71: Chapter 71 Trade Fair

Lin Qing followed Yuan Chong to the front courtyard, where Yun Nian and several others had already arrived.

Sect Master Shen Yurong stood quietly in place. After a night of meditation, she had fully recovered her state. Her plain white dress fluttered slightly in the breeze, and her cold face showed no sign of fatigue. When she saw Lin Qing enter the courtyard, she gave him a slight nod.

Once Lin Qing had rejoined the group and stood in his place, Sect Master Shen Yurong finally spoke slowly, her cold voice echoing through the courtyard.

"On this trip to the Great Qi Dynasty's capital, all participating forces within Qingzhou will travel together."

"During the journey, you need not worry about external dangers like wilderness Yao Beasts or roadside bandits. We old fogies leading the teams will protect you along the way."

At this point, she paused slightly, and her gaze became solemn.

"But I must also warn you in advance: if we encounter danger that even we cannot resolve, remember not to foolishly rush forward to your deaths. Your first priority is to flee for your lives."

Sect Master Shen Yurong continued:

"What you truly need to be wary of on this trip is not external danger, but the competitors from other forces."

"Although all the teams from Qingzhou are traveling together, everyone is ultimately a rival. The journey is long, and conflicts are bound to arise."

"If a conflict breaks out, you must absolutely not be the first to act. Once you take the initiative to attack, not only will you be disqualified, but the entire Luoxia Valley will also be implicated and suffer great losses."

Just as everyone was taking these rules to heart, Sect Master Shen Yurong's tone suddenly shifted, and a hint of ruthlessness flashed in her eyes.

"However, if the other party attacks first, do not just stand there and wait for death. Your own safety is always the top priority. Feel free to strike back without reservation."

"Elder Yuan Kun has already explained the specific competition process of the Heavenly Pride Competition in great detail, so I will not repeat it."

"If you are ready, let us depart."

As she finished speaking, Sect Master Shen Yurong waved her delicate hand and summoned a Flying Sword, which hovered in mid-air.

Everyone leaped up with practiced ease and stepped onto the Flying Sword.

The Flying Sword slowly ascended. Within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the group arrived at a massive plaza within Qingzhou City.

In the center of the plaza, a massive airship was moored. This airship was thirty zhang long, ten zhang wide, and seven zhang tall. It had five levels and was constructed entirely from Deep-sea Profound Ironwood. Its surface was carved with dense patterns of auspicious clouds and Auspicious Beasts, with countless tiny spirit crystals embedded within the grooves, shimmering with brilliant light and looking incredibly luxurious.

On the airship's mast, a flag embroidered with ancient seal characters fluttered in the wind, bearing the four large characters: Heshun Chamber of Commerce.

Clearly, the transportation for the Heavenly Pride Competition from Qingzhou to the capital was handled by the Heshun Chamber of Commerce, the largest entity in the Great Qi Dynasty.

Sect Master Shen Yurong led the group as they slowly descended from the Flying Sword. As soon as they landed, several staff members from the Heshun Chamber of Commerce, dressed in uniform brocade robes, quickly came forward to greet them.

"Sect Master Shen, you must be tired from your journey. Please follow us onto the airship."

Sect Master Shen Yurong nodded slightly and led Lin Qing and his group up the boarding stairs onto the luxurious giant vessel.

At this moment, teams of Cultivators were arriving from all directions of the plaza.

In the sky, various spiritual birds and Flying Swords landed one after another. On the ground, Disciples from various Sects gathered in lines, making the scene exceptionally lively.

Within Qingzhou, there were several other mid-sized forces like Luoxia Valley. Each force had about five participants, all led personally by Sect Elders.

There were also some small Sects with weak foundations whose participating Disciples numbered only one or two, carefully mingling in the crowd.

By a rough count, there were about fifty Disciples from all of Qingzhou heading to the capital for the competition. Including the accompanying Elders, the total number was around eighty.

