Immortality Cultivation: Fellow Daoists, please live for two more episodes!

Zhou Youyuan didn't make a sound. He squatted down in front of a stall directly behind Li Feiyu and quietly kept an eye on what was happening there.

Since entering the academy, he had secretly tested the other party a few times, but Li Feiyu's disguise was so perfect that his every move was no different from that of other miscellaneous disciples.

Later, when Li Xiaoyu caused that incident at the Bingzi Medicinal Garden, Li Feiyu was transferred to fill the vacancy, and the two never met again.

Now that the fox has revealed its tail, it would be a shame not to give it a good thrashing.

If two people are working in the same medicinal herb garden, and their schemes happen to clash with their own, the consequences could be disastrous.

The worst thing for a well-thought-out plan is uncontrollable variables.

"Brother, what do you want to buy? Why don't you take a look at this fragment of an ancient book? Although it only contains half of the cultivation technique, this half is the first half and can help people break through the Xuan Gate."

"Oh? How much?"

"A bottle of longevity pills or a spirit stone, no, half a stone will do... To be honest, if I didn't really have no spiritual roots, I would never put such a treasure out for sale."

Zhou Youyuan pretended to flip through the pages a couple of times, but his mind was entirely focused on Li Feiyu's movements behind him.

As for this so-called half of the cultivation technique, he wouldn't even touch it.

Putting aside the fact that this market is full of traps, the three-pronged attack of "ancient book fragments," "half a martial arts manual," and "hope to break through the Xuan Gate" is practically nailing the words "I am bait" to his forehead.

Besides, he himself couldn't cultivate it at all, and even if he bought it to wipe his butt, he would find it too uncomfortable.

However, the few crumpled talismans scattered in the corner were quite interesting, faintly emanating spiritual energy, and more importantly...

This thing is a consumable, and consumables mean that the possibility of it being used as bait is extremely low.

"Too expensive, I can't afford it. But what are these talismans for?"

"This... was dug up from the field along with that ancient book. If you're interested, you can take it for five gold beans."

One fireball talisman that can be activated at level two of Qi refinement, and three dust-repelling talismans to clean up dust.

Even using such miscellaneous talismans as bait, it seems the disciple behind this old man's scheme isn't very powerful either.

The item was nice, so he took out five gold beans and accepted it.

Just then, there was a commotion on Li Feiyu's side; it seemed he had already completed a transaction with the stall owner at that stall.

Finally, he lowered his head and leaned in to listen to the stall owner say a few words, then tossed down a bag of gold beans and turned to leave.

Zhou Youyuan could see clearly from behind that the kid hadn't picked through any goods at all; he wasn't buying things, he was buying information.

Zhou Youyuan didn't rush to follow. Instead, he lingered with the old stall owner for a while until Li Feiyu's figure completely disappeared at the end of the market before getting up and strolling slowly toward the stall.

The stall owner was a burly middle-aged man with a crooked green snake tattooed on his neck. His stall was piled high with shards of porcelain, rusty nails, and chipped medicine bottles...

A pile of junk; it doesn't look like a legitimate business at all.

As he guessed, the fact that the goods on the stalls in this miscellaneous market were outrageous meant that the stall owners were often not selling the real goods.

This guy is an intelligence broker.

Zhou Youyuan squatted down, picked up a chipped porcelain bottle, flipped it over, and then threw it back.

"Hey bro, I want to ask you something. What did that guy ask you about earlier?"

The man with the green snake glanced at her casually and asked, "Who are you?"

"A rich one." Zhou Youyuan took out three gold beans and placed them on the stall.

Seeing that there were only three, the other party immediately lost patience and said disdainfully, "I only sell groceries here, nothing else. If you're not buying anything, then leave."

Zhou Youyuan scooped out five golden beans.

"Brother, I advise you to be sensible." The man with the green snake was somewhat annoyed, pointing to the green snake mark on his neck:

"Even if I sell information, in our line of work, selling customers is a capital offense. If I were to spread my reputation for being unable to keep a secret, not only would no one dare to speak to me tomorrow, but I would also lose my life."

Seeing this, Zhou Youyuan smiled and said that selling only miscellaneous goods was simply because the prices weren't high enough.

He then reached into his robes and pulled out half a dried-up, blackened root of a spiritual herb.

The root of the Seven Star Grass, although the one in his hand was so badly damaged that it was unbearable to look at, was still a scrap of a spiritual herb. In the ranks of menial servants, its purchasing power was comparable to hard currency.

Sure enough, as soon as the elixir appeared, the green snake man's gaze was immediately drawn to it.

"I don't need to know his exact words." Zhou Youyuan pushed the roots of the spiritual herb forward half an inch.

"Just tell me one thing: is what he's asking about related to the herb garden?"

The green snake man stared at the root for a long time and hesitated.

Rules are rules, but the phrase "whether it matters or not" doesn't involve any specific content, so it can't be considered selling to customers; at most, it's just... letting slip a hint.

"...It's okay."

The roots vanished from his palm. The green snake man made a gesture, and Zhou Youyuan understood and leaned close to his ear:

"He asked about the outer sect disciple competition: when it's held, how often it's held, what cultivation level is required to register, that's all. Don't ask anything else."

The Grand Competition for Outer Disciples.

Zhou Youyuan's mind raced. Although he didn't know exactly what this thing was, as the name suggested, it was probably an arena for outer disciples to compete for inner disciple spots, a far cry from the chores like them who were shoveling manure in the herb garden.

Once Zhou Youyuan understood this, he felt more at ease.

That guy's goal is higher up, not in this quagmire of the herb garden; more importantly...

He had absolutely nothing to do with what he was supposed to do.

This is enough.

Zhou Youyuan stood up and walked away without looking back.

At the alley entrance, Old Wang was leaning against the wall picking his teeth, exuding a relaxed air of satisfaction from a hearty meal and other enjoyable activities.

"You little rascal, you've been dawdling for so long, have you been doing something else?"

The guy had a wicked grin on his face, clearly knowing a lot about the unspoken ways of the miscellaneous trade market.

"Brother Wang, you really know your stuff."

Zhou Youyuan did not deny it, saying that reputation and what Chen Changsheng did had nothing to do with him, Zhou Youyuan.

They made their way back to the dormitory, and under the guidance of the seasoned veteran Lao Wang, everything went smoothly without them encountering any of the robbery scenes often seen in novels.

……

The next day, Zhou Youyuan took the initiative to find the supervisor of the Jiazi Medicinal Garden and applied to be transferred to manage the manure in the cellar.

The foreman looked at him as if he were a fool.

That place is perpetually shrouded in darkness, and the foul odor emanating from the fermenting feces of spirit beasts can make people nauseous for three days straight.

In the past, not only the laborers working inside, but even the inspecting supervisors would cover their noses and take a detour when passing by.

Are you sure?

"I'm sure, my nose isn't working well, I can't smell it."

Without saying a word, the foreman approved it on the spot. He knew very well that the kid was probably up to no good when he asked for that position.

But if there's a ghost, so be it. What does it matter to him? He might as well take advantage of such a sucker who comes to his door. It saves him a lot of trouble finding people to take the job.

From that day on, Zhou Youyuan's life became extremely simple; he would go down to the cellar before dawn.

Upstairs, one seeks enlightenment; downstairs, one shovels manure.

One person is openly pursuing their future, while the other is secretly sowing seeds of karma.

Ninety days passed silently, leaking away through the cracks between the cesspool and the conspiracy.