Ling Hua left the mountain in the morning, his steps carrying a hint of excitement he couldn't hide no matter how hard he tried. Ever since he was reborn into this world, his feet had never stepped outside the Sui Family’s territory. Everything he knew about the outside world was merely what he had heard from the elders or read in ancient records. But now, the path ahead was open to him. With one hundred and twenty contribution points earned from his labor—half of which had been converted into spirit stones—there was nothing holding him back from venturing out to catch a glimpse of the world that had remained distant for all these years.
The path leading to the market wound through a dense forest. As he distanced himself from the mountain, the trees grew taller and thicker, their branches blocking out much of the sky. Sunlight filtered through the leaves in broken golden threads, while the hums of insects and birds filled the forest around him. Ling Hua walked cautiously; the Treasury Elder had warned him to beware of bandits, and he did not possess the strength to take such a warning lightly.
The path sloped gradually downward. The farther he walked, the lower the ground sank, until it felt as though he were descending from the mountain's foot into a valley engulfed in trees. Ling Hua placed a hand on his belt, checking the small pouch containing his spirit stones, then continued forward—unaware that a cluster of shadows was moving silently through the trees behind him.
A short distance away, several men clad in dark attire moved in total silence. Not one of them spoke, their movements so disciplined it suggested years of working together. They trailed Ling Hua without allowing him to spot them, but they were not following him merely for surveillance.
At that moment, a group of armed men emerged from among the trees, blocking the group's path.
"Stop! Leave your valuables, and we’ll let you pass!"
The dark-clad men exchanged glances, none of them offering a reply.
One of the bandits raised his sword in anger, but all he saw was a flash of black before his eyes. The next moment, he collapsed to the ground, unable to even utter a full scream. Panic surged through the remaining bandits, but the men gave them no chance to flee. They moved with swift, lightning precision—every strike calculated so perfectly that nothing remained on the path but silent corpses.
One of the men glanced in the direction Ling Hua had traveled, where he had already moved far ahead, and said in a low voice, "Continue protecting him. Do not let him discover our presence."
The others nodded without a word.
This was the direct command they had received from the Patriarch himself. He was not prepared to let his son leave the family for the first time without wrapping a hidden veil of protection around him—even if Ling Hua himself knew nothing of it.
Ling Hua continued on his way, completely oblivious to what had transpired behind him. After a long walk, the density of the trees began to thin until he finally emerged into a more open area. He stopped for a moment, looked around, and tilted his head slightly.
"It seems the market is close."
He saw no buildings, no clear road leading to a market, nor even a single person he could ask for directions. Stepping forward a few more paces, a massive boulder standing in the middle of a clearing came into view.
The boulder had a peculiar shape, its dark blue hue bordering on black. Its surface was unnaturally smooth, as if it weren't an ordinary rock at all.
Ling Hua stared at it in curiosity.
"Did the elder give me the wrong directions?"
He approached and reached out his hand cautiously. The moment his fingers brushed its surface, the talisman given to him by the Treasury Elder glowed with a faint light.
Ling Hua’s eyes widened.
"Huh?"
Intricate spiritual lines began to surface on the boulder's exterior, spreading from where his hand rested to its outer edges. In a matter of seconds, those lines coalesced into a complex formation beyond his understanding. The boulder before him trembled, and a section of it began to slowly divide.
In its center appeared a black stone door—one that had not been there moments ago.
Ling Hua took a step back, staring in astonishment.
"So this is the entrance to the market..."
He stepped forward and pushed the door cautiously. It yielded with ease, revealing a dark corridor beyond. Ling Hua stepped through, and the moment he crossed the threshold, the door vanished behind him. The boulder returned to its original state, as though nothing had happened.
On the other side, his eyes gradually expanded in wonder.
The scene before him was entirely different from anything he had anticipated.
The market stretched across a vast hidden valley. Stone and wooden structures lined both sides of the streets, while spiritual lights glowed above shops and alleyways. Cultivators and merchants moved in every direction—some carrying crates, others pulling small carts, while others stood before storefronts bargaining over prices.
"So this is the market..." Ling Hua murmured, scanning his surroundings with curiosity.
This was the first time he had witnessed a real gathering of cultivators outside his family, and he couldn't help but observe everything around him. Various types of spiritual herbs, raw mineral ores, talismans, pills, and even several tools whose uses he couldn't identify were on display in the shops.
