Chapter 64 – Passing Time and Enjoying Life

  “If you’re planning to stay awhile, Senior, you may want to visit the cultivator market before the sun sets. It’s set up just outside the Grand Pavilion in the city center. Traders and cultivators from all over the region come to barter rare herbs, talismans, and other oddities.”

  The waiter gestured to the street down below, where the flow of people walking was steadily increasing as the sun rose.

  “There is also a lecture tonight, hosted by the City Lord’s mansion. A Foundation Establishment cultivator will be speaking and providing insights into the Dao. He is at the peak of Foundation Establishment and is one of City Lord Han’s personal guards.”

  “Even if you don’t learn anything, the tea they serve at those events is worth the admission.” The waiter finished explaining and shuffled away to another table.

  Jun De sipped the last of his tea and let the warmth settle in his chest before rising from the table. He placed two small, glimmering spirit stones gently on the wooden surface. They had been withdrawn discreetly from his storage pouch at his waist rather than the storage ring on his finger.

  He didn’t want to advertise anything too valuable, not when he was in an unfamiliar city. Jun De remembered the cultivation stories he had read in his previous life and didn’t want to be chased out of town, hunted for his treasures.

  When he left the restaurant and stepped out into the street, the morning sun shone brightly on his white robes. Combined with his appearance, the effect drew attention no matter how much he tried to blend in.

  Resigned to standing out like a sore thumb, Jun De walked down the street. The city was alive in a way that Tranquil City had been before the current crisis had stifled its activity. People were going about their business without a care for the recent disappearances.

  Cultivators and mortals, merchants and peasants, they all bustled together as they wound their way through the buildings and town squares. Vendors shouted out prices for items, incense drifted from apothecaries, and rogue cultivators haggled over beast materials with shopkeepers.

  Jun De passed wandering monks with shaved heads who offered blessings, street performers who balanced on floating talismans, and even a young boy who was attempting to sell a pill that would ‘Give anyone the ability to cultivate.’

  After nearly an hour of wandering and sightseeing, Jun De finally reached the heart of the city. It was a sprawling plaza encircled by low stone walls and tall banners that bore the sigil of the City Lord’s Mansion.

  Two armoured cultivators stood at the gates, their cultivation both in the early stage of Foundation Establishment. They stared at everyone with sharp gazes, and Jun De could feel their eyes on him as he passed, but didn’t attempt to stop him.

  Inside the low walls, the cultivator market was massive.

  There were thousands of stalls arrayed in neat but winding rows. Colourful cloth awnings rippled in the breeze, and glowing talismans floated in the air above, advertising specific shops and items that were currently on discount.

  Some stalls sold pills that gleamed with spiritual light, while others displayed fragments of weapons or spiritual beast hides. There were tools for pill refining, jars of strange herbs, ancient scrolls, spiritual fruit, rare ores, puppets, flying swords, and an untold number of other items with unknown origins.

  Most of the people walking through the market were in the early stages of Qi Condensation, and, aside from the guards, Jun De didn’t sense any Foundation Establishment cultivators.

  When he stepped inside, the sounds of the crowd washed over him like a tide. The strong smell of herbs, talisman papers, and roasted meat filled the air.

  Jun De spent the better part of the morning meandering through the winding rows of the market, looking over the countless curiosities on display. He kept his hands clasped behind his back, projecting the quiet confidence of someone who knew what they were doing, even though he was completely out of his depth here.

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  But Jun De had spent enough time with Elder Shen and Ren Qiu that emulating them was easy, and so he tried to give off the air of a Young Master who had been here before and was only mildly interested in what was being sold.

  ‘I don’t want people to think I’m a sucker with a fat wallet ready to be fleeced.’ Jun De thought.

  He passed a vendor that was loudly hawking ‘Heavenly Soul Anchoring Pins,’ that appeared to be thin, silver needles that he claimed could enhance spiritual awareness during meditation and aid absorption of Qi into the Dantian.

  Another stall had a display of beast cores, small marble-sized orbs that contained some of the power of the creature it had been taken from. One of them was larger than the rest and pulsed with a faint, reddish glow that was said to have come from a Mid-Stage Qi Condensation Flame Rhinoceros.

