Tie Zhu returned to the rest area at the Earth Vein.

His face showed no expression, making it impossible to tell if he was happy or sad.

Someone nearby who knew him couldn’t help but ask, “Did you manage to borrow the rice?”

Tie Zhu glanced at the person and then shook his head. “No, I didn’t.”

“With the price of Spirit Rice skyrocketing like crazy, how could you possibly borrow any!”

“It seems the ‘Senior Brother Jiang’ you’re always praising isn’t all that great after all.”

“Let’s go to the rogue cultivator market again in a few days?”

Hearing the mocking voices around him, Tie Zhu’s expression remained unchanged. He didn’t even feel a ripple in his heart.

He had actually borrowed the rice, but he wouldn’t admit it.

Why? Because these guys weren’t reliable!

If he admitted it, he would face two consequences. First, these guys would leak the information. Second, if something happened to him, it wouldn’t matter, but it would implicate Senior Brother Jiang.

However, the matter of going to the rogue cultivator market did serve as a reminder for Tie Zhu.

He walked toward another area. Once he was sure no one was around, he immediately took out a communication talisman from his small storage pouch.

Meanwhile, at the core of the Spirit Farm.

Lin Yu had just finished casting the Minor Rain Spell and was eating a roasted sweet potato.

At that moment, her older sister Lin Yan showed a disappointed expression and asked, “So it seems I can’t get any Tier-2 Spirit Rice from you?”

“My sister is just like that. Let’s go.” Lin Yu felt a bit embarrassed.

Jiang Chen wasn’t particularly bothered by this. It had taken Tie Zhu nearly three years to earn a sliver of trust. And even then, he had only borrowed 250 jin of Tier-2 Spirit Rice.

This Lin Yan was a complete stranger. He wasn’t familiar with her, nor did he understand her. Why should he just agree to cooperate?

If the information were leaked, dealing with fellow Spirit Farmers would be manageable enough. But if it attracted the attention of the Harvest Alliance, that would be troublesome.

During Jiang Chen’s first visit to the Red Leaf Valley market, he had already witnessed how domineering this organization could be.

Either cooperate, or face suppression. He didn’t want to be disturbed every day.

Just then, a vibration came from his storage pouch. Seeing that the Lin sisters had flown far away, Jiang Chen took out a communication talisman from his small storage pouch.

“Is there something else, Junior Brother?”

“I’m going to the rogue cultivator market. Does Senior Brother need me to buy anything?”

“Yes, it’s the same place where I bought those spells for you before.”

“Confirm a time with me. I’ll go with you!”

If he hadn’t reached Foundation Establishment, Jiang Chen definitely wouldn’t have been willing to venture out. Mainly because he lacked confidence.

But now it was different; his strength had improved. It wouldn’t hurt to go and take a look there.

They agreed to meet up tomorrow. Jiang Chen would go find Tie Zhu then.

After that, he sat cross-legged on the ridge between fields, absorbing Wood-attributed spiritual energy.

It must be said that during Qi Condensation, the five layers of the Evergreen Art were indeed remarkably effective. But once he reached Foundation Establishment, especially after opening his Qi Sea, he realized that even with an immense amount of Wood-attributed spiritual energy, his progress became extremely slow.

That feeling of smooth and satisfying advancement vanished, replaced by a sense of “insatiable desire.”

Clearly, low-level techniques could no longer meet the demands of Foundation Establishment.

Time flew by, and soon it was the morning of the next day.

After finishing his cultivation session and preparing meals for Da Huang and the pearl chickens, Jiang Chen stepped onto his Paper Crane and soared into the sky.

Half an hour later, he arrived near the spiral pit of the Earth Vein. He spotted Tie Zhu waiting on the ground at a glance.

“Junior Brother.” Jiang Chen descended on his Paper Crane.

Tie Zhu looked up and was immediately surprised. “Senior Brother already has a Paper Crane!”

Jiang Chen smiled. “I needed some means of transportation. I couldn’t very well walk all the way here.”

