Chapter 160

Passing through the flames was like passing through a bizarre world.

In just a few breaths, Xia Daoming felt his vision suddenly open up.

What appeared before him was actually a market as lively as a secular town.

The market was located at the foot of a lush green mountain.

On the mountainside of this lush green mountain, amidst the clouds and mist, one could see pieces of spirit fields extending in a trapezoidal shape up the mountain, at least a hundred mu.

A light breeze blew, and golden waves rose and fell, which was spectacular.

Behind this lush green mountain, there were several other mountains, and on the mountains, there were also large patches of spirit fields, and faintly, flames soared into the sky from behind the mountains, and one could also see immortal cultivators driving flying magic tools or spirit beasts flying up and landing from time to time.

Xia Daoming looked up at the golden spirit rice waves on the mountainside ahead and the scene behind the mountain, and suddenly had a feeling of a country bumpkin entering the city.

"Both are immortal cultivation clans, but compared to the Flame Sun Lu Clan, the Lu Clan is several grades behind! It seems that if I want to make a name for myself in the Cultivation World, the road I have to walk is still very long!" Xia Daoming felt a thousand emotions in his heart.

The Flame Sun Ridge Market was opened by the Lu Clan.

The Lu Clan is considered a fairly large immortal cultivation clan in Qingzhou; it is rumored that the Lu Clan's ancestor is a False Core cultivator.

False Core, as the name suggests, is not a true Core, but rather a cultivator who has cultivated to the perfection of Foundation Establishment and has been unable to form a Core, ultimately using some special means to barely condense true essence into the appearance of a Core.

This Core looks like a Core, but in reality, it is just a facade, with many cracks and impurities inside, and is not a whole.

However, even so, the strength of a False Core realm cultivator crushes the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

And the vast Ten Thousand Snail Xianshan has at most late-stage Foundation Establishment forces, with not a single False Core force.

The market has an entrance.

There are specialized cultivators guarding it.

The entrance fee is two spirit crystals.

Ten spirit crystals only equal one low-grade spirit stone.

Speaking of which, this fee is very low for Xia Daoming.

But for low-tier cultivators, it is not a small expense, and there are many cultivators coming in and out of this market every day; the entrance fee income alone in a year is more than Xia Daoming's income in Li Cheng.

"Sure enough, the more powerful you are, the easier it is to make money; just marking off a piece of land like this and collecting entrance fees alone can crush the income of some entire Qi Refinement families," Xia Daoming sighed in his heart while taking out two spirit crystals from the bundle he carried to pay the entrance fee.

He is now openly showing the eleventh-rank realm, but even so, logically speaking, he is still not qualified to use a storage bag.

So, in order not to attract attention, Xia Daoming used a bundle.

The Flame Sun Market is very large; for those who want to carefully find some good things, one day is not enough.

So, here there are not only tea houses and restaurants, but also inns for accommodation, and even Fairy Buildings for immortals to relax, listen to music, and enjoy dances.

The ones singing and dancing inside are all fairies who are high and untouchable in the eyes of secular men.

Of course, the tips are very high.

Even so, many Martial Arts Grandmasters would rather buy less potent medicine for nourishment and save the money to go in and consume.

One reason is curiosity; the other is inferiority, wanting to find back some self-esteem from the fairies.

There is no other way; although Martial Arts Grandmasters are extremely noble in the secular world, and even the weakest Martial Arts Grandmaster's strength is comparable to the fourth layer of Qi Refinement, which is the mid-stage of Qi Refinement, in the eyes of immortal cultivators, they are still vulgar martial artists, a grade lower than them.

Conquering those fairies can satisfy their vanity and self-esteem.

Xia Daoming is a Martial Arts Grandmaster, so he is naturally a big spender in the eyes of the fairies.

