Although Cangwu Town was only a small town on the eastern border region of the Shengwu Continent, it was backed by Cangwu Mountain and occupied a special geographical position. Cultivators came and went constantly, making it extremely lively.
After Wen Qiao and the others descended the mountain, their first stop was Cangwu Town.
Every cultivator entering the town had to pay ten yuan crystals.
There were cultivators guarding the entrance of Cangwu Town, specifically there to collect yuan crystals. Their strength was around the Yuan Martial Realm. Although this was not considered particularly high cultivation, no one dared evade the ten yuan crystals, nor did anyone dare cause trouble in Cangwu Town. This was because a high-level Yuan Sect Realm cultivator was stationed in the town year-round, with a powerful background. Anyone with the slightest bit of discernment would not try to challenge Cangwu Town’s guardian.
Over time, Cangwu Town became a safe place in the hearts of many cultivators. Those who returned from training in Cangwu Mountain, especially those carrying precious treasures, would immediately choose to enter Cangwu Town to receive protection.
Wen Qiao’s group had many people, so they spent over two hundred yuan crystals all at once. This made Wen Qiao feel that their yuan crystals really were not enough.
After paying the yuan crystals, the group entered Cangwu Town.
Before they had time to properly look at this small town of the outside world, a clever little boy rushed over and said attentively and respectfully, “Are these two seniors visiting Cangwu Town for the first time? Do you need this humble one to find lodging for you? Cangwu Town is very crowded, and many inns are already full. It isn’t easy to find a place to stay.”
Wen Qiao glanced at the little boy. He was around twelve or thirteen years old, with delicate, handsome features. His cultivation was at the early stage of the Initial Yuan realm, and his whole body gave off a clever air. The moment he opened his mouth, he aimed his words at her and Ning Yuzhou, as if he knew the two of them were the ones in charge, while the others were guards.
There were many children like this in Cangwu Town. Their eyesight was extremely sharp. They would seek out people who had come to Cangwu Town for the first time and offer all kinds of help to earn some yuan crystals.
Of course, how much they could earn depended on how generous the people they served were.
Ning Yuzhou’s lips carried a smile. Although his appearance was graceful and handsome, he did not give people a feeling of being difficult to approach. Instead, one would feel goodwill toward him at first glance, thinking that he was a good person and being willing to associate with him.
“Find us a place to stay. We will be stopping here for a few days,” Ning Yuzhou said.
The little boy’s eyes lit up. He answered loudly, then led the way for them.
The streets of Cangwu Town were not wide, but people came and went along them. Shops stood side by side in rows, forming an extremely prosperous and lively scene. The cultivators walking along the street had varying levels of cultivation. There were quite a few low-level cultivators, but even more were people whose cultivation could not be seen through.
Wen Qiao quietly observed them, knowing that those whose cultivation she could not see through were all stronger than her.
The little boy led them to an inn in a remote alley. This inn could not compare with the large inns on the bustling streets, but it was clean and tidy. The staff member who came out to welcome them was also very attentive, and his smiling face easily gave people a good impression.
They rented an entire courtyard, and the Shadow Scaled Guards all stayed inside together.
The little boy followed them attentively the whole way, his mouth quick as he introduced the situation in Cangwu Town. By the time they reached the courtyard, they already had a general understanding of Cangwu Town.
The little boy was tactful. He stopped at the entrance of the courtyard and said, “Young Master, Young Miss, this humble one will come again tomorrow. If there is anything you need to know, feel free to ask this humble one.”
Ning Yuzhou acknowledged him.
One of the Shadow Scaled Guards grabbed a handful of yuan crystals and rewarded him.
When the little boy saw them, there were nearly twenty yuan crystals. He immediately knew he had met generous customers and was especially delighted. He quickly thanked them repeatedly for the reward and said that he would come over early the next morning.
After the little boy reluctantly left, Wen Qiao and the others rested at the inn.
The Shadow Scaled Guards had the inn send over some food. Probably because Cangwu Town was backed by Cangwu Mountain, the variety of food here was fairly rich. The dishes were steamed, boiled, stir-fried, roasted, and so on, with quite a wide selection.
Wen Qiao ate some and felt that it was not as tasty as the roasted meat made by the Shadow Scaled Guards.
It was probably because the grade of the ingredients was too low. Although they were all ingredients containing spiritual energy, their quality still varied. The meat of high-rank demonic beasts was not only rich in power, but also delicious. It was not something low-rank demonic beast meat could compare with. After getting used to fourth- and fifth-rank ice-patterned sheep meat, suddenly eating first- or second-rank demonic beast meat felt somewhat off.
After eating, they returned to their rooms to rest.
The Shadow Scaled Guards guarded outside. Ning Yuzhou set up restrictions around the area, then entered the space together with Wen Qiao and Wen Tutu.
The area of the space still had not changed much, but there were now many more types of spirit herbs. There was also the flourishing stone-gold python vine growing at the edge of the space, making the entire space look especially crowded. There truly was not enough room.
