Chapter One: Heaven's First Floor

  The Fireball Technique is the lowest level of the Five Elements Technique, and under normal circumstances, it poses no great threat to cultivators with a high level of cultivation, especially those who have reached the Condensed Origin Realm or higher. However, at this moment, Shen Shi was still just an ordinary young boy who had not yet begun his cultivation. A scorching fireball came hurtling towards him, its heat waves rolling in, and he instinctively wanted to dodge, but his body seemed to be reacting slower than he thought, only managing a slight dodging motion that was insufficient to avoid the fireball, which was about to hit him head-on.

  Just at that moment, the angle of the fireball's approach seemed to shift suddenly, veering off to the right side of his skull, barely passing over his shoulder before exploding with a loud "bang" on a branch of an old tree in the courtyard behind him, sending sparks flying and igniting a patch of branches and leaves.

  Shen Shi involuntarily took a few steps back, turned his head to look at the old tree's branches that were still smoking and on fire, and couldn't help but feel a lingering fear. At this time, the butcher's laughter came from behind him, saying: "How was it? Wasn't my Fireball Technique impressive?"

  Shen Shi looked at him with a bad temper, but still said honestly: "Scared me to death, but it seems the power is not small."

  The butcher smiled and shook his head, saying, "It's just that it looks good." He glanced at Shen Shi and said, "I know your father had you practice drawing talismans from a young age, but this kind of side door technique wastes mental and physical energy, not to mention its limited use. In the future when you join the Ling Xiao Sect, I think it's better not to waste any more unnecessary effort on this."

  Shen Shi nodded and said, "Yes, I understand." In fact, this principle, whether it was him or his fat old man Shen Tai, knew a little in their hearts, but back then Shen Tai's talent for cultivation was too poor, and apart from the Fu Lu symbol, he couldn't teach Shen Shi anything else.

  She looked up at the sky, only to see the blue sky and a few white clouds floating on the horizon. In the distance, there was also the faint sound of birds chirping, which should be seagulls soaring in the sea breeze. The Cloud City is located by the sea, and not far from the city, you can see that vast expanse of ocean.

  Shen Shi took a deep breath, feeling the fresh air made his body feel more comfortable. He turned to the butcher and asked, "Uncle, do we have anything else to do today?"

  The butcher thought for a moment, then said: "Today is nothing, I'll go to the branch store in this city later and pick up something. Tomorrow, I'll take you to the outside of the city to visit the Immortal Rock, and this trip will be considered completed."

  Shen Shi murmured, paused for a moment, and then said with a hint of expectation: "Uncle, since we're free today and there's nothing else to do, I'd like to take a stroll around this Flowing Cloud City."

  The butcher was taken aback, and after a moment's thought, as if he had thought of something, he smiled and said: "Well, anyway, this place is already thousands of miles away from Yinzhou, I reckon even if the master of Xuan Yin Gate has long arms, they can't reach here."

  Shen Shi smiled but didn't speak, and immediately the butcher entered the house, casually tidied up a bit, and then came out to take Shen Shi away. It was only when they were walking out of the gate that Shen Shi followed behind the butcher and suddenly opened his mouth to ask him a question:

  "Uncle, was it already a few years ago when I first met you that you were a member of the Immortal Sect?"

  The butcher's footsteps paused slightly, and he glanced at the young man beside him. He saw that Shen Shi's expression was as usual, his eyes fixed on the front, as if he had only casually asked this sentence. After a moment of silence, he nodded and said, "Not bad."

  Shen Shi softly said "oh" and didn't say anything else.

  The two of them lived in a house located on the south side of Liuyun City. As Butcher led Shen Shi down a street, the surroundings suddenly became bustling with activity. Several streets unfolded before their eyes at once, with tall buildings standing densely together and the sounds of people filling the air. Many pedestrians and monks hurried to and fro. Shen Shi couldn't help but stop in his tracks, gazing out at the scene before him as he let out a sigh of amazement.

  Here, any street you pick out seems more prosperous than Ma Ti Street in Xizhou City, not to mention several gathered together. In the distance, there are monks as numerous as rain, and people with strange attire can be seen everywhere. There are even many weirdos with exotic pets.

