The sky had just begun to lighten when Lü Zhong was awoken by the clamor outside.
The bluestone road, usually sparsely populated, was now filled with the sound of footsteps, both heavy and light.
Peeking through the cracks between the wooden planks, he could clearly see many plainly dressed Loose Cultivators. Some carried baskets on their backs, while others pushed small, single-wheeled carts laden with goods. All of them were heading toward the only street in the Qingliu Ruins.
There, their goods would sell more easily.
"Everyone's heading to the market so early!" Lü Zhong sighed.
All sleepiness gone, he rubbed his eyes, got up, and put on his wrinkled linen Daoist Robe. In just a few steps, he was in the kitchen, lifting the lid off the water vat.
Staring at the unfamiliar face reflected in the water, Lü Zhong didn't even recognize himself for a moment. After a closer look, he realized the face was actually a little handsome. Only then did he grin, scoop up a ladleful of water, and clean himself up a bit.
As he washed up using a freshly snapped willow branch, he recalled what he knew about the Ruins Market.
The Qingliu Ruins Market was held on days of the month ending in three and eight.
On these days, Loose Cultivators and small Cultivation Clans from a hundred-li radius, as well as numerous Commerce Associations of all sizes, would flock here. They brought all sorts of raw materials, or finished products like Pills and Magical Artifacts, to trade.
In addition, a small auction would be held at the Ruins Market.
It was said that high-quality Magical Artifacts were always auctioned off at these times—the kind of swords whose blades could burst into flame.
But this auction was not somewhere Lü Zhong could go. After all, being dirt-poor, he couldn't even afford the entrance fee.
Tucking the oil-paper-wrapped Cleaning Talismans into a pocket in his under-robe, Lü Zhong pushed open the door, his heart full of curiosity.
He didn't forget to turn back and secure the door with a bronze lock before heading toward the main street up ahead.
...
The stalls in the Ruins Market weren't all for buying and selling spiritual materials.
At the far end of the street, there were people selling chickens, ducks, and geese, and it wasn't uncommon to see stalls selling various sundries like needles and thread.
Farther on were all sorts of stalls selling snacks and treats, as well as opera troupes beginning their performances. Even a few courtesans could be seen in the hidden corners of alleys, their alluring figures half-concealed as they beckoned to potential customers.
As for the well-established shops, even their Receptionists would lower their usually proud heads and, in a rare sight, stand outside to attract customers.
These were always the liveliest times in the Qingliu Ruins.
As he walked, Lü Zhong was astonished by the sheer number of cultivators in the Qingliu Ruins.
He had seen nearly a thousand people with his own eyes, far exceeding his previous estimate.
'Perhaps it's because the Spiritual Qi in the area is relatively abundant, so more cultivators have gathered here.' In the memories of his body's original owner, cultivators followed the Spiritual Qi; they were almost never seen in places where it was scarce.
Just as a tree needs roots to grow, a cultivator needs a Spirit Root to absorb Spiritual Qi and practice cultivation.
Those born with a Spirit Root were extremely rare among mortals, truly one in ten thousand.
The presence of nearly a thousand cultivators represented tens of millions of mortals who could not cultivate.
Thinking of this, Lü Zhong couldn't help but feel a little fortunate.
Remembering his goal of selling his Cleaning Talismans, and not knowing the going rate, he decided to first ask about the price at other stalls.
"How much for this Talisman?"
"Three talismanic coins apiece. There's a discount if you buy a dozen," the stall owner replied flatly, giving Lü Zhong a quick glance.
Lü Zhong made up an excuse, let out a laugh, and moved on to another stall to ask the price.
"How much for this Cleaning Talisman?"
"Five talismanic coins!" The one running the stall was a richly dressed woman, unusually clad in a Low-Tier Dharma Robe. Seeing that Lü Zhong was only asking about the price and not buying—and even seemed frightened by it—she spoke with a sharp tongue. "What's with that look on your face? If you can't afford it, then get lost! This is a Secret Talisman from the Qingyang Sect, and I use high-quality Talisman Ink. It's nothing like those garbage Talismans!"
