A Bountiful Harvest

[You have a new paper crane. Please inspect and receive it in a timely manner!] Rolling in wealth, Senior Sister Si Jing had chosen to have the pills couriered directly to Chen Zhuo. Chen Zhuo naturally took no issue with that. Once he received the four portions of pills, he shifted his thoughts and stepped once more into the Spirit Bead World. After arriving in a forest on the outskirts of the shantytown, Chen Zhuo did not cast his Golden Armor Talisman right away. Instead, he quietly held his spiritual energy ready within the Boundary-Breaking Bead, only letting out a breath of relief once he was certain no ambush awaited him. Next, he carefully changed his clothes and appearance, then slowly recalled the Dharma-Control Scout Drone to review what had taken place during the two days he had been away. He played the footage at ten times normal speed. The location was indeed secluded; after two full days, not a single figure had been caught on camera. "It seems my actions in the shantytown two days ago didn't attract any robber cultivators." Chen Zhuo nodded slightly, then strode briskly toward the shantytown. This trip might carry some danger. He had an unusually large amount of merchandise to sell. His goal today was to sell all three packets of Qi Gathering Powder and the single Qi Condensation Pill to Jishi Hall in one go! Moving swiftly, Chen Zhuo made a beeline for Jishi Hall. The route was already familiar to him. Inside Jishi Hall, the same white-haired shopkeeper and young apprentice were present as before. Seeing Chen Zhuo enter, the apprentice noticed his opulent attire and tight, fine stitching—the unmistakable mark of someone from a prominent family. A smile immediately broke across the boy's face, and he greeted Chen Zhuo with obsequious warmth. "What might Fellow Daoist be looking for? Our shop carries all kinds of pills, and our prices are fair!" Chen Zhuo did not beat around the bush. He retrieved the waste pills directly from his storage bag and placed them on the counter. "Shopkeeper, I have some pills here that I'd like to sell." The shopkeeper's brows lifted slightly. Selling goods? Interesting. The shopkeeper reached out, picked up one of the glass bottles, and sniffed it lightly. "Qi Gathering Powder. The quality is quite decent." He then inspected the other two bottles before finally opening the wooden box, which held a single brown Qi Condensation Pill. After scrutinizing it for a moment, the shopkeeper remarked, "Three packets of Qi Gathering Powder, upper-middle quality. The Qi Condensation Pill is of acceptable quality as well." The shopkeeper paused in thought, then said, "Qi Gathering Powder is ten spirit stones per packet, so thirty spirit stones for three. The Qi Condensation Pill is thirty spirit stones. That comes to sixty spirit stones in total." Hm?! Chen Zhuo's guard shot up. He was actually buying them back at market price? And the Qi Condensation Pill was even five spirit stones above market value? This made Chen Zhuo even more vigilant, and at the same time, made him realize something. These pills seemed to be of higher quality than he had imagined. Though all of them were waste pills, even among waste pills there were tiers! It made sense. These had been concocted by a ninth-year alchemy student at a university, after all. Even as defective batches, their pill toxin content would never be higher than what second-year university students produced! "Seventy," Chen Zhuo countered boldly, making an aggressive bid. "I simply can't be bothered to sell them off slowly. You know the quality of these pills just as well as I do, Shopkeeper." Upon hearing Chen Zhuo's demand, the shopkeeper froze for a moment. After a brief hesitation, he nodded. "Very well. Seventy it is." With a flick of his sleeve, the shopkeeper tapped his storage bag. In an instant, a small pouch filled to the brim with spirit stones appeared before Chen Zhuo. Seeing this, Chen Zhuo's heart gave a thump. Damn it! He had still asked for too little! Still, now that things had settled, it was hardly a bad outcome. The total cost of these waste pills had been 205 spirit coins, which converted to barely twenty spirit stones. Yet he had just sold them for seventy spirit stones, which meant... With a single, straightforward turn of speculation, Chen Zhuo had netted fifty spirit stones—equivalent to five hundred spirit coins! Nearly a tenth of his total debt! What was more, with these fifty spirit stones, Chen Zhuo could purchase another fifty sheets of premium talisman paper to take back, instantly doubling his capital into seven or eight hundred spirit coins! *Carrying goods across worlds really is the sweetest racket,* Chen Zhuo marveled inwardly. However... Chen Zhuo glanced at the white-haired shopkeeper, swept up the pouch of spirit stones, cupped his hands, and said, "Farewell." He immediately turned and strode out of the shop. Once Chen Zhuo had left, the shopkeeper gave a subtle nod to the apprentice. The boy bowed in acknowledgment at once and slipped silently out through the back door of Jishi Hall, vanishing into parts unknown. "I really flaunted my wealth this time." Chen Zhuo let out a heavy breath, his expression darkening. Without hesitation, he set off straight toward the mountain! Yunjin Market! Now that he had spirit stones, Chen Zhuo had to consider his safety. From his time with Li Changqing a few days ago, Chen Zhuo knew that ten spirit stones bought a month of residence within Yunjin Market. Under these circumstances, he was naturally willing to spend ten spirit stones to secure a room to rest in an area of absolute security. Furthermore, he had heard that Yunjin Market had a first-rank Spirit Gathering Array established within it, making it one of the spiritual energy nodes of the entire Southern Wilderness. Yunjin