Professionals of the Starry Skies - Chapter 21

[Chapter 21 Qinglinfang City (asking for monthly ticket)]

early morning.

Hazy mist.

Qinglinfang City is located on a green mountain, and the mountain is surrounded by giant green trees.

The mountain was shrouded in thick fog, making it difficult to see clearly, but at the foot of the mountain there were rows of shacks, most of which were built with local materials and huge logs. They looked very narrow and closed, with no gutters at the door and sewage flowing everywhere.

“Is this Qinglinfang City? Seeing it in person is not as good as hearing about it…”

Fang Xing was wearing a green robe, with his hair tied in a bun and carrying a basket on his back. His face had long been disguised, revealing him to be a simple and honest young man who looked not much different from the locals.

At this moment, he sighed, secretly controlled a simulated yellow bird from the sky, and it flew into the basket.

He has put a lot of effort into today’s exploration.

He planned many escape routes, wore a primary nano protective suit inside his robe, and had an electric baton on his waist, so he was fully armed.

Not only that, there were simulated bird-shaped drones along the way, constantly monitoring the surroundings, allowing him to avoid several groups of guys who looked tough.

“Is this a Xiuxian market or a slum?”

After entering the shantytown, the first thing that hit him was an unpleasant smell, which made Fang Xing couldn’t help but fan the air in front of his nose.

The road was muddy and overgrown with weeds, and occasionally a piece of white bone was exposed…

It looks like a human thigh bone.

“I’ll go…”

Fang Xing looked at the corner in front of him. There seemed to be a fresh corpse lying there. No one knew who killed it, but the body had already been stripped naked.

There were a few pedestrians on the road with hurried looks, and occasionally one could see eyes peeking through the gaps in the wooden boards and behind the windows.

Everyone seemed accustomed to the corpses.

‘Chaos, disorder… death at any moment?’

‘It must be very stressful to live in this environment!’

Fang Xing secretly complained, and then his eyes fixed.

A tall and thin middle-aged man walked towards the front. He was wearing a gray Taoist robe and had a cold and gloomy expression.

What’s more important is that the gray Taoist robe on the other party seemed to be shining with aura as he walked!
“Robe? Monk?”

Fang Xing’s idea moved, and he quickly followed the example of several warriors nearby and stood aside to make room for the main road in the middle.

Some warriors even bowed deeply, with humble and flattering smiles on their faces.

Everything happened so naturally, as if it was a convention.

‘Etiquette and respect, the law of the jungle…’

“If I don’t give way and salute, will I be killed? Will my death be in vain?”

With a heavy heart, Fang Xing walked out of the shantytown and headed up.

The mountain paths are paved with bluestone slabs, some of which are covered with moss, creating a unique landscape.

After reaching the halfway point of the mountain, you can vaguely see large buildings. It looks much neater, and the ground is paved with stone slabs and is relatively clean.

Several warriors were sweeping the floor not far away, and some were carrying wooden buckets, like servants.

After walking for a few dozen meters, Fang Xing saw an archway with four large characters “Qinglinfangshi” inscribed on it.

After entering the market, the flow of people increased significantly. There were various vendors setting up stalls on both sides of the road, and the goods were also varied.

Exotic flowers and plants, fruits and vegetables covered with morning dew, skins and bones of wild animals, white rice…

Of course, there are also various strange weapons, weird talismans, and bottles and jars…

Many people were standing in front of the stalls, either staring intently or bargaining.

Fang Xing watched coldly and roughly confirmed that most of the transactions here were barter. Apart from that, the most commonly used thing was something called “spiritual sand”, which was the rice-grain crystal stone in his hand.

In addition to stalls, there are also many shops in the market.

Qingdanfang, Baibao Pavilion, Huolianfang, Xiaofutang, Tingyu Tower…

For some stores you can tell what they sell from their names, but for others you have to guess.

Fang Xing stopped briefly in front of Tingyu Tower, and he seemed to hear some soft music in his ears, and he immediately knew where the place was.

“Hey, little brother, would you like to play? It only takes one spirit stone per time!”

Perhaps he stayed there too long, and a young lady with half her breasts exposed waved at him. Her eyes were almost stringy and she was very gentle and charming.

“Spirit Stone? It seems to be a higher-level currency than Spirit Sand?”

Fang Xing’s heart moved, but she pretended to blush slightly and left shyly, which caused a burst of silver bell-like teasing behind her.

Half an hour later.

“How much is this ‘Zhulong Grass’?”

After walking around, Fang Xing stopped in front of a stall and pointed at a jade-red herb with thick leaves.

The stall owner was an old man who looked like a farmer. He was smoking a pipe with a brass mouthpiece, and wisps of green smoke were coming out of the pipe.

Hearing Fang Xing’s question, the old man was not in a hurry. He took another deep puff and then calmly knocked the pipe on the bluestone slab beside him.

There was actually a dent on the bluestone slab. I don’t know how long this old man had been knocking on it out of habit.

“Two pieces of spiritual sand for one plant of Zhulong grass… but if you want to sell it to me, it will only be one piece of spiritual sand for one plant.”

The old man spoke slowly.

“How do you know?”

Fang Xing’s heart moved and his face looked a little flustered, like a young man who was not very worldly-wise.

