The young man glanced at the Opening Heaven Pills on the table and chuckled softly. "Thirty Opening Heaven Pills — that's ten years of wages for a laborer. That's no small amount of time. Are you sure you've thought this through?"
Die You pressed her red lips together and replied, "Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother. I can still afford thirty Opening Heaven Pills."
"Very well!" The young man nodded, sweeping his hand across the table to collect the pills. Then he tossed out a small box and two cartons of incense before lowering his head to continue attending to his own affairs.
Die You put everything away, politely said her farewell, and led Yang Kai out.
From behind them came the young man's voice: "Miss, take your time and think it over. If you change your mind, you can come find me here anytime. The market opens every month, and I'll always be stationed here."
Die You kept walking without pausing or responding, and soon the two of them vanished into the crowd.
Trailing behind her, Yang Kai couldn't help but glance back at the shop, letting out a quiet sigh. He'd been here a month now, spending most of his time at the orchard with Old Fang, and hadn't really grasped what life as a laborer truly entailed. Today had given him at least a small taste of it.
He wasn't a naive boy. The Qiqiao Di young man was offering Die You gifts for no reason and had promised her one Opening Heaven Pill per month — Yang Kai could see perfectly well what he was after. One pill a month meant twelve a year. Compared to the grueling work of a laborer, that was four times the income. All Die You had to do was nod her head, provide certain... considerations, and she'd no longer have to slave away as before. She could even attach herself to a Qiqiao Di Disciple — a towering tree to shelter under — and who knew, she might even have a chance to shed her status as a laborer entirely.
The only thing Yang Kai felt somewhat grateful for was that the young man hadn't resorted to force. Perhaps sect rules restrained him, or perhaps it was for some other reason — otherwise, Die You would have had no way to resist.
Then again, even if Die You had actually accepted, Yang Kai wouldn't have had any right to say a word. For one, they weren't close enough — it was none of his business what choices she made. For another, if she really could find herself a way out, he'd genuinely be happy for her.
A thousand years as a laborer, with nothing to show for it. How much longer would she have to endure before she could finally get ahead?
"You recently arrived in this Expanse beyond the Heavens," Die You said suddenly, turning her head. "Do you understand the cultivation system out here?"
"Opening Heaven is divided into nine grades?" Yang Kai replied.
Die You smiled. "You already know that... then there's no need for me to waste breath explaining. This market has a great many materials for condensing the forces of Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements. In fact, you could say that's the bulk of what's sold here. You should take a good look around — they may come in handy for you down the road."
"Oh?" Yang Kai perked up and immediately began scanning his surroundings. Before long, something caught his eye, and he hurried over.
He arrived at a stall, and the proprietor greeted him with enthusiastic warmth: "Looking to buy something, little brother? Take your time, browse freely! My goods are the best quality at the best prices around — I guarantee you won't be disappointed."
The stall didn't have much on display: a few herbs Yang Kai didn't recognize, several oddly shaped mineral stones, and a long sword.
What had seized Yang Kai's attention was a fist-sized crystal, blazing red throughout and utterly pure, without the slightest impurity. From it, he could feel the searing heat of Fire Spirit energy.
"Good eye, little brother! This Fire Spirit Crystal is the finest thing I've got. It took me an enormous amount of effort to obtain it back in the day. If you buy it, you'll definitely be able to condense the Fire force of the Five Elements and ascend to Opening Heaven all the sooner. Heh heh — once you ascend, you can leave that laborer status behind and soar to new heights." The proprietor pitched his wares without holding anything back.
"If it's so great, why haven't you used it yourself? Why sell it?" Yang Kai turned the Fire Spirit Crystal over in his hand, watching the man with a smile.
The proprietor pulled a long face. "You know how it works, little brother. Once you choose one of the forces of Yin, Yang, or the Five Elements to condense, you have to follow the proper sequence. Mixing things up is an invitation for endless trouble down the line. To be honest, what I need right now is a Water-type material. This Fire Spirit Crystal is useless to me for now. I'm just hoping to sell it first and use the proceeds to buy the materials I actually need. If not for that, would I really be willing to part with it?"
His explanation was perfectly reasonable, and Yang Kai gave a slight nod. "How much is it worth?"
The proprietor held up a hand, gesturing a number. "You look like a straightforward fellow, so I won't give you some inflated price, and you don't need to haggle. One hundred and fifty Opening Heaven Pills, flat rate — hand over the money, take the goods. Deal?"
Yang Kai turned to look at Die You. She smiled and said, "The price seems quite reasonable."
The proprietor grinned. "See? Even your companion says it's fair. I, old Liu, run an honest shop — no funny business. If you think it works for you, we can close the deal right now."
Yang Kai slowly shook his head and set the Fire Spirit Crystal back down. "Sorry about that. I've only been here for a month. I don't have any Opening Heaven Pills on hand."
"Oh, is that so..." The proprietor wasn't upset. He looked at Yang Kai with a smile. "No harm done. No deal, no hard feelings. Come back whenever you've saved up enough — though by then, I may have already found a buyer for this crystal."
One hundred and fifty Opening Heaven Pills — at minimum, it would take forty or fifty years to save that much. That was far too much time, with far too many variables.
"Then I wish Brother Liu booming business and ever-flowing fortune!" Yang Kai cupped his fists.
"I'll take those well-wishes!" The proprietor beamed from ear to ear.