Everything in sight was at once familiar and strange. Wide, straight roads and tall buildings. Vehicles pulled by all sorts of beasts.
Everything he saw could be summed up in a single word: bustling.
“Flight is generally forbidden on Star Rock Island.”
As Jaekyung gazed up at the tall buildings, Yeon Jung-hyeok, as if misunderstanding something, began to rattle off explanations. Jaekyung had no interest in the words he was spouting. Perhaps later, but for now, he just wanted to focus on everything before his eyes.
“The auction will be held in fifteen days. Until then, I shall escort you, Dao Friend.”
Yeon Jung-hyeok's attitude was extremely polite, and he acted as if he were a professional guide rather than a Foundation Establishment cultivator. But Jaekyung understood the meaning hidden behind this amiable appearance. It was a nice way of saying he'd escort him, but didn't it really mean he would stick to him and watch him wherever he went?
Of course, this surveillance also included, to some extent, perhaps even a large part, the intention of protecting him, so it wasn't something to be entirely displeased about.
“...”
Jaekyung glanced at Yeon Jung-hyeok, who was waiting for his answer. He could tell from the slight tensing of his body, compared to before he spoke, that he was nervous.
“I fear I'm imposing too much on Dao Friend Yeon.”
“Imposing? Dao Friend Jaekyung is an honored guest of our guild, so it is only right that I escort you. Please do not refuse.”
“That's high praise. Well then… let's do that.”
A smile bloomed on Yeon Jung-hyeok's face.
“You must be tired from your long journey. I will not disturb you. If you need anything, please feel free to call on me at any time.”
Once Yeon Jung-hyeok closed the door and left, Jaekyung quietly took a sip of spirit wine. Yeon Jung-hyeok realized that this Great Spirit Beast, the Dragon Lord of Black Flood Dragon Island, was certainly extraordinary. In fact, this realization had been renewed daily for the past five days since he had met him.
‘The more I see this man, the less he seems like one of the demon races.’
That was the first reason he felt he was extraordinary. This man didn't seem like one of the demon races at all. He was always calm, like a scholar who had polished his studies for a long time.
‘His Transformation Secret Art is also perfect.’
Originally, transformation was an ability one could only obtain after undergoing the Transformation Tribulation. Therefore, unless it was a complete transformation, no matter how excellent a Transformation Secret Art one learned, there were bound to be some flaws. Whether those flaws were visible on the outside or not.
But he couldn't sense any such flaws in this man. Perhaps he just hadn't noticed them, but if the flaws were hidden that deeply, that in itself was an astonishing thing.
‘I also… feel no malice at all.’
Doing business with a human guild and what one felt towards humans were two different things. A few Great Spirit Beasts with outstanding spiritual wisdom who could calculate profits and losses could suppress their instincts as demon races for that purpose.
But that was merely suppressing smaller emotions for the sake of a larger emotion called greed; the emotions themselves still existed. The demon races instinctively saw humans as competitors and prey, so when they came into contact with humans, an unwelcome reaction would naturally emerge, even if unintended.
At the least, they might subtly look down on them or lick their lips, and they could easily become emotional, revealing killing intent over trivial matters. In other words, you could say they were the type of fellows whose fuses could be lit at any moment… But this man had none of that.
It was to the point where he thought this demon was better than some rough-tempered human cultivators.
‘If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed such a person existed.’
He was once again reminded of how wide the world was. As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he prided himself on having seen and heard his fair share, but before this vast world, he still seemed to be nothing more than a small frog in a well.
“The spiritual herbs at this Fragrant Pavilion restaurant are famous enough to be counted among the best on all of Star Rock Island. The taste is one thing, but they also cook with precious ingredients brought from the inner regions, so it's hard to eat food like this anywhere else.”
Yeon Jung-hyeok eagerly showered praises upon Jaekyung, who was looking at the spiritual herbs in the bowl with curiosity. He was inwardly a little anxious, afraid that Jaekyung would suddenly ask for meat instead of these greens. Because ninety-nine times out of a hundred, the meat used in meat dishes is spirit beast meat.
Of course, he knew that the concept of kin was faint among the demon races, and that they wouldn't refuse a chance to chew on another's flesh, but that was a matter among themselves. Some of the demon races, especially spirit beasts, often disliked it when humans served spirit beast meat as a dish.
“It tastes quite good.”
‘Phew.’
When Jaekyung took a bite of the spiritual herbs and gave a favorable review, Yeon Jung-hyeok breathed a sigh of relief. Judging by his expression, it didn't seem like he was speaking without meaning it.
In truth, whether it was a human in the Foundation Establishment realm or a demon in the Great Spirit stage, once one reached this level, there was no need for meals to satisfy hunger. Unless eating had become a habit or one was particularly seeking culinary delights, most food consumption was a part of Cultivation.
These spiritual herbs were a prime example. In that they enhanced one's Cultivation through consumption, they had something in common with medicinal pills, but in the case of spiritual herbs, the effects were lower, and there were fewer side effects like pill toxins.
Therefore, although they were somewhat less efficient in terms of cost, if one's wealth could support it, one could achieve results greater than taking medicinal pills through such spiritual herbs. That was precisely why a spiritual chef was an essential part of any wealthy cultivation faction.
‘Surely he won't ask to try something else later, right?’
