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More than three years had passed, and almost nothing had changed in Hongya Marketplace.
Zhou Chun looked at the shops in the marketplace, familiar yet so strange, and he couldn't help but think of the encounter with Zhou Zhengyong and others at the marketplace three years ago.
Three years ago, soon after the Zhou Family had settled down in Jiufeng Ridge, they had already sent Zhou Zhengyong and others to the marketplace to scout and prepare for opening a shop.
However, after more than three years, the Zhou Family still had not managed to open a shop in the marketplace.
Zhou Chun did not know what had caused this, but he felt a certain regret about it in his heart.
At that moment, he followed the road deeper into the marketplace with the intention of setting up a stall to sell magic artifacts and see if he could procure any wild spiritual medicine.
But halfway there, Zhou Chun was drawn to one of the shops.
Li's Herbal Shop!
Seeing the four gilded characters above the shop's door, and then looking at the young shop assistant with a smile on his face as he sent off a customer, Zhou Chun's expression immediately became clouded with changing moods.
He recognized that young shop assistant, and if his memory was correct, the man was a descendant of the Li Family from the Sanjue Sect.
With that, it was easy to guess who the master behind "Li's Herbal Shop" was.
"Li Family's shop is already open. Have the You Family's shop and Spirit Beast Manor's shop also opened in the marketplace?" Zhou Chun muttered to himself and promptly changed his plan, beginning to wander through Hongya Marketplace.
After a complete tour, he had not discovered any shops opened by the other two families.
Perhaps like the Zhou Family, the other two families had also chosen to act cautiously and were not in a hurry to make their move.
Due to the appearance of a cultivator from the Li Family, Zhou Chun also realized another problem.
Walking among the marketplace, he was very likely to be recognized by someone from the Sanjue Sect who had seen him before.
Therefore, he immediately changed course and went to an inn in the marketplace to rent a cultivation room for himself.
Then, in the cultivation room, Zhou Chun took out various items from his storage pouch for disguise and makeup and began to change his appearance.
He had big plans for this trip to the marketplace and had meticulously prepared many things before coming.
Now, after going through the disguise process, Zhou Chun had transformed from a handsome young man about 1.8 meters tall into an ordinary, dark-skinned fellow with many pimples on his face.
The pimples were not fake; they had been induced by a reaction to certain medicines on the skin.
Zhou Chun's makeup skills and materials were all learned by perusing books from the Zhou Family's Book Collection Tower and the effect was not inferior to the makeup techniques from his previous life.
After finishing the disguise, even he found it difficult to associate the person in the mirror with the handsome Zhou Chun upon checking his reflection.
Satisfied with his work, Zhou Chun nodded at his reflection in the mirror. After waiting for two hours, he left the room and checked out of the inn.
An hour later, a new gray-clothed young man was seen at the marketplace stall selling magic artifacts.
For his stall, Zhou Chun also placed his pale-golden flying knife artifact, the Golden Willow Blade, and labeled it for sixty-five spirit coins. Additionally, he offered a black long sword artifact obtained from the Mu Family and a storage pouch.
He had initially considered selling the black iron spike artifact acquired from Li Han, but after realizing a Li Family cultivator was present in the marketplace, he decided against it for safety reasons.
The Golden Willow Blade, being a mid-grade, first-order magic artifact, did attract attention upon its appearance in the stall market.
However, the sixty-five spirit coin price was not something that an ordinary loose cultivator could afford.
There were cultivators who inquired and haggled over the price, but no one actually bought it.
It was not until the fifth day that Zhou Chun finally sold it for fifty-nine spirit coins after lowering the price.
During these few days, Zhou Chun also purchased some wild spiritual medicine.
However, the medicines he bought were quite ordinary, nowhere near as valuable as the hundred-year-old wild ginseng he had acquired before. Even after purification, they wouldn't sell for much.
Therefore, Zhou Chun could only continue to wait at the stall market daily, hoping to encounter spiritual medicine of the caliber of the hundred-year wild ginseng.
Patience pays off, and on the ninth day in the Hongya Marketplace, Zhou Chun finally found what he was looking for.
It was a Red Ganoderma with a medicinal age of over two hundred years, priced at a steep sixty spirit coins, sold by a middle-aged female cultivator in the eleventh level of the Qi Refinement Realm.
Frankly speaking, this price was higher than what a herbal shop would offer; a typical shop would purchase such a medicinal herb for around fifty spirit coins.
But Zhou Chun did not care about this; after all, he could double the price with a resale, ensuring a profit either way.
Therefore, he quickly spent the spirit coins to make the purchase.
However, this Red Ganoderma alone was not enough. If sold, it could fetch just over a hundred spirit coins at most, still significantly short of the total amount Zhou Chun needed.
Fortunately, as the sole official cultivator marketplace in Lanzhou, Hongya Marketplace had a great number of cultivators coming and going each day. With some patience, it was not difficult for Zhou Chun to wait for the older spiritual medicines he was looking to purchase.
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After staying in the marketplace for fourteen days, he finally purchased enough Spiritual Medicine and began the next phase of his plan.
In the Cultivation Room of the inn, Zhou Chun removed all his makeup and restored his original appearance.
Then, carrying the Spiritual Medicine from which he had expelled the Evil Qi using Purification Spirit Water, he headed straight for "Heavenly Treasure Pavilion," the most prestigious shop in the marketplace.
