Chapter 49

Flight is humanity's eternal dream.

Flying high above the sky, Zhang Taixuan felt an exhilaration in his heart like nothing else — a feeling that absolutely could not be matched by riding in an airplane.

This sensation of being as free as a bird was simply too wonderful!

He flew over a thousand li in one stretch, and only stopped when he saw a massive city appear beneath the sky.

"According to the map's markings, this place should be where the Tongtian Market is." Zhang Taixuan landed directly at the edge of the city, drawing the envious gazes of a few ordinary folk.

The Tongtian Market — one of the most famous markets in the entire Yan Kingdom of this era. Legend had it that a thousand years ago, an immortal herb had been cut out from a stone here.

Zhang Taixuan had come this time, naturally, for stone gambling.

With great fortune and not to use it — wouldn't that be a waste?

Entering the city.

The city was extremely prosperous; although the buildings were ancient in style, towers still rose piercing into the sky one after another.

This was extremely common in the cultivation world.

For cultivators, building a tower was nothing — there was no real technical challenge to it.

After walking for a while, he saw an Elixir Pavilion.

Zhang Taixuan's eyes lit up, and he walked in.

"Does the guest wish to buy elixirs?"

The shop assistant, seeing the newcomer's extraordinary bearing, hurriedly greeted him with a smiling face.

Zhang Taixuan: "Do you accept elixirs here?"

The shop assistant paused: "Of course we do. May I ask what kind of elixir the guest wishes to sell?"

"Revival Pills!" Zhang Taixuan, well prepared, took out a porcelain bottle. "These elixirs were improved by my master; their effect is ten times that of ordinary Revival Pills. You may verify it yourselves."

"Ten times the efficacy?" The words had barely fallen when a startled cry rang out. A portly middle-aged man strode over quickly. "I am the shopkeeper. May I take a look?"

Zhang Taixuan handed the porcelain bottle over.

The shopkeeper uncorked the porcelain bottle, caught not the faintest whiff of fragrance, and his face instantly changed.

To be able to contain an elixir's medicinal nature so thoroughly that not a single trace leaked out — this kind of feat, the entire Yan Kingdom likely had no one capable of it. Could the person before him be a disciple of some holy land?

Thinking this, his demeanor grew much more respectful.

A glint of spiritual light flashed in his eyes, and the look of shock on his face grew thicker and thicker.

After a long while.

The shopkeeper calmed his emotions, then asked: "May I ask how the guest wishes to sell?"

"I would like to exchange for some Divine Sources. I wonder if the shopkeeper is willing?" Zhang Taixuan asked.

The shopkeeper nodded: "Of course. One Revival Pill for ten jin of Divine Source — this is already the highest price I can offer. How about it?"

"The shopkeeper is straightforward!" Zhang Taixuan did not haggle, agreeing readily. "I have thirty Revival Pills here in total; I'll sell them all to the shopkeeper."

Revival Pills, though good, could be called the life-saving medicine of low-level cultivators.

But low-level cultivators were very poor, so naturally they could not be sold at a sky-high price.

If what he had refined were life-saving medicines usable even by great powers, the value would naturally be beyond comparison.

"Safe travels, guest."

A moment later.

Zhang Taixuan left satisfied, carrying three fist-sized chunks of Divine Source.

Divine Source was an extremely pure crystallization of power, exceedingly heavy — even a piece of such modest size weighed over a hundred jin.

"Let's go, time for stone gambling."

With Divine Source in hand, Zhang Taixuan naturally walked toward a stone market full of eager anticipation.

The Tongtian Market was famous for stone gambling, so the city naturally lacked no shortage of stone markets.

However, many of the stone-gambling shops did not suit Zhang Taixuan's taste.

Whether there were good things in this market — the moment he walked into it and took a look, a different feeling immediately rose in his heart.

Moreover, the good things had to be cheap too.

After all, he had come to pick up overlooked bargains.

