Biluo Market.
This market was situated upon a stretch of emerald lake, made up of more than a dozen great boats. It drifted ceaselessly, conducting trade along the waterways.
The last time Fang Qing had been at the Floating Boat Market, he had asked around about the markets near Ba Commandery, so he could be considered thoroughly familiar with them.
This time, he used a disguise technique, transforming into a middle-aged man with a sinister face. Simulating the fluctuations of Qi Ingestion Dao mana, he arrived at Biluo Market.
“Fellow Daoist, greetings.”
Sure enough, the cultivator standing guard no longer made things difficult for him as he had when Fang Qing had been a mortal. He simply cupped his hands in salute. “Fellow Daoist, you look rather unfamiliar. Are you a rogue cultivator?”
“That’s right. I wish to purchase a cultivation method for the younger generation of my family.”
Fang Qing’s voice carried a slight rasp.
“A cultivation method? There are quite a few classics aboard the book boat… If Fellow Daoist can wait, there will also be an exchange gathering among our peers tonight. Quite a number of cultivation methods should appear there.”
The boat guard chuckled. “Then allow me to wish Fellow Daoist success in advance.”
Fang Qing nodded. He did not go to the book boat right away, but strolled around several other boats first.
“Mm… This place also mainly relies on barter.”
“I thought it would be like Biyu Island of the Qi Refining Dao, where spirit stones were mined and used as a general equivalent. Could it be… that spiritual resources here have already become this scarce? Or is Biyu Island simply too abundant in products?”
After making a round, he discovered that the local cultivators really were poor. Even an ordinary magical artifact could serve as a “boat-guarding treasure,” and all manner of spiritual objects were extremely scarce as well.
The same was true of pills and talismans—not only were they few in number, there were even fewer varieties.
The rarest item was a strand of fifth-rank superior-grade “Yin Corpse Qi.” At a glance, this strand of true qi was clearly no righteous article, yet its asking price was extremely high. The powerful cultivators on that boat were also the most numerous. Even a casual sweep of their gazes gave Fang Qing the feeling of thorns pricking his back.
‘What a broken-down place.’
He grumbled inwardly and arrived at the book boat.
“Fellow Daoist, welcome to the Nine Rivers Water Pavilion. May I ask what book you wish to purchase?”
A beautiful married woman with skin like congealed cream, a jade-green hairpin in her hair, and a scholarly air about her came forward to greet him, smiling sweetly as she spoke.
“For the juniors of my family, I wish to select and purchase a 【Ji Water】 cultivation method…”
Fang Qing answered frankly.
He now already possessed “Earthspring Tempering the True.” He only lacked a 【Ji Water】 cultivation method before he could attempt to ingest qi and enter the Dao, becoming a Qi Ingestion Dao cultivator.
Although this 【Ji Water】 cultivation method could not be considered especially rare, the old blind man at the Floating Boat Market had not had one. Moreover, he had claimed that even if he had, Fang Qing’s single Autumn-Killing Saberfish back then, after paying for fate-reading, answers to his questions, and receiving a qi-gathering method as well, would absolutely not have been enough to buy it.
“A 【Ji Water】 cultivation method?”
The beautiful woman thought for a moment, then replied, “Within our Water Pavilion, there is only one such collection, named Observing the Black Mound. It cultivates the Dao foundation ‘Long Sweet Rain’…”
“Only one?” Fang Qing’s brows furrowed slightly, then quickly relaxed again.
Although he had no choice, he had the Dao-Generating Pearl, so it was not a major problem.
“Entering the Dao through qi ingestion is a major matter that determines one’s path, so it naturally requires careful consideration…” The beautiful woman seemed very understanding of this. “After all, once a Dao lineage is chosen, it cannot be changed… In fact, the very first mouthful of true qi determines the quality of one’s future mana. If the Dao foundation is mixed and impure, trying to purify it later is harder than hard…”
‘Unlike the Qi Refining Dao, where one can pay a certain price to switch cultivation methods, the Qi Ingestion Dao is actually this strict?’
Fang Qing was slightly surprised inwardly. ‘Oh, so I can just switch freely? Then there’s no problem.’
“Our Water Pavilion also has a few incomplete 【Ji Water】 cultivation methods… Fellow Daoist may take a look as well. But if you lack the opportunity and cannot find the continuation, I fear you may be trapped in the Qi Ingestion Realm for life…”
The beautiful woman said sincerely.