Hearing this, Tie Zhu felt embarrassed and scratched his head awkwardly.

Jiang Chen asked, “How do we get to this rogue cultivator market?”

Tie Zhu pointed in the direction of Fire Peak. “We first need to go up there and take a flying sword.”

Hearing the word “take,” Jiang Chen felt as if he had returned to his previous life. He immediately developed a strong interest. He promptly took Tie Zhu into the air with him and headed toward Fire Peak.

A short while later, a massive mountain floating in the sky appeared ahead.

But astonishingly, it wasn’t composed of stone, trees, or earth. From top to bottom, it was entirely metal.

It was tall—at least a hundred zhang. And long—at least several hundred zhang.

It floated in mid-air like an imposing mountain range. In its presence, humans seemed as insignificant as ants.

Coupled with the intense Metal-attributed spiritual energy it emitted, it made Jiang Chen extremely uncomfortable; his very being seemed to resist it.

Tie Zhu noticed something was off and quickly asked with concern, “Are you alright, Senior Brother?”

Jiang Chen took a deep breath. “Yes. It’s just my first time here; I’m feeling a lot of pressure.”

Tie Zhu nodded slightly. “I felt the same way my first time.”

Fortunately, his Earth Spiritual Root granted him strong resilience against pressure. He gradually adapted after making several trips back and forth.

The Paper Crane continued ascending until finally a plaza came into view. It was very spacious and crowded with people. Many buildings over a hundred meters tall were constructed here.

At places like Spirit Farms, Beast Mountain, and Red Leaf Valley, the most common means of transportation one saw were Paper Cranes and land-based spirit beasts. But here, as Jiang Chen looked around, he saw shuttle after shuttle, flying boats, and airships.

However, what numbered most were golden flying swords. They were incredibly broad—comparable to the decks on ships. They weaved back and forth constantly among these hundred-meter-tall buildings.

Tie Zhu pointed at a building in front and slightly to their left. “To get to the rogue cultivator market from here, we first need to take one of those giant flying swords from that Sword Pavilion.”

Jiang Chen was astounded. “I thought formal disciples here spent all their time forging various spirit tools. I never imagined they’d be piloting flying swords!”

Tie Zhu explained, “Every formal disciple at Fire Peak is an apprentice. But unless they have support from a cultivation family behind them or are favored by an Elder, before reaching Foundation Establishment, they all earn contribution points through tasks like this.”

Subsequently, the two arrived at one such Sword Pavilion.

There were two payment methods for boarding: either deduct contribution points, or spend Spirit Stones.

Payment wasn’t based on distance but on time: The journey from Cloud Sea Sect to the rogue cultivator market took one shichen (two hours). A round trip cost -10 contribution points, or -20 Low-grade Spirit Stones.

Jiang Chen and Tie Zhu chose to spend Spirit Stones, then boarded one giant flying sword together with others who had paid similarly for their journey ahead toward the rogue cultivator market via this mode…

At its hilt lay an array eye where one Mid-grade Spirit Stone floated… Its blade bore numerous carved patterns which flickered intermittently… At its tip stood guard one male disciple possessing a Metal Spiritual Root, who cast sharp glances upon each person boarding…

As fate would have it—just after Jiang Chen and Tie Zhu settled cross-legged upon its surface—suddenly Wang Hu boarded along with three others. Apparently, they too intended to head toward the rogue cultivator market.

Upon seeing Jiang Chen present among the passengers already seated aboard the same vessel, Wang Hu appeared quite taken aback.

For several moments, both parties simply stared silently across the space separating them. Neither spoke initially—just locked eyes wide open, observing the other intently.

After a few seconds passed, Wang Hu finally spoke up, his tone laced with amusement. “Junior Brother Jiang—never expected encountering you here.”

Jiang Chen replied calmly, “Fellow Daoist Wang—likewise.”

“Hmm?” Wang Hu paused momentarily before his expression turned rather unpleasant indeed…

Previously whenever encountering him, the other party would respectfully address him as ‘Senior Brother’… Yet now, he actually refrained from doing so…