Chapter 21: The White Phoenix Nest, Wutong Tree. (8)
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Walking to a position near the top of the mountain, Bai Chunsheng still couldn’t see any figures. The fog was getting thicker, and there were patches of unmelted snow on the ground. The entire Fuyu Mountain seemed to be immersed in a misty landscape painting.
Bai Chunsheng suddenly stopped in his tracks.
He turned around, and in the blink of an eye, his physique and appearance transformed into that of a handsome young man Yan Yi had never seen before. His features were well-defined, his complexion pale, with dark circles under his eyes, indicating he hadn’t rested well. Some traces of his true form were faintly visible, but they didn’t match his original good looks; he looked rather ordinary, with a hint of purity.
Even his cultivation had been restrained to the early stages of Foundation Establishment, far from the peak cultivation of the Shattered Stone Mortal Realm, which was only at the early stage of Nascent Soul. If a cultivator above the Nascent Soul stage suddenly appeared, the sects connected to the higher world would probably contact the Grand World immediately.
He and Yan Jingqiu were wanted criminals, so it was naturally better to keep a low profile.
Bai Chunsheng: “Put on your mask.”
Yan Yi: “Why? They haven’t seen my face before.”
He knew what Bai Chunsheng was worried about, but it was fine; he had covered his face when causing trouble.
After a moment of silence, Bai Chunsheng looked at Yan Yi with a perplexed expression. “Do you think you were very well-behaved before?”
Yan Yi: “…”
Yan Yi: “Point taken.”
This time, Yan Yi didn’t wear a mask. Instead, he changed his appearance to mimic Bai Chunsheng’s, using the finger technique he had just learned from Bai Chunsheng to alter his appearance, theoretically wearing a mask that could prevent spying would be more effective.
After chanting the incantation, it was as if a faint veil obscured his face, making the features indistinct. Yan Yi frowned and whimsically formed eyes, nose, and mouth on this “veil.”
Bai Chunsheng stood beside Yan Yi, watching him transform. When Yan Yi finally stabilized his ever-changing facial features, Bai Chunsheng burst into laughter.
No words were needed from Bai Chunsheng; Yan Yi knew his current appearance must look hilarious.
He changed his appearance again.
This time, it was probably much better. Bai Chunsheng circled him and inspected. After Yan Yi’s transformation, his overall figure wasn’t much different from before, but his appearance became very ordinary—thick eyebrows, big eyes. If thrown into a crowd, he would just seem taller than others, with no distinctive features. At most, he looked a bit fierce.
“That’s about right, barely passable.” Bai Chunsheng made a simple evaluation. He thought triumphantly to himself that Yan Yi’s transformation technique wasn’t as proficient as his. The esteemed Sword Sovereign was nothing special after all.
When there were no flaws visible, Bai Chunsheng raised his finger and lightly tapped the mountain path in front of him. The entire Fuyu Mountain seemed to ripple like a reflection in water. With each tap from Bai Chunsheng, concentric circles spread out.
A brand-new, wide mountain path appeared before them.
Yan Yi looked up. There were people coming and going at the mountaintop, hardly different from the mundane market below. Two nuns passed by, one of them a young girl around eleven or twelve years old with her hair in a bun. She curiously glanced at Bai Chunsheng and Yan Yi, who had stopped halfway up the mountain.
Most of those attending this market were scattered cultivators from nearby areas. These two looked unfamiliar; perhaps they were demonic cultivators from elsewhere here to fence stolen goods. The older nun beside the young one quickly pulled her away, afraid of causing trouble.
Bai Chunsheng didn’t mind and pointed ahead at the path, “Looks like it’s quite sizable, probably the largest cultivator market in this generation around here.” In the vastness of the Three Thousand Worlds, anything recorded in the Immortal Spirit Register should not be too meager.
Even so, Bai Chunsheng didn’t think he would find what he wanted at this market. In the mere Mortal Realm, something that could catch his eye and be useful to him would at least be a treasure of the realm. He muttered to himself, “I don’t expect there will be anything good, but it’s interesting to take a look at the hustle and bustle.”
Over the past few days, Yan Yi had grown accustomed to Bai Chunsheng’s constant muttering to himself, letting him chatter away.
After a while, when Bai Chunsheng finally finished speaking, Yan Yi simply uttered a “Hmm.”
Bai Chunsheng felt he was being dismissed.
Deciding not to speak with Yan Yi anymore, he put his hands behind his back and strode ahead confidently.
Yan Yi could only follow behind him helplessly, afraid of losing sight of him.
At the summit of Fuyu Mountain was a flat open space, and at the end of the road was a huge locust tree. The tree was probably quite old, with hardly any leaves left. A lone crow stood on a branch, staring straight at the people passing by.
Bai Chunsheng immediately recognized the crow as a puppet used to maintain order.
The cultivators of average cultivation were lined up under this locust tree. Every time the crow nodded, one of them disappeared from under the tree, presumably sent to the actual market for wandering cultivators.
This was getting boring.
