Chương 136: Searching For Booklets

Ch136 Searching For Booklets I leave my store and walk away from the main street where higher-stage cultivators are shopping. Every once in a while, a cultivator in the street stops to give me a polite bow. A few of them I vaguely remember from the wedding, while others are mysteries to me. There are whispers of my name, linking me to the Wang Family's honorary guest, and others talking about the tier 2 shield artifact in the main square.

The reactions are a mix of envy and respect, after they've learned that the Mu family lent it to me for protection.

"An initial stage qi refiner has a public kill of a foundation establishment, but it's a facade. He's still a weakling!"

"So what? Both the Wang and Mu families are friendly with him, isn't backing a part of one's strength?" There are a few passing comments of discontent about the fuss I made with the Feng family, and that I've gained ownership of a new shop on the main street without any real work or sacrifice. Everyone waits until they think I'm out of listening range to complain. However, these remarks make me inwardly smile more and more. Nothing about my personal strength is being spoken of by the common public.

I'm sure elders of the stronger clans have other suspicions, but nothing concrete is spreading. It makes me feel as though I've completely gotten away with claiming all of the benefits of this catastrophe, but none of the negatives. I walk far away from the center of town and begin stepping into every low and mid-stage qi refiners' shops in the less prevalent portions of the city.

Many of these shops are run by mortal servants with martial warrior physiques, or 9th and 8th root initial-stage qi refiners that have no hope of cultivating further in their lives. I only spend time in shops that have many old books, or low and inferior quality talisman shops that sell guides on certain element techniques. Many are happy to make sales. Talismans of this inferior quality are often looked at as wastes of spirit stones, but it is worth it to get on many shopkeepers' good sides.

A few mid-stage qi refiners make their way out of the back courtyards when I ask for their own personal notes and guides on certain spells. I buy their personal copies for one to ten spirit stones apiece, no matter how small the notes or additions seem. The most commonly practiced element is fire, as it does not need to be altered in any way to create destructive spells. The second most common is water.

I'm quickly able to buy many handwritten guides on water spells like minor rain, a low to mid-grade spell, and a high-grade one called water pillar. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. There are some notes on how some of these spells feel, and the necessity to practice the lower-grade spells for years before even attempting higher-grade ones.

However, none mention root maturity or the concept of practicing element control before learning the spells. All of these shopkeepers seem to rely on their cultivation and basic instincts, only practicing the technical aspects of the spells, letting their qi naturally flow through whichever root has the least resistance. The next most common element is earth. The most common earth spell in this city is stone bullet.

There are a few variations of it; a few mid-stage qi refiners found new technical shifts to change the size of the summoned bullet. The least common elements are metal and wood. I'm able to find a farming booklet that has some wood-based spells in it at the back of a spirit fruit shop, and a half-finished high-grade armor spell in a weapons shop.

Satisfied that I've scoured this market enough, I decide to stop by the old alley where I purchased Martial Roots last time I was here, but the old Martial Elite named Zhang Youcai that ran the shop is nowhere to be found. His shop is boarded up, windows and doors covered. A sign is posted, detailing the store available for rent, as the old tenant disappeared with no warning. It is strange, but I don't dwell on it long. I continue moseying through an alley further until I smell alcohol.

There are a few mortal breweries and wine stores on this street. Many of them are initial-stage qi refining families, turning inferior-grade rice into wine. I stop in one of the shops with a metal sign above its door, reading 'Shen Family Brewery,' and buy ten large barrels of their bulk inferior-quality spirit rice wine for only 200 spirit stones. It clears out almost all of their supply on hand.

Only a young 1st level qi refiner mans the shop, and he almost can't believe my purchase, staring at me with wide eyes until I leave. I'm not sure if this Shen family is the same one as my steward from the sect, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Out of curiosity, I pull out my emerald swallow on a side street and send a communication talisman back to Shen Dehai asking if he has family in the city, then follow up with a request for a simple report on the fields.

The Feng family Patriarch has been killed, but there was still a plan made up by the younger generation to burn down my fields. If this has been followed through with, I need to know and plan accordingly. The puppet flies off into the noonday sky, and I consider the wine in my system storage. After walking by a majority of the shops in the city today, I've come to the conclusion that there is not much unique high-quality cultivation material for initial-stage qi refiners.

Initial-stage clans can't afford high-quality pills, even if they're just qi gathering elixirs. Low and mid-quality are far more worthwhile. This exact brew of wine, once upgraded to perfect-quality spirit rice wine, was given to a few stewards after the war on the way back to the sect. Just a mouthful was enough to loosen bottlenecks stagnant for years. I have spirit stone mines making over half a million spirit stones a week in profit; there is no need to try and make much more from a simple shop.

It is better to be a vehicle for building my prestige, and making natural connections with cultivators in this City. I begin to think about the logistics, considering how much wine should be sold in each bottle, and if I should water it down to not be such a potent perfect-grade product. However, once I make it back to Jade Market Alley, something else catches my attention. There is a woman carrying an umbrella over her shoulder in the Meng Family Shop. It appears she's trading places with the man at the counter.