Chapter 28, Heavenly Treasure Pavilion

Translator: Raznick

 

Over three years had passed, yet Red Cliff Market remained almost unchanged.

 

Zhou Chun gazed at the familiar yet unfamiliar shops in the market town, and suddenly recalled the scene of meeting Zhou Zhengyong and the others.

 

Back then, upon just establishing a foothold at Nine Peaks, the Zhou Clan had already sent Zhou Zhengyong and others to scout the market, preparing to set up a shop there.

 

However, more than three years had passed, and Zhou Clan’s shop had still not been opened.

 

Zhou Chun didn’t know what caused it, but he couldn’t help feeling regretful.

 

At that moment, he walked deeper into the bustling streets of the market town. His intention was to set up a stall selling artifacts at the open-air markets, while hoping to acquire some wild herbs along the way.

 

But midway, Zhou Chun’s gaze was caught by a shop.

 

Li’s Pharmacy!

 

Glancing up at the gilded words on the shop sign and then at the young apprentice who was smiling as he escorted a customer out of the store, Zhou Chun’s face rapidly shifted between expressions.

 

He recognized the young apprentice. If his memory served him correctly, this individual was originally from the Li Clan of the Three Absolute Sect.

 

In this way, it was evident who owned the Li’s Pharmacy.

 

[Since the Li Clan opened a pill shop, could the You Clan’s and Spirit Beast Manor’s shops also been set up in the market?]

 

Zhou Chun muttered to himself as he pondered, and upon deciding, promptly altered his plans, beginning to wander through the entire Red Cliff Market.

 

After wandering around like this, he didn’t spot the other two stores that had been opened.

 

Perhaps, just like the Zhou Clan, the other two clans also chose to act cautiously instead of acting hastily.

 

Because of the appearance of Li Clan’s cultivators, this also alerted Zhou Chun to another issue.

 

As he was walking through the marketplace, he might be recognized by those from the Three Absolute Sect who had seen him before.

 

So he immediately changed direction and went to an inn, booking himself a cultivation room.

 

Inside the cultivation room, Zhou Chun retrieved items for disguise and makeup from his storage bag to begin transforming his appearance.

 

He’d come to the market this time with grand ambitions. Having prepared thoroughly beforehand, he had everything he needed ready.

 

After some makeup, Zhou Chun transformed from a tall and handsome young man standing at 1.8 meters into an ordinary fellow with dark skin and a face full of pimples.

 

Those pimples were no illusion, grown by applying drugs to the skin.

 

Zhou Chun’s makeup techniques and the items he used for makeup were all things he learned by studying books from the Zhou Clan library. In terms of effectiveness, they were no inferior to his previous makeup techniques from his past life.

 

After finishing his makeup, even when he examined himself in the mirror, he struggled to associate the person looking back with Zhou Chun, the handsome young man. He couldn’t quite reconcile the image of himself in the mirror with the confident and stylish Zhou Chun he had once been. It felt almost as if he were seeing a stranger.

 

Smiling contentedly, Zhou Chun nodded at his reflection. Having waited until two hours had passed, he then checked out and left the inn.

 

Half an hour later, a gray-clad young man began selling artifacts at the open-air marketplace in Red Cliff Market.

 

Zhou Chun set up a stall this time and also placed his Golden Willow Blade, a pale golden flying dagger artifact, on display. It was priced at sixty-five spirit coins. Alongside it were the black long knife artifact he had acquired from the Mu Clan and a storage bag.

 

Actually, he had also considered selling the black iron cone artifacts he obtained from Li Han; however, after noticing that cultivators from the Li Clan had appeared in the marketplace, he decided against his initial idea for safety reasons.

 

The Golden Willow Blade, classified as an average first-grade artifact, still managed to catch people’s attention when it appeared at the flea market.

 

The price of 65 spirit coins was something that not even an average rogue cultivator could afford.

 

Therefore, there were cultivators who inquired about prices or attempted to lower them, but those who actually made a move to buy were nonexistent.