  Jun De paused at a stall where a man was roasting slices of spirit beast meat over a blue flame and selling it on skewers.

  Although Jun De was intrigued and interested in a multitude of items, he held off on making any purchases. His eyes would linger on certain items, but he kept walking.

  He wanted to be sure of what he was buying before he spent his moment, and he didn’t know enough about what was here to not be taken for a fool.

  Only after he had spent several hours walking through the crowd did he find a few shops that were more reputable than the rest, and that could be trusted to not sell him faulty or unknown items.

  The first was the “Jade Harmonies Pavilion’ where they had a number of spiritual artifacts, refining tools, and books bound in beast leather.

  The interior of the shop was quiet and refined, and Jun De found the items he was looking for without any trouble. He wanted to purchase gifts for his friends, and the shop was reputable enough that he could trust that he wouldn’t be swindled.

  The first thing he found was an emerald-green Pill Cauldron suitable for a mid-stage Qi Condensation Cultivator that he felt would suit Lin Yue perfectly. He purchased a pill recipe book alongside, as well as a set of basic ingredients that she could use to practice with.

  The book was hard for him to understand, just like most of the methods and techniques he found in this world, but he was confident Lin Yue would understand it.

  Jun De smiled as he handed the items over to one of the attendants in the shop to hold until he was ready, while he continued to browse.

  Next, he visited the weapons section where he found a beautiful sword that immediately reminded him of Mei Lian. It was slender and graceful, with a gleaming white blade and a long, silken tassel that shimmered like moonlight. It wasn’t over ornate, but it had an elegance and lethality that suited her flawlessly.

  For Elder Shen and Ren Qiu, he selected more traditional gifts. There was an exquisite jade box of rare spirit tea leaves that filled the air with a soothing aroma, and a flask of aged spirit wine in a black lacquer case that was sealed with a talisman.

  Jun De could already imagine Elder Shen’s appreciation of the tea and Ren Qiu’s delighted laughter as they cracked open the seal on the wine.

  His attention was drawn to a case lined in velvet where there were a trio of flying swords. While many flying swords were meant for cultivators to ride on to travel, these were intended to be used in combat.

  They were a matched set called the ‘Azure Kingfishers.’ Each blade was narrow and long, forged from a dark metal with a faint bluish sheen that was veined with green. The shopkeeper informed him that when they were released together, they would fly in a graceful formation. Two swords would maintain defence, while the third would dart forward like a spear.

  Alternatively, all three could focus on offence or defence as required, forming a spinning barrier of Qi. Their spiritual aura was dense and refined, suitable for the Late-Stages of Qi Condensation.

  Jun De didn’t have much experience with haggling, and with a storage ring filled to the brim with pilfered spirit stones, he didn’t have much desire to either.

  They settled on a price that Jun De thought was fair, with the shopkeeper assuring him that he was receiving a large discount and even giving him a token that could be used in the future for preferred treatment at several establishments in the city.

  Jun De left the market just as the sun began to set, his storage bag heavier and his heart surprisingly light. He had been through a lot the past few weeks, and a simple thing like shopping and browsing had done wonders at putting his mind at ease.

  He found a quiet restaurant nearby and ordered a meal. He was soon enjoying steamed fish over rice, spiced herb dumplings and a side of stir-fried lotus root. Jun De washed it down with a bottle of Clear Rain Wine, something local and expensive that had a sweet taste.

  The waiter, seeing that Jun De was a cultivator with money to spend, offered him a private booth and a room upstairs to stay in for a few days for the price of two spirit stones. Jun De accepted, and, after eating and getting washed up in his room, he set off toward the lecture area just as the sun was setting.

  The lecture was being held in a plaza, with mats and cushions placed on the stone ground, while servants of the City Lord’s Mansion were escorting more prominent citizens to private areas with chairs and tables.

  When Jun De entered the plaza, he instantly drew attention, and he found himself being escorted by a servant to a prominent location. Seated on a chair with a cup of tea in front of him and an assortment of snacks, he waited for the lecture to begin while trying to ignore the stares of those around him.