Chương 302: Seven Stalls

The morning sun cast long shadows through the windows of Wei Lin's quarters as he sat cross-legged on his meditation mat. Three weeks had passed since Ke Yin had departed on his mission to the Floating Reed Village, and Wei Lin couldn't shake the hollow feeling that had settled in his chest since that day. The sect's usual bustle continued outside, but for Wei Lin, everything felt somehow diminished in his friend's absence.

He opened his eyes, exhaling slowly as he released the circulation technique he'd been practicing for the past six hours. His muscles ached from remaining motionless for so long, but the physical discomfort was nothing compared to the sting of inadequacy that had been driving him lately.

"Useless," he muttered to himself, staring at his palm as he generated a small flame that danced across his fingers.

"All that wealth, all those connections, and when it really mattered..." The flame flickered and died as his concentration wavered. Wei Lin's thoughts returned to the day in the beast grounds when they'd faced the Voidneedle Wasps. He and Lin Mei had hidden behind Ke Yin's formation while their friend had charged off to face the queen wasp alone. Sure, they'd managed to take down a few lesser wasps from the safety of the barrier, but that hardly compared to what Ke Yin had accomplished.

Rising to his feet, Wei Lin moved to the small wooden desk in the corner of his room. Several scrolls lay unfurled, covered in notations about energy conversion rates and efficiency calculations. Beside them sat a small jade abacus, its beads arranged to track his cultivation progress. Wei Lin picked up the abacus, running his thumb over the smooth beads.

"What good is being a member of the wealthy Wei Clan if I can't even help my friend when he needs me?" he asked the empty room. The Wei Clan's prosperity had opened many doors for him throughout his life. His father's connections had secured him a place at Azure Peak Sect despite his initially modest cultivation talent. The family wealth had provided him with cultivation resources that other disciples could only dream of.

Yet when Ke Yin had announced his departure for the beast wave defense mission, Wei Lin had stood there, helpless, his Stage 5 cultivation making him more of a liability than an asset.

"Never again," he whispered, setting down the abacus. He moved to the center of his room and closed his eyes, focusing inward. His consciousness drifted into his inner world, a place he had visited countless times before but had been almost living in for the past three weeks. A vast marketplace enclosed within a massive domed structure materialized around him. Unlike the chaotic, cramped marketplaces of mortal cities, this one was meticulously organized, with wide thoroughfares separating different sections.

The sky above the dome shifted through various hues, currently a deep amber that cast everything in a warm glow. Seven distinct stalls formed the central plaza of his spiritual marketplace, each one a masterpiece of architecture representing the different types of energy he could manipulate. The fire stall blazed with eternally burning torches, its merchandise displays never melted despite the heat.

Across from it, the water stall featured flowing fountains and merchandise displayed on stands made from crystalized water that never lost their form. The earth stall was solid and imposing, built from perfectly cut stone with precious gems embedded throughout its structure. Beside it, the wind stall seemed almost insubstantial, its boundaries defined by swirling air currents rather than solid walls, merchandise floating weightlessly within.

The lightning stall had occasional arcs of electricity jumping between specially designed conductors that framed its entrance. The sound stall was a marvel of acoustic design, its architecture designed to amplify and channel vibrations, creating a constant symphony of tones that responded to Wei Lin's spiritual presence. And finally, there was his most prized acquisition, the void stall. Unlike the others, this stall seemed to exist in a state of half-presence.

Parts of it would occasionally fade from view entirely, only to reappear moments later. Its merchandise, concepts and techniques related to void energy, were displayed on stands that seemed to flicker between existence and non-existence.

"Seven stalls," Wei Lin murmured to himself, a sense of pride warming his chest.

"Stage Seven of Qi Condensation." It had cost him a fortune to build these stalls. Each one required not just spiritual energy but also material resources from the outside world: essence crystals, rare minerals, specialized formations, and even the knowledge of how to properly structure each energy type. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

While most disciples focused on mastering one or two energy types, Wei Lin's Merchant's Path allowed him to trade in multiple energies, converting between them as needed. The trade-off was efficiency, he lost some power in each conversion, but gained versatility that few other cultivators could match. As he surveyed his inner marketplace, Wei Lin noticed something new at the far edge of the central plaza, it was the beginnings of what could eventually become an eighth stall.

Currently, it was little more than a foundation and a frame, with a small, pulsing seed of dark energy at its center. The seed emanated a sinister yet strangely compelling aura that seemed to whisper promises of power. Wei Lin approached the embryonic stall, studying the dark energy seed with a mixture of fascination and caution. His father had appeared at the sect just a week ago, unexpectedly and without announcement, looking unusually gaunt, with deep shadows beneath his eyes and an unnatural pallor to his skin.

