Chapter 155: My Heart Is at Peace, There Is My Home

Where is the best place to gather information? The marketplace, of course.

The next morning, Hu Li walked out of his immortal cave, preparing to visit the market. Standing at the entrance of his dwelling, he raised his gaze and was instantly struck dumb by the scenery before him.

His immortal cave was built upon the summit of a lush, wooded hill. It must have been the highest point in the Eastern District, offering a panoramic view of all surrounding peaks.

Surrounded by the sea on three sides, it had the deep, azure sky at its back.

A morning sun, resembling a salted duck egg yolk, was just rising. Purple auspicious Qi drifted from the east, complementing the swirling, propitious clouds. On the horizon, the graceful silhouettes of cranes danced, accompanied from time to time by their clear, distant cries.

"Master, look! This is what you call a true fairyland!" the fox exclaimed, feeling more and more that the twenty-two hundred spiritual stones had been well spent.

"Pfft." Feng Ke'er saw right through his thoughts and burst out laughing. "Little Fox, why do I feel like you're a merchant down to your very bones?"

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Hu Li replied with utmost solemnity, "Master has a discerning eye. I entered the Dao through commerce. My Dao heart is the commercial path. My initial wish was to establish the largest marketplace in the three realms and crush those human cultivators who looked down upon monster beasts with sheer spiritual stones."

Feng Ke'er sighed inwardly: Poor child, just how lucky must you have been not to have grown up crooked?

Seeing that she didn't respond, Hu Li casually asked in return, "Master, how did you enter the Dao? What is your Dao heart?"

Feng Ke'er was actually stumped by his question. Having cultivated for several centuries, it seemed she had never once pondered what a Dao heart actually was!

With a sharp intake of breath, she stammered, "Must one have a Dao heart to practice cultivation?"

Hu Li paused slightly, scratching his head. "That's only natural. Cultivation is an act defying the heavens, fraught with danger and hardship. Without a Dao heart, how could one persevere?"

Feng Ke'er retorted, "To live, to strive to live. How precious life is! Therefore, no matter what hardships or obstacles I encounter, I tell myself I must strive to live on. In this way, I persevered, taking it step by step, walking solidly to this very day." What the future would hold, she did not know. But at least along this path, that was how she had walked it. The time since her transmigration had been too long. From God knows when, life in the modern world had already begun to feel like a past lifetime. Her heart could never return. Where her heart found peace was her home, she told herself, resolving to be like the seed of a dandelion, clinging fiercely to life wherever she landed, and striving to live it to the fullest.

Hu Li let out a soft "Ah," asking with puzzlement, "Master, do you cultivate merely to live?"

Feng Ke'er rolled her eyes. "Of course. The reason I cultivate is for longevity, to live freely. Let me ask you, what is your purpose in vowing to build the largest marketplace in the three realms?" She hummed internally, warning herself not to tell him that he intended to serve the people heart and soul.

Hu Li stood dazed in the open space before the immortal cave, actually entering a state of meditation!

You've got to be kidding me! Feng Ke'er was speechless—didn't you say you wanted to go shopping? You've stirred up all the shopping desires I've suppressed for centuries, and now you're meditating! You simply don't break promises like this.

Once he entered meditation, there was no telling how long he would stare into space. The young woman was pining for the bustling marketplace of the spiritual realm, her heart itching as if scratched by a hundred claws.

Fortunately, after a quarter of an hour, Hu Li came out of his meditation. Realizing he was still standing at the entrance of the cave, he repeatedly apologized to Feng Ke'er.

Feng Ke'er noticed that his sea of consciousness was noticeably calmer and mellower than before his meditation, so she couldn't help asking, "Fox, it seems you've gained something. What exactly have you realized?"

Hu Li chuckled softly. "Nothing much. It's just that after hearing Master's words just now, my mind suddenly felt enlightened. In the past, many of my views were indeed somewhat biased and narrow." Glancing at the sky, he changed the subject. "Master, business is pressing. Once we return from the marketplace, I shall report the details to you, if that's all right?"

