Legacy of Hatred

Liam planned the remainder of the trip to arrive exactly when the open market would start to save energy so that he could be ready for anything.

It was another cold night, luckily with decent weather. Liam stood on a barren hill, gazing at the empty horizon, but his senses captured something too distant for the old man kneeling at his side to notice.

Liam saw a vague yellow halo and felt some heat, which conflicted with the world, suggesting unnatural causes.

Then, Liam heard footsteps, many of them. There had to be fifty people in that warmer location, all walking calmly, showing no hurry whatsoever.

And the crowd wasn’t just people. Liam felt in the back of his head. That was a gathering of cultivators, mostly foundation experts, with one presence above that.

’It’s really different,’ Liam concluded.

Liam’s experience outside the Sects was limited, but even a relatively public place like Birgan Falls hadn’t featured such a large gathering. He had only seen so many cultivators in one place when Sects were involved.

However, as a general rule, the Outer Circles had a far greater population of mortals, while the Inner Circles had far more cultivators. Liam had read as much, and the trend was gradual.

Liam hadn’t gotten deep into the Kingdom, but better services for cultivators already existed without needing the Sects’ involvement. That market probably still targeted their wealthier assets, but it remained a system that the previous Outer Circle hadn’t seemed to offer.

And that promised to become more common and multilayered. Liam might encounter entire cities of cultivators at some point, accompanied by suitable services he could have only dreamed of in the six Sects’ neighborhood.

Of course, there was another component. Those services could only exist if someone used them, meaning that there had to be more cultivators, and affluent ones at that.

’Now that I think about it,’ Liam realized. ’That mission offered half a spirit stone per kilo of magical beast’s dung, while Old Joe had six of those.’

Liam wouldn’t assume a trend from a single instance, but it could be that he was already in a wealthier area for cultivators, both in terms of services and opportunities.

Still, there was something Liam just couldn’t understand.

"Why are there mortals in the market?" Liam asked.

Old Joe followed the direction of Liam’s hood, knowing that the market was up ahead, but unable to see or sense anything. Instead, Liam had even managed to spot that curious detail.

"Senior, I can only guess," Old Joe said.

"Guess," Liam ordered, already exhausted from the pleasantries of those days.

"They must belong to the family ruling Fairfort," Old Joe explained. "Many of their members are affiliated with the Enforcement Guild and enjoy certain privileges."

’So, there’s that, too,’ Liam acknowledged.

A family having a foothold in the cultivation world was a boon. Offspring could be groomed to increase their chances of becoming cultivators. Liam even knew which recipes to use.

In that specific case, there was also a conflict of interest. The Enforcement Guild, the very force that should keep mortals and cultivators separated, was the one creating that privileged connection, meaning no one could complain.

Liam even knew where Fairfort was. It was the city on his map, situated at the border before the next Outer Circle.

’Politics,’ Liam cursed internally. ’It’s better if I don’t speak at all.’

"This is where we separate," Liam announced. "Old Joe, thank you for everything."

Old Joe didn’t have the chance to reply or beg since Liam directly disappeared, his figure an unnoticeable blur as he descended the hill.

Liam slowed down when his destination was in sight, in normal sight, planning to cross the remainder of the mostly barren plain by walking as he and Melissa had done upon reaching Thornvale.

Everything Liam had sensed from the hill became clearer, adding countless details. Up ahead, a series of tents and stands created a small, dense settlement, with lanterns hanging from poles on its makeshift streets and perimeter.

The area was illuminated, but not too much, creating quite a cozy environment, but Liam mostly focused on the people walking through it.

The robes Liam saw were in no way iconic. Some were cleaner and tidier than others, but they seemed to carry no affiliation, being merely grey or black, too tight or fancy to belong to Sects, probably meant to hide that very belonging.

The only outward affiliation came from the foundation experts patrolling the tents. Those cultivators wore Qi-enhanced silver chest armor, the shape of a sword and shield carved on their right side.

’The Enforcement Guild,’ Liam connected, recognizing that emblem, but surprised at the sight of body armor. Those weren’t quite rank 1 items, but they remained striking.

The place only had one entrance, guarded by those armored cultivators. Liam played by the rules he had learned from Melissa, but his arrival attracted more attention than he expected.

The guards and other armored cultivators in the area stiffened. Even the foundation experts approaching the gate stopped, moving aside.

Liam didn’t understand what was going on until a handful of foundation experts cupped their fists at him, offering silent greetings.

’Right, I’m a rooting expert,’ Liam recalled, ignoring the attention to approach the guards since the path was clear.

"Senior, welcome to the Guilds’ monthly market," One of the armored cultivators greeted. "Are you aware of the rules?"

Liam didn’t reply but lifted his hand, showing the spirit stone he was holding. Old Joe had warned him about that entrance fee, and he begrudgingly decided to see the strategy through anyway.

"The Guilds hope you’ll enjoy your stay," The guard exclaimed after accepting the spirit stone. "Please, don’t hesitate to ask one of the Enforcement Guild’s members questions if you are in doubt."

Liam merely crossed that open entrance, which was nothing more than a narrow street between two tents that opened into a large area.

The tents’ arrangement created a quasi-square that branched out into additional makeshift streets. The cultivators dwelling in or patrolling the area obviously noticed Liam, and he even saw more salutes fly in his direction.

’There’s indeed a rooting expert here,’ Liam thought, glancing toward the bigger, outermost tent that held that stronger presence, before focusing on the stands.

