Chapter 100: Exploring the Trade Valley
After leaving the news trader, the four found an empty stall and settled within.
They sat in a circle, and each held several pieces of jade in their hands.
"Let’s check the information first." Jiang Yue said.
He focused his mind and sunk his consciousness into one of the jades he held in his hand.
This particular information jade was about the allied forces.
The allied forces was a group formed when the Death Flower Ascension Front became a real threat in the Thousand Herbs garden.
No one knew who started it, but its members came from all sixteen regions of the Cangxing world.
There was also a list of known members, and Jiang Yue studied it closely but didn’t recognise any names.
What surprised him was that the information did not mention the maidenhair tree leaves, they encountered before they entered the trade valley.
Given that they paid for detailed information, there were only two explanations for this outcome.
The first was that the information dealer was dishonest and had not disseminated all information on hand.
Although Jiang Yue was tempted to believe this explanation, he knew it was the least likely.
Information dealers were opportunistic, but they tended to give what was paid for.
Otherwise, people would not return when in need of more information.
If that was not the case, there was only the second explanation-the buyer did not know about the maidenhair tree leaves.
’How can that be?’ Jiang Yue was surprised.
The maidenhair tree leaves were in the open and easy enough to find.
There was absolutely no way that no one had found them unless...
’Unless they were left there right before we arrived?’
If he thought like this, there was a chance that the information trader hadn’t had a chance to learn about them.
Jiang Yue sunk into his thoughts, and his mind recalled the familiarity he felt from the qi presence on the leaves.
’Is it someone from the Sea Cloud sect?’
He tried to remember everyone from the Sea Cloud sect that entered the secret realm.
Of the fifty who entered, he knew at least half, but he wasn’t very familiar with their qi presence.
’How frustrating!’ He exhaled heavily and refocused his mind on the other information on the information jade.
It was as he was about to put the jade down that he remembered.
"Li Futian." He exclaimed loudly.
"What?" Bai Ruyue asked, and Yu Nianzhen lifted his brow in question.
"I felt the qi presence on the maidenhair tree leaves was familiar, but I couldn’t place it for a while."
"Who is Li Futian?" Wang Xue’er asked.
"He is a cultivator from the Celestial Sky sect."
Jiang Yue’s words were met with silence.
If anyone else had left the directions, they would continue to be suspicious about the situation.
However, the Celestial Sky sect was a little different from everyone else.
Now that they knew someone from the Celestial Sky sect left the directions, the four were willing to believe in them a little.
After all, those from the Celestial Sky sect cultivated mysterious methods.
It was possible the directions could be seen by certain cultivators but be hidden from others.
"Should we go?"
Bai Ruyue was once again energised.
This time, no one refused out of hand.
The information from the news dealer had already assured them that the allied forces was a real group.
Even though it was dangerous being around unknown people, it was safer than walking alone.
"It’s not just the Death Flower Ascension Front that is acting up in the secret realm. Some evil cultivators are also taking advantage of the situation." Yu Nianzhen said, and everyone recalled the cultivator from the Corpse Yin sect.
This was the first time the four had entered a secret realm since they began their cultivation journey.
However, they all knew that evil cultivators acting up within secret realms was a common thing.
Now that the Death Flower Ascension Front led the way, the evil cultivators would not lose the opportunity.
"We should prepare before we head North." Yu Nianzhen continued.
He didn’t say it but he could feel a dangerous breath in the heaven and earth qi.
Although he didn’t know what it meant, he knew things would become even more dangerous.
If not for the dangerous breath, he would not have been so keen to group up with others.
"Let’s do as Jiang Zhen says." Jiang Yue supported.
"I am also low on some resources." Wang Xue’er added.
Bai Ruyue did not say anything, and her silence implied acceptance.
"Let’s go if everyone is in agreement." Jiang Yue said and tried to hide his excitement.
In truth, the treasure compass had reacted as soon as they entered the trade valley.
He didn’t know what he would find, but he was already looking forward to it.
’The treasure compass didn’t react once in five years, but it has reacted thrice in this secret realm.’ He thought.
It was not surprising for the treasure compass to react a few times in a secret realm.
However, the frequency made him question the last five years.
’Could it be that the treasure compass doesn’t work when I am not with Nianzhen?’
When he thought of that, the instances when the treasure compass reacted, came to mind.
The first time was at Stone village where they found stone milk. At that time, they hadn’t strayed more than a few metres from each other.
The second and third times were in Fengying city.
Back then, the compass reacted because of the hourglass and again because of the black sword.
In both cases, the two boys were together.
After that, the compass didn’t react while Yu Nianzhen was in seclusion.
When Jiang Yue found the ginseng, the two were not together, but they were in the same secret realm.
Since then, it had reacted once more when they were together at the rock crack.
’I will speak to Nianzhen about this, but I think I am right.’
Although it was a little bad that the treasure compass only worked when they were together, Jiang Yue secretly liked it.
This was yet another connection between them.
A reminder that the two of them were meant to be together.
Walk the same road and share the same scenery.
When he thought of this, he couldn’t help but giggle happily.
"What’s the matter with you?" Bai Ruyue asked.
Her face was not good, and she seemed a little irritated that the other could laugh given their circumstances.
"It’s nothing."
Jiang Yue didn’t care about Bai Ruyue, and his mood didn’t suffer from her irritation.
He turned to Yu Nianzhen and winked at him before walking away happily.
Yu Nianzhen smiled when he saw this, and Wang Xue’er was puzzled.
However, there was no time to dwell on that because they had arrived at the first stall.
This stall sold herbs.
It was clear that the seller wanted to dispose of the herbs they didn’t need.
Unfortunately, the four did not find any herb they wanted.
After that, they went from stall to stall.
Sometimes, they would leave without buying anything but others, they would find something to exchange.
"The next one is a talisman stall." Jiang Yue said.
Aside from the mysterious treasure he had yet to find, he was looking forward to the talisman stall.
This was because their supply of defence talismans and invisibility talismans was low.
"This stall seems to be owned by someone from the Heavenly Talisman sect." Bai Ruyue said.
The Heavenly Talisman sect was not a regional ruler, but it was a major sect in the Cangxing world.
Although most sects had talisman inheritances, the inheritances were shallow.
They could support the creation of common talismans, but they relied on the Heavenly Talisman sect for complex ones.
"What do the fellow Daoists need?" A voice asked as soon as the four stopped in front of the stall.
The voice was female, and the speaker was a beautiful young woman in a yellow robe.
She had brown hair and doe-like eyes that made her look as harmless as a rabbit.
However, Jiang Yue shivered a little when he felt her qi presence.
Qi presence contained the distinctive characteristics of a cultivator, and the young woman’s qi presence was tyrannical.
It had a ruthless edge that contrasted with her outward demeanour.
’Pretending to be a pig to eat tigers.’ Jiang Yue thought as he looked at the woman.
He had a feeling that if he fought her, he would suffer greatly before he could win.
However, she was not his enemy, and he was not there to fight.
He was only there to buy talismans and didn’t need to care about her identity or personality.
"Are there defence talismans?" He asked.
"I have black tortoise talismans." The woman said.
Black tortoise talismans were essentially the same as the turtle shell defence talismans created by the Sea Cloud sect.
However, Jiang Yue supposed that the black tortoise talismans would be a little more powerful since they were made by a talisman sect.
"How many do the fellow Daoists need?"
"How many are available for sale?
