In front of a small tea house inside the inner city, few people came by.

Fengyu looked inside, quite surprised a store in the inner city could be so deserted. But... it might just be that it was booked today, so few other people would come.

Liling walked forward and took out a small jade pendant depicting a leaf hanging from a branch.

"Please come in," the steward outside the tea house greeted them, "the gathering is right on the first floor."

Liling nodded and pointed to Fengyu, "I am vouching for this person."

The steward, someone assigned to greet the members as a servant of the host, nodded and said, "The formal entry will be completed in the second half of the gathering."

Han also stepped forward, showed him her pendant, then pointed at Ming and said the same.

Having completed it, Liling and the group walked into the tea house.

Right inside, they saw several cultivators sitting around small tea tables, chatting while occasionally glancing at the door.

"Liling, you’re here again this year!" a cultivator greeted her.

"Yeah, last year’s gathering coincided with my refining, so I had to skip it."

"Yes, sister Han informed us that this might happen. And... who are these?" the cultivator nodded in understanding, then asked as he looked at Fengyu and Ming.

"These are two new members I and sister Han will be vouching for. Here, this is fellow daoist Fengyu, who is a herder and a doctor. If you need duck meat or a treated wound, he’s right here!

And this is Ming..." she introduced Fengyu, but when it came to Ming’s turn, she didn’t quite remember what he did.

"Ming is a spiritual planter and terrain master! Though he is new to the profession of the latter, so if you have any orders, you have to wait." Han, having chatted with Ming on the way here, introduced him instead.

"A doctor and a terrain master! What a combination! Then, greetings fellow daoists!" the cultivator cupped his hands in greeting.

Just as they were talking, other cultivators all cupped their hands from afar in greeting or came up to them. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Liling introduced the two newcomers and old members -

Listening to everything, Fengyu gradually gained an understanding of the members here. Most of them were Weapon Refiners! Besides them, there were also Formation Masters and Talisman Masters!

He instantly understood - those gathering today were mostly weapon refiners and related professions. It’s not that the five professions are directly related, but that some are closer to others.

To his surprise, very few had a second profession. And even then, that profession was closely connected to weapon refining - such as a water weapon refiner also being a water vein master, or a gold weapon refiner also being an engraving master...

There was basically no cultivator who had two or even three full individual paths.

Looking at Liling, himself, Ming and Ling, he suddenly realised... could it be that they were the oddballs?

Liling chuckled when she saw his expression, not explaining anything, but her eyes clearly said enough.

It’s not that these people would be inferior to her in weapon refining, but that while she was refining and sewing, they could only refine. Even at a high quality, there are still those that have a higher quantity.

The four sat at a larger tea table, being served first-stage mid-grade tea. Fengyu didn’t see any special visual effect, even its taste wasn’t as good as the green embers tea. Only its effect was slightly higher.

It can be seen from this that this tea house is likely mostly specialised in hosting private gatherings - else why would anyone come back here?

A few moments later, when more members came in and all tables were packed, with over thirty members present, finally, an elderly man stepped out from behind the counter of the tea house.

"Greetings fellow daoists!" he greeted them.

"Let’s not delay for long - like always, we’ll start with the barter. First, we have five items presented to you by me as the host, then we’ll have each cultivator coming forward to present their items."

He followed his words and really didn’t delay. Taking out a small box from his spatial bag, he presented it to everyone, "This is an accessory-box, a special first-stage storage item that can hold up to ten accessories and allow them to stay in the active state as long as there is enough spiritual power supply!"

Exclaims of shock came from the audience!

While there was technically no limit to how much a cultivator can wear, in effect, the amount of passive spiritual power each cultivator emits can only allow three to five accessories to remain active. Anything beyond would require active input, which would strain the mind, restricting the use of more weapons.

So, such small boxes, which could be bound to your belt, are perfect!

"I am trading this item for a second-stage defensive weapon or robe!" the man finally told the crowd his requirements.

Instantly, most people became quiet. While there were many weapon refiners, very few specialise in defensive weapons. So, obtaining one second-stage defensive item for their own defense was already the limit!

Still, with so many people, there were some!

"How about a second-stage accessory?" one of them asked.

"Based on the accessory, I could make an exception, but I prefer the other two." the cultivator explained.

Fengyu watched the show when he saw that Liling next to him raised her hand, calling out her offer, "A standard second-stage robe!" she offered.

But the cultivator only shook his head, "A standard robe is unsuitable."

"Then how about a peak near second-stage robe? Although lower, its output is very high!" Liling offered.

In the end, her focus wasn’t protective items - whether it was weapons or robes, she preferred auxiliary ones.

The host shook his head and looked over to the other cultivators.

Finally, among them, one presented a second-stage protective shield, which was finally used to trade for the accessory box.