Volume 2 Chapter 39

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Volume 2 Chapter 39: The Market

"I’ve heard much about the cultivator’s market but never had the chance to see it. Could Brother Zhao take me there?" Xu Qingfan asked Zhao Qingxuan with a smile.

Hearing Xu Qingfan’s words, Zhao Qingxuan hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said, "Junior Brother Xu, you want to go to the market with me? Of course, that’s no problem. There are no restrictions for going to the market."

"Thank you, Brother Zhao," Xu Qingfan said with a smile, clasping his hands together.

Zhao Qingxuan waved his hand and said, "No need to thank me, I would have found it boring to go alone anyway."

As he spoke, Zhao Qingxuan suddenly noticed Ting’er, who had been quietly standing by Xu Qingfan’s side, and was surprised to see Little Green in Ting’er’s arms. He gasped softly, "Blue-eyed Cloud-foot Beast!"

Upon hearing that Zhao Qingxuan had actually recognized Little Green’s identity, Xu Qingfan was slightly taken aback. The Blue-eyed Cloud-foot Beast is rarely seen in the cultivation world, and in the Shenzhou Continent, there are only occasional rumors about it in the Southern Wasteland. Therefore, very few cultivators know about it, let alone recognize it at first sight. Xu Qingfan then said with mild admiration, "Brother Zhao, what great insight you have to recognize such a rare demon beast."

Hearing Xu Qingfan’s words, Zhao Qingxuan slightly blushed and said, "I don’t have much knowledge, I merely saw a picture of this demon beast before."

Surprised by Zhao Qingxuan’s statement, Xu Qingfan asked, "Where did you see a picture of the Blue-eyed Cloud-foot Beast, Brother Zhao?"

Zhao Qingxuan smiled wryly and said, "Before I was in charge of managing the sect’s purchases, I used to clean the ancestral hall. Inside, there are portraits of our sect’s ancestors. One of them had a spirit beast for traveling, which was a Blue-eyed Cloud-foot Beast, and it appeared in the portrait with him."

As he spoke, a bitter smile involuntarily appeared on Zhao Qingxuan’s face. Which cultivator doesn’t long for peaceful cultivation? Yet he, limited by his talents, was looked down upon by the elders of Jiuhua Gate, tasked with cleaning or purchasing, always busy with mundane matters. How could he have any time for training?

Noticing the bitterness on Zhao Qingxuan’s face, Xu Qingfan quickly understood his thoughts. If it weren’t for Lu Huayan’s protection before, he too might have been assigned mundane tasks by Jiuhua Gate. But there was nothing he could do for Zhao Qingxuan’s situation, so he changed the subject and asked, "Oh? Which ancestor also had a Blue-eyed Cloud-foot Beast?"

"It was Ancestor Li Xuhan, but he passed away five hundred years ago." With the topic shifted, Zhao Qingxuan’s expression improved slightly. He then cupped his hands towards Xu Qingfan and said, "I must congratulate you on finding such a wonderful spirit beast for travel, it truly makes us brothers envious."

Upon hearing Zhao Qingxuan’s words, Xu Qingfan gave a slight, bitter smile. To Little Green, he was an enemy, the one who had caused its mother’s death. There was no way it would let him ride it. Besides, Xu Qingfan didn’t plan to raise it with the Spiritual Herb, keeping it small instead. How could he train it to be a spirit beast for riding? However, he couldn’t explain all this to Zhao Qingxuan, so he just smiled bitterly and said, "Apologies for the misunderstanding, Brother Zhao. This Blue-eyed Cloud-foot Beast isn’t mine. It belongs to my niece, Ting’er. How could I use it as my steed?"

While speaking, Xu Qingfan showed a hint of thoughtfulness. The name "Li Xuhan" mentioned by Zhao Qingxuan seemed familiar. After a long pause, he remembered that when he first joined, his senior brother Yue Qingru had mentioned that name.

Eight hundred years ago, Jiuhua Gate had four "Xu" generation masters, but one of them, Zhang Xusheng, was discovered practicing dark arts and betrayed the sect. In the pursuit, Zhang Xusheng killed two of the remaining three masters, and the only survivor who wounded Zhang Xusheng was Li Xuhan. Since Li Xuhan’s passing five hundred years ago, the Mahayana Stage masters vanished from Jiuhua Gate, marking the beginning of its decline.

Meanwhile, Zhao Qingxuan was surprised by Xu Qingfan’s words, not expecting him to give a rare demon beast, the Blue-eyed Cloud-foot Beast, to his niece. He looked towards Ting’er beside Xu Qingfan. Despite being at the Inedia Stage, Zhao Qingxuan’s gaze went right through her veil to see her face adorned with violet-blue flame tattoos, which startled him again. However, recalling that Xu Qingfan hailed from the Southern Wasteland, he thought these might be a unique trait of people from that region. But Ting’er’s cold expression seemed unfitting for such a young girl, making Zhao Qingxuan feel somewhat uneasy.

As Zhao Qingxuan continued staring at Ting’er, she remained unfazed, but Xu Qingfan frowned slightly. Little Green in Ting’er’s arms also let out a fierce growl aimed at Zhao Qingxuan.

Realizing his rudeness, Zhao Qingxuan awkwardly smiled and then said to Xu Qingfan, "Junior Brother Xu, it’s getting late. Shall we head to the marketplace?"

Xu Qingfan nodded slightly and said calmly, "I will follow Brother Zhao’s lead."

So the three of them began walking out of the city, and after leaving the town, they quickly flew towards a mountain not far away under Zhao Qingxuan’s guidance.

