Chapter 24
Chapter 24: Hundred Treasures Market
Once a cultivator opened their first single acupoint, they could be considered a third-level Qi Refining Stage cultivator.
But a single burst of momentum couldn’t be forced forever. If the first push failed, the surge would fade, leaving only exhaustion.
What Zhao Chun wanted was to ride that momentum—carry the force of opened meridians straight through to the third level.
The human body contained hundreds of acupoints. Cultivators, however, had to begin with 52 single acupoints first. The order couldn’t be changed at will. Break it carelessly, and the result could be death—or Dao collapse.
Xun Xian had warned her that metal-fire cultivators at the third level of the Qi Refining Stage needed to be especially cautious. If their spiritual energy exploded, it could damage their acupoints.
Zhao Chun guided spiritual energy into her first single acupoint. Warmth spread—then a faint itch, almost like pins and needles.
Normally, this stage required gentle washing, patient and slow.
Yet Zhao Chun felt something different in her bones, as if she were better suited to breaking through with force.
The Great Dao had countless paths. The best one was always the one that fit you.
With that thought, she gathered her focus. Instead of slowly brushing the acupoint with spiritual energy, she compressed her qi into a spinning mass and slammed it forward.
Pain flashed—one sharp instant.
Then clarity.
Her acupoint opened.
So it worked.
Zhao Chun let out a quiet breath and felt fierce satisfaction bloom in her chest. This method was faster—far faster—but the risk was just as clear. Succeed, or ruin yourself.
She couldn’t be greedy. An opened acupoint still needed to be nurtured. If she chased nothing but speed, she would damage her foundation.
Now that she’d found her method, she knew what kind of road lay ahead.
She rose, brushed her clothes smooth, and decided to go out.
In the past two months, aside from returning to the Daylily Garden at the end of each month to visit her Senior Sisters and Zhou Pian Ran, she had barely left her courtyard. Meals arrived. Supplies appeared. Everything was handled for her.
She stepped outside.
Morning mist clung to the air. Her courtyard sat along a quiet path beside a clear spring, far from foot traffic. There were no neighbors nearby.
The courtyard itself was spotless. A half-wall of yellow flowers brightened the stone. Two menial servants worked within—one sweeping, one watering.
By custom, an Inner Sect disciple could keep eight menial servants. Zhao Chun’s needs were simple. Aside from cooking and cleaning, they had little to do.
Because Zhao Chun cultivated so diligently and so quietly, they rarely spoke to her. As a result, she truly recognized only one: Cui Cui, a young woman in her early 20s, the one who delivered Zhao Chun’s meals each day.
Naturally, Cui Cui became the head among the servants.
Most menial servants had similar origins—relatives of low-level cultivators. If their family’s cultivator became a formal disciple, they might be brought along to serve. If not, they continued working as attendants, sending what they earned back home.
No matter what world you lived in, life at the bottom was always the hardest.
Now Zhao Chun was at the third level of the Qi Refining Stage. One more step and she would enter the mid stage, starting to shed her mortal limitations.
If she could one day reach the Foundation Establishment Stage, she would be truly different—no longer a mortal at all.
“Immortal Master has come out of seclusion!” Cui Cui called, clutching the watering can and bowing.
Zhao Chun gave a small nod in acknowledgment.
She’d only cultivated for two months, and she’d left her courtyard in the middle. That hardly counted as seclusion.
Cui Cui was flattering her. Zhao Chun didn’t take it personally.
For a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator, three to five years shut inside a cave dwelling was considered short.
For an Essence Condensation Stage great cultivator, 10 or 20 years was nothing.
As for her so-called master, Elder Li Shu—he’d claimed seclusion last month. Zhao Chun had no idea when he would appear again.
Cultivators lived longer than mortals. A Qi Refining Stage cultivator could live to 150. Foundation Establishment Stage, 200. Essence Condensation Stage, 300.
And above that… Tu Sheng, the Ling Zhen Sect’s Sect Master, was said to have a realm that allowed 500 years of life.
With that kind of lifespan, you could seclude yourself for decades without fear.