Yet amid all of it, something else caught his attention.
Voices of discontent.
"This is madness! How did the price of medicinal pills rise this much?!"
"I bought this exact amount for that price just a few days ago!"
"If this continues, I won't even be able to afford enough for half the season!"
"The farmers outside have started raising their prices too. No one is selling at the old rate anymore."
Ling Hua passed by a group of cultivators speaking in anger, slowing his pace slightly to grasp what was happening.
One of them struck his palm with his fist and grumbled, "I don't understand why this happened all of a sudden. Medicinal pill prices have been stable all this time!"
Another man approached as if wanting to join the conversation, but before speaking, he glanced around guardedly, then leaned toward the first man and whispered:
"Don't you know the reason?"
The other turned to him in surprise. "What reason?"
The man lowered his voice even further. "The Sui Family."
The listener's expression froze for a moment. "The Sui Family?"
The man nodded. "I heard their output dropped severely due to a blight that struck their fields. That's why they reduced the amount of elixir they send to the market."
"And that caused a shortage in supply. With the new season approaching, merchants started jacking up the prices."
Ling Hua's eyes widened slightly upon hearing this.
"We're the cause?"
He hadn't expected the insect incident that struck his field to ripple out into the market this quickly, nor did he realize that the family's decision to cut back on elixir and grain exports had already begun causing ripples beyond their borders.
He continued on his way, but he began looking at the market through a different lens. It was no longer just a new place he wanted to explore; for the first time, he saw how a single decision made by one family could affect a vast number of cultivators and merchants.
Before long, a grand establishment appeared before him, standing apart from the surrounding shops. It was larger than most buildings in the market, and on its facade rested an emblem deeply familiar to him.
The emblem of the Sui Family.
Ling Hua smiled. "Finally made it."
He stepped inside the shop, greeted by several staff members. The shelves were packed with sacks and crates of various sizes. In the section dedicated to spirit grains, long rows of spirit rice and other varieties of spiritual grains produced by the Sui Family were neatly displayed.
One of the attendants stepped toward him, but Ling Hua stopped him with a slight wave of his hand.
"Where is the Merchant Elder?"
The worker hesitated for a moment before replying respectfully, "He is in the inner room."
"Lead me to him."
The employee guided Ling Hua through the shop until they reached a spacious room at the back. The Merchant Elder sat behind a desk piled with ledgers and account books. The moment he raised his head and saw Ling Hua, a look of surprise crossed his face.
"Ling Hua? What brings you here?"
Ling Hua bowed slightly. "I came to explore the market. But I heard something outside and wanted to ask you about it."
The Merchant Elder raised an eyebrow. "What did you hear?"
Ling Hua sat across from him and said, "Some cultivators were complaining about rising pill prices. Then I heard someone say the reason was the Sui Family—that our production fell after our fields were struck by a blight."
The Merchant Elder remained silent for a moment, then released a soft breath.
"It seems the news spread faster than we anticipated."
"So what they said is true?"
"Yes, but not entirely in the way they think."
Ling Hua watched him attentively as the Merchant Elder continued: "The family intentionally reduced the quantities entering the market—not simply because we are unable to sell more. We want the market to feel as though our production has taken a hit. That way, a shortage will appear natural in everyone's eyes."
"But why would the family want to do that?"
The Merchant Elder offered a faint smile. "That is a question best left to the elders, my boy. You are here to explore the market, so don't burden yourself with matters beyond your current stage."
Ling Hua fell silent for a moment, then nodded. "I understand."
He rose from his seat and surveyed the shop once more.
This was his first time witnessing a fraction of his family's economic power with his own eyes, yet he couldn't stop his curiosity from growing. He wanted to know what cultivators sold here, what they bought, what kinds of resources they needed, and above all, how cultivators lived beyond the confines of his family.
The Merchant Elder looked at him and said, "Since this is your first time out, don't stray too far from the market today. Familiarize yourself with the area first, and if you wish to buy something, don't spend all your spirit stones on the first thing that catches your eye."
Ling Hua chuckled. "I won't."
He turned and left the shop, pausing for a moment at the doorway to gaze down the sprawling streets ahead.
The market was far larger than he had imagined.
A subtle smile touched his lips.
"Alright... let's see what this world is hiding."
With that, he began walking among the shops and cultivators, venturing deeper into the heart of the market, while the guards dispatched by the Patriarch watched over him from afar, completely unnoticed.