Sect Market

"What's going on here?" Gu Qiansi remarked in surprise as she arrived at Lightwind Pavilion.

Before arriving, she definitely was not expecting to see a sweat-drenched Lu Zhiying lying on the snow while Zhao Yunxiao sat nearby.

"Senior Martial Sister Gu! You are here!" Lu Zhiying quickly got up and ran over to greet her.

"Don't go hugging others when you are all sweaty. That's disgusting," Zhao Yunxiao remarked, causing Lu Zhiying to halt in her tracks.

"Ignore that guy," Gu Qiansi was far more encouraging in contrast. "What happened though? Why are you all sweaty? Did that beast do something strange to you while I'm not here?"

"Can you stop spouting nonsense?" Zhao Yunxiao rolled his eyes. "I was just trying to help with Junior Martial Sister Lu's martial techniques."

"Martial techniques? You mean the Xuanwu Fist Art and Xuanwu Movement Art?" Gu Qiansi turned towards Lu Zhiying. "I was intending to wait until you form your spiritual meridians before talking to you about it. So how is it coming along so far?"

"Not too bad I'd say! But Senior Martial Brother Zhao's training is tiring!" Lu Zhiying complained.

It had started out fun and exciting as Lu Zhiying sought Zhao Yunxiao's opinions on her training progress, but the situation rapidly changed after that.

For the past hour or so, Zhao Yunxiao had made Lu Zhiying repeat the same few moves over and over again.

During this time, Lu Zhiying did try to sneak in a bit of rest by asking Zhao Yunxiao to demonstrate for her instead.

But while the latter did perform the demonstrations as she requested, these demonstrations only lasted a few moments, with Zhao Yunxiao refusing to repeat them despite her repeated pleas.

With that, it was immediately back to practising – the same thing, over and over again.

She had only just joined the sect for three days...

Even if she possessed a good physique prior to joining the sect, this was still too demanding in both the physical and mental sense!

"It's for your own good. It would be a shame if your talent goes to waste," Zhao Yunxiao replied.

"Oh? Is our Junior Martial Sister Lu talented?" Gu Qiansi petted Lu Zhiying's head as a reward.

"The world is not always fair," Zhao Yunxiao lamented. "Some people are just born different."

Gu Qiansi was visibly surprised this time.

She had thought that it was a casual comment initially. But for Zhao Yunxiao to say that, it meant that Lu Zhiying's talent was at least multiple times above theirs!

That would mean that she was likely inner disciple material!

"Senior Martial Brother Zhao is just saying that, don't believe his words. I really don't think I did anything amazing at all," Lu Zhiying confessed. "All I did was to make adjustments after he told me to do so, but he is making it sound like I am some genius or something. I am starting to feel that he is making fun of me!"

Gu Qiansi looked over at Zhao Yunxiao instead of replying, only to see the latter shake his head.

She did not know what exactly happened earlier. But when it came to assessing cultivation talent, she naturally trusted Zhao Yunxiao over Lu Zhiying.

Still, things like this needed time to tell for sure.

That was especially since Lu Zhiying had yet to truly begin cultivating.

At this stage, all they could tell was her physical ability and comprehension talent.

However, for cultivators, more important than physical ability was their energy control and capacity. These were things that would only be revealed after Lu Zhiying formed her spiritual meridians.

"You look exhausted, Junior Martial Sister Lu. Why don't we rest for the day?" Gu Qiansi changed the topic. "I am rather tired as well from working all day, and I am starving!"

"What? But you just got here! Don't you want to play a little first?" Lu Zhiying asked. "I might look tired but I'm really feeling quite all right now, so you don't have to worry about me!"

"It's not that, Junior Martial Sister Lu. I really am starving," Gu Qiansi answered with a tired smile.

By now, Zhao Yunxiao had already retrieved his bamboo backpack from the pavilion.

"Let's not waste anymore time then. Time to go back and have some rest," Zhao Yunxiao said. "Tomorrow is an important day!"

"That's true. We need to be in top condition to make the best out of tomorrow," Gu Qiansi agreed.

The monthly lecture would be held tomorrow, and it would definitely be more beneficial to attend in their peak condition.

"If that is the case, then all right, let's go!" Lu Zhiying understood what they were talking about, so she did not insist any further.

The canteen operated all day long.

Even though the trio arrived before the usual dinner hours, they were still able to get their fill of food before finally returning to their individual residences.

However, this did not mark the end of the day for Zhao Yunxiao.

The moment he stepped through the front door, he was greeted by the two big nightspirit rat carcasses that had been drained of blood.

Zhao Yunxiao did not have much time last night so all he could do was to drain the blood from the carcasses.

Now, it was time to finish the job.

Zhao Yunxiao gently lay out the nightspirit rat carcasses on the floor before pulling out a few knives from one of the various chests in his room.

There was no hesitation in Zhao Yunxiao's eyes as he immediately put those knives to work.

While trying to devise a sure-fire way to take down the nightspirit rats, Zhao Yunxiao had read more than enough about their physical structure.

With that information in mind, Zhao Yunxiao meticulously directed the knife in his hand as he sliced away at the nightspirit rat carcass, careful not to cause any undue damage.

Taking apart the carcasses of beasts or monsters was quite a bit of work so many might see it as a chore, but Zhao Yunxiao was more than happy to do it.