Zhao Qingxuan flew ahead on a circular disk, while Xu Qingfan used the "Three Meters Green Silk" to fly leisurely beside him with Ting’er. Usually, flying artifacts are rare and precious, and someone like Zhao Qingxuan, given his talents and cultivation, should not possess one. But because Zhao Qingxuan handled procurement tasks at Jiuhua Gate, they made an exception and gifted him a flying tool for convenience in his duties.

The two of them flew swiftly on their magical artifacts and soon arrived at the mountain. The mountain, although not majestic or perilous, had its own unique grace and beauty. People were bustling about, and there was a constant buzz of noise. Particularly, there was a temple halfway up the mountain where the crowd was especially dense, clearly marking it as a popular tourist destination.

Seeing this scene, Xu Qingfan glanced at Zhao Qingxuan with a puzzled look. In Xu Qingfan’s mind, a market for cultivators should be located in a secluded place, far from the disturbance of ordinary people, with illusions surrounding it. However, this place was filled with ordinary folks and showed no signs of such arrangements. He was unsure why Zhao Qingxuan had brought him here.

Noticing Xu Qingfan’s confused expression, Zhao Qingxuan did not offer much explanation. He simply smiled mysteriously and led Xu Qingfan to a more secluded spot on the mountainside. Then, he began walking towards the temple, where the crowd was most gathered.

"Brother Zhao, why are we here?" Xu Qingfan finally could not contain his curiosity and asked.

"This is the marketplace among cultivators," Zhao Qingxuan explained with a smile.

Seeing so many ordinary people around, Xu Qingfan felt even more perplexed, but he asked no further questions. He quietly followed Zhao Qingxuan towards the temple, knowing that with Zhao Qingxuan’s current demeanor, he wouldn’t get any answers even if he did ask.

As they approached the temple, a middle-aged man dressed as a Taoist suddenly appeared before them. He bowed slightly and asked in a soft voice, "Are the two of you here to trade items?"

Hearing the Taoist’s words, Xu Qingfan was slightly taken aback. He carefully observed the Taoist and discovered that he was also a cultivator, albeit with limited skills, barely reaching the early stage of the Qi Refining Stage.

"Indeed, please lead the way," Zhao Qingxuan nodded with a smile, saying.

Upon hearing Zhao Qingxuan’s words, the Taoist priest softly said, "Honored guests, please follow me."

Saying this, the Taoist priest bowed once again to Xu Qingfan and the others, then turned and walked ahead.

Led by the Taoist priest, Xu Qingfan and Zhao Qingxuan entered the temple through a side door, passing through the dense crowd offering incense in the front hall and moving directly toward the inner hall.

As Xu Qingfan walked into the inner hall, he noticed a sudden change in the scene. Compared to the outer hall’s clamor, this inner hall was several times larger and much more serene. Nearly a hundred cultivators with varying levels of training sat quietly on the ground, eyes closed in meditation, each with various items in front of them—whether elixir, magical artifact, or talisman. Unlike the world outside, they did not shout to attract buyers but sat quietly, engaging in willing trades.

Apart from these seated sellers, hundreds of other cultivators moved slowly between the stalls, occasionally showing interest in an item and discreetly asking the seller for its price. They might buy or not, rarely bargaining. Once a seller sold all their items, they would leave silently without delay.

"Junior Brother Xu, this is the marketplace in the Cultivation World," Zhao Qingxuan whispered to Xu Qingfan.

"Hiding in plain sight, truly ingenious," Xu Qingfan remarked with a gentle smile as he looked at the peaceful market before him.

"Yes, there are always many good things in this market. However, completing a deal is often difficult because bartering is prevalent here. It often happens that the seller has something the buyer desires, yet the buyer lacks what the seller seeks. Exchanging for spirit stones is rare." Zhao Qingxuan explained softly.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Zhao, for the guidance," Xu Qingfan nodded in understanding. In the cultivation world, whether for alchemy, artifact crafting, or cultivation, various spirit stones are somewhat needed, but spirit stones are quite plentiful in the cultivation world. However, rare materials are often very hard to find. Those sellers usually do not lack spirit stones.

"I’ll go see if there are any mystical herbs here that our sect needs. Junior Brother, do you want to come with me or do you prefer to explore on your own?" Zhao Qingxuan asked.

"I’m not very knowledgeable about mystical herbs, so I’m afraid I won’t be much help to you, Senior Brother Zhao. I’d rather wander around on my own," Xu Qingfan replied.

"Alright then, I’ll go look for the herbs. Take care as you explore on your own. Just be cautious, many cultivators here have quite strange tempers," Zhao Qingxuan advised worriedly before leaving.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Zhao. I’ll be careful," Xu Qingfan said with a courteous gesture.

With that, Xu Qingfan and Zhao Qingxuan parted ways, each heading in a different direction in the market.

After a quick glance at a few stalls, Xu Qingfan realized Zhao Qingxuan wasn’t exaggerating at all. This market indeed had many rare treasures—seldom-seen materials for crafting and alchemy, various high-level charms, and books on formations. There were even rare Earth level artifacts for sale, leaving Xu Qingfan a bit dazzled.

This time, Xu Qingfan came to the market mainly to find a few artifacts. He currently had only the "Three Meters Green Silk" and "Ruler of Wither and Flourish." Xu Qingfan had decided he would eventually return "Three Meters Green Silk" to his master. Although it had many functions like flying, defense, and trapping enemies, after the battle in the Southern Wasteland, Xu Qingfan discovered that having too many functions actually made it less powerful. His other artifact, the "Ruler of Wither and Flourish," was of a lower grade and not very powerful, making it ineffective in attacks. Therefore, Xu Qingfan thought he could take this opportunity to find a few powerful artifacts for himself.

"Young friend, might you be interested in selling that Blue-eyed Cloud-foot Beast?"

As Xu Qingfan browsed through the different stalls, a faint voice suddenly sounded in his ear.