The Ice Heart Pavilion's Fan Xin quickly gravitated toward Ling Yinqin, and the two of them began exchanging whispered secret messages.
Before long, Ling Yinqin raised her head and looked at Yang Kai. "This Junior Sister Fan has offered a fair price. I'm planning to sell. What do you think?"
Her question was clearly just putting on a show for Fan Xin's benefit. Moreover, her cultivation was a full minor realm above Fan Xin's, so calling her "Junior Sister" was perfectly appropriate.
Fan Xin's face immediately lit up with hope as she gazed at Yang Kai. She had been lingering here for most of the day without a single thing to show for it. Now that she had finally caught a glimmer of hope, all she needed was for Yang Kai to nod his head and she would receive a sizeable haul. Her anticipation was palpable.
Yang Kai smiled. "Then sell it."
Fan Xin beamed with delight. "Thank you, Big Sister and Brother. Rest assured, the Ice Heart Pavilion has always conducted its business honestly and fairly—we would never try to drive down the price."
Ling Yinqin replied coolly, "The Ice Heart Pavilion's reputation precedes it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have sold to you."
As they spoke, the two moved with remarkable speed to complete the exchange. Yang Kai quietly observed and noticed that what Fan Xin handed over to Ling Yinqin included not only some source crystals but also a number of spirit pills.
Having received her goods, Fan Xin was visibly pleased, her attitude growing even more enthusiastic. "Brother, if you ever have anything else to sell in the future, don't forget about me. We can always negotiate the price."
Yang Kai nodded. "No problem."
"Let's go." Ling Yinqin called out, leading Yang Kai and Liu Xianyun forward.
After leaving the noisy docks, the three of them stopped and waited for the others to arrive.
Roughly the time it took an incense stick to burn, all dozen or so crew members had returned. Every one of them wore expressions of elation and joy, their faces practically radiating with excitement—clearly, their hauls had been quite bountiful. Moreover, what they had just sold was only a tiny fraction of this voyage's harvest; much more remained to be traded.
The hundred thousand pieces of azure-feather coral were simply too large a quantity and had to be sold in batches, which made the docks an unsuitable venue for the transaction. Ling Yinqin planned to handle it once they returned to Tongtian City.
This single voyage's harvest alone was enough to keep them fed and clothed for the next three years, and perhaps even afford a better place to live.
Before long, a massive city loomed ahead. Its gates were equally colossal, gaping open like the maw of some beast ready to devour all who entered. Three large characters were carved atop the gate: TONGTIAN CITY!
Guards stood at the city entrance. All passersby, whether entering or leaving, had to pay one low-grade source crystal or something of equivalent value to be allowed through.
Yang Kai frowned upon seeing this.
Source crystals were exceedingly precious within the Desolate Void Secret Realm. He had assumed that possessing an identity token would be enough to come and go freely, but apparently one still had to pay source crystals. A single low-grade source crystal meant nothing to him, but for those martial artists who had been living here for a long time in destitution, it was no small sum.
There weren't many people at the city gate. Aside from the martial artists who had returned from the docks and were queueing to enter, not a single person was leaving the city. It was clear that even the residents of Tongtian City were reluctant to spend a source crystal on casual comings and goings—they only did so when they absolutely had to head out to sea or leave the city for some essential reason.
Ling Yinqin's group of over a dozen paid their dozen-odd source crystals, had everyone's identity tokens verified, and passed through the gate without incident.
Yang Kai had been somewhat worried that his status as a newcomer might be exposed, but seeing how smoothly everything went, he realized he had been overthinking it.
Once inside the city, he was met with a lively scene. The city was packed with martial artists. Shops of all kinds lined both sides of the streets, and the streams of passersby were so dense that shoulders rubbed against shoulders in an endless flow.
But before long, he noticed something different. Along the sides of the streets, many martial artists sat cross-legged, their gazes fixed blankly ahead, their expressions wooden.
These martial artists were numerous. Regardless of their cultivation level, their auras were all extremely weak—as though they hadn't cultivated in a very long time. They simply sat there, motionless.
Not only that, but the streets were also full of people dressed as beggars, bowing and pleading for alms from all directions, yet receiving almost nothing in return.
Yang Kai frowned, having not expected that behind Tongtian City's prosperous façade lay such desolation.
"These are all pitiful people," Ling Yinqin sighed. "They've lost their cultivation resources. Their cultivation bases deteriorate day by day, and they have no means to go out to sea and search for anything. Other than begging, all they can do is wait for death."
Only after hearing this did Yang Kai understand why the streets looked the way they did. And this was just what he had seen upon entering—who knew how many people throughout all of Tongtian City were waiting for death in the same way?
"Is there really no way to leave this place?" Yang Kai asked.
Ling Yinqin shook her head. "I've never heard of anyone successfully escaping."
The two were still talking when a furious shout suddenly rang out nearby: "You little thief, how dare you rob me!"
The shout was followed by a commotion in the crowd not far away, punctuated by the sounds of a fight.
Yang Kai released his Divine Sense and immediately ascertained what had happened. It seemed a martial artist had been robbed. The victim had a cultivation at the Dao Source Realm, First Layer, while the robber was merely at the Void King Realm, Second Layer. Not only was the robber far weaker in cultivation, but his aura was so depleted that he probably couldn't even muster the strength of a Void King Realm, First Layer.
Such suicidal behavior would be absolutely unthinkable out there in the open world, but within Tongtian City, it apparently passed for normal.