Ning Yuzhou stroked his chin and decided to find some time to raise his cultivation.
Wen Qiao first ripened a batch of spirit herbs. After she and Ning Yuzhou picked the ripened herbs together, she scattered another batch of seeds. Then she turned into a little sprout and rooted herself in the spirit herb field to cultivate.
Wen Tutu hurriedly rubbed against the little sprout and kept watch beside it, lying there with a blissful expression.
Ning Yuzhou glanced at the little sprout in the spirit field and smiled slightly. Then he began refining pills.
One cultivated while the other refined pills. After being busy for more than half the night, they finally came out of the space and lay down on the bed to rest.
Early the next morning, the little boy arrived as promised and waited outside the courtyard from very early on.
After Ning Yuzhou and Wen Qiao finished breakfast, they brought Qian Shou with them and went out together.
“Where would the guests like to go today?” the little boy asked.
“Let’s go look at the pill shops,” Ning Yuzhou said.
The little boy looked enlightened. “Are the guests going to buy spirit pills?”
Ning Yuzhou smiled but did not say anything.
The little boy led the way at the side, secretly glancing at the young girl beside Ning Yuzhou who was holding a demon rabbit.
From yesterday until now, he had not heard her speak. Her expression was cool and indifferent, adding a cold, detached air even to her incomparably beautiful appearance, making her different from many female cultivators.
Although he was young, he had spent these years making a living in Cangwu Town and had encountered all kinds of cultivators. He had also seen exceptionally beautiful female cultivators, each with their own charm. But most female cultivators around this girl’s age were sweet and innocent, lively and adorable. Very few were as cold and detached, almost lacking human warmth, as she was.
They arrived at a bustling street, where all kinds of pill shops could be seen on both sides. Cultivators entered and exited continuously.
Spirit pills were an indispensable resource on a cultivator’s path of cultivation. Their uses were extremely broad. After stepping onto the path of cultivation, cultivators could do without other things, but spirit pills were essential. Even at the most basic stage of drawing yuan spiritual energy into the body, one needed Spirit-Guiding Pills.
Therefore, wherever there were pill shops, there would never be a shortage of cultivators.
The little boy was extremely familiar with this place. He introduced the pill shops along the way to them: which pill shop had the widest variety of spirit pills, which pill shop had fair prices, which pill shop had good-quality pills… He knew it all like the back of his hand, allowing people to quickly understand the situation and choose the pill shop they needed.
Ning Yuzhou asked, “Which shop buys spirit pills?”
The little boy’s heart shook. An unbelievable thought rose in his mind, and he immediately understood that there was an alchemist among this group.
Alchemists were even more welcomed than ordinary cultivators. A powerful alchemist was someone cultivators flocked to, treated as an honoured guest, and respected. No matter where they went, they would receive courteous treatment.
The little boy became even more attentive and explained in detail how each pill shop purchased spirit pills.
Ning Yuzhou chose one of the pill shops the little boy recommended, and the group entered.
This pill shop was not particularly large. There were neither too many nor too few people inside. The cabinets around the shop displayed more than twenty kinds of spirit pills, separated by restrictions for people to view. If someone wanted to buy them, they could ask the shopkeeper to remove the restriction and take the pills they wanted.
Ning Yuzhou looked around, then said to the shop assistant who came forward to greet them, “Does your shop purchase spirit pills?”
The shop assistant was a late-stage Initial Yuan realm cultivator. Hearing this, he smiled and said, “May I ask what kind of spirit pills the guest wishes to sell? And what grade are they?”
“They are all yellow-grade pills. There are both high-grade and supreme-grade ones.”
Hearing Ning Yuzhou’s words, the shop assistant’s eyes lit up. He hurriedly said, “Guest, please come inside and rest. I will immediately call the shopkeeper over.”
As he spoke, he led them into a resting room inside the pill shop, served them spirit tea, then hurried off to find the shopkeeper.
The little boy did not follow them inside. He waited outside the pill shop, thinking back to what Ning Yuzhou had said just now. His heart burned with excitement. Being able to refine pills was not that remarkable by itself, but if one could refine high-grade and supreme-grade pills, then such an alchemist was truly impressive and most admired by the world.
The shopkeeper appeared very quickly.
The shopkeeper was a middle-aged man with a somewhat plump figure.
In the cultivation world, fat people were rare. After all, cultivators drew the yuan spiritual energy of heaven and earth into their bodies to temper themselves, so excess fat could not remain. The only exception was if one cultivated some special technique that deliberately refined oneself into a fat person. As for this shopkeeper, his cultivation was at the Yuan Feather Realm. He was clearly someone with rather poor aptitude. In this lifetime, the Yuan Feather Realm was probably his limit, and his lifespan was limited. Naturally, there was no need for him to demand strict cultivation from himself. It was normal for him to open his heart and enjoy life until he became slightly plump.
The shopkeeper was extremely enthusiastic. “May I ask what kind of spirit pills the guest wishes to sell?”
