Journey to the West: Starting from the Imperial Horse Stable

The bustling atmosphere of the market stalls during the day subsided slightly, only to boil over again as dusk fell.

Carrying the celestial talisman, Wang Chen followed the rules to the deacon's office, paid ten spirit stones, and received a palm-sized wooden plaque with a number and a simple restriction engraved on it. This was his proof of ownership for setting up a stall in Xuanzhu Market.

He followed the flow of people and found his assigned area. It was a row of slightly worn stone platforms, separated by low stone blocks, which could barely be considered stalls. His spot was towards the back, not very conspicuous, and his neighbors on either side had already arrived.

On the left was a middle-aged man selling broken magical artifacts, who was wiping a dull spirit stone with a soft cloth, oblivious to the bustling scene around him.

On the right is an old immortal official with gray hair, wearing a faded gray-blue robe. On the stone platform in front of him are two palm-sized white jade bottles with red paper pasted on them, bearing the five small characters "Qingxin Shoushen Dan" (Pill for Cleansing the Mind and Guarding the Spirit).

The old clerk kept his hands tucked into his sleeves, his back slightly hunched, his gaze fixed on his two bottles of pills, then occasionally lifting to look at the bustling area of ​​medicine stalls in the distance, his eyes revealing a hint of indescribable loneliness.

Wang Chen stood behind his stone platform, tidied himself up briefly, and his gaze naturally fell on the two bottles of pills.

"Old man," Wang Chen cupped his hands in greeting, his tone gentle, "is this pill for calming the mind and soothing the nerves?"

The old celestial official seemed surprised that someone would take the initiative to speak. He paused for a moment before slowly turning his head. He glanced at Wang Chen, his gaze lingering on the celestial talisman at Wang Chen's waist. He forced a polite but distant smile onto his face.

"Exactly. My Mind-Clearing and Spirit-Preserving Pill is specifically for treating palpitations and other symptoms caused by impetuous cultivation or fear after a great battle in the Celestial Immortal realm. Although the ingredients are not top-notch, the refining method is a branch of the Laozi Furnace lineage, and the medicinal properties are moderate and mild, making it the most reliable."

The old clerk's voice was somewhat hoarse, but when he spoke of elixirs, his logic was clear.

But when he heard the old clerk say that each pill cost one hundred spirit stones, Wang Chen understood why the old clerk's stall seemed so deserted.

This price is not cheap for a wandering immortal, and it is certainly not something that low-ranking immortal officials, who are also worried about spirit stones, can easily part with. No wonder the place is deserted.

"I see. It seems to be a good medicine for dealing with inner demons." Wang Chen nodded, without asking any further questions, and said, "I am Wang Chen, and this is my first time setting up a stall. I hope you will take good care of me, sir."

"Of course, of course." The old celestial official also cupped his hands in greeting and introduced himself, "My surname is Han, and my given name is Ji." He looked at Wang Chen's empty stone platform, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Young friend Wang, what do you intend to sell?"

"Just some common medicine for injuries," Wang Chen replied vaguely, without saying more.

Seeing this, Han Ji stopped asking questions and turned his attention back to his pills, resuming his silent and waiting posture.

Wang Chen noticed that, up until now, no one had even glanced at Han Ji's stall, let alone asked any questions. Occasionally, passersby would catch a glimpse of the price tag of one hundred spirit stones, but they would immediately look away and walk quickly away.

Wang Chen stopped observing and slowly took out more than thirty small porcelain bottles from his storage bag, arranging them neatly on the stone platform.

At first, it went unnoticed. Although there were few stalls selling wound medicine at Xuanzhu Market, they weren't nonexistent; people were more accustomed to flocking to the few well-known stalls.

Just then, a heavenly soldier who was rushing by caught a glimpse of the porcelain bottle on Wang Chen's stone platform out of the corner of his eye, and he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Is this wound medicine?" The soldier stared wide-eyed and moved closer.

Wang Chen nodded: "That's right, fifty-three spirit stones per bottle."

Without any hesitation, the soldier immediately pulled out spirit stones: "I want five bottles! No, ten bottles!"

The somewhat hasty transaction was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake. Several people who were looking around nearby were immediately drawn to it.

"Do you have wound medicine here too?"

"Fifty-three spirits? I want three bottles!"

"Give me two bottles too!"

Inquiries and purchases quickly gathered, and seven or eight people soon surrounded Wang Chen's stone platform. He remained calm, collecting spirit stones with one hand and handing out medicine bottles with the other, his movements methodical and efficient. More than thirty bottles of wound medicine sold out in less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.

The last two bottles were snatched up by a latecomer at a slightly higher price. Those who didn't get them beat their chests in frustration and surrounded Wang Chen, refusing to leave.

"Fellow Daoist, do you have any left? I'd like to order twenty bottles! At fifty-five spirit stones, I can pay the deposit first!" a man dressed as a centurion said eagerly.

Wang Chen glanced at him, then swept his gaze over the eager eyes around him, and shook his head: "A deposit isn't necessary."

He paused for a moment, and before everyone could be disappointed, he reached into his storage pouch and another fifty identical porcelain bottles appeared on the stone platform, stacked into a small pile.

"The next batch will be here," Wang Chen said.

The surroundings were silent for a moment, then erupted into an even louder roar.

"besides?"

"So many!"

"I want it! I want it! The twenty bottles you mentioned!"

"Why should you take it all? I'll give you fifty-eight spirits, and you give me ten bottles!"

"Sixty spirits! Sell the rest to me!"

The price was artificially inflated during the bidding war. The centurion's expression changed; seeing his companions eyeing him covetously and the even higher offers, he immediately changed his tune: "Then I'll take them all! Sixty spirits each!"

"Fellow Daoist, shouldn't we at least consider the order of arrival?" another burly heavenly general said in a deep voice, his eyes filled with hostility.

Wang Chen raised his hand, silencing the argument: "No need to argue. Since this soldier made the first reservation, give him twenty bottles as agreed, at fifty-five ling. The remaining thirty bottles will go to the highest bidder."

His tone was calm, yet carried an undeniable air of authority.

Although the centurion was somewhat disappointed that he hadn't managed to get all of them, he was pleasantly surprised to receive twenty bottles at the original price, so he quickly paid and picked up the medicine.

The remaining thirty bottles were all bought up by the burly general at a price of sixty-two spirit stones per bottle after a few hurried bids.

A small pile of spirit stones, shimmering with light, stood before Wang Chen's stone platform. He calmly stored the spirit stones in his storage pouch, his movements showing no sign of panic.

This scene left Han Ji, who was standing nearby, completely dumbfounded.

He might not make a single sale even after a whole day of selling. But this young man named Wang Chen, in a short period of time, produced more than eighty bottles of wound medicine and exchanged them for thousands of spirit stones! The crisp sound of the porcelain bottles colliding, the clattering of the spirit stones rubbing together, and the eager yet ingratiating words of the medicine buyer all felt like needles, gently pricking his long-dormant heart.

When Wang Chen reached for the storage pouch again, Han Ji's surprise turned into deep confusion, and a slight flutter that even he himself was unaware of.

Wang Chen took out another thirty bottles and placed them on the table.

This time, the onlookers' reaction was no longer simply one of eager buying, but rather one of surprise and scrutiny.

"Fellow Daoist...aren't you a bit too much in storage?" someone couldn't help but ask, their gaze shifting back and forth between Wang Chen's calm face and his seemingly inexhaustible storage pouch.

"Yes, today, your store has the most goods shipped out of the entire Xuanzhu Market."

"I heard someone bought four thousand bottles this morning... Could it be that you bought them?"