Market was already situated atop a spirit vein, and with the addition of a Spirit Gathering Array, Chen Zhuo could hardly imagine how delightful cultivating there would feel! At the entrance to Yunjin Market, Chen Zhuo stood before the mountain gate and looked up. Two lifelike white jade lions guarded the mountain gate. Between them, a grand flight of white jade steps led straight up to the entrance, radiating immense grandeur. A restrictive barrier was set over the mountain gate; without a market token, it was impossible to pass through the mountain-protecting grand formation. Beside the steps, a middle-aged cultivator clad in black martial attire sat cross-legged on a prayer mat, eyes half-closed as he meditated. The fluctuations of spiritual energy around him were powerful. By Chen Zhuo's estimation, the man was at least a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator of the seventh layer or higher. Yet facing a cultivator in the late stage of Qi Refining did not make Chen Zhuo particularly nervous. After all... In Taiqing City, Foundation Establishment cultivators were a common sight, let alone someone merely in the late stage of Qi Refining. With that thought, Chen Zhuo took a deep breath, stepped forward, and cupped his hands. "Fellow Daoist, I am newly arrived and wish to purchase a temporary residence token. Might I ask how to proceed?" The middle-aged cultivator slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was sharp as lightning as it swept over Chen Zhuo. "Third layer of Qi Refining, and an unfamiliar face." The man's tone was somewhat cold, his expression aloof. "Where are you from? Do you have credentials from your sect?" Chen Zhuo's expression remained steady as he said in a measured tone, "I am a rogue cultivator with no sect or lineage. Hearing of the prosperity of Yunjin Market, I came here specifically to seek opportunities." "Mm." The middle-aged cultivator's demeanor grew even colder. "The market has its rules. A temporary residence token costs ten spirit stones per month. It grants you a cramped cave dwelling in the outermost perimeter. You may cultivate only inside your cave dwelling; meditating or practicing in the market proper is strictly forbidden." Chen Zhuo nodded and was about to retrieve the spirit stones from his storage bag when the middle-aged cultivator added, "However, the Qiwu Sword Sect will soon open its gates to recruit disciples. The market is packed, and accommodations are extremely tight. I'm afraid there aren't many spare cave dwellings available. If you truly wish to take up residence, you will have to wait in line for several months." The middle-aged cultivator's tone was stiff and unyielding. Yet Chen Zhuo instantly understood what the man was getting at. Without batting an eye, Chen Zhuo quietly withdrew two spirit stones from his storage bag, placed them gently beside the prayer mat in front of the cultivator, and lowered his voice. "You work hard, Fellow Daoist. This modest token of respect is nothing much, but please, grant me a bit of leeway." The middle-aged cultivator's eyes lingered on the two spirit stones for a split second before he swept them away without a change in expression. The motion was swift as lightning; had Chen Zhuo not been watching intently, he would scarcely have caught it. "Seeing as you're so sincere, I do happen to have one vacant cave dwelling left. Though the location is somewhat remote, it has the advantage of being quiet and well-suited for cultivation." The middle-aged cultivator's tone softened slightly as he produced a palm-sized bronze token from his robes. The characters for 'Yunjin' were carved on the front, while a string of numbers was inscribed on the reverse. "This is your token. Simply channel your spiritual energy into it. Your cave dwelling is on the east side of the market, Area C, Number 73. It is ten spirit stones per month. Once the spirit stones are exhausted, the token will automatically deactivate, at which point you will need to purchase another. "The token contains a tracking restriction. Once your time expires, leave of your own accord. If you linger by force, the market's law-enforcement cultivators will mete out punishment, and an overdue fee of one spirit stone per day will be levied." Chen Zhuo nodded in assent. "Go on in." The middle-aged cultivator waved a hand and closed his eyes again, as though none of what had just happened had ever taken place. Chen Zhuo said no more. Turning on his heel, he stepped onto the white jade stairs. The higher he climbed, the denser the spiritual energy became. When Chen Zhuo finally set foot on the ground of the market itself, a blast of pure spiritual energy washed over him, causing him to inhale deeply in spite of himself. *Such rich spiritual energy! Compared to the shantytown, this is truly night and day.* Chen Zhuo marveled silently. Those ten spirit stones had been well worth the cost! Meanwhile, behind Chen Zhuo, two stealthy figures stood on the ground of the shantytown, staring up at Chen Zhuo ascending the white jade stairs with bitter frustration written across their faces. "That kid actually went into the market!" A burly man with a hawkish face swore under his breath, glaring darkly at Chen Zhuo's fading silhouette on the stairs. "Shopkeeper Han gave word far too late! When I get back, I'm going to take it out on that young errand boy—I've had my eye on him for a while anyway!" "Hmph." The other cultivator, clad in plain coarse cloth and as skinny as a monkey, let out a low sneer. In a sinister voice, he hissed, "Doesn't matter. How long can he possibly afford to stay? We'll just wait for him right here! Shopkeeper Han said the fellow spends lavishly and likely has several hundred spirit stones on him. For a score like that, waiting half a year or even a full year is well worth it!"