As for other shops' prized signature stones, he simply could not afford them; even if there were good things inside, they had nothing to do with him.

After walking for a while, he arrived at a place called the Fate-Edge Market.

Zhang Taixuan stopped his steps and looked at a two-chi-long stone marked with a price of one hundred jin of Divine Source.

Beside this stone, another chi-long stone, utterly unremarkable in appearance, yet gave him an especially wondrous feeling.

Both stones were placed in inconspicuous spots and sold cheaply; many veteran stone-gambling experts did not even spare them a glance.

Judging by the scholarship of stone gambling — these two stones had not the slightest trace of anything extraordinary; they might well be ordinary stones the shopkeeper had picked up from the roadside, with nothing at all inside.

"Shopkeeper, I'll take these three stones!" Zhang Taixuan pointed at the two stones he had chosen, then added another fist-sized stone.

"Two hundred and fifty jin of Divine Source. No haggling."

An old man, listless and looking as if he had not yet woken up, stepped forward and said casually.

Zhang Taixuan did not hesitate: "Deal."

He paid for the three stones, turned and left, and entered an inn.

"Heh heh, won't even let this old man cut it open for you — as if anything good could be inside!"

The shopkeeper had long anticipated Zhang Taixuan's wariness.

He ran a strange-stone shop; he had seen far too many of this type of person.

Many young fellows just starting out in stone gambling all thought themselves chosen by fate — buy one stone and feel sure they could cut out a world-shaking treasure, their guard up to the hilt.

Once they had cut open enough stones, this mindset would naturally fade.

If treasures were that easy to cut out, wouldn't it be better for him to cut them himself? Why bother putting these strange stones up for sale?

Stone gambling — "ten bets, nine losses" is no joke.

Entering the room, Zhang Taixuan waved his hand; starlight scattered, and one after another array patterns were laid down.

Only after finishing this did he take out the strange stones he had bought.

"Cut the big ones first, then the small ones."

After a brief moment of consideration, Zhang Taixuan fixed his gaze on the two-chi-long stone. Pressing his fingers together like a sword, he circulated his magic power and began cutting toward the stone.

Crack!

As the stone embryo split open, a startling aura radiated outward.

Fortunately, array patterns had long since been laid down in the room, so not the slightest bit leaked out.

A moment later, the stone embryo was completely broken open.

Inside the stone embryo was a stone infant, its body curled up as though still within a mother's womb.

The infant's two hands were gripping a stone sword — barely half a chi long, yet it gave off a world-shaking sharpness, as though it could cleave through heaven and earth.

Zhang Taixuan's expression changed drastically, and he nearly cried out: "This is an unborn Holy Spirit!"

Fortunately, it had already become a stillborn; otherwise, cutting out an incomplete Holy Spirit would have brought the Holy Spirit clan knocking on his door by now.

"This thing counts as a treasure, right!" Zhang Taixuan murmured, thought for a while, and could only place it into the Qiankun Cauldron.

The stone embryo had just fallen into the Qiankun Cauldron when Zhang Taixuan sensed something was off. He saw a wisp of golden flowing light fly before the stone embryo within the cauldron, transforming into a heart that thumped and pounded.

"This is the Martial Dao Holy Body origin — could this origin actually want the Holy Embryo?"

After obtaining the Martial Dao Holy Body origin, Zhang Taixuan had never found a way to use it; he had only refined it, branded it with a spiritual imprint, and made it his own.

Now, seeing the Martial Dao Holy Body origin react to the Holy Spirit stillbirth, he could not help but feel a stir in his heart: "Go."

He no longer held it back.

The next moment, the Holy Body origin slammed into the Holy Spirit stillbirth — like rain falling onto desert sand, it seeped into the Holy Embryo in the blink of an eye and vanished without a trace.

And the Holy Spirit embryo underwent a tremendous change at this moment. Its originally rough exterior became smooth, like the texture of human skin, warm as jade to the touch.