STNS: Chapter 510 (Patreon)

Yōuměi’s next fight wasn’t for a week. Hóngyàn Shūshu said this was to give her ample time to prepare.

“You’re still only at the first subrealm of the Deva Realm. Ideally, we want to get you up another subrealm. If we can just get you to the second subrealm, I think you’ll stand a strong chance of winning,” Hóngyàn Shūshu was saying.

“How will we do that?” Yōuměi asked, tilting her head.

“There are four methods to quickly achieve breakthroughs.” Hóngyàn Shūshu held up one finger. “We can have you engage in combat training against opponent’s far stronger than you.”

He held up a second finger.

“The next option is we can take you to a hidden spot with strong spiritual energy that you can absorb. There’s a place not far from the arena that’s sitting over a leyline with strong yin chi, which is the type you need to grow stronger.”

He held up a third finger.

“We can also use alchemy pills. If we can get our hands on some high-tier alchemy pills, we can boost your cultivation significantly. These are the three best methods to help you break through.”

Yōuměi nodded along as she listened. As little as two months ago, she might not have understood what Hóngyàn Shūshu was saying, but she had learned a lot since setting off on her own. All those things her master and big sisters were talking about now made a lot more sense.

“What method are we going to use?” asked Yōuměi.

Hóngyàn Shūshu smiled, and Yōuměi felt a slight chill run down her spine.

“We are going to use all three of them.”

Yōuměi did not like Hóngyàn Shūshu’s smile, but he gave her no time to tell him how scared it made her. Immediately after telling her about what kind of training she would undergo, he forced her to follow him, and they soon found themselves in the marketplace of the Colosseum.

“Yōuměi has never been here before,” Yōuměi murmured as she looked around.

The marketplace was very open and bright, creating a surprisingly lively atmosphere, with large, colorful canopies made of lightweight, shimmering fabrics that provided shade over stalls and booths. Buildings and stalls were made of stone and wood. Several of the stone walls had ornate engravings of mythical beasts, while the rooftops of stalls and structures had sweeping, curved lines and were adorned with decorative eaves that curved upward at the edges. It was fairly typical architecture that Yōuměi had seen many times before.

She walked through the marketplace with Hóngyàn Shūshu. Merchant stalls were arranged in rows and each one was uniquely decorated. Colorful banners displaying a merchant’s wares hung above, and the stalls themselves were filled with an array of artifacts, ingredients, alchemy pills, and more. They passed one particular stall selling herbs and Yōuměi wrinkled her nose as the scent of numerous flowers and plants hit her nose.

At the heart of the marketplace was a central fountain carved from marble and depicting the four mythical beasts that were worshiped by everyone. Each statue was pointed in the decoration they were said to govern. The Azure Dragon faced east, the Vermillion Bird looked toward the south, the White Tiger was pointed toward the west, and the Black Tortoise had its eyes on the north.

There were quite a few people present, though not as many as Yōuměi thought there would be. Most of the people traveling through the marketplace traveled alone. This was normal, according to Hóngyàn Shūshu, since everyone was everyone else’s opponent. However, there were a few people who walked together. They were the cultivators who fought in team battles.

“Are we not going to buy anything?” asked Yōuměi as they continued walking. She had thought they came here to get alchemy pills, but they were walking past every stall. Some of those stalls had shiny alchemy pills.

“Barring a chance encounter, you won’t find anything super useful at these stalls. They are all basic items that you can get anywhere,” Hóngyàn Shūshu explained. “We’re going to the auction house.”

“So there’s even an auction house here,” Yōuměi murmured. She knew all about auction houses. Lili Dàjiě’s former family owned auction houses all across the Xaio Continent.

While Hóngyàn Shūshu called it the auction house, it wasn’t really a building since it was built into the Colosseum. The entrance was marked by a large doorway guarded by a pair of cultivators whose cultivation Yōuměi couldn’t sense. They wore the uniform of Colosseum guards and wielded a pair of powerful-looking halberds that gave her a bad feeling. It felt like they were just waiting for a chance to cut her.

“Halt!” The guards crossed their spears before the entrance. “State your names and purpose for coming here!”

“We’re here for a private auction,” Hóngyàn Shūshu said, holding up a medallion of some kind. Yōuměi couldn’t quite see what the medallion looked like, but it had a glossy silver sheen, and the guards paled when they saw it.

“O-our apologies, Gōngzǐ! You two may proceed!” one of the guards said.

