Ziwei Immortal Path

Chapter 22: A Small Space

The light stopped, and the three of them, one in front and one behind, landed on a platform protruding from the lake.

Xu Boyang looked around. This platform was connected to a staircase going upwards. There were many people standing up and stopping around. They were dressed in different clothes. Most of them had outstanding looks and extraordinary temperament.

There are some ships docked on the water around the platform, swaying. It seems that this should be a ferry.

"My two fellow Daoists, this small space is quite vast. It covers all the arts of the immortal family. Aside from some less popular arts like mechanical devices, puppetry, divination, and astrology, which are housed in the Hundred Arts Building on the top of the mountain, the mountain is mainly divided into five major areas: alchemy, weapon refining, formations, talisman making, and spiritual plants."

Chen Baochong led the two of them out of the ferry, climbed the stairs, chatted idly, and walked into the streets and market.

As soon as he came up, Xu Boyang was a little confused. He saw many vendors and peddlers on the street, and it was very lively.

But something always feels wrong.

These people...why do they look like mortals?
When he took a closer look, he realized that the street that he had seen from afar winding around the mountain was actually lined with inns and restaurants on both sides. Many monks in colorful robes were sitting on the railings, with spiritual wine and dishes on the table, toasting and chatting happily.

Chen Baochong saw his expression and explained with a smile, "There are usually many cultivators in the market, and many of them stay for a long time. However, it is not convenient to stay in the market, so there are some supporting industries, which are all managed by mortals."

After passing through this bustling street, there were monks checking the tokens. After passing through, we climbed all the way up to the belly of the mountain, and then there appeared five roads in different directions, each leading to the sunny side of the mountain.

But you can't see the end at a glance. Even under the winter sun, it is covered with fog.

Moreover, these five roads were not marked with any signs. There was only a huge stone standing on each side of the road, with the five words "gold", "wood", "water", "fire" and "earth" written on the stone.

Chen Baochong led the two of them into the fork in the road that was shaped like a "wood" character. Fog gradually gathered along the way, and the road was so dark that they couldn't see anything on both sides. They passed a memorial archway with the words "Lingzhifang" written on it.

The surrounding shops then came into view. They were similar to those on ordinary streets, except that they were decorated with some exquisite cloud patterns and talismans, giving them an ancient feel at first glance.

In addition, there is a small spiritual lamp hanging on the capital of each sign on the right side of the store entrance, which does not give in under the sunlight and emits a soft and unique light.

Naturally, each store has its own unique layout and decoration, but the spiritual objects sold there seem to be similar, with linen bags piled up in several layers.

"The area we are in now is the 'Spiritual Planting Square', which is also the busiest area."

Chen Baochong stretched out one arm behind his back and gestured with his palm flat.

Xu Boyang randomly picked one and took a closer look. Sure enough, he saw that the sacks were filled with colorful spiritual seeds, spiritual grains and spiritual rice, and in the cupboard above were bundles of spiritual plants of different shapes and colors, all of which were dried and roasted.

Fei Wenyu and Xu Boyang were two uneducated cultivators. They had no spiritual fields, no medicine gardens, and no knowledge of alchemy. Naturally, they had no interest in these things. They just glanced at them a few times and then stopped moving.

Chen Baochong saw this and said, "If you two aren't here for the spiritual plants, apart from this spiritual plant shop, the remaining areas are the Talisman Office, the Formation Division, the Alchemy Market, and the Weapon Refining Center. The five areas on the island are all designed according to the five elements: spiritual plants for wood, spiritual formations for earth, alchemy for fire, refining for gold, and talismans for water."

"Because of the rules of the 'Square Cun Room' market, you can only walk through it once each time you come in. Once you leave, you can't come back in the same day. So no matter which area you enter the market from, it's the same. Ultimately, if you walk through it in the order of the five elements, you won't get lost and will reach the exit."

"So that's it."

Fei Wenyu suddenly realized that it was no wonder that he got lost last time. It turned out that there was such a mystery behind it. He immediately glanced at Xu Boyang.

Xu Boyang nodded and said, "Thank you, fellow Taoist!"

Chen Baochong smiled and bowed, saying:

"I am on duty today, so I will not accompany you two fellow Daoists. After leaving the Spirit Plant Shop, you two can go to Dan Ding City, or go to other places in turn. If there are no other matters, please allow me to take my leave first."

The three of them clasped their fists in succession. Fei Wenyu looked at Chen Baochong's receding figure and whispered, "A disciple of the Immortal Sect, and with the surname Chen, he's most likely from the Chen family of Wuyin Town. At such a young age, he's already reached the ninth level of Condensed Yuan. This person is no ordinary person!"

"Ah."

Xu Boyang simply agreed, thinking that it would be better to have less dealings with such immortal sect figures. Who knows who is hiding behind him? It is best not to make trouble for no reason to avoid unnecessary complications.

The two then left Lingzhifang. In the Five Elements, wood gives rise to fire, so the next stop was naturally Danding City.

When they arrived in Danding City, Xu Boyang couldn't help but spit:
"I don't know who made the rules for this small space. The Five Elements interact with each other. Doesn't that mean we need to go through every area? What a waste of time."