A cultivator selling Talismans at a nearby stall was instantly displeased. He shot her a sideways glance and said sarcastically, "A Cleaning Secret Talisman from the Qingyang Sect is still just a Cleaning Talisman, isn't it? What, can it increase your cultivation or something?"
"You!" The richly dressed woman had never been so insulted. She immediately glared at the man and started to argue.
They went back and forth, their argument growing heated until they both forgot about their businesses and just started shouting at each other.
As for Lü Zhong, the one who had started it all, he had slipped away long ago.
Afterward, he asked for the price of Cleaning Talismans at a few more stalls before stopping under a budding willow tree to take stock of the situation.
Stroking his chin, Lü Zhong thought to himself, 'Excluding that so-called Secret Talisman, it seems the market price for a Cleaning Talisman is just three talismanic coins.'
Talismanic coins were a unit of currency separate from Spirit Stones, with the exchange rate typically being one hundred talismanic coins to one Spirit Stone.
And these so-called talismanic coins were, in reality, just sheets of Tier One blank Talisman Paper.
Most Loose Cultivators were poor, and the value of their transactions wasn't high enough to warrant using Spirit Stones as a unit of currency.
Bartering was too much trouble and had even given rise to middlemen who profited from price differences.
Thus, Tier One Talisman Paper, which was easy to store and had a relatively stable value, began to gain popularity among Loose Cultivators.
Gradually, talismanic coins became a form of currency.
Three Cleaning Talismans would only sell for nine talismanic coins.
At first glance, after subtracting the cost of the blank Talisman Paper, the profit margin was a full two hundred percent!
In reality, however, this didn't account for the Spiritual Power required for Talisman Making.
Talisman Making required Spiritual Power, and Spiritual Power, in turn, had to be converted from absorbed Spiritual Qi.
As for Spiritual Qi, one had to rent a house in the Ruins Market to have an abundant supply to absorb. The concentration of Spiritual Qi in the wilderness could only be described as pitifully low, insufficient for Talisman Making.
Given that the body of a Qi Refining cultivator was like a sieve that leaked from a hundred holes, they had to expend all their effort just to keep their cultivation from declining. They had no extra Spiritual Power to spare for Talisman Making.
Lü Zhong was currently only at the Qi Refining First Layer. Both his total Spiritual Power and his recovery rate were extremely low. At absolute most, he could only attempt to draw a Talisman fifteen or sixteen times.
With his current, extremely low success rate, the path of making a living through Talisman Making was not yet viable.
'What am I supposed to do?'
Lü Zhong intended to continue down the path of a Talisman Maker. After all, it was a relatively easy path to start on, its potential for future growth was considerable, and with the help of his Gray Mist Space, he had no reason to give up.
But his current situation was that in order to pay this month's rent and obtain the funds to continue with Talisman Making, he had to find some other way to make money.
'Sigh, overthinking this won't help. I should just sell the Talismans first and figure out the rest later.'
Seeing that it was almost noon and the crowds on the street were beginning to thin, Lü Zhong knew that if he didn't sell his Talismans now, he would have no choice but to endure the scornful looks of the shop clerks and let them ruthlessly haggle down his price.
Just then, someone finished selling their wares and began packing up their stall. Seeing that the spot was a decent one, Lü Zhong quickly ran over and claimed it with his foot.
Under the astonished gazes of the stall owners on either side, he shamelessly pulled a bedsheet from his robes to serve as a makeshift stall cloth. Once it was spread out flat, he carefully took out the warm, oil-paper package he had been carrying.
He peeled back layer after layer of the oil paper—a full six layers in total—before the three Cleaning Talismans within were finally revealed.
All the while, Lü Zhong maintained a careful and nervous expression, as if terrified he might damage the Talismans.
His antics made the young girl selling Talisman Grass at the neighboring stall let out a snort of laughter that sounded like tinkling silver bells. It was the first time she had ever seen someone so shameless.
To think he would dare set up a stall with just three Cleaning Talismans.
The people nearby also began to laugh, though it was mostly in good-natured jest.
Lü Zhong paid no mind to the crowd's laughter. 'There's nothing to be embarrassed about when you're just trying to survive,' he thought, sitting down on his own to wait for customers.