Chapter 125: Portrait

“People like that usually keep the goods on an accomplice, not on themselves. If they find a suitable buyer, they negotiate the method of exchange first.”

“Even with all that caution piled upon caution, black-on-black robberies still happen. This way merely keeps too many eyes from settling on them.”

Seeing that Niu Youdao seemed unfamiliar with the tricks of the trade and kept asking layman’s questions, while Yuan Fang looked just as muddleheaded and ignorant, Black Peony explained things as they walked. Yet inwardly she was beginning to wonder whether she had misjudged him.

Lei Zongkang, Wu Sanliang, and Duan Hu, following alongside them, occasionally exchanged glances. The same doubt could be seen in their eyes.

Lei Zongkang’s brows visibly drew together. Several times he looked as though he wanted to say something, but held back.

“Do you normally do this too?” Niu Youdao asked casually.

“There’s no helping it. The purchase prices offered by sect-owned shops are simply too low. They force people to take risks.”

Black Peony gave the explanation with a hint of embarrassment, then pointed at the shops around them to change the subject. “There are plenty of shops here. Any sect is qualified to open one, but most sects capable of maintaining a shop in Star-Plucking City have some strength behind them. The cost of operating here isn’t low, so very small sects can’t really afford it. And cultivators only need so many things, so despite all these shops, most of them actually sell much the same merchandise. A lot of sects keep a shop here mainly because it gives them a convenient place to conduct affairs. Trade is secondary. If there’s business, they do it; if not, it doesn’t matter.”

“The shops that truly conduct serious business mostly belong to sects with a specialized craft. Take the Ling Sect. They excel at refining spirit pills and are the largest pill-refining sect in the cultivation world, so naturally their shop here sells medicinal pills. The Qiyun Sect is the cultivation world’s foremost sect for forging artifacts, so its shop sells artifacts. The Myriad Beasts Sect excels at taming birds and beasts, and that is what they sell. The Tianxing Sect specializes in formations and sells all manner of talismans. Shops belonging to sects like these are the ones that truly make money. Such specialized sects are naturally wealthy, and many other sects deal with them directly.”

Niu Youdao had read about these sects in the Shangqing Record of Gleanings. Hearing Black Peony speak of them now piqued his interest. He had come here precisely to broaden his horizons, so he smiled. “Come on. Let’s go have a look at those sects.”

Black Peony and the others naturally led the way, though there was hardly any need.

Just as she had said, these were sects that did serious business. Their shops were large both in footprint and scale, and stood out plainly even from a distance.

The group first entered the nearby Tianxing Sect shop. The atmosphere inside was rather peculiar. At first glance, it looked as though rows of spirit tablets for the dead had been set out everywhere. In truth, they were not memorial tablets, but wooden carvings shaped like talismans, essentially display samples. Each was marked with a price. If a customer wanted one, the real talisman would be brought out for sale.

The dazzling variety of talismans left Niu Youdao, seeing such things for the first time, deeply impressed.

The key to a talisman lay in how energy was stored within it and how that energy was released to produce different effects. Many cultivators knew at least something about talisman-making, but using one’s own spiritual power to create talismans consumed cultivation heavily. One had to inject one’s natal source of power into the talisman.

The Transmission Protective Talisman within Niu Youdao’s body, for example, was one such talisman, created by Dong Guo Haoran pouring his own natal source of power into it.

Under ordinary circumstances, no one would waste the power they had painstakingly cultivated on something like this.

According to the Shangqing Record of Gleanings, however, the Tianxing Sect had broken through that key limitation. They possessed a method of gathering spiritual qi from outside the body and condensing it into energy, then exploiting that method to the fullest by storing the energy in specially prepared carriers and turning them into talismans for sale.

For example, horses had limits to their stamina and needed rest along a journey to recover. But one type of Tianxing Sect talisman could bolster a horse and let it gallop all day without stopping, making rapid travel possible. The moment the talisman’s energy ran out, however, was also the moment the horse dropped dead. Unless the circumstances were exceptional, few people would use such a talisman.

There were also talismans for warding off evil. Once activated and placed inside a home, such a talisman emitted fluctuations of spiritual power, causing approaching demons and monsters to mistake them for the presence of a cultivator and refrain from entering.

Other talismans could unleash violently erupting energy powerful enough to kill someone outright, while Immobilization Talismans used constraining energy to pin a person in place.

Most of these talismans were single-use items, and none were cheap. Using them was practically the same as burning money. Ordinary people could not control them either; only cultivators could. And talismans were dead objects while people were living beings, so their actual use carried a degree of uncertainty.

Niu Youdao therefore only looked around and broadened his horizons. He had no intention of buying anything. In any case, the money he carried could not afford much here.

After leaving, the group wandered over to the Qiyun Sect. What it sold was essentially weapons of every kind, and it also accepted commissions for custom weapons.

People naturally did not come to the Qiyun Sect merely because its craftsmanship looked refined. The real key was the sect’s exclusive forging methods.

Ordinary sabers and swords were easily notched when they struck one another. In the hands of cultivators, whose blows carried tremendous force, ordinary weapons were even more prone to snapping. Weapons produced by the Qiyun Sect solved that problem to varying degrees, with the more expensive pieces naturally being better.