"In my opinion, this is the real amazing thing!"

Fei Wenyu laughed heartily.
"They forced you to go through it all before emptying your storage bag. The senior who devised this kind of magic is truly a genius in business! If only my ghost market could do the same!"

"Shit wizard!"

Xu Boyang didn't take it seriously, cursed softly, and turned to look at several shops. There were many monks walking around in the shops, whispering and talking in low voices with the shop assistants from time to time.

"Elixir?"

Xu Boyang was immediately attracted.

As the two walked along, Xu Boyang looked around. He had been in the ghost market for many years and was most familiar with elixirs. Looking at the shops on this street full of bottles and jars, he couldn't help but want to go in and take a look.

Fei Wenyu watched from the side, pursed his lips slightly, did not say anything, and followed silently.

"Brother Fei, shall we go in and take a look?"

After looking for a while, Xu Boyang looked at a family and turned his head to ask.

"No problem." Fei Wenyu nodded in response.

Today he was just accompanying the prince to study. Although he brought a few spiritual objects in his storage bag, there were no elixirs, only some magical instruments of the Nascent Soul stage and some talismans. He planned to try his luck.

"Qi Gathering Pills, Condensation Stage, ten?"

Xu Boyang looked at the shop assistant in surprise, thinking that he had not heard clearly, and could not help asking again.

The waiter tilted his head back, stared at Xu Boyang with wide eyes, a puzzled expression on his face, and said:

"Yes, this is roughly the price of ordinary, lowest-grade elixirs."

Xu Boyang asked again: "What about the Yangling Pill?"

The guy said, "That's cheaper, five."

"What about Pei Yuan Dan?"

"Twenty pieces, no bargaining."

The more Xu Boyang listened, the more he felt something was wrong. He turned around and looked at Fei Wenyu, who was silent but smiling. It seemed as if he already knew the reason. He hurriedly pulled him out of the door and asked:
"Brother Fei, what's going on? Why are the prices so different from the Ghost Market?"

Fei Wenyu saw that he knew nothing and laughed to himself. He looked around and saw no one was paying attention, so he whispered:
"Boyang, the reason these pills are so expensive is because of the rules of the Immortal Sect. All the pills in this small room are from the Immortal Sect and are under extremely strict control. All pills have an insoluble spiritual consciousness on them that can track the flow of the pills."

"Why?"

Xu Boyang still didn't understand. "Although the various sects of Qingshen have different daoist traditions, they are all part of the Daoist world. It's fine for family members to exchange what they have, but it can't be leaked outside. You must know that the Daoist alchemy method is unique in this land."

Xu Boyang suddenly realized something, and then instantly felt something was wrong. His face changed slightly, and he whispered:
"Then your ghost market..."

"Yes, you are right."

Fei Wenyu nodded, looked around, and then explained in a low voice,
"The rules set by the Immortal Sect have both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that the elixirs can be controlled and prevented from leaking out, preventing them from being obtained by wild monsters, demon cultivators, and southern witches. However, the disadvantage is that the purchases made by the various Immortal Sects, and even the cultivation status of the disciples, can be easily traced, making them easy to be targeted by people with ulterior motives."

"Boyang, you don't know. Although our Taoist sect appears to be united and united from the outside, we are actually not like that. There are undercurrents, dirty tricks, and each sect has its own calculations."

"Also, there are always some people in this world who are eccentric. Most of them are cultivators that the Immortal Sects look down upon, or cultivators who look down upon the Immortal Sects. These are what we usually call independent cultivators. They live in Qingshen, and they also want to practice, make pills, and prove their own great Dao. If they are completely sealed off, these people will have no way to survive and will become the source of disasters and chaos."

"So, it's not surprising that a ghost market appears."

"In fact, all ghost markets are secretly supported by the immortal sects to operate. There is free circulation in them, and the elixirs do not have spiritual marks. However, the number of ghost markets is actually known to all the sects, and they are controlled at the Condensation and Foundation Establishment realms. In addition, some elixirs are not allowed to appear in the ghost markets."

"I see."

Xu Boyang roughly understood what was going on. In this case, the Fei family's ghost market was most likely controlled by the Nanhuai Immortal Sect behind the scenes.

Fei Wenyu paused, then continued, "That being said, once this door is opened, some things are hard to predict. There are always people who take risks for various unknown purposes. Actually, my family's ghost market has brought in quite a bit of revenue, but the future is unpredictable, and the consequences are uncertain. If we are not careful, it could lead to disaster."

"Brother Fei, don't worry. With the support of the Immortal Sect, your family will be safe."

After Xu Boyang offered words of comfort, he said, "Let's go, Brother Fei. The pills here are so expensive, only a fool would buy them."

Fei Wenyu looked at his expression and thought to himself:

"I don't know if he's truly unaware or not. Many of the elixirs he possesses are contraband. However, in today's world, the various immortal sects are increasingly scheming and competing with each other. How could a small foundation-building family dare to interfere in the affairs of the Huangting Immortal Family? It's roughly the same in other ghost markets, except that everyone is tacitly aware of it and quietly reveals it, hoping to avoid causing trouble."

