Heavenly Treasure Pavilion

"Haaah!!~~"

Golden sunlight streamed through the carved window lattice. Chen An's eyelashes fluttered a few times before he woke, stretching lazily with a yawn.

After tossing and turning for most of last night, he had taken a bath, then spent two hundred Yuan Crystals to exchange for two hundred years of time and cultivate the Flying Star Shadow-Chasing Step to perfection. After that, he had stopped fussing about and climbed into bed for a proper sleep.

With his current Xiantian Realm cultivation, let alone one night, even ten days and ten nights without sleep would not affect him. Yet the habits and schedule of his previous life were not something he could change overnight.

Besides, in his view, profound cultivation was one thing, while living as one pleased was another. There was no need to force himself to endure everything through cultivation alone.

Getting out of bed, Chen An first slowly tidied up the room that had been thrown into disarray by the powerful force of his breakthrough last night. He set the crooked tables and chairs back in place one by one, swept away the dust on the floor, and restored everything to neat order.

He then went into the courtyard to wash up, cleansing away the night's lethargy and shaking off his sleepiness. He changed into a clean, elegant azure scholar's robe, straightened his collar, circulated the Black Tortoise Breath-Concealing Art to suppress his cultivation to Qi Condensation Second Stage, raised a hand to push open the courtyard gate, and slowly walked out.

The morning sunlight on the streets was gentle, while the thin morning mist gradually dispersed.

Shops along the street opened one after another. Cooking smoke curled upward, voices gradually rose, and passersby hurried along their way while peddlers carried shoulder poles. Carriages and horses moved slowly past, and the bustling flavor of everyday life rushed at him.

The plants lining both sides of the streets and alleys were beaded with morning dew. A breeze brushed past, carrying a faint fragrance of grass and leaves, painting a peaceful, steady morning scene.

Though he had absorbed the original owner's memories and was already intimately familiar with this city's streets, alleys, and local customs, standing in person upon such an ancient, picturesque market street still stirred a hint of unfamiliarity and novelty within him, as if he were in a foreign land.

Carrying that faint curiosity, Chen An blended into the flow of pedestrians, his footsteps calm and unhurried.

Street vendors' cries, porters' shouts, the jingling of carriage bells, and neighbors' idle chatter rose and fell around him, weaving together into a warm bustle of mortal life.

The bluestone pavement beneath his feet was weathered and mottled. Gray tiles and whitewashed walls stood in scattered rows on either side, morning dew dripping from the eaves as the breeze swept the scent of breakfast straight toward him.

"Grrrrumble!!!~~"

He had not walked far when a sudden growl erupted from his stomach.

Chen An raised a brow. He did not continue wandering about; heaven and earth might be vast, but eating came first.

He immediately glanced around, then headed toward a breakfast stall nearby.

White steam billowed from the stall, where bamboo steamers were stacked high. The rich fragrance of wheat and meat mingled with the mild sweetness of hot porridge, brimming with the warmth of everyday life.

Chen An stepped up to the steaming breakfast stall. It had been set up beneath an old locust tree, with several simple wooden tables and long benches arranged neatly around it.

White vapor continuously rose from the stacked steamers. The fragrance of meat buns and scallion pancakes blended with the warm scent of plain porridge, making one's mouth water.

The owners were a middle-aged couple, quick and efficient as they busied themselves serving passing customers.

"Boss, give me ten meat buns, five scallion pancakes, and three bowls of lean meat porridge!"

"Right away! Please have a seat, it'll be here in a moment!"

The proprietress answered as she lifted the lid of a steaming basket. Hot vapor washed over her face, yet her movements remained swift and practiced.

Before long, all the piping-hot breakfast dishes were brought to the table.

The thin-skinned, generously filled meat buns glistened with oil; the crisp, golden scallion pancakes gave off a rich aroma; and steam curled from the mild, stomach-warming lean meat porridge.

Chen An did not stand on ceremony. He sat down calmly and began eating at an unhurried pace.

That was simply how the martial world was. Postnatal Realm martial artists possessed powerful flesh bodies and abundant vitality. The stronger their cultivation, the greater their bodily consumption, and their appetites surged accordingly.

For ordinary Houtian Realm martial artists, three meals of coarse tea and plain food each day were long since insufficient to sustain their flesh bodies. Some could devour an entire several-hundred-pound second-rank ferocious beast in a single meal before they could replenish their depleted vitality.

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Stepping into the Xiantian Realm, however, was an entirely different level.

Though Xiantian Realm martial artists possessed strength far surpassing that of Postnatal Realm martial artists, they no longer needed to rely solely on meat and grain to replenish their consumption.

