He strolled down half the street and stopped in front of a sundries stall, casually picking up an earthenware bowl, looking at it pretentiously, and setting it down again.
Then, laying his cards on the table, he awkwardly asked in a mix of local dialect and proper speech, "Old man, is there anywhere nearby selling items used by cultivators... you know, the places those immortals from the major families often visit?"
The stall owner was a gray-haired old man dressed somewhat shabbily, his face weathered. In Jiang Zhaoye's eyes, he didn't look like someone under those families.
The old man raised his eyes to size up the newcomer. Seeing that he wore a veiled hat that obscured his face, yet was dressed decently and tastefully, and that his accent didn't quite sound local, though it carried a hint of a local accent, he lowered his voice and said, "Is Young Sir from out of town?"
"My ancestors were from here. Passing through recently, I made a special trip to take a look."
"Then you've asked the right person, Young Sir." The old man looked somewhat enlightened, the vigilance in his eyes softening slightly as if he had reasoned out the strange accent for himself. He gestured with his chin deeper into the market square. "Go further inside. Past the grain market, there's a shop called Tongbao Emporium. It's the only shop in the market square that sells immortal items."
"However, that shop is a property of the Zhao clan. Everything inside commands exorbitant prices, and they have plenty of rules." The old man was almost excessively enthusiastic, rambling on at length.
"If you just want to hunt for some novel curiosities, Young Sir, you might try your luck at the Ghost Market. It opens on the first and fifteenth of every month, drawing people from all walks of life. But the waters there are deep; seeing as you don't look very old, Young Sir, you ought to be careful."
Jiang Zhaoye felt a bit depressed. Even a random old man by the roadside could tell his age right through the veiled hat; his disguise had been completely pointless... So he hurriedly thanked him, tossed down a silver bean, turned around, and walked deeper into the street.
Past the grain market mentioned by the old man, the crowds gradually thinned out.
The shopfronts along the street became much grander, with black-lacquered plaques hanging on lintels inscribed with red cinnabar characters, and shop assistants standing at the doors now and then, calling out whenever passersby walked past.
At a glance, Jiang Zhaoye spotted that "Tongbao Emporium."
There seemed to be no shopfront larger or wider than this on the entire street. Carved beams, painted rafters, and exquisite decorations adorned it, while a prominent bird-pattern emblem was carved into the lintel, resembling a family crest.
The exquisitely carved doors were not fully open, half-shut with a touch of mystery, exuding an attitude of "take it or leave it."
He pushed the door open and entered. The light and shadow inside the shop were hazy, and a perfectly balanced subtle fragrance floated in the air. Curling wisps of smoke drifted about like the trailing silk sleeves of a celestial maiden's robe, fine linen, sheer gauze, and vibrant ceremonial garments.
Several long cabinets set against the wall looked far from ordinary. It was impossible to tell what wood formed their frame, but they were coated in multiple layers of lacquer over a black and vermilion base, painted with taotie and cloud-and-thunder motifs, and inlaid with turquoise and mother-of-pearl.
Arranged on them in an orderly fashion were bottles and jars of fine jade, along with numerous jade caskets inlaid with gold and silver.
In a corner stood a half-person-tall bronze burner in which charcoal burned, radiating pleasant warmth.
Seated behind the counter was a shopkeeper dressed in brocade and sable fur, as dignified as a lord, appearing in the prime of life with a calm, composed demeanor.
Seeing Jiang Zhaoye enter, he did not get up, merely raising his eyes as a courteous smile flickered across his face. "What would our esteemed guest like to look at?"
Jiang Zhaoye didn't rush to speak, quietly examining the items on the shelves. Xiao Ling discreetly scanned them and analyzed the results—most were low-grade talismans and pills of mediocre quality, not even matching what was sold in the convenience store outside his residential complex.
Yet every single item was priced absurdly high.
Jiang Zhaoye calculated in his head: the price of a single pill here was enough for Ah Ya to live comfortably for decades.
Just as he was about to ask if they had any spirit materials, his gaze suddenly landed on an unassuming stone in the corner of the counter.
The stone was about the size of a fist, ash-white all over, its surface covered with a thin layer of frost patterns that glinted with a faint cold light in the dim illumination.
Jiang Zhaoye's heart stirred. The ice-attribute psionic energy within his meridians fluctuated slightly, as though feeling a subtle yearning for that ugly stone.
