Chapter 19: The Xiaoyue Sect, Jinling Sect, and Yushan School Each Sent a Representative

“That day, if I hadn’t gone to the southeast corner of the immortal market to buy materials for artifact refining, I’m afraid I would have been gone too.”

“Therefore, I wanted to team up with Daoist friend Chen, so we can look out for each other.”

Chen Qianliu was just about to say that his cultivation was too shallow and he was afraid he couldn’t take care of Sister Chen, when he suddenly realized. She probably didn’t know his true cultivation level and mistakenly thought he was hiding a great deal of strength, which was why she proposed they cultivate together.

To be honest, Chen Qianliu was still a few months shy of his tenth birthday.

A cultivator’s appearance often severely mismatched their age. Chen Qing probably didn’t have a fetish for young boys; she just wanted to find a “backer.” As for whether this backer was reliable, she was already at the point of seeking any port in a storm.

Well, it was probably also because Chen Qianliu had the appearance of a child. Even if the two were together, they could use the title of “brother and sister” or some other pretext to cover it up. In the future, she could still find a way to disentangle herself.

Chen Qianliu pondered for a moment. He actually had a need of his own, which was to conceal his tracks and his wealth. After all, he had truly accumulated seventeen “meritorious deeds.”

A person who comes and goes alone is often suspected. A person with a family…

Well, that word wasn’t accurate.

In any case, if he partnered with Chen Qing, it could reduce the chances of being suspected.

Especially since they both had the surname Chen, people would definitely mistake them for brother and sister. Many people had died in the Suiyang Immortal Market this time; few were left who knew their backgrounds.

Thinking to this point, Chen Qianliu chuckled and said, “I’m also a little scared. To have Sister Chen looking after me, isn’t that a good thing?”

Chen Qing let out a slight sigh of relief and said, “Come with me.”

She led Chen Qianliu to the place where she usually set up her stall. She stretched out her slender, fair hand and tapped a large rock several times. Chen Qianliu’s vision blurred, and a small, exquisite courtyard appeared before him.

Knowing he must be puzzled, Chen Qing said in a low voice, “There used to be a rogue cultivator who specialized in earth and construction Daoist arts. He wanted to live here long-term, so he spent a great deal of effort to build this cottage.”

“Later, something happened at his home, and he had to leave. He had no choice but to transfer this courtyard. I spent most of my savings and even borrowed some talisman money to buy it.”

Chen Qianliu was slightly surprised. He knew a thing or two about valuables. “This courtyard even comes with its own defensive formation. If not for the fact that it can’t be moved, you’d never be able to buy it for less than twenty or thirty spirit stones.”

Chen Qing smiled. “He was in a hurry to sell it at the time. I only spent five spirit stones.”

When cultivators spoke of spirit stones, they generally meant low-grade spirit stones. The quality of low-grade spirit stones varied, and their value fluctuated greatly. Among cultivators, there was another conversion system; it wasn’t a stable currency.

Chen Qianliu had no interest in calculating the detailed value of this cottage. Speaking of which, he had his own cave residence. In terms of true value, it was much higher than Chen Qing’s place, although his old wife technically owned half of it.

The two were already familiar with each other. Now, having survived a calamity, they felt a bit more warmth and closeness.

This small courtyard had only five rooms. One was Chen Qing’s own residence. One was a storeroom, where she kept the materials she had purchased and the magical artifacts she had refined. One was her workshop, and another was a quiet room for cultivation.

Therefore, Chen Qianliu had no choice. Fortunately, the five rooms were about the same size, and the comfort level was similar.

Chen Qing hadn’t originally planned on finding someone to live with. This demonic calamity had truly frightened her.

When she fled, she had nowhere else to go, so she was among the first to return.

In the two or three months until Chen Qianliu’s return, she hadn’t seen a single familiar face.

The current rogue cultivators in the Suiyang Immortal Market had all come from elsewhere. Some, like Chen Qianliu, had the same idea; hearing that a demonic cultivator had gone on a killing spree, they also wanted to be “tomb raiders.”

