Chapter 1655: Studying The Profound In The Rising Serpent Market

Every street was paved with white jade, and every jade was producing thin wafts of smoke.

The white jade was no ordinary jade. It was called the Smoke Producing Jade.

“White jade creates a morning smoke that extends life and year.” This quote described the function of the Smoke Producing Jade perfectly. To put it simply, the Smoke Producing Jade possessed the power to extend one’s lifespan. It was so valuable that there was a saying that a thousand gold could not buy two inches of jade. It was priceless in most places.

But here in the Celestial Market On A Cloud, their roads were all paved using the Smoke Producing Jade. Just how wasteful was that?

As for the buildings, they were either built from clouds, flighty and tall; mist, ephemeral and seemingly non-existent; or clear light, both present and not present at the same time. They were incredibly strange to look at, but still indescribably beautiful.

In the sky, structures stood tall and proud, and auspicious clouds flew here and there. Cute children could be seen flying here and there in the sky as well. They were either diving in and out of clouds, taking strange, cloudy forms on occasion, or playing among themselves.

Everything looked beautiful, fantastical, peaceful, and pleasant. It was like a celestial realm.

There weren’t many people on the street, but everyone was shrouded by some sort of thin mist. The mist was constantly changing and warping their appearance to male, female, old or young.

The mist was called the Illusory Mist. It could mask one’s energies and appearance. The conventional Illusory Mist could not mask a person from a Sage’s senses as a matter of course, but the ones used in the Celestial Market On A Cloud was so potent that even a Sage’s senses couldn’t pierce it.

The celestial market did this to protect their customers’ identity.

“Cloud Child!”

Ye Qing waved toward the sky, and a girl who was playing with her peers flew down to meet him.

The girl was only as big as a human palm. She was wearing a set of clothes made of clouds and a pair of pigtails on her head. She looked cute and naughty.

The girl circled around them once after flying down to their level. Finally, she landed on Feng Qingyou’s shoulder.

“Feng Ling’er greets you, honored guests. What can I do for you?”

The girl saluted them primly and asked them in a sweet, melodious voice.

The girl was none other than the Cloud Child the two Cloud Spirits were talking about.

The Cloud Children were a type of Strangers raised by the Celestial Market On A Cloud. Their main function was to provide customer service. Anyone could ask them about anything regarding the Celestial Market On A Cloud. They could also request a Cloud Child to carry a message, run an errand and more.

“Can you give us a rough introduction of this place?” Ye Qing asked her.

“Got it. Please take a look.”

Feng Ling’er waved her little hand and summoned a three-dimensional map of the Celestial Market On A Cloud.

“The Celestial Market On A Cloud is split into five main markets. They are located in the east, west, north, south, and center. The eastern market is called the Rising Serpent Market. It is where martial arts, Magias and secret arts are traded. The southern market is called the Curved Array Market. It is where Strange Artifacts and strange objects are traded. The northern market is called the Supreme Yin Market. It is where spirit pills and precious medicine are traded. The western market is called the Six Unions Market. It is where natural resources and treasures are traded. Finally, the center market is the Purple Star Market. It is the place of auctions, accommodation, food and drinks, entertainment and recreation.”

“Please head to the correct market to obtain what you need, honored guests.”

“Is there anything we should watch out for while we are here?” Ye Qing asked another question.

Feng Ling’er answered, “We do not have any strict rules or regulations. You simply need to remember one thing: Arguing is fine, fighting is not.”

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

“Arguing is fine, fighting is not? Got it.” It was a clear and easy rule to understand. Bargaining for something was okay, but fighting of the physical sort was forbidden.”

It was Feng Ling’er’s turn to ask him, “Do you need anything else, honored guests?”

Feng Qingyou spoke up. “Please take us to the Rising Serpent Market. Also, please introduce the Rising Serpent Market to us in detail.”

“This way please, honored guests.”

Feng Ling’er took to the sky at the same time she began her introductions, “There are three levels in the Rising Serpent Market. The first level features martial arts, the second level features Magia, and the third level features incomplete martial arts, scriptures, secret arts, Magia and more.”

They quickly arrived at the Rising Serpent Market under Feng Ling’er’s guidance.

Despite what its name implied, the Rising Serpent Market was not a winding, haphazardly built marketplace. Instead, it was a pagoda that reached into the clouds.

The tower was called the Rising Serpent Tower, and it boasted 3,900 martial arts in total. Every single one of them could carry one to the Sage-stage.

The tower boasted 6,835 Magia in total. Every single one of them could shift mountains, overturn seas, sever rivers, and cut flows.

