The middle-aged shopkeeper simply stopped working and waited complacently for the last fat sheep before the market closed.
"Trying to haggle with me? Now you won't even get to keep those eight-tenths of a Spirit Stone!"
"Ah, there's less and less fat to skim off South Lake."
"Once I've saved up a few more Spirit Stones, I'll have to pull some strings and get transferred to West Garden or East Mountain Market..."
Rubbing the Spiritual Qi beads around his wrist, the middle-aged shopkeeper casually directed the shop assistant's work.
Yet he waited and waited, until the sky had gone completely dark, without the mud-legged peasant ever coming back.
Unease gradually crept into the middle-aged shopkeeper's heart. He waited a little longer, but finally could no longer restrain himself.
"Go ask Old Liu for me. He didn't ignore the rules and buy that mud-legged peasant's Spirit Chicken just now, did he?"
"Right away, sir!"
The shop assistant took his orders and headed straight for Liu's Shop.
He returned shortly afterward, though his expression was somewhat strange.
The middle-aged shopkeeper asked impatiently:
"Erhu, what did Old Liu say? He really bought that Spirit Chicken? That old bastard! I'll tell my elder brother about this. Liu's really doesn't know what's good for it!"
Erhu looked troubled.
"He did buy them, but Shopkeeper Liu said that man's bearing was rather like an exalted immortal of the Sect. Even if he wasn't one, his standing couldn't be low, so he didn't dare drive down the price according to the rules..."
The middle-aged shopkeeper's face darkened at those words.
"Nonsense!"
"Old Liu might fool an idiot like you, but he can't fool me!"
"Sure, plenty of the Sect's immortals don't care about their appearance, but which of them looks that shabby and poor? A Spirit Chicken may be worth a fair amount, but it's hardly worth an exalted immortal of the Sect selling it in person..."
"But sir, Shopkeeper Liu said that man sold thirteen at once!"
"What?!"
The middle-aged shopkeeper's hand trembled involuntarily against his beads!
He shot to his feet and asked incredulously:
"H-how many?!"
"Thirteen Spirit Chickens, and..."
The shop assistant faltered, seemingly unsure whether he should say it.
"And what? Out with it!"
The middle-aged shopkeeper urged him on, his expression ugly.
"And... although they were all low-grade roosters, they were full of Spiritual Qi..."
The middle-aged shopkeeper's expression instantly grew uglier.
The shop assistant hesitated. "Shopkeeper Liu-Shopkeeper Liu also asked me to tell you... thank you for your generosity. Those thirteen Spirit Chickens are quite useful to that person in his household."
Smack!
The Spiritual Qi beads slammed onto the desk, leaving a deep impression.
The middle-aged shopkeeper's chest heaved violently, but he finally forced himself to settle down.
He had no choice but to quell his anger.
Anyone who could produce thirteen Spirit Chickens at once had a mighty tree at his back, even if he was not a Sect disciple.
He would never dare direct his anger at someone like that.
No, it was not that he did not dare. He could not even entertain the thought!
And once the resentment was gone, profound regret welled up in the middle-aged shopkeeper's heart.
"I misjudged him!"
"If only I'd known! If only I'd offered him three Spirit Stones just now!"
"Besides, my elder brother could probably have used them too. If he made a breakthrough, I could get transferred to East Mountain Market..."
Buying thirteen at once would have been a good choice whether he gave them to his elder brother to improve his cultivation or used them to win favors.
Unfortunately, he himself had pushed the business away.
By now, the middle-aged shopkeeper had slapped his thigh red.
He could not help taking a few steps outside and looking around again.
But there was no trace of that "mud-legged peasant" to be found.
Wang Ba walked along the road through the night with his heart in his mouth.
Mountains rose in overlapping layers all around him, their looming shadows like Sect disciples peering at him...
Feeling the heavy Spirit Stones in his pocket, he grew more panicked every time his hand counted through them!
Too many!
Far too many Spirit Stones!
Forty-two Spirit Stones and nine-tenths!
He had emptied a grain shop's entire working supply of Spirit Stones!
To be honest, had he not been left with no choice, he would never have exchanged for so many Spirit Stones.
It left him feeling far too unsafe.
How was this any different from a small child carrying gold through a crowded market?
If some Sect disciple happened upon him and greed arose...
If a Servant Disciple died, he would truly have died for nothing.
Thus, Wang Ba trembled with fear the entire way. Worried that someone might follow him, he deliberately took a long detour, sometimes sprinting and sometimes creeping along.
It all depended on whether there were other travelers along the road.
He did his utmost to avoid them, and whenever he truly could not, he strained to activate his Yin Spirit power.
Even when no one was around, he kept his Yin Spirit power running.
This allowed him to discover an advantage of Yin Spirit power.
When no one was around, his Yin Spirit power had no need to deceive anyone, so it hardly depleted at all.
It only began to deplete when someone saw him.
At South Lake Market, although it had nearly been closing time, there had still been plenty of people, so more than half his Yin Spirit power had been consumed.
