Chapter 1: Haicheng (Part 1)

Xuan Ai had his own small courtyard in Haicheng, with a few ordinary people serving as servants. Although he had risen to the rank of Mad Master, he couldn’t become extremely wealthy. Unlike professionals in the lower continents, in Haimen, only those above the rank of Saint Master held any status, and only after reaching the rank of Great Saint Master could one live a relatively comfortable life.

Xuan Ai helped Guo Shier and the others complete the registration procedures and obtain identity tokens guaranteeing their residence in Haimen. From then on, they could legally live in Haicheng and look for jobs. In Haicheng, it was quite common for professionals to work—this was completely different from the lower continents.

After resting at Xuan Ai’s home for a few days, Guo Shier and the others recovered. Especially Qi Nanshan, who was almost unable to walk when he first landed, staggering around like a crab and occasionally moving sideways before finally returning to normal. He swore never to take a sea ship again, preferring long-distance flight instead.

That night, the four of them agreed to stay on the Core Foundation Continent for a while before returning to the Star Continent to continue searching for Master Luo Jie. With the interdimensional talisman, they could determine the coordinates of this continent and return directly from the Star Continent. Monier attached great importance to this continent—it was an advanced continent, and in the future, she could bring Kuumu here to find a suitable sect to join.

Qi Nanshan didn’t really care about this; as long as he could find the old man, everything else didn’t matter to him. Of course, he also knew it wasn’t something that could be rushed. Eagle Demon shared a similar mindset—as long as he followed Guo Shier, he didn’t need to worry about anything.

Xuan Ai was happy. He loved having friends come over, as it gave him an excuse to take time off and relax—a feeling he really enjoyed. He had never been a fanatic about cultivation; he preferred a leisurely life. Unfortunately, on advanced continents, one needed to reach at least the rank of Saint Master to lead such a life.

After staying for a few days, Guo Shier decided to explore Haicheng. He had never been to a city on an advanced continent before and wanted to see how it differed from cities on the lower or intermediate continents.

Monier was also eager to go shopping, hoping to buy some specialties from the advanced continent to show off at the Chenxiao Sect. After discussing it, they decided that Xuan Ai would accompany them, while Guo Shier, Monier, and Eagle Demon would go shopping together. Only Qi Nanshan had no interest in it; for him, shopping was less appealing than sleeping.

Shopping was a relaxing activity—no need to think about anything, just walk around and look around. So, Guo Shier and the others were in high spirits.

Xuan Ai explained as they walked, “This is Octopus Street. Look… it branches out in all directions, just like an octopus pouncing on the ground.” He then pointed to a street not far away. “This street is dedicated to selling various materials on consignment. We call it Groceries Lane. Going down this street leads to Spellcraft Avenue, the busiest place in Haicheng.”
Guo Shier was surprised. “Spellcraft Avenue?”
Xuan Ai replied, “What’s so strange about that? Any city in the advanced continents… or sect markets, all have Spellcraft Avenue. It’s standard practice.”
Guo Shier’s face turned slightly red. He didn’t know that much. He said, “Oh, I hardly get a chance to go shopping. Hehe, shall we go take a look?” The last sentence was directed at Monier.
Monier smiled. “Sure, let’s go. Maybe we can find something special.”
Xuan Ai said, “In the city… anything related to spells is common goods. High-quality items are rare. The truly good things are in the sects, and most of the time, they’re exchanged rather than bought and sold.”
Guo Shier didn’t have any large spell coins from this place. Although as a professional, he could be self-sufficient, there were still some things that required large spell coins. He said, “Xuan Ai, find a better shop. I want to sell some materials.”
Xuan Ai nodded. “I know a shop with fair prices.”
When they arrived at a shop’s entrance, Xuan Ai said, “It’s this one.”
Guo Shier looked up. There was no signboard, no promotional materials—just an ordinary door. Without someone guiding them, one wouldn’t even know it was a shop. He asked, “What’s the name of this shop?”
Xuan Ai smiled. “I think it’s Haizhen Shop. I can’t remember exactly. Someone brought me here a few times. I found it quite good—fair prices and good service.”
They entered through the door. Inside was a large courtyard with cobblestone floors covered in piles of dried goods, emitting a strong seafood smell—all untreated marine products. Guo Shier glanced at them and said, “These are foods, not materials for making spells.”
Xuan Ai nodded. “The front yard buys marine products, while the back yard buys materials for making spells.”
There were a few people who looked like fishermen standing in the courtyard, haggling with the buyers. One of the workers saw Guo Shier and the others coming in and hurried over, greeting them, “Excuse me—”
Xuan Ai smiled. “We want to sell some materials for making spells.”
The worker’s face lit up with joy. “Please, please follow me,” he said eagerly, leading them to the back yard.

There weren’t many people in the backyard; only a few low-level professionals were selling their loot. That guy walked up to an old man and said, “Master Fan, there are some distinguished guests…” Then he stepped aside.

Master Fan put on a professional smile and said, “Some… uh, Master Xuan! Long time no see. Are these your friends?”

