Chapter 64: Poisonous Gas, Marketplace

Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Poisonous Gas, Marketplace

"Mommy, is it yummy?"

"I want some, I want some..."

The bright, childish voice was filled with anticipation, having already imagined the taste of a dish called "bamboo shoots with stir-fried pork."

The room fell silent for a few moments.

"Hehe..."

"Alright, alright. You’re my good little girls, after all. Mommy will let you have a taste today."

SMACK.. SMACK...

Two exceptionally crisp smacks echoed from the house.

Li Changsheng’s lips twitched. He turned and walked away. ’I’d better not ask,’ he thought. ’I’ll go check on the Spirit Field first.’

He had only taken two steps when he heard two loud, high-pitched cries from the house behind him.

WAAAAH... WAAAAH...

They cried as if their hearts were breaking, their wails echoing with profound sorrow.

’Heh. So now they know what ’bamboo shoots with stir-fried pork’ really means.’

Li Changsheng raised an eyebrow, suppressing a smile as he stepped into the center of the Spirit Field.

Of the one-mu Spirit Field, a patch nearly a third of its size was completely bare.

At Li Changsheng’s command, the swarm of insects hovering in the air behind him suddenly dove down into the Spirit Field.

After more than a dozen breaths,

his swarm finally managed to catch and devour a few small pests that were tainted with a hint of Spiritual Qi.

’It’s not a pest infestation...’

Li Changsheng sighed in relief, a flicker of curiosity in his eyes as he stared at the barren patch of land.

’It was perfectly fine just a few days ago. How did this happen?’

He squatted down, grabbed a handful of Spiritual Soil, and squeezed it.

Hmm?

Upon closer inspection, Li Changsheng found something amiss.

The Spiritual Qi contained within the Spiritual Soil was abundant, even a little richer than in his own Spirit Field.

What was wrong was the faint, almost imperceptible trace of poison he detected in the Spiritual Soil.

He could only detect this wisp of poison because of his powerful consciousness and the ’Five Poisons Spirit Refining’ magic that had been imprinted upon his mind.

Furthermore, this poison was one he recognized.

"Wu Yong..."

Li Changsheng looked perplexed.

’Why would Wu Yong do this? Does he have a grudge against her?’

He pondered it for a moment before pushing the thought aside.

As long as the Black Blood Moths weren’t making a comeback, whatever grudge existed between those two was none of his business.

Stepping out of the Spirit Field, Li Changsheng mounted Xiaohua’s back, urging her towards the main road.

Long after he had departed,

a woman of outstanding grace slowly walked out of the wooden house, watching his receding figure with a slight frown.

’Could he have done it?’

Sob... sob...

From inside the house came the sound of soft whimpering.

Yun Wan drew back her gaze and turned to look inside. Her brow furrowed as she shouted, "You two, copy the Water Spirit Technique... three times! No dinner until you’re finished!"

WAAAAH.. WAAAAH...

As soon as these words were spoken, the crying from inside the house instantly grew louder.

Yun Wan ignored them, reached out to close the door, and slowly walked to the edge of the Spirit Field. Looking at the bare patch of land, her face filled with worry.

"Sigh..."

A moment later, a cloud about two meters in diameter gathered over the Spirit Field.

Threads of Rootless Spirit Water fell from the sky, moistening the bare Spiritual Soil.

「The next morning.」

Dew dampened the grass and trees, and crystal-clear dewdrops hung from the leaves.

The air was filled with the fresh scent of grass and trees.

On a wide mountain road,

pedestrians in twos and threes walked along, among them both Cultivators and mortals.

GRUNT... GRUNT...

On the quiet mountain road, a few low grunts occasionally sounded, causing passersby to look over from time to time, their eyes filled with envy.

"Alright, alright. When we get back, I’ll give you a special treat, the good stuff..."

Li Changsheng was used to the astonished gazes of others. His expression unchanged, he soothingly patted Xiaohua’s back.

The roads of Winding Peak twisted and turned. They had set out yesterday afternoon and walked for a full afternoon and through the night. Now, they were finally approaching the summit.

’Winding Peak really is tall,’ he thought. ’Thank goodness for Xiaohua. Without her, I’d be making this miserable climb myself.’

