Taihua Prefecture, Jade Phoenix Mountain, Tianzhen Sect.
Under a tall, ancient thousand-year-old tree, there was a smooth stone platform.
At this moment, an unkempt Drunken Taoist was lying on his side on the stone platform, holding a small purple gourd the size of a palm, occasionally taking a few sips of fine wine.
Beside the stone platform stood a Young man dressed in a gray Taoist robe, looking at the Drunken Taoist with a playful smile.
“Master, I’ve been on the mountain for eight years. In a few days, it’s my father’s birthday, what do you think…?”
The Drunken Taoist slightly opened his eyes and snorted with a half-smile.
“You brat, you’ve been using this excuse every year for the past three years. Can’t you come up with something new?!”
As soon as the Young man heard this, his originally playful smile instantly turned into a distressed frown, changing faster than flipping a book.
“Master, don’t you understand your Disciple?! Your Disciple is honest and dutiful, never lied since childhood….”
“You’re honest and dutiful? Then your Senior Brothers must all be blockheads….”
The Drunken Taoist took another sip of wine, chuckled, and said.
“It was agreed that you couldn’t descend the mountain until you reached Foundation Establishment. You’re only at Qi Refining Sixth Layer now. You can’t go back on your word, can you?”
“Master, wasn’t I still young back then…!”
The Young man said pitifully.
“Alright, alright, go visit your family tomorrow. Be quick and come back quickly. Be careful when you’re out, and don’t disgrace our Tianzhen Sect.”
As the Drunken Taoist spoke, he raised a hand, and an item shot out from his palm.
The Young man hurriedly caught it with both hands, smiling and nodding.
“Thank you, Master, thank you, Master….”
The Drunken Taoist was a famous Cultivator in Taihua Prefecture, Drunken Taoist, one of the Elders of Tianzhen Sect, with a Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivation.
And the Young man was his youngest Disciple, Chen Yunhao. He went up the mountain to Cultivate at the age of ten and is now eighteen, with a Qi Refining Sixth Layer cultivation.
His cultivation level was relatively behind among his peers, but he started Cultivating late. To reach Qi Refining Sixth Layer in eight years was already considered exceptionally gifted.
Chen Yunhao’s descent from the mountain this time was indeed for a family visit. He left home young and was returning as an adult. He wasn’t truly an immortal, so how could he not miss his parents?
Taihua Prefecture was the capital of Taihua Prefecture, with a population of over a million. It was the most prosperous city in Taihua Prefecture, divided into two areas: the inner city and the outer city.
Chen Yunhao stepped on the flying disk bestowed by his Master, and after more than half a day of flying, he finally arrived outside Taihua Prefecture.
He found a secluded forest to land, and put the millstone-sized flying disk into his Storage Pouch at his waist.
Chen Yunhao patted the Storage Pouch with satisfaction; he had coveted this item for a long time.
At Tianzhen Sect, either the sect would bestow a Storage Pouch after Foundation Establishment.
Or his Master would give him one. After all, this item was not easy to make, and was worth at least thirty to fifty Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
Of course, if one had plenty of Spirit Stones, they could also buy one themselves at the market.
Chen Yunhao had three Senior Brothers. His Great Master Brother and Second Senior Brother had already reached Foundation Establishment, and he had long coveted his Senior Brothers’ Storage Pouches.
Taihua Prefecture had four city gates, and Chen Yunhao’s landing spot was closest to the North Gate.
However, his family lived in the South City, which meant he had to almost traverse the entire Taihua Prefecture.
Taihua Prefecture was built on a plain, covering a vast area, about a hundred li long from east to west and north to south, a large square city.
The city walls were not high, only a dozen meters. Although Taihua Prefecture was in a remote area, it was not a border prefecture near a wild land. The construction of these city walls could only be described as mediocre.
Chen Yunhao had already changed into secular clothes and entered the prefecture from the North Gate, following the flow of people.
The day after tomorrow was indeed his father’s birthday. In his impression, his father should be fifty-eight years old.
Chen Yunhao was the third child in his family, with an Elder sister and an Elder brother.
His Elder sister had already married before he left home. His brother-in-law’s family was also in this prefecture city, not far from his home.
When he left home, his second brother was not yet married and lived with their parents.
Because Chen Yunhao was the youngest in the family, everyone in the family spoiled him since childhood. He had not suffered much, which led to his quirky personality.
Although Chen Yunhao had not returned for eight years, he was still quite familiar with the prefecture.
From the North City back to the South City, one had to pass through an open-air market.
Here, there were both stalls set up by locals and special products brought from other prefectures by traveling merchants from all over the world.
Chen Yunhao knew that his father liked to collect some old artifacts from previous dynasties.
There were vendors selling antiques in this market, so Chen Yunhao specifically detoured to the market to pick out a couple of old items for his father.
This market covered a large area. When Chen Yunhao was a child, he came here many times with his father. The market had not changed at all, as if his eight years had been just a dream.
Only Chen Yunhao himself knew that he was no longer the same as before. Although he had not yet reached Foundation Establishment, he had already transcended the Mortal level.
He remembered the locations of the two stalls his father often liked to visit. After entering the market, he directly found those two stalls according to the path in his memory.
These two stalls were next to each other and sold a variety of items.
There were various bottles and jars, rusty knives, swords, and coins. But no matter what kind of item, its style and pattern appeared very ancient.
According to the stall owner, they were all from previous dynasties, dating back more than two or three thousand years.
However, it was very difficult to distinguish between genuine and fake items. At least Chen Yunhao could not tell the difference.
But Chen Yunhao was very clever and had his own method, so he would never let himself suffer a loss.
He saw a jade tablet on the stall with ancient patterns and some ancient characters.
Even if the patterns and characters on this jade tablet were written later, at least the jade itself was real.
Just as Chen Yunhao was about to reach for the jade tablet, a spiritual light flashed on an ancient mirror the size of a palm next to the jade tablet.
Chen Yunhao’s hand, suspended in mid-air, suddenly stopped, and his expression solidified.
“Strange, there’s actually a Magical Artifact in this Mortal city!”
The spiritual light on that ancient mirror just now, although it only flashed for an instant before disappearing, he definitely did not see it wrong.
Now looking at this ancient mirror again, it was unremarkable, as if that instant just now was an illusion.
Chen Yunhao’s stopped hand continued to reach for the jade tablet he was interested in, carefully picking it up and examining it.
“Shopkeeper, how much is this jade tablet?”
Chen Yunhao weighed the jade tablet in his hand and asked.
“Five taels of silver.” The stall owner, dressed like an old farmer, held out a hand and gestured.
Chen Yunhao had come here a few times with his father and knew that stalls like these usually asked for exorbitant prices and then haggled down.
“Five taels it is, but you have to include this ancient mirror as a bonus.”
Chen Yunhao touched the ancient mirror with his finger. It was indeed ancient jade, but this item was worth at most one or two taels of silver.
“Little brother, this ancient mirror of mine also costs five taels of silver. Your calculations are too shrewd….”
The shopkeeper chuckled and shook his head, clearly unwilling to give away an item for free.