 

Zhou Chun had been setting up a stall every day until the fifth day, when he finally managed to sell it at a reduced price for fifty-nine spirit coins.

 

During these past few days, Zhou Chun also acquired several wild herbs.

 

But these were very ordinary, far inferior to the hundred-year-old wild ginseng he had bought before, and even after purification, they could not be sold for many spirit coins.

 

Zhou Chun could only continue his daily stakeout at the market, hoping once again to encounter herbs of the century-old wild ginseng variety.

 

Hard work never fails. On Zhou Chun’s ninth day at Red Cliff Market, he finally got what he wanted.

 

It was a red mushroom aged over two hundred years, selling for sixty spirit coins. The seller was a middle-aged female cultivator at the Eleventh Layer of Qi Refining.

 

Frankly speaking, this price was significantly higher than what a herb shop would offer. Typically, a herb shop would only offer around fifty spirit coins for herbs of this age.

 

But Zhou Chun didn’t care about any of that. He could always sell it for double, and no matter what, he would make a profit.

 

Therefore, soon after, he spent spirit coins to purchase this item.

 

But a single red mushroom was insufficient, as selling it would only fetch around one hundred spirit coins. This amount still fell short by a significant margin of what Zhou Chun required.

 

Fortunately, as Red Cliff Market was the only official cultivator market in Mist Province, the number of cultivators passing through every day was very large. If one had patience, it wasn’t difficult to find the herbs that Zhou Chun wanted to purchase.

 

He remained in the marketplace for fourteen days before finally managing to purchase enough herbs and then proceeded with his next plan.

 

In the inn’s cultivation room, Zhou Chun removed all his makeup from her face, restoring his original appearance.

 

He then took the herbs that had been cleansed of Savage Qi using Spiritual Water straight to the most famous shop in the marketplace, Heavenly Treasure Pavilion.

 

It operated under a major sect in the Jing Kingdom, Helios Sect, which was renowned for its expertise in crafting artifacts. Consequently, the artifacts sold here were always highly praised.

 

At that moment, Zhou Chun entered the store, and a pretty female staff member promptly approached him.

 

This female clerk likely wasn’t even twenty years old, with a cultivation level of only Third Layer of Qi Refining cultivation, probably a rogue cultivator employed by the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion.

 

With a smile, she approached Zhou Chun and immediately bowed deeply to him, saying, “Welcome, esteemed guest, to Heavenly Treasure Pavilion. My name is Lan Zhi, and I am honored to serve you.”

 

This seemingly ordinary gesture, however, deeply moved Zhou Chun.

 

He had entered and exited several shops in the market, and finally found one that was willing to provide attentive service.

 

[That’s why they say it’s the most renowned shop in the entire kingdom.]

 

As he pondered deeply, Zhou Chun also smiled faintly and nodded politely to the young girl, saying, “Excuse me, Fellow Daoist. I would like to purchase a superior first-grade attack artifact. Do you have one that I can examine?”

 

The young lady, upon hearing this, first showed a look of surprise in her eyes, then with an expression of joy, nodded repeatedly and said, “Of course there are. However, such a major transaction is beyond my authority to handle. Please follow me, esteemed guest; I will introduce you to our senior official.”

 

Speaking thus, she began to gesture to lead Zhou Chun toward a quiet chamber at the rear of the hall.

 

Upon reaching the quiet room’s exterior, the young girl directly to the door, knocked without hesitation, and repeated Zhou Chun’s purpose in visiting, after which she gestured for him to enter.

 

When Zhou Chun entered the room alone, he noticed that the quiet chamber was decorated like a tea room. A middle-aged man with a long beard stood facing him, and his cultivation was at the Eleventh Layer of Qi Refining.

 

Upon seeing him enter, the man immediately cupped his hands in greeting and said, “I am Liu Feng, the manager of this store. Are you, Fellow Daoist, looking to purchase a superior first-grade offensive artifact? Do you have any specific requirements regarding its form, or would any type suffice?”

