Chapter 572 - The Fair

The buildings in Gold Town were all made of rocks.

Except for a small number of pavilions carved out of rocks or caves dug out from protruding rocks, most of the buildings were actually located inside the meteorites.

Like mice digging their underground palace, after tens of thousands of years’ work, countless cultivators dug out an underground city inside the meteorite,

The people who could stay in this town were all cultivators, mainly in the Void-breaking Realm. The ones with the lowest strength were in the Great Saint Realm, and their status was humble. They carried special alchemy equipment and various Taoist instruments with them, which could resist all kinds of restrictions on living creatures in the vacuum. Moreover, there were various tactical deployments in the pits and caves of the Gold Town inside the meteorite.

Li Mu and Ding Yi inquired along the way into the town. They stayed in the area full of buildings on the ground surface for a while, then they entered the underground space.

The Golden Sun Sect exploited the passing cultivators to the extreme.

Originally, the two thought that after paying the tax to enter the town, they could be unimpeded in every corner of the town. But as it turned out, before they entered the underground space, they had to pay the “pit entrance tax”. When they passed through some underground areas, many disciples of the Gold Sun Sect simply reached out and asked them for money.

Immortal Crystals were the universally equivalent in outer space.

It was also by asking some people in the town that Li Mu learned that the reason why the Immortal Crystals had become the symbol and representative of wealth was that it contained the energy of stars, which could be absorbed by cultivators and refined into their own energy.

In this sense, the role of Immortal Crystals was similar to that of the Star Stones on the Divine Land.

But there was no doubt that the quality of the Immortal Crystals was higher.

The Star Stones could only be regarded as the remaining waste ores left after the mining of the Immortal Crystals, but they were enough to make low-level martial artists scramble for them.

After Li Mu figured out the method to absorb the energy in the Immortal Crystals, he took out a silver Immortal Crystal right off and tried to absorb its energy. Sure enough, he felt a thread of pure energy flowing into his body from his palm. The effect of this kind of cultivation was even better than that of practicing in some blessed places.

“Yes…”

Li Mu rubbed his temples.

Inwardly, he cursed himself for being so stupid.

He had so many Immortal Crystals with him. But for such a long time, he didn’t even know how to absorb the energy and make proper use of those crystals. He really didn’t know that he was in possession of a mountain of treasures.

Standing next to him, Ding Yi looked at Li Mu and said in surprise, “You didn’t know such a common knowledge before?”

Li Mu sneered and said, “Of course I knew, but… well, I just don’t want to waste my Immortal Crystals like that.”

Ding Yi chuckled and said, “You clearly didn’t know it. Your acting skills are too poor.”

The corner of Li Mu’s mouth twitched, and he looked at him with a fierce look.

Ding Yi immediately felt his teeth begin to ache and hurriedly added, “Nonetheless, it’s not your fault. Because only martial artists in the Void-breaking Realm can absorb the star power in Immortal Crystals. Those below the Void-breaking Realm don’t have meridians strong enough to bear this kind of star power. If you absorb it forcibly, you will be harmed.”

While they were talking, an open space appeared in front of them.

That place was boisterous.

It turned out to be a small market.

Many people had set up stalls on the street, which were displaying all kinds of strange things, such as broken weapons, herbs that emitted an absurd fragrance, dark-colored ores, a map made of unknown creatures’ fur, cute young beasts, and a wide range of Taoist magic arts and alchemy items…

Anyway, there were a million things to see.

Even Li Mu found this sight an eye-opener.

The stall owners put up their signboards and wrote their own payment requests. Some of them only accepted the exchange of objects, and the object had to be in the range they had defined. Some also accepted the trade of Immortal Crystals.

The sound of bargaining could be heard incessantly. It was quite lively, just like the food market on Earth.

Li Mu observed carefully.

He found that in addition to the human race, there were all kinds of alien races on the fair.

Some of them were wearing assorted bizarre clothes, some covered their faces with star-patterned masks. Some were surrounded by a dense mist which prevented others to see their faces, while others showed their confidence in their strength without reserve. Some had horns on their heads, and some had a human body but a beast’s head, who looked rather ferocious and horrible.

All of the creatures were cultivators, surging with powerful auras. Moreover, most of them were in the Void-breaking Realm.

Any of those cultivators would be powerful enough to dominate an area on the Divine Land or the Bitter Star. However, in the universe, they were no different from ordinary people. In this market that very much resembled the food market on Earth, those cultivators bustled in and out. For their own sake, they also bargained for a few Immortal Crystals and even got into a squabble…

The Worm Realm!

No wonder the Void-breaking Realm that was regarded as a martial arts legend on the low-level stars was called the Worm Realm in outer space.

This was the magnificence of the universe.

Li Mu sighed with emotion.

Ding Yi had already inquired about in the market and come back to Li Mu. He said, “Someone saw Saint of Blood Sea and the servant go in the direction of the transmitting deployment of the post-house in the center of the town.”

Li Mu nodded and asked, “Is this market so crowded every day?”

