16 Shopping
Song Yang looked at Hu Xia for a few seconds. The boy was as tall as he remembered and the scar under his right eye made him look intimidating in spite of himself. He also noticed that Hu Xia had two new swords behind his back, so he probably didn't hold a grudge against him, right?
"Hu Xia, long time no see." Song Yang tried to act as if nothing bad had happened between them.
"It's been a long time, indeed." Nodded Hu Xia.
"Did you want to tell me something?" Asked Song Yang.
"Yes, actually I wanted to thank you." Answered Hu Xia in a serious tone.
"Huh? Thank me? Why?" Asked Song Yang, very surprised.
"Thanks to you I was able to realize that I was too arrogant and didn't train well enough. Our fight opened my eyes to my limits and I was able to find a way to go past them."
"That's... good, I guess? So you don't blame me for breaking your swords?" Inquired Song Yang.
"Although these swords were very important to me, I don't blame you. I have bought two new swords and this time I don't plan to lose them." Answered Hu Xia, confidently.
"That's great!" Exclaimed Song Yang, reassured that he didn't make a new enemy.
"Actually, I have been training hard these past two months. That's why I want to challenge you to an official duel!" Declared Hu Xia, pointing at Song Yang.
"What? You mean now? Sorry, I was planning to do a sect mission today but maybe we can have a duel another day." Said Song Yang.
"Sect mission? You mean that you have already reached the third level of the Eight Meridians Opening realm!? As expected of my rival!" Exclaimed Hu Xia.
"Rival? Since when did I become your rival?" Asked Song Yang, puzzled.
"From the moment you beat me, of course. Even if you're a girl, you are worthy of being my rival! Anyway, it seems that I'm still a step behind you... Then, I will continue to cultivate and challenge you once I reach the third level." Announced Hu Xia.
After his announcement, Hu Xia left the second floor of the Market Hall, leaving a dumbfounded Song Yang lost in his thoughts.
'So I didn't make an enemy but I made a rival? Okay...' He thought.
Song Yang shook his head and refocused on his current task. He had to buy a Storage Pouch!
He had tried the Storage Pouch of Tan Yanyan so he knew how it worked. It was actually rather similar to his inventory. He just needed to touch an object with the pouch to store it inside it. And, when looking into the Storage Pouch, an image of the items stored inside it would appear in his mind so he could remove the items he wanted.
Song Yang walked over to the stall and after purchasing a Storage Pouch for fifty Spirit Stones, he immediately stored the Spirit Wine he had bought earlier inside it.
Next, he walked towards the stand selling Talismans. The price of a Healing Talisman was five Spirit Stones while the price for a Barrier Talisman was three Spirit Stones. There were also offensive Talismans like the Fireball Talisman or the Wind Blade Talisman, but he was not interested in them. However, he was very interested in the support Talismans called Speed Boost Talisman and Enhance Strength Talisman which cost respectively seven and ten Spirit Stones.
"What is the difference between a Healing Talisman and a Healing Pill?" Asked Song Yang to the stall owner who was a woman in her twenties.
He was curious because a Healing Pill only cost one Spirit Stone.
"A Talisman requires Qi to be activated contrary to a pill. However, a Healing Talisman heals wounds much faster than a Healing Pill and even works on internal injuries." She answered.
"I understand. In that case, I will buy five Healing Talismans, five Barrier Talismans, five Speed Boost Talismans and five Enhance Strength Talismans." He said.
Even if it was expensive, Song Yang didn't want to be stingy when it came to his health and the protection of his life.
After paying 125 Spirit Stones, he stored the Talismans in his inventory while pretending to put them in his new Storage Pouch which he had attached to his waist. Then, he walked to the next stall.
"Hello, I would like to buy an interactive map. Can you tell me more about it?" Asked Song Yang to the stall owner, a fat middle-aged man with a long mustache and a short beard.
"The interactive map is a Mortal-grade Artifact. The ones we sell here have a representation of the whole Eastern Continent and are specially designed to have a very detailed view of the surroundings of the sect. If you inject your Qi in the interactive map, you can zoom in and zoom out to have more or less details in addition to also showing your current position on the map." Explained the man.
'So it basically works like a GPS, interesting!' Thought Song Yang.
The interactive map looked like a thin slab of wood the size of an A4 sheet of paper and cost 250 Spirit Stones. There was also the option to buy it on credit by paying 4 Spirit Stones per month. Song Yang decided to go for this option because he didn't want to attract attention by paying 250 Spirit Stones directly.
250 Spirit Stones was a lot of money, but it was logical that the interactive map was so expensive since it was a Mortal-grade Artifact.
"The 4 Spirit Stones will be taken directly from your allowance every month. Now, to activate the interactive map, you first need to pour a drop of your blood on it. That way, no one but you will be able to use it. It's a protection in case you lose it or someone steals it from you since the map contains detailed information about the location of the sect and its surrounding." Said the stall owner.
"I understand." Said Song Yang.
He bit his finger and poured a drop of his blood on the interactive map. It glowed for a second before displaying the whole Eastern Continent. Then, Song Yang injected his Qi into the map and the view instantly changed; he could now see a detailed mapping of the Outer-Sect Area with a glowing blue point indicating his exact position at the Market Hall.
'Impressive!' He thought, as he stored the interactive map in his inventory.
Now that he had bought everything he needed, Song Yang was ready to leave the Market Hall to go to the Spirit Forest.
'I said that I shouldn't spend too much but I still spent almost 200 Spirit Stones!' He thought, depressed.
Once outside of the Market Hall, Song Yang took out his interactive map and looked for the location of the west gate. According to the receptionist of the Mission Hall, he needed to leave the Outer-Sect Area through this gate to reach the Spirit Forest.
The interactive map indicated that the west gate was located at the western end of the mountain. After confirming and memorizing its location, Song Yang hit the road.
A few minutes of walking later, he arrived in front of a very large stone archway on top of which the words 'West Gate' were marked.
The archway was kept by two Outer Elders who seemed to be in their thirties. The two of them emitted a strong, intimidating aura and inspected the Sect Token of every disciple who tried to pass through it.
"Greeting elders, I came here to go to the Spirit Forest for a sect mission." Said Song Yang as he showed them his Sect token.
"Alright. The Flying Boat will arrive in a few minutes, you can wait with the other disciples." Explained the elder.
Since the mountain where the Outer-Sect Area was located was gigantic, it was necessary to use a Flying Boat to reach its base. Only disciples who had reached the Qi Condensation realm and could use a Flying Sword could reach the base of the mountain without using these platforms.
A Flying Boat was a kind of magical boat using Qi to move on its own. The boat moved automatically at high speed between the peak and the base of the mountain.
Song Yang thanked the two elders and walked past them to wait for the Flying Boat with a few other disciples. From his position, he could see the whole forest stretching for miles. It was truly a magnificent sight!
After a few minutes of waiting, the Flying Boat finally arrived. It looked like a normal brown wooden boat without a mast nor sails. It was rather large and could accommodate about thirty disciples.
Song Yang alongside the other disciples walked on it and waited for its departure.
He was a little nervous since it was his first time using a boat that could fly, he didn't see any security barrier and was afraid of falling down the mountain if he was not careful. What he didn't know was that the Flying Boat was actually protected by an Array Formation that created some sort of invisible walls around it to prevent accidents.
The boat suddenly began to descend at high speed. It was so fast that everything around Song Yang became blurry but he strangely didn't feel any pressure, it was a little like taking an elevator.
In less than five minutes, Song Yang found himself at the base of the mountain. Now he just had to follow the path in front of him to reach the outskirts of the Spirit Forest.
