Terraced spirit fields stretched across the mountain slopes, forming a patchwork of cultivation. Some fields grew spiritual rice, others spiritual herbs, and still others hosted all kinds of rare spirit plants.
As Su Yu walked along, he looked around with curiosity. It was clear to him that the crops grown here in the market's spiritual fields were of higher quality than those in the Su Family's medicinal garden.
Seeing Su Yu's curious glances, Su Jingbang explained, "These fields can be rented."
"Most of the cultivators staying in the market rely on these fields for a living."
"But this kind of life is, after all, dependent on others. The rent for these fields is essentially payment for working the land on behalf of the Cloud Sword Sect."
He paused for a moment.
Then Su Jingbang sighed. "Back in the day, our Su Family's ancestors laid their first foundations right here in this very market."
"Later, they moved to Jiang City, established the medicinal garden, and only then did our family gradually build up what we have today."
Su Yu and the others from the Su Family were visibly moved.
From a lone rogue cultivator to an established cultivation clan—only those who'd walked the path could understand the hardships.
Even now, their Su Family remained weak.
But what they had today was the fruit of more than ten generations of effort.
Su Jingbang looked at Su Yu and said, "If, in the future, you don't want to stay in the medicinal garden, then try to come here."
"With the Pill Pavilion as our foundation, cultivating here is far better than scraping by as a wandering cultivator."
As they chatted, the group made their way toward the heart of the market.
Along the way, they saw many other cultivators coming and going, some casting spells over their spirit fields to tend the crops.
Nestled within a mountain valley, the center of Yunshan Market sat shrouded in mist. Between the peaks, white-robed cultivators flew through the air—it looked like a scene from an immortal realm.
The Su Family's Pill Pavilion stood on the third main street on the east side of the market, where foot traffic was heavy.
Managing the Pill Pavilion was the Su Family's Second Elder, Su Yun, a high-grade Tier 1 alchemist with a reclusive personality who rarely spoke.
Upon entering the pavilion and meeting Su Yun, Su Yu and the others respectfully greeted him. But Su Yun didn't even glance at them—his eyes landed straight on Su Jingbang.
Su Jingbang handed him two spatial rings and said, "Second Elder, here are the medicinal supplies for this month."
Su Yun scanned them with his spiritual sense, then frowned. "Still the same poor quality."
Su Jingbang smiled. "It's actually a bit better than before."
Su Yu had originally hoped to get on friendly terms with the Second Elder—perhaps even to one day apprentice under him. But Su Yun simply took the herbs and waved them off, turning around and disappearing into the rear courtyard of the pavilion.
This didn't surprise anyone.
Su Jingbang turned to Su Yu and said, "Alright, the rest of the day is yours."
"We'll stay here at the Pill Pavilion for the night and return tomorrow afternoon."
Seeing Su Yu blink at him hopefully, Su Jingbang rubbed his bald head and muttered with some annoyance, "Fine, I was planning to get some sleep… I'll take you around the market."
Su Yu immediately broke into a grin. "Nice! Tonight I'll treat you to some good wine!"
The others wandered off, uninterested in tagging along.
Su Jingbang led Su Yu out of the Pill Pavilion and into the bustling market.
The market was filled with shops, as well as areas set aside for rogue cultivators to set up stalls.
"What are you looking to buy?" Su Jingbang asked.
Su Yu thought for a moment and replied, "Resources for cultivation, like demonic beast blood essence. And maybe anything weird but cheap."
Su Jingbang gave him a side glance. "Beast blood is easy enough. Weird and cheap stuff… you've got odd taste, kid."
"Come on, I know just the place for you."
He led Su Yu deeper into the market until they stood before a three-story wooden building in the north sector. When Su Yu saw the signboard, his heart skipped a beat.
Celestial Tome Pavilion? Su Yu stood in stunned silence.
That name—
He knew it well. Just like Moon-Worship Immortal City, it was a place from a cultivation game he'd played in his past life.
The Celestial Tome Pavilion specialized in selling all sorts of bizarre items—but they all had one thing in common.
They were tied to Ancient Jade Caskets!
The Pavilion collected these caskets from across the realm—sometimes opening them themselves, sometimes selling them to customers. They would also buy back anything customers found inside the caskets.
This made the Celestial Tome Pavilion a peculiar, almost mysterious organization.
In the game, everything they sold came with unknown properties. Whether it turned out to be a priceless treasure or worthless junk depended entirely on luck.
It was a total gold-sink.
Su Yu never expected to find the Celestial Tome Pavilion here in Yunshan Market.
"What are you spacing out for? Let's go in," Su Jingbang nudged him, and the two stepped inside.
The interior of the Celestial Tome Pavilion was divided into many sections. The most eye-catching area was, unsurprisingly, the one selling Ancient Jade Caskets.
Despite their reputation as scams…
It was the busiest part of the entire building.
Su Yu curled his lip and muttered inwardly, A bunch of gambling addicts.
He wasn't interested in that. Knowing what kind of place this was, he only glanced around for a moment before heading straight toward a section marked Ancient Tomes.
Su Jingbang gave him a look and said, "I'll browse around. Call me when you're ready to leave."
Su Yu waved him off and quickly made his way to a bookshelf, flipping through one tome after another. Most books here only contained the first few pages—if you wanted the full version, you had to buy it.
What he was looking for were cultivation techniques like the One Hundred and Eight Styles of the Crocodile Demon—powerful but nearly impossible for most people to master.
To others, such techniques were trash.
But to him, they were priceless treasures.
"Legends of Mount Wu."
"The Sixty-Eight Oddities of Guan Hai."
"The Demon Kings of Cangzhou."
Su Yu flipped through book after book. Most were just folklore or biographies. Some were techniques or spells, but missing too many parts to be useful.
Over an hour passed before he finally spotted something interesting among the ancient tomes on the third bookshelf.
His eyes lit up as he flipped open a certain volume.
"Cycle of Verdant Rings."
The name was a little odd, but as he read on, Su Yu's heart stirred.
It was a wood-element cultivation method.
Legend had it that in the ancient immortal realm, there once stood a towering ancient tree called the Verdant Tree, its crown reaching the heavens and its roots probing reincarnation.
One year, one cycle. One cycle, one turn of the wheel of samsara.
This technique was built upon the Dao foundation of that ancient tree. If one could master it, they could glimpse the mysteries of longevity.
However—
It required the aura of Verdant Wood origin to establish one's foundation!
The ancient tome included annotations and research from several people—including a legendary figure from the Cloud Sword Sect and the Moon-Worship True Lord of Moon-Worship Immortal City.
None of them, however, had managed to unravel its secrets.
That wasn't uncommon. Take the One Hundred and Eight Styles of the Crocodile Demon—a body refinement technique known to be powerful.
But after all these years, no one had ever successfully cultivated it.
To the average cultivator, such techniques were utterly useless—perhaps even garbage.
Su Yu didn't know if he could master it, but as he stared at the text, he felt excitement welling up.
"This… is a real gem."
Still, he didn't rush. In a place like the Celestial Tome Pavilion, there were bound to be more techniques like this Cycle of Verdant Rings.