If he had sent the carcass to someone else to do so, that would mean having to pay for the service, and he would even have to accommodate the other party's schedule.

But now that he was doing it himself, not only would he be able to avoid all that, but he would also be able to simultaneously improve his understanding of these creatures and hone his knife skills!

As for why there was a need to take apart the carcass in the first place, that was because the parts of a beast or monster had various uses.

One example was the fur hide that ended up in Zhao Yunxiao's hands before long.

Fur hide of the nightspirit rat.

While this particular monster was not exactly known to possess an amazingly tough hide, this was still a monster that could challenge cultivators at the Essence Physique realm.

If used correctly, it would still provide defensive capabilities that could prove to be of use in battle or for making other equipment.

After checking to see that the fur hide was removed in a satisfactory condition, Zhao Yunxiao put it away before starting on the other carcass.

The fur hide was not the only useful thing either.

Flesh and tendons.

Organs.

Bones, claws, and teeth.

Even the blood that Zhao Yunxiao had drained the day before.

Almost every part of the nightspirit rats would be a valuable material in the right hands, things that could be put to use in various ways.

As long as one was willing to go through the trouble, the reward would be worth the effort.

And Zhao Yunxiao was definitely not one who would shy away from something that required heavy effort, so long as he was rewarded for it!

A few hours later, a satisfied Zhao Yunxiao put a cover over his pushcart and started making his way out into the cold winter night.

The sun had set by then.

Torches placed by the roadside complemented the moonlight, revealing the beautiful snow that was falling lightly onto the land.

Had Zhao Yunxiao been an ordinary man, it could have been exhausting to move his pushcart through the piling layers of snow.

But as a cultivator, Zhao Yunxiao moved through the roads with ease, the wheels of his pushcart easily cutting through the fresh snow just like how his pickaxe was able to pierce through the tough walls of the Yellowshell Mine.

As he walked along, his surroundings slowly changed.

The number of people around him gradually started to increase, creating a bustling atmosphere with disciples coming and going.

And just like Zhao Yunxiao, there were many others who were also transporting items.

Pouches, backpacks, pushcarts, carriages pulled by horses or even beasts... various different transportation equipment could be seen accompanying the disciples as they went about their business.

Walking among them, Zhao Yunxiao with his reliable pushcart seemed to blend right in.

It did not take long for him to arrive before a grand tower.

The architecture of this grand structure might not be nearly as exquisite as the Sect Library from earlier today, but it was certainly far larger in scale.

Just the area that it occupied was already multiple times that of the Sect Library, not to mention that the building itself reached into the skies, with the very top hidden among the clouds.

Without a doubt, it was one of the largest facilities located in the Outer Grounds.

The Sect Market – this was the focal point of the sect's internal economy, the official hub for all trade.

Be it disciples, deacons, sect protectors or even elders, the first thing that comes to mind when they needed something would almost always be this place.

Here, a plethora of items were being sold, available to anyone as long as they had enough sect points to make the purchase.

This ranged from daily commodities like food ingredients to cultivation necessities such as pills and elixirs, weapons and armour.

Except for things that were truly exceptionally rare, one would be able to find just about anything they needed at the Sect Market!

Because of the sheer variety of items that could be obtained here, it was a place frequented by almost every disciple, making it a location that was always bustling with life as they gathered here from all corners of the sect territory.

That was why even on the road leading up to the Sect Market, the number of people was already on a completely different level as compared to the other regions in the sect grounds.

Thankfully, the massive structure was more than capable of accommodating the numbers.

While the place might be huge, Zhao Yunxiao was no stranger to it.

He skilfully manoeuvred his pushcart through the crowds, greeting some familiar faces on the way as he quickly arrived at a counter where a young man was seated.

"Here is my disciple token," Zhao Yunxiao handed it over without being asked.

The young man nonchalantly received the disciple token and started writing down some details in a scroll.

"Here," the young man returned the disciple token to Zhao Yunxiao along with another wooden token. "Go straight, turn left."

"Thank you," Zhao Yunxiao replied politely before taking a quick glance at the wooden token.

On the wooden token was a single word – fourteen.

Room Fourteen.

Now that he knew his assigned room, Zhao Yunxiao did as he was told, pushing his cart forward as he slowly made his way there.

With a frame that was about five metres tall and five metres wide, the door to the room seemed to be unnecessarily huge.

However, it would make sense when one thought about it a little deeper.

After all, many of the visitors would come with heavy transportation equipment. Without a door of at least this size, many of these transportation equipment would never be able to make it into the rooms.

Zhao Yunxiao tapped his wooden token against a wooden plate hung on the wall, and the number fourteen on the token lit up slightly.

Click-!

The huge door came unlocked, and Zhao Yunxiao casually brought his pushcart in.

If one felt that the large size of the door was slightly exaggerated, they would be shocked to find that the room itself was even larger in scale.

It was an enormous chamber with two identical doors at each end, one being the entrance that Zhao Yunxiao entered from and the other on the far end of the chamber.

With a ceiling that was around ten metres tall, the huge chamber stretched out in terms of both width and length.

Various equipment lined the walls of the room, though many of them were unfamiliar things that most disciples would never understand the use for.

Seated at the far end beside the door, a young lady stood up with a nice business smile after seeing Zhao Yunxiao enter the room.

"So it is Junior Martial Brother Zhao! Welcome back, welcome back. What do you have for us this time?"