Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 159 - 159 0167 A Bit Long-winded

Chapter 159: Chapter 0167: A Bit Long-winded Chapter 159: Chapter 0167: A Bit Long-winded The coachman didn’t feed the third-grade pill to the horses like the previous one did. Instead, he carefully put the stuff away and then invited Qi Tian and Huang Liuyan into the carriage.

“Take us to the marketplace on Qingfeng Street.” Huang Liuyan ordered.

A little more than half an hour later, the coachman parked the carriage at the entrance of a marketplace. Even without dismounting, it was clear that the place was packed with people; a teeming mass of humanity amidst a bustling riot of horse-drawn carriages. Unsurprisingly, it was the busiest commercial area on Thirteenth Street, Eastern District in Wanjie city, and undoubtedly, the place with the best value for money, as Huang Liuyan had informed Qi Tian while they were on the road.

As Qi Tian was still new to Wanjie City, he simply listened to whatever Huang Liuyan told him. Upon stepping down from the carriage, he couldn’t help but look around in curiosity, trying to understand what drew countless cultivators to this place.

Most of the people here were at the Qi Cultivation stage, though there were some like Huang Liuyan at the Foundation Establishment stage. Everyone seemed rather peaceful together on the street, including the cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage who didn’t abuse their higher cultivation level to act pompous. Wanjie City attached great importance to order. Unless one possessed extremely powerful capabilities or had a background that even Wanjie City was wary of, one had to keep a low profile here. Otherwise, they would meet a truly gruesome end.

Qi Tian saw people of various races in different attire, even members of the demon race, and those who were half-human and half-demon. This led him to ponder if Wanjie City was truly connected to countless realms. If it was, then who wielded enough power to manage such a connection? If not, then what sustained this gigantic city?

Huang Liuyan was always worried that she might lose Qi Tian in the crowd. If that happened, it would be almost impossible to find him. If Qi Tian could not leave Wanjie City promptly, the consequences could be disastrous. Therefore, she always held his hand and even gave him a jade plate to carry, which she could use to locate him if they got separated.

Inside the market, the swell of people was even greater, a sea of heads in every direction. Qi Tian looked around like a curious child. He had visited various markets before, in both his past and present lives, but none could compare to this place. Of course, this place’s appeal was mainly the myriad cultivation-related resources it offered for sale. It was literally a one-stop-shop for a cultivator’s lifetime needs. Only when he arrived here did Qi Tian realize his understanding of cultivators was, in fact, quite shallow. Some of the items, he had never even heard of before. Yet here, countless people were perusing and selecting these items as if it were as normal as breathing.

What surprised Qi Tian most was the constant trembling of the Heavenly Dao Engine in his palm, similar to a starving wolf drooling at the sight of a flock of sheep. Had Qi Tian not kept it under control, the Heavenly Dao Engine might have unleashed the Transporting Whirlwind, which would’ve caused chaos among the roadside buildings and stalls.

But this control was not a long-term solution, especially when they reached a point where Qi Tian felt he could barely keep the Heavenly Dao Engine under control. He abruptly halted, causing Huang Liuyan to stop as well.

“Qi Tian, why have you stopped? We need to hurry. If we dilly-dally, we might run out of time.” Huang Liuyan said.

Qi Tian pointed at a large gate nearby and said, “Aunt Master, I’d like to go in and take a look.”

Huang Liuyan glanced at the plaque hanging above the gate and said, “This is a second-hand market where items of unknown origin or unwanted by others are sold. Are you sure you want to go in? I won’t deny that there might be some good items here, but there are a lot more fakes and substandard items. If you’re not discerning, you risk not only wasting time but also potentially losing everything.”

Qi Tian nodded and said, “Let’s just go in and look around, please.”

Huang Liuyan sighed and said, “Alright, we can stay here for an hour. And, if you want to buy anything, let me check it first.”

They stepped through the gate together. The crowd was just as dense as outside, but it was not as suffocating. Huang Liuyan let go of Qi Tian’s hand and let him lead the way while she followed. Apart from fetching Qi Tian a cudgel-like weapon in Wanjie City, her intent was also to broaden his horizons, make him more worldly, and gain experience. If she did everything for him, it would defeat the purpose of their trip.

The second-hand market was akin to a large farmer’s market, surrounded by storefronts with numerous ground stalls in the middle. Qi Tian looked around at first seemingly aimlessly. In reality, he was relying on the trembling of the Heavenly Dao Engine in his palm to guide his movement.

