"You brat."
The village chief laughed and cursed, but did not truly stop him. Lin Yi placed the Sword Embryo and that empty Spirit Stone shell on his own stall, called out to Mang, then turned and slipped back into the crowd.
Tribes from every direction streamed endlessly into the open grounds outside the Flamewaste Tribe. Shouts, haggling, and the occasional burst of laughter blended into a din even noisier than the Great Wilderness's liveliest beast migration.
Lin Yi strolled leisurely along the paths between stalls, keeping his Spirit Eyes running at low power. He occasionally stopped to inspect goods that interested him, but never found anything as eye-catching as the Sword Embryo.
Just as he was about to turn toward the other side, a figure suddenly appeared before him.
"Hello, friend!"
The newcomer familiarly stepped forward and brazenly blocked his path.
He looked about Lin Yi's age, a little over twenty. He had a strong, muscular build, and his sharply defined face had been tanned a deep bronze by the sun. When he grinned, he revealed a row of white teeth.
Lin Yi immediately sensed his aura: Tidal Surge Realm. His blood-qi was dense and solid, placing him among the very best of that realm.
At his age, he would have been called a genius in any small tribe.
"Uh... hello?" Lin Yi paused. "What can I do for you?"
"Haha, let's not beat around the bush." The young man planted one hand on his hip and slapped his chest with the other. "I'm from the Flamewaste Tribe. My name's Chi Ye."
Lin Yi's thoughts stirred. Someone from the Flamewaste Tribe had come looking for him; the purpose was self-evident.
As expected, Chi Ye had no intention of dancing around the matter. He said openly, "I'm here to invite you to join the Flamewaste Tribe."
Lin Yi had been mentally prepared. The village chief had said that the Flamewaste Tribe recruited talent at every Trade Gathering, but being directly stopped in the street and recruited still caught him somewhat off guard.
"What benefits are there to joining your tribe?" Lin Yi followed his lead and asked.
"Brother, don't take offense at what I'm about to say." Chi Ye scratched the back of his head, though his tone remained frank.
"With your talent, you'd count as a genius in a small tribe. But in the Flamewaste Tribe... at your age, only reaching the Tidal Surge Realm, honestly, you wouldn't rank very highly. Where I'm from, those around your age have to reach the Mountain-Sinking Realm before they count as geniuses."
Lin Yi showed no expression, but inwardly nodded.
Chi Ye had said "Tidal Surge Realm." Lin Yi had used the Breath-Concealing Art to suppress his aura, so to outsiders, he truly appeared to be at the Tidal Surge Realm.
Chi Ye's assessment was blunt, but not excessive. By a large tribe's standards, reaching the Tidal Surge Realm only after turning twenty truly was not particularly outstanding.
"So, given your current situation, joining our tribe wouldn't come with any special treatment." Chi Ye spoke directly, without hiding anything. "But no matter what, a large tribe's basic resources are far better than a small tribe's. Food, clothing, daily necessities, cultivation grounds, regular supplies—everything is better than what you have now."
Lin Yi raised an eyebrow noncommittally. "That's all?"
"Of course not." Chi Ye grinned. "Who doesn't understand that it's better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix?
But the greatest benefit of joining the Flamewaste Tribe is that as long as you contribute to the tribe, you can exchange contributions for inherited cultivation arts and martial techniques. And you'll even have a chance to break through to the realm above the Blood-Qi Realm."
Lin Yi's ears twitched.
"Above the Blood-Qi Realm?"
"Of course." Chi Ye's tone carried a trace of unconcealed pride. "The Spirit-Nurturing Realm. Those are beings who can fly. I don't really know how strong they are, since I haven't reached that level myself!"
He scratched his head and gave a foolish grin, then hurriedly pulled the conversation back on track.
"After all that, are you joining or not?"
Lin Yi pondered for a moment, putting on a troubled expression.
"Well... I should go back and discuss it with our village chief. After all, I came with the tribe. I can't make the decision by myself." Lin Yi casually made up an excuse.
"Fine, that's normal." Chi Ye was straightforward about it. He waved his hand. "Once you've thought it over, just tell someone from our tribe. Someone will explain how to join. Oh, right." He lifted a hand and pointed ahead.
"Follow this road to the end, then go another hundred meters. That's where our Flamewaste Tribe's stall is. If you're interested, go take a look. Even if you don't join, you can still trade for some good things."
After saying that, he cupped his hands to Lin Yi, turned, and strode away. His back quickly disappeared into the crowd.
Lin Yi stood where he was and thought for a moment, then followed the direction Chi Ye had given him.
The Flamewaste Tribe's stall was indeed conspicuous.
It occupied the heart of the entire Trade Gathering grounds. Its wooden shed stood half a head taller than the others, with several beast-hide banners hanging from the roof, flapping loudly whenever the wind blew.
The stall covered a large area and was divided into several sections.
Bundles of weapons lay to the left, while excellent beast hides and ores were piled to the right. Several wooden racks stood separately in the middle, displaying artifacts that were obviously worth a great deal.
Lin Yi's gaze swept across those weapons, and his pupils contracted slightly.
Spirit Artifacts. Several of them.
This was his first time seeing weapons inscribed with Divine Markings in person, and they matched the "Spirit Artifacts" that the stall-keeping uncle had mentioned before.
Faint dark patterns flowed across the blades. Their auras were restrained, yet they radiated sharpness. They belonged to an entirely different world from the dull, rough Sword Embryo in his hand.
But what truly made Lin Yi stop was an old beast-hide scroll displayed on a wooden frame at the far left of the stall.
The scroll's edges had been worn pale, but its surface was covered in densely packed writing painted in dark ink.
His Spirit Eyes activated, and pale golden light silently pierced through the surface of the beast-hide scroll.
What was written on it was the Realm Compendium.
The corner of Lin Yi's lips lifted slightly, delight bubbling in his heart. He had no intention of asking how much it would cost to trade for it. Why spend money on cultivation knowledge that had been delivered right to his doorstep when freeloading was so much sweeter?
Within the view of his Spirit Eyes, every word on the beast-hide scroll was clearly branded into his mind. The Super Brain ran at high speed, memorizing the information.
Blood-Qi Realm
Spirit-Nurturing Realm
Soul Extremity Realm
One Dao Realm
The entire beast-hide scroll recorded the names and rough descriptions of the four major realms, but only the Spirit-Nurturing Realm section contained relatively detailed cultivation methods and precautions.
The later Soul Extremity Realm and One Dao Realm sections contained only their names and a few sparse lines of summary. The Flamewaste Tribe had clearly deliberately held something back.
But for Lin Yi, merely seeing the three words "Spirit-Nurturing Realm" and its detailed cultivation path had already made this trip worthwhile. Or rather, he had struck it rich.
The vague guesses in his mind concerning the barriers between realms had finally gained a clear framework.
After recording every word on the beast-hide scroll, Lin Yi's gaze quietly shifted to several Spirit Artifacts beside it.
Within the penetrating vision of his Spirit Eyes, the dark patterns flowing across those Spirit Artifacts' surfaces were exposed one by one.
Lin Yi showed no courtesy and recorded the structures of those Spirit Artifacts' Divine Markings as well.
"Since I'm already here... I might as well take it all."
He stepped half a pace back, casually turned around, and continued browsing the neighboring stalls.
"The Spirit-Nurturing Realm uses blood-qi to break through one's own Aperture Points, then uses the Aperture Points as a foundation to seize the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and combine it with blood-qi, nurturing the Aperture Points..." Lin Yi muttered.
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