Born with immortal seed

Chapter 58 Plaza Stalls
Having purchased two satisfactory magical artifacts, Bai Zichen was in a good mood and strolled around the market.

He carefully examined the wooden box and ritual implements with his divine sense to ensure that no marks had been left by anyone.

He had also read too many stories in biographies about people who were targeted after committing murder and robbery or flaunting their wealth while shopping, and he had developed a psychological aversion to such things.

"Wanbaoge is a top-tier merchant house with a wide presence throughout Liang Kingdom and a good reputation. They shouldn't be doing something like colluding with cultivators to commit robbery... But it's always better to be safe than sorry than to fall into a trap and regret it later."

Bai Zichen toured several shops on both sides of the street, including the Five Elements Trading Company and Qingfeng Sect's own shops.

The Buddhist artifacts displayed in the store, both in terms of quality and quantity, are somewhat inferior to those of Wanbaoge.

"And their service awareness... Even their mortal greeters aren't as good-looking or as well-built as those people. No wonder their business can't compete with Wanbaoge!"

Bai Zichen criticized the sect's business methods as he strolled around until he reached the market square on the outskirts of the market.

A quick glance reveals at least a hundred stalls.

Larger establishments are tended by three or four people at a time, and their shelves are filled with a dazzling array of goods, mostly basic talismans and low-grade magical artifacts.

Small-scale operations simply lay a piece of cloth on the ground, display a few items, and leave once they've sold everything.

This is the typical scene of vendors and independent repairmen setting up stalls in the square.

"The spiritual artifacts unearthed from the ancient secret realm are here for everyone to see. Those with the right destiny may comprehend ancient divine powers from them..."

"The cultivation techniques passed down from the Five Sacred Mountains Temple were used by the Five Sacred Mountains Immortals to cultivate and become Core Formation Immortals. You'll regret it for the rest of your life if you miss out on this..."

"A treasure map left behind by a Foundation Establishment cultivator, said to contain his life savings, including a Foundation Establishment Pill..."

Several independent practitioners were shouting to attract customers, each one sounding more enticing than the last.

Bai Zichen actually went to the stall that claimed to have the Five Mountains True Man's Kung Fu and took a look. It was a yellowed booklet with four large, flamboyant characters on the first page: Five Mountains Divine Kung Fu.

"This fake is really poorly made. They didn't even record the cultivation method passed down by a Core Formation cultivator on a jade slip. They just copied it from a scroll..."

It's obvious that the Five Sacred Mountains Temple has become a separate courtyard of the Green Maple Sect. If the Five Sacred Mountains True Man's techniques were to remain, the only outcome would be for them to fall into the hands of the sect.

This so-called Five Sacred Mountains Divine Skill is simply a jumbled mess of several volumes of Qi cultivation techniques, cobbled together and then aged.

"Old man, you've ruined my precious thing, and you think you can just walk away?"

"What nonsense are you spouting? This bowl was already cracked when it came into our hands. When I was a swindler in this market, you were still in your mother's womb. You're trying to scam me..."

"Everyone, come and bear witness! These two have damaged my family heirloom and are trying to frame me! Brothers, please ask the plaza manager to take charge!"

A large group of cultivators had gathered in front of a stall across the street, and a lot of noise was coming from there.

Such a large square sees countless disputes every day.

Bai Zichen had no interest in watching the spectacle. He knew that finding something good by scavenging from the scattered repairmen's stalls was like sifting through sand in a vast ocean—unrealistic.

Any product with a catchy name and a story of being a family heirloom is almost certainly a fake.

They specifically target inexperienced, novice cultivators.

I walked a couple of steps away and realized the arguing sounded familiar, so I circled around and came back to the stall across the street.

The stall owner was a thin young man with fairly regular features, but his eyes revealed a cunning and anxious look, giving him a frivolous impression.

At this moment, he was tugging at the sleeves of two cultivators, refusing to let them leave.

