The Ways of the World

"!" Wang Yan's heart stirred at the sight. His expression remained unchanged, but inwardly he grew wary. From the few words exchanged with Lü Zijun and Fairy Purple Smoke, along with the other cultivators' earlier reactions, he had already classified Fairy Purple Smoke as someone he must not provoke...

"Uh...!" Lü Zijun faltered at her words, clearly harboring considerable reservations. He hastily changed the subject. "Then what brings you to our Lü Family Marketplace, Fairy Purple Smoke? It seems you have something to sell?"

"That's right! Some materials I have no use for," Fairy Purple Smoke replied casually.

"So do I!" Wang Yan hurriedly chimed in. He had been somewhat apprehensive before. With his cultivation, bringing out anything valuable to sell might invite all sorts of trouble. But if he went along with Fairy Purple Smoke, he would have no such worries. He might even reap a few benefits.

"Hehe! It's not often Fairy Purple Smoke and..." Lü Zijun hurriedly began courteously, only to realize that he had yet to ask Wang Yan's name. Somewhat embarrassed, he quickly turned to him. "May I ask how I should address you, fellow Daoist?"

"Oh, all your thoughts are on my senior sister. How could you spare any attention for me?" Wang Yan deliberately played the brash fool, making Lü Zijun's expression sour a little before adding, "My surname is Ba!"

"Ba? Is there such a surname?" Lü Zijun asked in surprise, taken aback.

"Hey! There is! Aren't I right here?" Wang Yan promptly answered, his tone oddly resembling someone answering a call of "Dad."

"Ahem!" Fairy Purple Smoke's body trembled slightly at this. She had clearly caught Wang Yan's trick at Lü Zijun's expense. Amused inwardly, she suppressed her laughter and gave a light cough before hastily saying, "My junior brother is a little mischievous! Please don't take offense, Brother Lü!"

"Huh?" Lü Zijun had not caught on at first, but Fairy Purple Smoke's remark made him realize. His face alternated between livid and red, looking utterly ugly, and a vicious gleam flashed across his eyes. Remembering Fairy Purple Smoke, however, he held himself back and said stiffly, "Ah, your junior brother certainly is amusing...!" After that, he had no desire to engage with Wang Yan.

Wang Yan shrugged and raised his eyebrows smugly at Fairy Purple Smoke.

"!" Fairy Purple Smoke ignored him, leaving Wang Yan to make a fool of himself.

As they talked,

Lü Zijun led them into a hall. It was very spacious, but its lavish decoration lacked the elegance of the exterior, giving it something of a nouveau riche air...

"Someone bring spirit tea!" Lü Zijun called loudly, then said, "Please, both of you, have a seat!"

A full hour or more later,

Lü Zijun personally escorted Wang Yan and Fairy Purple Smoke outside, repeatedly bowing as he respectfully saw them off from the Spirit Beast Shop...

"..." Watching Fairy Purple Smoke's retreating figure, Lü Zijun's eyes revealed a trace of reluctance, his desire so intense he could scarcely bear it. His gaze shifted to Wang Yan's departing back, and venom flashed in his eyes. Gritting his teeth, he suddenly said to a cultivator guarding the entrance, "Come here!"

"What are your orders, young master?" the cultivator asked respectfully.

"Keep an eye on those two. See where they go," Lü Zijun said quietly. After a pause, he added, "Remember, don't get too close. Be especially careful of the female cultivator!"

"Yes, young master!" the cultivator promptly replied, then slipped into the stream of people and followed them...

"Hmph! You little brat! I'll spare you this time, but if you fall into my hands again, I'll destroy you!" Once Wang Yan had followed Fairy Purple Smoke around a corner, she spoke coldly to him. With a flick of her slender, jade-like hand, she released a Purple Jade Ruyi. Brilliant purple light flared, and she flew onto it, riding away without so much as looking back...

"Yes... Purple...!" Wang Yan hastily answered respectfully, inwardly overjoyed. At last, Fairy Purple Smoke would not hold a grudge against him. He was about to speak when she had already taken to the air in a Flying Escape. As he watched her departing figure, a trace of envy appeared in his eyes. Flying on an artifact with a Flying Escape really is wonderful...

Just then!

"Hey, you little brat! Who would have thought you'd be such a lecher at your tender age?" Card Fairy's voice rang out in Wang Yan's mind, full of teasing.

"Pah! I wouldn't dare get involved with a woman like that!" Wang Yan was still a little green. His face reddened slightly as he spat and answered in a low voice. Then he glanced around. "Hey! We still have things to do!"

Still, Fairy Purple Smoke had spared Wang Yan a great deal of trouble. Back in the hall, Lü Zijun had constantly tried to ingratiate himself with her, but she had plainly seen more than enough of these rich pretty boys and their antics. She gave him no encouragement, bluntly declaring that she had come to sell things and that he should not waste her time...

With no other choice, Lü Zijun had specifically summoned the shop's steward responsible for appraising goods for honored guests to assess their materials.