Since this trip was an official arrangement by the Great Qi Dynasty, the Heshun Chamber of Commerce did not accept independent travelers, which made the vast space of the airship feel particularly spacious and comfortable.

As one of the top forces in Qingzhou, Luoxia Valley naturally received excellent treatment. Each participating Disciple was assigned a private room.

The rooms were exquisitely decorated, with basic isolation Formations on the walls that could block the Divine Thought probes of outside Cultivators to a certain extent, providing the Disciples with a stable and private Cultivation environment.

Two hours later, all participants had arrived. The giant airship slowly ascended, broke through the clouds, and sped toward the distant capital of the Great Qi Dynasty.

Inside the airship, Lin Qing sat cross-legged in his room, intending to use the travel time to Cultivate the Pulse Opening Method.

Just then, there was a light knock at the door.

Lin Qing opened his eyes and got up to open the door.

Outside the door, Yun Nian, Yuan Chong, and the other two stood side by side, their faces filled with unmistakable anticipation.

Seeing Lin Qing come out, Yun Nian immediately smiled and said:

"Senior Brother Lin Qing, a Cultivator trade fair is being held on the deck right now. Do you want to go take a look with us?"

Looking at the expectant gazes of the four, Lin Qing thought for a moment and finally nodded in agreement.

The five of them walked together and arrived at the deck of the airship.

The exterior of the entire airship was shrouded in a translucent energy barrier, which blocked the piercing gales caused by high-altitude flight. The deck was already crowded and bustling with activity.

Many Cultivators from different Sects had spread out burlap cloths, displaying the treasures they carried and setting up stalls on the spot, constantly calling out to passersby.

The five of them strolled through the crowd. The items on the stalls were strange and varied.

There were exotic flowers and rare herbs rich in Spiritual Qi, hard and precious Ores, and well-processed Vicious Beast hides, meat, and bone Materials, making for a dazzling display.

In one corner of the deck, a Cultivator had even laid out a pile of Vicious Beast dung to sell as a product, and an indescribable stench kept spreading around. If the crowd hadn't seen that he was quite old and speculated he might be an Elder, they probably would have cursed him out long ago.

Lin Qing originally harbored a slight fantasy, thinking he might be like a novel protagonist and find some overlooked peerless treasure at such a Cultivator trade fair using his Wisdom Eye.

But after he seriously finished circling the entire deck, he thoroughly faced reality.

His own knowledge of identifying treasures was simply too lacking.

When he was reading books at Luoxia Valley, most of his energy was focused on knowledge like Realm divisions, regional forces, and martial arts secrets. He had almost never deeply studied things like Heaven And Earth Treasures, spiritual Materials, or Ores.

And his System did not have a function that provided prompts when encountering treasures.

Lin Qing could only rely on the appearance of the items and the aura of Spiritual Qi they emitted to roughly judge their value.

However, any treasure with rich Spiritual Qi and an extraordinary appearance would have its value recognized by everyone at a glance. Naturally, the prices were pushed extremely high, making it impossible to find a bargain.

As for those obscure items with ordinary appearances and hidden auras that might contain secrets, Lin Qing had no way of telling the real from the fake.

In the end, he could only sigh in his heart, "We are not fated."

Just as Lin Qing was feeling bored and preparing to bid everyone farewell and return to his room to Cultivate, a particularly loud shout suddenly rang across the entire deck.

"Don't walk past and miss out! Heaven-Grade Martial Arts on sale at a low price! Everyone, come and take a look!"

This shout was like a sudden clap of thunder, instantly attracting the attention of everyone on the deck.

All the Cultivators who were still strolling around moved toward the source of the sound, and even some who were still manning their stalls packed up and rushed over. That area became incredibly crowded in an instant.

Lin Qing and his group followed the flow of people and squeezed in.

In the crowd, a Cultivator immediately asked a question.

"Senior, is the origin of this Heaven Rank martial art legitimate?"

It was no wonder someone would ask this.

