Li Yan planned to visit the free market area he had passed by earlier. He had other business to attend to on this trip, namely purchasing some of the materials needed to craft the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike, excluding the main material, the Infinite Roam Tree. He had already found and bought several portions of some of the supplementary materials in the few shops he visited. With his current wealth, Spirit Stones were no longer an issue. He had originally planned to buy only one portion of each material, but now he had stocked up on several. As for the five main materials needed to craft the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike, he naturally didn't have the luck to stumble upon the Infinite Roam Tree. He had asked the owners of several shops about the other four main materials but had come up empty-handed. This, however, was within his expectations. If they were that easy to find, his luck would be too good to be true.
Seeing that there was still some time before his meeting with his two senior brothers, he decided to check out the free market. Although the quality of goods there wasn't guaranteed, even getting a lead on these main materials would be a good thing. He might even chance upon what he needed. After visiting a few shops, Li Yan felt that browsing stall by stall in the free market had a higher probability of success in the given time than visiting individual shops. Another difference between the free market and the shops was that the market offered a more comprehensive and concentrated variety of goods. Shops were more specialized. Even a large establishment like "Gui Qu Lai Xi" probably focused more on the buying and selling of Magical Artifacts and Magical Treasures, while things like Medicinal Pills were not their main business. There were, after all, shops in the trading city that specialized in pills and artifact refining.
Li Yan walked along, relying on his memory, and didn't get lost. A cultivator's memory was remarkably good. What was considered a genius's ability in the Mortal Realm, such as a photographic memory or reading ten lines at a glance, was something every cultivator possessed.
Along the way, including the time he spent searching for shops earlier, Li Yan had encountered no fewer than a dozen cultivators from the Malevolent Spirit Sect. These individuals were all Foundation Establishment cultivators from other peaks. They were invariably stunned when they saw him, clearly puzzled as to why a Qi Condensation disciple like him was outside the sect. Four or five of them even came forward to inspect his identity token, suspecting he was some riff-raff impersonating a Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivator to swindle people. This left Li Yan at a loss for whether to laugh or cry. After he produced his token and explained that he had come with Wen Xinliang, they let him go, though still with some doubt. Fortunately, Little Bamboo Peak only had a few disciples, and apart from Li Yan, the others were all well-known among the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the various peaks, so they all recognized Wen Xinliang. Otherwise, Li Yan might very well have been seized on the spot.
However, there were also a few Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivators who, after seeing Li Yan, merely showed a hint of doubt on their faces before walking away without a word of greeting. Li Yan guessed that these people were the cold and aloof types, or perhaps ascetic cultivators. They tended to have a "none of my business" attitude, typically only sweeping the snow from their own doorsteps. This saved Li Yan a lot of trouble.
After turning a few more corners, he saw the wide entrance hall in the distance. It was now the Hour of the Goat, yet the place was still bustling with activity. The entrance was about five to six zhang wide, but it still seemed a bit crowded with the unceasing flow of people.
Li Yan followed the crowd and walked in slowly. He noticed no one was being checked at the entrance. Apparently, one only had to pay Spirit Stones at designated spots to set up a stall, while those who came to trade could enter and exit freely. This was why the place was so lively.
Upon entering the main hall, Li Yan slowly scanned the area. It resembled a miniature version of the streets outside, also divided into rows and lanes. Each row was lined with stalls, one after another. The space for each stall was not large. Some had a chair and a table with items displayed on it; others were completely bare, with only a cultivator sitting cross-legged on the ground, a piece of red cloth spread before them covered with goods.
'So this is the free market. Everything is very casual, but it feels quite natural. It has a more approachable feel than those lavishly decorated shops.' Li Yan observed the people coming and going—some stopping to look, some squatting by a stall to carefully examine an item, others quietly haggling with the stall owner. He felt a thick atmosphere of commerce.
After sizing up the environment, Li Yan began to wander around. The variety of things he saw along the way was dazzling and bizarre, greatly broadening his horizons. From fans and jade ornaments to hoes and lanterns, from ghost-expelling talismans to protective amulets, from hundred-refined armor to a piece of tattered cloth, and from common entry-level cultivation manuals to mysterious incomplete scripts—if he could think of it, it was there to be seen.
Li Yan would occasionally stop to look or ask a stall owner some questions, but he never touched anything. However, when he inquired, the other party, upon seeing his cultivation level, was not overly polite despite the Malevolent Spirit Sect robes he wore. He often received only a few curt words or a brief sentence in reply. This was likely already due to his status as a member of the Malevolent Spirit Sect. He didn't find any of the materials he needed.
The free market was not entirely peaceful. In the process, Li Yan witnessed several disputes between cultivators and stall owners, some even looking like they were about to come to blows. Although they ultimately refrained from fighting due to the rules of the trading city, the fierce glares they exchanged made it clear that a grudge had been formed and a bloody fight was inevitable once the opportunity arose.
The free market was truly vast, and the stalls were packed together. After wandering for more than half an hour, Li Yan had only covered three rows. Just as he turned into a new row of stalls, the sound of an argument suddenly erupted ahead.
Li Yan had already seen this sort of argument many times and naturally paid it no mind. The previous few had been even more heated than this. He planned to bypass the area and see what was further ahead.
