Chapter 184: Chapter 183: The Present Is Not the Past

In the end, desire did not cloud his judgment.

After the initial thrill wore off, Chu Mu’s expression grew solemn before the bevy of beauties.

These Courtyard Lady Cultivators weren’t normal.

They all seemed to have practiced some kind of Cultivation Technique that affected a Cultivator’s Divine Soul and emotions.

In other words, they could easily arouse a Cultivator’s deepest desires.

This was undoubtedly terrifying.

Anyone with a weak will, under such a direct assault on their Divine Soul, would likely become a willing servant, a simp in the Cultivation Immortal Realm.

Best to keep a respectful distance.

Chu Mu was very self-aware.

He wasn’t sure how firm his will was, but he certainly wasn’t about to test his own weaknesses.

As usual, he expertly sought out a hidden spot, preparing to alter his appearance and avoid any potential danger.

But this time...

Several hidden spots that were previously surveillance blind spots now had lanterns swaying in the wind.

After a lap around the Marketplace, he found that all the former blind spots were now under the surveillance of the Marketplace’s Celestial Eye Stones.

Chu Mu didn’t dare linger. He knew that while the Celestial Eye Stones were embedded individually in the lanterns, they were connected via Array Restrictions—just like the internet from his past life.

All the information monitored by each Celestial Eye Stone was aggregated. For all he knew, Longevity Sect disciples could be watching in real-time from behind the scenes.

’I still need to check out the Cultivation Technique Pavilion...’

’And I need to buy some Talismans to bolster my defenses...’

Chu Mu mused to himself as he walked down the street.

The knowledge he sought, such as Qi Cultivation Basics, was clearly difficult to obtain in the Jade Emperor Valley Marketplace.

The wealth that knowledge could bring was immense, and no one was willing to let others have a slice of that pie.

This was a basic human instinct.

To be honest, even he wouldn’t easily sell the knowledge he had so painstakingly researched unless he had no other choice.

The knowledge monopoly in the Cultivation Immortal Realm had clearly been built, bit by bit, upon this basic instinct.

The benefits of such a monopoly were numerous, especially for a power that ruled an entire territory. For them, the advantages were astronomical.

Controlling this monopolized knowledge meant that any Cultivator wishing to access higher-level information had to obediently accept the ruling power’s regulations and constraints.

And knowledge equaled wealth, which equaled resources.

It was an inevitable snowball effect and the fundamental reason for the current state of the Cultivation Immortal Realm.

Chu Mu pondered silently. After a moment, he scanned his surroundings but found no sign of the secret surveillance he had anticipated.

That Wei Wu Pavilion was more reliable than he’d thought.

With no blind spots in the Marketplace and no one secretly watching him, Chu Mu decided not to dwell on it. He simply used his new identity to visit several shops in succession.

After spending several hundred Spirit Stones, he continued to wander around the Marketplace.

It wasn’t that he wanted to linger. His plan was to leave the Marketplace as soon as possible since he couldn’t conceal himself, revert to his previous identity, and avoid any danger.

But... he had lavishly spent nearly two thousand Spirit Stones at the Wei Wu Pavilion without being followed.

At the Spirit Talisman Pavilion, he bought over a dozen Talismans for around two hundred Spirit Stones and still wasn’t followed.

He bought a miniature isolation Restriction at the Array Technique Pavilion and wasn’t followed.

But then, after buying the last few levels of the Flame Decision at a Cultivation Technique Shop for a mere few dozen Lower Spirit Stones, he was being tailed?

He was speechless and frustrated.

Chu Mu glanced at the two figures on the street corner and couldn’t help but grimace.

Being tailed this time was clearly different from before.

Last time, he was only at the Qi Cultivation First Layer. He only knew a single piece of Magic, the Fireball Skill, and he hadn’t even mastered it. He was a complete nobody that anyone could push around.

But things were different now.

He was at the Peak of Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer, knew three types of Magic, two of which were nearly at their peak, had two newly purchased Magical Artifacts, and over a dozen attack, defense, and escape Talismans worth more than two hundred Lower Spirit Stones.

For a Loose Cultivator, even one at the Perfection of Qi Cultivation Thirteen Layers might not possess such a luxurious arsenal.

Chu Mu’s face was calm, but his heart was conflicted.

After laying low for so many years, he had finally taken flight. How could he be willing to go back to being so meek?

’When one holds a sharp blade, killing intent naturally arises.’

Right now... he had the urge to kill.

’Forget it.’

In the end, reason suppressed his killing intent.

’It’s best to avoid it if I can.’

’Once killing intent arises, it’s easy to get hot-headed.’

’The Cultivation Immortal Realm is full of countless unfathomable techniques. True combat strength is never as simple as one’s superficial Cultivation.’

’I can’t get swatted down right after taking flight, before I’ve even had a chance to be proud of it.’

He circled a few more times, using the established order of the Marketplace to his advantage. Before long, he had shaken off his pursuers.

He left Jade Emperor Valley from a different exit and circled more than halfway around it. Only after confirming there was nothing out of the ordinary did Chu Mu revert to his usual identity and return to Yuning Town.

By noon, compared to the bustling Marketplace, Yuning Town was much more desolate.

The bluestone-paved streets were lined with piles of trash, and a faint, sour stench hung in the air. Not a single Cultivator was in sight.

