Chapter 160: Xuanjing City

Yunqing did not know whether this should be considered fortunate or unfortunate. Fortunately, she had successfully found a city populated by immortal cultivators; unfortunately, she could not afford the city entry fee.

Feeling rather embarrassed, a natural blush creeping across her delicate face, Yunqing cupped her fists and said, "Kind sir, I have been cultivating in the deep mountains for a long time and possess no spirit stones on me, only a bit of gold and some spiritual herbs. I wonder if these can be used in lieu of the spirit stone for entry."

The young woman’s skin was as white as snow and she was exceptionally beautiful. The embarrassment and faint blush on her face proved that she was speaking the truth, prompting the city guard to take a few extra glances at her. While many attractive female cultivators entered and left Profound Crystal City, it was quite rare to find one fresh out of the mountains who did not own a single spirit stone.

Entries and exits had to be recorded. For non-residents of Profound Crystal City, paying an entry fee was the rule from above, and he could not easily bend it.

"Song Bin's favorability toward you +1."
"Song Bin's favorability toward you has increased to 'Acquainted'."

The sudden system notification startled Yunqing slightly. She had never known anyone named Song Bin. Looking up again at the guard before her, she saw the text above his head had changed to:
Name: Song Bin, Level 49.

The favorability had come so quickly that it left Yunqing baffled.

A single low-grade spirit stone was not much, and Song Bin felt he could help out. However, as a guard of Profound Crystal City, he needed to ascertain whether she posed any danger, so he inquired, "Fellow Daoist Yun, what is the purpose of your visit to the city?"

Assuming it was just a routine question, Yunqing replied, "To sell some medicinal herbs gathered from the mountains."

Pondering for a moment, Song Bin suggested, "You can leave your travel permit here and retrieve it once you have exchanged your herbs for spirit stones."

That would not do; her identification document could not be left as collateral. Pulling out a decades-old Qi-Gathering Grass, Yunqing offered, "Fellow Daoist, would it be acceptable if I left this spiritual herb here as collateral instead?"

"Fellow Daoist Yun, that is against the regulations. If you are unwilling to leave your travel permit, you may leave some personal item as collateral, such as a soul-bound magical artifact."

"Fellow Daoist, how does this item look?" After rummaging through her belongings, Yunqing produced a talisman brush she had never used before. As for whether it was soul-bound? She was not quite sure; well, using a drop of blood for binding probably hadn't succeeded.

Sensing the spiritual aura emanating from the talisman brush, Song Bin nodded and said, "Very well!"

Accepting the talisman brush from Yunqing, Song Bin smiled slightly. Yunqing noticed the system prompt an additional five points increase in favorability.

Song Bin registered Yunqing's entry and instructed, "When you leave the city, you can exchange a low-grade spirit stone to reclaim your talisman brush."

***

"Many thanks, Fellow Daoist."

"Fellow Daoist Yun, fighting is strictly prohibited within the city, and combat spells are forbidden. Try not to walk in the middle of the road. If you wish to exchange medicinal herbs for spirit stones, the Transverse Third Street has quite a few shops that purchase herbs, but I hope Fellow Daoist will compare prices and look around..." Seeming reluctant to see the newly-arrived, beautiful female cultivator get run over by a carriage or cheated in trade upon entering the city, Song Bin offered detailed advice.

Yunqing felt quite embarrassed by his enthusiasm. She suspected that if he were off duty and she invited him to accompany her on her trading errands, he would be more than happy to oblige.

Through this exchange, Yunqing also understood the reason behind Song Bin's sudden increase in favorability.

*Liu Liu, who said physical appearance is useless!* The world was truly unfair; just relying on a pretty face could earn one favorability points. She touched her casually coiled hair, wishing it were just a bit longer so it could flow freely.

"It really works! You humans are truly strange. In that case, you should talk to more people and rely heavily on your looks to gain favorability."

"Perhaps what you get in return won't be favorability, but hatred."