After walking through the shop, Niu Youdao considered having a batch of daggers custom-made for Yuan Gang. Yuan Fang’s monk’s saber could stand to be replaced as well. But Qiyun Sect goods were not cheap. Everything here was some so-called treasured saber or treasured sword, and for the moment their funds were insufficient. They could only look.

The group came out of the Qiyun Sect shop and strolled along the street.

At an intersection nearby, a man stood scanning the surroundings as though searching for someone. His gaze swept casually over Black Peony’s group, then suddenly paused before snapping back. This time, he focused on Niu Youdao’s face.

After Niu Youdao and the others passed, the man slipped unobtrusively into the street crowd and followed at a measured distance.

Before long, he watched the group enter the Ling Sect shop. He did not follow them inside, but waited across the street.

Inside, Niu Youdao again mostly looked around casually. He did not need Spirit Essence Pills for cultivation for the time being. Yuan Fang did, but their funds were limited. Buying only a tiny amount would invite ridicule, and there was no need to increase Black Peony and the others’ suspicions. In the end, Niu Youdao spent only one thousand gold coins on some medicine for treating injuries.

When the group came back out, the man waiting across the street blended into the crowd again and followed.

The Myriad Beasts Sect’s shop was considerably more entertaining. All kinds of domesticated birds and beasts were kept in cages for people to inspect, an eye-opening sight. Every one had already been trained. Once purchased, the Myriad Beasts Sect would teach the buyer how to control it.

Different birds and beasts served different purposes and commanded different prices. Goldenwings used for communications were relatively inexpensive and were also the most numerous creatures on display.

The truly costly items were the huge flying creatures kept in separate enclosure-like cells deeper inside. Some stood a full zhang tall even with their feet on the ground.

These were flying mounts capable of carrying riders. Ordinary people could not control them conveniently. Despite their enormous bodies, simply carrying a dead weight on their backs made sustained flight difficult. A cultivator riding one could use a little spiritual power to control the surrounding qi and cooperate with the creature, making it ideal for long-distance travel.

Large flying beasts like these had become extremely rare in the wild. Most had either been captured or hunted, and breeding them was very difficult—nothing like simply hatching chickens or small birds. The Myriad Beasts Sect, however, knew how to raise and breed them, which was why such creatures could be sold in its shop at all.

Excellent as flying mounts were, their prices were absurdly high. They easily ran into the tens of millions of gold coins. Few people could afford to use them.

“Three years without a sale, then one sale feeds you for three!” Niu Youdao clicked his tongue at the prices.

Again, the group could do nothing but look and broaden their horizons.

After leaving the Myriad Beasts Sect shop, they wandered through the city a little longer. Only after they had seen enough did they return to the Inviting Moon Inn.

Outside the inn, certain people consumed by envy and jealousy once again pointed after Black Peony’s disappearing back and muttered among themselves.

Only then did the man who had followed them the entire way openly reveal himself. He walked over to those whispering people and asked, “What are you all muttering about here?”

“Oh! Master Huang.” Several men turned, recognized a Liuxian Sect disciple, and immediately greeted him with great politeness.

The newcomer was Huang Engui, one of the disciples stationed at the Liuxian Sect’s shop in Star-Plucking City. He looked like nothing more than a shop assistant, but to these independent cultivators he was still someone they could not afford to offend.

Huang Engui tipped his chin toward the inn. “What were you pointing at?”

One man shook his head with a sigh. “Master Huang, you may not know. Black Peony—that dark-skinned woman who’s always wandering around the city. You know her, right?”

Huang Engui grunted. “I know her. What about her?”

The man sighed. “She’s latched onto someone. You understand. Looks like she’ll probably be founding a sect before long. Who knows what method the woman used, but you can imagine. With a woman, what else is there? Drop her trousers and it beats ten thousand words from us.”

Huang Engui chuckled. He could hear the sour jealousy in the man’s voice, but that was not what concerned him. Smiling, he said, “That’s a good thing. Jealous, are you? By the way, who did she latch onto? Which sect’s expert is willing to recommend and guarantee her?”

The man shook his head. “The main fellow looks pretty young. No idea what sect he belongs to. I suppose his name is in the guest register with the innkeeper, but the Inviting Moon Inn won’t disclose any guest information, so they’re hardly going to tell the likes of us.”

“Heh. I’m done listening to your nonsense. Carry on envying her.” Huang Engui laughed, patted the man’s shoulder, glanced at the inn, then turned away.

The man called after him, “Master Huang, how about putting in a good word for me with the Liuxian Sect?”

Without looking back, Huang Engui waved a hand. “I don’t have authority over that. Keep waiting here for your chance!”

Even so, the men still flattered him. “Take care, Master Huang.”

The Liuxian Sect shop was nearly deserted. It had never been much of a serious commercial establishment.

Huang Engui hurried inside, went straight to the counter, and called to the shopkeeper sitting cross-legged behind it. “Martial Uncle, let me see that portrait again.”

The shopkeeper opened his eyes. “What portrait?”

Huang Engui said, “Didn’t you have several of us watching the streets? The likeness the Song family sent over. Niu Youdao. I think I may have just seen him.”

“Are you sure?” The shopkeeper shot to his feet. At the same time, he pulled a roll of paper from beneath the counter and threw it onto the surface, urging him to look quickly.

[End of Chapter 125]