Chapter 390: Iron Sky Market

Entering the capital of the Iron Sky kingdom, Xuan Hao and the rest were instantly met with the sight of a several shops lined up around a large open space. Forming into a large market that was located just at the other side of the gate.

Three paths going straight through the market. One going straight ahead towards the south part of the capital, while two other paths went towards the eastern and western part respectively.

Outside of the large paths piercing straight through the giant marketplace at the entrance to the capital, Xuan Hao was instantly caught off-guard by the fact that he felt so many people at the Nascent Soul Realm present inside the marketplace.

From outside the gate, he could not really sense anything inside of the capital due to the formation blocking him. Only when entering the capital did he truly realize just how many Nascent Soul Realm Experts that existed inside the capital of the Iron Sky Kingdom. Just in the marketplace in front of the capital alone, Xuan Hao could sense more than a dozen people at the Nascent Soul Realm!

"The Iron Sky Market..." As everyone else were staring at the marketplace with curiosity, Gong Bo was the only person to not show a surprised expression as he instead showed one of longing.

"Hm? Elder Gong Bo, do you perhaps know about this marketplace?"

Picking up on this and hearing him call what he supposed to be the name of the marketplace in front of them, Xuan Hao's question instantly caused the group from the Flying Sword Sect to turn their curious gazes towards Gong Bo.

"Yeah... I heard a bit about it from the friend of mine who visited the Iron Sky Kingdom in the past. The Iron Sky Market is quite famous inside the Sky Empire due to the wide variety of different spiritual metals that is sold there on a daily basis. My friend came here to find the spiritual metal he went to the Iron Sky Kingdom for...

Sadly, he got quite unlucky and didn't find it there. Forcing him to search for it in the eastern part of the capital, I don't know why, but he never mentioned what happened after that. Only that he found the spiritual metal he needed after visiting the eastern part of the capital..." Sighing a bit as he finished his explanation of the Iron Sky Market in front of them, Xuan Hao felt like he understood why he had felt the presence of so many Nascent Soul Realm Experts.

The Nascent Soul Realm Experts were most likely not from the Iron Sky Kingdom and were most likely just someone who had come in search of spiritual metal or perhaps a weapon...

If the Iron Sky Kingdom truly had a few dozen Nascent Soul Realm Experts just hanging around the entrance of their capital, Xuan Hao felt like he would really have to revaluate his idea on how strong the Iron Sky Kingdom was...

"Should we take a look around the market before heading over towards the southern part of the capital? We should still have a few hours left before it gets dark."

Having walked forward with his eyes clearly plastered onto a nearby stall filled with a few pipping hot skewers along with a few other similarly hot food options, Chi Hu almost salivated as he asked this.

"Sure, we can look around the marketplace for an hour or two before making our way towards the southern part of the capital..." Also feeling himself grow hungry after looking over towards the stall Chi Hu's gaze was focused on, Xuan Hao could not help but agree with him as both of them soon made their way over towards the stall to try out some of the skewers before the rest of the group had even managed to realise both of them had disappeared only to appear in front of a stall a few dozen meters away.

Unknowingly, both of them had used their increased speed due to their cultivation realm to rush over to the small stall, causing the stall owner to jump a bit due to the shock of suddenly seeing someone appear in front of him.

"W-what can I help with...?"

Under the nervous gaze of the stall owner, Xuan Hao and Chi Hu almost bought up everything inside the small stall before happily walking away.

Even if they did not need to eat given their current cultivation realm and could just survive by absorbing the qi between heaven and earth, neither Chi Hu nor Xuan Hao would want to do get rid of something so wonderful!

By the time Qing Yi and the rest of the elders from the Alchemy Hall that had come along reached them, both Xuan Hao and Chi Hu were already happily enjoying the food they had just bought.

"..."

Not knowing what to say, Qing Yi decided to just shrug her shoulders and joined her master and Chi Hu as she picked up one of the skewers and began eating.

At this point in time, it had already been a long time since she had last eaten and even if she could survive a few days without food given her current cultivation realm, she would still need to reach the Nascent Soul Realm before she could directly live off the qi between heaven and earth.

The elders who mostly remained quite were the same. Not having reached the Nascent Soul Realm, so they also decided to partake in the small feast of skewers and other ordinary stall food Xuan Hao and Chi Hu had bought for a few spirit stones...

A little farther away back at the small stall, the stall owner had yet to fully comprehend what had just happened when he realized around a dozen spirit stones laying directly in front of him.

"S-spirit stones!?"

Seeing the spirit stones in front of him and realizing that it had been payment for the food that had just been taken from his stall, the stall owner quickly packed up before directly turning to leave.

In the end, he was only an ordinary person without any cultivation. Getting his hand on something like spirit stones was a rare opportunity for him to buy a low-grade cultivation mantra and use the rest to increase his cultivation realm after reaching the Qi Condensation Realm! Maybe he would even have a chance to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm and increase his lifespan by another 100 years!

The simple act by Xuan Hao and Chi Hu had unknowingly ended up becoming a great opportunity for this otherwise normal stall owner inside the capital of the Iron Sky Kingdom. Even if neither of them even realized it, the stall owner would be forever grateful towards both of them...

...

At the same time, inside a large room in the royal palace of the Iron Sky Kingdom, a beautiful young woman momentarily raised one of her eyebrows as she turned to look towards the northern gate of the capital.

"Hm? A Domain Lord entered the capital... An unfamiliar one as well..." Muttering this to herself as a curious smile momentarily graced her lips, the young woman put on a thoughtful expression as she tried to think about who the Domain Lord that just appeared was.

Perhaps... Is the Domain Lord related to those people...?

A trace of killing intent briefly passed through her eyes upon thinking about this.

Over the last few months, those people have gotten more and more impatient perhaps they finally decided to act...

"Yi Min, is anything wrong?" Just as she was about to personally go and check out who the unfamiliar Domain Lord that had entered her capital was, a worried voice sounded out from the side as she turned to look towards the origin of the voice. An elderly man and a good friend of hers, Fang Shi.

"It's nothing much, I just sensed that an unfamiliar Domain Lord entered the capital and felt like I should go and see who it is..." Narrowing her eye while saying the last part, a clear killing intent began leaking out.

"Don't worry too much about it, I know what you are worrying about, and I don't think it's those people... It's likely the Domain Lord from the Flying Sword Sect, his highness informed me just before coming here that there was a chance that he would show up." Shaking his head, Fang Shi quickly informed the young woman looking like she was just about to jump out of the nearby window and rush over to beat up an innocent person up...

"Flying Sword Sect? Why have I never heard about this sect before? Are they perhaps a former neutral sect that came to the Sky Empire seeking refuge from an enemy or something?" Frowning a bit upon hearing the name of the sect and not being able to link it to any of the sects with a Domain Lord behind them inside the Sky Empire, Yi Min could not help but ask what she deemed to be the most logical answer.

"No, they are a sect located close to our border with the Onyx Empire. According to what I know, someone there broke through to the Domain Lord Realm... Though, I do not know when this happened, nor do I have any idea how strong they are..."

"A new Domain Lord? This will certainly make things more interesting..." Smiling dangerously as she said this, Yi Min no longer worried about the Domain Lord that just entered her capital. If he truly made any trouble or was up to something, she would easily be able to sense it through her formation!

Following this short conversation, both of them began to talk together again. The main focus being on the upcoming alchemy competition.

Fang Shi still had a few things to ask about regarding the set up for his alchemy competition and Yi Min was the only person who could help him get them done...