Wei Lin had been worried that he was dying again, and this time Ke Yin wasn't here to save him. But his father had simply waived off his concerns and placed a jade box on the table between them.

"For your advancement," Wei Ye had said, his voice rougher than usual.

"Use it wisely." When Wei Lin had opened the box, the malevolent energy inside had been almost overwhelming, it was a concentrated essence of corruption and darkness that made his skin crawl even as his cultivation method recognized its immense value.

"Father, how did you..." Wei Ye had silenced him with a raised hand.

"A parent's duty is to give their children opportunities they didn't have." His father's smile had been sad, haunted even.

"Ask me nothing more about this." The fatigue in his father's eyes and his respect for him had stopped Wei Lin from pressing further. He knew the Wei Clan had devoured the Sun Clan, but surely that couldn't explain... this. Returning his attention to the demonic energy seed, Wei Lin reached out with his spiritual sense. The energy responded eagerly, too eagerly, and he quickly withdrew, setting stronger spiritual barriers around the developing stall.

The demonic energy would need to be carefully refined and integrated if it was to become a proper part of his inner world rather than a corrupting influence. Wei Lin took one last look around his spiritual marketplace. The seven completed stalls pulsed with energy, the merchandise, representing techniques and abilities related to each energy type, neatly arranged and ready for use.

It was an impressive achievement, but it wasn't enough, not if he wanted to stand alongside Ke Yin as an equal rather than as someone who needed protection. Most would be naïve to even dare compete with a user of the monstrous World Tree Sutra; however, Wei Lin was different. While officially listed as Earth-rank, the Merchant's Path was, in fact, a Beyond Heaven rank cultivation method, which gave Wei Lin the opportunity to stand among the greatest talents of his generation.

How his father, a merchant with no cultivation ability of his own, had acquired such a method was yet another question Wei Lin had learned not to ask. Some family secrets were best left undisturbed, especially when they might involve connections to powers that the righteous sects would view with extreme suspicion. What mattered was that Wei Lin possessed this method, and with it, the potential to rise far beyond what anyone might expect from a merchant clan's son.

The challenge now was acquiring enough demonic energy to complete his eighth stall before the sect tournament began in just over two weeks. And that meant leaving the safety of Azure Peak Sect. With that goal firmly in mind, Wei Lin withdrew from his inner world, returning his consciousness to his physical body. He opened his eyes, feeling the familiar disorientation that came from transitioning between his inner and outer perceptions.

His gaze fell on the storage ring on his finger, a simple silver band with a small sapphire. Unlike Ke Yin's ring, which contained an impressive array of formation materials and emergency supplies, Wei Lin's was filled primarily with trade goods and cultivation resources. It was the ring of a merchant, not a warrior.

"That needs to change too," he muttered, standing up and stretching his stiff limbs. He moved to a chest in the corner of his room and opened it, revealing neatly stacked sets of robes, each one more ornate than what most disciples could afford. Wei Lin pushed these aside, reaching for the bundle at the bottom, a set of simple gray travel robes, reinforced with subtle defensive formations woven into the fabric. These were the clothes of someone who expected trouble, not the finery of a merchant's son.

As he changed into the travel robes, Wei Lin's thoughts drifted to Lin Mei. She had been worried about him lately, her concern evident in the way she'd bring him meals during his extended cultivation sessions or leave medicinal teas outside his door. They hadn't spoken properly in days, both consumed by their respective pursuits; he with his desperate push for advancement, she with her work in the herb gardens and her own cultivation. He owed her an explanation before he left, that much was certain.

The thought of her reaction to his plans made him wince. She wouldn't approve of his reckless pursuit of power, especially when she found out what he had to do. Wei Lin finished changing and turned to a small mirror on the wall, hardly recognizing the young man who stared back at him. The past weeks had transformed him, his face was thinner, his eyes sharper, with a determined set to his jaw that hadn't been there before. He looked like a cultivator now, not just a merchant's son playing at cultivation.

A soft knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.

"Wei Lin?" Lin Mei's voice came through the door, hesitant and tinged with worry.

"Are you there? I brought some revitalizing soup. You've been cultivating for almost three days straight." Three days? Wei Lin blinked in surprise. He'd lost track of time again, a dangerous habit for a cultivator. Qi deviation often began with such small lapses in awareness. He opened the door to find Lin Mei standing there, a steaming bowl in her hands, her expression caught between concern and relief at seeing him up and about.

She was dressed in her usual outer disciple robes, though these were stained with soil and plant juices. Her hair was tied back in a practical braid, and there was a smudge of dirt on her cheek that she hadn't noticed. Wei Lin had never seen anyone more beautiful.