Chapter 79: Bixia Marketplace
Chapter 79: Chapter 79: Bixia Marketplace
An hour later, it was finally Lu Zhao’s group’s turn. After nearly two months of travel, Hu Ming’s voice was hoarse. "Bixia Marketplace has its rules. First-time entrants need to register their origins and Cultivation level. Once you get an identity wooden token, you can come and go as you please. After today, you’ll just need to show the token to get in, no more inspections."
Arcane Runes flowed across the surface of an Ink Jade Pillar standing at the city gate. Two Cultivators in indigo Daoist Robes stood silently by it, holding Jade Scrolls. Lu Zhao followed the others forward and touched the pillar’s cool, smooth surface. A gentle surge of Spiritual Power instantly swept through him, and pale golden seal script appeared on the pillar: "Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer." A Blue-robed Cultivator handed him a wooden token engraved with "Dingwei 79" and asked for his origin.
"Northern Plains County," Lu Zhao uttered just two words.
The Blue-robed Cultivator paid it no mind, making a mark on the Jade Scroll with his brush. After everyone had been tested, Hu Ming came to Lu Zhao’s side.
"Mr. Chen, we’re staying in Black Stone Lane in the West District, where the Demon Hunters gather. Feel free to look for me anytime." He clasped his fist in a salute, and the few Wanderers behind him also cupped their hands in farewell. In the blink of an eye, their figures vanished into the surging crowd within the gate.
Moss crept over the mottled bluestone path. Lu Zhao’s steps were light and nimble as he walked along, a sense of novelty filling him. He bypassed the rich fragrance wafting from a Pill Shop, walked past the cold glint of a Magic Artifact Store, and stopped at a fork in the road.
The air was a mixture of the sweet fragrance of Spirit Valley grains and the gamey stench of Demon Beast hides. The pungent smell of Cinnabar from a Talisman Shop a hundred yards away also drifted toward him. Lu Zhao walked slowly as the largest Marketplace in the Chen Country gradually revealed itself to him.
"Senior, is this your first visit to Bixia Marketplace?" a clear voice piped up from behind him.
Lu Zhao turned to see a plainly dressed youth of about sixteen or seventeen emerging from the shadows of a tea stall. His hair was casually tied with a piece of straw rope and his green robes were washed to a faded white, but his eyes were bright. "The name’s Zhao Xiaoshu, Sir! I grew up hustling in this Marketplace. For twenty Spiritual Sand, I’ll take you through every street and alley, explain the layout of the Spirit Veins, the rules of each district—I even know which shops make a living by cheating newcomers. I know it all!" He spoke in a rapid-fire burst, as if slowing down for a second meant losing a customer.
Lu Zhao casually tossed him twenty cyan-colored Spiritual Sand. "Start with the Spirit Veins."
"You got it!" The youth deftly scooped the Spiritual Sand out of the air. He raised a hand and pointed. "See that green peak in the far distance? The very top is where the Bixia Sect is located, right on a Tier Three Spirit Vein!"
"This Marketplace we’re standing in survives on a few branch veins drawn from that main one." He pointed his toe to the southeast. "The best is the Tier Two Middle-Grade Spirit Vein in the Central District—Yunjin Square. It’s reserved for Foundation Establishment Elders and the Chief Stewards of the major Commerce Associations. The next best, a Tier Two Lower Grade Spirit Vein, is in the South District—Hundred Arts Workshop. That’s where you’ll find Pill Masters, Artifact Masters... all the experts who live by their craft."
After they turned down two long streets, the clamor suddenly died down.
Before them was a cluster of low, dusty, tightly packed houses. Dried beast tendons hung from clotheslines, and a few bare-chested men squatted on their doorsteps, sharpening their blades with a rasping sound.
"This is the West District," Zhao Xiaoshu lowered his voice. "Demon Hunters, traveling merchants... any struggling cultivator short on funds holes up here. Spiritual Qi? It’s pretty thin. We only get the dregs from a few Tier One Middle and Lower Grade Spirit Veins. But the upside is, the rent is dirt cheap!"
"A shack with no Spirit Vein access rents for half a Spirit Stone a month. One with access? Even a courtyard that catches a wisp of Tier One Lower Grade Spiritual Energy will run you six stones!"
