Celestial Mountain City sat high upon a mountain.

The weather was excellent today, truly a fine day.

Bai Mo looked back and saw the vast white clouds hanging over Celestial Mountain City.

Their party had already passed the boundary at the foot of the mountain.

The sound of arguing nearby pulled Bai Mo back to the present.

He turned his head to see a Cultivator afflicted by a Blood Curse arguing with someone selling Pills.

The latter appeared calm and unhurried.

’As long as he doesn’t have an acquaintance to run the errand for him, he’ll have to come to me sooner or later.’

Seeing this, the others in the group chuckled.

The caravan’s elder walked over to a nearby stall, picking through the goods.

It was a stall selling fruit. The stall owner’s skin was dark and weathered, marked by the sun and rain.

He smiled as he bagged the wild fruits the elder had selected and weighed them.

"Hey, just give me fifteen copper coins for these."

The caravan’s elder took out the copper coins and handed them over.

"I’ll be back next time."

"It’ll be the same price for you next time," the stall owner quickly replied.

Bai Mo didn’t quite understand these customs, but he knew it was a habit among merchants.

Repeat business is the lifeblood of commerce. They spoke with such certainty, as if the elder was guaranteed to return, all for the sake of good fortune.

The caravan’s elder distributed the wild fruits to everyone before boarding his carriage, officially beginning their journey home.

Bai Mo got into the same carriage as before, but this time, he was the only one in the compartment.

Furthermore, his carriage, along with the elder’s, had been moved to the middle of the procession.

Without the weight of goods, the wheels didn’t sink deep into the mud. The horses, having rested and built up their strength for a long time, ran at a rapid pace.

Bai Mo took a bite of a wild fruit—it was sweet and sour. He lifted the side curtain and saw Lanshan riding nearby.

Lanshan noticed immediately.

"Shopkeeper Bai, the carriage is quite bumpy. Are you getting used to it?"

The carriage was moving much faster than it had on the way here, making for a very different experience.

Bai Mo shook his head.

"I’m a Cultivator, after all. What’s there not to get used to?"

"I just wanted to ask, where did all the Spirit Stones from the caravan’s sales go?"

He asked the last part in a hushed voice.

The carriages were returning empty, which proved the transactions weren’t simple barter.

But Bai Mo really hadn’t seen them bring back many Spirit Stones.

Lanshan grunted in understanding, realizing what Bai Mo was curious about.

"Well, Shopkeeper Bai, as a respected Pill Master, if you expand your business in the future, you should know the ins and outs of this."

"For these large-scale transactions, the commerce associations mostly use Spirit Stone vouchers."

"When the caravan returns to Immortal Arrival City, they can go to the Chaoyun Commerce Association and redeem them for Spirit Stones."

Lanshan hadn’t been directly involved, so his explanation was a bit vague and lacked some details.

But Bai Mo understood the gist of it.

’I don’t know who created these Spirit Stone vouchers, but the Chaoyun Commerce Association recognizes them and has the means to back them up.’

’It seems the Chaoyun Commerce Association’s power is even greater than I imagined.’

The caravan galloped on, and the occasional settlements along the road didn’t slow them down.

Occasionally, a Cultivator would leap over to inquire, catching up to the caravan only to be told they had no goods.

"Caravans on their return journey often have no goods. Didn’t you know, sir?"

The Cultivator who had rushed over was very disappointed, saying only:

"How could I not know? I was just trying my luck."

"I missed the outbound caravans, so I was just hoping you all might have some goods left over..."

Usually, when the caravan members heard this, their expressions would sour.

After all, for people in business, those weren’t auspicious words.

A merchant should set out with full carts and return with empty ones.

If the carriages were carrying anything on the way back, it should be Spirit Stones.

Although the caravan’s elder looked displeased, he only said:

"Come and patronize us next time we head out!"

After the halfway point of their journey, the caravan members were less and less willing to bother with these pointless inquiries.

The guards were getting eager to return home.

So was Bai Mo, of course, but he was also mentally planning what he would do after he got back.

Lanshan was the same.

Bai Mo could sense that the burly man beside the carriage was already starting to adjust his mindset.

