Chapter 21: I Swear, Even Bandits Are Cultivating These Days

Even though they were only a couple of steps away from entering the valley, Chen Xun didn't enter. He guided the ox to the side and waited.

The Ascension Summit would officially commence in a few days. It was only the vagabond cultivators that arrived early on.

He silently observed the nearby group. Each member had a vastly different get-up compared to the rest. Some wore bamboo hats, and others donned masks. They were surrounded by an air of mysteriousness.

Soon, they all stepped into the mist, disappearing from sight.

"Moo~ Moo!" The big black ox seemed to get impatient, wondering why they weren't going in yet.

At that moment, Chen Xun seemed to have realized something. He quickly got up, pulled the bandit mask from his pocket, and put it on.

"Let's go!" He shouted and led the ox into the mist.

**_Buzz_**

A humming sound rang out, and the mist gradually dispersed, revealing a completely new world before their eyes.

The Nine Stars Valley was much larger than he had imagined, stretching seemingly forever. Countless vagabond cultivators were moving within the valley, with their hushed whispers filling the vicinity.

All around were stalls, but the vendors were not selling wares. In fact, the items displayed were unfamiliar to Chen Xun, and he couldn't even name them.

In the distance, there were several pavilions, most likely those of larger sects. The lesser known sects and factions sat up regular abodes to conduct business with the vagabond cultivators.

They gasped like a pair of country pumpkins who had finally gotten the chance to enter a big city. "Amazing...."

"Moo~~"

Chen Xun walked near the vendors with the big black ox, but he still minded the distance between them. He didn't want any trouble. He would occasionally stand still and observe the items on display. They weren't selling gold or silver, but rather a bunch of hexagonal crystals they called "Spirit Stones."

There were also many vagabonds trading medical pills for items. This display made Chen Xun's mouth go dry. He had never seen such a sight before.

The big black ox looked utterly bewildered as well. _What was all this?_ It thought, _How had they not seen any of this in all their years?_

"Old ox, turns out we are a pair of country pumpkins...."

Chen Xun swallowed a mouthful of dry saliva, his heart racing. They were truly making a spectacle of themselves, like a woman of the commoners entering the royal chambers of the grand palace.

The black ox kept nodding, and its large copper-bell-like eyes grew even wider. It saw something that caught its attention before it nudged Chen Xun, beckoning him to check it out as well.

Chen Xun looked in the direction the big black ox showed and subconsciously yelled, albeit with a quiet voice. "Wow! Those must be spirit herbs."

He couldn't help but take a few steps forward and approach the stall in question. The vendor was a young girl. She had three spirit herbs up on display. They were lush green and radiated faint traces of spiritual energy.

These were completely different from regular herbs. Both their appearance and the fragrance they emitted were entirely different from anything Chen Xun had seen or smelled before.

The young girl, who was busy arranging her items on the table, had her eyes cast down when two feet and four hooves came into view.

"Fellow cultivator, are you...!" She spoke and casually tilted her head upwards to meet her potential customers' eyes, but she suddenly turned mute, and her face turned an odd shade of black when she noticed his strange get-up.

"What do you want to do?" She asked, a bit shaky.

"It's okay, Miss. We are only browsing through the herbs you have on display. We mean no harm." Chen Xun showed her a friendly smile and reassured.

His words, however, provided her with no comfort, and she found herself drenched in cold sweat. That seemingly friendly smile turned into something sinister under that creepy mask. _This young man was not who he shows himself to be, that's for sure. He might have been a bandit, or a highway robber in the past! _She thought.

"Alright, alright.... Have a look, then," The girl stuttered. She took a step back subconsciously. That mask-wearing face made her feel an intense pressure that caused her heart to thrum.

"Miss, how can one identify the age of spirit herbs? I once heard that...." Chen Xun began speaking, seemingly on the verge of a monologue.

"Do you plan to buy anything?" The girl was quick to interject.

"I don't have any spirit stones at the moment," Chen Xun admitted.

"Do you have any pills that enhance cultivation? I could trade you for those, too," she suggested.

"I don't have any of those either."

"Then why are you asking?" The girl snapped, losing patience. The man took her on a rollercoaster of emotions. She had been quite frightened earlier, and now, he was clearly toying with her.

"Sorry for bothering you," Chen Xun apologized and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

He pulled the black ox away and went back on their way. He needed to change his mindset; doing business with cultivators turned out to be entirely different from dealing with ordinary people.

They didn't proactively stop at a stall and ask around anymore, but whenever they spotted someone at a stall, they would stand close and listen to their conversation. They managed to pick up on the names of various things such as: Charms, Seal Pens, Cinnabar, or Medical Pills and their uses.

"Old ox, I've taken notes. I'll have a few words to posture and boast with in the future," Chen Xun said gleefully. He had learnt a lot of new terms today. "Come on, let's check that one out next."

"Moo~ Moo~" The big black ox happily responded. It was in a good mood since it had learnt quite a bit as well.

Beside a particular stall stood a spirited elderly man with a white beard. He was energetically speaking to a group of vagabonds who had gathered around him.

