Harvest

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Sijing had not arranged an in-person trade. Instead, she had confidently sent everything by Paper Crane delivery.

Chen Zhuo had no objection. In fact, he preferred it this way. It saved him trouble.

After receiving the four batches of pills, Chen Zhuo immediately entered the Ancient Immortal Realm.

Back on the outskirts of the Shantytown, Chen Zhuo gripped his Golden Armor Talisman. Only when he saw that no one was lying in ambush did he relax. He beckoned back the Mystic-Arts Reconnaissance Drone he had left there and checked its recordings.

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Soon, Chen Zhuo had watched everything it had recorded over the past few days.

The spot really was poor. Two days had passed without so much as a human shadow.

"Looks like I was overthinking it. A deal worth a few Spirit Stones really isn't enough to make someone ambush and kill me."

Chen Zhuo let out a long breath, but a cautious ship sailed for ten thousand years. He would still need to be more careful from now on.

With that thought, Chen Zhuo headed toward the Shantytown.

Last time had been child's play. This time, the risk was real.

After all, Chen Zhuo intended to sell every pill he had to Jishi Hall in one go.

Jishi Hall was not far out of the way, and Chen Zhuo soon arrived.

Inside were the same shopkeeper and Medicine Attendant as before.

Chen Zhuo stepped in.

The Medicine Attendant's eyes lit up at Chen Zhuo's fine clothes. He looked like someone from a wealthy family. "What can I get you, fellow Daoist? Our shop has every kind of pill you could want, all at fair prices!"

Chen Zhuo did not beat around the bush. He took the pills from his Storage Bag and set them on the counter. "Shopkeeper, I have some pills I'd like to sell."

The shopkeeper raised an eyebrow.

Selling stock?

Interesting.

He picked up one bottle and sniffed it. "Qi Gathering Powder. The quality is quite good."

He then examined the other pills with the practiced ease of an old hand.

After a careful look, the shopkeeper said, "Three batches of Qi Gathering Powder, all above average. The Qi Condensation Pill is decent too."

He considered for a moment, then said, "Ten Spirit Stones per batch of Qi Gathering Powder, so thirty for all three. Thirty for the Qi Condensation Pill. Sixty Spirit Stones in total."

Hm?!

Chen Zhuo went on alert.

He was buying them at market price?

He had even offered five Spirit Stones above market price for the Qi Condensation Pill?

That made Chen Zhuo more wary, but it also made him realize something.

These pills seemed to be of better quality than he had thought.

They might all be Waste Pills, but even Waste Pills differed in quality!

That made sense. They had been refined by a ninth-year university alchemy student. Even if they were Waste Pills, their Pill Toxin content would not be as high as those made by a second-year student!

"Seventy."

Chen Zhuo opened his mouth like a lion and raised the price on the spot. "You know how good these pills are, fellow Daoist. I simply can't be bothered to sell them one by one."

The shopkeeper froze. After a moment's hesitation, he nodded. "Very well. Seventy."

With that, he flicked his sleeve and patted his Storage Bag.

In an instant,

a small pouch stuffed with Spirit Stones appeared before Chen Zhuo.

Chen Zhuo's heart sank.

Damn it!

I still asked for too little!

But the price was settled, and it was not bad.

The Waste Pills had cost 205 Spirit Coins in total, equivalent to only about twenty Spirit Stones.

And this time, he had gotten seventy Spirit Stones. In other words...

With one simple bit of trading, Chen Zhuo had made a net profit of fifty Spirit Stones—five hundred Spirit Coins!

Nearly a tenth of his total debt!

What was more, he could use those fifty Spirit Stones to buy another fifty sheets of premium talisman paper and take them back, instantly turning them into seven or eight hundred Spirit Coins!

"Moving goods really is the way to go."

Chen Zhuo sighed.

But...

Chen Zhuo glanced at the white-haired shopkeeper, pocketed the pouch of Spirit Stones, cupped his hands, and immediately headed out of the shop.

After Chen Zhuo left, the shopkeeper gave the Medicine Attendant a slight nod.

The Medicine Attendant cupped his hands and withdrew, slipping silently out Jishi Hall's back door. Where he went, no one knew.

"I really showed off my wealth this time."

Chen Zhuo exhaled, his expression darkening. Without hesitation, he strode toward the mountain!

Cloudford Market!

Now that he had Spirit Stones, Chen Zhuo needed to think about his safety.

Li Changqing had told him a few days ago that ten Spirit Stones would buy a month's stay in Cloudford Market City.

