Chapter 169: Flowing Cloud Market

The night sky was as clean as if freshly washed, devoid of even a shred of mist. Countless stars twinkled, emitting striking radiance and forming a wondrously picturesque night scene.

However, Bai Qingzhou and his three companions had not the slightest inclination to admire the scenery. Looking at the magnificent sight before them, their faces were filled with utter astonishment.

"Is this... Flowing Cloud Marketplace?" He Li muttered, her gaze dull and vacant.

Before them lay a massive, brightly lit marketplace. Countless lanterns hung suspended in mid-air from out of nowhere, resting quietly and emitting a dazzling brilliance that illuminated the marketplace below.

The marketplace itself was unimaginably grand and majestic, resembling a vigorous, soaring golden dragon lying in repose across towering mountain ranges. The city walls wound and undulated along the contours of the peaks. Rather than calling it a mere marketplace, it was more akin to a colossal city. The streets within were laid out in an orderly fashion, densely packed with people, presenting a bustling scene bathed in brilliant light.

At the very center of the city stood a towering pavilion. A beam of white light shot straight up from the top of the pavilion, blooming into a brilliant radiance at the city's dome, where numerous array symbols surrounded the area, drawing and gathering countless beams of light to illuminate the entire marketplace as bright as day.

"This..." Bai Qingzhou was also left speechless. "This marketplace is nearly ten times larger than Fire Camp Marketplace, and it can actually be as bright as day!"

"Truly magnificent! I've long heard that Flowing Cloud Marketplace is the second-largest marketplace in our Linjiang Prefecture, but I never imagined it would be this vast," Wu Haoming exclaimed in wonderment.

"Ah? This scale is only the second largest?!" He Zuo's eyes widened in amazement, and he hurriedly turned his head to ask, "Then where is the largest marketplace?"

"Hehe, I'm not telling you!"

"Hmph, I didn't want to hear it anyway!" He Zuo retorted disdainfully.

"Let's head over." Bai Qingzhou cut short their bickering, then manipulated his magical instrument to fly toward the marketplace.

As the four of them slowly approached, the grandeur of Flowing Cloud Marketplace became all the more palpable.

"It looks like there are people conducting inspections!" Wu Haoming shouted in surprise as he looked at the long queue winding ahead.

At the entrance of the marketplace ahead, several cultivators dressed in white robes were questioning the incoming people one by one.

"Could these be people from the Four Directions Sect...?" Wu Haoming wore a worried expression, then turned his head to ask, "Senior, should we still go over...?"

The four of them had already been branded as robbers by the Four Directions Alliance. If they were discovered here, they surely wouldn't be able to escape as easily as they did at Grand Temple Marketplace.

Bai Qingzhou also felt a trace of hesitation in his heart; after all, having visited so many marketplaces, he had never once seen inspections conducted right at the entrance.

Could this truly be a method employed by the Four Directions Alliance...?

"Wu Haoming, go ask a passerby for the reason. If the situation looks wrong, run back immediately, and we'll flee far away at once," Bai Qingzhou instructed.

"Understood!"

With that acknowledged, Wu Haoming summoned his magical instrument, flew leisurely over, and approached a young cultivator standing at the very end of the queue. The two of them began to converse in low whispers.

After a short while, Wu Haoming returned.

With a relaxed smile, he said, "Senior, I'm told that entering Flowing Cloud Marketplace has always had this requirement—one must undergo an inspection before being allowed in. It's not a special rule just for recently."

Learning that it was merely a routine inspection, Bai Qingzhou let out a soft sigh and said, "That's fine then. Let's go in."

"Alright."

The four of them landed on the ground. Bai Qingzhou put away his flying magical instrument, took his place at the very end of the long queue, and began to wait patiently.

"Hey, brother, is this really your first time coming to Flowing Cloud Marketplace?" As soon as they got close, the young cultivator greeted Wu Haoming.

"I won't lie to you, fellow Daoist, this really is my first time coming to Flowing Cloud Marketplace. Didn't you see me asking you for directions just now?" Wu Haoming chatted with him, saying with a grin, "Since it's my first time here, do you have any good places to recommend, fellow Daoist?"

The young cultivator had a pale complexion and delicate facial features, though he looked somewhat malnourished and lacking in vital energy.

Hearing Wu Haoming's question, he chuckled deviously and lowered his voice, "Hehe, could it be that brother is looking for that kind of place?"

"Uh..." Wu Haoming's expression stiffened for a fraction of a second before quickly returning to normal. He smiled and replied, "Ah, old brother understands me well! Hurry up and introduce me! I've been holding back for quite a while!"

"Speaking of this, you've certainly asked the right person." The young cultivator looked extremely smug, pointing toward the city gate as he said, "I know of an establishment where the female cultivators are truly enchanting to the extreme and utterly soul-stirring. Tsk tsk, that feeling... simply indescribable!"

By the end, the young cultivator wore a nostalgic look, evidently lost in deep recollection.

"Hahaha, old brother, could you take me there?" Wu Haoming immediately chimed in.

"That goes without saying..."

Seeing this, Bai Qingzhou frowned slightly, then pulled He Zuo and He Li back to keep some distance from the pair, leaving the two men to continue whispering to each other.

The crowd kept moving forward, and in less than half an hour, it was finally the turn of Bai Qingzhou and his companions.

Wu Haoming and the young cultivator, who were further up in line, were questioned first.

"Where are you from?" the gate-guarding cultivator clad in white Daoist robes asked coldly.

Wu Haoming respectfully replied, "I am a disciple of the Moon-Sustaining Zhai of the Infinite Alliance."

"I am a rogue cultivator from the Four Directions Alliance," the young cultivator followed closely behind.

"Moon-Sustaining Zhai?" The guard turned to look at his companion and asked, "Does the Infinite Alliance have a sect by this name?"

Hearing the question, his companion began flipping through a ledger.

While waiting for his companion to search, the guard said to the young cultivator, "If you're a rogue cultivator, go register over there."

"You got it!" Acting as though he had done this many times before, the young cultivator walked away with great familiarity and began writing in a ledger to the side.

Before long, the guard's companion spoke up, "Indeed it exists. Moon-Sustaining Zhai is a minor sect located in the southwest of the Infinite Alliance."

Hearing this, the guard looked coldly at Wu Haoming and said, "Take out your sect identity token for inspection."

"Oh." Wu Haoming acknowledged, retrieving his token and handing it to the guard.

Without paying much attention, the guard merely glanced at it casually for a couple of seconds before handing it back to Wu Haoming. "Alright, you may enter."

"Many thanks, fellow Daoist!"

Once Wu Haoming entered, it was the turn of Bai Qingzhou and the other three.

At that moment, the attitude of the guard immediately turned much more respectful. "Greetings, Foundation Establishment Senior!"

Bai Qingzhou gave a slight nod. Noticing the shift in the man's attitude, he said nothing further, taking out the three identity tokens they had already prepared and handing them to the guard.

The guard received them with both hands, his eyes sweeping quickly over them before returning the tokens to Bai Qingzhou. He chimed in, "Senior, the tokens are in perfect order! However, this junior must remind you that next time, you don't need to wait in this queue. The passage to the side is exclusively for Foundation Establishment cultivators, allowing you to pass quickly."

With that, he pointed to an empty path on the side where no one was queuing.

"Very well, thank you for the trouble!" Bai Qingzhou took the tokens, nodded lightly, and then stepped inside.