In the early morning, Yue Xing Pavilion woke up earlier than yesterday.
Qin Tiexin When he opened the door, people were already walking in the corridor. The sound of clattering dishes and whispered conversations came from the lobby downstairs. He walked to the window and saw scattered monks on the street, and the door panels of the shops were being removed one after another.
"Are you awake?" Li Yun's voice came from next door.
She stood at the door and changed into a more formal lake green dress, with cloud patterns embroidered on the cuffs and jade hanging around the waist. This dress made her look a little more ladylike, and she was completely different from the sassy one she wore yesterday.
"I'm going to visit an elder in the clan," Li Yun said. "He runs a medicine business in Yue Xing Pavilion. You..."
"I'll go shopping." Qin Tiexin said.
Li Yun nodded. "I'll see you at the inn at noon. If anything happens, you can find me at the Jishi Hall on West Street."
After saying that, she turned around and went downstairs. Her skirt slid across the wooden steps without making any sound.
Qin Tiexin stood in front of the window for a moment, watching her figure disappear at the corner of the street. Then he went back to the house and closed the door.
He took out Storage Bag from his arms, fifteen pieces of low-grade Spirit Stone, and some scattered spiritual crystals, which looked like dozens of pieces.
This is all the possessions.
Qin Tiexin took a deep breath, opened the door and went downstairs.
He stood at the door and thought for a while, and decided to go to the West Market first - when he passed by yesterday, he remembered that there was a larger medicinal market there.
After passing through two streets, the medicinal smell in the air became stronger and stronger. It was not simply bitter, but mixed with spicy, sweet, sour, and some unspeakable weird smells. The shops on both sides of the street also changed. "Baicaotang", "Pill Cauldron Pavilion", "spirit medicine Fang", each one has a bigger sign than the other.
Qin Tiexin stopped in front of a "Baicao Pavilion". The store is spacious, with porcelain bottles and jade boxes on the counter. The waiter is wearing Tsing Yi and is introducing something to the customers.
He walked in the door.
The aroma of medicine came to my face. Various types of elixirs were displayed on the shelf on the left, with price tags marked under each bottle. "Qi-nourishing pills, five Spirit Stone per bottle." "Huichun powder, eight Spirit Stone." "Jiedu pills, twelve Spirit Stone."
Qin Tiexin walked to the counter. A young waiter came up to him and asked, "What do you need, sir?"
"Qi Gathering Pill," Qin Tiexin said, "How to sell it?"
"Qi Gathering Pill?" The clerk looked him up and down, "The kind used during the Qi Refining Period? Thirty Spirit Stone One bottle, ten pills."
Qin Tiexin paused. "Thirty?"
"Yes." The clerk took out a cyan porcelain bottle from under the counter with a delicate body. "This is our store's signature. It uses 30-year-old purple cloud ginseng as the main medicine, supplemented by seven-flavored grass. The elixir yield rate is only 30%. It is a bit expensive, but the effect is good."
"Is there any cheaper one?"
"Cheap?" The waiter's smile faded a little, "Then you go and look elsewhere. We at 'Baicao Pavilion' never sell defective products."
Qin Tiexin nodded, turned around and went out.
The waiter's whisper came from behind, "You're dressed like this and you're asking about the Qi Gathering Pill..."
He didn't look back and continued walking forward.
I passed two more pharmacies, and the prices were almost the same. The cheapest one cost 28 Spirit Stone.
He turned into a narrow alley. There were mostly street stalls here, and most of the stall owners were simply dressed, and some were even shabby. The goods were placed on the ground, padded with oilcloth. In addition to the smell of medicine, the air was also mixed with the smell of musty and sweat.
There were several Jade Slip. Qin Tiexin on a stall. When I got closer, I saw the top one engraved with the four words "Gold Gold Sword Qi Jue". Jade Slip was light gold in color and had some wear on the edges.
"How to sell this?" he asked.
The stall owner was a skinny old man who was taking a nap with his eyes squinted. He opened one eye after hearing this: ""Geng Jin Sword Qi Technique", the foundation of the metal system Cultivation Method, leads directly to the perfection of Qi refining. Eighty Spirit Stone."
Qin Tiexin picked up Jade Slip. It was heavy in the hand and the surface was cold. He used Divine Sense to probe into it - there was indeed Cultivation Method content in Jade Slip, but only the first short paragraph was complete, and the rest were intermittent text, as if there was a problem during rubbing.
