Fantasy World: Seducing The Heroine At The Start

The streets of Black Plain City were as unruly as ever. The stench of alcohol, roasted meat, and sweat mixed in the air, blending with the faint iron tang of blood from some scuffle nearby. Mercenaries roared with laughter, hawkers shouted over one another, and a drunken cultivator threatened a street vendor for overcharging him by a copper.

Yet amidst this chaos, one particular shopfront stood out.

Its sign, freshly painted, swung gently in the wind: Cloud Pavilion.

The name was plain, humble even. Not the kind of grandiose title one would expect in a city known for boasting "Dragon Blade Emporium" or "Heaven-Slaying Pill Hall". But to Feng Yun, that was the point.

Inside, the air was fresh, scrubbed clean of years of mildew. Wooden shelves gleamed faintly under lamplight. A sturdy counter stretched across the front, and in the back, hidden compartments and false walls concealed treasures that no ordinary shop should hold.

Behind the counter sat the Sword Saint — the old man's figure relaxed but his sharp eyes scanning every person who entered. In the eyes of outsiders, he was just a caretaker or a retired guard. But those who lingered too long under his gaze often left quicker than they came.

Feng Yun arrived midmorning, robes clean, expression calm. He pushed open the shop door and was greeted with the faint herbal fragrance of spirit condensation pills, carefully masked beneath the smell of ordinary dried herbs.

The old Sword Saint glanced up from his teacup. "Back at last. Thought you'd spend half the day staring at the sky after that girl left."

Feng Yun smirked lightly. "If I stood staring, would she come back faster?"

"Hmph. Sharp tongue." The old man snorted, but a ghost of amusement flickered across his wrinkled features.

Feng Yun walked slowly along the shelves, inspecting each row. Ordinary items filled most of the space: clay pots, bundles of firewood, coarse cloth, candles, travel rations, and simple paper talismans scrawled with cheap ink. Any rogue cultivator or mercenary could afford them.

But here and there, he had placed his real stock.

A jar of spirit condensation pills tucked among mundane powders, its qi signature faint but steady. A roll of Skyweave Silk, disguised under rough cloth bundles. A pouch of Silverleaf Spirit Tea, casually placed next to ordinary leaves. A low-grade spirit talisman, written with authentic qi ink, positioned beside paper charms that were little more than superstition.

If a careless buyer picked them up, they'd see nothing but ordinary wares. But to sharp-eyed cultivators? Each item was a treasure — rare, valuable, and difficult to find in this region.

The trick was subtlety.

He had no interest in shouting about his goods or drawing too much attention. Not yet. Instead, he wanted whispers to spread. Whispers carried weight in Black Plain City. They were the true currency here — more than gold, more than pills, more than blades.

"How is the business?" Feng Yun asked as he adjusted a row of jars.

"Growing slowly," the Sword Saint replied lazily.

Feng Yun's lips curved faintly. "Good."

"People are asking about the rare items continuously." The old man said again.

"So when are you going to sell these items openly?"

"Not yet."

"Well, words are already spreading about the appearances of rare items appearing in your shop. People are getting curious. You will face some challenges soon regarding the origin of these items. However, as these items are relatively low rank, it will not create chaos." The sword saint stood up from the chair and spoke.

"Now, you are here; I am going back to the house to watch over my granddaughter." The sword saint said.

"Hey, old man, I need your help with something." Feng Yun stopped him and said.

"What is it?"

"Do you know formations?"

"Well, I have some knowledge of formation, but I am not a formation master." The Sword Saint replied.

"I am thinking of setting an array formation around the shop; with your help, it can be done faster." Feng Yun said. The protection of the shop was necessary, and the old man couldn't stay here in the shop all the time to protect the shop, so it was essential to place an array formation similar to his house formation around the shop.

"It is indeed a good plan. However, if you want to set up a formation, ordinary formation won't work well. You have to place at least a sixth-rank formation." The sword saint said.

"I know that this is why I am going to place a seventh-rank formation; this is the formation I want to place. Here, look at this." Feng Yun said as he took out a formation from this system's storage and showed it to the sword saint.

The old sword saint carefully looked at the formation plate; he was a little surprised upon seeing a high formation plate. These were not common in this world.

"Where did you find this?" The sword saint couldn't help but ask curiously.

Feng Yun smiled but didn't say anything.

The sword saint understood that Feng Yun didn't want to tell its origin, so he didn't press it.

"This is my time seeing such a complicated formation; it is amazing. However, the required items to set up this formation are very rare and mysterious; even I haven't heard of a few of them.

"Don't worry about them; I will get the treasures; you just have to follow my instructions. My cultivation level is limited, and this is a sword formation; your sword intent will come in handy when placing the formation." Feng Yun said as he started to buy the items that were needed to set up the formation in bulk.

Seeing the items, the sword saint couldn't help but look at Feng Yun again. He was stunned by the richness of Feng Yun and his mysterious wealth. The treasures produced by Feng Yun were exceptional and mysterious, never seen in the world. He was really curious where he obtained these treasures.

The old man's sword saint was not an ordinary person; he had travelled across the world and had seen countless treasures in his life, but Feng Yun's treasures still gave him a surprise.

"Ruo, put up a notice on the door that the shop will be closed for a short time for maintenance." Feng Yun said to Wang Ruo.

"Yes, young master!" Wang Ruo nodded.

After a while, the shop became deserted. Feng Yun and the old man stepped into the air and started laying the formation. This formation was easier to set up compared to the thunder formation that he placed in his mansion.