「A Cup of Tea’s Time later.」

A gatehouse about five meters high and twenty meters wide appeared before his eyes.

A massive plaque was inscribed with the words "East Gate."

He could see that there were already many people moving about in the Marketplace.

Li Changsheng dismounted, put Xiaohua and the spirit insects into his Spirit Beast Bag, and strode inside.

Following the main road from the East Gate straight ahead would lead to the tall tower in the center of the Marketplace.

On the left and right sides of the main road were D Zone and B Zone, respectively. Each zone had nine streets, lined with various shops on both sides.

Li Changsheng observed carefully. The air in B Zone was hot and heavy, filled mostly with Artifact Refining workshops.

D Zone, in contrast, carried the heavy fragrance of medicinal herbs, as it was home to many Alchemy shops.

There were other types of shops as well, but they were few and far between.

Most people on the street were stern-faced individuals with the sharp gaze of a hawk and the wariness of a wolf, exuding a palpable killing intent.

Li Changsheng guessed they were Cultivators who regularly ventured into the Wanzhong Mountains Range for beast and Demon Hunting.

He spent a full two hours just observing.

Li Changsheng looked around, seeing that every Cultivator’s aura was stronger than his, and a sense of unease rose in his heart.

He immediately dismissed any thought of checking out A Zone or C Zone.

His gaze fell upon Eighth Street in D Zone. After a moment’s thought, he stepped onto it.

The street was very orderly, with all kinds of shops arranged on both sides.

Li Changsheng didn’t rush into a shop. He walked along, sizing up which Pill Pavilion had the most customer traffic.

Just as he neared the end of the street,

a shop with "Chang’s Pill Pavilion" written on it came into view.

The shop’s entrance was modest. Peeking inside, he saw an elegant, antique-style interior where several customers were speaking with an attendant.

This was the very Chang’s Pill Pavilion that Chang the Pill Master, the one who’d spoken to him on the airship about buying Spirit Plants, had mentioned.

Li Changsheng glanced at it, but turned and entered another Pill Pavilion instead.

He went in and out of several Pill Pavilions in succession.

Li Changsheng walked out of a shop called Fragrance Pill Pavilion, his face slightly flushed.

It wasn’t because of a snobbish attendant judging him by his clothes.

Instead, it was the dazzling array of Spirit Pills and their terrifying prices that left him reeling.

Among them, the pills for improving one’s cultivation had the highest prices.

A bottle of ten First-rank Lower Grade Spirit Gathering Pills cost thirty Spirit Stones.

A bottle of three First Rank Middle Grade Jade Returning Pills cost one hundred Spirit Stones.

He was too embarrassed to even ask about the high-grade pills.

...

There were also various healing pills.

For example, an Ungraded Blood Pill like the one he had taken before cost thirty Spirit Fragments each.

A First-rank Lower Grade Blood Pill cost two Spirit Stones each, while a Mid-grade Blood Pill cost twenty Spirit Stones, a tenfold increase.

There were also pills for detoxification, breath-holding, mind-focusing, and so on.

It could all be summed up in one sentence:

Not a single one was cheap.

Before, Li Changsheng used to envy those who farmed Spirit Fields. Now he had changed; he envied the Pill Masters who performed Alchemy.

He had even made some special inquiries about it.

After hearing that it required fire and wood Spirit Veins, as well as extremely high comprehension and massive resources...

Li Changsheng immediately gave up the idea of becoming a Pill Master to earn Spirit Stones.

’If I have the Spirit Stones, isn’t it better to just buy the pills outright?!’

’No matter how skilled they are at Alchemy, they’re basically just working for me!’

"Heh..."

After consoling himself with these thoughts, Li Changsheng composed himself and strode towards the end of the street.

In a short while, he once again arrived in front of Chang’s Pill Pavilion.

He strode inside.

At this time, there were only two Cultivators in the Pill Pavilion, a man and a woman, quietly discussing something with the attendant.

Li Changsheng glanced at them and then paid them no more mind, instead turning his attention to the shop’s interior.

The shop didn’t look like it had been open for long. There was only one row of counters, flanked by various porcelain and jade items. In one corner, a piece of vibrant, jade-like green bamboo was planted.