The life of a practicing cultivator was repetitive and dull. Each day was akin to collecting enough dewdrops to form a stream, then drawing those streams into rivers that eventually collected into a vast sea.
The process was much easier said than done.
It was easy to understand that a person would not suddenly become plump overnight with only a single large meal—gaining weight required many meals over an extended time. Although Fang Xing had managed to gather enough Qi that he felt like he’d break through, he’d still only been practicing for a month and was stuck at the bottleneck. It felt like there was a wall blocking him from progressing into the next tier, bringing with it a sense of helplessness. The next tier was right in front of him, yet for some reason, he seemed unable to continue forward.
Within the past few days, there had been a major event within the outer court that caught everyone’s attention. An outer court disciple by the name of "Hou Qing" had decided to stop by the Danxia Valley to visit a female disciple who was an old friend of his, but he’d been stopped by three third-tiered disciples in front of the valley. Not only was Hou Qing alone and a new face among the outer courts, but he wore extravagant clothing with an extraordinary jade pendant hanging from his belt, making him a prime target for extortion in the three disciples’ eyes.
Without even saying a word, Hou Qing defeated all three men with a wave of his sword and casually walked away.
Such a feat astonished everyone in the outer courts. This man was one of the new recruits accepted six months ago, yet he was already strong enough to defeat three third-tiered disciples with ease? It didn’t take long at all before the name "Hou Qing" had become synonymous with "genius" within the outer court. Some people even declared Hou Qing would break into the fourth tier within a year and become the first inner court disciple from the batch of new recruits.
"Hou Qing? Isn’t that the guy who caught me before?" Fang Xing wondered aloud after Yu Sanliang had brought up the rumors, and a sly smile began to form as he remembered who this man was. "I remember you guys are like peas and carrots. You even let him skip the line and registered him in front of everyone else…."
Yu Sanliang looked at Fang Xing with confusion before laughing, "Shidi Fang, stop joking. How could someone like me even dare to be friends with someone like him? He was nice to me outside the sect, very polite and all, but it all changed once he was accepted. I even met him while I was doing a job for the department a while ago. I greeted him with a smile, but he didn’t even notice me…."
"Listen to yourself! So if someone pays you any attention, you go and suck up to them?" Fang Xing looked at the plump Daoist with contempt. The plump Daoist, on the other hand, only showed an embarrassed smile and poured more wine into Fang Xing’s bowl.
"Not only did that bastard catch me, but he kicked my Xiao Mahn! If I see him again, he’ll wish he was dead!" Fang Xing cursed with hate-filled eyes.
Startled, Yu Sanliang showed a comforting smile while wondering at how someone so young could hold such a deep grudge. "Shidi Fang, you can take it out on me if you’re still angry about that day, but that person is someone you can’t afford to offend…."
Fang Xing jumped to his feet in anger. "You think I can’t?" He started to kick Yu Sanliang to vent, but Yu Sanliang just grinned and didn’t mind. He’d learned quite a bit about Fang Xing after spending four months together, and although the boy was ruthless and bold, he wasn’t a mad dog that would try to bite everyone on sight. Furthermore, although Fang Xing was young, he understood loyalty as well; not everyone would have been willing to give up two Spirit Stones without a second thought.
Once the meal had finished, Fang Xing kicked the plump Daoist out of his cottage and returned to his practice. For some reason, a smoldering anger had lit up within Fang Xing’s heart after he heard about Hou Qing’s latest achievements. ‘I’ve practiced for four months and used twelve entire Spirit Stones, but I still can’t break into tier two, yet that bastard Hou Qing is nearly at tier four? Is the difference between us that great? Am I just stupid? No, how could I be so inferior?’
Fang Xing took out the thirteenth Spirit Stone while nursing his grudge. He adjusted his breathing and began to draw the Spirit Stone’s Qi inward to soak his meridians, and it didn’t take long for the same problem as before to rise to the fore.
Every time Fang Xing attempted to spread Qi evenly across his entire body, his control was hindered by an unknown force until the Qi eventually dissipated. He’d failed to break through yet again, but this time he seemed to find a pattern with this dissipation. Without giving up, Fang Xing started again from the beginning and worked to hasten the process, absorbing Qi from the Spirit Stone at a faster rate and causing a large amount of Qi to suddenly saturate his body.
