Female Lead, Something's Not Right (GL) - Chapter 24

Gu Shiyan put away the array on the door and was about to open the stone door to leave, but she paused slightly, a sense of vigilance rising due to the extraordinary luck she had experienced. She understood the saying that possessing a treasure makes one a criminal, and in this cultivation world where murder for treasures was common, she needed to be extra careful to conceal herself.

She was an outer sect disciple with mixed spiritual roots, no power, and no backing, yet in just half a month, she had broken through directly from the third stage of Qi Refining to Grand Perfection of Qi Refining—a feat unmatched by anyone in the entire sect. This could only mean that she possessed some heavenly treasure that drastically increased her cultivation. She hadn’t fully understood what was going on yet, and rashly showing her face would only provoke controversy and potentially implicate True Monarch Hehua.

After careful thought, she opened the storage bag Shen Shu had given her. After picking around, she actually found a bracelet capable of concealing and altering one’s cultivation.

Only after she had done all this did Gu Shiyan dare to leave. As soon as she stepped out, she saw a Crane Messenger flying directly toward her.

“Xiao Wan! Where are you? How are you? I looked everywhere for a physician but couldn’t find you. When you hear this, quickly send me a message.” As Chu Ning’s message finished, the Crane Messenger vanished into specks of light.

Gu Shiyan then remembered that it was Chu Ning who had helped her last night. She quickly hurried past the crowd and returned to her bedroom, hearing people along the way discussing who had almost caused a Heavenly Tribulation yesterday.

Chu Ning rushed forward when she saw Gu Shiyan, asking in surprise, “How are you? I looked for you all night! Didn’t your spiritual energy explode yesterday?”

Gu Shiyan bowed apologetically. “Senior Sister, I’m so sorry for making you worry yesterday.”

Chu Ning quickly pulled her up. “There’s no need for such formalities between us sisters. In this dorm, you and Junior Sister Zhou Yun were the only ones I was close to. Since she left, it’s just the two of us. It’s better to look out for each other on the path of cultivation.”

“It might be related to my breakthrough yesterday. My spiritual energy suddenly became unstable. I was afraid of dying from a spiritual energy overload and harming the innocent, so I went to the alchemy room on my own. I converted the excess spiritual energy in my body into elixirs by refining, which solved my urgent problem.” Gu Shiyan lied without batting an eye. Even though Chu Ning was sincere toward her, she didn’t dare to be honest about what had happened until she understood the other person fully.

Chu Ning sighed in relief, mumbling to herself, the fatigue in her eyes evident. “That’s great. Oh, right, you said yesterday you wanted to go to the Immortal Market today. I’ll go with you now.”

Gu Shiyan held Chu Ning’s arm. “I’ll go by myself today, Senior Sister Chu. You should rest properly today; your health is more important.”

Chu Ning considered it for a moment and then nodded in agreement. And so, Gu Shiyan, having concealed her true appearance, went to the Immortal Market alone. Because the Inner Sect Competition was moved up, the market had extended its opening time by three months, and people from all sects had rushed over. During this time, there was inevitably a mixture of quality and questionable goods.

As soon as Gu Shiyan entered the Immortal Market, she keenly noticed a few rogue cultivators tailing her. With a Nascent Soul Ancestor presiding over the market, no one dared to cause major trouble, but things like petty theft and private murder for treasure were often overlooked, as that was the law of this world.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, she released her Grand Perfection of Qi Refining aura before entering the Ruyi Pavilion. The rogue cultivators trailing outside, knowing they were outmatched, hurriedly left. The initially lazy attendant immediately replaced his expression with a fawning smile and rushed forward to greet her obsequiously.

“What would Fellow Daoist like to buy? Our Ruyi Pavilion has good quality and low prices, and we are honest with everyone. The first floor has mortal and low-grade goods, the second floor has mid-grade and top-grade goods, and anything above Immortal-grade is on the third floor, for which we would have to invite our master to personally attend to you.”

Gu Shiyan looked at the elixirs, artifacts, and books displayed in the cabinets on the first floor, which emitted faint white light (mortal grade) and green light (low grade).

“The second floor.”

The attendant immediately grinned. “Right away, please follow me.”

As Gu Shiyan stepped onto the second floor, she clearly felt the spiritual energy becoming more abundant. There was a restriction at the stairs to the third floor; without guidance, ordinary people couldn’t enter.

“Fellow Daoist, what would you like? We’ve received a new batch of artifacts for female cultivators. We have both offensive and defensive ones. Would you like to take a look?”

“I need two bottles of top-grade Spirit-Recovery Pills, three bottles of mid-grade Foundation-Stabilizing Pills, and Clear-Yuan Pills. Besides those, please recommend some artifacts that can save my life.”

Gu Shiyan had a plan for this shopping trip. The competition would drain the most spiritual energy. In her previous life, she had suffered too much from a lack of spiritual power, so this time, she wanted to fill her storage bag with elixirs and spiritual wine that could restore energy. Even if she couldn’t win, being able to run away and outlast her opponent would be enough.

“This mid-grade artifact, the Spirit-Guarding Jade Hairpin, is made of thousand-year-old cold pond ice. It can not only increase your defense and reduce damage from cultivators below the Core Formation stage but can also freeze the opponent for the duration of a cup of tea. However, this function can only be used three times, after which it only retains its defensive properties.” The attendant introduced the jade hairpin, which emitted a purple light (mid-grade artifact), holding it in his hand.

It was a bit useless. Gu Shiyan declined. The attendant hesitated and then tried to subtly ask for her general price range.

“Preferably top-grade,” Gu Shiyan gritted her teeth. Instead of buying a pile of worthless junk that she could only use a few times, it was better to carefully consider and buy a top-grade artifact that she could use for a long time. After all, spirit stones could be earned back, but a life lost was truly lost. Having a reliable artifact on her made her feel secure and at ease.

The attendant bypassed the purple mid-grade section and led Gu Shiyan directly to the red-light top-grade section.

“This item, Fellow Daoist will definitely like.”

It was a robe shimmering with seven-colored glow, adorned with dazzling pearls and scales of white mother-of-pearl, the craftsmanship extremely exquisite. The hem of the skirt was embroidered with complex patterns and array formations, with a faint crimson light flickering within. It was a Mermaid Feather Robe.

“This robe was crafted by the Refining Master Wen Yunkuo, who has already ascended to the Immortal Realm…”