Such a long period of leisure was too much of a luxury for someone from a Demon Hunting Team.

He was afraid that as soon as they returned to Immortal Arrival City, Lanshan would gather his companions and venture into Celestial Barrier Mountain once more.

The journey there had taken over a month, but the return trip took only twenty-one days.

And that was with occasional rest stops, hunting some wild game for a fresh meal, and preparing some meat to take home.

Immortal Arrival City appeared in their field of vision.

The city walls and gate looked the same as always, with Cultivators and mortals coming and going.

Compared to Celestial Mountain City, Immortal Arrival City had a much larger proportion of mortals.

What was different from before they left was that many people were now carrying huge bundles on their backs, loudly hawking something to the passing Cultivators.

It was a noisy, bustling scene.

Bai Mo poked his head out. The sight of Immortal Arrival City was both warmly familiar and strangely foreign after being away for so long.

Looking again, he realized that among the people hawking wares from their bundles, there seemed to be someone he knew.

"Hey!" Bai Mo called out tentatively.

The man, who had been failing to sell his herbs, froze and turned to see Bai Mo in the carriage.

"Shopkeeper Bai!?"

The old stall owner who used to set up his stall in Immortal Arrival City was both surprised and delighted.

"You’re back? Are you leaving again?"

Bai Mo was exasperated.

"I just got back. How could I be leaving again?"

At this moment, the carriage slowed down as the pedestrians at the city gate were being cleared to let it pass through.

The caravan was nothing special in Celestial Mountain City.

But here in its home base of Immortal Arrival City, it had some renown.

The old stall owner forcefully swung the bundle from his back around to his front.

"Brother Bai, that advice you gave me before you left really helped me make a killing!"

"Take another look, how’s the quality of these herbs?"

Bai Mo reached into the opening of his bundle and rummaged around a bit.

"They are indeed good-quality herbs, and still fresh. Did you go into the mountains to pick them recently?"

The old stall owner puffed out his chest, a proud look on his face.

"Of course! I went deep into Celestial Barrier Mountain for seven days and faced danger several times to find these herbs!"

Although they lived off the mountain, and normally sold more herbs than some pharmacy apprentices ever touched,

their knowledge of medicinal herbs was still sorely lacking. Otherwise, the old stall owner wouldn’t have sought Bai Mo’s advice.

"Nonsense!" Bai Mo clapped the dust from his hands.

"Judging by when these herbs were uprooted, they were picked nearly a month and a half ago."

Bai Mo sighed.

"Spending a month and a half in Celestial Barrier Mountain... You’re not one of those tough guys from a Demon Hunting Team. It’s too dangerous."

"Fellow Daoist, are you sure you don’t want to buy a few of my Qi Absorption Pills to raise your cultivation?"

Bai Mo’s tone was very sincere.

"I’m genuinely worried you’ll get snatched up by some wolf cubs in the mountains!"

The old stall owner quickly spat twice.

"Kids these days don’t know any better, spouting such nonsense."

He turned and started to leave.

"I’m off! With your endorsement, Brother Bai, let’s see who dares to say my herbs are no good! I’m raising the price by another five percent!"

Bai Mo watched him go, feeling helpless.

’Now they’re even doing business outside the city walls. It’s easy to imagine how difficult business has become inside the city.’

’If this keeps up, a market for Loose Cultivators might even pop up outside the city.’

The carriage started moving again as the city gate was finally cleared.

The caravan slowly entered.

Once they were away from the crowd at the gate, Bai Mo hopped down from the carriage.

Lanshan also dismounted.

"Thank you for taking care of us along the way!"

The two of them thanked the caravan’s elder.

The elder chuckled.

"It was a trivial matter. As for you two, feel free to come find me again if you need anything."

"I won’t refuse if I can help. After all, the commerce association has plenty of hands."

Everyone said their goodbyes.

Lanshan, for his part, headed straight for the Demon Hunting Team’s station.

Bai Mo walked alone for a while before finally seeing his shop.

Gazing at the long-closed shop door, Bai Mo felt a wave of emotion.

He smiled, calmed himself, and then walked to the back door, took out his key, and opened the door to his home.