  The butcher smiled and pointed forward, saying: "This is the Nanbao Alley of Liuyun City. In addition to this, there are also similar alleys in the east, west, and north of the city. The spiritual material merchants gather here, it is the most prosperous big city among the sixteen states of the south of Hongmeng Continent, no matter how rare and precious the spiritual materials are, they can basically be found in Liuyun City."

  Shen Shi nodded repeatedly, perhaps because he grew up in a large commercial building like Tianyi Building, and he had a natural affinity for this kind of bustling market. He smiled and said: "It's indeed lively, compared to here, I think Xilu City is even more rural."

  The butcher burst out laughing and said: "It was originally so."

  As they spoke, the two walked forward together, with Butcher leading Shen Shi into a wide and spacious street. After walking for over a hundred paces through the crowd, Shen Shi saw a tall and majestic building appear before him. The atmosphere was solemn and grand, and the entrance was wide and expansive, with Taoist priests coming and going. On the sign above the door were written three large characters: "Immortal Gathering".

  The butcher stopped in his tracks, turned around and said to Shen Shi: "I'll go inside to take care of some business, you just wander around here for a bit, I'll meet you at the entrance in two hours, okay?"

  Shen Shi nodded and said, "Okay."

  The butcher reminded him again, saying: "Tomorrow we will go to the Immortal Rock, at this critical moment you should be careful yourself, don't delay the big thing."

  Shen Shi laughed and said: "I understand."

  The butcher seemed to know Shen Shi's temperament and wasn't too worried about him. He pointed down the street ahead with his hand, saying: "These five main streets of Nanbao Alley are all very lively, with many shops along the way. Apart from that, if you head north, there is a place called Nantian Gate, where there is a large open area by the lake. It's not small, and it's usually where many scattered cultivators set up stalls to sell spiritual materials. However, among them are good and bad products, with many fakes and low-quality goods. But sometimes people can find some good treasures." After speaking, he smiled at Shen Shi, saying: "You little guy, you're quite famous for your discerning eye in Xilu City. If you have time, you can also go take a look over there."

  Shen Shi didn't expect the butcher to have also heard of his little reputation from back in the day, and he chuckled, saying: "I know, thank you, Uncle."

  The butcher turned and walked into the bustling hall of the Immortal Gathering, disappearing into the crowd in an instant. Shen Shi stood at the street corner, for a moment, amidst the crowded and noisy flow of people, suddenly feeling a sense of disorientation, alone and far from home, in this unfamiliar city, while the home he had lived in for twelve years in his hometown was now long gone.

  He shook his head, pulled himself together and walked forward.

  Liuyun City is known as the largest city in the south, with prosperity and flourishing first. Indeed, it is not a false reputation. Shen Shi had only walked around Nanbao Square for a while, looked at seven or eight shops, and saw many rare and precious spiritual materials and treasures. At the same time, it was clear that there were many types of spiritual materials here, and they were all readily available. A cultivator's resources needed for cultivation could almost be collected in such a place, provided you had enough spirit crystals.

  However, compared to the spiritual materials in Xilu City, the prices of spiritual materials here in Liuyun City seem to be about 10% to 20% cheaper.

  In this crowded and noisy street, among the hustle and bustle of the crowd, Shen Shi had a kind of heartfelt familiarity, as if he had returned to the city where he lived for twelve years, back to the familiar Tianyi Building.

  His interest was high, and his mood was good. As he looked around from house to house, he soon confirmed that in the Nanbao Fang area, as long as the scale of the shops selling spiritual materials was not small, almost all of them were genuine and reasonably priced. In this process, he also saw many rare and precious spiritual materials that he had only read about in books but had never seen before in Xilu City, which broadened his horizons.

  As he strolled around, before he knew it, an hour had passed and Shen Shi had finished walking down one of the streets in Nanbao Alley. When he walked back onto the street, he suddenly saw a small lake appear ahead, with clear water and ten or so lotus leaves scattered along its edges. It was still late spring and not yet midsummer, so the lotus flowers in the lake were not yet in bloom. However, on the shore of this lake, under a tall and large gate, there was a vast empty space where countless monks had gathered, bustling about like a busy market, and it seemed that this must be the South Heavenly Gate that the butcher had mentioned earlier.

