The four of them were quite pleased with their purchases. Man Gu, driven by his interest in history, bought a book called "The Wild History of the Great Xia." It contained many wild stories that even Meng Jingzhou, who was in the know, found surprising. Regardless, they all felt satisfied.
As they walked, they noticed that there were fewer ordinary people around and more cultivators, as if some mysterious force was pushing the ordinary folks away from this place. Lan Ting communicated with the others, saying, "There’s a repelling formation set up nearby. Ordinary people will instinctively move away, while cultivators are unaffected."
Meng Jingzhou suddenly realized, recalling some information he had picked up while wandering around. "This is the monthly market. It seems they’ve opened early because of the upcoming Spring Festival."
The Spring Festival attracted not just ordinary people but also cultivators. This was a proper market, not one of those black markets where people often got killed or robbed. They could even see officers patrolling the area.
That said, many people in the market were hiding their identities, wearing masks or black robes. This was common; some cultivators disguised themselves as ordinary folks to blend in. If they showed their true faces, they would expose themselves.
For example, there were Lu Yang and his three companions. They all had different ways of hiding their identities: Meng Jingzhou and Man Gu chose to wear black robes, thinking it added to the atmosphere, while Meng Jingzhou even let out a few eerie laughs.
Lan Ting took off her transformation talisman, revealing her stunningly beautiful face, which she had used while searching for clues about the demonic sect in Yanjiang County.
Lu Yang suggested to Meng Jingzhou, "How about I perform a shape-shifting technique to look like you?"
In response, Meng Jingzhou slapped a tofu mask onto Lu Yang's face. Lu Yang put on the tofu mask.
Inside the market, there was a strong atmosphere of cultivation. A huge protective barrier covered the entire area, emitting a soft glow that felt completely different from the outside world. Cultivators who hadn’t seen each other in a long time were chatting over drinks in roadside taverns, sharing stories about their recent adventures. There were also arguments between cultivators and vendors over the prices of goods, each trying to squeeze a few spirit stones from the other. The authorities had set up a fighting stage where cultivators could battle it out.
"Come and take a look! Our family’s secret method produces the Strength Pills. Just one will give you immense power!"
Lu Yang found this amusing and followed the voice, discovering it came from a medical shop. It seemed to be run by cultivators, and the one shouting might be an apprentice or an alchemist.
"How much for one?" Lu Yang asked.
The apprentice replied, "Ten spirit stones each. Buy three, get one free. Buy five, get two free."
The price was reasonable, indicating that the pills were meant for lower-tier cultivators, not someone at Lu Yang's foundation-building stage. He thought about buying two as a keepsake since it was the first time he had seen anyone outside the Dao Sect making pills. "What’s the effect?" he asked.
"It boosts your strength for a short time, but afterwards, you’ll feel weak for half a day," the apprentice explained.
Lu Yang bought one and was about to leave when a constable walked in. Lu Yang recognized him; his surname was Sun, and he was the assistant to the head constable.
"I received a report saying your Strength Pills are falsely advertised," Sun said.
The apprentice was taken aback. False advertising?
Constable Sun explained seriously, "According to the law, you can't use words like 'most' or 'limitless' when promoting products."
"After our investigation, we found that your Strength Pills are suitable for cultivators below the third level of Qi training and do not have 'limitless' effects. This is a warning, and we hope you will correct this."
The apprentice nodded obediently. After Lu Yang left, he heard the voice from the medical shop again: "Come and take a look! Our family’s secret method produces the Strength Pills. Just one will give you limited strength!"
Lu Yang suddenly thought that the Ten Bull Strength Pills made by Senior Brother Wu Ming really had no flaws; they didn’t even have the common issue of false advertising.
Meng Jingzhou had seen a lot of things; he had a relatively reputable alchemist in his family and wasn’t very interested in common items. "What’s this?" he asked, picking up a small gadget from a stall. It was two wooden sticks glued together in a cross shape. "Is this for making pancakes? They sell this in the market too?"
The stall owner was a middle-aged man with a full beard, looking quite serious. He was resting with his eyes closed, only opening them reluctantly when Meng Jingzhou spoke. He had the demeanor of a master craftsman.
"This is called the Flying Stick. Place it on your head and use your spiritual energy to activate it, and it will spin into the sky. A cultivator at the seventh level of Qi training can use it," the bearded man said confidently.
Meng Jingzhou was astonished. This small market truly had hidden talents, with such a master craftsman present. Normally, only Golden Core cultivators could fly without special means. For example, Lu Yang could fly using his sword at the foundation-building stage or transform into a crane with his shape-shifting technique.
In any case, whether in normal or special situations, the lowest requirement for flight was usually foundation-building. Meng Jingzhou had never heard of someone being able to fly at the seventh level of Qi training.
"The fact that you don’t believe me is fine. I’ll demonstrate for you," the bearded man said confidently, pulling out a wooden puppet.
He tied the Flying Stick to the puppet, and a wisp of spiritual energy shot from his fingertip, hitting the Flying Stick.
The Flying Stick began to spin slowly, gradually speeding up until it was just a blur. The stick, along with the wooden puppet, shot into the sky without any issues.
If one had to point out a problem, it was that the Flying Stick caused the puppet to spin along with it, making the puppet rotate rapidly around its head, keeping pace with the Flying Stick!
If a person were under the Flying Stick, their brains would surely be scrambled.
"You see, I told you our puppets are of good quality. Even spinning this fast, they won’t fall apart. I’m not exaggerating; this puppet can even hold its own against foundation-building cultivators. The price is fair, just eight hundred spirit stones!"
"Get lost!" Meng Jingzhou finally understood; the man was just using the Flying Stick’s name to sell his puppet!
It was clear that the market was full of tricks and deceit; honest people like Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou were becoming rare.
The four of them decided to check out the area of the Golden Money Merchant Association, which was more reputable and wouldn’t have the same issues they had just encountered.
"Would you like to have your fortune told?" a voice called out beside them. Lu Yang turned to see a fortune teller with a bagua flag behind him that read, "Calculating Heaven and Earth is not as good as calculating people." It looked like business was slow, as no one was around.
Seeing that Lu Yang and his friends were paying attention, the fortune teller added, "If it doesn’t work, you don’t have to pay. Want to give it a try?"
Lu Yang noticed that the table was filled with various fortune-telling tools: a bagua plate, dice, writing tools, nine copper coins, a crystal ball… everything one might use for fortune telling was there.
Was it reliable? And why was there a crystal ball?
(End of Chapter)