Chapter 23: Meeting Again at the Market

For seven consecutive nights, Ji Ning dared not fall into a deep sleep. At the slightest sound, she would snap awake, immediately grabbing her newly replaced broom to guard the door.

Twice, she encountered Senior Sister Jiang during her nightly rounds. Ji Ning, brandishing a broom as tall as herself, would startle the poor girl. On such occasions, Ji Ning would act as if possessed, her eyes vacant, muttering incomprehensible things before putting the broom away and retreating straight back to her room.

No matter how Jiang Yeqiu questioned her or described the scene the following day, Ji Ning would stubbornly deny any knowledge of it. Such a humiliating matter was something she would take to the grave.

October arrived, clear and crisp, with vast, cloudless skies. By noon, wearing a light jacket was no longer stifling.

With seventy contribution points tucked away, Ji Ning walked into the Spirit Cloud Peak’s Weapon Pavilion.

It occupied only a single floor and offered a pitiful selection of items, all of the first grade: long swords, short daggers, scimitars, longbows, and spears. They were all forged from black iron, simple in design, riddled with impurities, and with edges that were barely sharp—truly the lowest of the low.

No wonder it was so deserted; with this quality and price, it felt like a trap to swindle contribution points. She reasonably suspected these were rejects from the Artifact Refining Peak, put up for sale merely to recoup the cost of materials.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Ji Ning turned around and went to the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall to exchange her points for fourteen low-grade spirit stones, spending all seventy.

By the afternoon, the seedling maintenance work was finally complete. After the previous batch of purslane was harvested, Ji Ning had planted a new crop. She infused them daily with wood-attribute spiritual energy, and they were all top-grade, with a few showing the potential to reach the pinnacle.

Some disciples, noticing the consistently high quality of the spirit herbs Ji Ning planted, privately asked her for advice. This led her to discover a new way to earn contribution points.

Ji Ning helped them improve the quality of their crops in exchange for 20% of their monthly contribution points for the next three months. On average, she could earn twenty to thirty points per spirit field each month.

Given her current mastery of the Wood Spirit Technique, she could stabilize the quality of the herbs with at most two infusions of energy. However, this depended on the grade; she wasn't entirely confident when it came to second-grade herbs.

She even secretly encouraged her first few clients to act as middlemen. She would still take her 20%, and she didn't care how much of a markup they added.

It wasn't that Ji Ning didn't want to earn more, but the incident from that day had been suppressed by the Uncles the following morning, and it was forbidden to discuss it openly. Furthermore, the records on the Life-Prolonging Technique stated it was applicable only to dead spirit plants; few believed it could affect living ones.

To make money, she had to promote it first. Aside from cultivating and farming, Ji Ning spent her days poring over the jade slips given to her by the two Uncles, busier than a dog.

In recent days, Ji Ning had touched the threshold of the fifth layer of Qi Refining. If she could break through before the Outer Sect assessment, it would provide an extra layer of security.

Before entering secluded meditation, she decided to visit the marketplace to pick out a suitable weapon. She would use the remaining spirit stones for her breakthrough; the sooner she achieved it, the more time she would have to consolidate her Dantian.

The marketplace at the foot of the mountain was teeming with people. There were people of all shapes and sizes, wearing an array of strange outfits.

Several entrances had added administrative staff specifically to register those entering and leaving. While they didn't force people to state their names or origins, there was a mirror the height of a person at every gate, and the staff required everyone to stand before it. Furthermore, every person had to be marked with a spiritual talisman. With these two procedures, the line moved slowly.

Even disciples arriving from the main path within the sect had to undergo this. Regular visitors to the marketplace looked calm, clearly accustomed to it, but many like Ji Ning, who only came occasionally, were unaware of the rules and complained incessantly while waiting in line.

The exit was much faster; one only needed to look into the mirror again.

When it was Ji Ning’s turn, nothing unusual happened. The face reflected in the mirror was round and full of vitality, with a delicate, dainty nose, eyes as bright as glass, and thin lips.

Ji Ning looked left and right, nodding in satisfaction. "Not bad looking!" She didn't often look in mirrors, but seeing herself now, she realized she had been taking quite good care of herself.

The person in charge to the side twitched his mouth, his face darkening as he said unpleasantly, "Next! Next!!!"

Ji Ning pouted and hurried aside, muttering under her breath, "It was just a few extra seconds, no need to be so irritable. Did he eat gunpowder or something?"

Unfortunately, the official in charge of the Heart-Questing Mirror had sharp ears. He glared at Ji Ning with immense resentment and fury. He currently hated everyone equally, as well as this wretched job.

The gaze flashed by, and Ji Ning didn't pay it any mind. However, at the station where spiritual talismans were issued, she saw a familiar face.

The person applying the talisman was young, wearing an outer sect disciple’s robe, and his technique was extremely practiced. He took out a talisman, channeled his spiritual power, and made the runes fade into Ji Ning’s body, tucking the blank paper away.

Two meters behind him, under a large locust tree, sat Uncle Cui in a reclining chair, eyes closed as he rocked back and forth. He was wearing grey silk robes today, with a jade token hanging at his waist, its base carved with holes and strung with tassels—identical to the token worn by Uncle Ji from the Spirit Plant Hall.

Ji Ning called out softly, "Uncle Cui?"

Two seconds later, the man in the reclining chair opened his eyes and planted a foot on the ground to stop the rocking. Upon seeing who it was, his brows and eyes curved into a smile, and he raised his fan to signal for Ji Ning to come over.

The disciple applying the talisman, seeing Uncle Cui’s gesture, did not interfere.

"Uncle, why are you here?"

Uncle Cui closed his eyes and began rocking the chair again, saying lazily, "The sect sent me to oversee the marketplace entrance. They’re worried someone might cause trouble."

"Are you here to buy something?"

Disciples in the sect usually came to the market for one of two reasons: to buy or to sell. As a miscellaneous disciple like Ji Ning, who had no special skills and didn't own the spirit plants she grew, she was usually here to buy.

"I’m buying a weapon." There was no reason to hide that.

"I see... The Chongwu Pavilion and the Shangxuan Pavilion in the West Market have good things, though the prices are a bit higher. You might want to take a look."

"Thank you for the advice, Uncle." If an Uncle said so, the goods must be decent.

Before leaving, Ji Ning asked, "Uncle, what is the purpose of this mirror and the talisman inside my body?"

"The mirror is the Heart-Questing Mirror; it reveals one’s true heart and form to anyone below the Nascent Soul stage. The talisman is a Breath-Fixing Talisman; it can lock onto one’s aura and location within the market to prevent trouble."

Ji Ning nodded. So, it was just a Truth-Revealing Mirror and a tracker. She had learned something new!

"If you don't want to carry the talisman, I can remove it for you," Uncle Cui said, lowering his voice. "This is a small privilege of mine, but only this once. However, if you join the Myriad Formation Hall, you can come and go through the market freely in the future. How about it?"

Ji Ning was embarrassed. "That won't be necessary. I don't mind the trouble."

"Heh." Uncle Cui gave a dry laugh and then instructed her, "Just pretend you didn't hear what I said just now. Don't let Old Ji know, or he'll come looking for me to make a scene."

Uncle Cui, how could you even say that...

As she bowed to bid Uncle Cui farewell, a commotion suddenly erupted by the Heart-Questing Mirror.