Chapter 185

She understood the principle that there are always people more capable than you, and there's always something beyond your understanding.

Putting aside others, she couldn't quite figure out what was going on with that tall man who had just spouted such nonsense.

Therefore, they should still be careful in their actions.

Soon, Xiao Minghuang and the other two entered the city gate.

The city was still bustling with activity, but the difference was that there were many temporary shops set up in the square, offering a wide variety of goods.

There are also some people who don't have a shop; they just set up a stall and display all sorts of goods.

This place is like a small trading market.

"Fellow Daoists, is this your first time visiting the Marketplace outside the courtyard?"

At this moment, a cultivator dressed in black robes walked over and asked with a smile.

"What advice do you have, fellow Daoist?"

Lin Wanqiu cupped her hands in a respectful gesture and said politely.

"I am unworthy of your instruction. My name is Chen Ming, and I am merely a guide in the market outside the Marketplace. If you are unfamiliar with this place, I can act as your guide."

Chen Ming cupped his hands in a respectful gesture.

Lin Wanqiu looked at Xiao Minghuang.

Xiao Minghuang nodded.

Chen Ming, who frequented the Marketplace, naturally recognized that Xiao Minghuang was the one among the three who could make decisions. He smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist, you've done me the honor; ten Mid-grade Spirit Stones will suffice."

Ten Mid-grade Spirit Stones, while not cheap, were hardly a high price for Xiao Minghuang.

Lin Wanqiu took out five Mid-grade Spirit Stones from her storage bag and handed them over.

"Here are five Mid-grade Spirit Stones. Take them; we'll give you the rest after we've finished our tour."

Chen Ming didn't say much about it and readily agreed, "Okay!"

"Since you are all unfamiliar with the Marketplace outside the academy, you must have come here for the Holy Academy's admissions."

Chen Ming led Xiao Minghuang and the other two as they walked down the street, talking as they went.

What does that mean?

Ye Ruoshui looked at the strange and wonderful trinkets on the street, a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

Chen Ming laughed and said, "If you didn't come from another state, how could you not know about the Marketplace?"

"The outer Marketplace is the closest external Marketplace to the Holy Academy. Although it's called Marketplace, it's practically a large city!"

"Although this place is not directly under the jurisdiction of the Holy Academy, because the Holy Academy's admissions are held here, over time, a large amount of trade from the Eastern Pole has gathered here. Regardless of cultivation level, everyone can find the treasures they want here!"

"Furthermore, because of the existence of the Holy Academy, no matter how high one's cultivation level is, one is not allowed to make a move here. Anyone who wants to break this rule, even a supreme expert who has entered the Saint realm, should think twice before challenging the Holy Academy!"

Lin Wanqiu said, "As you said, the Marketplace outside the courtyard is indeed a paradise for cultivators. Even if you kill someone outside, you can run here to take refuge without worrying about being hunted down by your enemies."

He shook his head listlessly. "That's definitely not the case. The Holy Academy wouldn't do anything corrupt. The Holy Academy only maintains peace here during the enrollment ceremony; at other times, the Marketplace Lord is in charge."

"The longer you stay in the Marketplace before the Holy Academy holds its enrollment ceremony, the more spirit stones you have to pay. If you stay for several years, the amount of spirit stones you have to pay will be an extremely high number that no cultivator can afford."

"Therefore, once you enter the outer Marketplace, you must abide by Marketplace rules and refrain from harming anyone."

Lin Wanqiu nodded slightly. "Understood."

Next, Chen Ming led them to visit several main areas of the Marketplace.

Within the Marketplace, there are establishments such as Pill Cauldron Pavilion, Myriad Treasures Pavilion, Cloud Seal Pavilion, and Hundred Inquiries Pavilion, which mainly deal in elixirs, magical artifacts, talismans, and auctions, and are run by the Marketplace owners.

As for all the other shops and stalls, they are all independently operated by the cultivators themselves, and they only need to pay rent.

With ten days left until the deadline for admissions to the Holy Academy, Xiao Minghuang and the others spent several days leisurely strolling Marketplace.

I bought quite a few things during that time.

