I long to return home!

Outer ring.

Qingyue City.

Shops lined both sides of the street, and the soft glow of the setting sun cast a gentle light on the red bricks and green tiles, or the brightly colored eaves of the pavilions, adding a touch of haziness and poetry to the prosperous evening scene of Qingyue City.

Looking down from the high platform, the streets were bustling with activity and the sounds of people were deafening. All 333 wards in the city were lit up, shining like a celestial palace.

In the bustling streets, several figures strolled through the alleys, their faces beaming with joy, but the young man in the center alone looked sullen.

"That old bastard stole my milk tea and dragged me down with him. I'm so unlucky." Xue Wu frowned, still resentful of Su Yifeng's unjust behavior at the banquet.

"Alright, Elder Lin didn't mean it. Besides... you didn't lose much face, and you even used... Li Yunfei's name." Xu Tao laughed.

"Luckily, Brother Da Chuan made the milk tea as an after-dinner drink, otherwise I would have been so embarrassed during the meal. By the way, why are only a few of us out? Where is Old Lin?" Xue Wu turned around and looked towards the city gate, but he couldn't see Su Yifeng's figure.

"My master is entertaining other sects and is taking the opportunity to arrange accommodations. He specifically asked me to come to this night market to find some magical treasures in preparation for the Foundation Establishment Holy Land," Su Changfeng, who was walking on the far right, said with a smile.

"Forget it, I won't let him ruin my good mood while shopping." Upon hearing this, Xue Wu suddenly felt relieved. Why be gloomy? He could enjoy the beautiful scenery of the city and shop on Taobao, so why not?

As the group ventured deeper into the city and grew some distance from the city gate, the streets seemed to know that many sect prodigies had gathered at the Foundation Establishment Holy Land, as the cries of various vendors could be heard every few steps.

"Don't miss out! Limited quantities of top-grade pills available. You won't regret it! These are all masterpieces from fourth-tier alchemy masters..."

"Gentlemen, our shop boasts a complete range of rare magical treasures. Buy one for self-defense, and even Qi Refining cultivators will feign death; Foundation Establishment cultivators will weep; and Golden Core cultivators will flee in terror. Crafted from various magical beast materials, these treasures are of exceptional quality and incredibly affordable..."

"..."

"These vendors are really daring. They claim their goods are high-quality and inexpensive, but when you look at the price, it's only eighty-eight spirit stones. You could make more money by robbing them." Xue Wu shook his head and sighed as he looked at the dazzling array of goods around him.

"Don't worry, I'm well prepared this time. Just buy whatever you like." Xu Tao took out a bulging bag from his storage bag. Peeking through the slit, you could see that it was filled with medium-grade spirit stones of various sizes, and there were also a few high-grade spirit stones.

One high-grade spirit stone is worth a hundred mid-grade spirit stones, and one mid-grade spirit stone is worth a hundred low-grade spirit stones. As for top-grade spirit stones, they are extremely rare. If you don't have a lot of money, you may never even have seen one. Even a hundred high-grade spirit stones cannot compare to a top-grade spirit stone.

"I didn't expect Senior Brother Xu to be such a wealthy man." Gu Qingcheng smiled obsequiously as she looked at the overflowing spirit stone bag in Xu Tao's hand.

"No, it's just that little by little it adds up. Most of it was given to me by my master," Xu Tao said with a smile, tossing his spirit stone bag around.

"That's not right, why didn't Master give me any pocket money? That's not fair," Xue Wu said angrily, looking at the overflowing spirit stones.

"Why didn't Master give it to you? I'm afraid he forgot about that entire spiritual vein. He could have just dug up a few pieces." Xu Tao whispered in Xue Wu's ear.

Upon hearing this, Xue Wu was reminded of something, and his face showed greed. He thought to himself, "That's right, how could I forget about this? An entire spiritual vein is priceless. Wouldn't I be a rich man now?"