The "Heavenly Treasure Pavilion" was backed by the powerful Sunflame Sect from Jingguo Country, famous for their Artifact Refining skills, hence the Magic Artifacts sold by the "Heavenly Treasure Pavilion" were always highly praised.
After Zhou Chun entered the store, he was quickly greeted by a young, pretty female shop assistant.
This shop assistant looked not even twenty years old and was only in the third level of Qi Refinement Realm, probably a Loose Cultivator employed by the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion.
Approaching Zhou Chun with a smile, she bowed politely and said, "Welcome to Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, dear guest. My name is Lan Zhi, and it is an honor to serve you."
This seemingly ordinary scene made Zhou Chun feel quite moved inside.
Having visited many shops in the marketplace, he finally found one that prided itself on its service.
Isn't this what makes them a renowned establishment across the country!
Feeling this way, Zhou Chun also smiled and nodded slightly to the young girl, saying, "Thank you for your greetings. I would like to purchase a first-grade superior offense Magic Artifact. Do you have any physical examples for appraisal?"
The girl's eyes widened in surprise at first, then with a joyful expression, she nodded continuously and said, "Of course, we do. However, I do not have the authority to handle such a significant transaction. Please follow me, so I may introduce you to our Steward."
With that, she led Zhou Chun to a quiet room behind the main hall.
Outside the quiet room, the girl, without any hesitation in Zhou Chun's presence, knocked on the door and relayed his purpose for visiting, and the door opened.
When Zhou Chun entered the room alone, he saw a white-faced middle-aged man with a long beard standing across from him. The man was in the eleventh level of Qi Refinement Realm.
Seeing Zhou Chun enter, the white-faced man immediately cupped his hands in a greeting and said, "I am Liu Feng, Steward of this establishment. Are you looking at a first-grade superior offense Magic Artifact? Do you have any specific requirements for the form of the artifact, or is any type acceptable?"
Zhou Chun replied, "I have no special requirements. Any type will do, as long as it satisfies me."
"Please wait for a moment, I shall retrieve the items for you," said the white-faced man. He then opened another small door behind him and disappeared somewhere.
About fifteen minutes later, he returned through the small door to the room.
Without waiting for Zhou Chun to ask, he took out several wooden boxes of different sizes from his Storage Pouch and placed them on the table beside him. Then, he opened each box and began to introduce the Magic Artifacts inside to Zhou Chun.
First, he opened a long-shaped wooden box and took out a pale golden long blade Artifact, about three feet in length.
He introduced, "The Artifact is named 'Golden Goose Blade.' It's crafted from Pure Gold and refined with pure Fire Essence for five days and nights, endowed with sharpness and armor-piercing characteristics. It is difficult for other same-rank Artifacts to withstand its edge, priced at three hundred and twenty Spirit Coins."
After a brief pause and seeing no immediate reaction from Zhou Chun, he put the blade back in its wooden box and opened the second box, from which he took out a small, fiery red banner.
"The Artifact is named 'Flame Sparrow Banner.' It uses the silk of a second-tier Demon Beast, Redflame Spider, as the main material and Fire Essence Copper as the secondary material. After a half-month effort by a famous Artifact Refiner, it can release three Flame Sparrows equivalent to the Firebird Technique as an attack or concentrate the power to release a single Flame Sparrow with the power equivalent to a first-grade superior Spell.
"Furthermore, if one's Cultivation involves control of fire, the released fiery power of this treasure can be utilized to more delicate effect. It's priced at three hundred and eighty Spirit Coins."
Zhou Chun's eyes brightened, and he openly showed his admiration, saying, "Indeed, it's a treasure, and the price is fair,"
However, after saying this, he shook his head, looking somewhat regretful. "Unfortunately, I am not versed in the control of fire and cannot bring out the true use of this item. Let's continue looking at the other artifacts."
Hearing this, the white-faced middle-aged man had to swallow his words and put the little fiery banner back in the box. He then opened the third wooden box and took out an earthy yellow seal.
The seal seemed very heavy; the white-faced middle-aged man's wrist veins bulged noticeably with the effort of taking it out, and it looked very strenuous.
He also did not hold it in his hand like the other artifacts, but placed it directly on a table made of ironwood.
"The Artifact is named 'Mini Thousand Hills Seal.' It is made from a large quantity of earth-based Xuan Stone, refined with pure Fire Essence for ten days and nights, and features gravity, sturdiness, and magnification traits. Its power ranks among the highest in first-grade Artifacts, priced at four hundred and twenty Spirit Coins!"
After this, the white-faced middle-aged man didn't take out any other artifacts; instead, he asked Zhou Chun, "Of these three Magic Artifacts, do you fancy any?"
Zhou Chun exclaimed in surprise, "Are these the only three Magic Artifacts? Are there no others?"
It seemed implausible that the vast Heavenly Treasure Pavilion would have only a few first-grade superior Magic Artifacts.
The white-faced middle-aged man, upon hearing his question, looked intently at him and said, "There are indeed other Magic Artifacts, but their uses are similar to these three. If you wish to see them all, I would first need to verify your assets to avoid wasting everyone's time."
Zhou Chun couldn't help but frown slightly and asked softly, "Is this the rule of your establishment?"
"Yes, this is our shop's rule," answered the white-faced man without hesitation.
"I understand. In that case, I shall let Steward Liu inspect my means," Zhou Chun said, his eyebrows relaxing. He nodded lightly and then reached for his Storage Pouch at his waist, revealing his financial means.