“Young…”
“Young Master, you have arrived.”
Shangguan Xiushen bowed deeply to the newcomer, stepping aside respectfully to clear the path.
“We will speak upstairs!”
The newcomer’s voice was cold and crisp.
They walked past with their head held high, not even sparing him a glance as they headed straight for the second floor.
Su Xuan had just finished selecting a high-quality iron pot.
He was weighing it in his hand when he heard the commotion and looked toward the entrance.
The newcomer was a handsome young man with crimson lips and pearly white teeth.
From a side profile, he possessed a somewhat effeminate beauty.
In another world, he would certainly be the type of “pretty boy” idol that everyone adored.
His only flaw was his height.
He was quite short, appearing to be less than 1.7 meters tall.
The handsome young master noticed Su Xuan as well and turned to look.
Those incredibly feminine eyes swept over him, lingering on the iron pot in his hand before his lips curled into a look of disdain.
“Xiushen, how dare you allow an outsider to stay here today?”
The effeminate young master spoke with a clear, pleasant voice, though it sounded somewhat ladylike.
“Young Master, he is an Alchemist, so…”
Shangguan Xiushen tried to speak calmly, but he flinched slightly and replied in a hurry.
“An Alchemist who uses an iron pot?”
The effeminate young master retorted with another question, then waved a hand dismissively.
“Send him away.
I do not wish to waste my time.”
With a cold snort, he continued upstairs.
‘What’s wrong with using an iron pot?’
‘If it can refine pills, it’s a cauldron.
If it can’t, can’t I use it to steam buns?’
Su Xuan had originally intended to offer a greeting, but seeing that the other party had no intention of acknowledging him, he decided not to push his luck.
He carried the pot toward Shangguan Xiushen.
“Fellow Daoist Shangguan, who was that?”
Just as he was about to speak, the middle-aged man quickly made a shushing gesture.
“Brother, that is our employer.
She — never mind…”
Shangguan Xiushen seemed like he wanted to mutter something more, but a light cough echoed from the floor above.
He hurriedly turned and scrambled up the stairs.
Su Xuan watched as the man stumbled and began crawling upward before he could even fully stand.
He frowned.
He didn’t remember ever seeing such a character in the game, but the newcomer clearly had a significant background.
Filled with doubt, he turned and left the shop.
Following the system’s prompts, he headed straight for Qinxiu Building.
This was a shop in the Inner Market that sold cultivation methods.
Compared to specialized places like artifact refining shops, the cultivation world was never short of cultivation methods.
While the secret heritages of major sects could not be bought with money, shallow introductory methods for the Qi Refinement stage were everywhere.
Unlike the Wufang Artifact Pavilion, which naturally maintained good relations with Alchemists, Qinxiu Building relied primarily on the concept of “fated encounters” to attract various Loose Cultivators.
They placed manuals of unknown origins and uncertain values into a large pool, allowing Loose Cultivators to browse freely.
It felt very much like an antique market from the modern world.
It was said that some powerful experts had found ancient inheritances within such piles, allowing them to advance rapidly and reach heaven-defying levels of cultivation.
“This… Senior, what type of cultivation method do you require?
Is it for cultivation or a supernatural technique?”
The shop assistant looked him up and down as he entered.
Seeing Su Xuan’s dignified bearing and handsome appearance, he addressed him respectfully.
In the cultivation world, realms were divided from Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, and Golden Core, all the way to Spirit Severing.
However, there was a simpler distinction: Senior, Fellow Daoist, and ant.
The assistant was only at the beginning stages of Qi Refinement, so he naturally called Su Xuan “Senior.”
“I am looking for some techniques, specifically offensive ones,” Su Xuan said politely.
“Senior has come to the right place.
We just recently acquired sword techniques from the Qingyun Sect and the Incineration Decree from the Yunlan Sect…”
The assistant’s eyes lit up as he began an endless stream of recommendations for techniques from various small sects.
These were all affordable and high-quality items, perfect for a Loose Cultivator like him.
Su Xuan followed the assistant, watching as he familiarly pointed out various jade slips on the bookshelves.
Every single one was worth a fortune.
Looking at the wide variety of methods, Su Xuan felt a hint of envy.
These items cost dozens of Spiritual Stones each; he couldn’t afford them at all.
“I don’t need anything that expensive.
I’ll go to the lowest tier.
Anything usable will do.”
Su Xuan waved him off.
“Oh.
They’re over there.
You can look for yourself, Fellow Daoist.”
The assistant glanced at him, pointed toward a pile of manuals on the floor, and spoke in a cold tone before turning away to attend to other customers.
Those items were shallow or even incomplete techniques.
They were merely gimmicks meant for poor Loose Cultivators hoping to find a hidden gem.
They weren’t worth his time.
Su Xuan walked to where the assistant had pointed, squatted by the book stall, and searched carefully.
