“Do you know which shops in the east market might have the spiritual materials I need?” Yuan Ming casually asked.

“Spiritual materials are highly fluid, especially with the upcoming Bai Lu Hill Alliance meeting, where cultivators from all walks of life gather, even more so than before. However, the southern region is far richer than our northern region, and the Central Plains of Da Jin is the superior state of the empire. If there are spiritual materials that Daoist friend needs in Hei Yan City, it can only be in the east market.” Gu Yue explained with a smile.

“Hmm, what you said makes sense. I’ll go and take a look first. What about the south and north markets?” Yuan Ming nodded and asked again.

“The south market is the gathering place for the Loose Cultivator Alliance, as for the north market, it is the smallest area, where the city lord’s mansion is located. Apart from those related to the city lord’s mansion, no one else is allowed to approach.” Gu Yue said.

“What is the Loose Cultivator Alliance?” Yuan Ming didn’t pretend to know, he asked if he didn’t understand.

“You don’t even know about the Loose Cultivator Alliance? You cultivators who have sects to rely on really don’t know our hardships! The so-called Loose Cultivator Alliance is a group spontaneously formed by many loose cultivators, who mostly complete various tasks in exchange for rewards.” Gu Yue showed a surprised look and sighed lightly.

Yuan Ming had previously learned from casual conversations with Zhao Tong and some strange tales in the Gui Cang Pavilion that the power structure in the cultivation world is mainly divided into sects and cultivation families, with varying degrees of strength and weakness. In general, these are all mainstream forces.

The descendants of the cultivation families have a greater chance of having spiritual roots than ordinary mortals, as well as better cultivation resources. These families and sects often have intricate connections, such as the head of a family being an elder of a sect, and some core disciples of the family can directly qualify to become inner disciples of the sect.

As for the loose cultivators who make up the largest proportion in the cultivation world, some of them are descendants of fallen cultivation families, while others are ordinary people who have accidentally entered the cultivation world due to various opportunities. Yuan Ming belongs to the latter.

In this way, it’s quite normal to think about it. Loose cultivators mostly have poor qualifications. In the vast cultivation world, they are like rootless duckweed, helpless and alone. Generally, without special opportunities, they can only linger in the Qi Refining stage, struggling to survive on their own, and naturally choose to stick together for warmth.

“How many Loose Cultivator Alliances are there in the south market?” Yuan Ming thought for a moment and asked.

“Not a few, most of them are ordinary Loose Cultivator Alliances, composed of Qi Refining cultivators. There are only two or three alliances with Foundation Establishment cultivators. If Daoist friend is interested, you can go there and have a look.” Gu Yue said.

“We’ll see.” Yuan Ming was noncommittal.

His current focus is mainly on how to quickly refine the Green Fish Sword into a magic weapon, and he can’t take care of other things.

The two of them walked and talked, and soon left the west market.

A fairly open circular square appeared in front of them, with large black stones neatly paved on the ground, which was quite clean.

There were no shops on the square, only small stalls everywhere. Some used wooden boards to prop up a simple counter, and more directly set up stalls on the ground. Many cultivators were walking around in the square, bustling with noise, even busier than the large shops in the west market.

“This is Hei Yan Square, the most central area. The city lord specifically designated this area for loose cultivators to set up stalls.” Gu Yue said.

“The location here is so good, it’s surprising that the city lord of Hei Yan is willing to leave it for loose cultivators to use. He’s quite a clever person.” Yuan Ming glanced in the east, south, and north directions and said.

“The largest group in the cultivation world is loose cultivators. The city lord must have seen this point. He has been kind to loose cultivators over the years, which is why the market in Hei Yan City has been able to flourish to this day.” Gu Yue said admiringly.

Yuan Ming nodded, agreeing with this view, and did not stay here, heading towards the east market across the square.

Halfway there, he suddenly stopped and looked at a small stall nearby.

“What is it, Brother Yuan? Did you find something you want?” Gu Yue glanced at the stall in surprise.

Yuan Ming didn’t speak, his gaze fell on a piece of green wood on the stall.

The wood had a pattern similar to a pine tree and emitted a faint spiritual power fluctuation. It was clearly a piece of spirit pine.

“Brother Yuan, do you want that piece of spirit wood? What’s the highest price you can offer?” Gu Yue followed Yuan Ming’s gaze and asked softly.

“Five spirit stones.” Yuan Ming hesitated for a moment and said.

“Alright, don’t say anything later, leave it to me.” Gu Yue said.

Then, he came to the stall. The stall owner was an old man with white hair and a red, alcoholic nose, which looked quite funny.

“Daoist friend, how much for this piece of wood?” Gu Yue pointed at the green spirit wood and asked.

“You have a good eye, sir. This item was obtained by a friend of mine from a beast’s nest. It’s a top-quality spirit pine. I’ll sell it to you for thirty spirit stones.” The old man’s eyes flashed with a cunning look, obviously having noticed Yuan Ming and Gu Yue’s whispering earlier.

“Thirty spirit stones? Old man, why don’t you go rob someone? It’s just a piece of rotten wood. In my opinion, it’s not even worth one spirit stone.” Gu Yue pretended to be shocked, and exaggeratedly exclaimed.”How could it be rotten wood? This is genuine spiritual wood. I’ve had it appraised. This wood is a Patterned Pine Spiritual Wood, selling it for thirty spirit stones is already very cheap,” the old man said anxiously.

“Patterned Pine Spiritual Wood? You think I’m ignorant! Patterned Pine Spiritual Wood is a top-grade spiritual material. A piece the size of a fist can sell for a hundred spirit stones. Do you think you can peddle it here?” Gu Yue coldly exposed the old man’s lie.

