Shopping

"Forget it. If I go by those cultivation novels I read in my previous life, this is Foundation Establishment—the true beginning of cultivation. One careless step could affect my future path. There are still too many things I haven't figured out, so I'd better take it slow for now. No more thinking. Sleep, sleep."

Zhao Li suppressed the urge to break through right away and decided to play it safe first. He flopped onto the bed in a spread-eagle position, and before long, he fell asleep.

The bright moon sank west, and the sun rose. As Morning Glow spilled down, Life Force awakened across the earth, and things gradually grew lively.

On the Dou Qi Continent, in the Eastern Region, at the Zhao Family Courtyard in the Imperial Capital of the Great Qian Empire, a handsome young man was facing the Morning Glow as he practiced breathing and cultivation.

"Brother Zhao Li, the sun's shining on your butt! Get up, get up! Let's go stroll around the market together."

A clear, crisp cry broke the peaceful scene. Outside the courtyard, several boys and girls had gathered together, and a child of six or seven was patting on the door.

Zhao Li got up and opened the courtyard gate. Before him were several boys and girls, and among them, the seven- or eight-year-old child was raising her hand, about to knock.

"Brother Ning, Brother Ze, Sister Yu, Little Zhen, why are you here? Come in and sit."

"Brother Zhao Li, why didn't you answer when you came to open the door? The door opened so suddenly, it gave me such a fright."

"That's my fault. I scared Little Zhen. I'll give you a little gift, so forgive me, all right?"

Zhao Li rubbed the girl's head, then took out a small trinket and gave it to her.

She was Zhao Li's younger cousin, Zhao Zhenzhen, basically the youngest of Zhao Li's generation. Ever since she was little, she loved following her older brothers and sisters around, and she was the Zhao family's well-known little tagalong.

"Little Li, everyone's free today, and it's been ages since we strolled around the Imperial Capital, so we were planning to go out for a walk together. Coming?"

When Zhao Hongyu saw Zhao Li take out a spinning bamboo dragonfly and coax Zhao Zhenzhen back into a good mood, she invited him.

"All right, Sister Yu. Wait for me a moment. I'll change clothes."

When Zhao Li heard the invitation, he realized it really had been a long time since he had gone out to have fun, so he did not refuse. Because he had transmigrated, Zhao Li was not all that familiar with everyone, but he would not distance himself from his clansmen either. After greeting them, he turned and went back to change.

Soon, Zhao Li walked out again.

"Sister Yu, Brother Ning, Brother Ze, let's go."

The young man walked over into the sunlight in a dark robe. His features looked as if they had been carved, sharply defined, delicate, and handsome. Beneath the sun, he seemed to gain a touch of uninhibited ease. Under his sword-like brows, his black eyes were exceptionally bright, carrying a comforting smile as he greeted everyone.

"Little Li, do you know you'll be very popular with girls if you go out looking like that?"

"Exactly. Once you clean yourself up a little, you really are handsome."

His two elder brothers teased Zhao Li, and Zhao Li scratched his head.

"You two, stop teasing me. Let's go shopping."

Seeing their younger brother like this, everyone laughed, and for a while, the air was filled with joy.

As the Imperial Capital of the Great Qian Empire, Danyuan City was naturally bustling and prosperous. Even in the early morning, the streets were already packed with surging crowds.

Zhao Li and the others had no particular destination, so they simply wandered along the streets at random. Zhao Zhenzhen seemed especially lively, tugging everyone this way and that in front of various stalls from time to time. Whenever she took a fancy to something, she acted cute with everyone, and the others were happy to tease this little sister.

A child's interest came quickly and faded just as quickly. Perhaps she was tired, because Zhao Zhenzhen was now lying on Zhao Ning's back, bored as she ate the candied hawthorn skewer in her hand.

"Let's go check out the market. Maybe we can find something good."

After they had strolled for a long while, Zhao Li made a suggestion. When he read novels in his previous life, Cave Markets and auctions were always great places for the Protagonist to stock up. The Protagonist could always find treasures in places like those and rise rapidly. Although this was not his first time visiting a market, Zhao Li still wanted to try his luck. What if he was the Protagonist?

No one had any objections, so they wound through the streets and headed toward the largest nearby markets.

"Young Master Li, are you looking to buy something? I'll have someone deliver it to you."

As soon as they reached the market entrance, Zhao Li was recognized by the guards. Judging from the way they addressed him, they were probably disciples of the Danyuan Sect.

Zhao Li gave a slight nod in response and said, "Nothing in particular. We're just browsing. Go about your business. If anything comes up, I'll call you."

Then the group walked into the market. Seeing the scene before him, where people were practically pressed against one another, Zhao Li could not help wondering whether his decision to come to the market was asking for boredom.

Crowded, packed, chaotic. This was a marketplace. It was also because the major families of Great Qian and the Pill Sect maintained order together that very few people caused trouble in the market. If various merchants had anything good or any strange treasures on hand, they were more willing to trade in this kind of environment.

Zhao Li and the others followed the flow of people, strolling among all kinds of stalls, when they suddenly heard someone ahead burst into curses.

"Why the hell don't you just rob people? Selling a lousy jar for fifty thousand Gold Coins?"

Zhao Li and the others went closer and asked the people nearby about it, quickly figuring out the cause of the whole incident.

It turned out that what the stall owner was doing was exactly like blind boxes from Zhao Li's previous life. He put things worth over a hundred thousand or even several hundred thousand Gold Coins, such as cultivation techniques and Magic Cores, together with low-grade Medicinal Ingredients worth only a few thousand Gold Coins, all into jars and let people choose. Each jar sold for fifty thousand Gold Coins, but no one knew how much the thing inside would be worth, or whether they would profit or lose. The person just now had spent fifty thousand and only opened a ten-year Moon Orchid, basically worth one thousand Gold Coins, so naturally he started arguing with the stall owner.

"Young man, before our transaction, I explained the rules perfectly clearly. Whether to buy or not was your decision. As for what you opened, that depended entirely on yourself. When you wanted to gamble small for big and get rich overnight, you didn't prepare yourself to lose everything. How could there be such a good thing in this world? Why make things difficult for this old man now?"

The stall owner spoke unhurriedly.

"Heh. You say there are Profound Tier Cultivation Techniques and Fourth Tier Magic Cores in your jars? Who's seen them? If you filled them all with trash Medicinal Ingredients to fool me, how would I know?"

"You need not worry about that. This old man is Wang Chen. I can still produce such things." As he spoke, wings suddenly condensed behind the stall owner's back.

"Wang Chen! He's one of the Ten Great Emperors of Great Qian!"

"Hiss, a Dou Emperor expert! I never thought I'd have the honor of seeing a Dou Emperor expert."

Listening to the exclamations around him, Zhao Li also learned the old man's identity. He was one of the ten Dou Emperor experts of the Great Qian Empire, and the only Rogue Cultivator Dou Emperor among them. He liked to wander through the mortal world for fun, so perhaps this time he had simply been struck by a sudden interest.

"Senior, please forgive me. I judged a gentleman by my own petty standards. I'll leave at once."

The person who had been shouting earlier deflated, bowing and scraping as he apologized.

Wang Chen withdrew his Dou Qi Wings and still spoke slowly. "This old man is not using force to oppress others. I did indeed place some treasures and strange items into the jars before sealing them, and now even I do not know what is inside. The world is full of unknowns, and it is precisely the unknown that is most alluring. Just like these jars—if you do not open them, you will never know what they contain. Is life not like opening a jar? If you do not experience it, how would you know what it is like?"

In the crowd, Zhao Li froze.