Chapter 62: Market Experiences

A fiery light sparkled in Bai Yichen's eyes as a vast yearning welled up within him, prompting him to walk towards the main road.

The entire Taiyuan Sect was located atop the Yuantian Great Marsh. It was said that this terrain was formed by the founder of the sect moving mountains and draining seas, and Cangze City was one of the four great cities built around the Taiyuan Sect.

Among these four great cities, Taiyuan Sect established them to facilitate communication with outside cultivators, provide residence for the families of its disciples, and nurture mortals to eventually absorb as seeds of cultivation.

Bai Yichen now found himself on a market street in the city, and as he walked, he noticed that on either side of the street, there were some stalls run by cultivators, either at the Breath Nourishment or Qi Gathering realm, but none at the Foundation Establishment realm.

Perhaps the level of this market was not high enough, but for Bai Yichen, who had just arrived, it was just right.

Holding a mindset of learning through observation, Bai Yichen wandered through the market like a spectator, watching how the vendors negotiated with buyers, what items were on display, and their prices.

Suddenly, a particularly lively stall caught Bai Yichen's attention.

"Friend Zhu, how much for this Deep Marsh Blue Iron? Will you accept pills or artifacts in exchange?"

"Haha, as long as it's useful to me, spirit stones, pills, or artifacts are all fine."

"However, I must say in advance, this Deep Marsh Blue Iron is something I dug deep into the marsh with great effort, and I believe everyone present knows its efficacy, so I won't waste words. According to the old rules of the market, it starts at one hundred low-grade spirit stones, and the highest bidder wins."

Bai Yichen looked over and saw a piece of deep blue metal, roughly the size of a fist, floating in the air thanks to the vendor's true energy, allowing everyone to observe it.

In the crevices of that blue iron, ripples seemed to undulate, which was extremely extraordinary.

This caused Bai Yichen to pause his steps, his gaze fixated on the Deep Marsh Blue Iron, while his spiritual awareness sank into the Bewildering Gourd's storage space to examine something.

It seemed to be somewhat similar to an item in the gourd.

This item appeared to be quite sought after; within a short time, the price had already risen to two hundred low-grade spirit stones.

An old man in black pulled out a bottle of pills and shouted, "I'll add this bottle of Qi Cultivation Pills!"

Vendor Zhu was evidently quite pleased, laughing heartily, "Haha, if there are no further bids, this Deep Marsh Blue Iron will belong to Liu Dao friend."

In the end, the Liu old man secured the Deep Marsh Blue Iron for two hundred low-grade spirit stones and a bottle of cultivation-enhancing pills.

Bai Yichen felt a twinge of regret, but this observation allowed him to familiarize himself with the market rules.

He also tried pointing to the items on display, picking and choosing, and inquiring about prices, appearing to deliberate thoughtfully.

Of course, he bought nothing, and the reason was simple: he was penniless.

Although Bai Yichen was quite wealthy in the mortal realm—having brought some gold bars with him when he went to Yunhuan Mountain—in the cultivation world, the currency was spirit stones or spirit sand.

The conversion rate was roughly one hundred spirit sands for one low-grade spirit stone; the low-grade spirit stones could be exchanged for middle-grade spirit stones, and middle-grade spirit stones for high-grade spirit stones.

Rumors also spoke of top-grade spirit stones, but it was unclear how many could be exchanged.

Thus, Bai Yichen had not a single spirit sand on him.

As for Lingyun Shangren providing him this opportunity for cultivation and offering guidance to help him break through the Qi Gathering realm, it was already a great fortune.

How could he expect them to take care of him in every detail?

Suddenly, Bai Yichen recalled that earlier, when discussing the recent bustle of guests during the grand spirit-opening ceremony, the servant had looked at him with great anticipation.

Reflecting on it now, it was likely he thought that after answering questions, spirit stones would be gifted in return.

But in reality, there was nothing at all, so it was no wonder he became somewhat impatient later.

Bai Yichen realized he had overlooked the fact that the cultivators in this realm were ultimately individuals who had yet to attain immortality, and they couldn't completely shed their worldly nature.

With this realization, Bai Yichen's mindset became clearer, and he was less enchanted by the cultivation world.

However, that recent transaction reminded Bai Yichen that perhaps he had a few valuable items on him that could be considered.

During his years in the martial world, he had obtained quite a bit, but most of it had been left for the Xuanzhen Temple.

However, there were a few items Bai Yichen had kept with him, one of which was a mysterious blue mineral with an extraordinary composition. He had found it difficult to leave a mark on it even at his peak innate level.

After observing and inquiring just now, he suspected it could very likely also be a spirit ore, useful for forging artifacts.

If possible, Bai Yichen planned to use it to enhance the Silver Serpent Soft Sword, forging a flying sword. After all, who didn't dream of being a sword immortal, "riding the wind and traversing the world"?

Moreover, the Bewildering Gourd was more of a supportive tool and not directly meant for slaying enemies.

However, if he could forge a sword and store it in the gourd, using it to confuse the enemy before striking, it would be quite reminiscent of the legendary flying knives said to slay immortals in his past life.

As for the other items that Bai Yichen assessed to have some value, they included a hundred-year-old white ginseng, two red reishi mushrooms aged around seventy or eighty years, and two pounds of roasted leaves from a hundred-year-old tea tree.

Originally, there should have been five pounds, but Bai Yichen noticed that Lingyun Shangren liked to drink tea, so he left three pounds in the kitchen, knowing that with his cultivation, he could likely sense it.

The last item was the peach pit he had leftover from eating a spiritual peach; after all, it was the pit of a heavenly spiritual fruit, so it must have some value. If he ever had his own cave dwelling in the future, he might be able to grow a spiritual peach tree again.

As he walked through the market, some people standing nearby also noticed Bai Yichen.

"Senior, I see you wandering around and seemingly not finding anything you like. If you need, I can guide you around this market. My family has lived in Cangze City for three generations, so I'm quite familiar with the shops and stalls here."

A youthful boy in his teens sprang out from the side. Bai Yichen looked at him and sensed that this person was merely at the postnatal refining body stage, which made him relax a bit.

However, he soon revealed a look of anger, slightly activating his true energy to release a pressure and said, "Oh, it seems you've been observing me for quite a while!"

The boy appeared startled and quickly apologized, "Senior, I didn't mean any offense. I've been living here for years guiding and serving customers, so I tend to notice newcomers like you, especially since outsiders are rare after the grand spirit-opening ceremony. I absolutely have no ill intentions; Cangze City is under the protection of genuine cultivators from the Taiyuan Sect. Ordinary people wouldn't dare to cause trouble. Normally, I charge one spirit stone for guiding, but today I'm willing to charge only fifty spirit sands!"

The last part of his sentence was clearly said with some hesitation, but he managed to get it out.

While the boy was speaking, Bai Yichen was operating the heart-refining method, trying to sense the truthfulness of his words.