"Very well, we'll talk in detail when we get back," Feng Ke'er nodded.

Last night, Hu Li had thoroughly read the Guidebook and found no rule prohibiting flight over the airspace of the Southern Spirit Continent, so he steered his cloud boat and flew toward the Central District.

It seemed the cloud boat had been damaged during his ascension. Not only did it creak noisily when airborne, but its flying speed could not be pushed up either, failing to reach even a third of its speed in the lower realm.

"This cloud boat was specially commissioned by me over five thousand years ago from a famous grandmaster of artifact refining; I'm afraid it has reached the end of its usefulness," the fox said, a blush rising to his face as he laughed sheepishly.

Feng Ke'er let out an "Mhm." "No matter, we're not in a rush." Besides, looking down from the air, the streets below were quiet and virtually deserted. Could the people of the Southern Spirit Continent have the habit of sleeping in?

More than an hour later, Hu Li finally flew above the marketplace according to the map.

By then, the market had just opened its gongs—the Southern Spirit Continent enforced a curfew, so the marketplaces here opened with a golden gong at dawn and closed with an evening drum at dusk, remaining completely closed at night.

Unlike the Eastern District, the Central District was half hills and half plains. The hilly area was residential, while the flatland was designated as the marketplace.

Rows of blue-tiled, dark-brick houses stood in neat, close rows. People of all stripes poured into them like flowing water. Soon, the marketplace became bustling and extraordinarily lively.

This was the largest marketplace Feng Ke'er had seen since her transmigration, its scale in no way inferior to a modern, prosperous CBD commercial district.

Low-altitude flight was forbidden above the marketplace. So, Hu Li put away his cloud boat and walked into the market.

He truly deserved to be someone who entered the Dao through commerce. After wandering around the market for just a little while, he quickly saw through many of its hidden tricks and conventions:

For instance, the spiritual realm was severely lacking in professional technical personnel such as alchemists and artifact refiners. This was because the prices of various heavenly materials and earthly treasures were not high, but finished products like spiritual elixirs and immortal artifacts sold for staggering prices.

For another instance, within the marketplace, there existed secret organizations akin to the Joyful Valley's Forest of Information.

And yet another instance, the Alliance's management of the marketplace could certainly be described with the word "strict," but this by no means prevented the existence of the "underground marketplace."

He walked and stopped, just like any ordinary person, pausing to admire rare and novel items when he saw them. But in reality? His heart and mind were single-mindedly searching for the underground marketplace and the secret organization behind it.

On the first day, Hu Li strolled from the opening of the market until its close and returned empty-handed.

On the second day, he entered the market right as it opened, wandered for the better part of the day, and once again returned empty-handed.

On the third day, he holed up in his immortal cave all day practicing the Heart-Cleansing Incantation.

At noon on the fourth day, he walked straight into an inconspicuous immortal artifact shop.

A red-faced man with a lotus imprint branded between his brows, just like his own, walked over and asked, "Young master, what are you looking to buy?" The difference was that this man's imprint was silver in color. This meant his master was at least at the False Immortal cultivation level.

"Seventh-tier grand perfection, original form a Crimson Flame Beast," Feng Ke'er whispered a reminder in the sea of consciousness according to their prior division of labor.

Hu Li experienced a sudden epiphany. He had once obtained a fragmentary slip containing records of the Crimson Flame Beast: it was a spiritual beast found only in the spiritual realm, rumored to be a descendant of the divine fire dragon lineage, named for its ability to spew crimson flames. Those crimson flames burned at a high and constant temperature, making them the absolute best for refining artifacts.

The Crimson Flame Beast had already seen through his true form, its gaze pausing briefly on the blue lotus imprint between his brows, a trace of fleeting disdain flashing deep within its eyes as it droned in an introduction, "Our shop has all kinds of immortal artifacts..."

"Might I ask your esteemed name, brother?" Hu Li stepped forward, cupping his hands and softly cutting off the man's speech. "Sister Qing sent me. I would like to buy a jade token."

