Chapter 40
The next day, Baek-Cheong opened her eyes feeling refreshed, having slept more deeply than usual.
Solving the tightly blocked puzzle of the Sword Art last night with the help of the Sword Cultivator Dao Friends on the Nameless Forum had been the key.
Her body overflowed with more vitality than usual, and she felt so light that she could probably spend the whole day scrolling through the forum without a hitch.
However, she only had a few days left to stay in Yeonha Immortal City.
Once she returned to the Main Family, the hell of Yak-seon’s Pill Room would be waiting for her again.
Before that, a sense of duty burned within her to search every nook and cranny of the Marketplace and fish out at least one fortuitous encounter.
“Today, for sure!”
Baek-Cheong clenched her fists and left her Abode.
Her uncle seemed to have gone out since dawn, likely busy with Merchant Guild affairs.
Instead, the young early-stage Foundation Establishment Law Enforcer she had greeted at the Docking Area was waiting at the Mansion entrance, volunteering as her guard.
“Did you sleep peacefully, Young Lady? I will be guiding you through the Marketplace today. You may comfortably call me Law Enforcer Ga.”
Law Enforcer Ga was more familiar with the geography and affairs of the Immortal City than anyone else.
Moreover, he was an amiable person who would tag along without complaint even for the absurd purpose of finding fortuitous encounters, making him a guard specially assigned by Baek Mu-Yeong out of consideration.
“Thank you, Law Enforcer Ga. I’ll be in your care today.”
Baek-Cheong greeted him brightly and left the Mansion with the Law Enforcer.
While walking down the bustling street toward the Marketplace.
She suddenly felt curious about how her Eldest Brother and the Law Enforcer had become such close friends.
“Excuse me… how did you become close with my Eldest Brother? You don’t seem to be from the Main Family.”
At Baek-Cheong’s cautious question, the Law Enforcer replied with a good-natured smile.
“I was originally an orphan on the verge of starving to death when I was taken in by the grace of the Baek Clan. I had a meager Four Spiritual Roots aptitude, but I was lucky enough to show a bit of promise in my Training, earning the opportunity to receive direct teachings from the Clan Head. That was when I formed a connection with Baek Gyu while studying together.”
Baek-Cheong’s eyes widened.
Her Eldest Brother was a Two Spiritual Roots Holder, an aptitude counted among the best even in the Cultivation World.
To have reached the Foundation Establishment stage shoulder-to-shoulder with such a Two Spiritual Roots Holder meant that, along with bone-grinding effort to overturn the innate limits of Four Spiritual Roots, he was born with tremendous luck as a Cultivator.
[Four Spiritual Roots, yet early-stage Foundation Establishment in thirty years? He’s unconditionally a Person of Fortuitous Encounters.]
Baek-Cheong looked the Law Enforcer up and down with an intrigued gaze.
There was a high probability that he was secretly hiding a massive fortuitous encounter.
However, Baek-Cheong didn’t do anything foolish like coveting or prying into the fortuitous encounter the Law Enforcer might be harboring.
Rather, the very fact that she was accompanied by someone who gave off such a strong scent of fortuitous encounters was a stroke of luck.
If she stuck close to this walking fortuitous encounter, the chances of picking up real treasure even from a street Stall’s trash pile seemed like it would increase exponentially.
“Shall we search through that street Stall first?”
When Baek-Cheong pointed toward the back-alley stalls where she had previously come up empty-handed, the Law Enforcer lightly shook his head.
“Young Lady, I heard you are looking for fortuitous encounters. However, the probability of picking one up from a street Stall is extremely slim. True fortuitous encounters can only be grasped when backed by the discerning eye to recognize them. How about we first stop by the Platinum Pavilion today to observe various spiritual items and broaden your horizons?”
It certainly made sense, as expected of a Person of Fortuitous Encounters.
The embarrassing memory of mistaking a scrap of iron and a poisonous herb for a famous sword and a spiritual medicine came to mind.
Baek-Cheong readily accepted the Law Enforcer’s advice.
“Sounds good! Let’s go to the Platinum Pavilion.”
The Platinum Pavilion was a Large Merchant Guild directly operated by the Baek Clan Merchant Guild within the Immortal City.
As they reached the building’s entrance, they saw several times more Cultivators than usual bustling in and out.
“It is the aftermath of the Five Elements Pill presented at the Myriad Phenomena Pavilion’s Auction House the other day. The Baek Clan Merchant Guild’s reputation has skyrocketed overnight, and Cultivators from all over are flocking to the Baek Clan’s Merchant Guild.”
At Law Enforcer Ga’s explanation, Baek-Cheong hummed a tune inwardly.
A strange sense of pride swelled up at the fact that the Five Elements Pill was bringing tremendous wealth and honor to her Clan.
“Let’s go in quickly.”
Baek-Cheong hurried her steps in high spirits and entered the Platinum Pavilion.
The first floor of the Platinum Pavilion was a place where common pills, dharma treasures, and miscellaneous materials sought mainly by Qi Condensation Stage Cultivators were displayed.
Even so, she unfolded her Qi Observation Technique and meticulously examined the items on the display cases.
Unlike the junk at the street stalls, the majority were high-quality items exuding a refined energy above a certain standard.
Occasionally, items with bizarre shapes or unique energies caught her eye, and she asked the clerk about them, but the answers she received were underwhelming.
“Ah, that is obsidian mined from the abyss of the Southern Region. Its origin is strange, but it is merely an item used for decorating 1st-tier dharma treasures.”