"Old Man Tong, Lu Song... What a coincidence, I didn't expect to run into the two of them here."

No wonder the voice sounded familiar; it turns out the two people arguing with the stall owner were acquaintances of Bai Zichen.

"Old Man Tong passed the menial disciple assessment directly that day. I don't know how Lu Song fared... but since the two of them went together, he probably also entered the sect in the end."

Bai Zichen wasn't in a hurry to step forward. In the vicinity of the sect's market, how could his own handyman disciples possibly suffer a loss against a rogue cultivator?

"Manager Xiong is here! Make way!"

A burly, obese man walked out from the crowd of onlookers. His arms were as thick as other people's waists. He seemed to be the "square bear manager" that everyone was talking about.

"What's going on? Don't you know this area I'm in charge of is usually the quietest? I hate it when people make a scene!"

Manager Xiong staggered around, squinting as he surveyed the scene before speaking in a gloomy tone.

For the market area, Qingfeng Sect only manages the four streets in the core area, including the protective formation.

The outer plaza and the vast residential area for independent cultivators and mortals were never considered part of the market by the Qingfeng Sect. Unless something outrageous happened, the sect was too lazy to get involved.

With hundreds of stalls in this square, it's already a considerable business.

Where there are interests, there will naturally be disputes.

The competition for stall locations and the price competition among similar goods have led to the emergence of the position of plaza manager.

The circular plaza was divided into four sections, each with a manager in charge of handling affairs and collecting stall fees from individual vendors.

Besides having high cultivation levels and being ruthless, the most important factor for a rogue cultivator to be able to sit in a managerial position is that they can be associated with the Qingfeng Sect.

Otherwise, no matter how powerful you are, you won't be able to hold onto this position.

Under divine sense, Manager Xiong's cultivation level was definitely not hidden; he was a Qi Refining Level 7 cultivator.

"Late stage of Qi Refining, no wonder he can hold his own and everyone fears him like a tiger."

Bai Zichen stood by and watched how this obese, burly man planned to handle the matter.

"Boss Xiong, you're here just in time! You have to stand up for me!"

A hint of hidden joy flashed across the thin young man's face. He released the old man and the other man and picked up the broken bowl that had been shattered in two from the stall on the ground.

“I’ve always operated with integrity in this market, as you know, Boss Xiong. I’ve never engaged in any fraudulent activities. These two just came to my stall to look at my family heirloom, and they accidentally smashed the precious bowl. They immediately tried to run away, but luckily I caught them!”

Manager Xiong picked up the two bowls and said, "What do you two have to say? Is what he said true?"

“Manager Xiong, my junior brother Lu just picked up the bowl and it broke in two. It was clearly spoiled a long time ago and was just sitting there trying to extort money from us. It wasn’t caused by us…”

Lu Song was so angry that his face turned red. Old Man Tong pulled him back and stepped forward to explain.

"Nonsense! My precious bowl has been perfectly fine. This morning, a customer almost bought it! Several stall owners nearby can vouch for me!"

The thin young man jumped up, as if he had been greatly wronged.

"Yes, I saw that Bao Wan was perfectly fine this morning."

"The old man and the young man looked upright, but I never expected them to commit a crime and refuse to admit it..."

Several stall owners spoke up in unison to testify, leaving Old Man Tong speechless for a moment, realizing that he had run into a local bully.

Before he became a spirit plant master, he spent two years in the market and had seen similar scenes.

I never imagined that old age would befall me.

"Then it seems clear that you two have damaged the stall owner's goods and should compensate him accordingly."

Manager Xiong waved his hand, directly defining the nature of the matter.

"Kid, how many spirit stones is your broken...treasure bowl worth?"

"Manager Xiong, we are both disciples of the Qingfeng Sect. Why are you drawing conclusions without conducting any further investigation?"

Old Man Tong hadn't expected this obese, burly man to be so brazen, so he quickly took out his identity token and handed it forward.

(End of this chapter)