Although Heaven Rank was only a martial art at the Mortal Realm level, even within the entire Great Qi Dynasty, the number of Heaven-Grade Martial Arts was not much more than that of sixth-rank Cultivation Techniques.

If one rashly Cultivated a martial art of unknown origin, it was highly likely to attract pursuit from the original force, bringing a catastrophe upon oneself.

Hearing this, the gray-robed old man selling the martial art immediately guaranteed:

"Everyone, rest assured. This martial art is an ancestral technique of my Wu Family; its origin is perfectly legitimate. Everyone here can bear witness. If anyone encounters trouble because of the origin of this martial art in the future, just go to the White Stone Gate and look for me, Wu Changlin!"

Hearing this guarantee, the wariness in everyone's hearts eased slightly.

Wu Changlin smiled with satisfaction and continued his introduction.

"This is a Heaven-Grade Whip Technique. The starting price is one hundred Spirit Stones, and the highest bidder wins!"

However, after he finished speaking, the faces of the onlookers showed disappointment one after another.

It wasn't that the starting price of one hundred Spirit Stones was too expensive.

Although this price far exceeded a fifth-rank Pulse Opening Method and was even more expensive than many low-rank Spells, it was already considered a bargain for a true Heaven Rank martial art.

The real reason for everyone's disappointment was that this martial art was a whip technique.

The lethality of whip-type weapons was far inferior to mainstream weapons like sabers, swords, spears, and halberds; they were considered niche weapons. Over ninety percent of Cultivators would prioritize sabers or swords as their primary weapon, and very few Cultivated whip techniques.

Furthermore, martial arts Cultivation emphasized gradual progress. Cultivators all started from Basic Martial Arts and slowly improved through Yellow Rank and Profound Rank.

If one had no foundation in whip techniques and directly Cultivated a Heaven-Grade Whip Technique, it would be like asking a primary school student who just learned basic arithmetic to study calculus. The difficulty can be imagined.

Because of this, everyone gave up the idea of bidding.

But in the crowd, two people's eyes lit up with an intense glow.

One was Lin Qing.

Under the effect of the System's completion mechanism, his proficiency in all weapons had reached the Earth Rank Advanced level, which naturally included the long whip. Therefore, it wouldn't be difficult for him to Cultivate this martial art, and he could reach Perfection in a very short time.

The second person was Xing Mian, who was always taciturn among the group.

Her primary martial art was exactly the whip technique. This Heaven-Grade Whip Technique was an Opportunity practically tailor-made for her.

However, a moment later, the light in Xing Mian's eyes dimmed bit by bit.

She subconsciously looked at her fellow Disciples beside her, a hint of helplessness flashing in the depths of her eyes.

Although her family background was considered decent among the Disciples, and the Sect had issued a fifty Spirit Stone participation subsidy yesterday, plus the monthly allowance she had saved up, she only had a total of eighty or ninety Spirit Stones. She was still a bit short of the one hundred Spirit Stone starting price and was not qualified to participate in the bidding at all.

Lin Qing took in her changing expression. He reached into his robe, discreetly took out his last twenty Spirit Stones from his Storage Pouch, and handed them to Xing Mian.

"I have twenty Spirit Stones here. I'll give them to you; you don't have to pay me back."

"But if you successfully win the bid for this whip technique, I hope I can borrow it to read through once afterward."

Xing Mian suddenly looked up at Lin Qing, her dimmed eyes instantly brightening again. She solemnly took the Spirit Stones and gave Lin Qing a heavy nod.

Seeing Lin Qing take action, the other three no longer hesitated and expressed their willingness to temporarily lend Spirit Stones to help.

With everyone's combined effort to gather the Spirit Stones, Xing Mian bid all the way and finally secured this Heaven-Grade Whip Technique for one hundred and eighty Spirit Stones.

After this, Xing Mian, who was originally somewhat of a wealthy young lady, directly became heavily in debt.

But no one knew that the person who truly got a huge bargain in this transaction was Lin Qing.