A person can only eat so much at one time, and a person could choke if they tried to bite off more than they could chew. Cultivation was similar, and Fang Xing began to feel sharp pains all across his meridians, but he endured the pain and sent both himself and all of the force he’d accumulated violently towards the wall blocking him from tier two.
Boom….
Suddenly, it seemed as though something had broken within his mind, and a refreshing feeling settled all over his body. The feeling was very strange; where his body was too hot, it was delightfully cool and refreshing, and where he was too cold, the feeling would be filled with warmth—the remarkable effect of Qi.
‘Finally!’ Fang Xing murmured in his heart. He’d finally managed to break through into the second tier, and Qi filled his entire body. Now, he could move Qi anywhere inside his body with a mere thought, and although it wasn’t strong enough to protect from harm, he could still direct Qi to where he was wounded to improve his rate of recovery. If it was necessary, he could even use Qi to close a wound up completely to prevent blood loss or keep himself from using up too much physical strength. Shixiong Liu had tried to do exactly that when he’d been stabbed, but Fang Xing had struck him again to stop the process and make it more difficult for him to control his Qi afterwards.
Fang Xing had gambled with his luck to break into tier two, and it was truly fortunate he succeeded this time. If luck hadn’t been on his side, his meridians may have ended up damaged by the excess Qi and he would have required at least ten days to fully recover. However, this was all because of his temperament; although he was ruthless towards others, he was just as ruthless towards himself as well.
‘Let’s try using the Nine Snakes’ Sword again!’
Amidst the delight of finally breaking through, Fang Xing decided take a break and give the Nine Snakes’ Sword another try. Despite his efforts, however, he found that things hadn’t changed by much; although he could barely manage to make a full strike now, he had hardly any Qi left afterwards and an attempt for a second just made him dizzy.
Fang Xing put the Nine Snakes’ Sword away and—after some thought—decided there were two main problems: his cultivation level was still really low, and the Nine Snakes’ Sword power was just too high. The Nine Snakes’ Sword required far more Qi than an ordinary spirit sword, so the best wy forward was to find a regular, low-grade weapon instead for the time being.
‘There are strict regulations about stealing the spirit weapon someone else chose from the pavilion. What to do….’ Fang Xing gave it some thought before he suddenly remembered something. ‘Didn’t the fatty say they’ve resumed the Black Markets again? There were quite a lot of Flying Swords last time. Back then, I only took the best one and left the others behind; how sinful of me….’
It didn’t take long before he decided to visit the Black Market again.
Fang Xing asked Yu Sanliang for the time and place of the next Black Market before starting to prepare. After giving Fang Xing information on the next Black Market, however, Yu Sanliang began to have some suspicions. The last time Fang Xing asked for information, a rich disciple was so thoroughly robbed he was turned into a poor wretch. Fang Xing was asking about the next Black Market again; was he possibly…?
Fang Xing noticed Yu Sanliang’s gaze on him and fiercely replied, "What are you staring at? Do you think I won’t tear out your eyes?"
Yu Sanliang grinned but said nothing. He decided that even though the kid was bold, he still wouldn’t dare to do something like that. Besides, the people who’d seen the event take place said the perpetrator was a slender man….
As it so happened, the next Black Market was actually scheduled to take place that very night. Fang Xing made sure Yu Sanliang was well-intoxicated from the wines before kicking him back to his own cottage.
The plump Daoist had always admired Fang Xing for how much he could drink and was amazed that an eleven-year-old child could handle so much! Fang Xing, however, just scoffed at this; he’d pretty much grown up soaked in wine jars, so how could there be any comparison? Fang Xing liked to boast about his various skills from time to time, but his alcohol tolerance didn’t even require it—not even ten of the plump Daoist could match him!
Once Yu Sanliang had left, Fang Xing took out his Mask of Wanluo, placed it on his face to change his appearance once more, and then headed off towards the market.
The Black Market this time was within a hidden valley a few miles away from the sect. The locations for these events were carefully selected; it couldn’t be too close to the sect since the Black Market was against sect rules, but it also couldn’t be too deep in the mountains or the beasts and demons would pose a threat to lower-tiered disciples.
Following the plump Daoist’s instructions, Fang Xing traveled to the area and quickly found the market’s location because of how obvious it was. A total of eight guards stood at attention in front of the valley’s entrance, and all of them looked extremely cautious and capable.