Spiritual herbs were not something one could eat indefinitely. Though not as much as medicinal pills, one generally had to spend a few days digesting a single meal. But the one before him now was merely wearing a human shell; his true form was a Great Spirit Beast with a body larger than a decent merchant ship.
What his appetite was like, what the size of his stomach was, no one knew. He might finish this single portion of spiritual herbs and then nonchalantly ask when the main course was coming. Gulp, gulp— “Dao Friend Jaekyung, you seem to enjoy spirit wine.”
“I enjoy it very much.”
Another special point was added. This man was a heavy drinker.
‘I should push a lot of spirit wine on him.’
If he bought various kinds and filled the guest room, wouldn't this difficult guest stay lost in a stupor for a few days? Jaekyung was not someone who enjoyed traveling in his past life, and this life was not much different. But even for him, seeing Star Rock Island was very interesting.
It was probably because this was his first encounter with human territories. First experiences are always special. Besides, Yeon Jung-hyeok was a good guide.
As if reading Jaekyung's mind, he led him only to places he might find interesting.
“This market square is very old. Some say that the history of this place is the history of Star Rock Island… I don’t know if that’s true, but it is certainly older than most of the powers that rule Star Rock Island now.”
Yeon Jung-hyeok said with a smile. Star Rock Island was divided into residential and commercial districts, and more than a quarter of the commercial district was the market square.
“It’s a little different from what I expected.”
“Oh? In what way?”
“I thought it would be a bit more chaotic.”
Jaekyung had thought that the market squares of this world would be similar to the markets of his past life. But when he actually came, it was not chaotic at all, but rather neat and even felt somewhat empty.
A large part of that feeling was due to the fact that those who had set out their goods were keeping a wide distance from each other.
“Haha. It can't be helped. Although there is a patrol that maintains public order, it's still a matter involving spirit stones, so minor incidents are endless.”
In the end, it was because there were too many people. Pickpocketing, robbery, fraud, and so on. As there were many people, countless large and small incidents occurred, but the people to deal with them were far too few, so the cultivators who came to the market square had to protect themselves.
“Some call this place a sewer. They say the water is deep and murky, meaning if you step in carelessly, you're bound to get into trouble.”
Jaekyung listened to Yeon Jung-hyeok's story and looked at the goods on the stalls with great interest. The owner of the goods glanced at them with eyes mixed with fear and wariness.
“Who knows if you can pull a treasure out of a sewer.”
“Haha. That’s right. That kind of expectation is one of the two pillars that support the Star Rock Island market square.”
“What’s the other one?”
“Why, of course, it's the ones who take advantage of that expectation.”
There was truly nothing that couldn't be found in the market square. Medicinal pills, spiritual herbs, spiritual artifacts, and even spirit artifacts were occasionally seen.
“What is this?”
Jaekyung, who had stopped in front of an egg the size of a human head, asked the seller, and the seller replied cautiously with a rather profound expression.
“It’s the egg of a Star-Patterned Crocodile.”
“Star-Patterned Crocodile? From the looks of it, you’d be lucky if it was the egg of some nameless spirit fish.”
When Yeon Jung-hyeok scoffed, the seller’s face turned red. As he got up to raise his voice, a single sharp glance from Yeon Jung-hyeok made his complexion turn pale.
“This spirit artifact?”
“It is called the Mountain-Shattering Seal. Its power is so great that even a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator wouldn't dare face it head-on. As you can see, it is made of Crimson Yang True Iron…”
“Crimson Yang True Iron? Not Crimson Copper Ore?”
At the ridicule that was close to an insult, the seller’s face flushed, but when Yeon Jung-hyeok subtly showed his identification plaque hanging from his waist, he said nothing and turned his head away. After a few incidents like this, Jaekyung could roughly grasp the situation of the market square.
It seemed that among those sitting with their stalls set up, half were merchants, and the other half were swindlers. There were many goods, but proper goods were rare. The proper goods mentioned here meant both quality and price.
After looking around the market square for a whole day, Jaekyung was able to purchase two Qi Refining Stage pill recipes and a few types of spiritual plant seeds at a decent price.
“Does Dao Friend Jaekyung know how to perform alchemy?”
“Not me, but the humans I have taken in do.”
Seeing Yeon Jung-hyeok's puzzled face, Jaekyung added a few more words.
“As their skills improve, the tribute I receive from them will also increase. You could say it's a kind of investment.”
“…You are wise.”
A look of shock flickered in Yeon Jung-hyeok's eyes. The casually thrown words made his mind complicated. Regardless, Jaekyung looked around a few more stalls before turning away.
“The auction is in four days, wasn’t it?”
“That is correct.”
Four days. Jaekyung frowned.
Everything he saw and heard began to tremble slightly. The chattering humans around him suddenly looked not like people but like mosquitoes, and an impulse arose to swing his hands at them forcefully. Gulp, gulp— The inner fire that was slowly rearing its head subsided with a few sips of spirit wine.
But the heat had only temporarily faded; the embers were still there, unextinguished.
‘It’s alright. It's enough.’
However, just in case, it seemed better to refrain from going out until the day of the auction.
“Let’s go back.”
Having emptied a whole bottle of spirit wine, Jaekyung returned to his accommodation with a pleased-looking Yeon Jung-hyeok. And four days later— The Prosperous Treasure Guild's flying vehicle soared towards the auction house.