Outside the window of the foot-shop in the Rakshasa Sea Market, the scenery remained as ever.
A salty sea breeze drifted in along the eaves, setting the seashell wind chimes hanging before the window to tinkling softly.
“You’ve been holing up in this room cultivating all day for several days now; that’s no long-term solution.
I inquired around, and the sea market has spirit pulse cave abodes specially leased to cultivators for fifty middle grade spirit stones a month.
Though the cost is higher, cultivating in there provides abundant spiritual energy, and no one will disturb you.”
Wanniang floated in carrying a clamshell water basin. With utter naturalness, she dragged Nan Zhi out of bed and began wiping her face with warm water:
“I found a job at a distillery, so I can earn a few spirit stones each month. If you’re short on funds, take mine to use first and pay me back later.
The marketplace is a mixed bag, and its spiritual energy is mottled—it really isn't a good place for peaceful cultivation.”
Although cultivators did not easily gather dirt or dust, the water in the sea market had the effect of cleansing and beautifying the skin.
Wanniang loved beauty and always dragged Nan Zhi and Hongluo along to wash their faces together.
Seeing Nan Zhi stay indoors without stepping outside for three consecutive days, Wanniang had simply assumed she ran into some trouble.
“Wanniang, I’m rich now! Tomorrow I’ll find someone in the market to pick out a storefront and open a tavern for you!”
Feeling the warm cloth on her face, Nan Zhi hummed with pleasure, throwing her arms around Wanniang and grinning like a fool:
“We’re gonna make a fortune!”
“Talking in your sleep in broad daylight.”
Wanniang tapped Nan Zhi's forehead with exasperated fondness:
“If you really have money, buy a cave abode where you can cultivate first. Constantly staying in someone else's private property doesn't look good, and over time, it's easy to strain friendships.”
Outside the window, a Sea Dragon head suddenly poked in at an angle—it was Hai Ying, looking as heroic as ever:
“That's nonsense! Ma Jiu saved my life in the Wuwang Sea! Never mind staying at an inn, even if I gave her all my possessions, it would be only natural.
Wanniang, how could you speak ill of me behind my back when I wasn't around?”
—This accusation was delivered with such righteous indignation that it was easy to overlook the fact that she was currently perched on the windowsill, peeping inside.
...
“You are you, and I am me. You may know gratitude, but we cannot leverage your gratitude to demand favors.”
Wanniang felt slightly awkward, but knowing Hai Ying was blunt and straightforward by nature, she merely rolled her eyes and scolded with a smile:
“Ignoring the door and barging in through the window like some bandit... If you were a man, I’d have smacked you right back down.”
“So what? Ma Jiu and I went through life and death together! What do you humans call it—that, that 'friendship where you slice each other's necks with knives'? What’s wrong with climbing through a window?”
Hai Ying pushed down with both hands and slithered into the room with her snake tail, unceremoniously sprawling beside Nan Zhi with full self-righteousness:
“Besides, we’re all female. You human women just have a couple of and that we don't. What is there to look at? They're not nearly as convenient as our and when mating!”
“My ears are ruined, utterly ruined.
Also, that’s called a 'friendship unto death,' not some 'friendship where you slice each other’s necks.' It sounds terrifying.”
Nan Zhi covered her ears with a sigh and gently nudged Hai Ying’s snake tail, which took up more than half the bed:
“Did you come looking for me about the Four Directions Assembly?”
“Yes, yes, yes! You're so smart, Ma Jiu!”
Hai Ying whipped her tail excitedly, spreading her webbed fingers and holding up two:
“The Sea Market Master, Lady Mingzhu, has returned safe and sound from the Wuwang Sea! Of course us Sea Dragon people will be participating in this Four Directions Assembly!
But those male Sea Dragons get all clingy when they see me, and the female Sea Dragons can't beat me in a fight, so... hehehe.
I asked Tu Jiuxiao, and he said if you're going, he'd be glad to join us for the Four Directions Assembly too.”
“Isn’t he a disciple of the Wuwei Sect?”
Nan Zhi sat up and stretched lazily:
“Tu Jiuxiao’s cultivation isn’t low, and he’s from the sword cultivator lineage. Why would he come team up with rogue cultivators like us?”
—Besides sect disciples, the Four Directions Assembly also welcomed rogue cultivators from all over the world, provided they competed in teams.