So when he passed by the Hundred Flowers Fairy Building, the Yaochi Building, etc., the fairies immediately threw winks at him, and some even ran out to pull him, making Xia Daoming have a slight illusion that he had returned to the Yao Yao Yao Hua Lou in Li Cheng.

Of course, the girls in the Yao Yao Yao Hua Lou were willing to pay to be with him, but the fairies here require high tips.

Of course, the key is not the tip problem.

The key is that Xia Daoming is loyal to his two beautiful wives and will never pick flowers outside.

So, even if a few fairies had good looks and temperament, and their figures were the type he liked, Xia Daoming still gritted his teeth, covered his bundle, and acted like a miser, forcibly leaving, which made those fairies despise him for a while, thinking he was a poor ghost.

Xia Daoming didn't rush to browse the market for treasures, nor did he rush to take the Dark Nether Ice Stone Marrow to the Spirit Treasure Pavilion to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill.

He first found an inn.

The market is full of spiritual energy; in order to prevent immortal cultivators from freeloading on the spiritual energy here, not only do you have to pay spirit crystals to enter the market, but staying in an inn here overnight also requires an extra, not-so-low fee.

As for Martial Arts Grandmasters, besides having to pay a fee to enter the market, the cost of staying in an inn is very low.

Because even if the Lu Clan gave the heaven and earth spiritual energy to Martial Arts Grandmasters for free, they couldn't absorb it, so in order to keep customers in the market to consume, the cost of staying in an inn is extremely low.

After checking into the inn, Xia Daoming called the waiter, first asked which places sold potent medicine suitable for Grandmasters, and which places bought back magic tools, storage bags, and other items, and then walked over unhurriedly.

The Flame Sun Ridge Market was indeed of a higher grade than the markets on the Ten Thousand Snail Xianshan side.

The potent medicine suitable for Grandmasters sold here was much more than on the Ten Thousand Snail Xianshan side, and some potent medicine was very powerful; of course, the price was also very high.

However, Xia Daoming is not afraid of high prices now; he is only afraid that there is no potent medicine suitable for him to take.

So, as long as he saw something suitable, he basically bought it.

After buying almost everything, the sky also darkened.

Xia Daoming returned to the inn to take medicine and cultivate.

The following days.

Xia Daoming spent most of his time in the inn taking medicine and cultivating, going out every few days to either deal with one or two items he had harvested in Cold Star Valley last time, or to buy some more potent medicine, or to inquire about news in the Cultivation World and the market prices of some items to increase his knowledge.

In the blink of an eye, Xia Daoming had stayed in the Flame Sun Ridge Market for twenty days.

The innkeeper and waiter, seeing that Xia Daoming, a Martial Arts Grandmaster, had stayed in Flame Sun Ridge for such a long time, thought he had become obsessed with one of the fairies in the Fairy Building, and couldn't help but shake their heads secretly.

Those fairies are all proficient in the art of harvesting yang to nourish yin; if he keeps tossing like this, even if he is a Martial Arts Grandmaster with vigorous blood energy, sooner or later he will have backaches, weak legs, and be unable to get up again.

While the innkeeper and waiter were secretly shaking their heads for Xia Daoming, in the simple and unadorned house in the quiet courtyard.

Xia Daoming's blood energy and strength were pouring into the Hand Shaoyin Heart Meridian.

The Hand Shaoyin Heart Meridian is also known as the Heart Meridian, leading directly to the heart.

As soon as the strength poured into the Hand Shaoyin Heart Meridian, it broke through all the barriers of this meridian like a hot knife through butter; suddenly, Xia Daoming felt that his whole person had turned into a sea of blood.

The sea of blood churned, and inside, a giant dragon was making waves, rolling up monstrous blood waves, riding the clouds and mist straight into the sky.

When Xia Daoming "saw" the giant dragon rolling up blood waves and mist straight into the sky, his whole head instantly turned upside down, as if it were about to explode.

This feeling was even more intense than when he stepped into the Grandmaster realm last time.

