"Brother Zhang, it's been a long time."

"Damn it, I got ambushed by an ancient yao last time. It took me months to recover."

"I heard the Lei Family has produced another astonishing genius. She's only seventeen and already at the Foundation Establishment realm. Unbelievable!"

"Oh, Lei Shuotong? Her talent is frighteningly high."

"Hm? How do you know that?"

"When she first revealed her talent, I was on duty at the Directorate of Celestial Observation. I was the one who recruited her."

All kinds of voices reached Lin Zheyu's ears. When cultivators discussed important matters, they usually erected barriers and used spiritual sense to convey their words. For ordinary matters, they chatted like anyone else. What Lin Zheyu overheard were trivial things, but they still delighted him. These small details helped him better understand immortal cultivators.

The dishes arrived quickly. Lin Zheyu listened in on nearby conversations while eating calmly, pairing the food with the famed spirit wine. His taste buds awakened at once. Food worth several spirit stones was indeed extraordinary. Each dish carried rich energy, smooth but not greasy, silky, crisp, juicy, or creamy.

Gulp.

The spirit wine entered his mouth. Warmth spread across his tongue, followed by a deeply intoxicating sensation. The liquid swirled, leaving a smooth trace and releasing rich, complex flavors. As it flowed down his throat, a wondrous feeling spread through his body. Lin Zheyu shivered, refreshed from within.

"Excellent wine!" Lin Zheyu praised.

A spirit wine worth a spirit stone far surpassed any mortal liquor he had tasted before.

More than ten meters away from Lin Zheyu, a delicate-looking woman asked her companion, "...The Ascension Assembly is about to begin. Are you going to participate?"

Their discussion caught Lin Zheyu's attention, pulling him out of his reverie.

"The Ascension Assembly?" Lin Zheyu's eyes lit up.

From the name alone, it sounded extraordinary, likely a grand event in the cultivation world. Their conversation continued, and Lin Zheyu kept drinking casually while focusing on their words.

"I won't be joining," her companion shook her head.

"Why not? Your alchemy skills are among the best of your generation. If you try, you might even secure a good ranking," the delicate woman said, puzzled.

"I don't have a chance. I'm too weak to refine high-grade pills," her companion said with a sigh.

"You're quite skilled in formations. You should go. I'll cheer for you," the woman said with a smile.

"I've already signed up. It's too hard to secure a promotion slot. If I don't join Heavenly Works Pavilion this time, my family won't be able to get me one," the delicate woman sighed.

"You're thinking too far ahead. We're only at the fifth stage of the Qi Refining realm; we're not even at the Foundation Establishment realm, let alone the Golden Core realm. Besides, Great Wei is full of undercurrents now. There will be plenty of chances to earn merit. You'll eventually accumulate enough to exchange for a Golden Core realm slot," the other woman said with a smile.

Their conversation shifted to gossip about acquaintances. Lin Zheyu could not help but shake his head.

"They've entered the path of cultivation and still love gossip. Can't they talk about something useful?" Lin Zheyu muttered to himself.

He stayed in the restaurant for a full day, hearing all kinds of information and forming a general impression of the cultivation world. At present, the Great Wei royal family stood at its head. Beneath it were the eight great families and four major sects. The Lei Family, he knew, was merely a small family, not among the eight great families.

The Immortal Dao really has run into problems! Lin Zheyu thought as he left the restaurant.

In the restaurant, the topic cultivators discussed most was the Ascension Assembly. According to them, if one stood out there, one could join important Great Wei organizations such as the Heavenly Works Pavilion or the Directorate of Celestial Observation. After entering, it would be much easier to earn contribution points. These contributions could be exchanged for cultivation resources, Divine Power Crystals, and even a slot to advance to the Golden Core realm. Yes, a Golden Core realm advancement slot!

Advancing to the Golden Core realm requires a slot? If you can't obtain one, does that mean even with enough strength, you still can't advance?

