Chapter 32: Borrowing Money

Soon, a document resembling an ordinary civilian contract was handed to Wang Dun by Liu the Shopkeeper.

Wang Dun passed it on to He Pingsheng.

He Pingsheng took it and glanced over it; there were signatures and seals.

It should be fine.

After all, if Old Drywood dared send his disciple here with this, the risk must be minimal.

“Thank you, Liu Shopkeeper!” He Pingsheng bowed in thanks and turned to leave, but Wang Dun grabbed his arm. “Don’t rush off, Junior Brother!”

“You only come to Mount Matou once in a while—how can you not take a look around?”

He Pingsheng had no say in the matter, so he nodded.

Wang Dun beamed and placed the unfolded paper crane behind Liu’s counter. “Liu Shopkeeper, could you keep an eye on this crane for me?”

Liu the Shopkeeper waved his hand. “No problem.”

A paper crane can only be activated three times.

Each activation lasts one day.

Wang Dun planned to use one activation for the round trip—saving one activation, wasn’t it?

The two bypassed the counter and rushed noisily up the stairs behind it to the second floor.

Wang Dun grabbed He Pingsheng’s arm, excited. “Junior Brother He, come—I’ll show you something great!”

“Ah…”

He Pingsheng followed Wang Dun to a display shelf on the second floor. “Look…”

His plump little finger pointed to the item enclosed in a transparent jade casing.

He Pingsheng saw a small, brown pouch embroidered with gold thread. His eyes narrowed slightly. “Is this… a storage pouch?”

Wang Dun nodded, his eyes gleaming with desire. “Exactly—a storage pouch!”

“See? There are three here: low-grade, mid-grade, and high-grade storage pouches!”

He Pingsheng also coveted storage pouches, but not with Wang Dun’s near-obsessive fervor. He shifted his gaze from the pouches to the prices below.

Two thousand two hundred and fifty spirit stones.

Sssss…

So expensive!

And this is just the low-grade one.

The mid-grade costs over eight thousand spirit stones!

The high-grade? Nearly twenty thousand—eighteen thousand eight hundred exactly.

He Pingsheng asked: “Do the different grades mean different internal volumes?”

“Of course!” Wang Dun spoke like a connoisseur. “Storage pouches are miniature realms forged by high-level cultivators compressing space!”

“Take this low-grade one—it holds exactly one chi in length, width, and height.”

He Pingsheng nodded, forming a mental image of the low-grade pouch’s capacity.

One chi in all dimensions?

Isn’t that about the same as my Treasure Basin at maximum expansion?

“The mid-grade is bigger,” Wang Dun said. “Three chi—length, width, height—all three chi. Plenty of room!”

He Pingsheng asked: “What about the high-grade?”

Wang Dun replied: “The high-grade holds one zhang in each dimension. But what makes it high-grade isn’t just the size—it reshapes its internal space to fit whatever you put inside.”

He Pingsheng was awestruck. “So advanced?”

“Come—this way!”

Wang Dun said: “Junior Brother He, let me show you something even better—a beast storage pouch. Know what that is?”

After passing two more shelves, He Pingsheng saw the so-called beast storage pouch.

It looked nearly identical to a storage pouch, except it was embroidered with a beast’s head.

“This one holds your spiritual beast!” Wang Dun said. “Know what a spiritual beast is? Master Yude from Show Bamboo Peak owns a golden giant serpent—now at Foundation Establishment. With a spiritual beast, your combat power doubles!”

“Though that golden serpent’s killed several disciples.”

Wang Dun shook his head.

The two wandered the entire marketplace.

“Come,” Wang Dun pulled He Pingsheng out of the marketplace. “The street stalls outside have good stuff too—and usually cheaper. Let’s check them out!”

“Alright!”

The two wandered among numerous stalls.

Undeniably, the goods here were wildly varied.

All sorts of magic tools, herbs, elixirs, books, cultivation aids, talisman brushes, talisman paper—you name it.

Of course, nothing high-grade—only low-tier items.

“Brother, want sunfire blossom seeds? Plant them, and you get a second-rank spiritual herb!” A woman in peach-colored robes waved several seeds before He Pingsheng and Wang Dun.

He Pingsheng raised an eyebrow. “How much?”

“How much?” Wang Dun yanked him back. “Don’t buy seeds here—you have no idea what you’ll grow when you get back!”

“And even if they’re real—how do you even plant them?”

He Pingsheng had just felt a surge of interest; now, Wang Dun’s words cooled him instantly.

Right—how do you plant them?

You need a spirit field. And even if you have fire spiritual energy, you lack a cultivation array.

“Brother, brother—want elixirs?”

A middle-aged man in blue robes grinned at Wang Dun. “My elixirs are top quality—and cheap!”

“Come, come—take a look!”

They stopped and examined the man’s stall.

It held elixirs, spirit herbs, talismans, paper cranes—even books.

“How much for Qi-accumulation Elixir?” Wang Dun asked.

The middle-aged cultivator said: “Low-grade Qi-accumulation Elixir? I’ll give you a deal—two spirit stones per pill!”

“Pfft…” Wang Dun scowled. “Our own sect sells them cheaper!”

“Fair enough, fair enough!” the vendor said. “You buy all twelve—I’ve got twelve pills here. Twenty-four spirit stones total—I’ll charge you twenty!”

“How about it?”

Wang Dun was tempted.

He thought for a moment, then turned to He Pingsheng. “Junior Brother He… could you lend me a few spirit stones?”

He Pingsheng’s face darkened: Damn it, do I know you that well? You just ask to borrow my spirit stones?

“That’s not right,” He Pingsheng said, grimacing. “Senior Brother Wang, I only have five spirit stones myself—and I need to buy things too…”

He wasn’t lying. He picked up a paper crane from the stall. “Brother, how much for this crane?”

The vendor said: “These cranes are five spirit stones each—but this one’s been used twice. It has one activation left. If you want it, two spirit stones.”

Why buy a paper crane?

Because He Pingsheng planned to come back.

He still had a vial of sunfire blossom pollen to sell.