Before long, the scenery changed again. Inside an area enclosed by White Jade railings, a seven-story wooden tower stood majestically. A bronze medicine hoe served as a sign hanging from its eaves. Several female cultivators in brocade robes, holding jade boxes, ascended the steps. The air was thick with the fragrance of medicinal herbs.
"This is the East District—Changchun Square." The boy swallowed. "Most of the properties in there are privately owned by disciples from the Bixia Sect’s medicine hall. Even the worst spot here is on a Tier One High-Grade spiritual vein. Rent starts at thirty Spirit Stones a month."
"The North District—Golden Treasury Workshop—is where most of the businesses are located," Zhao Xiaoshu said without breaking his stride. "It’s mostly inhabited by Commerce Association Stewards and their families..." Soon, the boy had given a rough overview of the entire Marketplace.
When he finished, his tone shifted, becoming more tentative. "Senior, if you’re planning on a long-term stay, I know a housing agent..."
Lu Zhao acted as if he hadn’t heard, but his feet suddenly stopped.
In the center of the square ahead, a ten-zhang-high stone testing platform stood tall. Below it, young Cultivators gathered in small groups. The youngest among them, barely more than a toddler, was pressing his palm firmly against a sensor on the platform’s surface, his little face flushed red with exertion.
"That’s the Bixia Sect’s annual ’Minor Selection’ in the spring," Zhao Xiaoshu explained, following Lu Zhao’s gaze. "They only take promising candidates under sixteen with a Middle-Grade Spirit Root or better. See that senior over there in the apricot-yellow Daoist Robe? He’s an Outer Sect Steward. He’s holding a Spirit-Detecting Ruler. He just taps it to your forehead and your age and Spiritual Root are revealed. No way to fake it!" His voice held an unconscious trace of yearning.
Lu Zhao’s gaze swept over the innocent faces before he spoke slowly. "I hear the great conference in seven years also recruits older Cultivators?"
The boy paused, startled, then scratched the back of his neck with an awkward laugh. "Oh, you must be talking about the Ascension Ceremony. That’s a grand event held once every ten years! No age limit, but... the threshold is pretty high. You need to be at least at the Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer."
He paused, glanced around, and lowered his voice even more. "But... I have an uncle who works in the Sect’s dining hall. He once mentioned hearing a drunk Steward let slip that most of the people hired through the Ascension Ceremony just end up as Outer Sect Stewards or stewards of menial tasks. They’re not considered true disciples of the Sect."
As dusk crept over the ornate eaves of the city, Zhao Xiaoshu led Lu Zhao to a small, blue-bricked courtyard at the edge of the West District. Withered vines climbed its walls, and a wooden token reading "Guiyun Residence" hung over the door. A faint aura, characteristic of a Tier One Middle-Grade Spiritual Vein, emanated from within.
"The Shopkeeper is a distant cousin of mine." The boy fiddled with the corner of his tunic. "It’s a small courtyard with Spirit Vein access. I can put in a good word for you, get the price down to just fifteen Spirit Stones a month. As for the deposit... if you’re a little short, I can act as your guarantor..."
Lu Zhao didn’t speak. With a flick of his finger, a lustrous Lower Grade Spirit Stone sailed through the air in an arc. The boy fumbled to catch it, and when he saw it was a whole Spirit Stone and not just Spiritual Sand, his eyes went wide.
"That’s for you." Lu Zhao pushed open the creaking wooden door, his last words dissolving into the rising evening breeze. "If anyone asks about who you guided today, you know what to say."
Zhao Xiaoshu clutched the Spirit Stone tightly, bowing deeply toward the weathered door as it slowly swung shut.
Inside the room, Lu Zhao brushed a finger across the thin layer of dust on the windowsill. A tiny, inch-high Ice Mouse Puppet darted silently from his sleeve. The tips of its claws shimmered with an imperceptible spiritual light as it scurried soundlessly along the base of the walls and under the bed.
He sat cross-legged on the bed, lowered his eyes, and sank into thought.
Everything he had seen and heard that day replayed in his mind.
’There are still seven years. That’s enough time to push my Cultivation to the Qi Cultivation Eighth Layer and refine my Puppet skills to nearly Tier One High-Grade.
However, if the Ascension Ceremony is just a path to becoming a Steward... then I really need to consider another way...’