"What are you talking about? Why are you whispering? I want to hear too." Jin Lingjiao was very curious about Xue Wu's increasingly perverted expression, so she tugged at his arm.

Seeing this, Xue Wu also leaned close to the latter's ear and whispered. After a moment of contemplation, Jin Lingjiao, like Xue Wu, gradually developed a lewd expression.

"What are you talking about? You're all like this," Su Changfeng asked, puzzled.

"It's a secret." Xue Wu and Jin Lingjiao said in unison at the same time.

Before Su Changfeng could react, a commotion came from ahead, as if people were arguing. Looking closely, he saw that the stall in front of him was surrounded by people, and through the crowd, an old man with a horse-like face was holding a broken sword and shouting curses.

"You're the one who broke my magic artifact, and you're trying to renege on your debt. Everyone, be the judge. This girl is taking advantage of my small business, breaking things and refusing to pay for them. Don't you agree?"

"You shopkeeper are utterly shameless! We just received the sword, and it suddenly shattered. How can you blame my junior sister?" a sword sect cultivator cursed at the horse-faced old man.

"It was clearly this girl who deliberately broke the sword when she took it. Are you disciples of major sects trying to bully us commoners just because you have more people?" The horse-faced old man looked around with the broken sword in his hand and said with a sob in his voice.

"That's right, how can you disciples of a powerful clan bully ordinary people? Compensation, you must compensate!" Voices of varying sizes rose from the crowd, all belonging to a group of rough-clothed youths, who glanced at the horse-faced old man with each shout.

"Damn, this is a shill!" Xue Wu looked at the rough-clothed men exchanging glances and shouting, and immediately knew it was a blatant scam.

"Should we go and do something about this? These people are completely unreasonable," Jin Lingjiao said angrily upon hearing this.

"There's nothing we can do. They're just ordinary people, and they insist on their own way, so there's nothing anyone can do. We can't exactly beat them up either. In the end, that sect will probably have to pay compensation out of face. They can only blame their bad luck. As long as we're careful, everything will be fine," Xue Wu said calmly.

After hearing what Xue Wu said, Xu Tao and the others remained silent. What he said was timely. The rule of the cultivation world was that one could not fight with mortals. Even Xu Tao, who was chivalrous and righteous, sighed and felt sorry for the disciples of that sect.

Just as Xue Wu said, amidst the increasing pressure from public opinion, a clear, cold female voice rang out: "You tell us how many spirit stones we need to compensate you."

Xu Tao, who was about to leave, was taken aback. He recognized the voice and looked through the crowd. It was the female sword cultivator from the Sword Sect he had met before.

"This sword of mine is a rare treasure. It is forged from the wing bone of the magical beast Purple Winged Thunder Eagle, and its value is considerable. Considering that your actions were not unintentional, I only require four hundred mid-grade spirit stones as compensation." The horse-faced old man stroked his long beard and made a boastful demand.

"What?! Four hundred mid-grade spirit stones? Why don't you just rob us? Your broken sword doesn't even have a trace of the Purple Winged Thunder Eagle. What makes you think you can take four hundred spirit stones from us?"

"Junior sister, if you ask me, he's a fraud. Let's ignore him and just leave," a Sword Sect disciple said angrily, looking at the horse-faced old man on the ground.

"Everyone, come and see! This disciple of a major sect is bullying an old man like me who is over fifty years old. This is outrageous!" The horse-faced old man fell to the ground like a rogue, grabbing the female sword cultivator's shoe and refusing to let go.

The next moment, voices of indignation rose again. Under pressure, the female sword cultivator pursed her red lips and said, "We will compensate you, but I only have two hundred spirit stones right now. Old man, could you... make an exception and let us go back and get the spirit stones to compensate you?"

"No, who knows if you'll come back or not? If you don't come back, who will compensate me for this precious sword?" the horse-faced old man said shamelessly, tightly gripping the female swordswoman's ankle.

"Wait a minute!"