Cultivating To Immortality

Chapter 733: Old Friend

Xiao He stood between Song Yan and Wu Dou, listening to his tearful complaints, sighed, and patted his shoulder with a feigned air of profundity.

"You’re really pitiful."

Song Yan mused, wondering which Junior Sister was looking for him so urgently.

He was a bit annoyed, thinking that if he met her, he’d have to give this Junior Sister a good talking-to about causing such a commotion throughout the city.

After listening to Wu Dou’s narration, he pondered for a moment before asking, "Did that female Cultivator ever say where she was going? Or did she mention any place names in her speech?"

If a place name was mentioned, it would undoubtedly be a Sect, a market, or a gathering place for Cultivators.

A Sect would help confirm whether this Junior Sister was indeed a Disciple of a Sect; if it was Sheyang Sect, it might even be Sheng Yun.

A market would be even better, as Song Yan was looking for one to sell some miscellaneous items and Spirit Objects he had on hand.

He could also prepare for Foundation Establishment matters.

Previously, he was simply unfamiliar with Lin Prefecture and Feng An City, as this area was under the jurisdiction of Hanging Sword Mountain and Sheyang Sect.

Wu Dou wiped the snot and tears from his face, thought for a while, and said, "That Immortal seemed to have mentioned something before she left... something called ’Wangyou Market’."

Song Yan’s eyes lit up.

Being new to the place, he hadn’t been able to find a gathering spot for Cultivators, but now he finally had a clue.

"Do you know of any place nearby called ’Wangyou’?"

Wu Dou was stunned but still answered truthfully: "Though this humble one has never been there, I’ve heard passing merchants say that a hundred li to the east is Wangyou Ze, the largest lake within a thousand li radius."

Song Yan nodded, concluding that this must be the place.

He glanced at the darkening sky outside the window, then at Wu Dou’s ragged clothes, feeling a slight pang of guilt.

This matter, after all, started because of him. If Wu Dou wasn’t properly settled, this honest man would likely suffer further.

"What are your plans for the future?" Song Yan asked.

Wu Dou sighed deeply: "Alas. This humble one can’t stay in Feng An City. I originally wanted to go back to my hometown to farm, but... but the Sea Dragon Gang and Barren Mountain Gang won’t let me go."

Song Yan took out a small parcel from his qiankun bag and handed it to Wu Dou.

He then pulled out a protective Talisman, and with a flick of Spiritual Qi, it transformed into a green light that disappeared into Wu Dou’s clothes.

"This matter started because of me. Please accept this money. Keep this Talisman close; it will keep you safe."

Wu Dou tremblingly opened the parcel, which was filled with gold and silver.

These were all mundane gold and silver that Song Yan had found in other people’s qiankun bags and then sorted out.

"This..."

Wu Dou still wanted to politely decline, but Song Yan pushed the items into his hand: "Take it. I’ll see you out of the city in a moment, to avoid further trouble."

It was dusk when they left the teahouse.

As they reached the eastern side gate of the city, the Jianghu martial artists were about to question them, but Song Yan lightly flicked his finger, and a wisp of Spiritual Qi brushed past them. Their eyes immediately became unfocused, as if they saw nothing.

Three li pavilion outside the city.

Wu Dou knelt and kowtowed: "Immortal Master’s great kindness, Wu Dou will never forget!"

The joy of surviving a disaster brought tears to his eyes.

For Mortals, even a slight involvement with Immortals could easily lead to utter ruin.

However, great risks also came with great opportunities.

The gold and silver given by this Immortal Young Master wouldn’t guarantee a lifetime of luxury, but at least he wouldn’t have to worry about food, clothing, and expenses.

"It was my fault to begin with, there’s no need for this."

Song Yan gently helped him up: "Go, and don’t mention today’s events again."

"Yes, yes."

Watching Wu Dou’s receding figure, Xiao Ju softly asked, "Senior Song, shall we depart immediately?"

"Mm."

Since it was a market, it must be a place where Cultivators gathered.