Of course.

As expected of a Core Condensation Realm cultivator, the materials Fairy Purple Smoke produced had come from Demon Beasts at least at full completion of the Cultivation Realm, and most were from Core Condensation Realm Demon Beasts. Leaving all other considerations aside, the goods themselves delighted Lü Zijun and the steward. Because of Fairy Purple Smoke's mysterious identity, they offered prices far above their usual purchasing rates...

Wang Yan benefited by association as well. Even his otherwise unremarkable materials from Demon Beasts at minor completion of the Cultivation Realm fetched considerably higher prices. When he brought out the materials from the Core Condensation Realm Fang Bear Beast, however, Fairy Purple Smoke, Lü Zijun, and the steward were all surprised. None had expected a cultivator at minor completion of the Cultivation Realm to possess materials from a Core Condensation Realm Demon Beast, even if it had only been at initial completion of that realm.

Since these shops in the Lü Family Marketplace all belonged to the Lü Household, Wang Yan held nothing back. He brought out the unusable spoils he had taken from the Ma Family cultivators: the burly cultivator's Longblade Magic Artifact and Leather Armor, the male cultivator's Shield Treasure, and so forth. None of these treasures matched his attributes, so he might as well sell them all together and save himself the trouble...

After all this,

Wang Yan had nearly emptied his Storage Bag, keeping only some materials needed to practice Artifact Refining and the Way of Formation, along with the Thousand Spirit Arrow. For one thing, the Thousand Spirit Arrow could be used with magic power of any attribute, so he intended to keep it for himself. For another, it had belonged to the Ma Family's Third Elder and might be quite well known around the Azure Spirit Mountain Range. Bringing it out could easily expose his identity. Thus, although his cultivation was still insufficient to use it, there was no need to sell it.

Selling off the materials and other items in his Storage Bag had made Wang Yan a little rich man among Cultivation Realm cultivators. The materials from the Core Condensation Realm Fang Bear Beast alone had sold for over two hundred Spirit Stones. Adding the proceeds from the other goods, the Spirit Stones found in the Ma Family cultivators' Storage Bags, and the seven or eight he had received from Elder Ma for selling out Wang Ziling, Wang Yan now had over three hundred Spirit Stones. He certainly qualified as a small moneybags among Cultivation Realm cultivators.

"Enough of that. Hurry up and find all those materials for me, and buy some pills too, so you can advance faster!" Card Fairy said.

"All right! I know!" Wang Yan hastily nodded. He was just about to enter one of the sundries shops...

Suddenly!

"...Hmph! If you won't pay the tax, you can't set up a stall here! Otherwise, I'll confiscate all your goods!" A voice came from a distance, amid what sounded like a commotion.

"I... I only just set up! I'll pay as soon as I earn some Spirit Stones!" a timid voice answered. The speaker sounded quite young.

"What happened?" Curious, Wang Yan looked in that direction.

There,

Several cultivators wearing the Leather Armor of the Lü Household surrounded a short boy of only thirteen or fourteen. With red lips, white teeth, and fair skin, the boy looked frail and small. His stall held some blank talismans and what appeared to be beast-blood cinnabar. Facing the three cultivators, his face had gone rather pale.

Oh! So setting up a stall means paying tax too! Wang Yan finally understood.

However.

The surrounding cultivators seemed thoroughly accustomed to such scenes. They stood nearby pointing and commenting, but did nothing.

"You'll pay once you've earned some Spirit Stones? Hmph! What do you think our Lü Family Marketplace is? Somewhere you can come whenever you please? What if you earn your Spirit Stones and run off?" demanded the leader, a middle-aged cultivator in his thirties or forties. He paused, then continued.

"I..." The young cultivator's expression turned miserable, and he could find nothing to say...

Ah, the ways of this world! Wang Yan sighed inwardly as he watched. But he could barely protect himself now; how could he possibly stand up for this cultivator? Besides, he had little affection for pretty boys... Still, that lad hardly counted as a pretty boy, did he? After a moment's hesitation, he turned away...

"Still! It wouldn't be reasonable to stop you from setting up a stall! We wouldn't want people saying our Lü Family Marketplace bullies visiting cultivators!" the middle-aged cultivator suddenly said, becoming unexpectedly accommodating.

"Really? Then you'll let me earn some Spirit Stones before..." the boy said joyfully.

"You can set up your stall! But I'll have to... no! Our Cultivator Market will have to confiscate half the goods on it!" the middle-aged cultivator said coldly, cutting the boy off. He bent down and reached for the goods on the stall.

"No! Half these goods are worth at least twenty Spirit Stones, and the tax is only three Spirit Stones a day! You...!" The boy hurriedly threw his arms around his wares, crying out, "I won't set up a stall! Will that do?"

"Hmph! Unfortunately, you already have!" the middle-aged cultivator replied coldly, then ordered the cultivators beside him, "Pull him away!"

"Right!"

At that very moment!

"Stop!" a voice boomed out like a great bell.