Nangufang Market.
Three days later there would be a competition for the Qi training disciples of Tianyan Sect. The market town was thronged with people, the sounds of hawking were incessant, and stalls were set up from the beginning to the end of the street with a wide variety of goods.
Jiang Yuebai pulled Yun Shang's sleeve to avoid the crowd and explained again, "Remember, the vendors in the market know that it is the disciples of Tianyan Sect who are buying things recently. Many black-hearted people will deliberately raise the price, so no matter what you buy, you must bargain, understand?"
Yun Chang whispered, "In the past three months, Huaxi Valley has been thriving, monopolizing the supply of most restaurants in Tianyan Sect, and my spirit insects are in short supply among the spirit farmers. You have given me 10,000 low-grade spirit stones..."
"Even if you have money, you can't be taken advantage of. Besides, those spirit stones are earned by your hard work in cultivating spirit insects. You deserve them. Compared with the monthly profit of Huaxi Valley, they are nothing."
People were coming and going. Yun Shang shrank uncomfortably and leaned towards Jiang Yuebai. "I, I understand."
"What are you going to buy? I have basically prepared everything that Xiaobi needs, but I am still short of some hidden weapon mechanisms for the combat puppets. I plan to buy some ready-made ones to assemble."
Yun Shang held Jiang Yuebai's arm and walked with her among the crowd, glancing around weakly.
"I want to see the spirit insects. If I didn't need the foundation-building pill, I wouldn't participate in the competition."
Jiang Yuebai raised his head and said, "Someone is selling spiritual beasts and insects over there. Let's go and take a look."
Jiang Yuebai pulled Yun Shang forward, and Yun Shang blushed and kept apologizing to the people who glared at her.
"You watch here first, I'll go over there and check for hidden weapons."
Jiang Yuebai pulled his arm out of Yun Shang's hand and walked away. Yun Shang hurried forward to stop him, but Jiang Yuebai had already disappeared in the crowd, leaving Yun Shang standing there at a loss, nervously pinching her skirt.
After taking two deep breaths, Yun Chang went to the stall to check out the various spiritual insects sealed in amber. Fortunately, there were many people coming to see the spiritual beasts, and the stall owner was unable to handle them all and did not talk to Yun Chang, so she could relax a little.
After a while, Yun Chang picked out a pair of golden beetles and asked in a soft voice, "Excuse me...how much spirit stones are these?"
"… It's already very cheap, fellow Daoist, you have to let me make some money, right? What? Daoist, you like this pair of golden beetles? Let me tell you, these golden beetles are top-grade, I'll give you a discount today, one hundred low-grade spirit stones a pair."
Yun Shang frowned, thinking of Jiang Yuebai's instructions, and asked in a low voice: "Can... can it be cheaper?"
The stall owner looked at Yun Chang and said with a smile, "Okay, I won't give you a hundred anymore. I'll give you ninety-nine low-grade spirit stones."
Yun Chang exhaled and reached to her waist to take out the spirit stone.
"Wait!" Jiang Yuebai suddenly appeared, holding Yunchang's hand and squinting at the stall owner, "How dare you ask for a discount of one low-grade spirit stone? Do you know that my father used to specialize in selling spirit insects? For a golden beetle of your grade, thirty low-grade spirit stones is not more."
As soon as she finished speaking, Yun Chang opened her eyes wide in surprise, but she quickly concealed her expression for fear of being exposed and just held the storage bag tightly in her hand.
"You're not letting me earn a penny, so give me a little more."
"No extra! Just thirty. If you don't want to sell it, forget it. Let's go and look somewhere else."
"Hey, don't go. It's sold. Seriously, you're really good at bargaining."
Jiang Yuebai raised an eyebrow at Yun Shang, and Yun Shang's eyes were full of admiration.
"Xiaobai, is your father a spirit insect dealer? Why didn't you tell me before?"
Walking on the road, Yun Chang asked Jiang Yuebai.
"I was just talking nonsense. If I didn't pretend to be an expert, who knows how the stall owner would have cheated us."
"How can this still happen? But my parents have always told me that I should be honest and not lie or cheat."
Jiang Yuebai laughed, "Honesty also depends on who you are with. You should interact with more people instead of guarding those spirit beasts all day long."
Yun Shang lowered her head and twisted the corner of her clothes. "Humans are too complicated. Spirit beasts are simpler. I also want to go to Shanhai Tower to see the magic weapons. Can you come with me?"
"No, I need to go to the restaurant to inquire about something. You go by yourself. After you finish shopping, wait for me at Shanhailou."
After saying that, Jiang Yuebai ran away without waiting for Yun Shang to try to stop him. Yun Shang felt like crying but had no tears.
Jiang Yuebai has been in seclusion in Huaxi Valley for the past few months. Today is his first time to come to Nangu Market. Things that are difficult to find out in the sect can be easily found out in places like Nangu Market’s restaurants where information is well-informed.
The Sanyuan Sect does have three branches: the White Bone Sect practices bone refining, the Black Corpse Sect practices corpse control, and the Ghost Spirit Sect practices ghost control. They are well-known evil sects in the Central Plains region, with no fixed base, and are always elusive, making them difficult to wipe out.
It is said that the Sanyuan Sect is controlled by the Nether Sea Ghost Clan. After the Nether Sea Ghost Tide three hundred years ago, the ghost clan was defeated and sealed, and the Sanyuan Sect also disappeared and has not appeared for a long time.
