An Incognito Visit

The vermilion flying boat streaked across the sky. In the distance, an island could just be seen floating on the vast lake.

Something occurred to Su Yunjin, and she suddenly asked, "Before I left home, I heard that many cultivators under the Su Household's rule, and even many of our own cultivators, went to Forget-Return Market to buy supplies."

"Do you know why they don't choose Luyou Island, which is closer?"

If she could solve this matter, she would have something to say at the household council instead of being left staring helplessly.

Of course Zhou Ning knew.

Scholar Xu had said that Luyou Island exploited its location to charge exorbitant stall fees. Its goods were expensive enough, but there were also traps everywhere.

But Zhou Ning could never say that.

He said, "When I'm out hunting fish, I often hear how grateful everyone is for the Su Household's kindness. The goods on the island are good and cheap, and nobody wants to take advantage."

Su Yunjin was no fool. How could she believe that?

She asked in return, "Oh? Then why do you go to Luyou Island?"

Zhou Ning realized he had gone too far with the bootlicking, so he said helplessly, "My cultivation is low, and I don't dare go far."

Su Yunjin let it go. As it happened, Luyou Island was on their way.

She took out a black conical hat and put it on, concealing her striking looks.

Then she cast a Method Formula, and the fluctuations around her rapidly subsided to the level of the Qi Refining Middle Stage.

Zhou Ning's Divine Sense was exceptional, however, and his eyesight was extraordinary. He could tell she had used a technique.

The Law Technique was crude, nowhere near the same level as the Flowing Light Concealing Shadow Technique.

Zhou Ning did not grow smug. It was possible that Su Yunjin had a better Law Technique and simply had not shown it to him.

"Come with me to the island." Su Yunjin's voice had changed considerably, becoming somewhat raspy.

The flying boat descended until it was flying almost against the water, the biting wind carving a ripple across the lake's surface.

At last, it landed in a sparsely populated wetland, startling a flock of egrets into flight.

The two set foot on the island and walked on. Young deer appeared and disappeared among the trees, letting out soft cries.

At the foot of the mountain.

A long flagstone street bustled with people. Voices rose and fell, and the place was full of the bustle of everyday life.

Zhou Ning strolled down the street. Numerous stone platforms had been set up along the sides, displaying a dazzling assortment of spiritual supplies.

Beside him, Su Yunjin, visiting incognito, said nothing and merely observed in silence.

A middle-aged stallholder stared at the Pill Furnace at Zhou Ning's waist, a peculiar look on his face.

If the man was poor, he carried a valuable Pill Furnace. If he was rich, he didn't even have a Storage Bag.

He was most likely an apprentice who had only just entered the trade. What true Alchemist would come to a place like this?

The stallholder called out, "Fellow Daoist, looking to buy medicine?"

Zhou Ning stopped and glanced over the stall. There was a good variety of medicinal herbs, spirit fruits, and spirit grains.

The middle-aged man enthusiastically introduced his wares. "I have ingredients for pills here, especially the Stasis-Clearing Pill. If you're hurt fighting someone or while cultivating, taking this pill will keep hidden injuries from lingering in your meridians. Otherwise, you'll need an Essence-Nourishing Pill to recover."

Zhou Ning had studied this pill. It was the undisputed first choice for beginners to practice on, and he had already committed the required ingredients to memory.

"How much for Purple Placenta Grass?"

"Everything I have is fresh. It'll improve your pill success rate. One tael of Purple Placenta Grass is only ten catties of spirit rice. I'll give you a discount now: nine catties." The stallholder looked pained.

"What nonsense," Zhou Ning said. "Five catties of spirit rice."

The stallholder immediately replied, "Deal!"

He swiftly prepared to make the trade.

Zhou Ning said, "I meant five catties of spirit rice for three taels."

The stallholder's face darkened. He thought of the steep stall fee he had paid that day, and how he had yet to make a single sale.

He gritted his teeth and agreed, just picking up his scale weight.

But the fellow in front of him pulled out a small scale of his own and weighed out exactly three taels.

The stallholder's mouth twitched.

In a good mood, Zhou Ning haggled some more and bought Blood Rose Flower and sweet fruit, gathering enough ingredients for a furnace of Stasis-Clearing Pills.

He spent sixteen catties of spirit rice in all. He had exchanged the rice with Scholar Xu beforehand for talismans of equal value, which he used to pay the stallholder.

"Brother, you're very fair," Zhou Ning said, not forgetting to offer praise.

He turned around and discovered that the young miss was gone.

Su Yunjin stood before a stall.

Her household would naturally prepare her cultivation supplies for her, so she simply observed the many facets of life with a detached attitude, seeing whether she could do something for her household.