“I would like to browse first.”
Fang Qing pondered for a moment, a look of hesitation appearing on his face.
“That is only natural… All books in our Water Pavilion have restrictions placed on them. Only the first three pages can be viewed. Fellow Daoist may browse on your own… and then come to me to purchase the release of the seal.”
The beautiful woman smiled faintly, then sat down by herself on a rattan chair and began sipping tea while reading.
Expressionless, Fang Qing came before a pile of books and swept his gaze over them:
Book of Asking the Sword, Reflections on Watching Hou Tao Slay a Flood Dragon, Plain Questions, Geography of Ba Commandery, Complete Fate Scripture, Essentials of Longevity, Plum Blossom Changes…
‘Mm? There are also geography books and miscellaneous records? They probably aren’t worth much. I can buy them to increase my experience and literary qi…’
‘Most of the cultivation methods are incomplete. There are few that can truly be cultivated to the Dao Foundation Realm… Judging from the openings, none of them contain Purple Mansion chapters. That’s normal too… How could a tiny market possibly have Purple Mansion cultivation methods for sale?’
‘If I didn’t have the Dao-Generating Pearl and bought this kind of inferior cultivation method, I’m afraid my fate in the future would be to remain in the Qi Ingestion Realm all my life. Even if I luckily forged a Dao foundation, I would have no hope of glimpsing the Purple Mansion… How miserable!’
‘Hm?’
He first looked through several incomplete 【Ji Water】 cultivation methods, confirming that they were exactly as the beautiful woman had said, then unintentionally arrived before a bookshelf.
On this bookshelf, however, were volumes of qi-gathering essentials!
“Earthspring Tempering the True, Cold Pool Crane Qi, Heavenly Wind Descends into Mystery… Great Sun Purple Qi?!”
Fang Qing’s gaze paused briefly on a dusty gray booklet in the very corner, and his heart stirred. “There’s actually a qi-gathering essential for Great Sun Purple Qi?”
However, his gaze soon swept past it. His heart moved, and he pulled out a qi-gathering method. “Moonflow Radiance?”
After flipping it open, he found that the beginning was indeed exactly the same as the qi-gathering method passed down for generations by the Fang family of Sanshui Hollow.
“Moonflow Radiance… ranked sixth-rank superior-grade…”
“Could what the Luo family cultivates be this Moonflow Radiance? But for intelligence like this, if I visit a few more markets, I’ll definitely be able to find it out…”
Fang Qing’s heart stirred.
He had not forgotten the grudge with the Luo family for even a moment.
In fact, because he had been too weak and had been forced to spend most of his time hiding over on Biyu Island, it was etched all the more deeply into his bones.
“Is Fellow Daoist interested in these qi-gathering methods?”
At some point, the beautiful woman had drawn near, carrying a rich, sweet fragrance with her.
“There are many juniors in my family. We must take a few more paths, lest we be restrained.”
Fang Qing shook his head. “Everyone has their own talent. It cannot be forced.”
“Fellow Daoist thinks so carefully for his descendants. Such sentiment truly makes this concubine admire you…”
The beautiful woman smiled. “If Fellow Daoist purchases that Observing the Black Mound, this concubine can make the decision to gift Fellow Daoist several qi-gathering manuals.”
‘Sure enough, these qi-gathering methods aren’t worth money…’
Fang Qing grumbled inwardly, but a moved expression appeared on his face. “A few qi-gathering manuals won’t be enough… You’ll also have to add a few miscellaneous books.”
As he spoke, he casually picked out several qi-gathering manuals, then went to the bookshelf beside him and took several geography records and biographies.
“Fellow Daoist… there cannot be that many extras…”
When the beautiful woman saw this, her expression turned somewhat ugly. Then she saw Fang Qing pick up a divination book and ask, “Does this Plum Blossom Changes involve the art of deduction?”
“Naturally. Is Fellow Daoist interested in deduction and divination? If you truly wish to study this art, then this concubine really will have to admire you.”
There was a hint of teasing in the beautiful woman’s words. Then she saw Fang Qing toss out a jade box. “This item… in exchange for Observing the Black Mound, with these miscellaneous books attached, should be more than enough, no?”
