pill shop

The carriage door opened up and Shen Jian jumped off. The journey stopped right in front of the city gates, this was as far as the service could run. He watched as the big horses galloped away, then he turned around and slowly started lifting his head up. Before him stood the tall city walls of Blossoming Lotus city.

There was already a long line of people waiting to enter the city. This required them to pay an entrance fee of two silvers a person. Now Shen Jian realized the benefits of being a resident of a city, he never before saw himself in this present predicament.

When it was finally his turn the city guard looked at him sternly. 'I don't sense any strong form of qi on this kid but his eyes are quite sharp, also pretty unusual to see someone with coloured eyes other than black'. ''What brings this handsome little brother to our Blossoming Lotus city?'' The guard asked with a calm smile.

Even though Shen Jian was only ten years old, because of a certain old man and some other fellows he sometimes acted a bit more mature, and some of these peoples more prominent traits had evidently rubbed off on him.

Shen Jian looked at the guard seriously, then finally spat out one word ''business''.

The guard grew wide eyed he had never seen any child lie with such a straight face. 'What is that, an air of maturity? Which shameless fellow raised this child?' The guard thought as he contemptuously looked over Shen Jian.

''Anyway just pay the fee of two silvers to enter the city. Or do you plan to buy a house or set up a stall in the market?'' The guard asked.

''No, my business does not require such needless setups. More like I should....''

The guard regretted asking that question. ''Just pay and go in'' the guard said firmly.

Shen Jian walked into a bustling city. He originally planned to set up residence in this city but when he thought it through wasn't it just the same as before? Now he was thinking of a somewhat harsh environment.

'Anyway let me get some cultivation resources from the market street and then I'll try to get some information.' As Shen Jian thought to himself he had already walked away from the gates.

Shen Jian saw a lot of people dressed extravagantly in fine robes and linen. As he walked forward he looked here and there... by now he was so engrossed in the sightseeing that he didnt notice the two tall fellows he was walking towards.

"Brother Wang, we should…" Luo Tianhao was saying to Wang Ming when he noticed a kid who had lost himself to the sights of a prosperous city, walking towards them. He suddenly cracked a grin, 'a kid who has not seen the world. I'll teach him a very important lesson', he thought. Both himself and Wang Ming grew up in this city, the battled their hardships and finally reached the martial mortal realm.

It was common among cultivators to restrain their auras when not in combat or in a city, so it was rare to see someone walking around with an outspread aura. This wasn't to say that when in cities one wouldn't sense the auras of cultivators, when a cultivator only broke through recently, they would be unable to restrain their aura as they had not fully stabilized their cultivation. Also, there were other methods through which one could determine the cultivation of others, one of such methods was life force. The life force of cultivators was more vigorous than that of ordinary people and as one's cultivation increased so did their life force. Some cultivators with sharp senses could sense the vitality in others and hence determine their cultivation realm.

Wang Ming noticed the grin on his friend's face, then he saw an unknowing kid walking toward them 'what's it with this guy and picking on kids' he thought as he shook his head and looked away. When they were only one meter away from Shen Jian Luo Tianhao suddenly tensed the muscles in his right leg, preparing for a kick.

As Shen Jian was walking and looking around, he felt danger coming from ahead and immediately side stepped. He didn't even give the matter too much thought and kept on going his way.

"hmm?", Wang Ming quickly turned his head back to look at Shen Jian, 'that kid actually managed to dodge?'. Himself and Luo Tianhao were as close as brothers and had fought side by side many times, so of course he knew that his friend had a knack for bullying children. Even though this had gotten them both in trouble a few times when he bullied children from big and prestigious, but this was still the first time that a kid managed to dodge.Luo Tianhao also abruptly spun around and looked at Shen Jian with a sharp gaze, he was just about to call him out when Wang Ming stopped him.

"Hehe, brother Luo how does it feel to miss. I know you normally wouldn't think the situation through but that's why I'm here. Brother Luo, that kid isn't simple. Who knows he may even be the young master of a prestigious family who was sent out to gain experience, save us the trouble."

When Luo Tianhao thought it through, Wang Ming was right. What realm was he? He was at the martial mortal realm. A kick from him wasn't something anyone below the sixth layer of the Qi gathering realm could avoid, it was a sneak attack so the chances were even lower. Even if it was a casual attack, just take a look at who he was bullying; a kid who was just nine years old, at most eleven. And yet the kid managed to dodge it at the last moment. As they both looked at Shen Jian, they tried to sense the qi around him. At their level they could sense the qi inside anyone with a lower cultivation. Cultivators generally released small amounts of qi unknowingly. Even at their level it was really difficult for them to completely keep all their qi in their bodies.

"Even weirder, the qi around him is that of someone at the body tempering stage. And the qi is not very pure", Luo Tianhao said after some time.

Wang Ming was preparing to go when his eyes lit up. "If he is a kid from a prestigious family then he must have a lot of good things on him right?". "I have been saving up money to buy myself a new weapon, but I'm still short of some coins". Wang Ming said with a crooked smile on his face.

"You're right, you're right." Luo Tianhao said as he nodded his head. "Heh, I was almost fooled by his common-looking clothes. We will keep our eyes on him for now to ensure that there is no one protecting him from the shadows", he said.

Shen Jian had been walking for a while now. He finally reached the market area. He first of all went around to check out the different stores that sold body cultivation resources. He went from store to stall checking the differences in price and quality, he obviously saw a lot of new things that he never saw at shattered banner city.

'After this I should buy a book about the different herbs and spirit fruits', he made a note to himself. The prices of some things were so high that Shen Jian didn't even look twice before walking away. As Shen Jian walked through the market, he suddenly saw a big building that was decorated extravagantly, at the front was a sign board that said; 'Chen's Pill Shop'.