Bearing the blue sky

Chapter 126 Treasure Hunting on Zitao Street

Almost every inch of space was occupied.

The puppets embedded in the walls resembled dolls, yet they were all human-shaped.

"Young sir, please come here."

The wooden puppet that led the way pointed to the ground at the entrance, where there were pre-carved patterns, which should be an array.

"Young Master?" Zhu Ge was taken aback, but then realized what he meant.

He already possessed a wisp of literary energy, while his blood energy had all converged at the heart of martial arts.

Normally, if it is an ordinary martial arts heart, some blood energy will still leak out and be perceived by others.

However, once one reaches the level of a prodigy, their martial arts heart is already in its nascent form, and they can completely prevent even the slightest trace of their blood energy from being revealed.

Not to mention congratulatory songs.

With Zhu Ge's skill level, it's completely flawless with zero leakage.

Therefore, Zhu Ge, as revealed in the eyes of the wooden puppet, was clearly a Confucian scholar at the first stage of Confucian and Taoist cultivation.

Therefore, he is respectfully addressed as "Mr."

Zhu Ge didn't explain much, but instead stood next to the formation.

The array flickered, seemingly scanning Zhu Ge's body and even entering his dantian.

However, he didn't touch the Xi Gui (a type of ghost in Chinese mythology) and the martial arts heart in his mind. After all, the Shangyuan Palace and Zhongyuan Palace were of utmost importance, and normal cultivators would not allow outsiders to explore them at will.

The formation scanned the wisp of literary energy in Zhu Ge's dantian, and then immediately withdrew.

"It has been confirmed that he is human." The wooden puppet nodded and said, "The city is quite chaotic right now, so please be careful, young sir, protect your belongings and beware of petty thieves."

How to prevent petty thieves?

Zhu Ge narrowed her eyes, nodded, and walked into the passage.

The soldiers around him were all wounded, but they remained silent and none of them paid any attention to Zhu Ge.

They could only rest, seize the time to rest, in order to prepare for a possible surprise attack.

As Zhu Ge passed by, he could still sense that these soldiers still had a sense of unity.

It was as if everyone's breath exuded wisps of blood energy, which were condensed together through some kind of technique, making it as solid as iron.

Each group of sixteen people formed a small team, and each team was an impenetrable block. Upon approaching them, they exuded a sharp aura that stung Zhu Ge's skin.

An elite force!

These soldiers seem to be seasoned veterans.

It makes sense, given that the Great Sheng Dynasty was engulfed in war, and these soldiers could face slaughter and conflict at any moment.

Therefore, they must be training every day, or going into the jungle to fight against monsters, never letting their guard down.

Only in this way could Jianshui City be defended when endless hordes of demons besieged it.

Zhu Ge held these soldiers in high regard.

This is not only due to strength, but also to the unwavering will and determination to defend the city.

"Whoosh—"

As you walk through the quiet passage, the sounds of noise and the light rush into the senses of the hymn.

In the distance are buildings constructed of light red clay, and the streets are bustling with pedestrians, each one looking hurried and pale.

This should have been a prosperous city with a large population and developed handicrafts, which led to the development of industry and commerce.

But now, the people in the city, both in terms of numbers and their expressions, are nothing like the "residents of a prosperous city".

Between the distant streets and the Hukou Pass, there was a huge open training ground, with barracks on both sides.

The drill ground was now filled with soldiers.

However, these soldiers were far inferior to the soldiers guarding the passage.

Some of the soldiers were in their sixties or seventies, their backs were hunched, and they had no strength left in their bodies.

Some of the soldiers were actually fourteen or fifteen-year-old boys, their faces still showing signs of immaturity.

New recruits!

Seeing this, Zhu Ge understood.

Although the demons have been driven back, Jianshui City is still in a state of "militarism and recklessness".

From the elderly to the young, anyone who could lift a knife was required to participate.

This proves that there are no longer enough young and middle-aged people to truly support the workforce.

There may still be many soldiers, but the Lord of Jianshui City must have taken into account the current situation in Honghe Prefecture, so he urgently added a large number of soldiers.

Otherwise, it will be too late to summon troops when they are truly needed.

Untrained and powerless soldiers are nothing but easy prey in the face of monsters.

Fortunately, now that the demons have retreated, these soldiers have plenty of time to train.

Zhu Ge's arrival did not cause any ripples. The centurion, who was training new recruits on the drill ground, looked over at Zhu Ge and nodded in greeting.

Zhu Ge naturally nodded silently in response.

However, he also noticed that the centurion looked at Zhu Ge with great respect.

This is not hard to figure out.

When Jianshui City was in danger, most people were thinking about how to escape.

Only a small number of people, like Zhu Ge, would consider entering Jianshui City and becoming a member of the city's defense forces.

Of course, Zhu Ge also had this idea.

Having entered the second realm of martial arts, the Mountain Destruction Realm, Zhu Ge also wanted to have a good fight.

However, given his strength, under normal circumstances, he could easily defeat any first or second-realm monster he encountered in the wild.

Only on the battlefield could he truly enjoy the thrill of killing.

However, he had a purpose in coming to the city this time, so he still needed to go to the market first to do some buying and selling before considering the matter of killing the demon.

After asking several hurried passersby, Zhu Ge finally arrived at Zitao Street, a bustling area!

"A weapon engraved with a calligrapher's calligraphy, a low-grade spirit-level weapon, for only one coin!"

"Herbal herbs possessing a certain spiritual quality, regardless of grade, cost six silver coins per bunch!"

"Buying monster teeth! By weight, I'll pay in copper coins!"

Zitao Street is very clean and tidy, with many pedestrians but no street vendors. Shops line both sides of the street, and the sounds of vendors calling out their wares are constant.

However, most of these sounds came from small shops, while some elegantly decorated and quaint shops were completely silent.

Zhu Ge squeezed into the crowd and walked forward with the flow of people, looking around at what the shops on both sides had along the way.

Herb shop, spirit beast shop, pawn shop, weapon shop —

There are all kinds of shops, some of which are filled with colorful goods, including many high-grade spiritual items brimming with spiritual energy.

A dazzling array!

Zhu Ge also noticed that there were often a lot of people in front of some weapon shops.

After all, it was during a war, and everyone wanted to buy some weapons for self-defense.

However, most of the pedestrians on the street are ordinary people with no strength in their bodies.

Therefore, the most popular shops are often those that sell weapons for ordinary people.

As for some of the shops, they were practically deserted.

Zhu Ge strolled around the Zitao Street, which was a full three kilometers long. There were many shops and pedestrians, and he encountered several people with obscure auras, who were probably second-realm cultivators.

However, he had no connection with Zhu Ge and was not interested in these people.

After he finished strolling through Zitao Street, he also decided where he wanted to go.

First and foremost is the calligraphy!