A Mortal's Start in the Spirit Beast Mountain

He was unaware of the conversation between the two people behind him. He no longer had the strength to be a hero and save the beauty. Over the years, he had only focused on improving his cultivation in the sect and did not have any powerful magic weapons to protect him. Without strength, he would stay as far away as possible.

He had already arrived at a misty island according to the map.

"Fellow Daoist, you need to pay one low-grade spirit stone each day to enter the market." Beside the array at the entrance of the market, a long-faced cultivator dressed in the uniform of the Qingxu Sect was standing guard, speaking calmly to the passing cultivators.

Luo Ming had already learned about the rules of the market in advance. Disciples from the three sects could enter and exit freely with their identity tokens without paying spirit stones.

He immediately took out his Spirit Beast Mountain identity token from his storage bag and handed it over. This identity token was made of specially crafted spirit jade, the same material as the jade slip. It not only contained Luo Ming's identity information and cultivation level, but also his divine sense aura, making it extremely difficult to counterfeit.

The long-faced cultivator accepted the token, carefully examined it with his divine sense, and then returned it with both hands, a polite smile on his face: "Oh, so you're Senior Brother Luo from Spirit Beast Mountain. Since we're fellow practitioners from all three sects, there's naturally no need to pay spirit stones. Please come in!"

Luo Ming bowed to the other party, thanked them, and then stepped into the market.

As soon as he stepped in, the scene before him was a sight to behold: the wide streets were lined with all sorts of stalls, and cultivators came and went in an endless stream, with shouts of vendors and the sounds of bargaining rising and falling, creating a lively atmosphere.

"It feels like I've entered a marketplace for ordinary people," Luo Ming thought to himself.

This was the first time he had left his sect and come to the market since he transmigrated. When he first transmigrated, he lacked a sense of security and stayed in the sect to cultivate diligently. Every day, apart from completing the task of feeding the spirit insects, he would go into seclusion, living a life similar to that of a college student in his previous life. But now, stepping into the market was like a student who had broken free from his constraints and entered the bustling marketplace outside the school, his heart filled with novelty.

Based on the information gathered during the visit, Qinghufang Market is mainly divided into three areas.

The entrance is the main area where independent cultivators set up stalls, displaying a dazzling array of cultivation techniques, magical artifacts, elixirs, and spiritual herbs, though they are all low-level items.

But if you're lucky, you might even find a bargain among these stalls. Legend has it that decades ago, a rogue cultivator found a rare treasure at a stall, making the stall owner who sold it regret it so much he vomited blood.

Behind the plaza are the official shops opened by the three sects: the "Spirit Beast Pavilion" of Spirit Beast Mountain specializes in selling all kinds of spirit insects, demon beasts and beast-taming related items; the "Danfu Pavilion" of Qingxu Sect mainly sells pills and talismans; and the "Giant Sword Tower" of Giant Sword Sect mainly sells all kinds of swords and magical weapons, which are very characteristic of the sect.

In addition, other forces or independent cultivators also rent shops here, as long as they can pay the rent on time. The last area is the cave dwelling area, where hundreds of cave dwellings of different sizes have been built for visiting cultivators to rent for short periods. The three sects can make a considerable profit just from the rent of the cave dwellings.

"Fellow Daoist, would you like to buy some talismans for self-defense?" A middle-aged cultivator in a yellow robe, seeing Luo Ming curiously examining the stall, quickly and enthusiastically greeted him. "I have all kinds of low-level talismans here: Ice Talismans, Greatsword Talismans, Earth Prison Talismans, Wind Control Talismans... a wide variety, fair prices, guaranteed to satisfy you!"

Luo Ming stopped and glanced at the talismans displayed on the stall. The various talismans were neatly arranged, with evenly distributed spiritual energy, indicating that their quality was acceptable. However, they were all low-level talismans, which would be of limited help to him now that he had reached the pinnacle of Qi Refining.

He withdrew his gaze, looked at the yellow-robed cultivator, and asked directly, "Do you have any talismanic treasures here, fellow Daoist?"

Upon hearing this, the yellow-robed cultivator's enthusiastic smile froze instantly, and he stood there stunned for a long time, unable to react.

"A talisman... a talisman treasure? Heh, fellow Daoist, you jest." The yellow-robed cultivator said with a wry smile.

"Hehe, just kidding. Seeing how complete your talismans are, I doubt you drew them all yourself, right?"

Although he didn't know how to make talismans, he did know that the prerequisite for drawing a certain talisman was to learn that spell. He didn't believe that the other party had mastered all the low-level spells; that would be a genius in magic.

Moreover, this spell is also related to one's spiritual root. Without the corresponding spiritual root, it is very difficult to learn the spell, and even if one learns it, its power is only mediocre.

"That's impossible. I only drew a small portion of these talismans. Most of them were acquired from other independent cultivators. They focused on making talismans, and I sold them for them, earning only a small profit from the price difference."

"Oh, I see..."

Seeing that he only asked questions and didn't buy anything, the yellow-robed cultivator started to call out to other cultivators. Luo Ming didn't mind and continued to stroll around.

The market was densely packed with stalls; Luo Ming roughly estimated that there were over a hundred. Most of the stalls sold low-level talismans, magical artifacts, and pills. Although the quality of the items sold by independent cultivators was generally poor, their prices were much lower than those of the large stores, which attracted many independent cultivators who were short of spirit stones to come and make purchases.

"Huh, they actually sell monsters."

After browsing for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Luo Ming stopped in front of a rather deserted stall. This stall stood out starkly from its bustling surroundings, attracting no customers. The reasons were twofold: firstly, the stall owner, who appeared to be an elderly man with a white beard, remained meditating with his eyes closed, making no attempt to solicit business from passersby; secondly, the prices of the demonic beasts listed on the wooden sign in front of the stall were prohibitively expensive for ordinary rogue cultivators.

But Luo Ming stopped there not because of the price. He was no longer short of spirit stones. What truly attracted him was the seemingly ordinary raccoon in the cage in the corner of the stall. The raccoon was light gray all over, with a pair of amber eyes that shone with a lively spirit.

"That's right, there is indeed a slight fluctuation of wind elemental energy, which is almost imperceptible without careful perception."

In his previous life, as a disciple of Spirit Beast Mountain, his ability to identify demonic beasts far surpassed that of ordinary people. His predecessor had seen records of the Wind Fox in the sect's secret manual and immediately determined that this fox was no ordinary creature. The faint wind-attribute spiritual power swirling around its body was a sign that the Wind Fox's bloodline had not fully awakened.

"A wind-attribute beast? If it is, then the price isn't too expensive," Luo Ming thought to himself. The price marked on the wooden sign was one hundred spirit stones, an amount enough to buy a high-grade magic weapon, which was undoubtedly a huge sum for most rogue cultivators.

Seeing Luo Ming's gaze fixed on the raccoon, the white-bearded old man, who had been resting with his eyes closed, finally opened them slowly and spoke calmly, "Fellow Daoist, have you taken a fancy to this wind raccoon?"

"Although this raccoon has a faint trace of wind spirit power, it can't really be considered a wind raccoon, right?" Luo Ming was already tempted, but he also wanted to take the opportunity to lower the price, so he deliberately picked a flaw to say.

"Hmph, if this demon had fully awakened its wind attribute bloodline, do you think I would sell it for a hundred spirit stones?" The white-bearded old man retorted angrily upon hearing Luo Ming's words.