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. My humble master bestowed upon me the surname Hong." The Crimson Flame Beast glanced quickly toward the shop entrance and lowered its voice. "We only have blank ones, twenty crystals each."

Converted to top-tier spiritual stones, that was twenty thousand. Hu Li smiled bitterly—he didn't even have ten thousand top-tier spiritual stones on him.

"Master, how many spiritual stones do you have left?" he asked using divine sense. He only vaguely knew that at the Heart of the Barrier Sea, his master had consumed quite a few spiritual stones to help him advance. As for the exact amount, Feng Ke'er hadn't said, and he hadn't asked, because he had never imagined that one day he wouldn't even be able to produce twenty thousand top-tier spiritual stones and would need to borrow them from his master.

Feng Ke'er broke out in a cold sweat: "They're all used up." Although Hu Li didn't explain, even a fool could tell what he was buying—a blank identity jade token!

She hadn't expected that even in the spiritual realm, there were people making fake ID cards. This was simply earth-shattering.

"Young Master Hong, it's too expensive." Hu Li frowned upon receiving the reply.

The Crimson Flame Beast hummed coldly, "Our shop has a fixed price. If the young master finds it expensive, you are quite welcome to go elsewhere."

What kind of customer service was this?! Had you never heard the golden maxim that "the customer is God"! Feng "God" was indignant: "Fox, let's go, let's try another shop."

Unexpectedly, Hu Li gave an awkward laugh. "Master, this is the only place in the entire Southern Spirit Continent that sells identity jade tokens."

So it was a monopoly; no wonder they were so arrogant. Feng Ke'er remained stubborn. "How do you know?"

"I wandered here for a day and a half, and besides this place, I haven't seen a second shop selling identity jade tokens," Hu Li replied.

How could that be? Feng Ke'er considered herself endowed with supernaturally sharp eyes, yet she hadn't noticed a thing. Incredulous, she asked, "Who is Sister Qing?"

"Naturally, she is the person who specifically contacts buyers for this shop," Hu Li answered without hesitation.

Fine, she must have been dozing off back then. Feng Ke'er was speechless, twisting her fingers together. They had gone shopping together, yet others had ferreted out so many classified secrets while she remained completely oblivious!

Without twenty thousand spiritual stones, the fox who entered the Dao through commerce couldn't even buy a single blank identity jade token. With no other choice, he could only offer an "apology" and turn to leave.

"Wait."

Unexpectedly, the Crimson Flame Beast called out to stop him. "Aside from spiritual stones, you can trade using merits. However, it takes three hundred points of merit to exchange for a single blank jade token."

Hu Li smiled, waved his hand, and walked away.

After walking quite a distance, Feng Ke'er finally recovered her wits and asked, "Fox, if we buy an identity jade token, will we avoid heavenly tribulation?"

Hu Li replied, "Perhaps. From what I've observed, people have indeed been purchasing blank identity jade tokens in large quantities in secret these past few days." Heavenly tribulation was too terrifying. As long as there was a sliver of a possibility, he would not let his master suffer.

Dear, which of your eyes saw that? With her fragile heart slightly shattered, the creature wearing giant lantern-like eyes fell silent once more.

Hu Li hurried out of the marketplace and leaped onto the cloud boat.

Teleportation was possible for returning to the immortal cave. Feng Ke'er couldn't help asking, "Where are you going?"

"The Alliance branch," Hu Li replied. "I'm going to see what kind of tasks are available."

"You could do some small business to earn spiritual stones," Feng Ke'er suggested. Having wandered the marketplace for several days, she discovered that the fox's cultivation truly didn't amount to much in the spiritual realm. Therefore, compared to taking on tasks, she had more faith in this fellow's money-making ability. After all, he had entered the Dao through commerce.

Hu Li's face flushed crimson. "To set up a stall in the marketplace, one must first pay a tax of two hundred points of merit."

The creature wept bitter tears: You went shopping, but did you think you were Secret Agent 007?