Forging Immortality through the Dao Seed

"Eh, finally a visitor? A little fellow just entering the Golden Core Realm, Brother Cause and Effect really knows how to pick them. It's just right to use you to test, to see if there's anything lacking in my Huang Liang Village."

The silence in the depths of Huang Liang Village was suddenly broken by a teasing voice, followed by a dazzling gaze projecting from within and landing directly on the gate of Huang Liang Village.

There.

A young woman dressed in a goose-yellow palace gown was looking around in a fluster. Her delicate face was filled with unease, but also tinged with a faint trace of curiosity.

Before long.

The woman took a deep breath and then resolutely set off along the deserted street toward its depths.

But in just a moment, her figure had vanished from sight.

...

...

Tap tap——

The sound of footsteps alternated in an empty street, echoing and making the silence even more pronounced, enough to make one's skin crawl.

"Huang Liang Village, I've never heard of it before."

Yan Caizhi thought to herself quietly.

Her gaze swept over the buildings cloaked in darkness around her.

Yan Caizhi realized that she had probably entered some mystical secret realm, but she was not too surprised. After all, having been in touch with cultivation since her youth, she had grown accustomed to tales of accidental entrances into unknown secret realms.

But different from those secret realms mentioned in the tales,

The secret realm named 'Huang Liang Village' before her was indeed a bit eerie, as there was not a single trace of any living creature's activity; it was practically a ghost town.

No, it couldn't be called a ghost town, because there wasn't even a ghost in sight!

At this moment, even Yan Caizhi, who was usually very brave, couldn't help but feel a chill in her heart.

She instinctively wanted to leave.

But the next instant, the image of the old man she'd bumped into that day flashed through her mind, along with the seemingly ordinary yellow talisman he'd given her, and the lingering worry she had seen on her parents' faces when she'd gotten home.

"Could the solution to the disaster be here?"

Yan Caizhi murmured, her footsteps suddenly becoming firm once again.

In fact, the moment she had realized she had arrived in this so-called Huang Liang Village, she understood that the unknown old man they had encountered on the street was not the charlatan they had imagined, but truly an expert who wandered the world.

Only a pity——

She seemed to think of something, and Yan Caizhi couldn't help but sigh.

If she had known this earlier, she would have been more respectful at first; perhaps she could have received some guidance from that person.

In that case, she wouldn't feel as lost as a headless fly now.

But then again, wasn't she already more fortunate than the others for having received that gift?

Yan Caizhi pondered as she slowly began to explore this vast and uninhabited ghost city.

After an unknown amount of time.

A small building brightly lit with lanterns gradually came into view.

"Someone's there!"

Yan Caizhi's expression jolted with joy, and she couldn't help but quicken her pace uncontrollably.

...

...

"Welcome, honored guest!"

Before she'd even entered, a dignified yet humble voice came from behind the door.

Yan Caizhi paused momentarily and then looked directly toward the sound.

Behind the half-open door was a spacious and simple room. At the center of the room was a black square table, neatly arranged with three jade slips.

And sitting behind the table was a young man dressed in a purple cloud robe, who seemed to be not much older than herself.

The person opposite was also casting his gaze on Yan Caizhi, his face adorned with a faint smile.

"May I ask this—"

Yan Caizhi cautiously stuck her head out, her voice tiny like a mosquito or fly.

She appeared extremely restrained.

"Just call me the shop owner," the man responded softly, his smile unwavering, "Does the guest wish to purchase some treasures? Come into the store and take a look."

So it was a shop.

Yan Caizhi let out a small sigh of relief and then stepped eagerly through the doorway without a moment's hesitation, treading lightly towards the table in front of the man.

Having wandered around Huang Liang Village for so long, this was the first being she had encountered capable of communication, and naturally, Yan Caizhi wouldn't pass up the opportunity.

"As a young woman entering this distinguished place for the first time, I wonder if the shop owner could enlighten me as to what sort of place this is?" Yan Caizhi mustered her courage and tentatively asked.

"It's merely a place for trading," he answered.

"A trading place?"

"Indeed."

The room quickly fell silent.

"Haha."

Seeing that the shop owner opposite her had no intention of elaborating further, Yan Caizhi couldn't help but let out an awkward chuckle before surveying her surroundings with feigned curiosity and asked, "May I ask, shop owner, where are the treasures in your shop?"

"Take a look for yourself."

As he spoke, the man waved his hand lightly, and one of the jade slips on the table instantly took flight, unfolding gradually before Yan Caizhi.

In an instant, characters as small as tadpoles leaped swiftly from the jade slip, their luminescence crafting image after image before Yan Caizhi's eyes.

Densely packed, numbering in the tens of thousands.

These were introductions to various treasures.

"To think they are here; this place truly deserves to be called a Secret Realm. It's not like those shops in the Immortal City at all," she remarked, her gaze slightly askew before she nonchalantly looked ahead.

The reason she had just asked was simply to ease the awkwardness; in fact, she had no intention of buying anything.

But in the next moment—

Yan Caizhi's expression abruptly froze, and a look of disbelief flashed through her eyes.

Then she was frantically scanning the images that detailed the treasures, unwilling to overlook a single word.

Rapid breaths echoed quietly throughout the room.

Time slipped away bit by bit.

"Do any of these treasures catch the guest's fancy?"

As the jade slip returned to normal, the man's voice reached Yan Caizhi's ears, but she seemed deaf to it and just stared blankly, murmuring to herself:

"Immortal treasures, Immortal Roots, divine materials, Tao soldiers and puppets of the Dharma Phase Realm, and there are even innate divine objects... this..."

Yan Caizhi's thoughts struggled to settle down.

The many treasures listed were so valuable that even the cheapest among them could be the foundation of their clan's heritage. As for the more expensive ones, she had only heard of them in legends, never imagining that, one day, they would be laid out before her like common vegetables, waiting to be chosen.

For a moment, Yan Caizhi felt as if she were in a daze, as though dreaming.

Snapping back to reality—

A sharp glint suddenly appeared in her beautiful eyes.

Among the treasures displayed on the jade slip, there were many that could likely help her parents and even her clan to cope with the impending disaster, such as those powerful Immortal treasures, Immortal Pills, Tao soldier puppets, and so on.

"Shop owner, sir."

Yan Caizhi struggled to suppress the excitement rising in her heart and looked at the man before her with a tense expression, stammering as she asked:

"Dare I ask, what is this 'Huang Liang money' listed here? If I don't have any, how would I go about purchasing the treasures in your shop?"

"Turn right when you exit, and you can exchange for it at the money exchange."