The outer market of Stonebrook, for all its noise and bustling hawkers, was ultimately constrained by the poverty of its geographic location. It was a frontier outpost built to extract raw iron ore, not a commerce hub for high-grade spiritual trade.
Lin Xuan stood before a weathered wooden counter at the town’s largest medicinal hall, the Jade Leaf Dispensary. Behind the counter, an elderly shopkeeper bowed repeatedly, nervously wiping sweat from his brow as he looked at the nine-year-old child wearing the fine silk robes of the Lin Clan's main branch.
"Young Master Lin, I beg for your forgiveness," the shopkeeper said, his voice trembling slightly. "The Spirit-Cleansing Lotus you are requesting is a Grade-2 auxiliary herb. It only grows in high-altitude moist veins above three thousand meters in the Mist-Weaver range. Our gatherers haven't brought a single stalk down the mountain in over three months."
Lin Xuan’s brow furrowed slightly. He needed the Spirit-Cleansing Lotus to construct a specific thermal-balance remedy for Lin Chen. While her Dual Wood-Water Spirit Root was exceptionally pure, her meridian channels were narrow, causing mild energy blockages whenever she tried to increase her Qi intake. A refined lotus extract would act as an ideal fluid lubricant, smoothing her circulation and raising her output.
"None of Grade-2 quality, Young Master," the shopkeeper admitted, bowing even lower. "If you truly require herbs of that tier, you will not find them in Stonebrook. You would need to travel fifteen miles east to Mistbrook Town."
Lin Chen, who was holding a small paper bag of candied hawthorn berries, leaned closer to Lin Xuan and whispered, "Mistbrook? Isn't that town under the direct control of the Iron-Bear Clan? Uncle Shan said their relationship with our Lin Family has been tense lately because of the mountain mine boundaries."
Lin Xuan looked out the shop door toward the eastern road winding past the base of the mountains.
Mistbrook was twice the size of Stonebrook. Unlike their own town, which relied almost entirely on raw iron ore exports, Mistbrook sat at the intersection of two major provincial trade routes, making it a major hub for spirit-herb merchants, itinerant cultivators, and low-tier auction houses.
"A fifteen-mile journey is nothing," Lin Xuan said coolly, turning back to the shopkeeper. "If Stonebrook's market cannot supply basic Grade-2 materials, staying here is a waste of time."
"Xuan'er, should we tell Uncle Shan first?" Lin Chen asked nervously. "The guards—"
"If we inform Father, he will send an escort of six guards at Level 1, Sub-Level 2, which will slow our travel speed by half," Lin Xuan cut in, adjusting his sleeves. "We hold Level 1, Sub-Level 3 and Sub-Level 2 respectively. With our circulation speed, we can reach Mistbrook on foot in under two hours, secure the herb, and return before the evening roll call." Enjoying the story? Read on at novelping . com.
Lin Chen hesitated, but looking at Lin Xuan’s supreme confidence, her doubts quickly evaporated. To her, Lin Xuan was an unmatched genius whose judgment was never wrong.
Leaving the market through the eastern stone archway, the two young cultivators stepped onto the dirt highway that snaked between the towering pine forests and the cliff faces of the Mist-Weaver Mountains.
The air grew crisp and cool as they left Stonebrook's perimeter. Lin Xuan maintained a steady, optimized stride, using a fraction of his Fire-root kinetic drive to propel his body forward with minimal effort, while Lin Chen followed smoothly behind him.
To Lin Xuan, this minor detour was merely an inconvenience—a quick trip to purchase a missing component for his sister's training. He had no interest in regional clan rivalries or border tensions. In his mind, as long as he possessed superior dual-root mechanics, no backwoods town could pose a threat to his calculations.