The Taihang Market was still bustling, with people coming and going, and the sounds of chatter were deafening.
Raising his eyes, Jingcheng saw the lush bamboo leaves, casting golden spots one after another.
This blend of deep mountains and bustling market made Ye Jingcheng enjoy it immensely.
Unlike the first time he entered the market, trying to remember everything, this outing was much more leisurely.
Unfortunately, he had a task this time as well.
He had to pretend to be eager.
The four of them, including Ye Jingcheng, were shopping separately, and Ye Jingcheng was pleased with this, as none of them ventured into the market's shops; instead, they went to the market stalls.
The stalls were manned by people dressed in various styles, mostly wearing conical hats with their heads bowed low, making it difficult to see their full faces.
In the Cultivation Realm, using Divine Sense to observe other cultivators is extremely impolite and provocative.
Ye Jingcheng naturally wouldn't do that. Although he walked quickly, he showed interest in every stall, as if he was eagerly searching for something.
He paid special attention to stalls selling spirit medicine.
Most loose cultivators, if they acquire good spirit medicine, find the prices in shops unsuitable or feel pressured, often choose to sell at stalls.
Hence, there were quite a few stalls selling spirit medicine.
As for good magical artifacts and spirit talismans, loose cultivators are often in need themselves, so it's unlikely they would sell them.
There were also stalls selling spirit pills, but they were all Tier One Lower Grade and Tier One Middle Grade. Ye Jingcheng looked at them several times, even symbolically asking about Qi Recovery Pills and Qi Blood Pills, among other pills from their major missions.
But the responses were all shaking of heads.
Clearly, these pills in the transaction had been swept away by someone.
The Earth Fire Room was controlled, and unless a Foundation Establishment Cultivator refined these pills there, it would likely take months before such pills appeared.
After browsing over a dozen stalls, Ye Jingcheng still hadn't found anything desirable, let alone the spirit medicine for the mysterious pill formula.
"Friend, are you looking to buy Qi Recovery Pills and Qi Blood Pills?" At that moment, a male cultivator, masked, suddenly spoke next to Ye Jingcheng's ear.
He then deliberately walked a bit forward, stopping at an open spot.
Ye Jingcheng followed him.
"Do you have them?"
The man didn't answer immediately, instead looking around nervously before replying:
"Yes, but the price is a bit higher!"
"Qi Recovery Pills are 10 Spirit Stones each, Qi Blood Pills are 9 Spirit Stones each!" He continued cautiously, showing two pill bottles briefly before quickly retracting his hand.
"How many do you have?" Ye Jingcheng asked.
"Two of each!"
"That's too few!" Ye Jingcheng shook his head.
"It's a tense time now, don't you know the Ye Family is urgently searching? They can gather old magical artifacts, but there's no substituting pills!" The man replied coldly, glancing around as if extremely afraid of being discovered.
"Are you a stall owner?" Ye Jingcheng asked again.
At this question, the man instantly became angry.
"What do you care whether I am, buy if you want, don't if you don't, first time at a stall?"
"It's not that. If you were a stall owner, I'd consider buying not just the pills but also the magical artifacts and spirit medicine." Ye Jingcheng didn't get angry, continuing calmly, appearing innocent.
After hesitating for a moment, the man pulled his mask even higher, revealing only his eyes, then reluctantly displayed quite a few magical artifacts and spirit medicine and elixirs.
Also, a yellowing treasure diagram.
"Do you want this treasure diagram? It's an inheritance cave mansion treasure diagram from a Foundation Establishment Great Power, genuine!"
Ye Jingcheng's mouth twitched slightly but didn't respond.
"Ten Spirit Stones for you, considering you're buying pills, a discount!"
"Ten Spirit Stones is alright, throw in that ugly flower!" Ye Jingcheng pointed to a nearby spirit flower.
"That's not an ugly flower, it's a Heartless Flower, I won't sell it for less than twelve Spirit Stones, why are you always causing trouble!" Though his face couldn't be seen, the vendor's tone was already quite poor, seemingly ready to pack up everything.
"Then twelve Spirit Stones with the Heartless Flower!"
"At least fifteen; if my cultivation wasn't so low, I'd go myself!"
"Fine, hopefully, your treasure diagram is real!" Ye Jingcheng nodded, taking out fifty-three Spirit Stones, collecting the two bottles of elixirs and the treasure diagram and Heartless Flower together!
After collecting them, Ye Jingcheng headed towards the nearby shops.
Not long after he left, the vendor also disappeared from the stall.
He appeared in a secluded restaurant.
"That Ye Family kid took everything, he's a novice, doesn't understand the rules, the Ye Family must be really anxious!"
"Fool, you were spotted long ago. When he wanted to look at your stall, you were already exposed; loose cultivators and non-loose cultivators have completely different items in their storage bags!"
"Fifth Brother, what should I do?"
"No worries, they'll suffer later!"
"The family's goal is not just this transaction but to make them drop their guard after success..."
...
Ye Jingcheng walked down the street, his face full of excitement.
He had naturally recognized the man was not a typical loose cultivator, even though he played the part well, chose an obscure spot, but he truly wasn't a qualified loose cultivator.
Someone who approaches on their own surely doesn't have a bad temper, and someone with a bad temper wouldn't approach on their own.
After seeing the items in the storage bag, he confirmed it further.
He hadn't expected to surprisingly receive a Heartless Flower!
This Heartless Flower is a Tier One High-Grade spirit medicine, valued at around twelve Spirit Stones, with ten years of medicinal potency, but extremely hard to find.
Even the entire Ye Family hadn't been able to procure it!
With the Heartless Flower, all he needed for his mysterious pill formula were the Falling Flame Grass and Red Dragon Fruit.
He didn't plan to continue testing his luck at the stalls.
Instead, he headed towards Taiyi Pavilion.
Taiyi Pavilion was at the center of the market, standing five stories tall.
In the market, it's like a towering giant.
Streams of cultivators flowed endlessly, business was extraordinarily good, and Ye Jingcheng stepped inside.
The pavilion's layout was almost identical to the Ye Family shop, except that there were more than twenty wooden stands full of spirit talismans, spirit pills, spirit medicine, array discs...
It was dazzling, a feast for the senses.
Prices were somewhat higher as well.
Despite the high prices, the business far surpassed any other shop's traffic.
Even the steward at the counter was arrogant, looking down on others.
Yet buyers, even those with higher cultivation, had to smile apologetically!
This scene made Ye Jingcheng sigh!
And on the counter, Ye Jingcheng indeed saw the Falling Flame Grass.
Which made him extremely excited.
Only, the price of Falling Flame Grass was even higher than the Heartless Flower, requiring twenty Spirit Stones.
In the end, Ye Jingcheng gritted his teeth, took out Spirit Stones and bought it.
Currently, the Red Flame Fox wasn't just combat powerful but could save him Earth Fire Room costs, making alchemy more convenient.
"May I ask the steward, is there a hundred-year-old Red Dragon Fruit here?"
Ye Jingcheng asked!
The steward's face reddened slightly upon being called a steward by Ye Jingcheng, but after taking a glance around, his expression softened, clearly feeling quite pleased.
"The Red Dragon Fruit is rare, and a hundred-year-old one even more so, needing large volcanoes to grow. Wait for the annual auction, there should be some then!"