Xuan Ai smiled and said, “Old Fan, sorry to bother you. These are all my friends from the Outer Continent. They have quite a few nice items with them.”

Master Fan immediately beamed with joy and said, “Great, great… Please come and sit in the main hall.” He turned to the young clerk beside him and said, “Go and call Master Sun, the appraiser.”

Guo Shier asked, “Xuan Ai, is this merchant shop also a subordinate shop of your Hai Men?”

Xuan Ai replied, “Of course. In Hai City, even the slightly larger merchant shops are affiliated with Hai Men. Even if not directly affiliated, they still have intricate connections with Hai Men. In Hai City… Hai Men controls everything.”

Master Fan already knew that Guo Shier and the others were professionals from the Outer Continent. Hearing this, he couldn’t help but interject, “All the material for making talismans we purchase here eventually has to be handed over to the sect. Hehe, please! Come and sit in the main hall.”

Everyone entered the specially designated main hall.

A young man walked in. Master Fan hurried over and said, “Master Sun has arrived. Let me introduce him to you. He’s a disciple of Hai Men, Sun Fu, a juniorcrazy master of talismans. Master Sun is our shop’s appraiser.”

Xuan Ai smiled and said, “Sun Fu, long time no see. How have you been?”

Sun Fu sighed and said, “Not good at all. It’s so boring. I spend my days dealing with a bunch of stinky materials. It’s not like you… roaming around freely in the vast world. You must be much happier than me.”

Xuan Ai shook his head and said, “Forget it. You stay indoors every day, protected from wind and rain. How comfortable! Why envy me? I run around like a dog every day, exhausted to death.”

Sun Fu didn’t want to continue this topic and asked, “Are these your friends?” He glanced at Guo Shier and the others, showing a surprised expression, seemingly realizing that these three had high levels. He then asked, “Are they not disciples of our Hai Men?”

Xuan Ai smiled and said, “Go ahead, introduce yourself.”

Guo Shier nodded and said, “Guo Shier, from the Outer Continent, a junior talisman saint master.”

Monier said, “Monier, an intermediate talisman saint master.”

Eagle Demon said, “Eagle Demon, a junior martial saint master.”

Shopkeeper Fan stepped back. Even in Haicheng, Saints held a high status, and he never expected all three of them to be Saints-level professionals. Sun Fu showed a hint of surprise and became slightly more respectful, saying, “Pleasure to meet you. Hehe, since you’re Xuan Ai’s friends, you’re also my friends. If you need any help, just give the order.”

Both Sun Fu and Shopkeeper Fan were puzzled—why would Saints-level professionals come here to sell materials?

Guo Shier also had his reasons. He didn’t dare bring out too good materials, as that would draw attention, so he could only sell some ordinary materials to earn enough to live on the Coreland.

He took out a talisman bag and handed it to Sun Fu, saying, “There are some low-grade materials here. Please assess their value.”

The talisman bag contained materials taken from a level-5 mutated talisman beast—a mutated iron crocodile collected in the Bloody Secret Realm. Its essence had already been absorbed by the Giant Nest Dragon, leaving only bones and an iron crocodile skin.

After a quick inspection, Sun Fu set a price. Materials from level-5 mutated talisman beasts weren’t rare, and the Haizhen Merchant Guild often received them. He said, “It’s a quite intact iron crocodile skin. Well, I’ll give you a round figure—80,000 Great Talisman Coins.”

Guo Shier was slightly stunned before smiling and saying, “Okay.”

Eagle Demon frowned slightly, thinking the price was too low. Then he realized this was the Advanced Talismans Continent, so maybe level-5 mutated talisman beasts weren’t valuable here. If it were the Northern Talismans Sect, this mutated iron crocodile would never be sold; it would have to be exchanged for other goods.

Xuan Ai nodded, saying, “This price is good.”

With Shopkeeper Fan’s explanation, Guo Shier gradually understood the value of Great Talisman Coins in Haicheng’s lifestyle. Great Talisman Coins from advanced continents were generally interchangeable—meaning they could be used on other advanced continents as well. However, there were still differences between the Great Talisman Coins of various continents. An ordinary resident could live a comfortable life with just a few hundred Great Talisman Coins per month.

Sun Fu transferred the materials from the talisman bag, added 80,000 Great Talisman Coins, and handed it back to Guo Shier.

Curious, Guo Shier took out a Great Talisman Coin and was shocked. It was made of gold, completely different from those of the Northern Talismans Sect. It had two runes: “Coreland,” representing the Coreland. The coin was exquisitely crafted, no less exquisite than the commemorative gold coins from his past life.

Monier took it, glanced at it, and couldn’t help but praise, “What a beautiful large talisman coin!” Even the Chenxiao Sect didn’t have such beautiful large talisman coins. Gold was also a material used for crafting talismans, and in the mid-to-low-level continents, it was a relatively precious auxiliary material. That’s why no mid-to-low-level continent would use gold to make large talisman coins—it would be too extravagant and wasteful. No wonder it came at such a high price; it turned out to be a large talisman coin made of gold, which already had a high value. Only then did the Eagle Demon understand.