Night market

Xiao He had been discovered...

Song Yan knew that someone was bound to discover the little snake demon's existence. He just had not expected that day to come so soon.

Song Yan said nothing more and simply handed over another Spirit Stone.

Qin Xijun asked no questions either. She slipped an arm around Song Yan and walked into the Market Ward. "Senior brother, you're so good to me..."

With Chen Qi directing them, the two entered the night market.

Watching their retreating figures, Chen Qi's eyes flashed with a cold, shadowy gleam. Then he chuckled.

"A Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator calling someone at the middle Qi Refining stage senior brother... heh, that's a new one."

"Granny Qin... what are you doing?"

By now, Chen Qi was long gone.

"Oh my, it's good to be young."

With a sigh, Granny Qin reluctantly let go.

"I couldn't tell before, Yesheng, but you've got quite a slender waist..."

As she spoke, she gave him another pinch, as though savoring it.

Knowing that Granny Qin liked to fool around, Song Yan could not be bothered with her at all.

Qin Xijun leaned teasingly toward his ear. "Now that the secret's out, why not have that little snake of yours come out and meet this granny..."

Since that was the case, Song Yan did not act coy either.

Hiss...

Xiao He poked a little of her head out of Song Yan's collar, looking at Qin Xijun with her tiny black-bean eyes.

"A little green snake demon. Quite cute..."

Qin Xijun tapped Xiao He's snake head. "That man must have practiced some sort of Pupil Technique to be able to see her. But keeping Demon Beasts isn't taboo, so why be so secretive?"

"..."

Song Yan said nothing, seemingly acknowledging her words.

In truth, the reason he did not want to draw attention was that Xiao He had not cultivated for many years, yet she had been able to take human form as soon as she gained intelligence.

He had also consulted the sect's texts. Such creatures were considered "geniuses" among Demon Cultivators.

Now it seemed that secret arts and Dao formulas in the cultivation world were as numerous as the stars, with countless means of sensing Demon Qi. Without a good way to conceal her, he might as well let Xiao He show herself openly.

"Let's go. Don't hold up our real business."

The night market's central district.

Moonlight had just begun to shine. A thousand rune lamps glowed in the darkness, illuminating the entire Spirit Source Marsh night market.

Song Yan and Qin Xijun walked along at an easy pace.

He had rarely come here, really. Usually, whenever he left his cave abode, he headed straight for either Granny Qin's little shop or Fireworker Stockade.

Always hurrying in and hurrying out, he had never properly visited the Market Ward's central district.

The Treasure Gathering Pavilion, the Fire Refining Pavilion, the Elixir Herb Pavilion, the Formation Pavilion, and the Rare Goods Pavilion... the crowds around these established shops were so thick that not even water could pass through.

Talismans, Law Artifacts, pills, formations, all manner of materials, scriptures, and Method Formulas-as long as you had Spirit Stones, you could find anything here.

A golden plaque bearing the words "Treasure Gathering Pavilion" hung high above. A valiant-looking cultivator presided over the counter, while red sandalwood shelves displayed a dazzling array of Law Artifacts and pills. Screens of restrictive light flowed like a river of stars.

Besides these, there were countless little shops and stalls run by ordinary cultivators.

The cries of Qi Refining Stage Cultivators rose one after another.

"Fire Crow Talismans! Three Spirit Stones a stack!"

Some stallholders merely inscribed a mark of spiritual power in front of their stalls.

"Demon bones from the Southern Border! Trading for an Earth Element Cultivation Method!"

A burly man with a curling beard was arguing with a stallholder. "Your 'Little Cloud-and-Rain Art' only has the first six levels, and you still dare charge me so many Spirit Stones?!"

A masked cultivator crouched at the end of an alley, half a blood-red Jade Slip faintly visible beneath his black robes. He murmured to the buyer before him, "A lead on a Devil Cultivator's cave abode, in exchange for three..."

Before he finished speaking, a patrol's bronze boat swept past, startling a flock of crows and sparrows.

"Granny, quite a few cultivators here don't look like sect disciples..."

Qin Xijun nodded. "Of course. If they were all sect disciples, why would the patrol need so many people?"