The tower boasted around thirty two thousand and seven hundred incomplete scriptures, Magia, and secret arts. Although they were incomplete, they were all highly valuable. Some of them had survived since ancient times, some of them were left behind by a god or a demon, some of them were authored by famous people, and some of them contained ancient secrets. They were all extraordinarily valuable, and some of these scriptures were on par as those Sage-stage martial arts and Magia.

A woman walked up to them as soon as they entered the Rising Serpent Market.

She was human and pretty strong in her own right. She was a Half-Sage.

The woman seemed mild-tempered. She was respectful but not obsequious. “Welcome to the Rising Serpent Market, honored guests. What do you need?”

“We’re just going to browse for a bit first,” Ye Qing replied.

The woman nodded. “Understood. Please do not hesitate to call for me or a staff member if you need anything.”

“Thank you.”

Ye Qing thanked her and looked up at the sky. He saw a dazzling, boundless sky where countless stars were suspended in the cosmos. They blended together into mysterious constellations and complex rivers of stars. They looked gorgeous.

Of course, neither the cosmos nor the river of stars were real. For starters, the stars were really martial arts manuals.

When Ye Qing focused his spiritual power into one of the stars, it abruptly brightened and summoned an illusion. He saw a gigantic silkworm forming a cocoon around itself and becoming a butterfly. It seemed profound beyond measure.

The starlight then circulated and formed a short passage inside his head. It read:

“The ‘Nine Transformations of the Heavenly Silkworm’ is a godlike art created by a legendary hero, Yun Feiyang. This divine art cannot be mastered until one has gone through nine lives and deaths. Upon completion, the practitioner would possess immeasurable power and gain nine lives.”

“Nine Transformations of the Heavenly Silkworm?”

Ye Qing raised his eyebrows. He had, in fact, heard of the “Nine Transformations of the Heavenly Silkworm” before. It was quite the famous martial art. Naturally, he was curious to know about its contents.

Unfortunately, the starlight only showed him an introduction of the martial art. He would have to buy it if he actually wanted to read its contents.

Sighing, Ye Qing broke off his connection with the star containing the “Nine Transformations of the Heavenly Silkworm”. Then, he cast his spirit onto another star. This time, he saw a celestial riding the clouds all the way up to the nine heavens.

“The ‘Nine Firmaments Cloud Riding Art’ is the exclusive martial art of the Cloud Riding Monastery. It could be used to harvest the essence of heaven and earth, the sun and the moon. At the adept level, one will ride the clouds up to the heavens and evolve into a celestial.”

Ye Qing proceeded to check out a couple more stars after that.

“The ‘Shang Qing Thunder Snatching Profound Response Treasure Scroll’ is one of the ultimate thunder arts of the Shang Qing line. At the adept level, one will be capable of commanding the three thousand thunders under the heavens and creating three thousand thunder worlds to subjugate the dark and slay the evil. All evils shall recede before its might.”

“The ‘Pure Yang Unbounded Sword Scripture’ is a profound art invented by the Pure Yang Unbounded Trueman. Embodying the greatness of pure yang and containing the Unbounded Supreme Sword Qi, a sword strike will summon a golden sun that illuminates everything within thousands and thousands of kilometers and cow all foes into submission.”

“The ‘Sagely Heart Mantra of the Sages’ is a true sutra created by the Confucian sage, the Endless Horizon Sage Gentleman. With Confucianism at its core, it is a legendary work that combined the meaning of all schools of thought. Those who practiced it would gain the skill to safeguard a country and govern the people. They would also gain the power to shift mountains, overturn seas, subjugate the dark, and suppress demons.”

“The ‘Eight Nine Ruyi Art’ is a martial art created by the Mountain Mover Divine General. It teaches how to temper one’s physical body with natural resources and treasures, nurture qi and change blood until it has reached perfection, willful transformation, and endless flexibility. It is an unparalleled art that allows one to become a Sage through their physical body.”

The ‘Myriad Form Corrupting Desire Demon Sutra’ is a martial art where one visualizes the Myriad Form Heavenly Demon King to nurture their Heavenly Demon True Intent. One could use the Heavenly Demon True Intent to corrupt the living under the heavens and rob them of their desires to become the Myriad Form Heavenly Demon Sovereign.”

“The ‘Arhat Divine Art’ is an unparalleled Buddhist art. At the adept level, one can create the Arhat Golden Body and gain the Phala[1] of Arhat.”

1. Phala is a Sanskrit term that means “fruit” of one's actions in Hinduism and Buddhism. ☜