The other two passengers jumped down from the carriage as well and gazed toward the Desolate Ruins Market, but still said nothing to one another.
Whenever their eyes met, the woman would give him a slight nod, while the old man remained like a wooden statue, silent and unresponsive.
Lin Changheng merely smiled, unperturbed.
Only by being sufficiently inconspicuous could he avoid potential trouble. If everyone eagerly approached him and paid attention to him, that would be bad instead.
Soon, they arrived at the market entrance with the caravan.
Lin Changheng immediately bade farewell to the caravan steward, who reminded him to return here at noon in half a month to travel back together.
They could not wait for latecomers; he must not miss the appointed time.
Lin Changheng nodded in acknowledgment, then turned to pay one spirit stone at the entrance. He received a token and entered the market.
Shops lined both sides of the bluestone road, their signs packed as densely as scales. Heads bobbed along the streets, shoulders brushing shoulders in a scene of extraordinary bustle.
It was much larger than Zichuan Market, where he had spent twelve years, and its prosperity far outstripped that place.
This newly established market drew resources from all around and blazed like the midday sun; Zichuan Market, by contrast, was a sun sinking toward the western hills, its resources long exhausted and unable to attract people.
Lin Changheng lowered his bamboo hat and browsed as he walked. Magical artifacts, pills, talismans, materials, puppets, spirit beasts—everything was available.
After noting the locations of several shops, Lin Changheng kept moving through the crowd without stopping.
He also encountered two patrols dressed in specially made uniforms.
After making two wide circuits, Lin Changheng judged that no one should have been able to follow him. Only then did he change into a green robe in the corner of an alley and switch to another human-skin mask.
He put his bamboo hat back on, then strode openly toward one of the shops whose locations he had noted.
"Alchemy Pavilion."
It was a medium-sized shop with a decent flow of customers, probably established by some lineage, though not the Xu Family.
Lin Changheng observed it from outside for a while. He saw no arguments or harassment, and everyone who left looked pleased and satisfied.
Its reputation was probably reasonably good.
He intended to sell pills, so caution had to come first.
Knock, knock, knock!
With a slight shift in thought, Lin Changheng walked straight up and rapped on the open door.
The clerk, who had just seen off a customer and was tidying the goods with his head lowered, immediately set aside his work upon hearing the sound. He approached with a smile. "Please come inside, honored customer."
"What might you need? As long as it's a first-tier pill, our shop can supply just about anything."
As he spoke, he even patted his chest in assurance.
Lin Changheng shook his head, speaking in a hoarse voice. "No, I intend to sell pills. Does your shop buy them?"
The clerk paused, clearly seldom encountering such a request, but maintained his professional smile. "Of course we do. What kind of pills are they, and what grade?"
Then, still uneasy, he added, "We don't accept anything below standard grade."
He said this because the person before him was covered up quite thoroughly, while the faint aura he revealed was at the Qi Refining Middle Stage. He might be difficult to deal with, so the clerk made the conditions clear beforehand.
That way, he would not leave an opening for the visitor to cause trouble.
"Naturally."
Lin Changheng had not suppressed his aura excessively. When traveling outside, concealing his cultivation too insistently would instead invite scrutiny, especially if he appeared to be in the early stage of the Qi Refining Realm.
Still, he needed to keep something in reserve, so he chose to present himself as being at the fourth level of the Qi Refining Realm.
"What pills are they?"
"[Wood Origin Pills]. Hmm, premium grade."
Lin Changheng gave the name, then thought for a moment and added the grade.
He had come to sell premium-grade pills. Being vague served no purpose, so he might as well be straightforward.
"Premium-grade pills?"
Surprise immediately showed on the clerk's face. He exclaimed softly, hurriedly excused himself, and went to the rear courtyard to fetch the shopkeeper.
A middle-aged cultivator hurried out from the rear courtyard. He smiled at Lin Changheng, then told the clerk to return to his work.
"How many do you intend to sell, fellow Daoist? Could you show them to me for inspection?"
The cultivator in the bamboo hat gave a hoarse chuckle. Rather than answering, he asked, "How many can your shop take?"
"Hahaha, however many you have, we can take them all. Our shop is backed by a major lineage with Foundation Establishment cultivators. You needn't worry about that."
The middle-aged shopkeeper was brimming with confidence.
"And the price?" Lin Changheng asked carefully.
"We follow the usual rate: seventy percent of the current sale price. With land reclamation underway, premium-grade pills that advance cultivation, such as [Wood Origin Pills], sell for four spirit stones apiece. That would mean two spirit stones and eighty grains of spirit sand."
"If you truly have a substantial quantity, we can pay three spirit stones apiece. How does that sound? That is also the limit of my authority as shopkeeper."
The middle-aged shopkeeper sincerely quoted a firm price, making even Lin Changheng nod slightly.
It was indeed a good offer.
If he sold these pills back to the Xu Family, the price would be two spirit stones and ten grains of spirit sand.
The difference was considerable: ninety grains of spirit sand, nearly an entire spirit stone.
Thus, Lin Changheng pushed a cloth bag straight across. "Then, sorry for the trouble, shopkeeper. Please take a look."
At the sight of the three long wooden boxes before him, sealed with talismans to lock in their spiritual energy, the middle-aged shopkeeper's eyes lit up. He took out a bronze mirror and began inspecting them.
The golden light filling his vision left him somewhat dizzy. Only after a moment did he draw a deep breath and say:
"They're all premium-grade pills! Sixty in total! That comes to one hundred and eighty low-grade spirit stones."
"What do you think, fellow Daoist?"
"Good." Lin Changheng nodded, then added, "Could one hundred of those low-grade spirit stones be exchanged for a mid-grade spirit stone?"
After a brief pause, a trace of conflict appeared on the middle-aged shopkeeper's face. Following an internal struggle, he said, "You should know, fellow Daoist, that while a hundred low-grade spirit stones can theoretically be exchanged for one mid-grade spirit stone, in practice, trading lower-grade stones for a higher-grade one requires more than a hundred."
The bamboo hat concealed Lin Changheng's face, leaving the middle-aged shopkeeper unable to make out his expression. When he remained silent, the shopkeeper finally sighed after a long while and conceded, "Then we'll do as you ask."
Only then did Lin Changheng respond. "Thank you."
The middle-aged shopkeeper was decisive enough not to waste words. He soon produced a pile of spirit stones, eighty-one in total upon counting.
One among them was especially crystalline, seeming to shimmer with dazzling light.
A mid-grade spirit stone!
With payment and goods exchanged, Lin Changheng did not leave immediately. Instead, he weighed his words before asking:
"Might I ask, shopkeeper, whether your establishment sells pill formulas?"
"Pill formulas?"
The middle-aged shopkeeper's thoughts stirred. He had originally judged the visitor in the bamboo hat to be seventy percent likely to be a rogue cultivator and thirty percent likely to be an alchemist. After this question, however, he now seemed seventy percent likely to be an alchemist and thirty percent likely to be a rogue cultivator.
Still uncertain, he considered his answer before replying, "Pill formulas have always been passed down in secret. Our humble shop does not sell them to outsiders."
"Is that so?"
At this answer, a trace of disappointment crossed Lin Changheng's face beneath his bamboo hat. He did not ask further about mid-grade pill formulas; presumably, those would be even less likely to be shared with outsiders.
He offered his thanks and turned to leave, only for the middle-aged shopkeeper to call him back.
"Fellow Daoist, finding pill formulas will probably be difficult. After all, everyone treasures even their own worn-out broom and refuses to reveal them. Still, it isn't as though there's no way..."
Before you continue