“Hehe…” The old man smiled proudly: “I can smell the medicinal smell in your basket from a distance of ten feet. Is it Zhulong grass? If you want to sell it at a high price, ask around first…”

“You really have a keen eye.”

Fang Xing smiled innocently.

He made a lot of preparations for this trip to the market, and the main material was the ‘Red Dragon Grass’!
After all, there were a lot of this herb in the territory of the wild boar monster.

In fact, using drones to harvest fruits is not very risky.

This time Fang Xing carried twenty fresh Zhulong grasses and prepared to look at the market.

“To tell you the truth, Red Dragon Grass is only useful to those who practice Qigong… We warriors only earn our money through hard work. But the purchase price in the market has increased recently. Otherwise, under normal circumstances, you would only be able to exchange two or three pieces of Red Dragon Grass for one piece of Spiritual Sand!”

The old man didn’t have much business, so he was in a leisurely mood and chatted with Fang Xing casually: “Young man… I won’t lie to you. Even if you take this Zhulong grass to a store, it will still cost the same. But I can give you a discount. I can give you eleven spiritual sands for ten plants…”

“I don’t have so many. I worked so hard to get these few plants.”

Fang Xing shook his head, a look of hesitation appeared on his face: “Let me take a look…”

He didn’t say much and turned around to blend into the crowd.

“The bottom line of the people in this world is too low. I really can’t trust them…”

“Comparatively speaking, at least the reputation of a store is a little higher than that of an individual…”

“My little profit shouldn’t be worth the store turning against me and damaging my reputation…but it may not be the case for an individual.”

After comprehensive consideration, Fang Xing is ready to go to the store to trade even if the purchase price is lower.

“Selling talismans, freshly drawn talismans… Wind-controlling talismans, fire-rain talismans, golden bell-covering talismans, spirit-detecting talismans… Everyone come and take a look.”

At this time, Fang Xing was attracted by a burst of shouting and came to a stall, his expression froze.

The stall owner looked middle-aged, wearing a robe with awe-inspiring aura. He was actually a monk!
“The Wind Control Talisman, stick it on your legs to make the wind blow under your feet. It’s a must-have for traveling… It’s cheap, one for only one spiritual sand…”

“Fire Rain Talisman, first-level low-grade attack talisman, five spiritual sands…”

“The spirit-testing talisman can detect spiritual roots. As we all know, mortals cannot cultivate immortality without spiritual roots. You may have made a mistake in the test when you were young. Today is your second chance. You can change your fate in one fell swoop… All you need is eight spiritual sands!”

When Fang Xing heard this, he couldn’t help but feel something in his heart, and looked at the last “Golden Bell Talisman” again.

This talisman was placed in the middle of the stall and was obviously a high-end item.

“A first-class, mid-level item – the Golden Bell Charm. It is enough to withstand several attacks from a cultivator in the middle stage of Qi training. It is the best of the best. I only sell it for three spirit stones. I am losing money…”

Fang Xing had been shopping for such a long time that he already knew that it took ten pieces of spirit sand to exchange for one low-grade spirit stone. He immediately thought that what the stall owner said was quite interesting.

He squeezed out of the crowd, compared several shops, and finally walked into the Qingdanfang!
The reason why he chose this place was that it seemed to be a medicine shop, and there must be a demand for herbs.

The second is the green leaf mark on the plaque, which is exactly the same as the mark on the bottom of the Qi and Blood Pill bottle, which gave Fang Xing a little favor.

“Sir, what kind of medicine do you need?”

As I walked into the store, I was greeted by a girl with bright eyes and white teeth.

Even though he saw that Fang Xing was just an ordinary young warrior, there was no trace of disgust on his face.

“Although it is an ordinary service level on Eagle Star, it is too rare in Qinglinfang City…”

Fang Xing sighed in his heart, and then answered: “I want to sell medicine… Do you buy Zhulong grass?”

“Of course I will take them. One spiritual sand for each plant. I wonder how many customers there are?”

The girl was startled, then answered immediately.

“That’s all…”

Fang Xing took off the basket on his back and took out twenty pieces of Zhulong grass.

“Well, freshly picked. Although the method is a little unfamiliar, the medicinal properties are generally intact… There are a total of twenty spiritual sands. What do you think, sir?”

The girl checked them one by one and gave a quote.

“Can!”

Fang Xing was very frugal with words, and soon he saw the girl put away the Red Dragon Grass and took out two crystals.

“Low-grade spirit stone?”

His eyes lit up, and he took the spirit stone and placed it in the palm of his hand.

This low-grade spirit stone was only the size of a fingernail, and was crystal clear. The mist inside was even thicker, and it felt cool when held in the palm of the hand.

“I wonder if the customer has any other needs?” The girl seemed to want to make another deal.

“Qi and blood pill…”

Fang Xing thought about it and asked tentatively, “I wonder how much it’s going to cost?”

“Qi and Blood Pills are for mortal warriors. They are very cheap, only one spirit stone for a bottle.” The girl answered with a chuckle. Although her tone was the same as usual, it naturally carried a sense of superiority.

“Give me a bottle!”

Fang Xing handed over the spirit stone he had just obtained, which had not yet warmed up, and bought a jade bottle that was exactly the same as the one seized by the female warrior.

After walking out of Qingdanfang, he looked towards the stalls, and then thoughtfully entered another building, which was the “Xiao Fu Tang”.

(End of this chapter)