Chapter 75: Moon Dew

The next morning, Chen Beiwu walked out of the rented residence cave and, as usual, set up his stall in the northern trading district of Hidden Mist Market.

By noon, when the sun hung high above the dome, he had still not sold more than a few talismans.

‘As expected, all beginnings are hard.’ Chen Beiwu glanced at the talismans on his stall without surprise.

Although his talismans were priced slightly lower than his peers, in order to ensure their effects, the itinerant cultivators in the market preferred to buy from familiar sellers, which left his business bleak.

It was actually very simple to change this situation.

He did not need to do anything—just quietly wait for his talismans’ reputation to spread, and business would naturally pick up.

“Fellow Daoist, here is the Phoenix Yellow Dendrobium you wanted.” Wei Xuesong arrived at the stall and immediately took out over a dozen sacks from his storage pouch.

Chen Beiwu swept his divine sense over them and nodded in satisfaction.

The Phoenix Yellow Dendrobium within the sacks was of excellent quality—just in terms of grade, it was even superior to what he had acquired at Biyuan Market.

He took out fifty spirit stones to settle the payment, then stored all the Phoenix Yellow Dendrobium into his pouch.

Selling talismans at Hidden Mist Market did not earn him many spirit stones.

He only did it to blend into the market and build a reputation for his talismans, so that later he could enter Mirror Moon Palace.

The real profit still lay in trading Phoenix Yellow Dendrobium.

Once he completed this two-thousand-catty deal, he could focus on cultivation, pushing toward the Ninth Level of Qi Refining in the shortest possible time.

Wei Xuesong, after receiving the spirit stones, said nothing further and simply returned to his own stall, careful not to arouse Chen Zi’ang’s suspicion.

After all, a Heavenly Root of water attribute was too rare—it would not be an exaggeration to call such a person Heaven’s Chosen.

A genius of this caliber, carrying a Concealing Jade Pendant, either had a deep background or extraordinary fate.

Wei Xuesong needed to probe further before deciding whether to act.

‘Let’s hope this fellow truly is a rogue cultivator without backing.’ Wei Xuesong thought inwardly.

A Qi Refining cultivator without a background he could easily manipulate.

But one with a background was another matter entirely—if he schemed recklessly, his own death would be inevitable sooner or later.

At dusk, Chen Beiwu packed up his stall and made his way toward Black Rock Mountain by the Red Flood River.

Wei Xuesong’s eyes flickered but he remained at his stall and did not follow.

……

A thousand years of wind erosion had carved black obsidian-like ridges into the mountain rock.

On the sheer cliffs, an abandoned spiritual vein mine had been repurposed into a secret auction venue.

Two gatekeeping cultivators said coldly: “Please show your jade token.”

Without using his divine sense, Chen Beiwu produced the token and passed inspection smoothly.

Those two gatekeepers seemed ordinary, yet in truth possessed profound cultivation—so much so that he faintly felt danger from them.

This alone showed the Red Flood River black market was backed by no simple family.

Even cultivators at the Ninth Level of Qi Refining were stationed merely as doorkeepers.

Following the crowd deeper into the mine, Chen Beiwu halted as a grey-green circular hall spread before his eyes.

On the auction platform sat an old cultivator in a hemp robe, cross-legged with eyes closed, as if awaiting the start of the auction.

Below the platform, rows of dark wooden chairs fanned outward, each carved with its own number.

“Two hundred and ninety-eight!”

Finding the seat matching his token, Chen Beiwu sat and scanned the surroundings, noting the entire venue was already filled.

After a quarter of an hour, the old cultivator opened his eyes, rose, and struck his wooden hammer artifact.

Immediately, the oppressive aura of a Foundation Establishment cultivator swept the entire hall.

“This old one is Bi Xi, responsible for today’s auction.

Before we begin, there are three iron rules that must be made clear to all Fellow Daoists.”

“One: No loud speech. Bidding must be done with your auction jade token.”

“Two: Once sold, the auction bears no responsibility for what happens thereafter.”

“Three: No regrets after the hammer falls. The winning bidder may not withdraw.”

At this, Bi Xi struck his hammer again.

A graceful veiled attendant carried the first item onto the platform.

“The first item is a Second-Tier Spirit-Gathering Formation Disk. Starting bid is one thousand lower-grade spirit stones, with increments no less than one hundred.”

No sooner had he spoken than bids leapt forth.

“One thousand five hundred spirit stones!”

“One thousand six hundred spirit stones!”

When the bidding finally stopped at two thousand two hundred spirit stones, Bi Xi struck the hammer to confirm the sale.

‘It seems formation masters are quite scarce in the Southern Wastes!’ Chen Beiwu thought.

A Second-Tier Spirit-Gathering Formation Disk was worth only five hundred spirit yuan within the Immortal Alliance, yet here in the Earth Proliferation Territory of the Southern Wastes it fetched nearly four times that price.

If he were willing to sell formation disks, he could also make a fortune.

But the Immortal Alliance disks were too refined and flawless.

If he brought them out here, it would draw undue attention.

As time passed, treasure after treasure was carried onto the stage, expanding Chen Beiwu’s knowledge.

“The two-hundred and thirty-seventh item is a Second-Tier superior spiritual material: Moon Dew. This treasure is a special product formed from years of moonlight nourishing a water-aligned earth vein. After consumption, it enhances the purity of a cultivator’s water-attribute spiritual root. Starting bid, one thousand five hundred spirit stones, increments of no less than one hundred.”

Seeing the beautiful dew presented on stage, Chen Beiwu’s heart skipped a beat.

Using Moon Dew merely to improve a cultivator’s root purity was a complete waste—its true purpose should be to nourish Spirit Seeds.

“One thousand six hundred spirit stones.”

Chen Beiwu had just pressed his bid token when the price had already soared to an astronomical two thousand five hundred.

Clearly, to cultivate their descendants, the great clans spared no expense.

“Phew!” Chen Beiwu exhaled a turbid breath and did not continue bidding.

There was no helping it—life was filled with regrets.

Counting all his spirit stones, he barely had a few hundred.

He dared to shout out one thousand six hundred only because he could offset the difference with cultivation methods.

But as the price climbed higher, he could not possibly offer up three or four techniques in exchange—that would be tantamount to exposing himself.

“Two thousand eight hundred spirit stones!”

When the bidding ceased and no one offered more, Bi Xi struck the hammer to confirm the sale.

‘Finally secured it!’ Gu Chun released the deathly pale grip of her hand beneath her black robe.

Half a month later would be the Mirror Moon Palace entrance examinations.

If she wished to enter the tutelage of a Golden Core True Person and become an inner disciple of Mirror Moon Palace—rather than be relegated to a mere laborer in an affiliated sect—she had to at least be a Second-Tier alchemist.

However, the Golden Core True Persons of Mirror Moon Palace had exceptionally high standards.

Ordinary Second-Tier low-grade alchemists rarely earned their favor—unless they could successfully refine the Second-Tier low-grade pill, [Moonlight Pill].

And Moon Dew was the main ingredient for refining [Moonlight Pill].

‘This time, I must succeed.’ Gu Chun pressed her lips tightly.

Last time, when her family purchased Moon Dew, she had failed—that was why the marriage recruitment gathering had been arranged.

This time, she would not allow herself to fail.

If cultivating immortality could not place her destiny firmly in her own hands, then what was the point of cultivation at all?

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