Chapter 20 : Prosperity After Chaos

Chapter 20: Prosperity After Chaos

“Anyone who harms fellow cultivators or violates marketplace rules without cause, our Lihuo Palace disciples will never tolerate. Now that beast spirits roam outside the marketplace, we are imposing a curfew starting immediately.

Reinforcements from the sect will arrive in two days…”

On the streets, cultivators stationed by Lihuo Palace led the crowd, using voice-transmission spells to warn everyone.

The Wang Family and Zhou Family also mobilized to assist Lihuo Palace cultivators in calming the marketplace situation.

At this time, the Wang Family’s Chief Elder was angrily cursing within the clan—he had forecast everything except interference from a third party.

That interference led to failure at the final juncture, but with Lihuo Palace’s temporary suppression, the cultivators in the marketplace settled down for now.

After all, sect reinforcements would arrive in two days.

With last night’s terrifying beast spirits outside, those days ahead promised tempting spirit stones.

Walking out from visiting Shen Lie’s home, Lin Chang’an moved along the marketplace streets.

The corpses on the road had already been cleared away; only darkened bloodstains remained to prove what had happened last night.

“Hopefully someone last night managed to grab some talisman inheritance.”

Lin Chang’an muttered quietly—having lived here for twenty years, he was long used to cultivator skirmishes.

Last night had just been a bit more dramatic than usual.

When he reached the newly designated trading zone in the marketplace, the bustling scene stood in stark contrast to the quiet residential areas.

In just one night, everyone seemed to have returned to normal—as if last night’s fighting and chaos never happened.

Now, the noisy marketplace felt like a festival.

Lots of looted goods were laid out at low prices on stalls, guarded by Lihuo Palace cultivators maintaining a cold watch.

But today, whether sellers at the stalls or cultivators entering the marketplace, all wore black robes and bamboo hats to conceal their identities.

…

“A first-rank mid-grade Golden Light Talisman for five spirit stones? Are you insane for wanting spirit stones!”

“If you don’t buy it, then leave—reinforcements from Lihuo Palace arrive in two days, they’ll clear out the beast spirits outside.

If you don’t buy it, others surely will.”

Dressed in black with a bamboo hat and fierce eyes, Lin Chang’an exuded a ruthless, coarse aura, driving away poor cultivators who couldn’t afford it.

What mattered now wasn’t price fluctuation—it was talismans and magic implements that directly affected combat power and survival.

“You!”

“What ‘you’? If you don’t buy, move aside—don’t interfere with my business!”

After disguising himself, Lin Chang’an glared fiercely at the cultivator haggling with him.

“I’ll buy!”

In less than an hour, after selling eight first-rank mid-grade Golden Light Talismans, Lin Chang’an packed up his stall, melted back into the crowd, and secretly changed his appearance once again.

“A first‑rank mid‑grade Fireball Talisman—I'll trade you three of those for two Golden Light Talismans.”

“Scram!”

“Fellow cultivator, don’t be so hot‑headed. I’ll add three spirit stones.”

In under half a day, Lin Chang’an had disposed of all the Golden Light Talismans that had been hard to sell before, keeping only a few for his own defense.

Looking at the pills, cultivation materials, and dozens of low-grade spirit stones in his storage pouch, Lin Chang’an murmured to himself.

As expected, danger and opportunity coexist.

There’s never again been such a good chance to clear out stock; after all, over seventy percent of the goods in the marketplace now were second-hand.

With a few first-rank mid-grade talismans, scattering them here would make barely a ripple.

Reaching a stall he had long eyed, Lin Chang’an asked coldly:

“Fellow cultivator, is this first‑rank mid‑grade Flying Sword Talisman manual authentic?”

On the stall lay a cracked jade slip, clearly fractured during the fierce looting.

Seeing someone approach, the masked old cultivator at the stall spoke in a hoarse voice.