He had encountered several more Servant Disciples along the way, consuming some more.
To his relief, however, just as the drop of Yin Spirit power within his Yin Spirit Mansion dwindled to the size of a grain of rice, he finally caught sight of his estate.
"Phew..."
Wang Ba let out a long breath.
Thankfully, it had been a fright without disaster.
Looking back on his encounter in the market, Wang Ba was rather speechless.
For safety's sake, he had deliberately fabricated the appearance of a plain, unobtrusive Servant Disciple, only to be taken for a sucker by the shopkeeper of the Burning Blade Grain Shop.
Once outside, he had realized where the problem lay and hurriedly made slight adjustments.
Sure enough, he had fooled the shopkeeper of another grain shop.
Clearly, even in an immortal Sect, judging people by their appearance was the norm.
Of course, he had also taken a great risk by doing so. Fortunately, he had now made it back safely.
Just then, Wang Ba suddenly froze!
He felt as though the Yin Spirit Mansion had sensed some kind of invisible pressure.
Within the vast, boundless Yin Spirit Mansion, that droplet of Yin Spirit power abruptly began spinning at tremendous speed!
And it was shrinking at an alarming rate!
What was happening?!
Coming to his senses, Wang Ba's heart hammered wildly!
What had happened?!
He had never seen his Yin Spirit power spin so fast!
Just then, a clear, ringing voice suddenly sounded not far behind him!
"Senior brother, might I ask how to get to the Merit Office?"
S-senior brother?!
Wang Ba was both panicked and bewildered.
Who was he calling? Was someone else here?
"Sorry to disturb you, senior brother. I only joined the Sect recently and have just broken through, so I'm not very familiar with the Sect yet. Sorry for the trouble, but could you point me toward the Merit Office? Thank you!"
The voice sounded somewhat anxious and drew a few steps closer.
What panicked Wang Ba even more was that still no one around him answered.
At that moment, time itself seemed to freeze.
Wang Ba felt his hands and feet turn cold, his mind utterly blank.
As the voice approached, the Yin Spirit power within his Yin Spirit Mansion spun faster still!
The Yin Spirit power, which had already dwindled to the size of a grain of rice, had now shrunk to a speck of dust!
It seemed about to vanish at any moment!
Yet once his thoughts reached the height of chaos, Wang Ba's heart suddenly grew calm!
Senior brother? Junior brother? Merit Office?
Hiss-
A possibility as to this person's identity instantly occurred to Wang Ba.
Amid all that confusion, an invisible thread seemed to run through Wang Ba's mind, swiftly stringing together every piece of information.
Without the slightest hesitation, he casually pointed in a direction.
"Thank you, senior brother!"
The speaker wasted no time either. After thanking him, he made no further sound.
Only after Wang Ba sensed that the drop of Yin Spirit power in the Yin Spirit Mansion between his brows, which could have vanished at any moment, had finally stopped spinning did he cautiously turn around.
The sky stretched high into the distant night, mountain winds blowing, the far-off mountains rising and falling like shadows. Yet not a trace of anyone remained.
Everything that had just happened seemed like an illusion.
Relief instantly flooded Wang Ba's heart. His knees buckled, and he dropped onto his backside.
His inner clothes were already soaked through, but all he could do was gulp down breath after breath, his eyes filled with nothing but relief.
"Just now... that was a Sect disciple, wasn't it?"
"Terrifying!"
Although he had never even seen the man's face, his heart still trembled at the thought.
This was not his first encounter with an immortal cultivator.
When he had previously sought to join the Sect to pursue immortality and the Dao, he had already witnessed immortal methods.
After finishing his work that day, the immortal master who tested Spiritual Roots had stepped into the sky and vanished in an instant. Truly, an immortal among men!
But that had been under circumstances where he knew the other party would not do anything to him.
What had just happened was entirely different.
If the person calling himself "junior brother" had seen through his disguise and discovered the Spirit Stones hidden on him, then out in those desolate mountains, should an evil thought arise, he might...
At the thought, Wang Ba could not help shuddering with lingering fear!
"But this Yin Spirit power can actually deceive even the Sect's disciples!"
"Looks like I need to put more work into it!"
Recalling that perilous moment, Wang Ba could not help going pale.
Had he been delayed even a few seconds longer, his Yin Spirit power would have been completely exhausted. Then he might truly have been finished.
Fortunately, he had thought quickly in the crisis and immediately sent the other party away.
But this could happen once, not twice. Wang Ba never wanted to feel that helplessness and terror again.
Although his hands and feet were still somewhat weak, he feared that the Sect disciple might return after failing to find the Merit Office, so he forced himself to muster his strength and returned to the estate.
As soon as he returned, he found a way to bury the Spirit Stones beneath the chicken coop.
The Precious Chickens themselves were brimming with Spiritual Qi and could barely conceal the Spiritual Qi given off by the Spirit Stones, keeping others from easily noticing.
Afterward, without even bothering to wash, he hurried back to his little room and fell into a muddled sleep.
The moment he woke the next day, he discovered he was ill.
Before you continue