Having opened the Heavenly Bridge within themselves, they could constantly draw in and expel the world's primordial energy, nourishing their flesh and blood with it, nurturing their true qi, becoming self-sufficient, and greatly reducing the cravings of the stomach.

It was only because he had broken through overnight, his mind taut and his vitality churning fiercely, coupled with having gone hungry for so long, that the instinctive sensation of hunger had become difficult to suppress.

Thus, such an appetite far beyond that of an ordinary person was nothing unusual for the present Chen An.

In but a short while, the food covering the table had all been devoured. The hunger in his belly vanished completely, warmth spreading through every limb and bone, while the Xiantian true qi circulating in his dantian became increasingly gentle and stable.

After getting up to pay, Chen An patted the tiny crumbs from his clothes before leaving the breakfast stall and continuing slowly down the bustling long street.

"Heavenly Treasure Pavilion!"

Not long after, a magnificent pavilion came into view. Chen An halted, lifting his gaze as his expression paused slightly.

The pavilion was built of blue bricks and dark tiles, with vermilion-lacquered gates. Its plaque was edged in gilding, the strokes bold and vigorous, making it especially eye-catching along the entire street.

Heavenly Treasure Pavilion was said to be one of the Great Luo Dynasty's foremost super merchant houses. Its influence spread throughout every province and prefecture of the dynasty, its foundation deep and unfathomable.

The pavilion's goods were dazzling and all-encompassing. It had everything martial artists needed for cultivation: sharp weapons, protective soft armor, healing pills, body-tempering spiritual medicines, martial arts manuals, refining and alchemy materials, as well as rare ferocious beast essence blood, demon bones, beast cores, and other precious resources.

This place was not only Wurong County martial artists' foremost choice for purchasing cultivation resources, but also the central location for cultivators to exchange treasures, pawn collections, and trade for Yuan Crystals.

Rumors further claimed that Heavenly Treasure Pavilion's foundation was far less simple than it appeared. Some of its branches even kept Earth Rank and Heaven Rank cultivation methods, martial skills, and divine weapons for sale.

Such treasures were worth cities and fortunes. Only great clans, peerless geniuses, or veteran experts had the qualifications to glimpse their full splendor and pay a fortune to acquire them.

Chen An stood before the pavilion, gazing up at the gilded Heavenly Treasure Pavilion plaque hanging high overhead. His eyes flickered slightly.

Previously, he had been nothing more than a mere Qi Condensation Second Stage cultivator. Naturally, he had not dared set foot in such a gold-devouring den.

But times had changed. Now that he possessed Mid Xiantian Realm cultivation, his courage was naturally much greater.

He needed stronger cultivation methods and martial skills!

The highest-grade cultivation method he currently knew was merely High-Grade Profound Rank, corresponding only to the Houtian Realm Peak. It was fundamentally incapable of matching the cultivation level of the Xiantian Realm.

Without a superior cultivation method suited to the Xiantian Realm as his foundation, even if he held the system in hand and could exchange endlessly for years of cultivation, his training would still yield twice the effort for half the result, progressing at a painfully slow pace.

Last night's bitter cultivation had been the best proof of this.

At first, relying on his existing foundation, he had spent less than three hundred years to easily break through the barrier between man and heaven, stepping into the Early Xiantian Realm in a single stride.

Yet his subsequent cultivation had suddenly become sluggish. He had been forced to spend a full two hundred years before barely advancing steadily from the Early Xiantian Realm into the Mid Xiantian Realm.

Aside from the original body's mediocre physical aptitude, the core issue was his lack of a proper Xiantian-level cultivation method.

Profound Rank cultivation methods were too limited in scope. They could not circulate Xiantian true qi, could not draw upon the world's primordial energy to temper his meridians and dantian, and could not maximize the use of the long years of cultivation bestowed by the system.

If this continued, the higher his realm became, the heavier the barriers to cultivation would grow. Even with a heaven-defying system in hand that allowed him to exchange endlessly for cultivation time, he would merely squander vast amounts of years, gaining twice the effort for half the result, exhausting his foundation and wasting his uniquely blessed advantage for nothing.

The same principle applied to martial skills.

Incompatible martial skills would ultimately be unable to bring out the strength of the Xiantian Realm.

It would be fine if he encountered martial artists weaker than himself. But if he faced enemies of the same realm, or even those whose realms surpassed his own, then he would be in danger.

His gaze flickered, and Chen An stepped through the gates of Heavenly Treasure Pavilion...