"This is the Vitality Boosting Pill. With use over a prolonged period of time, one bottle can enhance your cultivation by a whole level!" He said "I've spent forty-nine days concocting these pills, and even those at the fifth level of Qi Refining can benefit from them. And only for the cheap price of three lower-grade spirit stones. That's a steal!"

After finishing his words, he opened a bottle, and a burst of spiritual energy and medical fragrance wafted out, enticing many of the nearby vagabonds who were ready to take out their spirit stones.

"It's that swindler again, deceiving people at the Ascension Immortal Conference!" Suddenly, several loud shouts came from afar, carrying a fierce momentum.

"Well, Everyone, this old man's heart is suddenly in turmoil. Perhaps I am on the verge of a breakthrough in my cultivation. I'll be sure to come back tomorrow!" The old man's face turned sour, and he quickly packed up in a jiffy before fleeing into the crowd, mixing in with the hustle and bustle.

His movements seemed to have been so practiced that it was clear he was not a stranger to these shady antics.

"Fellow cultivators, please don't believe that person. All those pills are fake, and they have no effect whatsoever." Several newcomers hurriedly stepped forward and spoke to the surrounding crowd. Their eyes were filled with anger. It appeared they had been deceived before.

The surrounding cultivators thanked them. They felt thankful and relieved towards their warning, but a sense of lingering fear gripped their hearts still. They were almost scammed just now. You really couldn't tell at all looking at those pills.

The crowd soon dispersed, each back to scout the different stalls around.

"Old ox, you see, even the world of cultivators has swindlers. It's not much different from us, ordinary folks." Chen Xun pointed-out, sighing.

"Moo, moo!" The big black ox heavily nodded. It had also fallen for that old man's sugar-coated lies.

Chen Xun continued leading the big black ox around as they secretly eavesdropped on others' conversations. His behavior was quite furtive, but perhaps he wasn't even aware of it himself.

"Only three days left till the Ascension Immortal Conference begins. That's when the top ten immortal sects of the Qian Nation will gather. If we can secure a spot in any of those, we will take a big leap in our cultivation."

"_Haha_. Don't even think about it. It's good enough if we are accepted into an ordinary immortal sect, much less one in the top ten. Those are way beyond the reach of mediocre talents like us."

"That's true, but then the fact that I didn't even take a shot would be hard to swallow."

"Those top ten sects will each set up five stages in the center of the valley. Unless you have immense battle wisdom and perseverance don't even think about it."

"I heard that many people get injured or even die every year. So, better not to go up unless you've reached the seventh level of Qi Refining."

Several of the present vagabonds shook their heads and sighed as they walked past Chen Xun. The path to immortal ascension was truly difficult. It was filled with numerous hurdles and challenges that one must pass in order to see another day. At the end, they were fundamentally different from those who were born geniuses.

"At the valley's center. The top ten immortal sects. There will be five stages. Okay, got it." The duo noted these three main points before exchanging a smile. They had learnt something yet again.

"Old ox, let's go over there. Looks like they are selling weapons," Chen Xun excitedly shouted, as he was quite knowledgeable about forging.

Leading the black ox over, they headed toward a crowd, where quite a few people had gathered as well.

They stood on the outskirts and observed. But sadly, Chen Xun's hopes were dashed when he realized that these weren't weapons but magical artifacts, which weren't crafted through blacksmithing at all. Many flying swords were displayed, along with some other peculiar objects. They all apparently operated on spiritual energy.

"Truly impressive," Chen Xun's eyes were filled with envy.

If he could turn his mountain-opening axe into a magical artifact, he might actually be able to split a mountain with a single chop in the future.

"Moo~" The black ox's eyes glittered, too. If it turned its own horns into magical artifacts, who could withstand its charges!

The man and the ox seemed to be in sync and both fell into a world filled with their own fantasies. They subconsciously started drooling all over the ground, and the cultivators surrounding them noticed this. They gave them a weird look and furrowed their brows. _Where did these country pumpkins pop out from, now? _They thought, _Holy!_ _Even that black ox drooled all over itself!_

They pair didn't care about the looks thrown their way as usual and quickly noticed another stall that piqued their interests.

"Old ox, these are all skills... no, uhm, spells, I mean," Chen Xun's words were jumbled from excitement.

Holding onto the black ox's reins, he approached the stall. The vendor was a stout man. He saw the pair and couldn't help but think, _Damn! Even bandits know how to cultivate these days? _

"Animal Control Art," "Fireball," "Qi Concealment Technique," "Root," and other spells were neatly displayed on the stall. They were laid right on the table.

The duo felt their mouth run with saliva and had to swallow down lest they choke to death. They wanted these all! However, they had no spirit stones. None! They felt poor for the first time in their lives.

"Did you find anything to your liking, fellow cultivator?"

"Big Brother, where did you get all these spells? There are so many...."

"What do you mean?"

The stout man's forehead creased. He thought that another troublemaker had appeared in the valley and secretly took out a talisman, preparing to call someone over.

"Big Brother, don't take this the wrong way. You misunderstood me. You know what, I'll come back once I have spirit stones." Chen Xun quickly waved his hand in the air, a bit flustered. He quickly pulled the reins of the black ox and ran. His heart was racing. He was really too excited.

"What the hell was that?" The stout man shouted in annoyance and put the talisman back before glaring in the direction Chen Xun ran in.