It was a good opportunity to exchange his miscellaneous items for Spirit Stones, and if possible, search for some Spirit Objects to prepare for his future Foundation Establishment...

By the shores of Wangyou Ze, a hundred li of misty waves.

A boatman, rowing on the river, intended to dock by the bank when he saw two figures in the distance.

"Are they crossing the river? What a coincidence..."

The kind old boatman slightly adjusted his direction and rowed towards the two people.

A thick fog suddenly rose over the river, but fortunately, the old man’s boating skills were solid, keeping them on course.

The boat docked at the shore.

"Eh?"

How strange.

The old man looked around but saw no one.

Had those two people disappeared in such a short time?

Could it be that this old man’s eyes were playing tricks on him due to his age...

The lake surface was shrouded in mist, and in front of them, a series of bluestone archways stood on the waterfront, inscribed with the words "Wangyou Market" in glowing characters.

There were Formation fluctuations around, so Mortals would only see a vast expanse of mist.

Beneath the archway, a young Cultivator at the 4th Level of Qi Refining sat cross-legged, toying with a small, intricate mechanism.

It seemed he was the guard of this market?

Xiao He emerged from Song Yan’s clothes, staring at the young man’s toy with longing eyes.

"Oh?"

Seeing the newcomers, the young Loose Cultivator stood up from the ground and smiled at them.

"Fellow Daoists, may your Immortal Dao flourish. Entry to Wangyou Ze Market is one Spirit Stone per person. The little snake is exempt."

His eyes darted, and he added, "However, if a Demon Beast enters and causes any trouble, Fellow Daoist must bear the fault and losses yourself."

"Hmm, thank you for the reminder, Fellow Daoist."

"You’re welcome, you’re welcome."

The young man conjured a Spirit Talisman, and circles of ripples appeared in the air in the middle of the path beside the archway.

"Please proceed slowly."

The young man then sat back down on the ground, continuing to play with the object in his hand.

Song Yan, with Xiao Ju, stepped into the ripples.

In an instant, the scenery before them changed dramatically.

Bluestone paths crisscrossed, with multi-eaved buildings on both sides. Banners hanging from the buildings displayed glowing characters like "Pill," "Artifact," "Talisman," and "Formation."

The scale of this market was likely much larger than any market Song Yan had ever visited.

Cultivators came and went on the streets; some wore Daoist robes and cloaks, others coarse linen, and some even walked with ferocious Demon Beasts.

Song Yan first found a shop with a "Hundred Treasures Pavilion" plaque, intending to sell some miscellaneous items he had.

The shop was small, selling and buying items.

The shopkeeper was a middle-aged Cultivator at the Late Stage of Qi Refining, approximately at the Qi Refining Stage Seventh Level, without needing to be probed.

Seeing Song Yan’s restrained aura and steady gait, the shopkeeper greeted him with a smile: "What do you need, Fellow Daoist?"

Song Yan got straight to the point, shaking his qiankun bag from his sleeve, and a pile of scattered items immediately appeared on the table: several low-grade Spiritual Artifacts, Demon Beast Materials, and a small stack of Spirit Talismans.

Seeing Song Yan’s decisive manner, the shopkeeper didn’t dally and appraised each item.

He sold everything for over eighty Spirit Stones. Song Yan didn’t care about the small difference in price, casually put the Spirit Stones away, and asked, "Shopkeeper, do you have these items?"

He handed over a slip of paper.

Written on it were the names of three Spirit Medicines: Luo Zhen Vine, Yuanling Fruit, and Shuiying Flower.

Song Yan hadn’t obtained any Foundation Establishment Pill Formula from this era, as he had always felt it was too early.

But don’t forget, among the Thousand Pills Formulas, the lowest-grade Medicinal Pill used for teaching examples was the Foundation Establishment Pill.

That was a Foundation Establishment Pill Formula specifically refined for sword Dao Alchemy by Chen Yi, Si Xiangqing, and even the great Alchemy master behind Chen Yi.

Undoubtedly, this was the most suitable for him.