They were ordinary items that only looked plausible on the outside, holding no value worthy of being called a fortuitous encounter.
“There’s nothing special on the first floor. Shall we go up?”
At Baek-Cheong’s suggestion, the Law Enforcer cleared the way and guided her to the second floor.
Originally, the second floor and above was an area where entry was only permitted to those at the Foundation Establishment stage or higher, or those who could prove an equivalent authority.
However, since she was a Direct Lineage of the Baek Clan - the true power of Yeonha Immortal City - accompanied by a Law Enforcer, the guards protecting the entrance bowed deeply and opened the way.
The population density on the second floor was significantly lower than the first, but the caliber of the Cultivators present was extraordinary.
Most were early to mid-stage Foundation Establishment Experts or Scions of respectable Clans leisurely browsing the items.
A few recognized Baek-Cheong and tried to approach, but they showed signs of startlement upon recognizing the Law Enforcer standing behind her.
Therefore, there were no foolish individuals who carelessly struck up a conversation or approached her.
“Oh! Found something fascinating.”
Without anyone’s interference, Baek-Cheong leisurely scanned the display cases on the second floor, elevating her discerning eye.
She meticulously analyzed the colorful energies of the 2nd-2nd-Tier Spiritual Herbs and the exquisitely refined dharma treasures with her Qi Observation Technique, accumulating information in her head.
“I think I’ve developed a decent eye for things now… Can we go to the third floor too?”
When Baek-Cheong asked, the Law Enforcer nodded without hesitation.
The third floor was an area accessible only to highly renowned authorities of the Hundred Arts of Cultivation among Foundation Establishment Cultivators, Cultivators playing pivotal roles in prestigious Clans or Sects, and Golden Core Cultivators.
However, the powerful backing of the Baek Clan’s bloodline easily tore down even the threshold of the third floor.
“Wow… the atmosphere is different.”
Baek-Cheong unconsciously marveled as she stepped onto the third floor.
The number of Cultivators was small enough to count on one hand, and the atmosphere was one where each stayed in a quiet space, conducting transactions secretly.
The Cultivators on the third floor didn’t spare a glance even when a stranger appeared, consistently maintaining indifference while valuing their own face.
[Are these Quasi-3rd Tier Items?]
Thanks to this, Baek-Cheong could comfortably view the Rare Items displayed on the third floor.
However, most of the items on the third floor were too overwhelming for Baek-Cheong to understand at her level of 4th-Stage Qi Condensation.
Even when she peered into their energies with her Qi Observation Technique, she couldn’t figure out their inner workings, as if they were shrouded in thick fog. And even when the clerk kindly provided explanations, they were incredibly esoteric, leaving her feeling only baffled.
“Ah, Quasi-3rd Tier Items are too difficult. Still, I’ve broadened my horizons, so now I want to go out and really sweep through the street stalls.”
Just as Baek-Cheong was about to turn around, soothing her disappointment.
The Law Enforcer stopped her in her tracks with a cautious voice.
“Young Lady, there is a secret passage leading up to the fourth floor.”
Baek-Cheong’s eyes grew round.
“There’s a fourth floor too? Who goes up there?”
“Even with a lofty status, it is an area where absolutely only Cultivators at the Golden Core stage or higher can set foot. It is a place that even I cannot enter carelessly, but… if it is you, Young Lady, no one will stop you.”
An area exclusively for Cultivators at the Golden Core stage or higher.
Undoubtedly, any item handled on the fourth floor could be considered a fortuitous encounter just by looking at it.
“Of course we have to go! Please guide me.”
Baek-Cheong’s small heart pounded with curiosity and anticipation.
Guided by the Law Enforcer, she stood before a hidden Formation staircase in the corner of the third floor.
Just as she was about to step onto the stairs and head for the fourth floor.
Two silhouettes were coming down the stairs along with the sound of footsteps.
One was her uncle, who had supposedly gone out to handle Merchant Guild affairs.
And the other person walking side-by-side with her uncle.
Unlike Cultivators who wore more extravagant robes the higher their realm, it was a middle-aged man dressed in the worn and ordinary Attire of a Martial Artist.
Unusually, hanging at his waist was not a Flying Sword, but a crude iron sword sheathed in a worn leather scabbard.
[The fourth floor is definitely…]
The moment Baek-Cheong saw the middle-aged man, she felt her breath catch and the fine hairs all over her body stand on end.
Outwardly, he looked like a Mortal or a Martial Artist, but she could tell instinctively.
[The Pacheon Sword Saint!]
The overwhelming presence that had crushed the Myriad Phenomena Pavilion’s Auction House the day before seemed to resurface.
The Supreme Elder of the Heavenly Sword Sect and an absolute Master at the Nascent Soul Grand Perfection stage.
Why was he coming down from the fourth floor with her uncle?
[Don’t tell me I got caught solving the broken Sword Art?]
Just as her mind was becoming riddled with all sorts of imaginations.
Suddenly, the Pacheon Sword Saint’s footsteps halted as he descended the stairs.
His deep gaze slowly pinned onto Baek-Cheong, who was frozen at the bottom of the stairs.
“Hoh.”
A strange, brilliant light flashed in the Pacheon Sword Saint’s previously dry and emotionless eyes.
Unable to understand the meaning behind his gaze and exclamation, a bead of cold sweat trickled down Baek-Cheong’s spine.