Chapter 19: Huang Shi City

Three days later, a carriage loaded with half a cart of good wood was moving slowly, pulled by two black mules.

At the end of the road ahead, a city wall several zhang high stood, and the city gate several zhang wide was inscribed with the three huge white characters 'Huang Shi City'.

On both sides of the city gate, more than a dozen guards wearing black iron armor were checking the caravans and crowds coming in and out.

"Uncle Zhao, this is Huang Shi City, it's really very lively."

When the carriage inserted into the caravan entering the city, a young man with a package on his back jumped down from it, full of smiles. It was Wang Yu, only his Daoist robe was gone, replaced by a coarse cloth garment, and there were some colorful dye-like things on his face, covering up a lot of his appearance.

"That's for sure, Huang Shi City has hundreds of thousands of people living in it. Little Brother Wang, you must be careful when you come to Huang Shi City for the first time. Don't bump into those nobles in the city, otherwise there will be no small trouble." A thin, dark old man driving the carriage grinned at Wang Yu, revealing a mouth full of yellow teeth.

Although the age of this body of Wang Yu is only thirteen or fourteen, because of bloodline awakening and taking Blood Refining Soup, his height is a big cut higher than his peers, and his figure also looks burly. Plus, his heart is very mature, so even if there is still a little childishness on his face, he will still be mistaken for a youth of seventeen or eighteen.

"This is natural. I came out of the village just to see the world in this Huang Shi City. How could I offend the nobles in the city? Thank you, Uncle Zhao, for sending me all the way." Wang Yu bowed to the thin, dark old man to thank him.

"Haha, I also came to Huang Shi City to sell some things. Taking you is just on the way, it doesn't take any effort." Seeing the youth so polite, the thin, dark old man was very happy and drove the carriage forward.

Wang Yu looked at the armored soldiers at the city gate for a while in place, and after finding no abnormality, he walked into another line of pedestrians.

Entering the city was very smooth. The armored soldiers just asked which village or town he came from. He randomly reported the name of a small town he knew, paid a copper coin entrance fee, and could enter the city directly.

Walking into the city gate, it was a smooth stone street where three carriages could drive side by side. On both sides were rows of houses, high and low, dense, and people wearing various costumes were bustling on the road, a picture of a peaceful and prosperous age.

Seeing this, Wang Yu let out a long sigh, his heart relaxed a little, it seems that the city has not yet received the news of the death of the City Lord of Huang Shi City, otherwise it would not be so calm.

He had only joined the White Cloud Temple for a month or so, and only that dead City Lord of Huang Shi City had seen him. Outside the Daoist temple, it should not be known that Master Chongyun had another disciple.

Taking the risk to enter Huang Shi City was indeed right.

He walked slowly along the street toward the center of the city, looking at the shops on both sides from time to time. Not long after, he walked into a grocery store.

After coming out, there was a map of Huang Shi City in his hand.

Wang Yu looked at the map in his hand several times, and finally found the target he wanted to find in an inconspicuous corner of Huang Shi City, a shop marked with the character "Zhen".

He raised his head to look at the sun, confirmed the direction, and went to the location marked on the map without delay.

More than an hour later, in a small street in the southwest of Huang Shi City, Wang Yu stood in front of a street stall, bargaining with the stall owner for a small bag of candy-like snacks, insisting that the other party reduce two copper coins.

In the seemingly fierce bargaining stalemate, his gaze swept toward a small shop blocked by a cloth curtain on the other side of the street intentionally or unintentionally. A silver "Zhen" character was printed on the corner of the cloth curtain.

Finally, in the stall owner's unwilling gaze, Wang Yu finally succeeded in bargaining, threw down a few copper coins, and left with the bag of candy, without looking at the small shop again.

Afterward, he found a shop selling clothes. When he came out, he changed into a cyan tight-fitting garment and wore a black gauze cloak on his head, covering his face completely, and then found an ordinary inn to stay in.

One night passed.

Wang Yu walked out of the inn with a package, strolled through every part of Huang Shi City, and even walked past the City Lord's Mansion specifically, but still found no movement, so he truly felt relieved.

In the afternoon, he came to the inconspicuous street again and stood in front of the shop with the "Zhen" cloth curtain.

After hesitating for a while, he walked in.

"Welcome to Hundred Treasures Pavilion, what would you like to buy, guest?"

The room behind the cloth curtain was not big. Besides two sections of old wooden counters, there was only a middle-aged man with an ordinary face, who was bowing his head and wiping a bronze lamp. As soon as someone came in, he raised his head and asked with a smile, looking very kind.