Just as Li Yan was passing behind the crowd, he heard the sounds of a woman and a man arguing coming from a stall surrounded by many people. Shaking his head, he prepared to circle around the onlookers. Just then, the man's coarse voice came from within the crowd again. "What, does your Malevolent Spirit Sect think it can be unreasonable? You're running a stall here. I pay the price in Spirit Stones, and now you refuse to sell. What kind of logic is that?"
Then, a delicate female voice replied, "That's not it, but..."
"But what? Did I or did I not ask you for the price?" the coarse voice interrupted impatiently before the woman could finish.
"You did ask for the price, but..." the woman's voice came again, but before she could finish, she was cut off once more by the coarse voice.
"I asked the price, and you said four hundred low-grade Spirit Stones for one puppet. Is that right or not?"
"It is four hundred low-grade Spirit Stones, but..." The woman's voice was filled with grievance and seemed to be on the verge of tears.
"Then that settles it! I asked the price, you stated the price, and now you want to go back on your word? Even if you're a disciple of the Malevolent Spirit Sect, you still have to be reasonable!" the coarse voice boomed, growing louder with clear annoyance.
By now, Li Yan had reached the back of the crowd. Although he heard these words, he paid them no heed. He had gathered that one of the parties was a Malevolent Spirit Sect disciple, but what did that have to do with him? He was just a minor Qi Condensation cultivator. Even if his cultivation were higher, he wouldn't meddle without reason.
But just as Li Yan reached the back of the crowd and was about to continue forward, a few cultivators standing there noticed him. Seeing his Malevolent Spirit Sect robes and that he was walking toward the crowd, they were startled and quickly moved aside. Their movement, however, alerted the people in front of them. Everyone here was a cultivator; at such a short distance, who wasn't sharp of ear and eye? A backward glance was all it took for them to understand, and they all parted to make way.
However, the path they cleared did not lead Li Yan forward along the row of shops, but rather toward the source of the argument. This sudden development stunned Li Yan. By the time he realized what had happened, the small area had fallen silent. All that remained was a cleared path with a somewhat dazed Li Yan standing at one end. At the other end, near the stall, stood a young woman inside the stall and a burly man outside.
At this moment, the man and the young woman had also stopped arguing and were staring at Li Yan with puzzled expressions.
As their eyes met, Li Yan finally reacted. He subconsciously hid his hands behind his back to conceal the insignia on his cuffs and was about to explain that he had nothing to do with the matter. But then, the young woman in the stall swept her gaze over him, and her misty, beautiful eyes lit up. A soft, weak voice reached the ears of Li Yan and the dozen or so cultivators present. "Are you... Junior Brother Li... Li Yan from Little Bamboo Peak?"
Hearing these words, Li Yan sighed inwardly. 'I've run into more than a dozen fellow sect members today. How is it that I get recognized right here of all places?' He couldn't very well just leave now. Besides, she had called out his name. He vaguely recalled a sect rule to the effect of: "Sect disciples shall help and support one another. When encountering a fellow disciple in trouble, unless the disparity in realm with the enemy is too great, one must step forward to assist. Those who mind only themselves will be, at best, fined a heavy sum of Spirit Stones and have their cultivation resources cut off for several years; at worst, they will have their cultivation crippled and be expelled from the sect." Although this situation was hardly a matter of life and death, and he wouldn't be fined for leaving, he couldn't feign ignorance now that he had been recognized. Otherwise, if word spread within the sect, there was no telling what the story would become by the end.
His first instinct had been to hide the golden bamboo insignia on his sleeve, offer a few words of explanation, and leave. After all, with tens of thousands of cultivators in the Malevolent Spirit Sect, the other party wouldn't know him and wouldn't be able to find him to settle scores later. But he never expected to be identified in one go.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Li Yan could only nod at the young woman and walk over with a stiff scalp.
"Heh, this is getting interesting. There were no Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivators around just now, but one has shown up. Let's see how that Sun Guoshu handles this."
"But why does this person only have a Qi Condensation, eighth-layer cultivation? Isn't that too low?"
"Exactly. His cultivation is even lower than the young woman's. What's the use of him being here?"
"Haha, cultivation? I don't think so. Just you watch. I'm afraid Sun Guoshu is going to stumble today. He's a rogue cultivator who usually just looks for trouble with outsiders. I wonder what got into him today..."
...
As Li Yan walked forward, numerous discussions reached his ears. Listening to them, his mind raced, and he quickly came to a conclusion.
'This burly man in front of me is named Sun Guoshu. It seems many people here know him. He's either somewhat famous in the surrounding sects or a long-time regular here.'
In an instant, Li Yan had a basic assessment of the man before him. When he looked up again, his expression had returned to one of detached calm.
Amidst the crowd's murmurs, Li Yan arrived in front of the stall. As he approached step by step, the young woman in the stall, seeing a fellow sect member, had eyes that grew even mistier. The burly man outside the stall, however, had remained silent since Li Yan's appearance, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on him.
The stall was small, less than a zhang wide. The table was now empty. Behind it stood a young woman in the robes of the Malevolent Spirit Sect, at the early stage of Foundation Establishment. The woman appeared to be around sixteen, with an exceptionally delicate and pretty appearance, her skin tender and snow-white. A head of glossy black hair cascaded over her shoulders. On her round, goose-egg-shaped face, a pair of beautiful eyes with clear blacks and whites were now brimming with mist. Her hands were tightly clutching a palm-sized object, though Li Yan couldn't make out what it was.
"Hah, brought a helper? So what? Does that mean you can go back on a done deal?" Just as Li Yan was observing the young woman, a coarse voice sounded beside him.