"This is a broken copy," he said.
The old man snorted, "What happened to the remaining copy? The first three layers of Cultivation Method are complete, enough for you to use until the later stage of Qi refining. The complete one costs two hundred Spirit Stone, can you afford it?"
Qin Tiexin Put down Jade Slip.
"Do you want it?" the old man asked.
"No."
"Poor guy." The old man muttered and closed his eyes again.
Qin Tiexin walked out of the alley and returned to the main street. The sun was a little dazzling and he squinted his eyes.
Ahead is the "Shenbing Building". It is a three-story wooden building with cornices and two stone lions standing at the door. The lions' eyes are embedded with rubies, shining in the sun. Several pieces of Law Artifact are displayed in the window: a long sword with a long and slender blade, glowing with an aqua halo; a round shield with a tortoise shell pattern carved on the surface; and a pair of short blades with the blades curved like the moon.
Qin Tiexin approached the display window.
There is a wooden sign under the long sword. "'Liuyun' standard flying sword (lower grade Law Artifact), with sharp spiritual patterns. Four hundred and fifty spiritual crystals."
He stared at the sword for a while. The flowing cloud pattern on the sword was a little shallow, and the forging marks on the sword's spine were uneven. If he were to forge it, he would stir it three more times during the smelting of the star iron sand to make it more evenly distributed. The blade would be straighter and the spirit pattern bearing would be more stable.
The pair of short blades next to it are priced more expensive. "'Moon Blade' (lower grade Law Artifact), with sharp and armor-breaking double spirit patterns. Eight Spirit Stone."
Qin Tiexin estimated in his mind: To forge such a pair of short blades, you need three kilograms of black iron, half a tael of star iron sand, and a little cold jade powder. The material cost is about two hundred and fifty spiritual crystals. Adding charcoal fire and man-hours, the total cost will not exceed three hundred and fifty spiritual crystals. And eight Spirit Stone - eight hundred spiritual crystals are sold here.
Profits more than doubled.
Qin Tiexin turned around and walked towards the materials market.
The further west you go, the heavier the metallic smell in the air becomes. The tinkling sound of forging comes from all directions, like a never-ending rain. There are many workshops on both sides of the street, with small facades, and ores and charcoal piled at the door. There are shirtless men carrying iron ingots in and out, and their bodies are covered with oil and sweat.
Qin Tiexin stopped in front of an "iron shop". There were various metal ingots on the shelves in the store: red-heart copper was dark red, Cold Iron was green-gray, and star iron sand was packed in a wooden box, as fine as sand.
"How do you sell red-hearted copper?" he asked the guy behind the counter.
The clerk was keeping accounts and said without raising his head, "Fifteen Spirit Stone for the whole ingot, and fifty spiritual crystals for each kilogram of zero-cut Spirit Stone."
"Where is Cold Iron?"
"Twelve Spirit Stone in the whole ingot, and twenty spiritual crystals in one kilogram of zero-cut Spirit Stone."
The price is indeed about 10% lower than that in Liuyun Zongfang City. But buying it in small quantities is not cost-effective - the whole tablet is fifty kilograms, and he can't afford it.
"Are there any scraps?" Qin Tiexin asked.
The waiter then raised his head and glanced at him. "There are some scraps piled up in the backyard. There is a basket of fifty spiritual crystals. You can pick it yourself."
Qin Tiexin followed the clerk through the store to the backyard. The yard was not big, and there were seven or eight bamboo baskets piled in the corner. They were all leftover scraps from forging: pieces of red copper, Cold Iron pieces, star iron sand dregs, and some metal fragments whose materials could not be identified.
He squatted down and rummaged through it with his hands. The scraps were of different sizes and irregular in shape, but the advantage was that they were cheap. One basket weighed about thirty to forty pounds, so if he could pick out some usable ones, it would be a good deal.
But he is not here to buy practice materials today.
"Next time." He stood up.
The guy didn't say anything and turned around and went back to the house.
Qin Tiexin walked out of the iron shop and continued to the west. Turning a corner, the smell of medicine became stronger again, but this time it was mixed with a fishy smell - not fishy, but a thicker smell with a rusty smell.
He saw a sign: "Bone Forging Hall".
The store is larger than other shops. The door panel is painted dark brown with a skeleton pattern painted on it with white paint. A dried animal skin is hung at the door, and the hair on the animal skin is sticky with blood. The smell wafting from the door is more mixed: the aroma of medicine, blood, and a strange burnt smell.