After expressing her gratitude, Yunqing stepped into the city. From behind her came Song Bin's voice, "Fellow Daoist Yun, Transverse Third Street is counted from the East City Gate; it's the third street running across. This right here is the East City Gate."

Yunqing: "..."

Having successfully entered the city, Yunqing, who had never seen an immortal cultivator city before, calmly observed Profound Crystal City.

The shocking sights that greeted her eyes, along with various text prompts, almost rooted her to the spot.

Many luminous night pearls were hung along the streets, and occasionally projection stones could be seen. The outer walls of numerous shops were built from profound iron spar, and the roads were paved uniformly with profound iron ore. Most astonishingly, even from ten miles away within the city, one could see a colossal ice sculpture.

There were also many things she did not recognize. Most peculiar were small towers resembling signal towers; since this world lacked mobile phones and wireless signals, Yunqing suspected they were formations designed to detect spiritual energy and spells.

Approaching slightly closer, she used the Spirit-Observing Technique on one of them.

Yes, after being upgraded with one thousand low-grade spirit stones, Yunqing's Spirit-Observing Technique had improved significantly. It now allowed her to gauge levels up to twenty levels higher than her own, view attributes when within a certain range, and identify unrecognized non-rare items.

System prompt: Spirit-Observing Technique failed. Target level too high.

"This pretty fairy, would you like a map of Profound Crystal City?" A half-grown mortal boy of level 23 read her expression; the newcomer's behavior upon entering the city looked precisely like someone visiting Profound Crystal City for the first time, and a map was an absolute necessity.

The pretty fairy, Yunqing, desperately wanted a map of Profound Crystal City. However, lacking even a single low-grade spirit stone in her pocket, she didn't even have the heart to ask about the price.

***

Seeing that the female cultivator had no intention of purchasing, the boy continued his pitch, "The map of Profound Crystal City records every location in both the inner and outer city. Having it will make things extremely convenient, and it only costs three low-grade spirit stones."

Three low-grade spirit stones a copy! Yunqing strode away. She could rely on her appearance to enter Profound Crystal City as a collateral guarantee, but she had no way of acquiring a map from the boy using her looks alone.

The boy did not chase after her. Having sold maps for a long time, he could readily tell which transactions would succeed and which would fail.

Lacking a map, Yunqing muttered to herself defiantly, "No map, so be it! Even if it's an immortal cultivation city, it shouldn't be much different. Lingcang County Town is the same—mostly houses as far as the eye can see, with an entire street containing only a few shops. And aren't there mortals on the street too?"

Of course, the differences were vast. The materials used for the shops on the street were far superior to anything in Lingcang County. Martial arts halls taught and practiced spells and swordsmanship; elixir shops primarily dealt with Qi-Refining and Foundation-Establishment stage elixirs; artifact-crafting shops produced magical tools, spiritual weapons, and so on.

Yunqing was deeply interested in all of these; they were precisely what she desired. Yet, lacking spirit stones and a map, it was best not to wander blindly. Since Song Bin had given her precise directions, she headed straight for her destination, unable to afford a map.

"Acquisition Market," read a large sign hanging at the entrance of Transverse Third Street.

There were almost no residential houses here; nearly all buildings were shops, and the area bustled with coming and going crowds.

Song Bin had advised her to compare prices among multiple vendors, which practically broadcasted the warning that the waters here ran deep.

As Yunqing walked into the street, she noticed cultivators lingering at various stalls and wished to overhear what they were discussing and how many spirit stones they were paying or charging.

Yet, after observing several spots, she realized that these trading cultivators valued their privacy immensely. They used sound-transmission techniques, conducted transactions entirely through storage bags, and sometimes even deployed sound-and-sight-isolating barriers.

This trading style was not particularly friendly to Yunqing, who possessed no storage bag and did not know how to set up barriers.

Approaching a stall managed by a middle-aged male cultivator of the mid Qi-Refining stage who looked quite kind, she retrieved the Qi-Gathering Grass that Song Bin had been unwilling to accept from her system inventory. Cupping her fists, she sent a voice transmission: "Fellow Daoist, do you purchase this Qi-Gathering Grass?"