Remembering how Zhou Ning had haggled just now, she found it rather interesting.

"How much for the white-heart fruit?" she asked. She remembered eating it as a snack when she was little.

"Oh, young lady, you have a good eye! White-heart fruit is a fine spiritual ingredient for refining Qi-Benefiting Pills. Twenty catties of spirit rice apiece!" the stout woman said in a booming voice.

Su Yunjin tried to bargain. "Two catties of spirit rice?"

The stout woman's face fell. "Get lost!" she snapped.

Beneath her conical hat, Su Yunjin's face flushed with embarrassment.

A trace of anger then surfaced. She was the Su Household's young miss...

Fortunately, she held it in. As the young miss, if she stooped to quarreling with a peddler and her eldest brother and the others found out, they would surely laugh at her.

Su Yunjin pretended not to hear, turned her face away naturally, and left.

After only a few steps, she saw Zhou Ning waiting for her where he stood.

Su Yunjin wondered, Did he hear that woman mock me or not?

Of course Zhou Ning had seen everything clearly, and he found it funny.

He showed nothing on his face. "Young miss, I was just talking to a merchant. I learned that they bring their wares from far away, and on top of that... the market charges stall fees, so prices are a little high."

Su Yunjin said nothing.

Zhou Ning was about to buy a few more things when he suddenly sensed an astonishing fluctuation of spiritual power from the sky.

He looked up and saw a blue-black figure walking through the air, robes snapping in the wind.

It was a mighty Foundation Establishment cultivator. Zhou Ning's heart tightened.

The man wore ink-dark cloud-brocade robes that shimmered with spiritual light in the sun. His brows were sharp as swords, and wherever his gaze swept, even the noisy market instinctively fell silent.

He looked down at the cultivators below, his voice mild and steady. "Yunjin, it's time to go home."

Only then did Su Yunjin summon the vermilion flying boat and ascend into the sky, leaving with her eldest brother.

Zhou Ning heard people around him whispering. The man was called Su Yuanye, the most gifted heir of the Su Household, with talent approaching that of an Earth Spirit Root.

He had reached Foundation Establishment at thirty and was now only thirty-five or thirty-six.

Zhou Ning sighed inwardly. The gap between one person and another was greater than the gap between a person and a dog!

Besides that, he had just noticed a subtle sweep of Divine Sense, which should have been Su Yuanye's.

Fortunately, Zhou Ning was unremarkable. After all, to detect anything unusual about his Cultivation Method, he would have to actively cast a technique before its workings could be discerned.

Zhou Ning continued purchasing medicinal ingredients.

Now that he had the Pill Furnace Su Yunjin had given him, he would begin refining pills and display an appropriate amount of talent.

Once he truly became an Alchemist, outsiders would see nothing strange about an increase in his cultivation speed.

After all, pills were the one thing Alchemists never lacked.

He moved to another stall and happened to glimpse the stout woman. Her face was deathly pale, as though a great calamity had befallen her.

Zhou Ning became even more cautious in his conduct.

Meanwhile.

Su Yuanye stood aboard the flying boat, gazing into the distance. "You finally managed to come home, so why did you go to the market? Are you short of spiritual materials?"

"Of course not." Su Yunjin suddenly asked, "It's just that the atmosphere at our household's market is truly bad. I heard it's because the fees are too high."

To make a profit, merchants had no choice but to drive up prices and compete to swindle customers.

Ultimately, she understood that the Su Household was exploiting its location to amass wealth, causing its retainers, guest elders, and even many of its own younger members to choose Forget-Return Market instead.

Su Yuanye was much more open-minded than the household elders. He said mildly:

"Do you know how many spiritual materials the Yang Household, the Yao Household, and the other subordinate households under the Su Household's rule offer us each year?"

"I don't."

Su Yuanye said, "Twenty-one Spirit Stones from the Yang Household, fourteen from the Yao Household."

He asked again, "And do you know how much our household brings in each year from the market alone?"

"I don't."

"Thirty-two Spirit Stones." He clearly knew the figures inside and out.

Su Yunjin nodded. "That's comparable to two households. But if this goes on, I'm afraid people's hearts will eventually turn away."

Su Yuanye chuckled. "And what of it? In the Cuiwei Lake region, the Su Household makes the rules."

"The household has more important matters to attend to. Rather than divert our attention to running it, we might as well... Heh, Forget-Return Market is a fine place. It's well run."

Su Yunjin knew her household's secrets, so she said no more.

As for the young man with the Pill Furnace, Su Yuanye did not ask a single question. He was merely at Early Qi Refining, and his little sister knew her own limits.

And even if she didn't, what of it? He could simply strike the man dead.