 

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun immediately replied, “There are no special requirements; any type is acceptable, as long as it can satisfy me.”

 

“Then please, Fellow Daoist, wait a moment. I will go immediately to retrieve it for you.”

 

As the pale-faced man spoke, he pushed open another small door behind him and disappeared.

 

After waiting like this for about a quarter of an hour, he finally pushed his way back into the room through the small door that was slightly ajar.

 

Then, without waiting for Zhou Chun to ask, he retrieved several wooden boxes of varying sizes from his storage bag and placed them on the nearby table. He proceeded to open each one in turn, showcasing and explaining the artifacts inside to Zhou Chun.

 

He first opened a rectangular wooden box, from which he removed a long saber about a meter in length, its blade gleaming with a pale golden color.

 

He explained, “This artifact is named Golden Goose Blade. It’s crafted from refined gold and forged using pure earth fire for five days and five nights. It comes with sharpness and armor-piercing properties, not easily matched by artifacts of the same level. Priced at three hundred twenty spirit coins.”

 

After speaking, he paused slightly. Upon noticing that Zhou Chun remained silent, he placed the blade artifact back into its wooden case. He then opened the second box, pulling out a small crimson banner.

 

“The Flaming Sparrow Flag, made primarily from the silk of a second-grade demon beast known as the Scarlet Flame Spider, with essence of fire copper as auxiliary material. Crafted by a master weaponsmith over a fortnight, it can unleash three Firebird Arts in the form of sparrows, at the same level of power. Alternatively, it can focus its power to create one sparrow with the force of a superior first-grade mystical art.

 

“If, however, one possesses fire mystical arts, they can harness the flames released by this treasure for their own use and unleash its more exquisite functions. It is priced at three hundred and eighty spirit coins.”

 

Zhou Chun’s eyes lit up with interest as he openly displayed his admiration and said, “Indeed, it is a fine treasure, and the price is reasonable.”

 

After speaking, he shook his head again, expressing regret as he said, “Unfortunately, I am not skilled in fire arts, so I cannot fully utilize this artifact’s true potential. Perhaps we should consider looking at other artifacts instead.”

 

Upon hearing these words, the pale-faced middle-aged man held back what he had been about to say, instead having to put the crimson banner back into the box. He then opened the third box, taking out a small talisman of brownish-yellow color.

 

The little yellowish-brown talisman seemed incredibly heavy. When the man took it out, his wrist veins bulged prominently, showing how strenuous the task was.

 

And unlike the previous artifacts, which were held in hand, this was placed directly on a desk made of dark wood nearby.

 

“The Thousand Hills Seal was crafted from a substantial amount of dark stone, refined through purified earth fire for ten days and nights. This artifact possesses the unique properties of gravity manipulation, exceptional durability, and enlarging capabilities. Its power is unmatched among first-grade artifacts, priced at four hundred twenty spirit coins.”

 

After saying that, the white-faced middle-aged man didn’t take out any other artifacts either. He merely looked at Zhou Chun and asked, “Among these three artifacts, Fellow Daoist, do you have something you cherish?”

 

Zhou Chun was surprised and said, “Only these three artifacts? No others?”

 

It was hard to believe that such a vast Heavenly Treasure Pavilion would only have these few superior first-grade artifacts.

 

The man fixed him with a scrutinizing gaze and replied, “There are, of course, other artifacts, but their purposes are similar to these three. If you wish to examine all of them, I must first inspect your credentials and background, Fellow Daoist, to avoid wasting everyone’s time.”

 

Zhou Chun furrowed his brows slightly and asked softly, “Is this your store’s rule?”

 

“Yes, that is indeed the rule of this shop.”

 

The middle-aged man nodded in response without hesitation.

 

“I see. Then I shall now have Old Liu take a look at my resources.”

 

Zhou Chun relaxed his brows, nodded slightly, and then brushed against the storage bag at his waist, revealing what he had.