Chapter 86: Chapter 84: Celestial Pride Level Cave Abode

Song Ciwan’s gains were far from over. Over the past ten-plus days, she had managed to sell off her entire stock.

[You have sold a Great City-Level Mutated Mysterious Ghost Spirit for three taels and seven qian, and obtained a Three-star Level Marvel: one Red Paper Puppet.]

Red Paper Puppet: A Three-star Level Marvel. Donning this Red Paper Puppet allows you to briefly undergo a Transformation into a Small City-Level, red-clothed ghost for fifteen minutes. Single use only.

In truth, this Paper Puppet was the most powerful offensive item among all of Song Ciwan’s recent acquisitions!

Despite its fifteen-minute time limit, a Small City-Level ghost for fifteen minutes—what did that even entail?

This Paper Puppet therefore became one of Song Ciwan’s trump cards.

As for the other various orbs of emotion, they had also boosted Song Ciwan’s Cultivation significantly, but that went without saying.

Song Ciwan also sold off all the broken Buddha statues and strange materials she had scavenged from the bottom of Bibo Lake.

There was a large quantity of these items, but unfortunately, their intrinsic level was low. Song Ciwan tried selling them in three separate batches.

The first sale yielded [three Yin Soul Pearls], the second yielded [a One-star Level Marvel: a Moment of Eerie Sight], and the third yielded [one cubic meter of nutrient-rich, fertile soil].

The "Moment of Eerie Sight," in particular, was a very abstract item.

It had no tangible form, but when used, it allowed Song Ciwan to gain a kind of eerie perspective for the span of a few breaths.

The most incredible thing was that although this "Moment of Eerie Sight" was only a One-star Level Marvel, it was not a single-use item!

Just like the Tongyou Mirror and the Five Poison Jar, this "Moment of Eerie Sight" could be used repeatedly.

The only catch was that after each use, it needed to be fed a Yin Soul Pearl to restore its effect.

Song Ciwan sat cross-legged, carefully taking stock. As she did, the sun crept across the sky. Around mid-morning, a group of figures carrying shoulder poles suddenly emerged from the crisscrossing paths of the fields opposite her.

Some of these people wore linen clothes, others short tunics suitable for labor. The loads on their poles varied: some carried firewood, some carried vegetables, some carried small, straw-woven trinkets like grasshoppers and dragonflies, and others carried dried goods prepared before the onset of winter. They chatted amongst themselves as they walked.

One of the youths spoke up. "Sixth Uncle, we’re skipping the morning market for the evening one today. I wonder if our goods will really fetch a better price?"

The man leading the group was lean and strong. He was also carrying a pole with dried goods, but a rattle was tucked into his belt.

He steadied his shoulder pole with one hand, his other hand habitually tapping the rattle. "The folks at the evening market aren’t as sharp as the morning crowd," he said. "Chances are the prices will be better."

This was an interesting theory, and the others in the group laughed.

Speaking Mandarin with a slight country accent, they launched into a lively discussion on the topic of "how shrewd city folk were," debating with great enthusiasm as they walked.

Just as the group emerged from the field paths onto the main road, Song Ciwan quietly got to her feet at the very back of their line.

She silently deactivated her Duality Heart Protection Array and Sun and Moon Transformation Skill. She then simply fell in at the rear of the group, a shoulder pole balanced on her own shoulders—one she had gotten from the Heaven and Earth Scale by trading bamboo baskets, back when she was in a feverish mood for hoarding supplies.

Song Ciwan had tossed some charcoal into the left basket, while the right one contained the still soundly sleeping Big White Goose.

Just like that, Song Ciwan trailed behind the procession, carrying her pole and ambling unsteadily toward Pinglan City.

The people in the group were still chatting away enthusiastically, and no one noticed that a stranger had suddenly appeared at the rear of their party.

They walked on for some time. Just as the sun began to dip toward the west, the clatter of horse-drawn carriages suddenly echoed from the main road behind them.

The farmers, who had been hurrying toward the city with their loads, all stopped at once to look back.

In the distance, the first thing they saw were several Escort Flags, growing larger as they approached.

The farmers cried out in alarm, "It’s an Escort Team! A huge one! Quick, let’s get out of the way!"

The people, still carrying their poles, retreated to the sides of the road. Song Ciwan went with the flow, moving to the very back of the crowd.

Still, no one noticed her, right up until the Escort Team passed.

Song Ciwan saw Lan Qiuyan. She was in the middle of the Escort Team’s procession, driving a carriage and casually glancing at the sides of the road.

From within the crowd, Lan Qiuyan’s gaze swept right over Song Ciwan. She didn’t recognize her; in fact, she didn’t even notice there was a person standing there at all.

This was because Song Ciwan was continuously channeling the Daoist Technique A Grain of Sand in the Sea, which was another form of an Existence Disappearance Technique!

The effect was perfect. The Escort Team departed, and the farmers shouldered their poles and started on their way again.

Song Ciwan continued to trail behind the group of travelers until the sun began to set, painting the sky with crimson clouds. Ahead, a magnificent city suddenly came into view.

The Escort Team was lining up to enter the city up ahead. Song Ciwan, shouldering her pole, waited for a full hour before she followed the last of the farmers into the city.

The soldiers at the city gate subconsciously assumed Song Ciwan was one of the farmers’ companions. After glancing at the letter of passage from the village chief, held by the sturdy man at the front, they waved the entire group into the city.

In the instant she passed into the city, Song Ciwan glanced up.

High in the arch of the city gate hung a Copper Mirror made of some unknown material. Its surface was as smooth and glossy as water, yet when common people walked underneath it, the mirror’s reflection didn’t stir in the slightest.

It didn’t reflect their forms clearly like an ordinary mirror; it didn’t even show so much as a blurry silhouette.

When Song Ciwan passed beneath it, however, the mirror’s surface suddenly rippled like water. In the next instant, the Celestial Net Shield she carried with her gave a slight shudder.

A peculiar sensation emanated outward, and the high-hanging Copper Mirror instantly grew calm again.

None of the soldiers at the gate noticed this small detail; they were too busy impatiently urging the people ahead to move along.

Song Ciwan quickly passed through the gatehouse and into the city proper.

As soon as she entered the city, she felt a dense wave of Spiritual Qi wash over and envelop her.

The True Qi within Song Ciwan’s body immediately began to stir. ’This is bad,’ she thought. ’I think I’m about to have a breakthrough!’

’But I can’t just have a breakthrough right here at the city gate, can I?’

Song Ciwan immediately fought to suppress the boiling True Qi in her body and quickly started walking. She didn’t have a specific destination in mind, but after a moment’s thought... ’Maybe I should find an inn first?’

But soon enough, Song Ciwan realized just how naive her thought of finding an inn had been.

She had only taken a few steps from the city gate when she suddenly saw a giant mechanical Puppet, a full three meters tall, walking toward her from across the street.

The Puppet moved with slow, stiff strides. Perched atop its head was a strange creature that was neither demon nor beast.

Its body was completely round, with two glossy green, leaf-like appendages growing from the top of its head.

There were no eyes below the leaf-like appendages, but there was a small mouth filled with sharp teeth.

At that moment, the small mouth was open, enthusiastically repeating its sales pitch: "Cave abodes for rent! Celestial Pride-Level models! Would you like to rent one, valued customer?"