The market town was enormous — a gorge stretching over ten li long was almost entirely taken up by its territory. Shops lined both sides of the gorge and filled the caves in the rock faces, with countless cultivators milling about and hawkers crying their wares without cease.
This was the market town of the Wuhua Hall. Every shop was a Wuhua Hall enterprise, though some disciples had set up their own businesses here as well. They sold everything under the sun. On a normal day it was lively enough, but never quite this bustling.
The main reason was the martial tournament's recent commencement. Tens of thousands of cultivators from across the Southern Region had converged on the area, and naturally a fair number of them came to browse the markets. Before Yang Kai even landed, he could see cultivators of every description walking below — groups of three to five disciples in matching robes, belonging to various sects, weaving through the crowd without pause.
In truth, every major sect had a market town like this one. The Azure Sun Divine Temple had one too, though Yang Kai had never bothered to check it out. He imagined it was no worse than this place.
He landed in front of the market without being stopped and walked straight in with Yu Zhuo. Women were naturally drawn to this kind of lively place, and Yu Zhuo — already cheerful and outgoing by temperament — was beaming from ear to ear the moment she arrived. She clasped her hands behind her back, walking backwards while watching Yang Kai and asking, "What does the senior want to buy?"
Though she was walking backwards, it was as if she had eyes in the back of her head — she kept swaying her shoulders now and then to dodge the crowd.
"Some seeds," Yang Kai said, looking around on both sides.
His decision to come here had been imprompte, but it was precisely to pick up some seeds. Mu Zhu and Mu Lu's demand for seeds had grown far too great lately. The ones he'd swapped for at the last exchange fair had been nowhere near enough. When he'd delivered seeds last time, both Wood Spirits had urgently implored him to get more as soon as possible.
He wouldn't have thought to come here if he hadn't known there was a market, but now that he did, he might as well make the trip.
"Seeds?" Yu Zhuo blinked, clearly surprised — she hadn't expected Yang Kai to be here for something like that. After a moment's thought, she said, "I know where to get those. Follow me, senior."
She turned and slipped into the crowd like a fish gliding through water, her movements lithe and nimble. Yang Kai kept an unhurried pace but didn't fall far behind.
Before long, the two of them arrived at a shop — an herbalist's store. In general, shops like this also sold a selection of seeds, though the quantity wouldn't be large.
That turned out to be the case. At Yu Zhuo's prompting, the shopkeeper brought out a variety of seeds. Yang Kai examined them briefly, found them acceptable, and was about to pay and leave.
To his amusement, Yu Zhuo immediately launched into a fierce round of haggling with the shopkeeper, her sharp tongue cutting the price by roughly a fifth.
When it came time to settle the bill, Yu Zhuo even tried to grab the payment before Yang Kai could. There was no way he'd let her do that, so he refused.
After leaving that shop, Yu Zhuo led Yang Kai to the next one, apparently well acquainted with the place — heaven knew how many times she'd been here.
After the better part of a half day, they had walked the full length of the ten-li market. Yang Kai had made a decent haul. The seeds he'd bought weren't especially rare, but the two Wood Spirits hadn't made many demands anyway. He'd let them plant and see what grew.
"Does the senior want to buy anything else?" Yu Zhuo asked, blinking up at him.
"Not for now." Yang Kai smiled faintly and looked at her. "I have a match tomorrow, so I should head back early and rest. Thanks for your help today."
Yu Zhuo smiled, her eyes curving into crescent moons. "No trouble at all, no trouble at all. If the senior ever needs anything in the future, just say the word." She paused, then added, "Well, I'll be going then. You should head back and rest early too, senior."
Yang Kai nodded, and only then did Yu Zhuo take to the air. Halfway up, she turned back for another look at Yang Kai and waved vigorously.
Watching her depart, Yang Kai weighed the beast-hide pouch of seeds in his hand and casually tossed it into the Small World, placing it in front of the herb garden. He was confident Mu Zhu and Mu Lu would find it. He then turned and flew back toward the spirit peak where the Azure Sun Divine Temple had set up camp.
Word that Yu Zhuo of the Rakshasa Gate had come seeking Yang Kai spread quickly through the Azure Sun Divine Temple's ranks. Murong Xiaoxiao even made a point of coming over to ask about it, acting as if there were something untoward between Yang Kai and Yu Zhuo — leaving him quite at a loss for words.
Even Gao Xueting's gaze held a certain oddness when she looked at him. As for Xiao Baiyi, there was no need to mention it — his face was practically dripping with disdain, which irritated Yang Kai to no end.
The days that followed remained uneventful. Every few days Yang Kai would emerge from seclusion to serve as referee in the valley. As time went on, more and more cultivators were eliminated, and those who remained standing on the stage all had some measure of ability.
During this period Yu Zhuo appeared on the eighth ring again, once more matched against a Dao Source Realm third-level opponent. This battle was even grueller than her first one, but she managed to pull through with quick thinking at the critical moment, pouring everything she had into driving her opponent off the stage.
Yang Kai could see, however, that while Yu Zhuo's skills were impressive, cracking the top ten would be difficult for her. Her cultivation was her greatest shortcoming — if she had been at the third level of the Dao Source Realm, a spot in the top five at this tournament would have been a certainty.
He didn't attend any more of the Emperor Realm cultivators' exchange fair. There was nothing of particular interest left. Gao Xueting did come back with a message for him, though — quite a few Emperor Realm cultivators still wanted to trade for some Emperor Pills, and the price was his to name.