Five days later, as Chen Mobai looked at the familiar archway of Nanxi Market, he felt as if he had been away for a lifetime.

“Elder, it’s been a long time. I didn’t expect you to still be alive.”

Qi Er, who was acting as a guide at the entrance, was thrilled to see Chen Mobai.

“Hehe.”

Chen Mobai could only respond with a light smile.

“Has anything major happened in the market recently?”

He didn’t ask Qi Er to lead the way, but the latter, upon seeing an acquaintance, greeted his companion at the entrance and followed Chen Mobai into the market.

“Our Yun Country is within the sphere of influence of the Five Elements Sect and the Divine Wood Sect. As long as these two sects don’t fight, even if enemies attack, our Nanxi Market will be as stable as Mount Tai.”

Qi Er was proud, seemingly considering himself a part of the market.

“Chen Daoist, please wait.”

At this moment, He Qun suddenly ran over and stopped Chen Mobai.

“Oh, Daoist He, what can I do for you?”

Chen Mobai turned around, a little puzzled.

“Well, as you know, I was unlucky on this trip to Dream Swamp. Not only did I lose an arm, but I also exhausted all the spirit stones I had saved.”

“Now I’m in dire need of spirit stones. You mentioned before that you wanted to buy Black Water. I still have two bottles. Do you still need them?”

“I can give you the lowest price, 15 spirit stones per bottle.”

He Qun said sincerely, but Chen Mobai shook his head.

“Sorry, Daoist He, although I want it, I can’t afford even one bottle.”

The real reason was that Chen Mobai felt that the Black Water refined by He Qun himself would not be as good as that of the Divine Wood Sect.

Moreover, the bottle of Black Water he had could still be used, so there was no need to invest precious spirit stones in this.

“I see, I’ve been talking too much.”

He Qun left with a disappointed look.

After he left Chen Mobai’s sight, he entered an alley.

Two ordinary-looking, thin cultivators were already waiting there. Seeing him come in, their expressions changed slightly, and they asked, “How is it? Have you confirmed it?”

“Yes, I took a good look at him when I was pretending to sell Black Water. The brass ring he wears on his hand is the ‘Sword Casting Ring’ of Golden Cliff. If you have it, you can easily break through to the perfect stage of Qi Refining.”

“This Sword Casting Ring is a symbol of the true disciples of Golden Cliff and rarely circulates outside. How did he get it?”

“We’ll know when we ask him.”

Among the two cultivators, the older one spoke coldly.

“I’ve given you the information, where’s my reward?”

He Qun asked.

“This time is different from before. We’ll give you your reward after we get it.”

“No, I’m in urgent need of spirit stones. I need them right now.”

Upon hearing He Qun’s words, the older cultivator lifted his head, and the air in the alley suddenly became cold.

“He Qun, all your sworn brothers died in Dream Swamp, and even you only have one hand left. You need to adjust your attitude towards us brothers.”

“You…”

He Qun’s face flashed with anger at these words, but seeing the narrowed eyes of the two men opposite and thinking of his current situation, with his two sworn brothers who had left early not yet back in the market, he could only swallow his anger and leave without a word.

“Brother, isn’t this a bit too much? After all, we were able to settle down in Nanxi Market thanks to the information he provided.”

After He Qun left, the younger cultivator frowned and asked.

“We were polite to him because he was useful.”

“We’ll snatch the Sword Casting Ring and leave Yun Country immediately for Kun Country.”

“As long as we cultivate our Golden Light Technique to the perfect stage of Qi Refining, pass through the Sword Tomb, and join Golden Cliff, why should we stay in this small market and be He Qun’s henchmen?”

After the older cultivator finished speaking, the other one seemed to understand.

Indeed, since it was their last deal, there was no need to give He Qun any face.

“You keep an eye on the market entrance. As soon as that kid leaves, we’ll ambush him halfway. I’ll keep an eye on He Qun.”

After dividing their tasks, the two disappeared into the alley.

……

Chen Mobai was completely unaware of this. He gave the two pounds of snake meat he was carrying to Qi Er to sell to the Heavenly Meal Building.

Then he brought the sixteen bottles of pills he had picked up from Qingguang Island to the stall area.

He was now familiar with the process and found the stall owner who had bought his pills before. After some bargaining, he sold all the pills at once and got 28 spirit stones, which was a good end to his half-year of hard work.

After a while, Qi Er, who had sold the snake meat, came back with two spirit stones.

There were also the used spirit stones he had collected according to Chen Mobai’s instructions. These were precious spirit essences in the Immortal Gate, and there were as many as 68.

Chen Mobai directly gave him a silver note worth a thousand taels of gold as a reward, and he was extremely grateful.

“By the way, do you know if Lu Shu, who used to set up a stall with me, is still in the market?”

“I haven’t seen him for a while, but Zhuo Ming came back from Dream Swamp last month. She has a good relationship with Lu Shu, you can ask her. But she hasn’t set up a stall recently and has been staying in her rented cave.”After hearing Qi Er’s words, Chen Mobai thought of the woman in the yellow dress who had bought two Green Arrow Talismans from him. If he remembered correctly, she should only be at the fifth level of Qi Refining.

Being able to survive the beast tide attack from the Dream Swamp, she was indeed lucky.

However, he had only interacted with Zhuo Ming once, and he wasn’t sure if she would be willing to see him if he showed up unannounced.

After much consideration, Chen Mobai decided to pay her a visit.

After all, this matter had been bothering him for a long time, and he would feel uneasy if he didn’t resolve it.

When he arrived at Zhuo Ming’s cave dwelling, he found the door closed.

Chen Mobai didn’t dare to call out, let alone send a voice transmission talisman inside, as it would be too presumptuous.

He wanted to leave a note at the door, but he didn’t dare to write his questions on it, so in the end, he could only shake his head and leave.

At the entrance of the market, Chen Mobai found Qi Er and instructed him to tell Zhuo Ming that he wanted to talk to her if he saw her.

After finishing all his tasks, he visited the medicine shop in the market where the Shenmu Sect sold elixirs and spiritual herbs, and asked when they would start recruiting rogue cultivators this year.

The shopkeeper had some impression of him and noticed Chen Mobai’s advanced Qi Refining cultivation, so his attitude was even more amiable.

“The sect has lost quite a few disciples in the Dream Swamp, so we need to replenish our ranks earlier this year. Therefore, the Spirit Guide has already set off in advance. However, to reach the Yun Kingdom, it will take at least half a month.”

After all, the Eastern Wilderness was vast, and the Yun Kingdom was relatively close. Generally, the task of the sect’s Spirit Guide to recruit disciples was set for a period of one year.

“Is that so? It seems that it would be best to stay here for the time being.”

Chen Mobai murmured to himself after hearing this.