Outside the Great Void Sect.
Lin Ci, dressed in plain clothes and wearing a straw hat that half concealed his face, descended the mountain together with Xia Xiaochan.
“Senior Brother, since we’re going out to buy things, why not just fly on your sword?”
“Ahem… Xiaochan, feeling the vastness of the world through walking is also an important part of cultivation.”
“I see, Xiaochan has learned something!”
Inside the Great Void Sect, there was a trading place called the Hundred Treasures Pavilion. Sect disciples commonly purchased spirit stones, treasures, flying swords, clothing, and other supplies there.
The reason Lin Ci took Xiaochan outside the Sect was because he had some things he wanted to buy himself.
The Mortal Sword Manual and the Heavenly Book.
The Mortal Sword Manual was easy to understand—it was a sword technique for mortals. Mortal sword techniques didn’t require spiritual power assistance and contained no sword Dao principles, so they were relatively simple. Lin Ci planned to start learning from the most basic swordsmanship.
Back in the day, the Original Master had also started by practicing the Mortal Sword Manual, beginning his path of the sword at five years old.
As for the Heavenly Book, it recorded the characters used by cultivators, similar to an immortal-mortal dictionary. Since cultivators and mortals used different scripts, Lin Ci—being illiterate in cultivation terms and only knowing ancient mortal characters—needed the Heavenly Book to cross-reference and roughly understand cultivation manuals.
These two items he wanted to buy absolutely couldn’t be known by anyone in the Sect, so he came to the mortal marketplace outside. It wasn’t far from the Great Void Sect, and it was highly likely both could be purchased there.
The reason for the straw hat was to avoid being recognized when coming down the mountain. Although no Devil Cultivators roamed near the Sect, it was better to be cautious.
As for Xiaochan, she had never revealed herself inside the Sect, and no one knew she was his Junior Sister, so there was no need to hide her identity.
“Senior Brother, actually… just buying some cloth is fine. Xiaochan can make her own clothes.”
Along the way, the poor girl Xia Xiaochan seemed a bit worried that this trip might cost too much. Although she was looking forward to new clothes, she spoke up proactively.
So she had been keeping her head down and silent because she was worried about this… Lin Ci found it amusing. This little girl was surprisingly good at managing household affairs.
“Ready-made clothes are fine, it’s no big deal.”
Lin Ci said, patting the moneybag at his waist, letting her hear the clinking of silver coins.
Don’t worry, Senior Brother has plenty of money!
Not to mention the monthly spirit stone stipend the Chief Disciple received, Lin Ci’s family was also a hundred-year-old ancient family famous in the mortal world.
Plus, silver was basically useless to cultivators, so there was no need to be frugal when spending it.
Just think of it as the capitalist side of things.
Knowing that Senior Brother was “loaded,” Xiaochan’s worries immediately vanished, and she returned to her usual lively self.
At noon,
the two arrived at a small town at the foot of the mountain.
Here was a bustling market. Although it was a mortal marketplace, because it was close to the Great Void Sect, many cultivation-related goods also circulated there.
Such as wild spirit materials, Spirit Beast Soul Pellets, half-true and half-fake cultivation technique manuals… Lin Ci even thought that if he put his self-created Nine Revolutions Heaven-Burning Technique on sale here, he might actually fool a few suckers.
Among the bustling crowd were often rogue cultivators—not Devil Cultivators, but cultivators without a Sect who studied cultivation on their own.
After arriving, they didn’t wander around but went straight to a clothing store.
As soon as they entered, Xiaochan was immediately drawn to the dazzling array of ancient style women’s clothing inside.
“Wow, Senior Brother, look! This dress is so pretty!”
“This one’s nice too, but it’s a bit expensive…”
Xia Xiaochan spun around the store, hardly daring to blink. These beautiful clothes—she had never even dared to look at them before.
Even if she didn’t buy anything today, just seeing them was enough to satisfy her.
“How much for these two?”