In the Great Xia, cultivators can trade using only Low-grade Spirit Stones. Mid-grade Spirit Stones are extremely rare, and High-grade Spirit Stones are a once-in-a-year occurrence.

Outside the Marketplace, the starting price for transactions is Mid-grade Spirit Stones; Low-grade Spirit Stones are not accepted at all. You need to go to the Hundred Inquiries Pavilion to exchange them for Mid-grade Spirit Stones before you can make a transaction.

Exchanging for Mid-grade Spirit Stones requires an additional 20% discount!

In other words, to exchange for one Mid-grade Spirit Stones, in addition to ten Low-grade Spirit Stones, you also need to pay two more.

They call it a service fee.

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211. A Celestial-Rank Magic Treasure, is it qualified? [Please subscribe!]

Xiao Minghuang had never seen such an unreasonable rule!

She's always the one setting rules for others, but today she's the one being set rules for!

After obtaining the Mid-grade Spirit Stones, the three of them went on a shopping spree in the Marketplace.

Ye Ruoshui was the main consumer. She was curious about many things. Although she did not ask for them, Xiao Minghuang preferred to spoil her and would buy her some novelties wherever they went.

This made Ye Ruoshui's personality much more lively.

On the fourth day of their visit, Xiao Minghuang and his companions finally arrived in front of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, is this the Myriad Treasures Pavilion you spoke of?"

Standing in front of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, Xiao Minghuang looked at the building before her.

This is an extremely vast and towering building. It is nominally a pavilion, but in terms of scale, it is many times larger than the Imperial Palace of the Great Xia!

The exterior of the pavilion is constructed of red glazed tiles, carved with ancient totems and intricate patterns.

"That's right, this Myriad Treasures Pavilion is the largest shop in the Marketplace outside the courtyard. You can buy almost any product you need here."

Previously, through Chen Ming's introduction, Xiao Minghuang knew that although the Marketplace lord ran many businesses, most of them were not open to individual cultivators.

The Pill Cauldron Pavilion mainly refines elixirs, while the Cloud Seal Pavilion specializes in talismans and formations. As for the Hundred Inquiries Pavilion, it is responsible for auctions and information gathering, organization, and dissemination, all of which are not closely related to ordinary cultivators.

Only in this Myriad Treasures Pavilion can anyone go in to shop.

However, the prerequisite is that you need to prove that you have sufficient spending power.

Whether it's spirit stones, elixirs, magic treasures, or any other rare items, as long as you possess any one of these, you can enjoy VIP treatment upon entering the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, even without making any purchases.

However, this privilege is not always available. If someone enters three times in a row without making a purchase, they will be prohibited from entering the pavilion again.

This is also to prevent some stingy cultivators from bringing their only one or two treasures into the Myriad Treasures Pavilion to swindle and cheat.

Xiao Minghuang didn't have any vulgar thoughts. As soon as she entered, she was greeted by the hostess of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion.

She was a young woman in a red dress, who looked to be around twenty years old. She was pretty and had a smile on her face.

Welcome to the Myriad Treasures Pavilion!

Xiao Minghuang nodded. "I plan to buy a few new clothes for my Dao Companion, and I'll just look around."

The woman in the red dress smiled and asked, "May I ask what style you would like to buy, fellow Daoist?"

Xiao Minghuang looked at Ye Ruoshui, "Ruoshui, what kind of style do you like?"

Ye Ruoshui had already bought a lot of things in the past two days, so her desire to spend money had greatly diminished. She waved her hand and said, "No, no, I've had enough. Let's buy Sister Lin a new dress!"

For the past two days, Ye Ruoshui has been doing most of the shopping, while Lin Wanqiu has been watching from the sidelines. Although she doesn't show it on her face, she is extremely envious inside.

She wasn't envious of Ye Ruoshui for buying so many things.

She envied the prince's doting affection for Ye Ruoshui.

She knew that if she expressed it, His Highness would definitely buy her things in return, but she didn't say anything.

That's just her personality; even if she wants something or likes someone, she won't say it openly.