Despite the crowd, the place was relatively silent. Conversations among the strolling groups and merchants happened, but everyone remained respectfully quiet.

Liam approached the first stand that caught his eye. A bald, middle-aged foundation expert with a broad smile was behind it, dealing with customers who didn’t hesitate to lower their heads and step aside at Liam’s arrival.

"Senior, you honor Ronnie’s humble shop with your presence," The bald foundation expert greeted, rubbing his hands. "Are you looking for alchemical ingredients? You are in luck!"

Unlike the bystanders and other foundation experts with no outward affiliation, Ronnie wore a blue robe with the symbol of a wheel sewn on the right side of his chest.

’Merchants Guild,’ Liam recognized while voicing his doubts. "Why am I in luck?"

"Ah, because Ronnie’s shop has the best ingredients in the Kingdom," Ronnie happily exclaimed, "And our last shipment was quite plentiful. Please, take a look for yourself."

Ronnie pointed at a green jade encased in the stand’s corner, and Liam placed his hand on it to pour his Qi inside, instantly gaining access to the information it contained.

The list was quite long, featuring only rank 1 ingredients and a handful of proper rank 1 alchemical products, but that wasn’t the first thing that stood out.

’I’m ... rich?’ Liam gasped internally.

Since Liam had only used spirit stones as charcoal for the compound concoctions, he had no idea about their value as a currency.

Instead, unlike the Sect, that booth’s prices were in spirit stones, and Liam learned the heartache of wasting money that day.

’An average of ten spirit stones for rank 1 alchemical ingredients?!’ Liam read, shocked. ’The most expensive is twenty-two spirit stones!’

The complete alchemical products’ price was in the hundreds, matching the proportions Liam had learned in the Sect, but that didn’t fix the main issue.

’I ...,’ Liam calculated through his memory. ’I burned over a thousand spirit stones, haven’t I?’

It was an approximation, but mastering the compound concoctions did indeed seem to have required that amount, which became shocking since Liam could now translate it into actual items.

’I burned over ten rank 1 complete alchemical products,’ Liam realized. ’How many magical items is that?’

In theory, magical items were even more expensive, but the financial loss was already undeniable, and that was only the beginning. The next bottleneck promised to be even worse, and Liam now understood what he had to sacrifice to succeed at it.

’It’s like having to pay for three times the ingredients in addition to the ingredient of a higher rank,’ Liam accepted. ’And that for each attempt.’

The slight hope Liam had felt crumbled even further, worsened by more math.

’At the rate that I’m smoking, or eating ...,’ Liam calculated, ’I’ll be left with nothing in less than half a year.’

The list had no rank 2 ingredients, so Liam only guessed their price, but the situation didn’t look good at all. His main priority was to grow, but survival demanded investments elsewhere, and he couldn’t afford either by stealing six spirit stones at a time.

Also, Liam didn’t know if he had to improve the powder’s recipe as his cultivation progressed. He might need to use additional rank 2 ingredients, cutting that time in half or more.

"Senior, is Ronnie’s assortment not to your liking?" Ronnie asked due to Liam’s prolonged silence.

"Do you also sell rank 2 ingredients?" Liam questioned.

"I’m afraid only Ronnie’s superior can deal with them," Ronnie said, "But I’m sure she’ll grant esteemed Senior an audience."

’More people,’ Liam sighed internally, "Can I see your Fever Flowers, Hate Bamboo, Aconite’s roots, and Plague Fruits?"

"Immediately, Senior!" Ronnie happily announced, hurrying inside the tent behind the stall.

’I’ll just match my number of Ghost Roses plus two,’ Liam decided. ’It’s pointless to stash more rank 1 ingredients until I get more high-ranking ones. I also run the risk of my cultivation not needing those weaker recipes anymore.’

Liam’s presence had never stopped drawing attention, which skyrocketed after his order. More foundation experts left what they were doing to witness that mass purchase, gathering around the stand.

But when Ronnie returned with a series of items, Liam found even more problems.

"There they are, Senior," Ronnie said, laying the items on the stand. "How many batches do you intend on acquiring?"

"Where are the ingredients?" Liam asked, blinking under the hood.

"Senior?" Ronnie questioned, pointing at the items on the stand. "Fever Flowers, Hate Bamboo, Aconite’s roots, and Plague Fruits, as you requested."

"None of these ingredients is usable," Liam commented. "Their condition is terrible."

Murmurs spread among the crowd. Liam heard everything but ignored it, used to that attention. Still, Ronnie couldn’t help but glance at the bystanders, a trace of anger joining his face once he refocused on Liam.

"Senior, do you think me a pushover?" Ronnie gasped. "I mean no offense, but I won’t stand for anyone insulting my competence to lower the prices."

"Is the Senior really attempting to lower the prices?"

"I can’t evaluate alchemical ingredients,"

"The goods are vouched by the Merchants Guild,"

"Oh, no wonder the vendor has to take a stand against Senior."

Those and more murmurs reached Liam’s ears, giving him a vague idea of the annoying politics involved, but his senses provided the loudest clue.

’He is lying?’ Liam felt at an instinctive level. He didn’t know why or how, but something in the bald foundation expert’s behavior provided that subconscious conclusion.

And with that realization came a tense vibe that everyone in the area felt.

"Are you tricking me?" Liam asked, a hiss rising from the depths of his mind.