Qi Refining Mid-stage cultivators were rare, and only a handful had reached the Late Qi Refining Stage.

As Cheng Buzheng walked down the street, he saw that the Spirit Stone Market consisted of two parts: shops and street stalls. Whether cultivators had Spirit Stones or not was plain as day to him, standing in the middle of the street.

Then he quietly headed toward the stalls. Without Spirit Stones, he couldn't hold his head high. The stalls were better anyway—the prices were reasonable, and he might even find a hidden bargain.

As he walked, he looked around. He passed a stall selling Talismans, where Fireball Talismans, Diamond Shields, Entanglement Talismans, and more were laid out.

After asking the price, he silently walked away. He really wanted them, but the Spirit Stones in his storage bag reminded him that he couldn't afford to splurge.

When he passed a stall selling pills, he felt even more keenly what it meant to be poor.

The porcelain bottles on the stall held Qi Gathering Pills, Qi Nourishing Pills, Qi Gathering Pills...

The Qi Nourishing Pills in particular, which helped cultivators in the Early Qi Refining Stage improve their cultivation, made him especially envious.

When he asked the price again and the stall owner told him each pill cost two Spirit Stones, his desire to buy them vanished completely.

Cheng Buzheng had only twenty-four Spirit Stones, the fruits of a year's hard work. He had to budget carefully and spend every Spirit Stone where it counted.

After that, he saw all kinds of stalls selling Magic Tools and Spirit Medicines. Although he couldn't afford their expensive wares, he still went up and chatted warmly with the stall owners.

After browsing for a full hour, Cheng Buzheng had a rough idea of the prices here. They were about the same as those at the small marketplace in front of Fengyun Tower inside the sect.

As he wandered, he suddenly noticed a stall nearby displaying a considerable number of Jade Slips.

Seeing this,

Cheng Buzheng didn't hurry over. Instead, he strolled past the stalls one by one.

He was afraid that walking straight over would reveal how eager he was. He didn't dare be careless around cultivators; every one of them could keep an eye on all directions and an ear out for everything.

Before long,

Cheng Buzheng arrived at the stall selling Jade Slips. He bent down and casually picked one up to inspect it. It recorded a first-tier, low-grade, ordinary-quality spell: the Fire Sword Technique.

The Jade Slip showed only a general outline of the spell; it didn't reveal the full contents.

Then Cheng Buzheng casually put the Jade Slip back where it had been.

The stall owner sat quietly with his legs crossed and made no attempt to speak with him. He'd learned long ago that if you took other people for fools, you'd eventually discover that you were the only fool.

Cheng Buzheng quietly examined the Jade Slips on the stall. After finishing with one, he said nothing and silently picked up the next.

Before long,

He had more or less examined every Jade Slip on the stall. Then he put down the last one.