But with the experience from last time, this time Xia Daoming was very calm.

Guarding his heart and mind, trying to forget the severe pain, he only focused on feeling and "seeing" the scene of blood energy impacting the blood vessels and meridians of his brain.

The blood color was monstrous.

He seemed to "see" the whole world filled with blood color.

He also felt the powerful and vigorous vitality hidden within it.

Carefully feeling the severe pain and majestic momentum of the blood energy constantly impacting the blood vessels and meridians of his brain.

This time, he clearly "saw" the full picture of the heart, verifying it one by one with the heart drawn in the "Blood Nether Heart-Devouring Art".

He seemed to have realized something, but it was always blocked by something, and he couldn't find the way.

He didn't know how long it had been.

The surging blood energy retreated from his brain like a receding tide.

Everything returned to calm.

But Xia Daoming's six senses had reached an unprecedented level of sharpness.

Outside the courtyard, in the inn, the breathing and heartbeat of every person coming and going on the street could be clearly heard at this moment.

The aura emitted from them seemed to be intertwined in thousands of threads, but Xia Daoming could distinguish them one by one.

Xia Daoming's heart stirred, and he released his spiritual sense.

Before, as long as his spiritual sense left his body for a little distance, it would dissipate and be out of control.

But at this moment, his spiritual sense could actually condense in the room, flowing back and forth without dissipating.

He released his strength again.

At this moment, the strength released was simply like an extension of his body, truly as if he were pointing at it like an arm.

"The heart governs blood, governs meridians, and hides the spirit! The key pivot of Martial Dao is indeed in the heart; once the Hand Shaoyin Heart Meridian that leads directly to the heart is opened, not only has the blood energy and strength improved quite a bit, but the spiritual sense also has astonishing changes.

It's a pity that besides relying on the system to strengthen the meridians nine more times, the path of Martial Dao seems to have reached its end for now, and I don't know if the Qingyuan Sect has records of the subsequent Martial Dao path!" Xia Daoming felt the changes in his strength, feeling both surprised and regretful, and looked forward to joining the Qingyuan Sect even more.

Regarding the system, Xia Daoming had studied it repeatedly in the few years since he crossed over.

It's a pity that besides strengthening the twelve meridians, there were no other changes.

Now Xia Daoming even had an intuition that once his twelfth meridian was strengthened to the ninth level, the system would probably complete its mission and disappear.

If that were truly the case, it would mean that he, the transmigrator, would no longer have a cheat!

Next, he could only honestly work hard.

"No matter what, I've finally become a twelfth-rank Grandmaster! Now even if I encounter a Foundation Establishment mid-stage cultivator, I estimate that dealing with him won't be a problem, and if he dares to underestimate me, hehe!" Xia Daoming slowly opened his eyes, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

Soon, Xia Daoming took a shower to wash away the blood dirt and stains that had covered his skin surface because of breaking through to the Grandmaster level.

The next day, Xia Daoming, who had broken through to become a twelfth-rank Grandmaster, didn't rush to the Spirit Treasure Pavilion to exchange for the Foundation Establishment Pill.

He continued to stay in the inn, preparing to lie low for a few more days to see if he could strengthen his meridians a bit more.

It's a pity that his twelfth-rank Grandmaster realm was far from what other Grandmasters could compare to; wanting to strengthen his meridians further, the requirements for potent medicine could be said to have reached the level of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

This kind of pill that both reaches the level of Foundation Establishment cultivators and is suitable for increasing blood energy and strength is naturally very rare, and even if it exists, the price is very expensive.

Xia Daoming looked for a few days but didn't find anything suitable.

Either the price was extremely high and he couldn't afford it even if he emptied his family fortune, or that potent medicine was not worth the price to him at all.

So, Xia Daoming settled for continuing to take some lower-level potent medicine.

In this way, after about another ten days, Xia Daoming could only barely complete one level of meridian strengthening.

