Market Town Observations

The market town was not on Hemu Island itself, but on a smaller island ten li away from Hemu Island.

A scattered cluster of small islands lay around Hemu Island.

With Hemu Island as the main island.

Yue Shuo did not see exactly what those small island clusters looked like, because quite a few of them had formations set up.

Yue Shuo followed Zou Chongying and Tian Wan.

They first arrived at the boat dock.

Zou Chongying took out a jade token and summoned a small boat with a dedicated pilot. The three boarded it and headed toward the island where the market town was located.

Yue Shuo paid attention to the market town's direction.

Then he casually joked:

"I thought we'd have to swim over!"

"Little Shuo, it's winter now! Hahaha! Still, our physiques are much stronger than before..."

Zou Chongying mocked him first, but then, for some reason, he felt tempted.

He glanced at the calm sea.

He was no longer a Mortal. He was an immortal cultivator now... Maybe it was not impossible to give it a try?

The eagerness in his eyes was far too obvious.

Tian Wan hurriedly held him back.

Zou Chongying struggled, and Yue Shuo stepped up to restrain him from the other side. Together, they dragged him into the middle of the boat and kept him away from the rail.

"I was only looking!"

"Heh!" Tian Wan sneered, making it clear he did not believe him.

On the surface, Yue Shuo also joined in persuading Zou Chongying not to court death again. At the very least, he should wait until he had mastered some minor spells or reached Qi Refining Level One before trying it.

But inwardly, he was considering how he should act when he came to the market town alone in the future.

To travel back and forth, he would have to borrow boats from Hemu Island.

That clearly required some sort of qualification.

Of course, if one were strong enough...

Yue Shuo looked up and saw a figure within a haze of light flying into the small island ahead, which was already visible to the naked eye, from another direction.

After they drew closer to the island.

He saw more people skimming across the sea atop simple boat-like vessels resembling turtle shells, flying into the island.

He watched for a few moments before hearing Chong Ying explain.

"That's a first-grade low-tier Spirit Turtle Boat. Once we reach Qi Refining Level One, we can refine magical artifacts!"

After Zou Chongying and Tian Wan finished horsing around for a while, they too looked at the other people heading toward the market town outside the boat.

Their eyes were full of envy and anticipation.

"How do you obtain first-grade low-tier magical artifacts?" Yue Shuo asked Zou Chongying, who clearly knew more than he did.

Zou Chongying looked rather pleased with himself.

"If the Qin Clan seniors take a liking to you when you reach Qi Refining Level One, your teachers will give you one to three first-grade low-tier magical artifacts!"

Tian Wan frowned and reminded him.

"Don't talk nonsense outside. Nothing has been settled yet, so be careful in case anything changes!"

Yue Shuo also said, "Chong Ying, when we get back, listen to Ah Wan. Better safe than sorry—go into seclusion until you advance!"

Zou Chongying was not someone incapable of accepting advice.

He had only wanted to show off a little in front of his companions.

Hearing that, he nodded seriously.

He smiled brightly. "I understand!"

His father had once told him.

Those who agreed with everything you said were not necessarily your friends.

Only those who worried for you and advised you were brothers and companions worth keeping for the long haul.

After that, the three only quietly discussed the market town a little.

When the boat docked, they jumped ashore.

Boats came and went here from time to time, and people arrived from the sky and the sea alike, all coming and going with clear purposes.

Yue Shuo noticed someone sizing the three of them up, but that person did not keep staring.

They seemed to have realized the three had no oil to squeeze from them.

"Follow the straight road. The market town is a few li ahead! Don't leave the road. This market town does business with outsiders too..."

Zou Chongying recited this almost mechanically.

"There usually aren't many outside cultivators here. It only gets livelier for three days at the beginning and end of each month, but we'd better not join that bustle!"

Yue Shuo calculated the date.

He had taken a boat to Little Hemmu Island on the first day of the twelfth month. The following day, after his Spiritual Root had been tested, he had been sent to Hemu Island.