  In Xilu City, Shen Shi had seen many shops and stalls, but he had never seen so many scattered practitioners gathering around a report stall like this before. He couldn't help but feel a few points of curiosity, and walked over step by step.

  After walking around the empty land of South Tianmen for a while, Shen Shi indeed saw many scattered cultivators setting up stalls to sell their wares. Most people had simply cordoned off a small area, with some laying down silk cloths and others directly placing the spiritual materials and treasures they wanted to sell on the ground, hawking them to passersby.

  After turning around for a while, Shen Shi somewhat understood this place. The scattered cultivators selling things here were of all shapes and sizes, some looked embarrassed and destitute, while others appeared to be extremely arrogant with an air of superiority. As for the spiritual materials being sold by the crowd, after carefully observing them for a while, he found that they were indeed not as reliable as those in large shops, mixed with countless counterfeit goods, but there were also some genuine goods, such as the two second-grade spiritual grasses he had seen at a certain stall earlier, and another cultivator selling several rare second-grade spiritual stones. They were indeed good things, and most importantly, the prices of spiritual materials here in Nantianmen were at least half cheaper than those in shops.

  As long as your eyes are good enough, you can actually find quite a few good things in this bustling place.

  Although Shen Shi had good eyesight and saw several decent spiritual materials, he didn't intend to buy them. Firstly, even if he bought these materials, they would be of no use to him. Secondly, he currently only had three spiritual crystals on him, and slightly better items were beyond his budget.

  But anyway, Nan Tian Men is here, can't escape, wait until I join Ling Xiao Sect in the future and find a way to get more spirit crystals, then come back to dig up treasures is also possible.

  Shen Shi comforted himself in his heart, but his enthusiasm was not diminished at all. He walked quickly and lightly throughout the South Heavenly Gate, where scattered cultivators gathered.

  As he was walking, he stopped in front of a stall to examine a spiritual grass, weighing in his mind whether it was the rare second-grade spiritual grass "Tian Luo Ye" or another similar first-grade spiritual grass "Hei Xing Lan", when he heard a soft and mysterious voice coming from a nearby stall, which made him feel a chill run down his spine. The voice said:

  "Old man, how many spirit crystals will this ore sell for?"

  Shen Shi subconsciously turned his head to look, and saw a tall and thin man standing in front of the neighboring stall, with a hunched back and a gaunt face that was as dry as a skull, giving off a somewhat terrifying feeling.

  Shen Shi only took a glance, but felt somewhat uneasy in his heart, and quickly shifted his gaze away, secretly cursing to himself. He thought that there were actually people who had such strange appearances. At the same time, he followed the conversation between the stall owner and the strange person with his eyes, and glanced at the other stall.

  This stall owner looked like an ordinary loose cultivator, with more than a dozen spiritual materials scattered on the stall in front of him. There were several bottles and jars, a few stalks of spiritual grass, a few stones, and one or two pieces of demon beast spirit bone and fur. This was exactly what most of the roadside stalls looked like, having everything but not many, because they were struggling to collect whatever spiritual materials they could find that had some value, in order to exchange them for spiritual crystals to continue their cultivation.

  And at this moment, their voices rose a bit, and the focus of the argument was on a piece of yellowish-brown stone on the stall. In the owner's view, it was a fairly good second-grade spiritual ore "Yellow Crystal Stone", which had a wide range of uses, especially when used to forge immortal family artifacts, it was a very useful earth-based spiritual material, so the price offered was not cheap.

  The strange man observed for a while and seemed to confirm that the yellow crystal stone was genuine, but he greatly questioned its quality. He insisted that it was not worth more than two spirit crystals, rather than the ten that the stall owner had asked for.

  The two of them haggled over the price for half a day, but their psychological prices were really too far apart and they couldn't reach an agreement. The stall owner was a burly man who looked somewhat anxious, and he argued with the strange person, spitting as he spoke, waving his arms to emphasize his words, unintentionally sweeping across the stall and knocking over a small jar beside it, without even noticing.

  In the blink of an eye, that small jar fell to the ground and rolled around a few times. The bottom of the jar flashed before Shen Shi's eyes, revealing a worn-out floral pattern that had been eroded in many places.

  Shen Shi slowly turned his head, still looking at the spiritual grass in front of him that had not yet been clearly distinguished, but suddenly furrowed his brow as if he was thinking.