"Whew... I'm so exhausted. Shopping is seriously exhausting..."
Returning to the courtyard, Xizi collapsed onto a bamboo chair and muttered, panting.
Yet his eyes brimmed with excitement. After all, he had never bought so many things in his life, and every single item was quite expensive.
Initially, when Shi Lei had handed him the silver notes and told him to buy whatever he wanted, Xizi had been completely stunned...
He never imagined that Shi Lei would have so much money, nor that he would trust him to such an extent.
At first, Xizi felt rather embarrassed, but after he brought back some basic furniture and goods, Shi Lei showered him with praise, which finally made Xizi let go of his inhibitions...
And so he began helping Shi Lei make lavish purchases in earnest...
Yet as the shopping spree continued, things started heading slightly off course...
In the end, Xizi completely let himself go...
Buying item after item without a single pause, and thus, a local tycoon was born right then and there...
...
Back in the West City courtyard, Shi Lei was feeling somewhat troubled.
*Sigh, I never expected that selling two ordinary ginseng grass plants could stir up such trouble...* Shi Lei muttered inwardly.
Shi Lei himself had never anticipated that when he simply fished out two of the most ordinary, lowest-grade ginseng grass plants from the Vine House Space to sell in Yishui City, he would actually run into trouble and have someone recognize that his ginseng grass had been cultivated!
Talk about a coincidence hitting you right at the door!
He had originally just wanted to find a large apothecary, quietly sell a stalk of ginseng grass in exchange for a little gold and silver, but they wouldn't accept it and wouldn't even let him through the door...
And when he went to a small apothecary instead, he ran straight into a healer versed in Spirit Planting Technique who directly exposed the secret behind his cultivated ginseng grass! Although he managed to muddle his way through by invoking the name of a "master," what would these people ultimately think? Would there be any lingering repercussions from this?...
Shi Lei had a genuine headache over this...
Who could he even go to to reason about such things?
Although this transaction had gone through, Shi Lei temporarily decided not to sell any herbs ever again—not even the most ordinary, lowest-grade mundane ones.
After all, if even an ordinary mortal old man could spot the issue with his herbs, what about other Cultivators? What if he ran into someone else skilled in the Spirit Planting Technique?
Shi Lei was certain he would encounter such situations again in the future! Because this was no mere coincidence! After all, the spirit plants and herbs he grew were simply too extraordinary! This was something he hadn't anticipated beforehand!
Shi Lei had previously known very little about the Spirit Planting Technique, naively assuming that ordinary herbs could easily fool others' eyes, which was what led to this mess...
"Ah, you never truly realize the value of books until you need them!" Shi Lei sighed deeply, looking precisely like an old pedant.
He now felt that continuing to sell herbs carried far too much risk. Should some discerning person recognize them and draw the attention of Qianyuan Sect Cultivators, it would spell absolute disaster.
"Those two, grandfather and granddaughter, possess no cultivation whatsoever, yet their discernment is quite extraordinary... Their shop isn't large... it doesn't even have a signboard, yet they can casually produce a thousand taels of silver for a trade... Their background is definitely not simple. I still need to be more careful and investigate their origins thoroughly..."
Shi Lei had lived through two lifetimes and cheated death; his conduct and style had grown increasingly cautious, making him look nothing at all like a fifteen-year-old youth.
...
The next day, Xizi's older sister, Xiaofang... with Shi Lei's assistance, was redeemed from the Yuanliang Inn by Xizi at the cost of nearly a hundred taels of silver...
The Sanhe Courtyard was quite spacious, containing at least five or six rooms, so accommodating two or three more people would be more than enough.
Thus, at Shi Lei's suggestion, Xiaofang moved into the Sanhe Courtyard as well.
A courtyard naturally became much livelier with a woman around, and Shi Lei was very pleased to have Xiaofang there.
Xiaofang was a woman who knew how to take care of others. Although her background was humble, she was quite quick-witted—belonging to the exact same mold as Xizi—and very diligent with her hands and feet.
Ever since her arrival, she kept the courtyard spotless day in and day out, bustling about so incessantly that anyone unaware might have mistaken her for a hired servant...
And so Shi Lei, Xizi, and Xiaofang temporarily lived together in the Sanhe Courtyard.
In the blink of an eye, over half a month passed.
...
Throughout this half-month, Xizi constantly ran back and forth between the city and its outskirts, procuring various miscellaneous daily necessities and household goods. He bought whatever came to mind, bought whatever seemed nice, bought whatever was useful, and bought whatever looked pretty—in a single word: buy, buy, buy...