Lin Ci picked two relatively expensive dresses and casually asked the shopkeeper.
……
Silver meant nothing to Lin Ci, and after buying the two dresses, he told Xiaochan to go try them on in the back room. He then took advantage of her changing to step outside the clothing store and approached a nearby bookstall.
“Yo, what kind of books are you looking for, sir?”
The shopkeeper was a lean man with a sly look. Seeing someone stop by, he smiled and spoke in a friendly tone.
Lin Ci asked, “Do you have the Heavenly Book and sword manuals?”
“I do have them…”
The shopkeeper suddenly lowered his voice mysteriously, “But I’m afraid you can’t buy those with silver.”
“How many spirit stones?”
Lin Ci didn’t waste words and asked directly.
The shopkeeper smiled, “Alright, you’re straightforward. How about this: I’ll give you a 30% discount—ten spirit stones, sound good?”
The moment Lin Ci said “spirit stones,” the shopkeeper switched from calling him “sir” to “Daoist friend.”
“Five spirit stones.”
Lin Ci held up five fingers.
“…Daoist friend, I’m just running a small business here.”
“Then forget it, I’ll see what others have.”
Lin Ci acted as if to leave.
“Hey, hey, don’t be in such a hurry, five spirit stones is fine, just consider it making a friend!”
The lean shopkeeper quickly called him back. He rummaged through the box behind the stall and pulled out two books.
One was the Heavenly Book.
The other was called the Nether Soul Sword Technique.
Lin Ci paused again. Although he had no need to haggle, he was a modern man and knew never to show all his cards.
“This sword manual… doesn’t look like something good people would practice?”
Looking at the Nether Soul Sword Technique, Lin Ci mused.
“Sigh, you joke, Daoist friend. Where else do you find orthodox sword manuals these days? I got these from Devil Cultivators.”
“Are these sword manuals safe to practice?”
“Eh, what do you mean?”
“Nothing, just joking.”
The two bantered back and forth. Lin Ci felt like this joke wouldn’t feel complete if he didn’t say it.
“How about this: I’ll take these two books, but you have to throw in a Mortal Sword Manual, deal?”
“Alright, alright.”
Hearing the Mortal Sword Manual, the shopkeeper knew those could be bought with silver coins—he casually picked up a copy of Jiangnan Flying Shadow Sword and handed it over.
Lin Ci opened his Storage Pouch, took out five spirit stones, and bought all three books.
“Daoist friend, what’s your name? Which Sect are you from?”
After collecting the spirit stones, the shopkeeper smiled and tried to get closer.
“I’m a rogue cultivator, no name, no Sect—home is wherever the four seas are.”
Lin Ci said casually, lowering the edge of his straw hat and walking away.
He had skimmed through a few books, and they were genuine. His goal for today was already achieved, so there was no need to say more.
But after Lin Ci left, the shopkeeper’s expression suddenly darkened.
He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a Transmission Talisman, pressing it to his ear:
“Old Ninth, there’s a big fish…”
“He’s carrying a Storage Pouch…”
“Right, not a rogue cultivator…”
“Cultivation level? Hmph, he just bought a Heavenly Book here, probably just recently entered the path…”
“Got it, I’ll follow him now…”
“You take the brothers and wait for my orders…”
……
Not far away, Lin Ci returned to the clothing store.
Just as he entered, his eyes brightened.
Xiaochan had already changed.
She now wore a teal waist-cinched dress, her figure slender and light like early spring willow shoots. Her chestnut hair was styled into a single-side bun, giving off a playful and lively vibe.
The girl was only fourteen years old now, but in a few years, she would likely be stunningly beautiful.
Seeing Lin Ci come in, Xiaochan shyly lowered her head, then raised her bright eyes to her Senior Brother and smiled with her lips pressed together, cheeks faintly flushed:
“Senior Brother, does Xiaochan look good?”
“……”
How to put it…
“This dress suits you very well.”