“What’s so great about being a sect disciple? Even entering competitions requires following cultivation ranks and seniority.
He said he couldn't be bothered to deal with social pleasantries within his sect and was too lazy to mince words with his senior brothers and sisters, so he came to us instead.”
Hai Ying counted on her fingers:
“Ma Jiu, Tu Jiuxiao, me, plus Qu Wan—that makes four—”
Wanniang retrieved the Wine Immortal from a wine jar on the table. Her expression suddenly shifted, and she gave a strained smile:
“I think I’ll pass. The Wine Immortal doesn't like crowded places. Besides, I recently brewed several jars of spirit wine that need constant watching.”
“Fine wine indeed requires care. If Wanniang doesn't have time, we can let Hongluo take the spot. She’s been very diligent lately, and this Four Directions Assembly will be a good chance for her to broaden her horizons.”
Nan Zhi saw through Wanniang’s misgivings at a glance and stepped in to bail her out, smoothly changing the subject:
“Do you also want to contend for that Longevity Pill that increases lifespan by five hundred years?”
—Ever since the Yin Wine Worm incident, Wanniang harbored a deep grudge against disciples of great sects. Furthermore, having the Wine Immortal on her made it unwise to show herself in such an arena.
Hai Ying’s attention was successfully diverted by Nan Zhi, and she admitted frankly:
“Everyone wants a Longevity Pill! My father is seventeen hundred years old this year, with only three hundred years left before he goes to see the Sea Goddess. I want to fight for it on his behalf—whether I succeed or not, at least I tried.
As for Tu Jiuxiao, he needs a Breaking Realm Pill to prepare for forming his core in the future.”
Saying that, she nudged Nan Zhi:
“I noticed you’re skilled with a saber. Do you know that the top prize of this assembly is a treasure from the Dragon Palace—the Eight-Direction Sea-Settling Wave-Parting Blade? Rumor has it that it shares the same lineage as the Sea-Settling Needle used by Ancestor Yu when he tamed the floods!”
At the mention of Great Yu, Nan Zhi suddenly felt an inexplicable intuition.
The very first cultivation technique she practiced, the Moon-Worshiping Breathing Method, had ties to Ancestor Yu.
Nan Zhi believed that a cultivator’s “inexplicable intuition” was never baseless.
Therefore, she had to get her hands on that blade.
...
While the three were talking, a sudden burst of clamor arose from outside. The streets were buzzing with extraordinary excitement, as if someone important were parading through.
Hongluo ran in holding a candy shaped like a spiral shell, her little face flushed red:
“Mistress! Auntie Wanniang! The Four Directions Assembly is about to begin, and it’s so lively outside!”
The candy was about the size of a fist and brightly multicolored. It was a snack loved by sea race children, made from seaweed sugar.
While eating it was harmless to the sea race, four-legged beasts that ate too much of it would easily develop patchy fur of uneven lengths on their backs.
For that reason, Nan Zhi always kept a close eye on Hongluo, forbidding her from eating too much of it.
“Mistress, look! I’m strong, so I picked up a bunch! Sister Hai Ying, here’s some for you too!”
Hongluo leaned over and rubbed against Nan Zhi’s palm, nudging with her warm, large head:
“Some dragon prince came to the sea market! He’s riding in a colorful sedan chair that looks amazing, and lots of shrimp soldiers and crab generals are tossing Spiral Shell Sugar all over the place!”
“I wonder which dragon prince it is? Old Sixteen or Old Thirty-One?”
Hai Ying swished her tail, brimming with interest:
“Dragon men may have foul mouths, but their looks are second to none! That slender waist, that tail tip... Once my cultivation gets higher, I’m definitely snatching one home to bear my cubs!”
“He’s a kinsman of the Sea Market Master after all, so show some restraint, or you might find yourself thrown in a burlap sack.”
Nan Zhi calmly covered Hongluo’s ears, then added with a chuckle:
“...You’re only allowed to eat one. You are not to secretly stash it in your tail and pull it out to gnaw on in the middle of the night.”
After refining the Sect Master's Seal of the Three Great Sects, she had jumped three minor realms in a row and urgently needed a hearty, exhilarating battle to consolidate her gains.
This Four Directions Assembly was the perfect opportunity.
Rate on N.U.
