Bamboo Mound

"Senior, everything you requested is here. Please check it."

Ning Chang waved his hand to accept the talisman, then opened a bottle of Mind-Concentrating Pills, took one, and immediately felt clear-headed and energetic.

Then he turned around and left the shop without looking back.

There are still twelve days left before the three sects begin their recruitment, which is quite a long time. Since he has nothing to do, he plans to take a leisurely stroll around the city.

The city was as bustling as when he first arrived, with several streets, each with its own unique character.

This street is lined with snack restaurants, that street is full of clothing and shoes, there are also fish and meat markets, rare and precious cultural artifacts, and a few feng shui and fortune-telling tables are interspersed among them to form several streets.

Just walking along the streets, glancing around without stopping, would take up a whole day.

Before entering the antique and collectible street, he wondered if he would encounter anything interesting. However, after walking around, he found some unusual items, but none of them were particularly unusual.

Most of them were ready-made items: jade pendants, swords, ornaments, and calligraphy and paintings—things he wasn't interested in, not even as good as the oddly shaped stones the mine guard had collected before!

The next day, after asking around, Ning Chang arrived at the Changqing Theater, which was far from the bustling city, yet felt just like one.

"I did not see her picking plum blossoms and brushing away snow, but I heard her sobbing in her secluded chamber!"

Before even entering the room, one can hear the undulating operatic singing, along with the slightly deep sounds of the erhu and clappers.

Several groups of people dressed in various styles gathered outside the theater, all straining their ears toward the gate, listening to the sounds of the opera coming through the wall.

Several people lowered their heads and discussed in hushed tones, not wanting to disturb those who were eavesdropping.

Seeing this, Ning Chang immediately guessed that this was just a group of people who were stingy with the entrance fee but still wanted to listen to the opera gathering outside to take advantage of the situation.

As soon as you enter through the courtyard gate, a waiter immediately comes out from behind it.

"Sir, are you here to see a play? The entrance fee is two hundred coins."

"How many private rooms?" Ning Chang asked directly.

Although the Evergreen Theater is called a theater, its overall layout is like that of a traditional theater, consisting of a two-story building.

The first floor is the main venue, with the stage in front and a semi-circle around which the audience area is located. The seats are identical, and most of them are already occupied.

The second floor consists of several small rooms, separated by walls. Facing the stage is only a row of railings, the carvings of which are exquisite.

"Sir, the private room is five taels of silver." The waiter replied quietly, his expression unchanged.

Ning Chang nodded. This waiter was indeed competent, neither servile nor arrogant.

He immediately took out five taels of silver, paid it, and went upstairs to take a seat in the central stands.

The entire second floor was empty at that moment.

Inside the stands, there was only a small table in front of the fence, and a few chairs placed against the wall behind the door, each covered with a cloth.

After the waiter led Ning Chang inside, he took a chair, lifted the cloth cover, and placed the chair next to the table.

He then gestured for Ning Chang to sit down, and then, using the cloth covering his face, closed the door and left the private room.

The chair is quite exquisite, with a dark red color overall. It's hard to tell whether it's painted or made of mahogany. The backrest is openwork and tilts slightly backward. The four legs are also covered with intricate carvings. The armrests are smooth and at a suitable height. It also has a seat cushion and a backrest cushion.

Ning Chang had barely sat down when the door behind him was opened after a few knocks.

A waitress entered carrying a tray and placed a porcelain plate and a bell on the round table.

The porcelain plate was filled with fruits that had already been arranged, such as peaches, dates, and grapes.

"Sir, this is a complimentary fruit platter from the theater. There will be someone waiting outside while you watch the show. If you need anything, you can ring the bell to call for service."

After the waitress finished speaking, she bowed slightly, took the tray, and left.

Ning Chang, however, focused his attention on the plate of fruit.

"The quality is quite good." He picked up the bunch of grapes, looked them over, and then put them down.

The fruit in the fruit platter was all flawless and perfectly clean.

"Unfortunately, it's just an ordinary object..."

After looking him over, he sighed again.

Fruits that haven't been transformed into spiritual plants are probably no longer available outside of mortal cities.

Looking at the plump grapes in his hand, he decided to collect some fruit seeds first, and like that mulberry branch, he would find a way to plant them later. As for how to transform them into spiritual plants, he could only try his luck in Medicine King Valley.

After all, they specialize in cultivating spiritual plants, so they probably have some special methods.

However, he won't be staying there for very long, and figuring out how to plant these fruits is another matter.

The items inside the space bag are not static; they are simply sealed off from the air, which greatly extends their shelf life, but the drying and deactivation phenomena still exist.

He has never planted fruit trees directly from seeds before, and he doesn't know if they will simply stop sprouting over time.

But after hesitating for a moment, he felt relieved, put the plate of fruit away, and took out a piece of candied mulberry and put it in his mouth.

In the world of cultivation, why would he worry about how plants grow? That would be nothing but needless worry!

He shook his head, stopping himself from thinking about it, and looked back at the stage.

The theater has a wide variety of shows, including singing, acting, martial arts, crosstalk, and acrobatics.

The intonation here is slightly different from that of Peking Opera. It rarely has the kind of drawn-out syllables. The pauses and slowing down at the end of each word are just right in the whole dialogue.

The storylines are also diverse, including expeditions, partings, love and hate, chivalry, officialdom, and all sorts of other themes.

"It is said that the cultural creations of a place reflect the political situation of that period to a certain extent. So, the fact that so many different styles are blooming should also indicate that the Wangzhou Kingdom is well-governed and there are no major worries."

Ning Chang silently commented to himself.

After watching for half a day, he left the theater on his own.

The shows at the Evergreen Theater were indeed excellent, but he simply couldn't appreciate them.

After wandering around the fruit and vegetable street and buying some of each kind of fruit, Ning Chang followed the street all the way to the bounty board of Wangzhou Kingdom.

Ten days is too boring to just wait around, so he plans to see if there are any interesting commissions or monster hunting opportunities.

He hasn't encountered any strange beasts yet, or rather, he hasn't encountered many other animals.

The bounty board was quite large, stretching for over ten meters along the inner city wall.

There were five sections, three of which were crowded with people, the fourth had only two cultivators at the Spirit Fusion Realm observing, and the fifth was deserted.

The five boards were not connected together. Next to each board was a table and two guards. One of them was responsible for recording the information of the announcement, and the other was responsible for maintaining order. In short, they just stood still.

The two people next to the fifth board were huddled on a stool, fast asleep on the table.

Seeing that no one was there, Ning Chang went to the fifth board and looked up.

Six palm-sized wooden pieces hung on the board, each with different handwriting, each containing a different request.