Bai Chunsheng had expected to see a bustling market, like the scenes he had read about in jade slips: cultivators who had gained something in secret realms would wrap their spoils in rags and toss them on the ground, allowing interested parties to come by and inquire about buying them. Many a wandering cultivator’s fate might hinge on one such unassuming transaction.
Bai Chunsheng found the variety of people and situations very interesting.
But now, the cultivators were entering one by one, which meant that this Fuyu Market was probably not much different from a typical auction market in the Grand World. It didn’t meet Bai Chunsheng’s expectations, and he lost interest in continuing to explore. He yawned and tugged at Yan Yi’s sleeve, saying, “Forget it, doesn’t seem interesting. Let’s go, not worth wasting time.”
Yan Yi didn’t move, he stared at the crow for a long time, then decided to join the queue.
Standing in front of Yan Yi were the two nuns he had met earlier on the mountain path.
Bai Chunsheng followed him, somewhat puzzled, and asked, “What’s going on?”
Yan Yi said, “This puppet is very cleverly made, not something you’d find in the mortal realm, let alone something that should be here.”
“Huh, and here I was thinking what’s so special about it,” Bai Chunsheng said. “It’s just something passed down from the Upper Realms, normal stuff, this isn’t a sealed little world.”
Yan Yi shook his head. “It’s not that simple. I want to go inside and see.”
Bai Chunsheng stood there staring at Yan Yi in disbelief. Considering the current situation, if they really encountered trouble, he would have to rely on Yan Yi to handle it. Bai Chunsheng had no choice but to squat down on the ground and queue up with him.
Bai Chunsheng cursed himself for opening his mouth. What was the point of saying anything? Now they were both probably heading to the largest human gathering city in the mortal realm.
Regret was useless now that they were already in line. The line seemed long, but Bai Chunsheng didn’t feel like he waited too long. When he stood under the locust tree and glanced at the crow for a moment, Bai Chunsheng found himself in the midst of a bustling crowd.
A voice beside Bai Chunsheng’s ear said firmly, “No spells allowed in the market, no fighting, free trade, no coercion.”
Bai Chunsheng was startled, suddenly understanding why Yan Jingqiu would say it wasn’t that simple.
His actual cultivation was in the Dao Stage, and the people in this market were at most in the Golden Core stage. In other words, if he wanted to take action, everyone here combined might not be able to withstand his strike.
But in such a rundown place, there could actually be such a mysterious puppet.
The spatial shift just now was nothing more than a miniature teleportation array, nothing special. The most important thing was its final transmission. When it transmitted, Bai Chunsheng didn’t sense any spiritual energy fluctuations, which in a sense meant it could conceal a cultivator’s transmission.
Bai Chunsheng remembered well the constant transmissions in the Yan family hall, like silver shuttles weaving back and forth, something that transcendent cultivators valued highly. If this puppet could truly operate without any spiritual energy, it meant it could even shield itself from the scrutiny of transcendent cultivators.
To resist transcendent cultivators was something only transcendent cultivators could achieve.
This was just a Foundation Establishment stage puppet, yet it could achieve such a level, which was already quite remarkable.
Behind it likely harbored a lineage of transcendent inheritance.
The low-level cultivators coming and going in this market might hear about it and consider it somewhat interesting at most. It was those with considerable cultivation or extraordinary talent who could appreciate the subtlety of this technique.
No one would think they knew too much. For Bai Chunsheng to cultivate to the transcendent stage, who knew how many days of hard work lay ahead. This inheritance was extremely useful to him.
Yan Yi stood at Bai Chunsheng’s side and asked, “What do you think?”
Bai Chunsheng rubbed his hands together and said, “I want it.”
“Good,” Yan Yi said.
Then, Bai Chunsheng watched as Yan Yi took out Shen Yuying’s storage pouch and shook out a pair of crow puppets.
These two crow puppets seemed to have developed some sentience, their small black eyes filled with fear towards Yan Yi.
One of them was the same crow Bai Chunsheng had seen earlier on the locust tree at the top of Fuyu Mountain.
Bai Chunsheng was almost stuttering, “Wha… what’s going on, how did you get these?”
Yan Yi calmly replied, “I brought them. They probably don’t know yet. Let’s hurry up and leave.”
Bai Chunsheng: “…”
No wonder he’s Yan Jingqiu, “brought” this word is really academic.
Bai Chunsheng thought to himself, he was determined to get these crow puppets, but the original owner might not be willing.
Judging by the overall cultivation of this Fuyu market, the cultivation of the two crow puppets’ current owner is obviously far less than that of the two.
Yan Yi took action and saved this person from a beating.
It seemed like a good deed.
But Bai Chunsheng still felt something was strange.
After a moment of silence, Bai Chunsheng, who had never faced the cutthroat nature of the cultivation world so directly, was tormented by morality and said, “Shouldn’t we give him some money?”
Yan Yi looked puzzled, “Isn’t that forcing someone to sell? That doesn’t seem right.”
Bai Chunsheng: “?”
Did this guy even understand what he was saying?
Huge shoutout to @_nyanmaru_ on Discord for commissioning this! The chapter will be posted regularly, show your support for Ciacia at Kofi.
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