The two left Danding City and headed towards the Formation Department.

The shop assistant stuck his head out of the window, looked at the two people walking away, and cursed:
"Where did these two lunatics come from? They're talking nonsense and wasting my breath!"

"Afu, what are you mumbling about? Were there any guests just now?"

A clear and pleasant voice came from the back hall, but no figure appeared.

Ah Fu turned around, scratched his head, smiled awkwardly, and said, "Miss, it's nothing, nothing, I just ran into two idle people who only asked questions but didn't buy anything."

"Oh."

There was a response from the back hall, and then there was no sound. After a while, there was a faint sound of a purple skirt fluttering.

"Come here and help me grind the grass."

The fog dissipated, and the layout of the Formation Department suddenly became clear. A wide square was spread out in the mountains, and houses were stacked on the mountains. Many people were standing in the square, all looking up at the sky.

Xu Boyang followed the crowd forward and looked up unconsciously. He saw a monk with a curly beard and a gray robe holding a formation flag, floating in the air, demonstrating the formation.

He spoke confidently, and suddenly a red light shot out from his hand, and the battle flag flew out like a bird flying into the forest.

The formation flag split into four parts in mid-air and stood firmly in the positions of the four spirits.

"Buzz!"

A strange sound was heard, shocking everyone. The four flags emitted a sound of spiritual energy fluctuations and vibrated. Suddenly, red light appeared on the flags, as if it were real, and like the wriggling of water, gradually converging from the center.

The bearded man in a grey robe slowly landed on the ground, holding a copper plate covered with talismans in his hand. His expression was solemn. Suddenly, a red light flashed from the copper plate in his hand, and he shouted loudly:
"open!"

But in just a moment, a giant formation glowing red was fully displayed, and the patterns in the formation appeared, turning into a black bird covered with flames all over its body. It called Ming Chengliang, flapped its wings, and flew around.

After the spell was cast, the crowd was shaken and the surrounding monks immediately applauded and cheered.

"Foundation-building stage formation, the Liyangtai Guangyaoyi Formation. Activating the formation will cause heavenly and earthly changes. The starting price is 100 Yuqing. Fellow Daoists who are interested can make an offer!"

The monk in a grey robe and with a curly beard asked with a smile on his face, his hands on his waist, and a loud voice full of energy.

"Yu Qing?"

Xu Boyang looked at the red glowing formation and the huge firebird circling and dancing in the air, emitting waves of heat. It was obvious that it was extremely powerful. He didn't expect that it was a formation for the Foundation Establishment Period. He just didn't know what this "Yu Qing" was.

"Spirit stones of different grades naturally have different names. The spirit stone we usually use is the lowest grade, called 'Moss Land', but for convenience, everyone just calls it a spirit stone. The next grade spirit stones can no longer be called that to distinguish them. 'Yu Qing' is the name of the next grade spirit stone."

Fei Wenyu whispered in his ear, looking up at the flying firebird, with envy in his eyes, and said softly,

"What a great Lihuo Mountain Protection Formation! It's a shame it's too expensive. One [Yuqing Spirit Stone] can be exchanged for one hundred [Mossland Spirit Stones], which means a full ten thousand spirit stones. Too expensive! Too expensive!"

Xu Boyang was shocked when he heard this. He pulled Fei Wenyu out and said, "Let's go. It's not interesting."

Fei Wenyu looked at it with amusement and said, "Boyang, the Condensation Stage also has formations that can be used to guard the house. Would you like to take a look?"

Formations were never sold in the ghost market, so Xu Boyang had naturally never seen one before. However, after just one look and one listen, he realized that it was not something he could consider right now. Besides, he had not yet reached the "divine realm" and had no spiritual awareness. Even if he bought it, he would not be able to use it. It would be better for him to take a good look at the magic weapon instead.

He shook his head and turned away.

After leaving the Formation Department, Xu Boyang quickened his pace unconsciously. The virtue of earth gives birth to gold, and he finally arrived at today's destination, the Equipment Refining Collection.

The fog dissipated, and a neat street appeared before our eyes. The house style was roughly the same as that in Lingzhifang and Danding City, except that there was a lot more of a worldly atmosphere.

This smell of fireworks was not due to the large number of people, but because one could see fire and blue-green light flashing in the backyard of the store.

There were quite a few people on the street, and many cultivators came out with their magical instruments to practice, but none of them dared to use them. They just held them in their hands to try out whether they were comfortable with them.

As soon as he arrived here, Xu Boyang was amazed. There were eighteen kinds of weapons for sale, including swords, spears, halberds, axes, hooks, forks, whips, maces, hammers and daggers.

"Boyang, to be honest, the magical weapon in my sleeve, the [Sprinkling Gold Fan], was purchased for me by my ancestor from here. There are countless magical weapons in this 'Refining Collection'."

Fei Wenyu looked at the dazzling magical weapons along the way, marveling at them and couldn't help but say something.

"Ah."

Xu Boyang responded, walked and stopped, looked for a while, and suddenly his eyes lit up. He saw the words "Jian Yi Ge" written on a shop.

"Let's go! Let's go in and take a look!"

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(End of this chapter)