At this time, Xia Daoming, who once thought he was very rich, had his family fortune almost emptied.

"This system is really too money-hungry; didn't I just break through to the twelfth rank of Martial Dao and strengthen one level of meridians? It actually swallowed five or six thousand spirit stones of mine!" Xia Daoming couldn't help but complain as he probed his spiritual sense into the storage bag and looked at the few spirit stones left inside.

This guy didn't even think that his twelfth rank of Martial Dao was probably even more awesome than others' Foundation Establishment mid-stage.

The Yan Clan on the Ten Thousand Snail Xianshan side spent all their efforts just for Foundation Establishment, even going so far as to walk the path of the devil, and later not only lost their own lives but also almost buried the entire clan.

If one could spend a few thousand spirit stones like Xia Daoming and reach the strength of a Foundation Establishment mid-stage cultivator, who wouldn't be willing!

Let alone a few thousand spirit stones, even if they sold the entire clan and their ancestors' foundation, they would be a thousand times willing.

"Forget it, the spirit stones are almost used up, and it's hard to find suitable potent medicine in the market, so it's about time to go exchange for the Foundation Establishment Pill and let Lu Jinglong break through to become a Foundation Establishment cultivator as soon as possible.

As long as Lu Jinglong breaks through to become a Foundation Establishment cultivator, the Lu Clan's power will inevitably rise greatly; not only can I sit back and enjoy the fruits of others' labor, collect a lot of protection money, and accumulate wealth, but I can also use the Lu Clan to help me inquire about the Qingyuan Sect's introductory techniques everywhere." After complaining, Xia Daoming finally decided to exchange for the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Leaving the wooden house in the courtyard he had rented for a long time, Xia Daoming went to the counter to check out.

The innkeeper and waiter looked at him with a trace of pity in their eyes.

Poor thing, finally squeezed dry!

"Zhang San, I am very satisfied with your service these days; this is a reward for you." Before leaving, Xia Daoming casually threw a spirit stone to the waiter.

No matter what, he was a Grandmaster-level figure now; he had lived here for almost a month, enjoying people's service every day, and had also inquired about a lot of news from him, so before leaving, he had to give some tips.

Uh!

Looking at the spirit stone in his hand, Zhang San was dumbfounded.

The innkeeper was the same.

A Grandmaster who had been squeezed dry must be dejected, and it was absolutely impossible for him to be so generous!

Leaving the inn, Xia Daoming headed straight for the Spirit Treasure Pavilion opened by the Qingyuan Sect.

The Spirit Treasure Pavilion occupied a large area, and the building was imposing yet elegant.

On both sides of the entrance stood several female attendants at the early stage of Qi Refinement who looked comparable to the fairies of the Hundred Flowers Building in appearance, and whose temperament was even better.

Every time a customer arrived at the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, an attendant would immediately come forward to receive them.

Customers who patronized the Spirit Treasure Pavilion were basically cultivators above the mid-stage of Qi Refinement, and mostly late-stage Qi Refinement, and there were also Foundation Establishment cultivators, while Martial Arts Grandmasters were rarely seen.

When Xia Daoming arrived at the entrance wearing a cloak that could cover his entire face and figure, several attendants saw that he was a martial artist and actually pretended not to see him, going to greet other customers; only one female attendant at the third layer of Qi Refinement, who looked very petite, didn't mind Xia Daoming's status as a Martial Arts Grandmaster and greeted him with a smile.

"Welcome, Grandmaster, to the Spirit Treasure Pavilion. I am Zishan, a shopping guide for the Spirit Treasure Pavilion. Our Spirit Treasure Pavilion is a firm opened by the Qingyuan Sect, and the items inside are complete; we have spirit pills suitable for Grandmasters to improve blood energy and strength, and also various Martial Dao secret manuals. I don't know what you want to buy, Grandmaster, I can help you with shopping," the petite female attendant, Zishan, bowed slightly and said.