Fang Xing chuckled. It seemed they’d learned their lesson from last time.
"One moment, Shixiong. For what reason have you come to the Black Market?" one of the guards asked while stepping out in front of Fang Xing.
"Have you been to a Black Market before? I’m here to exchange for things I need; why else would I be here?" Fang Xing casually replied.
The guard wasn’t expecting such a flippant response and hesitantly smiled. "What Shixiong said is correct, but the Black Market isn’t the same as it was before. There was a thief last time who stole many things, and a Black Market wasn’t held for a full three months afterwards. We have to be extremely careful this time around thanks to him, so please tell me exactly what it is you are looking for or what item you plan to exchange, or I can’t let you in."
It seemed as though this truly was to prevent a repeat of last time. Fang Xing was relieved that he actually brought something of value with him today; if he’d come empty-handed with only the snuff bottle like before, he’d have been immediately exposed.
Fortunately, although Fang Xing was young, he understood how to deal with people quite well. When the guard started asking questions, he pretended to be annoyed and answered, "The Black Market seems to have more and more rules. I may as well exchange things with the sect at this rate! Well, since I’m already here, I’ll just go along with it for now. I’m here to exchange Spirit Stones for a Flying Sword. Here, have a look for yourself!" As Fang Xing spoke, he brought out a handful of bright red Spirit Stones and held it right in front of the guard.
"Since you brought plenty of Spirit Stones, it’s likely you intend to actually exchange and you’re not the thief." The guard smiled and gestured inside. "Thank you for your understanding, Shixiong, and please come in!"
Fang Xing waved his hand and smiled. "No, I completely understand. It’s all the fault of that despicable thief; you’re just doing your job!"
Fang Xing’s words moved the guard. He was supposed to stay here and check everyone who intended to enter in order to ensure the Black Market’s safety, but not everyone was so understanding. Most either showed no reaction or were just downright rude and uncooperative, so coming across someone who seemed to understand the difficulties of the job really stirred the heart.
If only they knew that the sole person who understood them happened to be the very thief from last time who’d caused this whole mess!
—
This Black Market was noticeably larger in size than the last one, with many more disciples to go along with it. Even the average cultivation tier was slightly higher, with most of the disciples in their second tier and quite a few others in their third. It also seemed as though the people here were experienced with these events—they said only what was necessary and their transactions were carried out with a calm shrewdness.
‘Looks like the newbies were all scared off after what happened last time and all the old foxes came out instead.’ After giving it some thought, Fang Xing decided it was a bit too risky. ‘Oh well, fair enough. Just a normal transaction today!’ With that, he slipped himself in with the rest of the crowd.
There was an interesting sight this time around: some of the people had sat down cross-legged and placed what they were exchanging in front of them for others to see. If a passerby saw something they liked, they’d start discussing the details of the deal.
Some of the trades were direct barter—items for items—but if an agreement couldn’t be reached, it came down to Spirit Stones or gold and silver. Most of the items that appeared in the Black Market were intended for cultivation, and the amount of gold and silver someone would need to exchange for them was excessive. For that reason, Spirit Stones—a universal resource for cultivation—was what was used most often.
After completing a full circuit around the market, Fang Xing realized that this Black Market’s size wasn’t the only difference compared to the previous one. The last one primarily featured Spirit Stones for common gold, but now there was a huge variety. Flying Swords, skill manuals, spells, medicinal pellets, elixirs—it was all incredibly dazzling. While some of the people had only one or two items placed in front of them, there were others who had so many items it was practically a stall.
"Hey, Shixiong, how about taking a look at this? There are some good things here, but mine are the best!"
As Fang Xing walked to and fro, some of the people would whisper their greetings. It was fortunate nobody yelled or shouted, or else it would have been as loud as an actual flea market.
"Maybe after looking around!" Fang Xing responded before turning his attention elsewhere. Fang Xing had originally come here to buy a decent Flying Sword, but there were so many available that there wasn’t any rush. He decided to look at the other different and interesting things for now instead.
"You really think of this as a flea market, huh?" the man mumbled, but didn’t cause any trouble.
Fang Xing smiled, but he suddenly let out an "eh?" sound as his gaze swept across the man’s items.