These three Spirit Medicines were precisely the three main ingredients mentioned in that Pill Formula.

The shopkeeper stroked his beard, his gaze sweeping over the paper slip, and mused, "We do have Yuanling Fruit in stock. This item has a wide range of uses, needed for refining Foundation Establishment Pills, Yuming Pills, and other Medicinal Pills. The price is fair, one hundred and twenty Spirit Stones per fruit."

Song Yan also knew about Yuanling Fruit; it was needed for refining many Medicinal Pills in the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Although Song Yan did not possess the more common Foundation Establishment Pill Formula of the current era, he had heard that Yuanling Fruit was one of its auxiliary ingredients.

One hundred and twenty Spirit Stones per fruit, that’s really expensive...

"As for Shuiying Flower..." The shopkeeper showed a troubled expression, "This is one of the main ingredients for the Beauty-Preserving Pill, and female Cultivators are fiercely competitive for it. Our shop’s last stock was half a year ago, and one plant sold for over three hundred Spirit Stones."

...

Seeing Song Yan’s slight frown, the shopkeeper quickly added, "If Fellow Daoist is in a hurry, you might try asking at nearby apothecaries."

"There’s an apothecary next door that specializes in medicinal ingredients and has wide connections. Failing that, there’s an auction at the market in half a month, and I hear the grand finale will be a batch of rare Spirit Medicines, which might include it."

The shopkeeper finally shook his head: "I have no news about Luo Zhen Vine. To be honest, I’ve only heard of this medicinal ingredient; I don’t recall ever seeing it."

Song Yan nodded in thanks, temporarily setting aside the idea of buying Yuanling Fruit here, and turned to leave with Xiao Ju.

To refine the optimized Foundation Establishment Pill recorded in the Thousand Pills Formulas, the most important medicinal ingredient was still Luo Zhen Vine, which he had never heard of, only seen its appearance in the Thousand Pills Formulas.

Other Materials were easy to get and not urgent.

The most crucial thing was that he didn’t have too many Spirit Stones right now.

After wandering around the market for a while, Song Yan suddenly walked towards a secluded bamboo grove on the edge of the market.

He stopped at a desolate path, then suddenly turned around and looked behind him.

"You two, you’ve been following me all this way. Why don’t you show yourselves and have a chat?"

Xiao Ju was startled, her expression wary as she turned to look.

Behind them, a simply dressed female Cultivator and a tall, thin male Cultivator appeared.

The female Cultivator did not conceal her face; she was ordinary, looking more like a farmer’s wife than a Cultivator.

The male Cultivator was even stranger, wearing a mask to hide his face, and the hand exposed from beneath his large sleeve was a sickly pale, completely bloodless.

Song Yan didn’t believe the other party would dare to act in the market. Such a gathering place for Cultivators must have a Foundation Establishment Cultivator overseeing it.

Of the two opponents, the female Cultivator was at the 5th Level of Qi Refining, and the male Cultivator was at Qi Refining Perfection. Even if they truly fought to the death, he had a good chance of winning.

The key was that Song Yan didn’t feel any hostility from these two.

Forget hostility, he couldn’t even sense the vitality of a living person from the male Cultivator.

Was this male Cultivator actually a Corpse Puppet?

"Corpse Control Art?"

A Corpse Puppet at Qi Refining Perfection, what a grand gesture...

The female Cultivator seemed worried about a misunderstanding and hastily stepped forward, bowing politely: "This humble one is Chen Jiping. May I ask if Young Master is Immortal Master Song Yan of Cave Abyss Sect?"

The female Cultivator’s name sounded somewhat familiar, but Song Yan didn’t pay attention.

Xiao He, however, poked her head out from his clothes, staring at the Corpse Puppet, wondering: "This scent... I seem to have smelled it somewhere before."

It seemed the other party was prepared.

Song Yan nodded: "It’s me."

"However, you’d best explain clearly how you knew it was me."

Chen Jiping quickly explained: "Young Master Song, please calm your anger. My Young Lord is your close friend, and we are here to find you by his command."