“Even if this is not Patterned Pine Spiritual Wood, it is still a good piece of spiritual wood. If you sincerely want to buy it, I can sell it to you for twenty spirit stones, not a stone less,” the stall owner’s face turned red as he spoke.

“That’s what I should be saying. For a piece of broken wood from who knows where, if you sincerely want to sell it, I can offer two spirit stones,” Gu Yue pressed on.

“Two spirit stones? Impossible, at least… fifteen spirit stones,” the old man’s head shook like a rattle, his confidence waning.

Following that, Gu Yue and the old stall owner began a fierce debate.

Gu Yue seemed to particularly enjoy bargaining, growing more and more spirited as he belittled the value of the green spiritual wood, causing the old man to retreat step by step. He even began to doubt whether his piece of spiritual wood was really worthless. In the end, he successfully purchased it for three spirit stones.

The old man had long lost his previous momentum and handed over the spiritual wood with a dejected look, like a defeated rooster.

Yuan Ming took out three spirit stones and handed them over, carefully storing the green spiritual wood.

“Gu Yue, you have good skills. I admire you,” he said, his opinion of Gu Yue somewhat improved. He took out a spirit stone and handed it to him.

“Thank you, friend! I have shallow cultivation and have been hanging around in Black Rock City for many years. I rely on my quick wit. If Brother Yuan has any more tasks like this, just leave them to me,” Gu Yue happily accepted the spirit stone, patting his chest and speaking with a hint of eagerness to impress Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming nodded, his hand involuntarily stroking the storage bag at his waist, feeling secretly pleased.

No matter what, spending four spirit stones to acquire this piece of spiritual wood was definitely a good deal. In the previous shop, a spiritual wood of this grade would cost at least ten spirit stones, and they wouldn’t even bargain.

“What kind of spiritual wood is that? If it’s convenient to reveal, could you also enlighten me?” Gu Yue asked curiously, noticing Yuan Ming’s actions.

“I don’t know much about it either, I only know it’s a piece of Spirit Pine,” Yuan Ming admitted.

Gu Yue thought Yuan Ming didn’t want to say, so he laughed and didn’t ask any further.

In fact, Yuan Ming wasn’t hiding anything. He really didn’t know what kind of spiritual material this green spiritual wood was, he could only tell it was a piece of Spirit Pine.

That was enough. What he wanted to buy was Spirit Pine.

According to Wu Sang’s unreliable analysis, one of the ingredients in Black Incense was pine wood powder. If he replaced it with a higher-grade Spirit Pine powder, there might be unexpected effects.

As for which Spirit Pine was better, Yuan Ming didn’t know either. He would try it first.

The two continued forward, with Yuan Ming occasionally scanning the surrounding stalls, but unfortunately, he didn’t find anything else useful.

The two crossed the square and arrived at the East Market.

The layout of the East Market was similar to the West Market, but the shops here were built by foreign forces. The architectural style was completely different from the West Market, offering a refreshing change.

According to Gu Yue’s introduction on the way, the shops in the Eastern and Southern regions sold many spiritual materials from the sea. This was because both regions were far from the Hundred Thousand Mountains and lacked any decent spiritual vein mountains within their borders, making their land resources quite poor.

Fortunately, both regions were close to the sea, and the countless sea spiritual materials and sea beasts were no less than the Hundred Thousand Mountains, providing a solid material foundation for the cultivators of the two regions.

“The world is indeed full of wonders,” Yuan Ming sighed after visiting several shops in the Eastern and Southern regions.

The sea spiritual materials and sea beast materials from the two regions opened his eyes and sparked a desire to travel the world.

Of course, this would have to wait until he had enough strength to protect himself.

Gu Yue didn’t linger, leading Yuan Ming forward.

“I see that there are quite a few mid-grade spiritual materials in the shops of the Eastern and Southern regions. Are there any ice spirit items?” Yuan Ming asked.

“You can look for them in these shops, but the resources in places like the Southern Border are still far behind compared to the Central Plains of Great Jin. The chances of finding ice spirit materials there are higher,” Gu Yue said.

“You can arrange the next itinerary,” Yuan Ming didn’t try to be smart.

“Thank you for your trust, Brother Yuan. I will definitely not let you down,” Gu Yue said seriously.

The two continued forward and soon reached the other end of the East Market.

The Southern Border’s atmosphere began to fade here, and more and more Central Plains-style shops appeared in their sight. There were magic weapon shops, talisman shops, pill shops, etc. Basically, anything a cultivator needed could be found here.

Yuan Ming nodded secretly. The cultivation world of Great Jin was indeed incomparable to the Southern Border.

Many people from the Central Plains were busy in and out of these shops, most of them ordinary people without any magical power. Occasionally, they could hear a few Central Plains dialects.Aside from his previous experiences with the young emperor and Wang Shun, this was the first time Yuan Ming had encountered such a talkative Central Plains man, and he found it quite comforting.

“The largest Jin merchant shop in Black Rock City is just ahead. They deal in spiritual materials, elixirs, magical instruments, and many other businesses. Let’s go there first. If they don’t have what we need, we can go to other shops,” Gu Yue pointed ahead and said.

Yuan Ming naturally had no objections. Just as he was about to quicken his pace, the corner of his eye caught sight of a shop next to him, and he stopped in his tracks.

It was a small shop, with only three rooms and a backyard. Judging from the plaque on the main gate and the goods inside, it should be a magical instrument shop.

The reason Yuan Ming noticed this place was not because he wanted to buy magical instruments, but because of a rather large sign hanging at the entrance of the shop. It had a few large characters written on it: Buying Refining Rune.