The news that Golden Mist Grotto-Heaven would be hosting the Earth Immortal Conference immediately attracted cultivators from all directions.
Many Mahayana cultivators, in particular, viewed joining a grotto-heaven as their only path to becoming immortals.
By joining a grotto-heaven, one could easily absorb immortal energy and cultivate to the Earth Immortal realm within a few hundred or thousand years.
Without joining such forces, opportunities to come into contact with immortal energy would be scarce throughout one's life, making the path to higher cultivation exceedingly difficult.
Furthermore, many Earth Immortals also wished to join the various grotto-heavens and planned to register during this opportunity.
"Senior Zhu, look, ahead is Golden Mist City. That mountain bathed in radiant mist is where Golden Mist Grotto-Heaven is located."
Zheng Long was very enthusiastic in introducing the scenery along the way, acting as a guide for Xiao Fei.
The reason he had shared information with Xiao Fei last time was naturally because he hoped Xiao Fei would bring him along when he came here.
After each harvest in Daocheng, the biggest worry was how to sell all the spirit grains.
Transporting them to distant large cities would naturally ensure sales and good prices.
However, the journey was too long, and the Immortal Realm was not a peaceful place. Each trip was fraught with peril.
This time, traveling with Xiao Fei, he felt much more at ease, as no one dared to target him along the way.
Xiao Fei's gaze had long been captivated by the magnificent mountain ahead, shrouded in myriad rays of light. The city at its foot, though appearing grand, was overshadowed by the mountain's brilliance.
This Golden Mist Grotto-Heaven truly lived up to its name. It was the place that most resembled the Immortal Realm he had seen since entering it.
"Let's go! Let's go have a look!"
Outsiders like them were only allowed to enter Golden Mist City. The inability to enter the mist-shrouded Golden Mist Mountain left Xiao Fei with a sense of regret.
Golden Mist City, situated at the foot of a grotto-heaven, normally housed a small number of Earth Immortals. The city also had a small market, accessible only to those at or above the Earth Immortal realm.
After settling in the city, Xiao Fei immediately went to this market, which was exactly what he was looking for.
However, upon entering the market, he was greatly disappointed by what he saw.
Not only was the scale small, but the entire market had only one general store and one hotel.
Is this it?
Fortunately, there was a plaza within the market, designated for free trading.
Perhaps due to the influx of people for the Earth Immortal Conference, there were now over a hundred individuals in the plaza.
As Xiao Fei entered the plaza, he saw many Earth Immortals, usually of noble status, casually sitting on the ground, setting up stalls to sell various treasures.
He browsed through the stalls one by one. Thanks to his two golden books, he could recognize some of the immortal medicines and materials.
However, there were still many items he didn't recognize. He had to shamelessly approach stall owners to inquire, which greatly expanded his knowledge.
At the same time, he took the opportunity to find out the market price for Meridian-Connecting Grass. Ten mature stalks could be sold for one immortal stone.
By this calculation, the over ten thousand stalks of Meridian-Connecting Grass in his space were worth over a thousand immortal stones.
Once he sold the more than two thousand mature stalks of Meridian-Connecting Grass, he would be rich.
After gathering sufficient information, he set up his own small stall in a corner of the plaza.
Besides Meridian-Connecting Grass, he also had a few petals and seeds from the Skyfire Golden Lotus.
These petals and seeds were picked by him previously, and their price was much higher than that of Meridian-Connecting Grass.
Xiao Fei sat behind his stall, feeling rather neglected, with very few people inquiring about his wares.
After sitting through a whole day of cold-shouldering, he only managed to sell two bunches of Meridian-Connecting Grass, earning two immortal stones.
As for the lotus petals and seeds, many people inquired but found them too expensive and did not buy.
This was far from his grand plan of earning a lot of immortal stones and then being overwhelmed by them.
He watched the Earth Immortals pass by, their gazes rarely lingering on his stall.
It seemed that selling the over a thousand mature stalks of Meridian-Connecting Grass in his space would not be easy.
"Attention, travelers from north and south! Pay attention! Great deals on good items!"
"Good news! Good news! Jiangnan Grotto-Heaven has gone bankrupt!"
"Meridian-Connecting Grass, originally ten stalks for one immortal stone, now buy one bunch get one free! Buy ten bunches get ten free."
Xiao Fei sat behind his stall, and since he had nothing else to do, he decided to shout loudly.
His shouting indeed yielded good results, and soon several Earth Immortals were attracted to him.
"Give me two bunches of this Meridian-Connecting Grass."
"Give me one bunch!"
Although this immortal medicine was not of high grade and not particularly rare, its widespread utility made it valuable.
With Xiao Fei's buy-ten-get-one-free offer, many people thought that since they would eventually need it, it was better to buy a bunch in advance for future use.
"Excuse me, fellow cultivator, where is Jiangnan Grotto-Heaven located? I've never heard of it."
"Alas, it's a long story! Jiangnan Grotto-Heaven is a hundred and eighty thousand miles from here. The Grotto-Heaven Lord eloped with someone.
The remaining people couldn't get along, so they decided to divide everything and disband..."
Xiao Fei briefly recounted the story of the supposedly frequently bankrupt Jiangnan Grotto-Heaven to everyone.
Unexpectedly, his narration attracted even more listeners, and he inadvertently became a storyteller.
Since people were willing to listen, he decided to lay bare and thoroughly explain all the gossip about the Lord of Jiangnan Grotto-Heaven.
These Earth Immortals, who usually focused on cultivation, found listening to gossip occasionally quite enjoyable.
When everyone was happy, they also bought some items from him, making his business suddenly booming.
Even an old man who had a stall next to him managed to sell several more treasures thanks to him.
...
While Xiao Fei was setting up his stall to earn spirit stones, perhaps by a peculiar twist of fate, a woman of striking beauty also entered Golden Mist City.
This person was none other than Fairy Shui Yue, who had been wandering everywhere searching for Xiao Fei.
Since she had no clues, she simply followed her intuition, treating it as a sightseeing trip.
If she met him, she met him. If not, it didn't matter; it was a business trip funded by the sect anyway.
This time, she heard that Golden Mist Sect was holding the Earth Immortal Conference.
She also remembered that she had several close friends in Golden Mist Sect whom she hadn't seen in a long time. It was a good opportunity to catch up.
Therefore, after entering the city, Fairy Shui Yue directly passed through Golden Mist City, found the permanent establishment of Golden Mist Grotto-Heaven, submitted her visiting card, and then settled in Golden Mist City to wait.
Fairy Shui Yue only waited for half a day before a woman even more stunning than herself came down the mountain to meet her.
"Sister, why have you come?"
"I was just passing by, so I came to see you!"
"Sister, you haven't visited our Golden Mist Grotto-Heaven in a long time. Hurry, let's go to the mountaintop to have fun."
The visitor didn't want to linger in Golden Mist City for another moment. She grabbed Fairy Shui Yue and flew towards the mountain bathed in radiant mist.