The reason for this was obvious.

The residents of Yuning Town were essentially the lowest dregs of the Cultivation Immortal Realm. Unless they were an exception like him, they were all still struggling at the very bottom.

Like common folk, they worked from sunrise to sunset.

Jade Emperor Valley, ruled by the Longevity Sect, had plenty of menial jobs that required cheap Cultivators to serve as a foundation.

At this time of day, the vast majority of Yuning Town’s Cultivators were clearly still toiling away for a few Broken Spirits.

It was only natural that Yuning Town was deserted at this hour.

After winding his way through streets and alleys, navigating the chaotic shantytown for some time, Chu Mu finally arrived back at the house he rented in Yuning Town.

As he reached his door, a faint, seductive sound drifted to his ears. Chu Mu glanced at the closed door of the house across from his, paused for a moment, then pushed his own door open and went inside.

The first thing he did upon entering was pull the miniature isolation Restriction he’d bought in the Marketplace from his Storage Talisman.

It consisted of a square, palm-sized Array Plate and four small flags, each no taller than a finger.

These were the components of the most common miniature isolation Restriction in the Cultivation Immortal Realm.

Its function was simple: to block probing from Divine Sense and to isolate sounds and smells.

Of course, the isolation Restriction offered no defensive power whatsoever. The so-called isolation could be easily breached.

But the Restriction’s existence was like a lock—it served as both a warning to others and an early alert system.

While not as advanced as the Array Restriction found in the Marketplace residences that cost three Spirit Stones a month, its advantages were its portability and low cost of use.

According to the shop assistant, a single Broken Spirit could power the miniature isolation Restriction for about a month under normal use.

Its isolation range covered a five-meter radius, roughly the size of a single room.

With a thought, the Array Plate and Array Flags in Chu Mu’s hand floated into the air. The flags shot out, stabilizing in the four corners of the room.

The Array Plate hovered in the center, its once-dim Array Patterns now glowing as a faint ripple of Array power emerged.

Finally, the Array Plate and Array Flags descended to the floor and vanished from sight.

In that instant, the clamor from outside and the wafts of foul breeze vanished.

The feeling of being cut off from the world descended once more.

’Maybe I should get a... defensive Array?’

As he observed the miniature isolation Restriction with great interest, Chu Mu couldn’t help but let his imagination run wild.

Even though he’d seen this type of miniature isolation Restriction before, Chu Mu had a blast playing with it this time. He ran all sorts of experiments and observations; since it was his own property, he didn’t have to worry about breaking it and having to clean up a mess.

After fiddling with it for a while without any major discoveries, Chu Mu contentedly activated the Restriction, sat cross-legged on his bed, and began to take stock of his haul from the Marketplace.

The most valuable were, of course, the two Magical Artifacts.

First, a Fire Attribute, Upper Grade Magical Artifact—a Long Saber named Minghong. Like the name Wei Wu Pavilion, its meaning was a bit of a mystery to him.

Second, a pair of Middle Grade Magical Artifacts: the Divine Wind Boots.

Next were the final levels of the Flame Decision Cultivation Technique. As for Body Refining Techniques, while some were available for purchase, they were all too crude. Practicing them would likely be an exercise in futility.

After all, Body Refining Cultivation was different from Qi Cultivation.

In Qi Cultivation, the Qi Cultivation Realm was merely the foundation. The real journey began after entering the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Cultivation Methods in the Qi Cultivation Realm were all basically the same, with no significant differences. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

But for Body Refining, which built upon Qi and Blood Cultivation, each Cultivation Technique had its own unique Magic Technique for tempering the body.

The choice of Cultivation Technique, once made, was something the body adapted to directly. It wasn’t like the thirteen foundational layers of Qi Cultivation.

Trying to change it later, while not a complete waste of effort, would inevitably lead to many setbacks.

If he could, he would naturally prefer to be a bit more selective.

The rest of his haul consisted of over a dozen Talismans.

Three Tier One Upper Grade Vajra Talismans. This was a Gold Attribute Defense Magic that, when activated, formed a Vajra Shield around the user, capable of blocking an Attack from a Late Stage of Qi Cultivation expert.

Three Tier One Upper Grade Wind Blade Talismans. This was a Wind Attribute Attack Magic that, when activated, could unleash a Tier One Upper Grade Wind Blade Skill, equivalent to a full-force blow from a Late Stage of Qi Cultivation expert.

There were also three Wood Attribute Tier One Upper Grade Entanglement Talismans and three Earth Attribute Tier One Upper Grade Swamp Talismans. Both cast restrictive Magic, just with different Attributes.

The last and most valuable one was a Tier Two Flying Goose Talisman. Once activated, it would grant him the ability to fly!

Moreover, its speed was equivalent to that of an Early Stage of Foundation Establishment Cultivator flying at full power!

It was, without a doubt, his ultimate life-saving trump card.

Inventory complete, Chu Mu gazed at his new assets, and the memory of his first trip to the Fengming Mountain Black Market surfaced in his mind.

After a moment, Chu Mu shook his head and, with a wave of his hand, stored everything except the two Magical Artifacts in his Storage Talisman.

’With an arsenal like this, I should be able to make a trip to the Black Market now, right?’