“This is…”
The beautiful woman opened the jade box and saw a strange flower the size of a bowl. A wave of heat rushed toward her face, and she could not help but be greatly shocked. “A Blazing Sun Flower? Exchanging this item for these books is indeed more than enough…”
“Good. Then I’ll choose a few more.”
Hearing this, Fang Qing immediately became utterly impolite. He casually picked out several more miscellaneous books, and that Great Sun Purple Qi qi-gathering method was mixed in among them.
“This…”
The beautiful woman knew she had misspoken and could not help smiling bitterly. When she saw that Fang Qing had taken only worthless goods, she let out another breath of relief inwardly.
“Is the art of divination and deduction very difficult?”
Just then, Fang Qing suddenly asked.
“It is not a matter of whether it is difficult or not.” Seeing Fang Qing change the subject and stop taking books, the beautiful woman immediately explained, “Fellow Daoist should know that no matter what kind of deduction or divination art it is, it is all a matter of inquiring into the secrets of heaven… But there are too many great divine ability users in this world. The secrets of heaven have long since become a tangled mess. For Qi Ingestion cultivators like us, even if we study for a lifetime, I fear we may not obtain an accurate divination more than a few times… Unless one is a Dao Foundation cultivator who has specifically forged a Dao foundation related to divination and the Changes, one can barely obtain some omens. Even then, they still need interpretation and often contain errors and omissions… Only with Purple Mansion divine abilities might one perhaps survey cause and effect as easily as observing the lines in one’s palm. But that, too, depends on the karmic level of those below. If someone of the same rank interferes even slightly, it becomes very difficult to succeed…”
Fang Qing roughly understood. In short, the art of divination was too difficult, and defense against it was easy while using it to attack was hard. It took great effort for little reward.
Even those who specifically cultivated related Dao foundations and divine abilities… would have to reach the Dao Foundation Realm before obtaining somewhat accurate hexagrams, and they still needed to judge for themselves. Only at the Purple Mansion Realm could they calculate the detailed situation clearly.
But even a Purple Mansion cultivator could only calculate matters involving Dao Foundation and Qi Ingestion cultivators… If they encountered interference from someone of the same rank, they would be at a loss.
Together with the fact that entering the art of divination was difficult to begin with, it was indeed rather useless.
But he had the Dao-Generating Pearl, as well as the great ability “As If Within Calculation,” so he was naturally quite interested in the art of divination.
“This Plum Blossom Changes can be counted as an extra too.”
Fang Qing patted the Plum Blossom Changes in his hand and smiled.
“Very well… But only these.”
The beautiful woman hurriedly agreed, seemingly afraid Fang Qing would go back on his word. She immediately carried the books to the counter and began releasing their seals one by one.
A moment later, Fang Qing walked out of Biluo Market, a trace of satisfaction on his face.
‘Very good… Next, I only need to find a place to break through, and I’ll be a Qi Ingestion Dao cultivator.’
‘I hope this fifth-rank middle-grade “Earthspring Tempering the True” doesn’t disappoint me…’
Fang Qing patted his storage pouch. The Green Leaf Boat flew out, transforming into a green leaf that carried him farther and farther away from Biluo Market.
“Fellow Daoist, please wait!”
Just then, a voice came from behind him.
Fang Qing turned his head and saw a burly man in black stepping on a flying shuttle. His speed was much faster than the Green Leaf Boat. Seeing Fang Qing turn back, the burly man immediately raised his hand, and a burst of intense light exploded from his right hand.
“Not good!”
Fang Qing cried out inwardly. His eyes immediately stung, tears flowing out.
At that moment, the burly man rubbed his hands together, and clumps of earth and stone came smashing over, their target clearly the Green Leaf Boat.
Rumble!
A large amount of sand and stone exploded in midair, revealing an earthen-yellow wall.
Only now, this wall had already split into pieces. In the blink of an eye, it exploded into specks of earthen-yellow spiritual light that scattered away.
“He actually launched a sneak attack? If I hadn’t secretly been holding a Mud Wall Talisman, even if I didn’t die this time, I’d have been seriously injured!”
Fang Qing rubbed his eyes. Seeing that this earthen wall, whose defensive power could be considered excellent among Qi Refining methods, had been easily shattered by the rocks, he gnashed his teeth even more. “This highwayman’s cultivation is no small matter…”