Ning Yuzhou said, “Spirit Replenishing Pills, Great Recovery Pills, Barrier-Dissolving Pills, Blood-Replenishing Pills, Bone-Forming Pills…”
Ning Yuzhou listed ten kinds of yellow-grade pills in one breath. They were all the most common spirit pills and also the most popular among cultivators. After all, aside from cultivation, cultivators often went out to train. Who did not have times when they were injured? These common spirit pills were usually bought by the bottle and kept on hand, just in case.
Thinking of what the shop assistant had said earlier, the shopkeeper asked expectantly, “May I ask what quality these spirit pills are?”
“Naturally, high-grade and supreme-grade. There are more high-grade ones and fewer supreme-grade ones.”
The shopkeeper’s eyes shone. Afraid that Ning Yuzhou might change his mind, he hurriedly said, “For each supreme-grade pill, I will offer thirty percent above the market purchase price. For high-grade pills, twenty percent above. What do you think?”
Ning Yuzhou smiled faintly and naturally had no objections.
He knew that the shopkeeper was willing to raise the price simply because he wanted to win him over, hoping that in the future, if he refined any supreme-grade spirit pills, he would still bring them here to sell.
Next, Ning Yuzhou took out the spirit pills he had prepared in advance and let the shopkeeper inspect them one by one.
The shopkeeper’s face was full of smiles, but the more he looked, the more shocked he became.
At first, he had thought that having eight or ten supreme-grade pills would already be quite good. But among these ten types of spirit pills, there were nearly thirty supreme-grade pills. This number far exceeded his expectations. As for the other high-grade pills, he was also delighted. Although high-grade pills were not as good as supreme-grade pills, their impurities were already very few. Many cultivators who could not afford supreme-grade pills were still willing to buy high-grade ones.
It seemed that the alchemist beside this young master was very impressive.
Thinking of this, the shopkeeper developed the desire to form a connection with him and asked, “May I ask where Young Master is from? Which powerful alchemist refined these spirit pills?”
Ning Yuzhou smiled but did not speak.
Seeing this, the shopkeeper understood that the other party was unwilling to reveal his origins or the alchemist’s identity. Although he felt a little disappointed, it would not be good to dig too deeply and risk offending that alchemist. He could only say earnestly, “Young Master, if you have more spirit pills next time, please feel free to come to our pill shop. We will certainly give you a suitable price.”
Ning Yuzhou smiled. “That can be discussed.”
After selling a batch of spirit pills, their storage pouch finally swelled up.
Now that they had yuan crystals, there was no need to wrong themselves. Ning Yuzhou took Wen Qiao and headed straight for the spirit herb shops.
Ah Qiao naturally wanted to buy some. After all, as long as his cultivation improved and the space expanded, they could open up a few more spirit fields so that Ah Qiao could cultivate in the space every day.
The spirit herb shop assistant came over warmly. After asking what they needed, he took out some freshly purchased spirit herbs that still had mud clinging to them.
Many cultivators returned from Cangwu Mountain every day. Aside from the spirit herbs they kept for themselves, they would choose to sell the rest to the spirit herb shops in Cangwu Town to earn some yuan crystals.
Wen Qiao looked through them and discovered that all these spirit herbs already existed in the space. She was immediately somewhat disappointed.
“Do you have anything else?” Ning Yuzhou asked.
The shop assistant took out some spirit herbs the shop had purchased earlier.
Wen Qiao looked again and discovered that there were two types that did not exist in the space. However, the vitality in the spirit herbs had already almost completely drained away. It would be impossible to transplant them into the space.
She was a little disappointed and did not plan to buy them.
The two went to the next spirit herb shop.
They visited one spirit herb shop after another. Whenever they encountered a type of spirit herb that did not exist in the space, they bought it. At the same time, they also bought some spirit herb seeds. It would be even better if they could pick up a bargain like they had with the Rejuvenation Blossom. Unfortunately, spirit herb seeds as rare as the Rejuvenation Blossom were something one could only encounter by chance, not seek out. Wen Qiao looked for a long time but did not buy many spirit herb seeds she liked.
Ning Yuzhou accompanied her as she slowly browsed.
When they reached the last spirit herb shop and had just entered, they ran into a man shaking a fan, looking elegant and romantic.
When the man saw them, his face filled with surprise. His affectionate eyes seemed to shine as he said with great delight, “You two, you’ve also come out of the mountain?”
Wen Qiao looked at this flashy man shaking a fan with a confused expression, not knowing who he was.
Ning Yuzhou, however, glanced at him and quickly reacted. He said warmly, “You are the young master who bought antidote pills from us last time?”
Wang Xiuyuan said happily, “Exactly. So the two of you still remember me.”
Wen Qiao’s face was cold.
No, she did not remember. If Ning Yuzhou had not pointed it out, Wen Qiao would never have connected this flashy man with the man who had been stung by poisonous bees until his face swelled into a pig’s head.
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