The man was suddenly all smiles and whispered, "Has something caught Shixiong’s eye?"
Fang Xing didn’t say anything and simply crouched down to have a closer look.
"Heh, Shixiong’s eyes are quite good. Not only do I have more items than anyone else, but they’re all of excellent quality and thirty percent lower in price!" Although the man was quite boastful, he wasn’t wrong—his stall really did have a lot of items on sale.
Fang Xing still didn’t say a word and slowly picked up a Flying Sword for a careful look. Seeing this, the man started to gush about how great the sword was, as though such a low-grade sword was an extremely rare find.
"How many Spirit Stones for this?" Fang Xing asked, seemingly moved by the man’s words.
The man signed a figure with his hands hidden from the sight of others. "This price. Not too bad, huh?"
"Seven Spirit Stones? It really is thirty percent cheaper…" Fang Xing muttered under his breath. If he didn’t have access to the Book of Revelation, it was likely he would’ve been moved by such a price.
"So how about it? Does Shixiong want to trade?" the man asked, smiling at the chance to do business.
"You know, Shixiong, you’ve got some real craftsmanship…." Fang Xing studied the sword for a few more moments before lightly tossing the Flying Sword back to the stall. His lips curled up into a smile and his eyes narrowed as he looked to the man and whispered, "If I happened to start spreading the news that most of the items you have on sale here are counterfeits, what would your customers think? And the people who organized this Black Market and are trying to restore its reputation, what would they think?"
The man’s face suddenly darkened. He lowered his voice even further, his eyes flashing coldly as he said, "Don’t speak nonsense. If Shixiong wants to buy, then buy; if you don’t, then don’t!" However, such a harsh expression also gave away his guilty conscience, and he couldn’t help but to look to the side.
"Nonsense?" Fang Xing sneered. He suddenly began to pick up several items and—with only a glance—split them neatly into two piles. There didn’t seem to be any particular order or pattern for what items went where, and the two piles were quite mixed with a little bit of everything. "Then what does Shixiong think of these two piles?" Fang Xing grinned as he gently placed a bottle of medicinal pellets on the left pile and dusted off his hands.
Cold sweat began to ooze down the man’s back from his guilt, and an awkward smile formed on his face. "Shixiong… is clearly someone with excellent eyes. I should have noticed earlier. Would Shixiong perhaps accept this gift?" As the man spoke, he pulled out a Flying Sword from the pile on the right and respectfully held it up in front of Fang Xing with both hands.
As it so happened, Fang Xing had very quickly managed to appraise everything here and split it into two parts. The genuine items were on the right, and those with problems were on the left. The man had been thoroughly shocked by such an event, and he’d hurriedly tried to bribe Fang Xing using genuine goods. The underlying message was clear: take this Flying Sword and quietly go somewhere else!
The Black Market was different compared to stores selling antiques in the realm of mortals. If somebody were to purchase a fake antique, the blame would usually fall on either their poor luck or faulty judgment. In markets like this specifically for cultivators, however, no one had the time for such senseless decepton. Resources were scarce, and losing even a small amount was incredibly painful.
There were always exceptions, of course, and the mustached man and his two sidekicks at the Pavilion of Spirit Tools were a good example. The reason they could get away with cheating and extorting others was because the sect rules protected them, and they primarily preyed on new disciples without any background or support. If someone were to dare try to cheat someone else in the Black Market, however, it was likely everyone would band together once the swindler was exposed.
Fang Xing looked at the man and good-humoredly smiled. He accepted the sword, but he casually tossed it to the side and laughed, "What would a piece of junk like this be worth?"
The man became visibly annoyed, his gaze growing cold as he whispered, "Shixiong, don’t do this. We can still be on good terms if we meet each other in the future if you don’t go too far. I really don’t like to be pushed around…." So saying, the man flared up his Qi, revealing himself to be in the third tier.
Fang Xing didn’t seem to care about the man’s threat and mockingly continued, "This is the Black Market and nobody knows who anybody else is. What ‘meet in the future’ when you don’t even know who I am? And your third tier isn’t bad—there’s probably less than a dozen here stronger than you—but if I let everyone know what’s going on here and they band together, your tier won’t be worth sh*t!"
The man suddenly grew nervous, and his fists clenched tightly together as cold sweat drenched his palms.
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