‘Heaven and Earth Intersection… Bedchamber Secrets… Hand of the Mysterious Cave… Ningnian Jue!’
After searching through the messy pile of manuals for a long time, he finally found an inconspicuous little booklet buried inside another book.
He quickly grabbed it.
He continued to search, ignoring the sword manuals that were clearly missing pages or were badly damaged.
Lin Zhiwei was no fool.
If something looked like junk at first glance, she wouldn’t believe in its value.
After a while, he finally found a book that looked somewhat used but remained intact.
Although the appearance was quite refined, a closer look revealed it was nothing more than a crude mortal martial arts technique pretending to be profound.
If someone actually tried to cultivate this, they would be seeking their own death.
‘This is the one.’
Su Xuan nodded.
This thing wouldn’t kill the practitioner, but even if they mastered it, they wouldn’t amount to much.
It was perfect for Lin Zhiwei.
Taking the two items he had found, he went to the shopkeeper to settle the bill.
“One Spiritual Stone per book.
Once the coin and goods are exchanged, we are even!”
The old shopkeeper squinted his aged eyes and merely glanced at the items in Su Xuan’s hands.
He shook his head slowly as he spoke.
Su Xuan pulled out two Spiritual Stones and placed them on the counter.
He then pocketed the manuals, picked up his iron pot, and walked out the door.
“Another delusional Loose Cultivator…”
The old shopkeeper sighed as he watched his retreating back.
Based on his experience, the two books Su Xuan bought were useless.
Other than their decent appearance, one was complete gibberish and the other was a mortal martial arts skill.
They were worthless for cultivation.
He had seen too many youths like this — children harboring dreams of immortality, hoping to find a fated opportunity that others had missed.
To this day, he had rarely seen any of them succeed.
Su Xuan felt a surge of excitement as he patted the manuals in his robes.
The iron pot had been free, and the manuals had only cost two Spiritual Stones.
It was practically a steal.
Having a cheat really saved money.
He kept his head down and walked quickly toward the Outer Market.
Suddenly, a figure flashed before his eyes.
Someone crashed into him, letting out a series of wails.
“Ouch!
You youngster, why aren’t you looking where you’re going?
You’ve nearly killed an old man!”
Su Xuan snapped back to reality and saw an elderly figure lying on the ground, groaning as if in extreme pain.
“Look at what you’ve done to me!
No, you must give me at least… ten Spiritual Stones!”
The old man’s withered hair draped over his face as he grabbed Su Xuan, refusing to let go.
‘I only bumped into him once.
As a cultivator, how could he be injured like this?’
Looking at the man’s behavior, Su Xuan immediately thought of a famous profession from his previous life.
He was about to speak when he realized the old man looked very familiar.
Taking a closer look, he saw that one of the old man’s two large yellow front teeth was broken.
He was thin and had a lecherous expression.
It was his neighbor from the market stalls, Old Zhang!
“Old Zhang?
Why are you doing this?” Su Xuan asked.
The old man froze for a moment.
He looked up and squinted at Su Xuan for a long time before suddenly jumping to his feet.
He spoke in disbelief.
“It’s you, kid?”
“It’s only been two days… You broke through?”
“Yes, I just reached Qi Refining Level 3,” Su Xuan replied with a nod.
“Good, good.
Breaking through is good.”
Old Zhang looked at him and began to mutter for a long while, his voice filled with envy.
“Brother Zhang, what happened to your stall?”
Su Xuan was confused.
Even a small stall wouldn’t be short on Spiritual Stones.
How had he fallen to this state?
“Sigh… It was taken.”
Old Zhang bared his teeth in a miserable smile.
“The Marketplace is drafting a group of people these days.
Normally, anyone at Qi Refining Level 3 wouldn’t be drafted, but Wu Renyou… that animal!”
At the mention of that name, his face filled with resentment, and he spoke through gritted teeth.
“He used it as an excuse, saying that it wasn’t just about cultivation level, but strength as well.
He said anyone who couldn’t beat him couldn’t escape!
Unless they gave him 200 Spiritual Stones!
These old bones of mine…”
He seemed to hate Wu Renyou deeply.
He pulled Su Xuan aside and complained for a long time, eventually explaining how his stall had been extorted from him in exchange for a quota to remain in the Inner Market.
Old Zhang thought Wu Renyou was simply being greedy, but Su Xuan felt something was off.
In the game, he had experienced the draft before, but this was the only time Wu Renyou had pulled such a stunt.
Rather than simple greed, it felt more like he was being targeted.
If he remembered correctly, Wu Renyou was likely at Qi Refining Level 5, much higher than his own cultivation.
Su Xuan instinctively touched the Ningnian Jue inside his robes.
Now, he could only hope that the technique recommended by the system could bridge that gap.
“Sigh… Fellow Daoist Su, you… you should look out for yourself…”
Old Zhang sighed, patted Su Xuan on the shoulder, and slowly walked away into the distance.