Before long, Qi Tian stopped in front of a stall. Here he saw a familiar sight; the owner had marked off an area with a rope, within which lay hundreds of unprocessed spirit stones.

Just as Qi Tian was about to walk in, Huang Liuyan pulled him back, saying, “Qi Tian, buying these stones is like gambling, you lose nine out of ten times. Think carefully before you buy.”

“I know, Auntie.” Qi Tian patted Huang Liuyan’s soft back of the hand, and then stepped into the stall.

Huang Liuyan sighed and had no choice but to follow him in.

The spirit stones in this stall were of high quality. Over twenty of them aroused a significant reaction from the Heavenly Dao Engine. Qi Tian wished he could buy all of them, but he knew not to be too ostentatious, and moreover, these spirit stones were not cheap. Although Qi Tian had some spirit stones, he did not have enough to buy all the ones he thought were valuable. Thus, he could only pick the best out from the lot, ultimately settling on five.

One of these five stones was about the size of two of Qi Tian’s fists, two were the size of a watermelon, one was about the size of a large desk, and the smallest one was the size of a child’s fist. Despite being the smallest, it triggered the strongest reaction from the Heavenly Dao Engine, almost making Qi Tian lose control of it.

After telling the vendor which five stones he wanted, the vendor gathered them together for Qi Tian to confirm, then quoted a price—it was very expensive, totalling to 1100 spirit stones.

Upon hearing the price, Huang Liuyan was truly startled. A single spirit stone was about the size of a mahjong tile; 1100 of them would make up quite a large pile. In contrast, the volume of the spirit stones Qi Tian had selected was very small, excluding the largest one. Not to mention that it’s not guaranteed that there are spirit stones within these stones, even if there were, after cutting off their coarse exteriors and properly cutting them, it’s uncertain whether he could get 1100 spirit stones out of them at all. It was essentially a risky deal.

Just as Huang Liuyan was about to dissuade Qi Tian from buying them, Qi Tian had already brought out his spirit stones and handed them to the vendor. The vendor, having encountered such a big business deal, quickly took the stones and put them away. At the same time, he sternly said, “We have a no-returns and no-exchanges policy here. Please take your spirit stones away. This concludes our transaction.”

Qi Tian waved his hand and put away the five spirit stones, and then, holding Huang Liuyan’s hand, left the stall.

“Qi Tian, you were too reckless. Didn’t we agree that you would seek my opinion before buying anything?” Huang Liuyan said, somewhat annoyed.

Qi Tian chuckled, saying, “Auntie, I wouldn’t buy it if I wasn’t fairly confident. I can’t say how much I’ll earn from this transaction, but I’m certain that I won’t make a loss.”

Huang Liuyan sighed, saying, “Hopefully so. Qi Tian, you are a Qi Cultivation period cultivator and are based in the not-so-rich Imperial Master Mansion. It’s not easy to earn those spirit stones. You must spend them frugally. There will be many occasions in the future when you will need them.”

Qi Tian nodded repeatedly. Huang Liuyan might be a bit naggy, but her concern for him was genuine. Moreover, Huang Liuyan was a great beauty, and seeing her talk, even if it’s a bit too much, was really quite a sight to behold.

“Let’s go, Auntie, let’s explore more.” The Heavenly Dao Engine in his palm was trembling and the amplitude of the trembling did not decrease; there must still be treasures in this old goods market that the Heavenly Dao Engine deemed extremely valuable to devour. No matter what, Qi Tian had to get his hands on them.

Several minutes later, Qi Tian and Huang Liuyan stopped in front of another stall, similar to the previous one selling spirit stones. It was also enclosed by a rope marking its boundary. There were several rows of pedestals, each higher than an average person’s waist. These pedestals were narrow but long, stretching from one end to the other.

Every foot or so, there was a storage bag on these pedestals. Each of these bags was protected by an energy shield, customers could only look and were not allowed to touch. Next to each storage bag, there was a price tag, indicating the price of that bag.

Huang Liuyan recognized the place and said, “This is similar to the place that sells stones, but here you are gambling on what’s inside the storage bags. The owner got countless storage bags from who knows where. Some have things inside, some don’t. Some are filled with invaluable treasures, some are worthless. When they got these storage bags, they wouldn’t open them. Instead, they would seal them up, take them here, estimate a rough price, and then sell them publicly. You need to be very careful because many of the previous owners of these bags are still alive. They have unique marks on them, and touching them might make you a mortal enemy.”