"This is Hundred Treasures Pavilion, right? I want to buy a boat ticket to Wu State." Wang Yu lowered his voice and asked in a low voice.

"Oh, so you are a fellow Daoist looking to leave this place. One month from now, our building's dharma ship will indeed arrive at Huang Shi City. However, due to the spirit-corvée, there are quite a few people planning to leave recently, so the ticket price is thirty percent higher than usual. I wonder if you can accept that?" The middle-aged man, upon hearing this, did not feel surprised in the slightest. Instead, he stopped the movements in his hands and said with the smile on his face slightly receding.

"How does your Excellency know that I am a cultivator? I heard that most of the people who take your building's magic boat to leave are mortals." Wang Yu asked back with some vigilance.

"Hehe, fellow Daoist misunderstood. The boat ticket of this pavilion can be taken by mortals, but those who can buy the boat ticket can only be fellow Daoists like us. If you hadn't caused a reaction from the 'Spirit-Revealing Lamp' in my hand as soon as you came in, I wouldn't have greeted you." The middle-aged man chuckled and shook the bronze lamp he was wiping.

Only then did Wang Yu discover that the lamp clearly had no wick or lamp oil, but it was glowing with faint white light all over. Because it was too weak, if you didn't pay attention, you really couldn't find it at the first glance.

"So that's it, then give me a boat ticket." Wang Yu felt a little relieved.

"A boat ticket, seven spiritual stones or one hundred taels of gold. If you can buy five or more at once, this shop can give a certain discount. In addition, if spiritual stones and money are not enough, this shop also accepts equivalent items for exchange." The middle-aged man said with a smile.

"Seven spiritual stones, one hundred taels of gold?"

Hearing this, Wang Yu's heart sank.

He only found two gold ingots of about ten taels each on the corpse of the young man in white last time. As for other things like copper coins and broken silver, they could almost be ignored.

As for spiritual stones, Master Chongyun's notes also mentioned them; they seem to be the currency specially used by cultivators, and it is even more impossible for him to have them.

"Trouble your Excellency to see how many spiritual stones this thing can be exchanged for?" Wang Yu's thoughts turned a hundred times, and finally, he took out a yellow talisman from his bosom and handed it to the other party.

"Oh, low-grade Lightness Talisman, can make people as light as a swallow, can be worth three spiritual stones." The middle-aged man looked at the talisman and quoted the price without hesitation.

Hearing this price, Wang Yu finally felt relieved, took out two other identical talismans from his bosom, and handed them to the man.

"Three Lightness Talismans, worth nine spiritual stones. This is the boat ticket and two spiritual stones, fellow Daoist, keep them well." The middle-aged man smiled and collected the three talismans, turned around and took out two thumb-sized strip-shaped white crystals and a cyan paper crane from the counter behind.

"This is the boat ticket?" Wang Yu took the two things and looked at the paper crane, feeling a bit confused.

"That's right, this is the boat ticket. Within a month, fellow Daoist, do not leave within a hundred miles of Huang Shi City. When the time comes, the paper crane will naturally guide fellow Daoist to the magic boat. You must rush there within half a day; the magic boat will not wait there for too long." Seeing that he was not surprised, the man explained two sentences.

Although Wang Yu still had some doubts in his heart, he could only express that he understood.

"Since fellow Daoist has arrived at this pavilion, don't you want to buy other things, such as magic tools or magic techniques?" The man continued to promote enthusiastically.

"There are magic tools and magic technique secret books here?" Hearing this, Wang Yu was stunned.

"Of course, although there are no formal cultivation technique secret books, there are still one or two Qi Refinement Stage magic tools and a few tricks."

"What tricks are there?" Wang Yu was a bit moved.

"Fellow Daoist, wait a moment, I'll look for them. Alas, there are too few fellow Daoists coming here, those things recording tricks seem to be placed in..." The man muttered, turned around, and rummaged through the messy things on the shelf.

"Found it, these are the three tricks, fellow Daoist might as well take a look." After a light call, the man finally found three items from the messy things on the shelf and placed them one by one on the counter in front of Wang Yu.

Wang Yu looked over and saw a white short horn, a piece of red animal skin, and a small piece of blue bone fragment.

"Fellow Daoist should know that magic in the world was originally born between heaven and earth. These three things are items with magic spiritual patterns, which are natural spiritual objects on low-grade monsters, corresponding to the three magic techniques of 'Electric Light', 'Firefly', and 'Water Gathering'. As long as you use your spiritual sense to slowly comprehend the three, you can learn these three tricks, and they are still original magic techniques that have not been modified in any way." The man pointed to the three items and introduced them to Wang Yu enthusiastically.