"Can you find an empty room? I want to talk to you alone," Xia Daoming said indifferently.

Zishan's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but she soon returned to calm and nodded: "Yes, Grandmaster, please follow me."

Xia Daoming followed Zishan into a room.

"I don't know what you want to buy, Grandmaster? Please rest assured, this is the Spirit Treasure Pavilion; no one dares to have crooked thoughts here, and no rogue cultivators dare to take action in the Flame Sun Ridge Market," Zishan said.

"I want to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill!" Xia Daoming said.

"Foundation Establishment Pill!" Zishan revealed a look of surprise, but soon returned to normal and said: "Grandmaster, you should know that our Spirit Treasure Pavilion does not sell Foundation Establishment Pills on a regular basis, except for auctioning a few Foundation Establishment Pills at specific times."

"I know, but if there are suitable items, they can be exchanged," Xia Daoming said.

"That's right; I don't know what you have that can be exchanged?" Zishan asked.

"A piece of Dark Nether Ice Stone Marrow," Xia Daoming replied.

"Dark Nether..." Zishan finally lost her composure a bit, and then soon said: "Grandmaster, please wait a moment; I will go and invite our Pavilion Master to come and talk to you."

"Fine, thank you, Fairy!" Xia Daoming nodded and said.

"You are too polite, Grandmaster." Zishan's attitude became increasingly humble, and at the same time, she couldn't hide the excitement in her heart.

This is a super big fat sheep!

Soon, a green-clothed middle-aged man who looked gentle and elegant and carried a bit of immortal aura walked in, accompanied by Zishan.

As soon as Xia Daoming saw the middle-aged man in front of him, he keenly felt an aura far more powerful than Lu Jinglong's.

"Foundation Establishment cultivator!" Xia Daoming's heart was startled.

"I am Zhuo Baoshan, the Pavilion Master of the Flame Sun Ridge Spirit Treasure Branch; I heard that you have Dark Nether Ice Stone Marrow to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill?" The middle-aged man introduced himself and then went straight to the point, not asking for Xia Daoming's name.

Obviously, he knew very well that for such a big deal, with Xia Daoming covered in a cloak, asking for a name would only be a fake one.

"That's right." Xia Daoming nodded and took out a piece of Dark Nether Ice Stone Marrow that was slightly larger than his fist without hesitation.

"It really is Dark Nether Ice Stone Marrow!" Zhuo Baoshan's eyes lit up suddenly, and he raised his hand, and a force coiled toward the Dark Nether Ice Stone Marrow.

Xia Daoming's expression changed slightly, and the blood energy and strength in his body were about to be triggered by a conditioned reflex, but he suppressed it instantly, letting Zhuo Baoshan take the Dark Nether Ice Stone Marrow.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

He didn't believe that the Spirit Treasure Pavilion of the Qingyuan Sect would ruin its own reputation for such a piece of Dark Nether Ice Stone Marrow.

Zhuo Baoshan held the Dark Nether Ice Stone Marrow in his hand and examined it repeatedly.

Xia Daoming narrowed his eyes, not staring at Zhuo Baoshan, but secretly and carefully feeling the aura fluctuations on his body.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator like him must be very keen on the gazes cast by others.

Xia Daoming didn't want him to know that he was observing him secretly.

"This piece of Dark Nether Ice Stone Marrow is just so-so; I agree to give you one Foundation Establishment Pill for it," Zhuo Baoshan said calmly soon after, his gaze no longer looking at the Dark Nether Ice Stone Marrow, as if this stone marrow was just that, not worth looking at more.

However, Xia Daoming had already felt that his aura fluctuations were very different from when he came in.

"I want four," Xia Daoming said in a deep voice.

"Four? A mere piece of Dark Nether Ice Stone Marrow and you want four; are you kidding me!" Zhuo Baoshan revealed a look of anger, and a terrifying aura radiated from him.