Given that, Chen Zhuo was happy to spend ten Spirit Stones on a room where he could rest in absolute safety.

He had also heard that Cloudford Market City had a first-tier spirit-gathering array and was one of the Spiritual Qi nodes of the Southern Wilderness.

Cloudford Market already stood on a Spirit Meridian, and it had a spirit-gathering array on top of that.

Chen Zhuo could scarcely imagine how good it would feel to cultivate there!

At the entrance to Cloudford Market, Chen Zhuo stood before the mountain gate and looked up.

Two lifelike white-jade lions guarded the gate. Between them, white-jade steps climbed straight toward it, grand and imposing.

Restrictions had been placed on the mountain gate. Without a market token, no one could pass through the Mountain-Guarding Grand Array.

Beside the steps, a middle-aged Law Enforcement Cultivator sat on a cushion, meditating.

He was at least a late-stage cultivator at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer.

Yet Chen Zhuo felt no particular nerves facing a late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator.

After all...

Foundation Establishment cultivators were a common sight in Taiqing City.

A Late Qi Refinement cultivator was nothing by comparison.

With that in mind, Chen Zhuo took a deep breath, stepped forward, and cupped his hands. "Fellow Daoist, I've only just arrived and would like to buy a temporary residence token. How should I go about it?"

The middle-aged cultivator slowly opened his eyes and looked Chen Zhuo over.

"Qi Refining Third Layer. Haven't seen you before."

His voice was cool, his face colder. "Where are you from? Do you have proof of your sect affiliation?"

Chen Zhuo's expression did not change. "I'm a Rogue Cultivator with no sect. I heard Cloudford Market City was prosperous, so I came to seek an opportunity."

"Mm."

The middle-aged cultivator grew even colder. "The market has its rules. A temporary residence token costs ten Spirit Stones a month. It grants you a cramped Cave Abode on the outermost edge. You may cultivate inside the Cave Abode, but you may not sit and cultivate elsewhere in the market. Break that rule, and you'll be expelled."

Chen Zhuo nodded and was about to take out the Spirit Stones to buy a token when the cultivator added, "However, Sword Gate will soon open its doors to new disciples. The market is packed, and rooms are scarce. I'm afraid there are no spare Cave Abodes. If you truly want to move in, you'll have to wait several months."

His tone was stiff and thoroughly unfriendly.

But Chen Zhuo had some idea what he meant.

Therefore, Chen Zhuo merely gave a light cough, discreetly took out twelve Spirit Stones, and said, "Thank you for your efforts, fellow Daoist. Please accept these Spirit Stones as a small token of appreciation."

A smile immediately appeared on the cultivator's face. He nodded slightly and declared, "I can see that your resolve to pursue the Dao is as firm as a boulder. As it happens, I do have one vacant Cave Abode for Cultivation. It's a little out of the way, but it's perfectly suitable for Cultivation."

With that, he tossed Chen Zhuo a jade token. "Carry this, and the array won't attack you. Your Cave Abode is on the east side of the market. Find it by the door number yourself. The token will expire automatically on this date next month. You'll need to buy another then."

"There's a tracking restriction in the token. Leave of your own accord when it expires. If you insist on staying, a Law Enforcement Cultivator from the market will punish you. Each overdue day costs one Spirit Stone."

Chen Zhuo nodded in acknowledgment.

"Go on in."

The cultivator waved a hand and closed his eyes again, as though none of it had happened.

Chen Zhuo said no more and climbed the white-jade steps.

The higher he went, the denser the Spiritual Qi became.

When Chen Zhuo stepped onto the market grounds, a wave of pure Spiritual Qi washed over him. He could not help taking a deep breath.

He nearly got dizzy from all that oxygen!

"Such dense Spiritual Qi. Compared with the Shantytown, they're as far apart as heaven and earth."

Chen Zhuo sighed inwardly.

Those ten Spirit Stones had been worth it!

Behind him, two furtive figures stood down in the Shantytown, watching him climb the white-jade steps with unwillingness written across their faces.

"That brat actually got into the market!"

The burly man with a vulture-like face looked grim. "Shopkeeper Han told us too late! When I get back, I'm going to have my way with that little apprentice. I've had my eye on him for ages!"

"Hmph."

The other cultivator, dressed in plain cloth and skinny as a monkey, gave a low snort. "It doesn't matter. How long can he stay in there? We'll wait right here! Shopkeeper Han said he spends freely and probably has several hundred Spirit Stones to his name. For a haul like that, waiting six months or a year is worth it!"