He composed himself, pointed at the stone, and asked, "Shopkeeper, how much is that stone?"
Following his gaze, the shopkeeper glanced over and said casually, "That is Cold Marrow Stone, a spirit ore produced in the northern cold lands. It's suitable for cultivators with water or metal spirit roots to aid in their cultivation."
He didn't mention ice spirit roots. Cultivators with ordinary spirit roots were already one in ten thousand here, standing above all living beings, while triple spirit roots were rarer than hen's teeth. A mutated spirit root like an ice spirit root... was a legendary genius of myth; in a small border town like Ju City, such a thing didn't exist at all.
"If the guest wants it, three hundred taels of silver, or three yi and twelve taels of gold."
Water or metal spirit roots, cultivators, aiding cultivation... You just blurted all that out so casually?
Jiang Zhaoye was a little surprised. Seeing commoners revere the existence of cultivators like gods earlier and call them immortals, he had thought the threshold related to cultivation locally would be much higher.
Indeed, he recognized this stone. Back on Blue Star, this stuff had an official academic name: Low-Temperature Phase-Change Crystal. Famous across the board, it was considered a premier material for ice-attribute accelerators, mostly used to craft spirit-gathering circuits and high-tier spirit-gathering weapons.
The key point was... it was outrageously expensive.
Jiang Zhaoye calculated in his mind: if he took a piece this large to his mom to process through internal channels, it could add a top-tier ice-attribute piece of equipment for him.
The silver he carried on him didn't add up to much, so while he didn't have three hundred taels of silver, he had brought plenty of gold bars.
Given the current ultra-low price of gold on Blue Star, buying this stuff was an absolute steal.
Remembering Ah Ya's warning that it was best to haggle when buying valuable items in a market like this... Just as Jiang Zhaoye was about to bargain, the shop door was suddenly pushed open. Amid a gust of cool wind, a young man stepped in first, looking around seventeen or eighteen years old. He wore a dark black robe with dark red brocade trimming the collar and cuffs, a leather belt around his waist, and a green jade token hanging from it.
Behind him followed two attendants, standing with hands hanging respectfully at their sides on the left and right, their eyes scanning the room before their master's.
The young man's indifferent gaze lingered on Jiang Zhaoye for a moment, giving a slight nod in acknowledgment. Afterwards, he turned to the shopkeeper behind the counter, his demeanor relaxing as his tone grew somewhat familiar: "Chenweng, how have you been lately?"
The shopkeeper hurriedly stepped out from behind the lacquered counter, cupping his hands with a smile: "Eldest Young Master has arrived? Thank you for your concern, I have been well lately... Are you here to pick up that batch of talisman paper? I prepared it for you long ago, just waiting for you to inspect it."
As he spoke, he personally led him toward the inner room: "As you instructed, the cinnabar is premium stock from the south, and thick yellow paper was selected. Please take a look."
The young man uttered a brief "mm", not breaking his stride as he casually remarked: "Chenweng, I have always trusted your work."
Jiang Zhaoye remained silent, his gaze still resting on the Cold Marrow Stone, feeling annoyed in his heart.
After this young man with the rich-young-master aura walked in, the shopkeeper went exclusively to attend to him. It was as if his eyes were only good for breathing, completely failing to see a person still standing right here.
Back on Blue Star, he would have blown his top already. Unfortunately, he was in an unfamiliar place and hadn't even fully mastered the "foreign language" yet, so he couldn't even vent his anger properly.
Just then, the young man walking toward the inner room behind the shopkeeper paused. As if remembering something, he turned back to glance at the Cold Marrow Stone in the counter, then sized up Jiang Zhaoye once more.
"Chenweng, did Brother Fan of the Han family also ask about that Cold Marrow Stone a few days ago?" the young man asked flatly.
Chenweng froze for a moment, then nodded: "Indeed. The day before yesterday, Han Family Sixth Young Master asked about the price. Should I hold it for him?"
The wealthy young master's tone remained flat, almost without ups or downs: "No need. Since Tongbao Emporium still has it on display, it means it hasn't been promised to anyone yet."
"Then..."
"If this guest sincerely wishes to buy it, just proceed according to the rules."
Having said that, he didn't wait for Chenweng's reply, strolling into the inner room.
Under his veiled hat, the corner of Jiang Zhaoye's eye twitched.
This guy is so full of himself...
Rate on N.U.
