Flowing Cloud Market

Outside the door stood a young man of about twenty, dressed in patched and tattered hemp clothes, not much better than Xu Fan's.

He was raising his hand to push open the courtyard gate.

"There are only two fish in there, nothing good."

Xu Fan did not answer. He looked the man over carefully and guessed he had not been cultivating for long.

His clothes were terribly shabby, unlike those of an ordinary cultivator.

Xu Fan was a lowborn commoner of the lowest of the three ranks, unable to wear fine cloth. Besides, he wore a straw rain cape to fish every day, so he had simply never changed clothes.

"Do you cultivate the Plain Luminary Supreme Yin Wondrous Instruction?"

He recalled that the Lu Household father and son had said during his last visit that, if the Lu Household were destroyed, they would spread the Plain Luminary Supreme Yin Wondrous Instruction far and wide.

And he had just heard the person outside mention someone who had condensed a Mystic Luminary using that Cultivation Method.

Any mortal who could read could cultivate from those rubbings, so it was only natural that someone had entered the path of cultivation through them.

But the man before him seemed quite talented?

"Could it be that you do too?"

Hearing that, the young man across from him caught on as well.

On his way here, he really had not seen any immortal cultivator dressed so shabbily, aside from himself.

Now that he had met another, he felt a little more at ease.

"My name is Zhang Yaozu. How should I address you, fellow Daoist?"

It was rare to meet someone like him, a mortal by birth who had become a cultivator through the Plain Luminary Supreme Yin Wondrous Instruction.

By the look of it, he too had ventured into Shushui Peak in search of spiritual objects because he lacked Cultivation Resources.

"Xu Xian."

Xu Fan casually gave him a name.

Although he had the Taiji Dao Evolution Diagram and would not die in this world, it never hurt to keep a card up his sleeve.

"Xu Xian?"

"Your name sounds like you have an affinity with immortals, fellow Daoist."

Zhang Yaozu offered a word of admiration.

"Now you live up to your name, too."

Xu Fan smiled, then asked:

"Is there a market nearby where people can trade?"

The treasure fish would not die after a day or two out of water, but he could not keep carrying them around forever.

He needed to trade them for what he wanted as soon as possible and learn about the situation here.

"Of course there's a market."

"The Lu Household has been wiped out, and who knows how many Lineages and Rogue Cultivators have their eyes on this place. Flowing Cloud Market outside Shushui City is packed."

As Zhang Yaozu spoke, he took another careful look around:

"I'm not planning to keep looking for spiritual objects either. Why don't we travel together?"

There were too many cultivators on Shushui Peak. It was far too dangerous, and he could not compete with the others anyway.

Fortunately, he had obtained a few Spirit Origin Fruits, so the trip had not been in vain.

"I was thinking the same thing."

Xu Fan readily agreed.

This man was not very strong, was also a mortal by birth, and had cultivated the Plain Luminary Supreme Yin Wondrous Instruction. He was just the person Xu Fan could learn a few things from.

"Let's get going!"

Zhang Yaozu turned and led the way,

"I heard from other Rogue Cultivators that once they've confirmed Shushui Peak is safe, cultivators from several Foundation Establishment Aristocratic Clans will come to fight over its spiritual objects and ownership."

"The reason they're letting us in is that they know we can't break the formations or get anything good."

The two walked side by side, Law Power flowing through their legs as they descended the mountain at a good pace.

They encountered other cultivators but had no clashes with them. Those people were all searching for spiritual objects of their own and had no time to mind anyone else.

"No wonder I searched for so long and only got two fish."

Xu Fan spoke as he asked around, pretending he did not know much.

As he learned more along the way, he found that Zhang Yaozu really did not know much. He had only been to Flowing Cloud Market once, and had been turned away at the door for having neither Spirit Stones nor spiritual objects.

It took them more than an hour to reach a valley shrouded in thick fog.

Only by circulating Law Power to their eyes could they see the entrance to the valley and the plaque bearing the two characters "Flowing Cloud."

Quite a few people were coming and going through the entrance, and there were also many carriages and mortals outside.

"This is it."

