Two weeks later.
Aksai left his humble abode early in the morning. He met with Aunt Reta and asked for a few protective-type talismans on loan, which could help him in a crisis. When asked, he told her that he was about to visit the market to sell some of his farming produce.
Aunt Reta immediately agreed when she heard that Aksai was going to the market all by himself. Although she had told him not to visit the market for a few days, she couldn't expect him to stay holed up on his farm forever.
In fact, she too needed to refill some of her supplies. Aksai could guess after looking at the woman's expressive face and asked her what she needed. He didn't mind helping her as long as it was convenient for him to do so.
Aunt Reta smiled and handed him a short list of supplies she needed. Now that the farming season had slowed down a bit, she could focus on creating more talismans.
She knew that selling those talismans would surely earn her profits considering the ongoing clash between the two clans and the desperation of drifting cultivators who had participated in it of their own volition to gain something from it.
In turbulent times, the prices of talismans, protective-type artifacts, explosive weapons, and life-saving alchemy items would skyrocket. At the same time, the prices of low-tier spells and one-time-use cultivation products would plummet.
Aunt Reta was a smart woman. She quickly figured out that her side-business would fetch her more money in such times. After confirming that there were deeper currents and internal strife between the two clans that were going on, she didn't hesitate to invest in the endeavor anymore.
"Aunt Reta is a good talisman-maker," Aksai thought to himself as he stored the talismans inside his long black robe.
"I heard from my old man that her husband was even better in the field. After he died, she inherited his legacy.
With her current skills, she can stop being a Spirit farmer and focus on the art of talisman-making completely. It's just that she doesn't want to come into the limelight and be noticed by the mid-level and high-level Spirit Refiners. I guess she can already make mid and high-tier talismans even though she says otherwise.
She indeed has about the same level of prudence as me. Probably why she is still alive and well despite being a single mother," Aksai thought to himself and sighed.
The world of cultivation was a dog-eat-dog world. The opportunities and risks approached the cultivators hand-in-hand. Unless one had a capable backer or a steady organization supporting them, they needed to be mindful of their surroundings in everything they did.
***
Aksai walked out of the farmland and waited in a peculiar empty spot for a few minutes. A few male and female cultivators were also seen waiting for something along with him. Aksai exchanged pleasantries with a few of them while he waited, his eyes looking at the distant sky from time to time.
A relatively large flying boat was soon seen approaching his spot from afar. This was a sort of public transport system meant to be used by lower and mid-stage cultivators who wanted to reach Lakir City. Some late-stage Spirit Refiners who were in the 7th or 8th stage also made use of this Spirit boat.
From where Aksai was currently, it would take more than three days for one to reach the Lakir city on foot and two days by horse carriage.
However, this public transport-type aerial travel would cut that travel time drastically, making the journey for cultivators from around the region less than an hour. It was the safest as well as the fastest method known to all the low-level cultivators around the region.
The long-rowing-shaped flying boat arrived at the spot before it started descending. It stopped a few meters away from the ground, enough for the cultivators to get on board with the Light Steps spell.
[ Light Steps ]
Aksai channeled his Spirit Essence through his body and concentrated his Spirit Sense on his legs. This simple spell didn't have hand signs or mantras to perform. As such, with the use of slight Spirit Essence expenditure, he jumped about 10 meters in the air before coming on board the boat.
A man in yellow long robes collected the fare of 50 Spirit Crystals from Aksai as soon as he boarded. The flying boat soon started soaring through the skies again in the direction of Lakir City.
Intermittently, Aksai could see a few cultivators in the late stage flying above the boat on their flying swords. From his position, they looked like shooting stars approaching their destination with such force that they left distinct trails on the clouds.
'I'm also technically a late-stage Spirit Refiner. But there's a big difference between me and those who could use the flying swords all by themselves,' Aksai looked at the lonesome flying sword cultivators with envy as he thought to himself.
'It's like I am watching others drive their self-owned cars while I'm still on public transport. The freedom of owning a personal vehicle can only be understood by those who don't have it.
However, I'm currently just in the beginning of the 7th stage. To use a flying sword, a cultivator needs to at least break into the 8th stage, or sometimes even the 9th stage if their aptitude is poor.
They would also need to have enough wealth to purchase a decent flying sword. This is something I don't have right now.
It's like I neither have the license to drive nor the money to buy my first car,' Aksai smiled wryly as he compared the concepts from his previous world to the cultivation world.
When the boat stopped at a peculiar public stop to receive more passengers, a man who looked to be in his middle ages jumped quickly and boarded the boat before looking around.
This man was in the 9th stage of the Spirit Refining realm. However, he was still far away from reaching Spirit Realm Perfection.
When his eyes landed on Aksai, his expression changed, and he decided to approach Aksai, who was currently lost in his own thoughts. "Hey! Aren't you Aksai Everwood, Alden's son?" the middle-aged man asked Aksai with a smile on his face.
"Hahaha. It's rare to see you outside your farm. What are you up to, boy?" the middle-aged man asked while lightly patting Aksai's back.