Rest Day

Inside the Spirit Stone Mine gorge, a wooden hut.

Cheng Buzheng placed all his belongings into his storage bag. The space, about one zhang in size, was scattered with various sundries, with only twenty-four spirit stones emitting a faint spiritual light.

"I wonder if these twenty-four spirit stones are enough to buy everything I need?"

Cheng Buzheng thought with some worry.

He then considered that, at this moment, he didn't even know where the nearby cultivators' marketplace was!

Thinking of this, he immediately stood up and went out to explore, looking for any cultivators preparing to go out to the marketplace.

If he still couldn't find out, there was only one last resort: to ask a fellow disciple senior brother he didn't know for directions.

The senior brothers who had seen him knew his cultivation level. In just one year, he had advanced from Qi Refining Level 2 to the Third Level of Qi Refining. Although the explanation was reasonable, there was no guarantee that some senior brothers wouldn't be suspicious, which would cause trouble!

Not long after, Cheng Buzheng was wandering around the residential area. Seeing groups of cultivators talking, he slowed down and listened to their conversations.

He wandered for a long time.

He still hadn't found any miners going out who needed to replenish supplies, which disappointed him.

Seeing this.

Cheng Buzheng had no choice but to shift his gaze to the fellow disciple senior brothers he hadn't met. However, most of the senior brothers in the gorge had seen him, so it wasn't easy to find a suitable candidate.

His gaze subconsciously swept across the gorge.

Suddenly.

His gaze paused, fixing on the octagonal pavilions. The senior brothers stationed in the octagonal pavilions in the four directions were definitely people he hadn't met.

The octagonal pavilions were built on the mid-hillside. Although it would take some effort to climb up, it would seem too deliberate.

Cheng Buzheng planned to wander around while waiting for the senior brothers stationed in the octagonal pavilions to come down. If he didn't get a definite location today, he planned to tail cultivators leaving the gorge from the outside.

Most cultivators went out to exchange for supplies, but it was inevitable that some would go out for private matters.

If he was unlucky and encountered miners going out for private matters, he could ask them directly in the wilderness. There wouldn't be any situations of "black eats black" or ambushes.

With a decision made in his heart, he wandered around the gorge with a relaxed mood. Although he saw many cultivators going out in twos and threes, he was still waiting.

As expected, the day yielded no results.

The next day.

Cheng Buzheng arrived at the gateway of the Spirit Stone Mine and reported to the young guard senior brother who managed the formation. After that, he left the Spirit Stone Mine.

He moved away from the formation entrance until he was out of sight of the guard senior brother within the formation, then stopped. A yellow spirit light flashed.

Suddenly.

Cheng Buzheng submerged into the earth, sinking a full six zhang underground, before returning near the entrance of the formation.

Not long after, the formation at the entrance flashed with spirit light.

Three cultivators, two middle-aged persons and an elderly-looking cultivator, successively walked out of the formation entrance.

The three chatted and laughed as they walked away into the distance.

Such a group was somewhat unusual. Most cultivators going out were in a hurry. Judging by their appearance, they were heading to a place to eat and drink.

This kind of group couldn't help but catch his attention. Cheng Buzheng, who was underground, immediately decided to stealthily follow them.

Meanwhile, the three, completely unaware, continued to chat and laugh, but their running speed did not slow down at all.

Half a day later.

They arrived in front of a stone wall and directly ran into it, then disappeared.

Seeing this.

Cheng Buzheng did not act immediately but waited for a while. He still couldn't be sure.

Although there was a high probability that this was a cultivator's marketplace, he decided to wait a bit longer just in case.

He wasn't in a hurry for this short period. Everything should be done with "steadiness" as the priority.

Not long after.

Cheng Buzheng saw another cultivator run into the stone wall, and after that, cultivators entered and exited from time to time.

Finally, he was certain that this was definitely a marketplace, otherwise, such a scene would not have occurred.

He scanned the surroundings with his divine sense. Seeing no one nearby, a yellow light flashed, and a figure appeared out of thin air.

Cheng Buzheng glanced at the stone wall in the distance and discovered that it was just a low-level illusion. Any cultivator could see through it at a glance. This arrangement was to prevent disturbances from mortals.

Cheng Buzheng also pretended, just like the previous cultivators, and directly ran into the stone wall.

Entering the formation, he found a stone gate tower in front of him. On the door frame, three large characters were carved: 'Spirit Stone Market'.

After entering the stone gate tower, he realized that it was completely different from the outside.

There were many cultivators in the Spirit Stone Market, but most of them, like him, were in the Early Qi Refining Stage, with the majority being at the first or second level of Qi Refining. Qi Refining Mid-stage cultivators were rare, and there were only a few in the Late Qi Refining Stage.

Cheng Buzheng walked on the street and found that the Spirit Stone Market was divided into two parts: one was shops, and the other was stalls. He could clearly see cultivators with and without spirit stones standing on the street.

Then, he silently walked towards the stall area. Without spirit stones, he couldn't be arrogant. Stalls were better; they were affordable, and he could find bargains.

He walked and looked, passing by stalls selling talismans, where 'Fireball Talismans', 'Diamond Shields', and 'Entanglement Talismans' were displayed...

After inquiring about the prices, he quietly walked away. Although he really wanted them, the Spirit Stones in his Storage Bag told him he wasn't qualified to splurge.

When he passed by the stall selling Alchemical Pills, he felt the meaning of poverty even more.

In the porcelain bottles on that stall were 'Qi Gathering Pills', 'Qi Nourishing Pills', and 'Qi Gathering Pills'...

Especially the 'Qi Nourishing Pills', which were pills to advance the Early Qi Refining Stage, made him quite envious.

When he asked the price again, and the stall owner told him two Spirit Stones per pill, it completely extinguished his desire to spend.

Cheng Buzheng only had twenty-four Spirit Stones, which was the result of his year of hard work. He had to be meticulous and spend every Spirit Stone on what mattered most.

Afterward, he saw stalls selling Magic Tools and Spirit Herbs of all kinds. Although the prices were expensive and he couldn't afford them, he still stepped forward and chatted cordially with the stall owners.

After browsing for a full hour, Cheng Buzheng had a general idea of the prices here, which were about the same as the prices at the small scattered markets in front of Fengyun Tower within the sect.

While he was idly browsing, he suddenly noticed a stall not far away displaying a considerable number of Jade Slips.

Seeing this.

Cheng Buzheng didn't rush. Instead, he unhurriedly browsed through the stalls one by one.

He was afraid that walking over directly would reveal his eagerness. He didn't dare to be careless with other cultivators; every cultivator could keep their eyes and ears open.

Not long after.

Cheng Buzheng arrived at the stall selling Jade Slips. He bent down and casually picked up a Jade Slip to examine it. The Jade Slip recorded the First-order Low-grade common quality spell, 'Fire Sword Technique'.

Within this Jade Slip, one could only see the general situation of the spell, not its complete content.

Afterward, Cheng Buzheng casually put the Jade Slip back in its place.

The stall owner sat quietly, not interacting with him at all. He had understood a truth long ago: treating others as fools would ultimately reveal that only oneself was the fool.

Cheng Buzheng quietly examined the Jade Slips on the stall. After finishing, he didn't say a word and quietly picked up the next Jade Slip.

Not long after.

He roughly finished examining all the Jade Slips on the stall, then put down the last Jade Slip.