"Original magic techniques?" Wang Yu looked at the items on the counter and showed a confused expression.

"Hehe, compared to ordinary magic technique books, comprehending magic techniques from such natural spiritual objects is more difficult, but once comprehended, it means your comprehension is supreme and you are intelligent. Major sects will also fight to accept you into their sect, and their price is much cheaper than magic technique books. It is definitely the most suitable for fellow Daoist." The man explained with a bit of embarrassment.

"So, this kind of original magic technique is very difficult to comprehend, what is the price? Your Excellency also knows that I basically have no spiritual stones on me." After Wang Yu's thoughts turned a few times, he asked slowly.

"The price is easy to talk about. How about this? These things can be sold to you for two spiritual stones each. How about it? It's almost half-sold and half-given." The man replied very readily.

"Two spiritual stones... Then I want this piece of animal skin." Hearing the price, Wang Yu was overjoyed. He took out the two spiritual stones he had just obtained and placed them on the counter, and grabbed the red animal skin into his hand, releasing his spiritual sense to sense it. There was a complete pattern composed of five crimson spiritual patterns on the animal skin, looming. It should not be a fake.

"Fellow Daoist, don't you consider the other two tricks? To tell you the truth, such a cheap price is hard to find even in other places. If you miss this village, there will be no such shop. If fellow Daoist wants them all, I will give you a basic magic technique introductory book for free. Although this book is a bit simple, it is always good for fellow Daoist to look at it to verify what you have learned." The man persuaded with a smile, and took out a dirty, thin book from under the counter. It was only a dozen pages long, and the four small characters 'Magic Technique Introduction' were indeed written on the white cover.

"Magic Technique Introduction? I want to buy it, but I really don't have any spiritual stones on me." Wang Yu picked up the book and flipped through two pages randomly, shaking his head.

"Fellow Daoist, think about whether there is anything on you that can be exchanged, such as other talismans, cultivation technique secret books, spiritual materials for refining weapons, monster materials, etc. Fellow Daoist, rest assured, Hundred Treasures Pavilion is an old shop passed down for hundreds of years, and reputation is the most valued. It will never leak customer information to the outside world." The man tempted.

"Do you also collect weapon refining materials... Then see how many spiritual stones this thing can be exchanged for." Wang Yu looked at the other two items on the counter and was indeed a bit reluctant. After thinking about it, he took out a small iron box from the package behind him and handed it to the other party.

It was the iron box that sealed the sword light that killed the City Lord of Huang Shi City in one strike. It seemed to be the same material as the small iron shield magic tool. Sharp swords could not leave a trace on it, so it should have some value in the cultivation world.

"This is an iron box refined from iron essence! Tsk tsk, such a rough refining method is a pity. The box itself is not worth much, but iron essence is the weapon refining material most used by us cultivators. Such a large piece is rare. I can give a price of fourteen spiritual stones. In this way, fellow Daoist can not only exchange for the other two tricks but also have ten spiritual stones left." Seeing the iron box, the man's eyes lit up immediately. After taking it and stroking it several times, and weighing its weight, he immediately quoted the price.

"Okay."

Wang Yu silently remembered the two words 'iron essence' and agreed without hesitation.

As for that small iron shield of iron essence, even if the other party said it was full of flowers, he would not take it out.

The man collected the iron box and found ten spiritual stones to hand to Wang Yu.

Wang Yu carefully collected the spiritual stones, the book, and the other two items on the counter. After checking them slightly, he turned and left the shop.

At this time, the man in the back warned with a smile.

"Fellow Daoist, I forgot to say. These three natural spiritual objects of monsters are so cheap because they have been taken from the monsters for too long, and they were not soaked in spiritual liquid properly at the beginning, so the spiritual patterns on them will not exist for too long. Fellow Daoist had better comprehend the magic techniques inside within a year, so as not to let the spiritual patterns on them disappear or be incomplete. However, fellow Daoist is not at a loss; this price is indeed cheap to the extreme."

Wang Yu, who walked to the door, paused slightly, cursed "profiteer" in his heart, and left the shop without looking back.

"Another little guy who wants to leave, I don't know how far he can go on this road? These three things that are about to expire have finally been dealt with, otherwise, if they really smashed in my hands, the assessment above would be difficult. I really hope to leave this ghost place early." After the middle-aged man muttered two sentences, he picked up the bronze lamp again and wiped it slowly. ===== CHAPTER 20 =====