"Strictly speaking, Spirit Source Marsh isn't within the Dongyuan Sect at all. It's merely under the sect's jurisdiction."

"A certain sect elder thought it would be too dull if the Spirit Source Marsh market only opened to our own disciples. That's how the 'night market' came about."

"The dozens of cultivation Lineages, large and small, below the mountain that depend on the Dongyuan Sect, Rogue Cultivators from the surrounding wilderness, and even disciples from some Daoist temples and minor sects within Feng'an Prefecture all come here to barter."

"As time passed, this night market grew livelier and livelier."

A look of reminiscence flashed through Qin Xijun's eyes.

"Oh, right. Although the night market's regulations are a little looser than the Day Market's, there are still limits..."

"I see."

Song Yan nodded.

"All right, now that you're inside, you can handle selling those things yourself..."

Qin Xijun smiled slyly. "This granny has an appointment with an old acquaintance. I'll be off first."

"Huh?"

Before Song Yan could react, Granny Qin had already blended into the crowd and disappeared.

He now had reason to suspect that Granny Qin had simply wanted to get him to pay her admission.

"...Never mind. I'll have a look around."

Fire Crow Talismans... three Spirit Stones a stack.

Fire Crow Spirit Talismans were a very common type of Fire Element Law Technique talisman that could condense a large flock of fire crows for a set length of time.

Unfortunately, they were not particularly powerful offensively. Even if they struck, their flames could only wear away an opponent's protective spiritual power.

He had, however, heard that an outer-sect male cultivator had once released ninety-nine Fire Crow Talismans in a single night to express his feelings for a female cultivator he admired. Unfortunately, it had ended in failure.

"Speaking of which, the Market Ward has introduced new rules this time. Certain special texts and Cultivation Methods that are difficult to classify can no longer be sold openly."

At one stall in the market, a number of cultivators crowded around the stallholder, listening to his torrent of words.

"Some say this is a deliberate attempt to curb the growth of the Spirit Source Marsh night market... but I disagree."

"If this black market really became utterly lawless and caused some great disaster one day, and the Dongyuan Sect's higher-ups simply shut it down, that would truly cut off everyone's livelihood."

The stallholder looked like a youth of sixteen or seventeen. Seeing the reactions of those before him, he hastily struck while the iron was hot.

"Now, some fellow Daoists will ask..."

"With those miscellaneous books and texts banned from sale, how are we supposed to obtain them?"

"Ah! What a coincidence! I happen to have a batch of 'miscellaneous books' newly in stock..."

"Fellow Daoists, if any volume catches your eye, take the slip bearing its title from the table and leave the location of your cave abode. Someone will make a special delivery to your door another day..."

"Hey! Fellow Daoist! Don't go!"

"I also have unofficial histories and secret records here! Stay and take a look! Don't go, fellow Daoist..."

The cultivators who had been crowding around his stall scattered...

"Hah, a bunch of country bumpkins who don't know quality when they see it."

The youth immediately cursed. "Without my abilities, who'd get you these illicit books?"

Only after he finished cursing did he discover that a cultivator wearing a white wolf mask was still standing before his stall.

He hastily put on an amiable smile and approached. "Oh, fellow Daoist, you have a discerning eye. Which book has caught your fancy?"

Song Yan looked at the little bamboo slips inscribed with words. The more he looked, the more illegal they seemed.

"This 'Immortal Maiden Bai Jie' was hugely popular before the ban. If that doesn't interest you, you could also take a look at this 'Young Hero A-Bin'..."

The youth continued his endless sales pitch, but Song Yan was not looking at the inscribed bamboo slips. Instead, he took a preview Jade Slip for a legitimate text from the shelf.

"A complete account of the sights and customs of the immortal path."

After sweeping it with his spiritual sense, Song Yan returned the Jade Slip.

"Fellow Daoist, how much for this book..."

Seeing that Song Yan had not chosen one of the banned books inscribed on the bamboo slips, the youth immediately lost interest.

"Oh... that one. Two Spirit Stones, and you can take it."

Two Spirit Stones...

That was a little expensive, too.

But after agonizing for a while, Song Yan gritted his teeth and bought it anyway.

"Thank you."