115 Roaming Heaven Market

Pang Yue gently lifted the lid of the bronze treasure box. Inside, shimmering with golden light, lay a golden compass! The compass was densely engraved with straight lines, and a single needle swayed ever so slightly. After a moment of contemplation, he channeled his magical power and refined the golden compass.

Before long, a radiant light surged from the compass, coalescing into a shimmering portal in mid-air. Pang Yue stood up, stepped through the portal, and instantly appeared inside a small, elegant room. The room had three walls, with a row of cabinets in front and a concealed door to the side. Upon entering, Pang Yue immediately realized that his magical power and divine sense were completely concealed. A thin mask had appeared on his face out of thin air, and no matter how he tried, he could not remove it.

He waved his hand to manifest a water mirror and saw that the person in the reflection was wearing a white mask with two ancient characters inscribed on the forehead: "Nineteen."

"What a strange place this is!"

He walked to the side of the cabinets, pushed open the concealed door, and stepped out. Behind the door was another room, furnished like a shop—shelves, a counter, an octagonal table, and high-backed chairs. This small shop was empty and pristine, and the shelves on the front wall were bare.

He pushed open the main entrance of the shop and found himself on a small stone-paved path. On both sides were ordinary-looking shops, each with a wooden plaque hanging above its door, marked with a number. The plaque on the shop opposite his bore two ancient characters: "Twenty."

Pang Yue curiously stepped over the threshold and onto the small street. But in the next moment, his soul felt a sudden trance. When he regained his focus, he discovered a figure remaining inside the shop. Turning to look, it was indeed a man wearing a mask!

"Is that not myself?"

Pang Yue was stunned to see an identical avatar standing at the shop entrance, looking at him with surprise. His consciousness was perfectly synchronized with the self in the shop; there was no distinction between master and copy.

"Where exactly is this place?" Pang Yue could not help but mutter.

A hoarse, aged voice echoed leisurely behind him. "This is the Wandering Heaven Market. It is unexpected that after a hundred years, another newcomer has arrived."

Pang Yue turned to see an elderly man wearing a mask standing not far away. On his mask was a single ancient character: "Three."

"Wandering Heaven Market?"

Pang Yue noticed that the magical fluctuations of the other party were also masked by an invisible force, making it impossible to gauge his strength.

Three nodded and said, "This market has existed since time immemorial, seemingly older than the history of the Red Firmament Heavens. There is a stone monument at the entrance of the market with only these four characters engraved upon it, which is the origin of the name Wandering Heaven Market."

Pang Yue stood on the bluestone path, surrounded by silence.

The small street was not long, like an alleyway with shops packed tightly on both sides. Counting carefully, there were only fifty of them. At the end of the street lay a expanse of roiling, grey-white mist that was impossible to see through.

"Since you are new here, why not come to my shop for a cup of tea?" Three invited with apparent goodwill.

Pang Yue hesitated, casting his gaze around the surroundings rather than agreeing immediately. Three smiled and said, "There is no danger within the Wandering Heaven Market. If you sense carefully, you will realize that one of the Heavenly Dao rules here is the prohibition of fighting or harming others."

Pang Yue frowned. He was still a Foundation Establishment cultivator; how could he possibly sense the rules of the Heavenly Dao? Three was slightly taken aback, exclaiming in surprise, "You are not a Primordial Spirit cultivator?"

He scrutinized Pang Yue once more and said, "In a thousand years, you are only the second person to enter this place with a Golden Core level of cultivation."

Three was actually a powerful Primordial Spirit master!

"Senior, how many shopkeepers are there in the market?" Pang Yue suppressed the shock in his heart and asked. He could see that among the fifty shops, some had dim spiritual light while others shimmered, the distinction quite clear. His own shop, number nineteen, belonged to the latter.

Three replied in a flat tone, "Including you, there are nineteen shopkeepers."

"Thank you for the information!" Pang Yue bowed in acknowledgment.

Three, however, seemed to lose interest, waved his hand, and turned back to shop number three. Pang Yue was left speechless. Had the other party lost the desire to converse upon realizing he was not a Primordial Spirit master? If he knew he was not even at the Golden Core stage, what would he think?

Judging by his tone, it seemed that the entire market consisted of one Golden Core cultivator and the rest were all Primordial Spirit masters. Then... where did these Primordial Spirit masters come from?

A sudden guess surfaced in Pang Yue's mind! Could it be that there were cultivators from other regions in this market? In the entire East Sea cultivation world, there were no more than six Primordial Spirit masters. Even including the other three seas, there were at most twenty. It was impossible for every Primordial Spirit master to have a golden compass to enter the Wandering Heaven Market. It was highly likely that most of these "shopkeepers" came from beyond the Heavenly Seas. The five great domains of the Red Firmament Heavens were vast indeed!

Pang Yue walked along the small street while lost in thought. Just as Three had said, including himself, only nineteen shops were open. Inside each shop, there was a masked cultivator, though they all sat behind their counters like statues—lifeless and motionless. Within these shops, the shelves were laden with various spiritual items, some in abundance, some scarce, all strange and dazzling.

Pang Yue walked into shop number seven, and the cultivator behind the counter instantly "came to life." A glimmer of color flashed in Seven's eyes as he slowly surveyed Pang Yue and said, "So, a new fellow Daoist has arrived. What is it that you desire?"

Pang Yue pointed to a large piece of Supreme Profound Iron on the shelf and asked, "How is this iron ore sold?"

He vaguely suspected that the Seven before him was likely just an avatar or a lingering remnant of the shopkeeper's consciousness, "managing" the shop. Thus, he did not mince words and asked directly. The Supreme Profound Iron on the shelf was ten times larger than the piece he had seen at the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion of the Heavy Profound Sect!

Seven replied with a flat tone, "Five hundred spirit stones."

"Five hundred?" Pang Yue was shocked, his heart reeling. The small piece of Supreme Profound Iron he had bought at the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion had cost him three hundred and ninety thousand spirit stones! How could it be only five hundred here? Pang Yue felt something was amiss.

Seven glanced at him and asked, "What, do you find it too expensive?"

A flash of inspiration struck Pang Yue, and he suddenly realized. The five hundred spirit stones Seven referred to must be High-Grade Spirit Stones! One High-Grade spirit stone could be exchanged for ten thousand small spirit stones! He was accustomed to calculating in low-grade spirit stones, so he had overlooked the unit of price. Seven, on the other hand, was accustomed to trading in high-grade spirit stones and had overlooked it as well.

Five hundred High-Grade spirit stones was five million low-grade spirit stones! This price was basically consistent with the value of the Supreme Profound Iron, but the awkward part was that Pang Yue did not have that many spirit stones!

"I did not bring enough spirit stones today; I shall return to purchase it another time." Pang Yue feigned calmness, spoke lightly, and turned to leave.

Seven: "..."

Back in shop number nineteen, the avatar merged back into him. Pang Yue pondered for a moment, took out a pile of blank jade slips, held them to his forehead, and began to engrave various mental cultivation methods and divine abilities. For his initial stock, he would have to make do with the Golden Core techniques he had mastered in the Heavenly Demon Illusion!