But Xiao Minghuang had already realized this, and now that he had come to the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, his main purpose was to buy Lin Wanqiu something she liked.

The woman in the red dress said, "In that case, I'll recommend some to our distinguished guest."

Xiao Minghuang and the other two nodded and followed the woman in the red dress into the depths of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion.

The journey was filled with rare treasures.

High-level magical treasures and elixirs are as common as cabbages in a vegetable shed.

Earth-rank magic treasures and elixirs are slightly more precious, and they are displayed on the wall, but they are clearly priced, just like ordinary commodities, not high-end at all.

As for supernatural powers and cultivation techniques, they were piled up on the bookshelves, just like the vernacular novels sold by weight in the secular book market.

Xiao Minghuang saw many cultivators standing in front of a certain magic weapon or pill, gazing at it for a long time, and finally gritting their teeth and taking out a large number of spirit stones.

Even Xiao Minghuang was slightly taken aback by this sight.

In the Southern Border, there are only a handful of Earth-rank magic treasures, and Earth-grade pill are even rarer, but in the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, they are quite ordinary.

But if that were all, Myriad Treasures Pavilion probably wouldn't be worthy of its reputation for having everything.

Because truly rare treasures, such as Earth-rank and Heaven-grade pill, magic weapons, cultivation techniques, supernatural powers, and even innate divine objects, have never been seen.

"The treasures here seem unworthy of your esteemed establishment's reputation..."

After circling around, Xiao Minghuang spoke calmly.

"Distinguished guests, our Myriad Treasures Pavilion's goods are divided into three levels. The goods on the first level can basically meet the needs of customers at the Spirit Seed Realm and below. The goods on the second level are frequently visited by cultivators at the Nascent Primal Embryo Realm and the Nascent Soul Realm. As for the third level, generally, few people go up there unless their cultivation level is at the King Realm."

According to the woman in the red dress, Xiao Minghuang indeed didn't find any of the goods on the first floor of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion appealing.

Ye Ruoshui can refine even Earth-grade pill and magical treasures, as long as she has enough materials.

"Just take us directly to the second floor," Xiao Minghuang said directly.

The woman in the red dress was slightly taken aback, then said with difficulty, "Distinguished guests, you may not know this, but to enter the second floor, you must demonstrate corresponding financial resources..."

Although she was just a hostess, she possessed the cultivation of the Spirit Seed Realm. She could tell that Xiao Minghuang and the other two were extraordinary in appearance and must be the pride of heaven who came from other states to participate in the Holy Academy's recruitment.

Such a genius must have extraordinary luck. Even if he can't produce many spirit stones, he's bound to have a few rare magical treasures on him.

But it was only a possibility. Before seeing it with her own eyes, she couldn't take it upon herself to lead the three to the second floor. If she were investigated by her superiors, her job would be ruined.

"Financial resources? How much financial resources are needed?"

The woman in the red dress led Xiao Minghuang and the other two to a quiet room.

Upon entering, Xiao Minghuang discovered that there seemed to be some kind of formation in the room, which could isolate the flow of energy between the inside and outside.

"If our distinguished guest has any precious magical treasures, elixirs, or a large quantity of high-grade spirit stones, please feel free to bring them out. This room is equipped with an array, so no matter what treasures you possess, they will not be detected by outsiders."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Minghuang didn't say anything more. He casually took out a crystal-clear bone spear from his storage bag and held it in his hand.

This bone spear emitted a faint, pure white light, and its aura was in no way weaker than some Earth-rank magic treasures!

Even celestial-grade magic treasures are not to be outdone!

"This... this is..."

"A Heaven-Rank Magic Treasure, is it qualified?"

Xiao Minghuang smiled slightly.

This bone spear was her trophy from slaying the true demon.

"It truly is a Heavenly Rank Magic Treasure!"

The woman in the red dress was surprised for a moment, then her smile widened.

Only disciples of top-tier forces can afford to use magic treasures of this caliber. The fact that Xiao Minghuang and his companions could produce such a treasure indicates that they are not ordinary people!

The woman in the red dress quickly bowed and said, "I was rude just now, fellow Daoists, please follow me!"

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