Not for the first time, Yōuměi wondered who Hóngyàn Shūshu was. She was his first opponent. She had thought his cultivation would be similar to her own, but he was obviously much stronger and more important than her; the way people treated him like he was a lord made that much obvious.

“We have arrived.”

She was snapped out of her ponderings when she finally saw that they had arrived in a small room that was lavishly decorated with rich fabrics, intricate woodwork, and opulent furnishings. Soft, intimate lighting filled the room. The paper lanterns that hung overhead emitted a warm orange glow. A single table sat in the center. There were only two chairs, but someone soon came in with a third chair. Hóngyàn Shūshu indicated that chair to her, and she soon sat down alongside him.

“Let me do all the talking,” Hóngyàn Shūshu said.

“Mmm. Okay.”

Yōuměi didn’t know enough about their situation to be comfortable saying anything. She might have spoken anyway had this been a few months ago, but being forced to survive on her own had taught her the value of observing everything before speaking.

Before long, an old man with long white hair, a drooping mustache, and many wrinkles walked in. He was not very strong. His cultivation wasn’t just barely at the Human Limit Realm. Yet Yōuměi could not smell any fear coming off this man, as if he knew he had nothing to be afraid of.

“It has been some time, Gōngzǐ,” the old man said.

Hóngyàn Shūshu waved a hand through the air as though to ward off a fly. “You may dispense with the pleasantries.”

The old man glanced at him, then at Yōuměi, who tilted her head curiously.

“I understand,” he said after a moment, then performed a martial bow. “Forgive me. This old one is named Shing Shiyu. I will be the one helping you in today’s private auction.”

Shing Shiyu sat down and a scroll appeared in his hands. Yōuměi noticed the ring on his finger. It must have been a storage ring. As he unrolled the scroll, Shing Shiyu cleared his throat.

“Now then, what are you looking for today?” he asked.

“An alchemy pill for this little one,” Hóngyàn Shūshu said. Then he placed a hand on Yōuměi’s head. “I want something that can help her break through. Our goal is to get her up to the second subrealm of the Deva Realm within one week.”

“Hmmm. An alchemy pill alone won’t be enough, but you know this,” Shing Shiyu said. He glanced through his scroll some more. “Let me see… we have the Deva Ascension Pill, but that won’t help here. There’s the Phoenix Rebirth Pill, but that is made for yang chi cultivators… ah. Here is something that could help. Yin Ascendant Pill.”

Yōuměi had never heard of this pill before, but Hóngyàn Shūshu provided an explanation.

“The Yin Ascendant Pill is designed specifically for cultivators who possess an excess of yin energy. It unleashes a powerful surge of yin chi when consumed, flooding the body and overwhelming the cultivator’s natural limits, forcibly catalyzing a breakthrough to the next subrealm. The effects are immediate and intense. This results in a rapid enhancement of both chi density and capacity… but there are dangers to using it.”

Shing Shiyu nodded. “Indeed. This will let her advance, but it could damage her dantian and meridians if she’s not careful. I do not recommend consuming this pill without advanced preparation.” The old man looked at Hóngyàn Shūshu smile and sighed. “But it seems you have a plan, so I won’t say anything. This pill is the most powerful one we currently have for yin chi cultivators.”

“How much?”

“The current bid is at 50,000 merit points by Mei Seng.”

Yōuměi knew who Mei Seng was. They had fought once before. Mei Seng had beaten Yōuměi during their first and only battle. She was very strong at the second subrealm of the Deva Realm. Yōuměi actually had more chi than her, but she had a wider range of techniques and more experience, which allowed her to emerge victorious.

“Hmmm… Mei Seng must have been saving up a lot for this,” Hóngyàn Shūshu said with a hand on his chin, as though he was thinking deeply. Then he shrugged. “Welp, it’s unfortunate, but I need this pill. I’ll bid for it at 120,000 merit points.”

How does he have so many merit points? Who is Hóngyàn Shūshu?

Yōuměi wanted to know the answer to these questions, but she feared that letting her curiosity get the better of her would result in the man she called uncle no longer helping her.

The old man sighed again. “I assumed you would do that. Very well. I will put up your bid and let you know if you’ve won.”

“When does the bid end?”

“Tomorrow.”

“In that case, I will be back tomorrow to pick up the pill,” Hóngyàn Shūshu stood up. “Come along, Yōuměi.”

“Ah? Yes, Hóngyàn Shūshu!”

Yōuměi quickly stood up, aware of the gawking stare from Shing Shiyu. Just before the door shut behind her, she saw the old man mouth the word “Shūshu?” with an expression of deep confusion.