Beneath a clear sky dotted with white clouds, the main street of Jade Lang Mountain's market ward reached its daytime peak.
Cultivators and merchants from all directions streamed through without end, conducting their daily business. The clamor of marketplace chatter rose over the surging crowds, as prosperous as ever.
To everyone who frequented the place, this was an utterly familiar sight.
Suddenly, however, someone hurried forward, calling as he went, "Quick, go take a look over there!"
"Let's go together!"
As though it were contagious, more and more people abandoned the street and hurried toward the square.
One bewildered cultivator asked, "Fellow Daoist, please wait. Could you tell me what happened over there?"
"Oh, haven't you heard? The Heaven-Piercing Tower is opening its services to the public and will be issuing assignments for Qi Refining cultivators like us. They're holding a huge customer appreciation promotion right now. There are bargains to be had!"
"Really?"
"Honestly, why don't you go see for yourself whether it's true? My friend's calling me. I can't talk any longer. Farewell."
In the blink of an eye, the man he had stopped rounded a street corner and vanished.
"Was that a shill?"
The cultivator who had asked could not help feeling suspicious.
But on second thought, looking cost nothing. What if it was true?
After some effort, he reached the gathering place and found four or five hundred people already there, packed into a dense, sprawling crowd.
The merchant association's servants and stewards struggled to get the crowd into line, shouting themselves hoarse. "Immortal masters, please form a line! A line!"
Only an idiot would line up! The cultivators secretly exerted their strength, unobtrusively shoving others aside as they pressed forward.
Just then, a Foundation Establishment cultivator suddenly appeared overhead, his formidable spiritual consciousness enveloping the