Why did it suddenly appear this time
Previously, because of Xiao Ankuo, the Law Enforcement Hall tracked down Huaxi Valley and asked about Song Pei'er. They also asked Guo Zhen and Shi Xiaowu, but found nothing.
Because Hong Tao handled the case very carefully, Song Pei'er's death was considered normal, so the Law Enforcement Hall could only continue to look for Lu Ying and other people who had contact with Song Pei'er.
Lu Ying accepted the mission and left the sect. The Law Enforcement Hall suspected that there was something wrong with her and that was why she betrayed the sect, so they issued a tracking order to all Taoist temples in various places.
Jiang Yuebai was helpless about this. He was glad that Lu Ying left early and was not implicated, but he was also worried that she would be tracked and in danger.
However, Qi Ming later expressed surprise when he summoned him that the Law Enforcement Hall did not find out the truth about Lin Xiangtian. He was just making routine inquiries because Xiao Ankuo helped Lin Xiangtian grow spiritual herbs.
Jiang Yuebai suppressed his worries, hoping that Li Jiuchuan would come back soon. He bought some materials for making puppets and went to Shanhai Tower to find Yunshang.
As soon as I arrived at the door, I saw Yun Shang standing in the hall like a wooden stick. People were coming and going around her, and the shop assistants were busy greeting people, so no one paid any attention to her.
She raised her hand several times to call for help, but in the end she gave up because the waiter didn't notice her.
Jiang Yuebai shook his head, walked over and shouted, "Where is the person? Don't you know how to greet the guests?"
Yun Shang turned her head to look at Jiang Yuebai, her face flushed with fear. The waiter not far away then apologized to the guests around him and came up to greet the two of them.
After shopping for most of the day, the two of them bought everything they needed and left the market along the same route they came.
When leaving Feifeng Forest, he passed by two girls. Jiang Yuebai took off with Yunshang's sword and didn't pay any attention to them.
"Tao Nian, what are you looking at?"
"That girl just now is the same age as me, but she can already fly with a sword. I'm really envious of her, and I feel that she..."
For some reason, there's a sense of familiarity.
"That must be a disciple of Tianyan Sect. We, the newly-minted casual cultivators, can't compare to him. Let's go."
Tao Nian stepped back, watching the remaining traces of light in the sky disappear among the ancient trees.
＊
clang-
clang-
clang-
The bell rang nine times. Jiang Yuebai and Yun Shang stopped in front of the mountain gate and listened to the powerful voice announcing the entire sect.
[Now, an inner sect Qigong disciple named He Wangchen has dismantled the 18 Tiangang Peak chain arrays and accepted him as a direct disciple of Tiangang Peak. I would like to inform the whole sect and hope that everyone will encourage each other]
Jiang Yuebai stood still, feeling a sense of loss in his heart, a little envious and a little sad.
But after a moment she thought it through. Compared to being a direct disciple of Tiangang Peak, refining the Five Elements Foundation-Building Pill was more important to her, so she gave up breaking the formation and instead learned to refine the pill, and she had no regrets.
What's more, if she gets first place in the competition, she can also choose a Yuanying Zhenjun to be her master and become his personal disciple.
"I'm so envious." Yun Shang said in a soft voice.
Jiang Yuebai asked with a smile, "You are learning to tame beasts, why would you envy the disciples of the formation path?"
Yun Shang quickly caught up with Jiang Yuebai. Without any strangers around, she spoke more.
"But they are direct disciples, with a higher status than inner disciples. How should I put it? Direct disciples are treated almost the same as Jindan Zhenren in the sect, and they can learn the four meridians inheritance left by the founder Lu Xingyun, which is a third-grade inheritance technique."
"Also, no matter whether the disciples are in the stage of building foundation, forming elixir, or forming infant in the future, the sect will protect them, provide them with no worries about resources, and train them with all their strength. If they are lucky, they can even enter the Wanfa Hall to study and get in touch with the latest and most powerful magic in the world of cultivation. How can we not envy them?"
"So do you want to be my personal disciple?" Jiang Yuebai asked.
Yun Chang thought about it and shook her head firmly.
"I don't want to. When I think about having to pay respects to Master during festivals, serving him, and getting along well with other senior brothers and sisters, I feel like the sky is falling and the earth is cracking. It's more comfortable now that no one is watching over me."
The two chatted all the way back to Huaxi Valley. When they saw a female cultivator in red carrying a treasure box standing at the entrance of the valley, the smile on Yunchang's face instantly disappeared.
Yu Qiuchi looked over from afar, "Yun Shang, I heard that you are going to participate in the competition, so I specially made a few magic tools for you, do you want to take a look?"
The atmosphere was cold and Jiang Yuebai's eyes rolled.
"Well, I suddenly remembered that I still have to deliver the elixir to Lin Xiangtian. Yun Shang, please invite Uncle Yu in for a cup of tea. Don't lose the etiquette of our Huaxi Valley."
"ah?"
Jiang Yuebai once again left Yun Shang there and ran away.
Yu Qiuchi smiled at Jiang Yuebai, walked closer to Yunshang and asked, "Can you please invite me in for a cup of tea?"
Yun Shang frowned, but finally listened to Jiang Yuebai's words, "Come on."
(End of this chapter)