Zhang Yaozu took a deep breath, felt the few fruits inside his robes, and stepped into the thick fog.

Xu Fan followed behind, carefully looking around.

This Flowing Cloud Market must be fairly large. Those mortals look like they come from some Lineage with cultivators in it.

The cultivators coming and going don't look very strong. I haven't seen anyone who can ride the wind and soar through the air yet.

Entering the thick fog, they saw all kinds of buildings of varying heights, along with a burly man in black.

"Show your market tokens."

"If you don't have tokens, you'll need to prove you have assets."

The burly man in black glanced at them and spoke very concisely.

"We have spiritual objects."

Zhang Yaozu hurriedly took the Spirit Origin Fruits out of his robes.

"Do these two fish count?"

Xu Fan lifted the bamboo basket containing the Scarlet Blood Perch and Single-Horned Pomfret.

"Marshwater spiritual objects?"

"Go on in."

The burly man in black nodded slightly and stepped aside.

"We finally got in!"

Zhang Yaozu looked at the magnificent shops lining both sides of the street, built from blocks of jade, his face alight with excitement.

When had he ever seen a sight like this?

Xu Fan was nearly awestruck too, and it took him quite a while to look away.

"Come on, let's see what we can trade for."

They found a nearby shop and walked straight in.

"Do you buy spiritual objects here?"

Xu Fan looked at the goateed old man reclining in a chair and set the bamboo basket on the table.

"Of course we buy spiritual objects, but it depends on what they're worth."

The goateed old man removed the palm-leaf fan covering his face and sat up:

"These fish really are rare."

As he spoke, he looked at Xu Fan, and the sight of his tattered hemp clothes made him pause.

But he quickly looked away:

"These two spirit fish contain Qi and Blood and spiritual vitality. I can offer one Spirit Stone per jin."

Xu Fan kept his face expressionless and said:

"Two per jin."

In this unfamiliar place, he could not simply let someone else set the price. He asked for more right away; at worst, he could just go to another shop.

Doubling the price in one go gave Zhang Yaozu, standing beside him, quite a fright.

"Young friend, these two spirit fish are only useful to Fetal Breathing cultivators. They're worth one Spirit Stone per jin at most."

"I, Old Man Xu, am a fair man. If you don't believe me, young friend, you can ask at other shops."

Old Man Xu had also been startled, but he still spoke with a smile.

Judging by the look of the two of them and some things that had happened recently, he could make a guess or two.

"I imagine you two only condensed your Mystic Scene Wheels recently and don't have many techniques or talismans. Why not take a look at what I have here?"

"How about a straight exchange of goods?"

The Lu Household had only spread the Plain Luminary Supreme Yin Wondrous Instruction a month ago, yet these two had already condensed their Mystic Scene Wheels. Clearly, their aptitudes were quite outstanding.

He had a copy of the Plain Luminary Supreme Yin Wondrous Instruction himself and knew that no techniques had been included in the rubbings.

"Senior, your eyes are sharp as torches."

Xu Fan did not object and nodded in agreement.

He had come here precisely to trade for some techniques to cultivate.

As for treasure fish, once he had more means at his disposal, he naturally would not lack them.

One Spirit Stone per jin was a good deal for him. There were plenty of treasure fish in Peach Blossom Spring Lake.

"What about my six Spirit Origin Fruits, then?"

Zhang Yaozu hurriedly took out the Spirit Origin Fruits and handed them over.

"Spirit Origin Fruits also help Fetal Breathing cultivators cultivate. One Spirit Stone each."

Old Man Xu took them and casually placed them on the table.

Xu Fan paid no attention to the two of them and searched the shop shelves on his own for suitable techniques.

At last, his gaze settled on a scroll of the Golden Light Technique.

This technique was suited to both offense and defense, and eight Spirit Stones were just enough to buy it.

After taking it down, he asked:

"Senior, do you have methods for gathering Emperor Flow Serum and Moonlight Yin Qi?"

Hearing this, Old Man Xu smiled and shook his head. It was just as he had guessed:

"I do, of course, but even with a gathering method, you couldn't possibly gather Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi of the Supreme Yin path."