If it were someone else, they would probably have been frightened by his momentum at this time, thinking that the price they offered was outrageous.

Only Xia Daoming knew clearly that what Zhuo Baoshan showed was just a facade.

"This is a piece of high-quality Dark Nether Ice Stone Marrow; if it's less than four, I'll go elsewhere to exchange it," Xia Daoming said unmoved.

He had just noticed from when Zhuo Baoshan examined this stone marrow that he was very excited, obviously this stone marrow was very unusual.

"You have some guts; let's do this: two," Zhuo Baoshan saw this and helplessly increased the price.

Xia Daoming shook his head and disagreed.

Seeing that he offered two and Xia Daoming still disagreed, Zhuo Baoshan was truly a bit annoyed.

However, the Spirit Treasure Pavilion is a firm opened by the Qingyuan Sect, and it still values reputation and fame, so it definitely cannot force buying and selling.

Otherwise, for a martial artist like Xia Daoming, he would have long been too lazy to bargain with him and would have just thrown a Foundation Establishment Pill at him and finished it.

After half a day.

The sun was setting.

Xia Daoming finally came out of the Spirit Treasure Pavilion satisfied.

The final transaction price for that piece of Dark Nether Ice Stone Marrow was three Foundation Establishment Pills, plus five Spirit-Connecting Profound Fruits that could be used for enlightenment.

This was much more than Lu Jinglong's estimate.

The reason why he stayed inside for so long was not because bargaining took time, but because the Spirit Treasure Pavilion here couldn't take out three Foundation Establishment Pills and five Spirit-Connecting Profound Fruits at once and needed to transfer goods from other places.

After leaving the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, Xia Daoming didn't linger and left the Flame Sun Ridge Market immediately.

As soon as he left the market, Xia Daoming ran wildly.

Outside the market, a white cloud gradually dissipated, revealing a flying boat.

On the flying boat stood four people, one man and three women.

The man was surprisingly a Foundation Establishment early-stage cultivator, and the three women were all at the ninth layer of Qi Refinement.

On the man's shoulder lay a white mouse with wings.

"Hmph, this kid is quite clever, and his speed is fast. It's a pity he was hit by the Hundred-Mile Fragrance by Zishan; as long as he is within a hundred miles, he can't escape the tracking of the Heaven Fragrance Mouse." The man looked down at Xia Daoming's figure, which soon turned into a small black dot and disappeared from his sight, a mocking sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.

"But he is only an eleventh-rank Martial Arts Grandmaster; why does the Master need to go out personally? The three of us are enough," said a tall woman.

"This is a super big fat sheep that hasn't been seen in many years; there must be no mistakes!" the man said, his eyes revealing thick greed and excitement.

Three Foundation Establishment Pills and five Spirit-Connecting Profound Fruits; if utilized well, it would be more than enough for him to break through to the Foundation Establishment mid-stage.

The most critical thing is that the other party is only an eleventh-rank Martial Arts Grandmaster.

And usually, for a deal of three Foundation Establishment Pills at once, the buyer is estimated to be at least a Foundation Establishment mid-stage cultivator.

Even if he had ideas, he wouldn't have the courage to rob and kill.

As a result, today Zishan sent him a message saying that the other party was only an eleventh-rank Martial Arts Grandmaster, and just now he also observed secretly in the market, and the other party was indeed only an eleventh-rank Martial Arts Grandmaster.

This is simply a windfall from heaven!

After saying that, the man gently touched the Heaven Fragrance Mouse's small head with his finger.

The Heaven Fragrance Mouse made a "squeak" sound, and its tail pointed toward the northwest.

"You can't escape!" Seeing this, the man's mouth curled into a proud sneer, and then the flying boat flew rapidly toward the northwest.

PS: Today's two chapters are combined into one update, over six thousand words; today's update is finished, continuing to ask for monthly tickets and subscription support, thank you very much.

(End of chapter)