Meanwhile, Xiaofang spent every day in the Sanhe Courtyard arranging this and organizing that, sweeping here and cleaning there... keeping the entire compound in immaculate order.
Naturally, Shi Lei hadn't been idle either. He remained cooped up in the attic practicing his cultivation, completely unseen during his free time.
Neither Xizi nor Xiaofang had ever seen Shi Lei step outside, and though they didn't understand what kind of martial arts he was cultivating, the siblings—one treating Shi Lei like an almighty big brother and the other viewing him as a great benefactor—were naturally completely obliging to him, paying no mind to his eccentric behavior.
Shi Lei had also cordoned off the attic from the outside world, placing a "Do Not Disturb" sign at the entrance. Unless he gave specific instructions, no one would normally dare to bother him.
In the eyes of Xizi and Xiaofang, Shi Lei was a wealthy and mysterious big shot.
Only Shi Lei knew how destitute he truly was right now. Though he now had a little silver and money to get by day-to-day, this paltry sum was far from sufficient for cultivation.
Unfortunately, all the spirit stone resources he had accumulated over the years as a handyman and through completing missions were still stored away in his handyman quarters within the Qianyuan Sect.
"If only I had those spirit stones right now. Sigh... We'll talk about that later." Shi Lei sighed.
Although the cultivation environment in this small courtyard was quite poor, fortunately, the place was extremely secluded with zero disturbances. This exact aspect was precisely what Shi Lei needed.
After giving Xizi all his instructions, he spent his days shut away in the attic of the Sanhe Courtyard, bitterly practicing the Changchun Formula.
Only late at night would Shi Lei seize the opportunity to visit the Nameless Apothecary to probe the grandfather and granddaughter's background.
Yet after multiple investigations and explorations, Shi Lei reaped very little.
Following days of observation, the grandfather and granddaughter's behavior remained entirely normal. They practiced medicine and distributed herbs by day, and went to bed promptly at night without the slightest abnormality, which finally allowed Shi Lei to breathe a slight sigh of relief.
Even so, Shi Lei did not abandon his investigation into their origins.
After many such days, a mysterious "Night Demon" began appearing in Yishui City right around midnight every single day. He frequently haunted various shops and commercial firms, especially two specific apothecaries...
...
On this particular day, late into the night, everyone had fallen fast asleep.
Shi Lei recovered from his meditative cultivation state, channeled his Divine Sense Power, and once again sensed the Vine House Space.
In a flash, Shi Lei materialized inside the Vine House Space...
This space was utterly miraculous. Although more than two months had passed since he first crossed over into this space, escaped the snake lair, and arrived at Yishui City, he remained completely clueless about this mysterious space.
As of now, he only knew that he had to use Divine Sense Power to enter and exit the Vine House Space, and that the soil inside the house could be used to plant and cultivate spirit herbs and elixirs. Beyond that, Shi Lei knew absolutely nothing.
Though Shi Lei's understanding of the Vine House Space was limited, he knew this space was far from simple and undoubtedly harbored massive secrets.
If nothing else, simply the rockery suspended in the center of the space and that bizarre beam of light bore the undeniable hallmark of immortal methods.
According to Shi Lei's conjecture, these two items were unquestionably the key to unlocking this mysterious space.
Yet despite repeated attempts, Shi Lei had yet to fathom their secrets. For now, he had no choice but to drop the matter temporarily and simply use the space as a cultivation plot and a temporary storage room.
...
These days, aside from his daily meditation and cultivation, he spent his time pondering and planning for the future.
Even though he had now escaped the python lair and evaded the Qianyuan Sect, appearing safe for the time being, Shi Lei felt an inexplicable sense of lingering unease...
Thus, he applied himself even more diligently to his cultivation. He knew that only by elevating his own strength could he be truly safe in this world and feel genuinely secure at heart.
Yet regarding the advancement of his current strength, Shi Lei had run into some perplexing obstacles.
For he discovered that the misty spiritual energy within the space seemed to be malfunctioning.
Ever since escaping the python lair, every time he entered the spacehouse to cultivate, the spiritual energy mist—which used to appear for about four hours every day—now only manifested for one to two hours, and the density of the mist within was pitifully low.
Moreover, when Shi Lei cultivated, he completely lacked the sensation of rapid cultivation advancement he had previously experienced inside the Demon Python Lair.
Over the past few days, despite exerting himself to the utmost, his cultivation progress had been agonizingly slow, showing virtually no growth over several days as if it had completely stagnated.
This left him extremely depressed. Although he hadn't known the precise time while trapped in the python lair, it should have taken him at most five to ten days to leap from the Qi Refinement 3rd Layer to the Qi Refinement 6th Layer!