Qin Tiexin Push the door and go in.
The store was dimly lit. Wooden shelves were nailed to the four walls, and the shelves were filled with bottles and jars with labels on them. There was a long table in the middle, with several animal skins spread out on the table, and some bones, horns, and claws placed on the skins. In the corner squatted a bald man, pounding something with a stone mortar, making a dull thumping sound.
"What to buy?" The strong man didn't even raise his head.
Qin Tiexin walked to the wooden shelf and looked at the labels one by one: "Tiger bone powder", "bear bile paste", "Earth lizard blood", "Stone marrow liquid"...
"Is there a dragon tendon vine?" he asked.
The sound of pounding medicine stopped.
The strong man raised his head. There was a scar on his face, from the left forehead to the right cheek, and his nose was a little crooked. His eyes were fierce, like a wild beast.
"Dragon tendon vine?" He stood up. He was taller than Qin Tiexin, with broad shoulders and a thick back, and his arms were as thick as an ordinary person's thighs. "Is it used to temper the spine?"
Qin Tiexin nodded.
The strong man walked into the inner room, rummaged for a while, and took out a bundle of dark yellow vines. The vines were as thick as a thumb, and the surface was covered with spiral patterns, like a tightened rope.
"One or two hundred and fifty spiritual crystals." The strong man said, "How many do you want?"
Qin Tiexin touched the vine body. It was dry, tough, and elastic. It was indeed the dragon tendon vine, and the quality was better than what he had gotten in the sect before.
"Five taels," he said.
The strong man glanced at him, said nothing, and took out a small scale. The vines were placed on the scale, and the weight slid and stopped at the five-tael mark.
"Seven hundred and fifty spiritual crystals." said the strong man.
Qin Tiexin took out the cloth bag from his arms, untied it, and counted seven pieces of low-grade Spirit Stone, and also counted fifty spiritual crystals. Spirit Stone was placed on the table, making a slight collision sound.
The strong man took away Spirit Stone, wrapped the vine in oil paper, and handed it over. Qin Tiexin took it and stuffed it into Storage Bag.
"Do you want anything else?" the strong man asked, "Crythospermum and iron-bone flowers are used for medicinal baths. They are cheap."
They are all auxiliary materials used for bone tempering.
Qin Tiexin looked along his fingers. There were dried herbs piled in several bamboo baskets in the corner. The stems and leaves were curled up and the color was dim.
"How to sell?"
"One pack of one hundred spirit crystals, each pack is enough for three uses."
Qin Tiexin asked for three packs. Another three hundred spirit crystals.
After the transaction was completed, he only had four pieces of Spirit Stone and scattered spiritual crystals left.
The strong man wrapped the herbs and suddenly said, "How far have you refined your body?"
"Fifth floor." Qin Tiexin said.
"Fifth level..." The strong man looked him up and down, "Looking at your frame, you have a good foundation. But just relying on these herbs will be too much for you to break through the sixth level."
Qin Tiexin said nothing.
"If you really want to lay the foundation," the strong man continued, "You have to take a bath with 'Salamander Blood' or take 'Century Stone Milk' internally. That's the serious thing."
"How much?"
"A small bottle of fire lizard blood costs five hundred Spirit Stone. A hundred-year stone milk is even more expensive, one drop costs eighty Spirit Stone." The strong man grinned, his scar twisting, "Can't afford it?"
Qin Tiexin shook his head.
"Then just take your time." The strong man waved his hand, "Next one."
Walking out of the bone forging hall, the sunlight made Qin Tiexin squint his eyes. He touched Storage Bag and found that there were a few more packets of herbs inside, but more than half of Spirit Stone was missing.
Keep walking forward. Used goods stalls began to appear on the street, selling everything: damaged Law Artifact, incomplete Jade Slip, antiques with unknown uses, and even mortal antiques.
Qin Tiexin stopped in front of a bookstall.
The stall owner is an old man with a hunchback, squatting on the ground and sorting out books. There are dozens of books piled on the stall, with yellowed pages and rolled-up corners. Most of them are secular travel notes and miscellaneous talks, and there are also a few notebooks and atlases used by monks.
Qin Tiexin squatted down and flipped through each book. "Qingxuan Geography", "Demon Beast Illustrated Collection", "Basic Formation Analysis"...
His fingers stopped on an even more torn book.
The cover of the book is dark brown, and the corners have been worn to reveal the paper core inside. "A Survey of the Relics of the Qingxuan Domain Sect" is written in ink on the cover, and the handwriting is a bit blurry.