That was far beyond Zhao Chun. For now, she needed to push toward the Foundation Establishment Stage and make her status as an Inner Sect disciple real.
“I’m going out,” she told Cui Cui. “Guard the courtyard. If anything urgent happens, use the message talisman at the gate.”
Cui Cui bowed and watched her leave.
The sect had provided Inner Sect disciples with daily necessities—message talismans, Mist Skiff talismans, and more. Zhao Chun didn’t need to buy those.
Her destination was the Outer Sect’s Hundred Treasures Market.
She intended to sell some of the pills she’d taken from Yue Zuan and see if she could find a few useful items for protection.
With that in mind, she didn’t dare keep using those pills. She set aside a few that boosted cultivation and qi, keeping only the healing and support pills for herself.
What others would fight to the death for had turned into burdens in her hands. Better to sell them and turn them into resources she could actually use.
The Hundred Treasures Market sat inside a low hill in the Outer Sect. Some clever craftsman had hollowed the interior out completely, carving orderly rings of shops into the stone.
There were three levels. The entry level was the Outer Market, where cultivators laid out stalls and sold whatever they had.
To either side lay the Pill Market and Martial Gear Market. In the center, deeper in, stood the heart of the place—the Hundred Treasures Pavilion—where the most valuable items were sold. Only formal disciples were permitted inside.
Even entering the market cost money: 10 Cui Stones.
A single Mist Skiff ride cost only two. A reserve disciple’s monthly allowance ranged from 5 to 20 Cui Stones. Walking in meant getting skinned.
But the moment Zhao Chun stepped inside, she understood why.
Spirit plants and rare metals filled the stalls. Brocades and silks, gold and jade hairpins—everything glittered with spiritual energy, colors vivid, shine unnatural and bright.
The sect issued clothing to Inner Sect disciples, but it didn’t restrict how they dressed.
Probably because the sect’s own clothing was painfully rustic. Even Zhao Chun couldn’t stand looking like a walking sapling every day.
Still, none of that was what she came for.
She headed for the Pill Market.
Before leaving, she’d removed the pills from her Storage Bag and wrapped them in silk, carrying them separately—careful not to let anyone guess she owned a storage treasure.
The Pill Market’s first level was lined with stalls. The second belonged to established shopkeepers. The third was reserved for alchemists—those who could refine custom pills.
Alchemists were special cultivators with fire and wood aspects. Training two aspects slowed their cultivation, but their status was high. Even a low-grade Mortal Rank alchemist could refine pills usable by late Qi Refining Stage cultivators. They were always in demand.
Zhao Chun, however, lacked the right attributes for alchemy.
Metal and fire suited forging far better, but she didn’t have a method for it yet. She would have to seek one out later.
Having a craft—any craft—would make the road ahead easier.
She climbed to the second level and entered the largest shop to sell her Qi-Boosting Pills.
She’d asked around on the first level. One pill sold for five Cui Stones. A shopkeeper bought for less than they sold—10 Cui Stones for three pills—reasonable, all things considered.
Zhao Chun had 20 pills from her two months as an Inner Sect disciple, plus 18 from Yue Zuan.
The shopkeeper noted how quickly she agreed and bought the entire batch for 130 Cui Stones.
She also had five Essence-Nurturing Pills from Yue Zuan—pills used at the Foundation Establishment Stage.
The shopkeeper’s gaze sharpened, but he didn’t comment. His background was solid enough that he wasn’t easily rattled.
“This pill sells for 80 each,” he said. “I’ll buy for 60. Will you take it?”
Zhao Chun didn’t hesitate. She counted out the pills and took the Cui Stones—300 in total.
With the earlier sale, she earned 430 Cui Stones in a single day.
She tucked the coins into a plain cloth bag, wrapped it tightly in gray fabric, and left the Pill Market quickly.
Even if most people thought twice before offending an Inner Sect disciple, Zhao Chun preferred caution. There was no need to invite envy.
She was only halfway done.
Next, she planned to head deeper into the Hundred Treasures Market itself, pick out a few defensive treasures, and then go to the Myriad Vault Pavilion to retrieve Tiger Strength Art and Serpent-Form Step.