He had already lived on Hemu Island for half a month.

Today was the sixteenth.

It was very far from the days Chong Ying had mentioned, when there would be many outside cultivators.

It seemed this date had been chosen deliberately.

The three stepped onto the level straight road.

The road was broad, entirely paved with pressed stone slabs.

If they had not possessed the power of spells, it would have taken ordinary people no short amount of time to complete such a project.

Beyond the straight road.

Apart from a few buildings and sheds near the docks.

The farther in one went, the more desolate the surroundings became.

The terrain was uneven as well. Some places had small woods, while others were bare stretches of white or black earth.

"Fighting is forbidden within the straight road..."

With that one remark from Chong Ying, Yue Shuo immediately understood.

All three curiously looked around, but none of them dared to insist on going in for a closer look.

Yue Shuo found that these two kids were quite cautious as well.

The next moment, the two mentioned why they were being so careful.

Because they had both received letters from home, and their families had repeatedly emphasized certain matters in those letters.

Letters?

Yue Shuo froze for a moment.

When he had first arrived on the island, he had also asked Gu Jiu to send a letter back for him. But why had his elder brother not replied yet?

Had something happened at home?

Doubt arose in Yue Shuo's heart, but he held it in and said nothing.

He recalled that he had not written anything especially unusual in his letter, only describing what he had experienced after leaving home.

Taking a boat, staying one night on Little Hemmu Island, testing positive for a Spiritual Root, and preparing to become a spirit planter.

He had also mentioned that he would be unable to return home within a year.

As Yue Shuo was thinking about this, they had already reached the market town.

The three moved quickly. After Spirit-Drawing Entry, they did not feel tired at all from traveling such a short distance.

The market town's gate was a tall archway. Before they approached it, the road ahead still looked like an ordinary straight road, and the archway could not be seen.

Only when they came within several meters did they see the market town's gate.

Someone guarded the entrance.

When Yue Shuo and the other two approached, the yellow-robed gatekeeper opened his eyes. His aura was fierce and Baleful, like that of a savage tiger.

His gaze fell upon them, and he shouted:

"Stop! No entry by mistake!"

Zou Chongying hurriedly took out his token, signaling for Yue Shuo and Tian Wan to take out their identity tokens as well, then said:

"We are guest disciples of the Qin Clan... These are our identity tokens."

The man reached out and accepted them, checking and recording each one.

At that moment, Yue Shuo saw someone fly directly overhead and could not help looking over.

After checking their identity tokens, the yellow-robed man noticed his gaze and tossed the tokens back to them.

"Watch your words and actions! Don't go looking for trouble!"

"If someone comes looking for trouble with you, remember to call for help! There are patrol guards in the market town too, people dressed like me! Do you understand?"

The three children nodded hard in unison.

The yellow-robed man said nothing more. He closed his eyes at the market gate, clearly intending to ignore them.

The three did not dare say anything else either.

They saluted him, then entered the market town.

Once inside, it was as though even the air had changed. Yue Shuo sensed that the spiritual energy within the market town was somewhat denser than outside.

Inside were streets, much like an exquisite ancient town.

It was far larger than the market town he had imagined.

On the distant streets, people occasionally descended from midair, while others shot up from the ground and flew away on their artifacts.

Of course, there were still very few pedestrians on the nearby streets.

They walked one or two hundred paces before seeing a few people coming and going nearby. Shops lined both sides, but quite a few of them were closed.

It was their first time here, and all three felt somewhat lost.

"Where... should we go look?"

"Find a Qin Clan shop!"

Yue Shuo's goal was rather clear. With that, the three headed toward the few open shops first.

From outside, they could not see what was inside the shops.

The three cautiously walked up to one.

Looking up, they saw a simple rune-like drawing of rice shoots on one side of the signboard.

It was extremely similar to the one Yue Shuo had seen on the sleeves of Qin Clan cultivators. He was eighty percent certain that this was a Qin Clan shop.

Just as they were about to enter, someone came out from inside.

Yue Shuo found this person very familiar.