"He bestowed upon us a tracking secret art, allowing us to sense your location by following your sound transmission Talisman."

After she spoke, she took out a sound transmission Talisman from her hand, which was indeed Sheng Nian’s.

It was just that this sound transmission Talisman seemed to have been enchanted with a secret art.

There were two streaks of spiritual light on it, one of which should be indicating Song Yan’s location.

"When we passed through Feng An City a few days ago, your name was widely known, but for some reason, this secret art failed at that time."

"So we waited here in Wangyou Market. Fortunately, the Spirit Talisman recovered later, and we saw you moving this way."

"We figured you were coming to Wangyou Market, so we decided to wait for you here."

Strange, was the female Cultivator who approached Wu Dou in Feng An City not this Chen Jiping?

As for the secret art failing... it must have been because he entered the Sword Sect ruins.

"Young Lord, close friend?"

After pondering for a moment, Song Yan already had some ideas, but still asked for confirmation: "Since he is a close friend, there’s no need to hide; just state his name directly."

"Xin Shan Sheng Nian, he is indeed my Young Lord."

As expected.

Gou Sheng used all his dirty tricks on his brothers.

...

Song Yan sighed exasperatedly: "Tell me, what did he send you to find me for?"

"He said there’s a big business deal he wants to do with you."

Chen Jiping said, "This humble one is not clear about the specifics. The Young Lord said he wants to meet you in person at Yi River."

"Still being so mysterious." Song Yan scoffed at him disdainfully: "Why didn’t he come himself?"

"Uh, the Young Lord just finished a matter and hasn’t completely gotten away yet. He just sent us to find you."

Upon hearing this, Song Yan pondered for a moment.

Anyway, Linghua Valley wasn’t urgent, so he might as well take the opportunity of his travels to meet an old friend and hear about this so-called big business.

Moreover, Yi River was also in the north, not far from Longquan Prefecture.

It’s just... if so, wouldn’t Xiao Ju then know that he had such a Demonic Path close friend?

Song Yan’s gaze subtly fell on Ju Luyi, deep in thought.

At this moment, Xiao Ju, who had been very wary, relaxed after hearing that the other party’s master was Song Yan’s close friend.

She looked at the two with some curiosity.

In her heart, she was pondering a small matter.

She called Song Yan "Senior Song" mainly because his cultivation was much higher than hers, and he was unwilling to take her as a Disciple.

Furthermore, she was not a Disciple of Cave Abyss Sect, so she couldn’t call him Senior Brother.

But calling him "Senior" always made him seem older than he was.

Senior Song was clearly young and promising.

The other party’s address, however, was very fitting.

"Young Lord..."

It sounded very young and very powerful.

Song Yan, of course, was still unaware of what the young girl was thinking.

"Forget it." He made up his mind. If she came along, so be it. Anyway, Xiao Ju wasn’t a Disciple of the Sect.

Strictly speaking, she was just a Loose Cultivator, and one who was completely inexperienced in the Jianghu.

"Shall we go now?"

Presumably, the Junior Sister who was looking for him might have already left. Now that Sheng Nian had invited him, he could go and see first.

"Okay." Chen Jiping dared not delay. She turned to the male Cultivator beside her: "A Yuan, let’s go."

"Mm."

To Song Yan’s surprise, the male Cultivator stiffly nodded and led the way.

"How can this Corpse Puppet be so intelligent?"

Gou Sheng has been living very comfortably these past few years, with both a maid and a thug at his command.

"Xin Shan..." He pondered the name in his mouth.

What exactly does this kid want to do...

Not long after the four people and one snake left the market, a girl in snow-white clothes returned from outside the market.

Her face was calm, but there was a hint of loss in her brows.

She had searched for Senior Brother Song here for more than ten days without success.

She couldn’t help but sigh softly, her heart heavy.

"Destiny and fate are about predestined connections. Forcing it like this will only lead to nothing..."

Xie Chan understood in her heart.

This time, it was probably a matter of having fate but no Destiny.