They just didn’t expect that someone had already beaten them to it, and they didn’t manage to find anything.

But since they had already come, they were reluctant to leave. After all, the original rogue cultivators were gone, leaving an empty ecological niche, so these people temporarily settled down.

Chen Qing’s cultivation was not high, and she didn’t dare to interact with these unfamiliar rogue cultivators. She was often in a state of fear. That was why the moment she saw Chen Qianliu, she had invited him to live with her. She didn’t really have any other intentions; it was just a matter of huddling together for warmth.

She prepared bedding for Chen Qianliu and also a batch of paper and ink. Watching Chen Qianliu hold a talisman paper up to the sunlight to inspect it, she suddenly felt a sense of peace. She thought to herself, “In the old Suiyang Immortal Market, everyone was more or less familiar with each other, so it was fine for me to be alone. Now, the market is full of outside rogue cultivators. There’s a fight almost every three to five days, and recently, the fights have become more frequent. Having a helper is a good thing, no matter what.”

Chen Qianliu touched the talisman paper, filled with emotion. Although he had made a living by drawing talismans in his previous life, the paper he used was a mix of talisman paper and yellow paper.

This life was even worse. In the six months he had been in the Suiyang Immortal Market, including two minor markets, he had only saved up two hundred and eighty or ninety talisman coins. If he knew how to haggle, it was barely enough to buy a raw spirit stone. He couldn’t afford to use talisman paper at all and had to make do with yellow paper.

Fortunately, his mastery of talisman arts from his previous life was profound, and in this life, he had comprehended the art of the Heart Talisman. Even with yellow paper, the power of the talismans he drew was not diminished in the slightest, and he managed to sell them all.

“Sister Chen, how much for these talisman papers? I’ll pay you back later.”

Chen Qing smiled faintly. “Since we are cultivating together as companions, there’s no need to be so particular about these things.”

Chen Qianliu wasn’t one for false modesty. He smiled and said, “Then I’ll gratefully accept Sister Chen’s kindness.”

He thought for a moment and said, “I have a Talisman White Deer. If Sister Chen needs to go out, you can feel free to use it.”

Besides the eleven new magical treasures, Chen Qianliu also had the Peach Mountain Seal, the Cloud Rosy Banner, the Wind Pearl, and the unrefined illusion-type jade talisman—four other magical treasures.

Among the eleven new treasures, he planned to refine the Soul-Disrupting Banner together with the Cloud Rosy Banner. There was an axe-shaped magical treasure that he found quite handy for cutting open blue jade, which he planned to keep. Then there was the Talisman White Deer…

The two Momentum Swords were useless for now; he wanted to sell them if he got the chance. He also planned to secretly sell the rest of the magical treasures. But these were matters he couldn’t tell Chen Qing about, lest he let the cat out of the bag.

Chen Qing was slightly surprised. Although she had guessed that Chen Qianliu was hiding his true strength, she hadn’t expected that he was actually hiding a magical treasure.

Chen Qing vaguely remembered that when he first came to the Suiyang Immortal Market, he was indeed riding a white deer and was accompanied by a young girl. Now she knew the origin of the white deer, but as for who that girl was, she had the urge to ask. After some thought, she felt their relationship wasn’t that close yet, so she decided against it and went out to get some food for Chen Qianliu.

The Suiyang Immortal Market was in chaos for a while. It only settled down after the Xiaoyue Sect, the Jinling Sect, and the Yushan School each sent a person over. Gradually, it recovered its vitality.

The three sects all knew that this immortal market was of great importance. Without it, the sects would have to travel far to purchase many resources, and many of their products would have to be sold far away, which would consume a great deal of energy and delay the cultivation of their proper disciples. They took the initiative to offer a loan of talisman money to the dozen or so cultivators who intended to stay long-term, encouraging them to settle down here.

“Old-timers” like Chen Qianliu and Chen Qing received particularly favorable treatment. They were given the status of temporary managers of the Suiyang Immortal Market, a status that Daoist Wuchang had previously held.

(End of this chapter)