"Fellow Daoist Xu! Fellow Daoist Xu! Are you up?" Old Man Lu’s voice called from outside the courtyard.
Nowadays, Old Man Lu was even more enthusiastic than Xu Ping, coming to wake him up every morning.
"Fellow Daoist Xu, let’s go. I’ve already prepared breakfast." Seeing Xu Ping just opening the courtyard door, Old Man Lu grabbed him, ready to head out.
"I’m not going today."
Xu Ping shook his head and broke free from Old Man Lu, answering, "Postpone those two families for me until tomorrow."
"What’s wrong?" Old Man Lu was taken aback.
"I need to go to the market today to buy some things. Anyway, there’s still time before the fruiting period, so there’s no rush for today."
"Alright then," Old Man Lu responded reluctantly.
After all, Xu Ping was the one watering the spiritual fields. If he didn’t go, there was nothing Old Man Lu could do about it himself.
"Just try to come back early. Maybe you can still water a few acres this afternoon," Old Man Lu advised.
Do you think I’m a beast of burden or something?
Can’t you just let me take a break?
After sending Old Man Lu away, Xu Ping closed the courtyard door and headed towards the market.
The first light of dawn brought with it a hint of gloom.
The whole Dongwu Market was shrouded in a thin layer of mist, with sunlight filtering weakly through. The phoenix trees lined both sides of the valley, their trunks tall and stout, but their branches and leaves appeared sparse, as if they had weathered many hardships.
Dongwu Market got its name from the abundance of phoenix trees growing in the valley where it was located.
The cool morning air carried a lingering faint odor of staleness. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on NoᴠᴇFɪre.nᴇt
Mixed with the earthy smell, it truly was quite unpleasant.
The house Xu Ping rented wasn’t far from the market, yet he had to walk for almost half an hour before he saw the market walls.
The walls weren’t very high, about three to four meters, intricately carved with array patterns, faintly emanating fluctuations of spiritual power.
They clearly weren’t ordinary walls.
At the market gate, as time passed, the crowd had started to grow denser, and Xu Ping followed the flow towards the market’s entrance.
Suddenly, there was a slight commotion in the crowd.
Hearing the noise, Xu Ping looked up where several others were gazing and saw a young cultivator riding a dazzling flying sword, whooshing down.
Many looked on fervently as the person stopped at the market entrance.
"Is that the legendary sword cultivator?" a newcomer who had just entered the cultivation realm exclaimed.
"Sword cultivator? Hahahaha!" A veteran of the cultivation realm nearby laughed heartily at the newcomer’s naivety. "That’s no sword cultivator; talk to me when he’s understood the four realms of Sword Dao."
Xu Ping’s gaze was complicated: "I definitely have to get a flying sword someday!"
Honestly, it’s not really about looking cool; mainly, in case of danger, one can escape quickly.
He squeezed into the market with the flow.
The largest buildings immediately came into view.
’Drunken Immortal Tower’, ’Hundred Refining Workshop’, ’Pill Cauldron Pavilion’, ’Talisman Hall’, ...
These were the most important trading spots within the inner city, where daily transactions involved hundreds, even thousands of spirit stones.
On the main road, cultivators were constantly coming and going.
Those carrying swords, with big wine-red gourds on their backs, accompanied by spiritual birds, riding demon beasts...
Most of them emitted a strong evil qi, clearly not to be trifled with at a glance.
"A mix of fish and dragons!" Xu Ping sighed inwardly.
’Dongwu Market didn’t have such fierce people before, seems like it’s the beast tide and the ’Demon Hunt Order’ attracting them.’ Xu Ping thought to himself.
The beast tide was both a danger and an opportunity.
Some of these fierce people were obviously not going to let this opportunity pass by.
As he walked along, Xu Ping’s eyes were drawn to the roadside stalls.
Various demon beast meats were also displayed at the roadside stalls.
He even saw a demon beast carcass, about four meters long from head to tail, skinned but unrecognizable, being quickly dissected by the stall owner wielding a blade, shouting to sell.
Xu Ping didn’t linger any longer, heading straight to an office point set up by the Longevity Sect.
He walked out cursing under his breath.
Damn it, the houses in the market are all rented out!
Due to the ’Demon Hunt Order’, Dongwu Market’s population had already surged, coupled with a batch of Longevity Sect disciples also coming to Dongwu Market to hunt demons for training, there were no houses left in the market center.
"Sigh, looks like I’ll have to stay in the slums for a while longer." Xu Ping sighed helplessly.
There are just too many of life’s uncontrollable factors.
After composing himself, he headed to his second destination: Hundred Refining Workshop.
"A second-hand Cyan Peak Sword, lower grade magical artifact, it’s not worth much." The shopkeeper of Hundred Refining Workshop glanced up at Xu Ping before continuing to appraise the Cyan Peak Sword.
"Its function is simple, can be used to attack enemies, and its power is average among lower grade artifacts, nothing special about it. It could be worth twelve lower grade spirit stones; if you want to sell, I won’t charge an appraisal fee this time."
"That’s too low. Any random lower grade artifact in your shop at least costs over twenty spirit stones. Add at least four more lower grade spirit stones at the very least," Xu Ping frowned. The price wasn’t meeting his expectations at all.
The shopkeeper unhurriedly sipped tea, speaking slowly, "But you’ve used it for quite a while, and the buyback price for second-hand items is always low, it’s the same everywhere."
Xu Ping haggled for a while, ultimately settling for fourteen lower grade spirit stones.
He knew he was at a loss; selling Elder Yan’s Cyan Peak Sword at a stall would definitely fetch more, but it was also more dangerous, which wasn’t necessary.
"Do you have flying swords for sale? How much spirit stones for one?" Xu Ping asked after putting away the spirit stones.
"Of course we have them. This Changhong Sword, for instance, can be yours for ninety-eight spirit stones." Seeing Xu Ping’s interest in a flying sword, the shopkeeper was a bit more enthusiastic.
"Uh... Do you have defensive magical artifacts?"
Xu Ping thought that flying swords weren’t that cool, actually. Standing on a flying sword was tiring! Better to buy a defensive magical artifact for better self-protection.
"We do have those as well..." The shopkeeper began introducing defensive magical artifacts to Xu Ping.
Eventually, he spent twenty-eight to buy a lower grade defensive magical artifact named Turtle Spirit Armor.
As for conveyance artifacts for fleeing, after the shopkeeper’s introduction, Xu Ping decided not to buy.
Lower grade conveyance artifacts weren’t fast enough and had poor defense. If you tried to flee, you might not get far before being shot down from the sky.
There were of course faster and better-defended ones, but Xu Ping simply couldn’t afford them.
After leaving Hundred Refining Workshop, Xu Ping headed straight to the Pill Cauldron Pavilion.
Soon, he stopped in front of a store.
On the golden plaque, the words ’Pill Cauldron Pavilion’ were written in bold, flowing script.
When buying valuable items like pills, Xu Ping was very cautious.
Pills on loose cultivator stalls might be cheaper, but weren’t guaranteed to be completely harmless, and showing wealth might get you targeted.
On the other hand, the pill shops of major factions were much better.
Pill Cauldron Pavilion had a reputation and credibility built over hundreds of years. Its backing might not compare to that of the Longevity Sect, but it was stronger than ordinary Foundation Establishment forces.