Storm Market

Storm Market

"Cultivators fought fate itself. Hiding in a cave to cultivate in bitter seclusion was not my path. Over the next few months, I could travel abroad and build up some experience in advance!"

Xiao Liang was still planning his actions for the coming months.

Meanwhile, Pandora, who had been absorbing spiritual energy nearby, had already reached the final stage.

Because this was merely a barren mountain, the spiritual energy was not particularly dense, causing Pandora's breakthrough to take a little longer.

Fortunately, nothing went wrong.

Pandora opened her blood-red eyes, parted her crimson lips, and revealed two delicate little fangs.

She raised a hand like a claw, wisps of icy spiritual energy coiling around her fingertips.

She radiated an aura that made one's heart tremble.

Xiao Liang was about to examine Pandora's changes when, the moment he touched her shoulder, a faint yet pure stream of spiritual energy flowed back into his body.

His spirits immediately rose, and Xiao Liang then felt that his cultivation had grown a little stronger.

His Third Level of Qi Refining cultivation was now completely stabilized, no longer carrying the slight instability of someone who had only just entered the Third Level of Qi Refining.

"Spirit Zombies truly can feed cultivation back to their masters. But for the effect to be so obvious, it must also be related to the Flying Corpse's talent."

Joy appeared on Xiao Liang's face. Magical power cultivation was always the most important measure of a cultivator's strength.

Any method capable of increasing one's magical power cultivation was extremely precious.

That was precisely why professions such as Alchemy Masters held such exalted status.

Now that his strength had improved, and he needed to better coordinate Pandora's combat methods with his own, Xiao Liang had roughly decided how to spend the next few months.

"I should currently be within Yan Kingdom, situated between Liang Kingdom and Qi Kingdom. This is the heartland of the Ten Thousand Demon Cavern, so I need not worry too much about being slain as a demonic cultivator!"

Xiao Liang gave a bitter smile. He possessed the wisdom of his previous life.

During his cultivation at the Little Ghost Hall, he often borrowed miscellaneous books from the outer sect's scripture pavilion, learning about the geography, legends, and strange tales of the cultivation world.

Unlike ordinary fellow disciples, he was not ignorant and clueless.

Although demonic cultivators had fearsome reputations outside, they were also easily targeted, especially when they encountered cultivators from hostile immortal sects.

They often needed all manner of disguises and aura-concealing methods just to travel about.

Xiao Liang had none of those, and he was constantly accompanied by a zombie, making him exactly the kind of cultivator whose background was easiest to see through.

"However, Yan Kingdom spans more than a hundred thousand li and has a long history. Long before the Ten Thousand Demon Cavern occupied this land, traces of cultivators had already existed here."

"Many deep mountains and great marshes conceal cave abodes left behind by ancient cultivators."

"I remember an outer sect elder mentioning in his notes that some rogue cultivators gathered within the mortal kingdoms under the Ten Thousand Demon Cavern, forming markets where they exchanged goods and formed teams for exploration..."

Although Xiao Liang had decided to travel through Yan Kingdom, he did not intend to wander around alone without direction. That would be far too inefficient.

After several months, he might not even encounter a single cultivator, wasting his time for nothing.

Rogue cultivator markets were exactly the right places for Xiao Liang to gather information and broaden his horizons.

Several days later, Xiao Liang appeared in a major city of Yan Kingdom. After he inadvertently revealed a trace of his magical power aura, someone observant took notice.

A gilded invitation was delivered to the room of the inn where Xiao Liang was staying.

"Storm Market! Interesting. Before I even went looking for them, these rogue cultivator markets came looking for me."

After casually rewarding the servant who delivered the letter with a few silver coins, Xiao Liang sat in the upper room of the Heaven tier inn, clicking his tongue in wonder as he examined the invitation in his hand.

However, he did not head there rashly. Instead, he spent the next two days making inquiries from various sources before finally setting his mind at ease.

Storm Market was one of the most famous rogue cultivator markets in Yan Kingdom.

It was said that several Foundation Establishment rogue cultivators stood behind it, making transactions within the market quite safe.

"This should be the place. Why is there no sign of anyone? Could there be some strange formation here?"

The next day, Xiao Liang, dressed in a black robe, arrived at the location recorded on the invitation.

Yet he found only an unremarkable small hill, where even the spiritual energy was not particularly dense. A look of confusion appeared on his face.

Just then, the gilded invitation inside his storage pouch grew faintly hot. Xiao Liang took it out, and the strange phenomenon became even more obvious.

"Hahaha, Fellow Daoist, is this your first visit to our Storm Market?"

A clear voice rang out. Xiao Liang turned around and saw a young man in a scholar's robe standing before him, his smile naturally inspiring goodwill.

"Hm? It's you—the bookstore owner I met in the city of Yan Kingdom a few days ago!"

Cultivators possessed photographic memories. After giving it a moment's thought, Xiao Liang immediately remembered that he had met this young man in scholar's robes before.

This young man was the owner of a bookstore. When Xiao Liang had been sightseeing in the city, he had thought the man's bearing was rather extraordinary, but he had not sensed any cultivation on him. Who would have thought he was also a cultivator?

He had likely cultivated some kind of aura-concealing technique.

"I presume this invitation was sent by you!"

Xiao Liang lightly tapped the invitation in his hand, watching him without revealing anything.

"Indeed. I am Xu Qingfeng, a steward of Storm Market. I also bear the responsibility of recruiting fellow cultivators. I mean no harm, so I hope you will not take offense!"

Xu Qingfeng explained himself, lest some deeply scheming cultivator mistakenly believe he harbored ill intentions.

Xiao Liang assessed the man's magical power cultivation. He was merely at Qi Refining, First Layer, which made Xiao Liang quietly relax. Smiling, he waved a hand to show that it was of no concern.

"May I ask this fellow Daoist's honored name?"

After asking, Xu Qingfeng added with a smile, "If it is inconvenient, you may use a Daoist title or an alias instead."

Xiao Liang smiled faintly. Storm Market was rather considerate.

"Just call me Ghost Shadow."

Xiao Liang did not stand on ceremony and directly gave a false name. These days, what proper cultivator would reveal their real name everywhere?

"So you are Fellow Daoist Ghost Shadow. I shall now lead you into Storm Market!"

Xu Qingfeng's smile remained unchanged. He took out a jade pendant and infused it with magical power, after which a transparent barrier enveloped the two of them.

Xiao Liang followed him forward for two steps. In a blur, the scenery changed, and he found himself in a peaceful little town with a distinctly ancient charm.

On the bluestone archway at the entrance, the two characters "Storm Market" had been written in bold, soaring strokes.

They had clearly been penned by a master calligrapher.

Although Xiao Liang had heard of the wonders of formations and knew that the Ten Thousand Demon Cavern's territory contained many immensely powerful grand formations,

the sect's grand formations were not activated lightly, so he had never had the opportunity to witness their various powers in ordinary times.

Xu Qingfeng was quite pleased by Xiao Liang's astonishment and found it nothing unusual. After all, many low-level cultivators reacted the same way when they first arrived.

He then explained, "Among the several Foundation Establishment seniors overseeing Storm Market are experts in formations. Thus, they set up a composite formation outside Storm Market that gathers spiritual energy and conceals its presence—the Little Illusory Scene Formation."

"It is mainly to prevent mortals from wandering in by mistake, or ill-intentioned bandit cultivators from sneaking inside!"

(End of Chapter)