He had no desire to experience a situation where his advancement depended on others. The last trace of his thoughts about pursuing the Immortal Dao vanished after hearing this.

***

After leaving the restaurant, the sky was dim. Lanterns lit up across the market. Blessed lands and grotto heavens had no natural distinction between day and night, but the habit was deeply ingrained. With artificial control, day and night cycles had been created within them.

The market remained lively at night, even more so than during the day. Lin Zheyu continued wandering. Passing by the Seven Crafts Pavilion, he stepped inside. It specialized in dharma artifacts, and the interior was filled with a dazzling array of them.

A shop attendant greeted him warmly. "Sir, what kind of dharma artifact are you looking for?"

Aside from Lin Zheyu, several cultivators were also browsing the shop.

"I'm looking for saber-type dharma artifacts. Do you have any to introduce me to?" Lin Zheyu asked.

"Yes, this way please," the man said respectfully.

He was a third-stage cultivator of the Qi Refining realm. Yet in his perception, the man before him had no trace of mana, appearing like an ordinary person. This was an immortal market within a damaged, blessed land. Aside from service staff, nearly everyone here was a cultivator. Such a case meant the man's strength far exceeded his own.

Lin Zheyu sat by a nearby table. Soon, the attendant brought over a square jade slip the size of a baby's palm.

"All our saber-type artifacts are recorded in this jade slip. Please have a look," the man said respectfully.

Lin Zheyu calmly took the jade slip. It was his first time seeing such a thing. Though curious, he showed nothing on his face. His spiritual sense entered the slip, and information on saber artifacts flooded his mind. The details were thorough, including materials, engraved formations, and weapon grades.

Jade slips are indeed far more convenient than paper texts, Lin Zheyu thought.

There was a reason for the high price. Jade slips that could store information were expensive. Some stall owners sold them for at least five spirit stones each. According to them, the ores used to make jade slips, like spirit stones, were tainted by Baleful Yin force.

Removing it without damaging the recording properties was extremely difficult. As a result, jade slips were far pricier than expected. Only the wealthy or those recording valuable knowledge used them. Despite all the storage pouches Lin Zheyu had seized before, he had never found a single jade slip.

"So expensive..." Lin Zheyu muttered after reading through the contents. Even the cheapest artifacts started at ten spirit stones.

"They're quite good, but none are what I'm looking for," Lin Zheyu said with a regretful shake of his head.

"Sir, what kind are you looking for? Tell me, and I'll help you find something suitable... Sir... Sir..." Despite the attendant's attempts to keep him, Lin Zheyu left without looking back.

Artifacts sold in shops were reliable, but expensive. After leaving Seven Crafts Pavilion, Lin Zheyu continued wandering. He shamelessly entered shop after shop. Though he bought nothing, reading the descriptions of artifacts, pills, and formations deepened his understanding of cultivator methods. Knowing both oneself and one's enemy ensured victory.

"The methods of cultivators are truly dazzling... Sigh, what a crude martial path..." Lin Zheyu sighed as he left a talisman shop.

Compared to the endless variety of artifacts, divine abilities, talismans, and formations, martial cultivation seemed crude. His thoughts of immortal cultivation, abandoned, almost resurfaced. But remembering that even Golden Core realm advancement required a slot, and higher realms likely did too, he dismissed the idea again.

To avoid the strange methods of immortal cultivators, the best way is to improve perception, Lin Zheyu thought.

Martial cultivation methods were limited. Against the many tricks of cultivators, only heightened perception could prevent being caught off guard. Fortunately, he had the Perception Domain. In some aspects, it was even more profound than spiritual sense. When using teleportation formations, it could perceive subtle void fluctuations that spiritual sense could not. This was its strength. If it continued to develop, it might evolve into something far beyond divine sense.

I've learned enough. Time to sell off those useless storage pouches, materials, and dharma artifacts.

Passing a narrow alley, Lin Zheyu turned in. After altering his appearance slightly and changing clothes, he stepped out again.