Chapter 50: Talking is Forbidden in the Market Street
The Dao Sect’s Immortal Artifact Appreciation Assembly was a renowned event in the Nine Provinces, held once every hundred years. Any cultivator could participate, and for those who owned immortal artifacts, it was a rare opportunity for exchange. While called an “appreciation” event, it was essentially a battleground for artifact duels.
For other cultivators, it was a chance to watch the battles, trade treasures, and showcase their own. Various merchant guilds were also eager to take part, having already set up temporary branches under the Dao Sect’s oversight, selling and auctioning treasures in anticipation of a grand business opportunity.
With the Dao Sect backing the event, no one dared to forcefully suppress prices with their cultivation level, nor engage in robbery after the auction ended.
It had been over eighty years since the last Immortal Artifact Appreciation Assembly. This time, due to the Yin-Yang Heaven Seal refining itself in a unique transformation, the Dao Sect decided to hold the assembly ahead of schedule.
“Are you going to the market street?” Jiang Li asked after leaving the Sealed Cave.
“Huh?” Holy Maiden Jingxin hadn’t expected him to ask that. She actually really wanted to go, not necessarily to buy anything, but just to browse.
However, recalling their previous flying boat incident and considering Jiang Li’s personality, if she admitted she wanted to go, he might just say, “Alright, you go ahead. I’m leaving.”
So, against her own wishes, she said, “No, what’s so interesting about the market street? I’m not going.”
“Oh, then you go on ahead. I’ll take a look around.” Jiang Li said and left without hesitation, leaving Holy Maiden Jingxin standing there, bewildered by the turn of events.
She stomped her foot in frustration, clenched her teeth, and ended up following him anyway.
As Jiang Li had already decided, he was here for a vacation, so he had no particular goal—just wandering around and visiting friends.
“Hmm? Didn’t you say the market street was boring?” Jiang Li asked as he walked alone, surprised when Holy Maiden Jingxin quickly caught up to him.
“Oh, this flower is beautiful!” Unable to answer his question, she crouched down and pretended to be fascinated by a flower on a vendor’s stall.
It truly was a stunning flower—pure white from petals to stem, with a thin layer of frost covering its surface. Under the sunlight, the frost reflected a faint, seven-colored glow.
“Miss, you have a keen eye! I spent a month in the Extreme Cold Lands just to find this Ice Crystal Flower. It’s incredibly beneficial for cultivators with Ice Spiritual Roots, giving them a chance to perceive the essence of extreme frost!” The vendor enthusiastically promoted his flower. Ice Spiritual Roots were a rare variant of single spiritual roots, making such cultivators exceptionally rare. He had struggled to sell the flower, so he came to the Immortal Artifact Appreciation Assembly, hoping for a better opportunity.
He assumed Holy Maiden Jingxin had an Ice Spiritual Root.
After asking the price, she bought it outright without bargaining.
She actually had a Wood Spiritual Root, so the flower was useless to her. But that didn’t matter—she simply liked how it looked.
With her wealth, Holy Maiden Jingxin bought anything she found visually appealing, without checking its authenticity or utility.
Her captivating beauty, combined with her lavish spending, quickly drew attention.
Jiang Li, on the other hand, wore a mask, causing no one to pay him any mind. His mask was designed to look like his own face.
A mask of the beloved “Human Sovereign Jiang”—popular among children and sold for one low-grade spirit stone apiece.
“What a beautiful woman. Bring her to me—I’ll make her my eighth imperial consort!” The youngest son of the Wei Emperor ordered his subordinates.
His subordinates hesitated before advising, “Your Highness, the Noble Consort specifically told you not to cause trouble at the Dao Sect.”
At this moment, the Wei Emperor was still grieving the fact that he would never see the Mortal World Celestial again. He had no interest in governance or in attending the assembly himself, so he sent his youngest son in his place.
The young prince glared, making his subordinates too afraid to argue further. Everyone knew that, favored by the Wei Emperor, he ran rampant in Great Wei, indulging in cruelty and debauchery. His methods of dealing with people were excessively ruthless. If they had a choice, they wouldn’t want to serve him at all.
“We received a report that you were causing trouble. Come with us.” Two Dao Sect disciples approached the young prince expressionlessly. Seeing that he remained motionless, they prepared to take action.
“How dare you! I am a prince of Great Wei!”
The young prince panicked. The Six Great Sects and the Nine Great Dynasties held equal status. As a prince, he was equivalent to a core disciple of the Dao Sect. How could they dare treat him like this?!
The two Dao Sect core disciples sneered.
Causing trouble right next to the Human Sovereign? Forget being a prince—even if his father were here, it wouldn’t help him.
His subordinates put up only a token resistance before watching him get taken away.
I’m at the Soul Formation Stage, so it’s normal that I can’t beat Dao Sect Nascent Soul cultivators, right?
“What did I even do to deserve this?!” The young prince panicked. His subordinates didn’t help him, and the Dao Sect clearly wasn’t afraid of him. “I haven’t even done anything bad yet!”
“Talking is forbidden in the market street!”
The young prince stared in disbelief at the bustling street around him.
What kind of ridiculous excuse is this?!
If they had said he stepped into the market street with his left foot first, he might have accepted it. No, wait—he wouldn’t accept that either!
The Dao Sect core disciples ignored his protests and dragged him away.
From Jiang Li’s perspective, the market street was full of hidden treasures—a leaf with a peerless sword technique inscribed on it, a dew-collecting dish that was actually a key to a mystic realm, a demon beast’s leg bone containing a drop of true blood from a Soul Formation demon beast…
If Jiang Li wanted to seek out hidden treasures, he could find 99% of the good items in the market street.
But to him, they were useless. He might as well leave them for the younger generation.
He noticed an auction promotion nearby. The announcement listed the items up for bidding and hinted at a mysterious grand finale. Curious, he went inside to take a look.
“Top-grade spiritual treasure, Demon-Slaying Flying Sword! Increases damage against demon clans by 30%! Starting bid: 500 low-grade spirit stones!”
“512!”
“1,024!”
“2,048!”
“4,096!”
Jiang Li placed the first bid, and from there, the others started doubling the price exponentially, making the auctioneer’s face twitch.
In thirty years of auctioneering, he had never seen someone bid like this.
Can’t they just call out normal numbers?!
Even more amusingly, the demon clans were the most interested in the sword. They were the ones driving the price up, and ultimately, a demon clan member bought it.
“Why did that happen?” Holy Maiden Jingxin was puzzled. She had assumed the sword would appeal more to the humans near the Baize Dynasty, who frequently fought off demon beast attacks.
“If it increases damage against demon clans, that just means it helps them defeat their own kind more easily.” Jiang Li sighed. “Defeating their peers, survival of the fittest, the strong rule, bloodline supremacy—basically, there’s no sense of unity or progress.”
Next came auctions for top-grade Longevity Pills, Dragon-Tiger Strength Pills, the Yuheng Bronze Mirror, Buddhist prayer beads, and other items, all highly sought after by the cultivators present.
But for Jiang Li and Holy Maiden Jingxin, these were unimpressive. Even if given for free, they had no use for them.
Finally, the so-called “mystery grand finale” turned out to be a Dao Artifact—a massive hammer infused with the Dao of Dreams that knocked people unconscious and trapped them in dream realms.
Jiang Li pondered for a long time, but he still couldn’t figure out what practical use the hammer had.