Yet his current cultivation speed crawled like a tortoise. At this rate, reaching the Qi Refinement 8th Layer would take him at least ten months of bitter cultivation.
"I suppose the rapid advancement of my cultivation previously was indeed related to the density of the spiritual energy mist in this vine house. I just wonder if this mist will grow thinner and thinner until it dissipates entirely? If that happens, wouldn't it mean my cultivation will ultimately stall?!"
Shi Lei muttered continuously to himself...
"It seems I'll have to find a place dense with spiritual energy to test whether this space truly absorbs spiritual energy on its own... But I currently possess neither spell techniques nor Dharma Artifacts; what on earth am I supposed to do?"
"No, no, I cannot keep cultivating like this. I must think of another way. Ah, what a pity that demon python was so terrifying; otherwise, cultivating right there would have been simply fantastic!"
Shi Lei actually found himself reminiscing about the days of cultivating inside the snake lair. If anyone were to find out, they would surely consider him a lunatic!
Yet in Shi Lei's view, although life in that snake lair had been utterly dreary, his cultivation had indeed achieved a genuine, massive leap forward. That kind of rapid enhancement in strength, that acquisition of immense power, was something no Cultivator could resist, and naturally, Shi Lei was no exception.
Regrettably, Shi Lei was no match for the demon python, so returning to the Demon Python Lair to cultivate was simply out of the question—it was far too dangerous, and he hadn't lived enough yet.
Were there any other methods? Other paths?
Naturally, there were. Shi Lei had also thought of going to the market to sell spirit food, and then purchasing massive quantities of cultivation supplies.
A market was a very special and magical place, generally protected by formations and typically accessible only to Cultivators. Even if mortals knew of it, they would find it extremely difficult to discover or enter.
It was generally a venue where Cultivators purchased and traded goods. Naturally, what was sold and traded here consisted primarily of basic resources and items required by immortal practitioners.
And the Qianyuan Market was precisely such a place. It was established and jointly managed by the Qianyuan Sect and several nearby rogue cultivator alliances.
Its location was situated right in the intermediate zone between the Qianyuan Sect and the Savage Beast Forest, serving as the optimal supply point for Cultivators heading to the Savage Beast Forest on missions or to hunt Demonic Beasts.
Shi Lei had been brought there a few times in the past by his senior martial brothers, though he had never bought a single item within the market because he was simply too poor—he had no money!
Yishui City was actually not too far in distance from the Qianyuan Market, but because Shi Lei lacked a Green Leaf Boat, his journey would require detouring through mountain paths, taking at least nearly a full day of travel.
...
However, a problem presented itself: the vast majority of the administrators of this market hailed from the Qianyuan Sect. Therefore, if Shi Lei went to the market to purchase goods and resources, running into Qianyuan Sect Cultivators was an absolute certainty.
Since Shi Lei could neither conceal his cultivation nor explain his current predicament, he had no wish to encounter Qianyuan Sect members.
Perhaps altering his appearance was a method, but if he were truly recognized by his fellow Qianyuan Sect apprentices, he might be mistaken for a murderer, making it extremely difficult to clear his name.
Although there were risks involved, if he truly had no other choice, Shi Lei figured disguise was worth a try. Yet taking this route remained far from ideal.
Naturally, he could also travel to other markets to purchase resources, but the only market Shi Lei was familiar with was the Qianyuan Market. As for other markets, though he had heard of them, he only knew their general direction rather than their exact locations. Furthermore, they were extremely far from Yishui City; with his current foot travel, it would take him half a year to a year just to arrive.
Yet right now, aside from heading to the market to purchase cultivation supplies, Shi Lei simply could not conceive of a better method.
Of course, he could also venture into the Savage Beast Forest to hunt ferocious beasts (namely mundane beasts) to acquire cultivation resources.
Yet the speed of acquiring cultivation resources that way was simply too slow, unless he hunted First Order Demonic Beasts!
The problem was that he currently didn't know any spell techniques, making any excursion outside—whether hunting Demonic Beasts or engaging in Dharma combat with Cultivators—an extremely disadvantageous and perilous endeavor.
After racking his brains, Shi Lei could not come up with a sound solution to resolve the immediate dilemma.
Thus, out of utter helplessness, Shi Lei devised a makeshift solution: practicing Soul Techniques—specifically, Divine Sense Telekinesis.
Put simply, it meant using Divine Soul and Divine Sense Power to manipulate lightweight weapons and execute basic offensive maneuvers.
This was the only method Shi Lei could currently think of to rapidly elevate his combat prowess!