“Fellow cultivator, a first‑rank mid‑grade Flying Sword Talisman manual—this thing is rare. Even in auctions it starts at a hundred spirit stones.”

“Three spirit stones—I’ll take the gamble!”

Lin Chang’an cut through the seller’s boasting and immediately declared his price.

“Scram! I’d rather smash it!”

The masked old cultivator glared in disbelief—damn! A treasure worth hundreds of spirit stones, and this guy offers only three?

But Lin Chang’an sneered coldly:

“If you dare guarantee its authenticity, its natural value is in the hundreds of spirit stones. But do you dare?”

The other party was so furious he glared in silence—if he dared guarantee authenticity, who would be selling it here?

Everything was looted, and some even damaged—otherwise, who would be setting up a stall here?

But Lin Chang’an calmly stared at the faint red mark on the broken end of the jade slip—he was far too familiar with it.

Eighteen years ago at an auction, this exact Flying Sword Talisman jade slip had been sold for one hundred fifty-three spirit stones.

He still remembered it vividly, because the first jade slip had a broken red stamp at the end—in its complete form, it should have been a plum blossom seal.

It had been eighteen years now—if this was a forgery done to such detail, he would accept it. It was just a few spirit stones—a low-cost gamble.

“There’s a sea of people fishing in muddy waters in the marketplace right now.

You can’t even guarantee it yourself, and yet you want to sell it for over a hundred spirit stones?”

Lin Chang’an gave him a look as if he were an idiot, which made the old man’s face flush red.

Recently, too many drifting cultivators had flooded the marketplace, so fakes had become common.

He himself had just grabbed this cheap last night—who knew whether it was real?

“But three spirit stones is too little!”

The old man spoke in frustration, but Lin Chang’an gave a dismissive snort and got up directly.

“In the current marketplace, stalls selling first-rank mid-grade talisman manuals go for no less than two hundred. Even a complete first-rank talisman inheritance is up for sale. Wherever you go, it’s all gambling.”

Seeing Lin Chang’an about to leave without hesitation, the masked old man slapped his thigh and quickly called out:

“Hey there, fellow cultivator, what’s the rush? Don’t go!

Sky-high opening price, real deal at closing—let’s be civil, talk it through.”

But watching Lin Chang’an heading straight for another stall selling mid-grade talisman manuals, the old man panicked.

“Fellow cultivator, fine! Three spirit stones it is!”

“Alright.”

Money and goods exchanged cleanly.

When Lin Chang’an got the remaining jade slip, he couldn’t help but rub his hands in excitement—after over twenty years of cultivation, it was finally his turn for some luck!

But the next moment, as he looked at the later contents of the jade slip, his eyes went wide.

Damn!

My three spirit stones!

This wasn’t some Flying Sword Talisman manual—it was clearly a dime-a-dozen first-rank low-grade Fireball Talisman manual.

But when Lin Chang’an turned around, the stall had vanished.

That old bastard had clearly moved on after a quick scam.

“Every day hunting geese—today I got pecked in the eye by one.”

Lin Chang’an clenched his teeth in anger—he finally thought he’d snagged a hidden gem, but it turned out to be a bitter slap.

…

At that moment, in the crowd, the old man had already relocated his stall, wearing a sly grin as he pulled out another identical broken jade slip from his robes.

“It’s only you self-proclaimed experienced old-timers who get greedy and fall for it.

With such a good chance, if I didn’t pull out some bottom-drawer goods, how would I earn spirit stones?”

Rubbing the hard spirit stones in his storage pouch, the old man smiled—another haul secured.

These old-timers were the best—each one sneakier than the last.

They thought they had experience, yet their cleverness ended up working against them.

…

“Treasure Pavilion has opened up talisman, pill formulas, artifact crafting, and even formation inheritance to the public!”

Just when Lin Chang’an thought his gamble had failed and was preparing to go back to focus on drawing talismans and reap tomorrow’s benefits, he suddenly heard this news.

This left Lin Chang’an somewhat stunned.