After staying at the Ji Family for two days, Li Yuan took a general look at the surrounding environment.
Ji Family Fortified Manor Thirty miles east, there is a city.
Disciple Ji Family mentioned that there is the largest trading center nearby, called Huode Marketplace.
On the morning of the third day, Li Yuan finished practicing and left Fortified Manor and walked east.
Wind Escape Technique was activated, and within half an hour the outline of Huode Marketplace was visible.
From a distance, the scale of the city is much larger than expected.
The area enclosed by the stone wall is at least twice the size of Yunyang Marketplace. The city gate is crowded with people, and monks are coming and going in an endless stream. Several flags are hung on the city wall, with flame patterns embroidered on the flags, making a hunting sound in the wind.
There were no strict guards on both sides of the city gate, only two monks stood at the door to maintain order. Li Yuan followed the flow of people into the city gate and stepped into the main street.
The main street is wide and lined with shops on both sides, making it much more prosperous than both Li Family Market and Qinghe Market.
The types of shops are extremely complete. There are Elixir Shop, Law Artifact, Spirit Herb Shop, Talisman Shop, Ore Shop, and animal material shops, one after another. There are temporary stalls set up in front of many shops, and Rogue Cultivator people squat in front of the stalls and shout and sell, and the voices come and go.
The number of monks on the street far exceeds that of Yunyang Marketplace and Qi Refining Stage. Occasionally, one or two Early Foundation Establishment's aura can be sensed, blending in without being obvious among the crowd.
Li Yuan walked along the main street for a while and stopped next to a tea shop.
The shopkeeper of the tea shop is an old monk in the late stage of Qi refining, and he is pouring tea for a few casual cultivators.
"Why is it so busy here?" Li Yuan sat down and asked for a cup of tea.
The shopkeeper pushed the tea cup over and smiled.
"Senior, are you from out of town? Huode Marketplace has always been like this. There is only one decent market within a radius of two to three hundred miles, and all the business of several Lineage and Rogue Cultivator settlements around it is done here."
He traced his finger across the street.
"In addition, the area on the edge of Traveling Merchant. Liang Province is so remote that Merchant Guild from the big sect doesn't want to set up shop, so he relies on Traveling Merchant to run back and forth. The goods brought by Traveling Merchant from one trip cannot be sold elsewhere, so they can basically be cleared here. Therefore, the variety of goods here is better than that of some serious markets."
Li Yuan nodded, picked up the tea cup and took a sip.
Traveling Merchant. Itinerant merchants travel back and forth between various cities and towns, earning Spirit Stone from information differences and transportation fees. Markets in remote areas often rely more on Traveling Merchant to replenish their supply of goods.
After drinking tea, Li Yuan got up and continued walking along the main street.
Entry Perception continues to operate within a three-foot range and will automatically scan every time it passes a store.
When we reached the middle of the main street, Li Yuan's pace suddenly slowed down.
Not the reaction of Entry Perception.
It is the Affix effect of Demonic Origin Avatar.
Can sense the presence of demonic energy around you.
Li Yuan captured a very faint wave of demonic energy in his consciousness.
The fluctuations come from the crowds on the street.
Li Yuan did not stop and continued walking forward while focusing his perception on the direction of the demonic energy fluctuations.
A middle-aged Rogue Cultivator wearing a brown short shirt, with a cultivation level of Qi Refining Late Stage, mingled in the crowd and walked towards a Ore Shop. His surface aura was no different from that of an ordinary Rogue Cultivator, but there was a faint trace of demonic energy deep in his body.
If it were not for the perception effect of Demonic Origin Avatar, it would not be noticeable at all.
Li Yuan Keep walking.
Two more streets passed, the second one.
A young monk in his thirties, Mid Qi Refinement, squatted in front of a stall and selected Spirit Herb. There was also residual evil energy deep in his body, which was a bit stronger than the first one.
The third one appeared in a Law Artifact shop.
A female cultivator in her forties, Qi Refining Late Stage, was bargaining with the shopkeeper. The concentration of the residual evil energy was similar to the second one.
Li Yuan walked around the main street and sensed evil energy in five people.
The five people are scattered throughout the city, with no obvious connection between them. They are all at Qi Refining Mid-to-Late Stage, and their clothes are no different from ordinary Rogue Cultivator.
Chen Yi said that there are still some remnants of Foundation Establishment from the Demon Sect that have not been eliminated, and practicing Devil Cultivation Method requires a lot of demonic energy.
The residual demonic energy on these people is very weak, unlike Devil Cultivator from the Foundation Establishment Realm. It is more likely that they have been in contact with the source of demonic energy, or have practiced some kind of low-level Devil Cultivation Method.
Huode Marketplace is located in a remote area and has loose management. It is indeed easy to hide people in this kind of place.
Li Yuan didn't stay any longer, kept this in mind and continued to visit the market.
Entry Perception scanned the shops on both sides of the main street one by one.
Most stores didn't find anything. Although Huode Marketplace has a wide variety of products, the quality varies, and there are not many high-quality items.
When I walked to a grocery store, there was a faint fluctuation in my perception.
White.
The fluctuation comes from a small wooden box in the corner of the counter.
Li Yuan walked over and opened the wooden box.
There is a dark bead the size of a thumb placed inside, with a smooth and round surface, like some kind of Demon Beast crystal.
"What's the price of this?"
The shopkeeper glanced at it. "I don't know, but the quality is good. Fifteen Spirit Stone."
"Take it."
Li Yuan puts down Spirit Stone and puts Dark Bead into the storage bag.
After leaving the grocery store, we stopped in a secluded alley.
Take out the dark beads from the storage bag and put your fingers on them.
[Equipable item detected: Demonic Spirit Bead (complete)]
[Equipment Affix preview: Demonic Origin Enhancement (white)--The effect of demonic energy on one's own cultivation is increased by 20%]
[Preview of permanent conditions: One Devil Cultivation Method reaches the Perfection realm (0/1)]
[The current Equipment Slot is full (5/5), do you want to replace the current equipment?]
White Trait. Demonic Origin Enhancement.
The effect of demonic energy on one's own practice is increased by 20%.
With the Affix effect of Demonic Origin Avatar, Demonic Origin Technique's cultivation efficiency can reach a higher level. After Spiritual Qi is converted into magic energy and penetrates into the body, the strengthening effect of Deep Layer will be increased by 20%, and the same amount of magic energy can produce more improvements.
The permanent condition is that one Devil Cultivation Method reaches Perfection.
Demonic Origin Technique currently does not have Entry Level, which is far away from Perfection. But this Affix can be equipped first, and will continue to exert its effect during the process of practicing Demonic Origin Technique. It will be permanent when Demonic Origin Technique reaches Perfection.
Li Yuan put Demonic Spirit Bead away, walked back to the main street along the alley, exited Huode Marketplace, and flew back in the direction of the Ji Family.