Qin Tiexin Open the book page.
The paper is very brittle and makes a rustling sound when turned. The content is handwritten in neat small regular script, recording the ruins of abandoned sects in Qingxuan Territory: their location, history, and current situation. Most of them are small sects, and some have only existed for a few decades.
When he turned to the middle page, his hand stopped.
"... The Iron Ridge Sect was established deep in the Black Meteor Mountains, and is famous for its body-forging skills. The members of the sect are all tall and strong, and can carry a cauldron. Two hundred and seventy years ago, after the sect leader 'Iron Bone True Person' passed away, the sect gradually declined. Two hundred and twenty years ago, the mountain was closed for unknown reasons, and there has been no news since. It is suspected that the inheritance has been cut off."
Only a few lines.
Qin Tiexin turned over a few more pages, and there was no mention of the iron spine door again.
"This book," he raised his head, "How to sell it?"
The old man glanced at it: ""A Survey of Relics"? Three pieces of Spirit Stone."
"Too expensive." Qin Tiexin said, "It's just a miscellany."
"Miscellaneous notes?" the old man snorted, "How many secrets are recorded here? Three Spirit Stone, do you want love?"
Qin Tiexin closed the book and put it back where it was. He stood up to leave.
"Wait a minute." The old man stopped him, "Two and a half yuan, the lowest price."
Qin Tiexin shook his head. "One Spirit Stone."
"Spirit Stone?" The old man glared, "Do you think this is waste paper?"
"This book is very old and the content may not be accurate." Qin Tiexin said.
The old man stared at him for a moment, then suddenly smiled, "Spirit Stone, just Spirit Stone. I have kept this book for three years, and you were the first to ask."
Qin Tiexin paid Spirit Stone and put the book into Storage Bag.
When I walked out of the flea market, it was already noon. The sun was shining directly, and the light reflected from the warm jade bricks was a bit dazzling. The flow of people on the street was still there, and the sounds of hawking, bargaining, and forging were mixed together, creating a buzzing sound.
Qin Tiexin stood on the street, watching the monks coming and going.
There was a young man in gilded clothes shaking a folding fan, with servants following behind him; a female cultivator holding a paper umbrella, walking slowly by; a strong man carrying an iron ingot, dripping with sweat; and a ragged Rogue Cultivator squatting in the corner, with a few pieces of ore in front of him, looking expectantly at everyone who passed by.
He saw a Qi Refining Third Layer young monk arguing with the stall owner. "Why has the price of this 'Stop Bleeding Powder' increased again? Yesterday, it was worth eighty spirit crystals!"
"If you want to buy, buy, but if you don't, go away." The stall owner was impatient.
The young monk gritted his teeth, counted out the spiritual crystals, grabbed the medicine bag, and left in a hurry.
Qin Tiexin touched Storage Bag on his waist.
He bought the herbs, but spent most of his savings. There were clues to the Iron Spine Gate, but it was just a vague record. He saw countless treasures, but couldn't afford any of them.
He thought of the short blade with a price tag of eight Spirit Stone in the window of Shenbing Building. If he could refine Law Artifact like that and sell it, he could earn four to five hundred spirit crystals with one sword. But this is not Liuyun Sect. He has no shop and no reputation. Who would buy Law Artifact refined by a strange little monk?
Even if someone buys it, where will he get the money to buy the materials?
There was a strong man on the street corner looking for workers. "Transporting ore, twenty spiritual crystals a day!"
Several Rogue Cultivator gathered around: "I'm going!" "I'm going too!"
Qin Tiexin looked at it for a moment, then turned and left.
He walked back along the way he came. When he passed by a weapon refining workshop, he saw a piece of paper posted on the door. "We are looking for apprentices. The requirements are Qi Refining Third Layer and above, and a foundation in blacksmithing. The monthly salary is fifty spiritual crystals, and you will be responsible for your own food and accommodation."
When Qin Tiexin walked by, he heard curses coming from the street. "Trash! You can't even control the heat! Get out!"
A young man ran out with his head lowered and his eyes red.
Qin Tiexin Keep moving forward.
When he returned to the inn, there were several tables of guests sitting in the lobby. Li Yun hadn't come back yet. He went straight upstairs, entered the room, and closed the door.
The room was very quiet. The noise outside the window was blurred by the wooden window, like a layer of water.
The streets are still lively.