“That’s not exactly the case. It just so happens that today there is a fair in Gold Town. So the cultivators, miners, herb-collecting men, and merchants in this area have all gathered here. I’ve inquired about it. There will be a fair every half a month in Gold Town and so 24 fairs every year. Only when there is a fair will there be so many people. If it were in normal times, this place wouldn’t be packed like this.”

Ding Yi was really a brilliant information collector.

His talent in collecting information had been fully displayed before the battle between good and evil in Mount Shu.

When Li Mu heard that, he understood what was going on.

This was sort of like the customs of many Chinese living in remote mountains and villages on Earth. According to the Lunar Calendar, the dates of the fair in the villages were staggered. For example, the fair in one village held on days with even numbers, and the fair in another village held on days with odd numbers. The villagers scattered in tens of miles and various villages, in order to catch the fair, had to make preparations early. Before dawn, they set off with their goods on their backs, walked on the mountain road for dozens of miles to hurry to the fair. They sold farmers’ products and then bought necessities. The merchants wandering between the major fairs also drove there early to do their business.

Both sides took what they needed.

According to the information Ding Yi got, the two of them went to the posthouse’s teleportation deployment.

As the core of the whole town, the central teleportation deployment could be said to be the liveliest place except for the market.

It was also located on a square.

The square was engraved with crisscrossing lines. They were overlaid intricately, like a chessboard. However, the lines were also quite different in that they were more complicated.

At the places where the lines of the star patterns were intertwined, there were small pavilions like an altar.

The pavilions were not large, which could only accommodate a dozen people at most. Some of them didn’t even have a roof, and the railings were also damaged. The pavilions were all made of white stones. After countless years, the rocks were mottled, and the edges and corners had all been flattened.

In these pavilions, some spots of milky white brilliance were flashing.

Every time it flickered, a human figure appeared in the pavilion, and then came out of it. If the figure who had entered the pavilion, he disappeared.

This was the teleportation deployment.

This large square was the teleportation spot of the Star Posthouse.

Those pavilions were where the Teleportation Deployments were placed.

Through the teleportation deployments, the cultivators from other regions and planets were teleported here. This place also served as a transfer station. The cultivators could continue to transfer to other places if they need to.

In the Brilliance Immortal Star Region, a network of Teleportation Deployment had long been set up. Cultivators who wanted to travel between different planets and regions through could use this teleportation to reduce the long journey into a short trip, which could enable them to cross the long distance in the shortest time and with more security.

From this point of view, the Star Posthouse was kind of like an airport or train station on Earth.

This was the way of transportation among stars that emerged along with the development of the martial arts civilization.

Li Mu figured that in this respect, the civilization based on martial arts and the one based on science and technology were actually heading for the same destination through different paths. Their goals were both to benefit the people. Though their principles varied, the results were similar.

The Star Posthouse in Gold Town was not very large. It was located in a corner, just like a remote mountain village on Earth.

Perhaps for that reason, there were less than 30 Teleportation Deployments in total on the square. Half of them were usually deserted because this Star Region was really not a rich place. Few people would go in and out of there every day. And only on days like this would there be such a busy scene.

At the entrance of each small white pavilion housing a Teleportation Deployment, there was a table, at which sat a couple of disciples of the Gold Sun Sect. They were there to collect the transport fee, just like the toll collector at the entrance of the highway.

That was also one of the customs in outer space.

After all, Teleportation Deployments were developed, maintained, and guarded by different sects. The functioning of the tactical deployment consumed energy. Moreover, it also required manpower and material resources for daily maintenance. Cultivators thus had to pay a certain amount of fee based on the distance they were going to travel before they were allowed to use the Teleportation Deployment.

The cultivators of the Gold Sun Sect stationed next to the pavilions were arrogant and lazy.

These disciples all had a pair of “Fiery Eyes of Truth”. Their attitude and the fee they charged depended on who the traveler was. Rogue cultivators with no strong background or backup would often be charged extra fees. Although these rogue cultivators were furious about this, they did not dare to complain.

Ding Yi went off to inquire about their targets. When he came back, he snapped, “F*ck, this bunch of bastards from the Gold Sun Sect are really greedy. They simply want to bite off our skin and drain our blood…” It turned out that as soon as he stepped into the square to get more information, he was forced to pay taxes. Later, he was blackmailed by several other disciples of the Gold Sun Sect.

Li Mu asked, “What information did you get?”

Ding Yi said, “Oh, I almost forgot it if you didn’t ask… I’ve found out that Saint of Blood Sea and his servant have not yet used the deployment to take off. I guess they are still in this Gold Town. But I don’t know where they are hiding. Keep your eyes open. These two must be up to no good.”

“I see. Come on, let’s go back to the fair.”

Li Mu turned around and doubled back toward the fair that he had just passed.

Ding Yi followed him and asked in surprise, “Aren’t we going to stay outside the teleportation square to keep an eye on them? Maybe Saint of Blood Sea and his servant will turn up there soon. If we go back to the market, we’re likely to miss them and let them slip away.”

Li Mu laughed and said, “Killing Saint of Blood Sea and his servant is just the means, not the end. When we catch up with them, we may not be able to kill them. What’s more, I have a better idea now… Let’s go shopping first and relax. Hee-hee, what if we happen to pick up some precious treasures on the fair?”