After about 30 minutes, the yellow ox, pulling Bai Sui and the others, gradually approached Jade Pool Market, slowing its pace.

At this time, they happened to pass by a high ground. Sitting in the ox cart and gazing into the distance, Bai Sui saw a vast, finely detailed settlement appear in her field of vision ahead.

This settlement was enormous in scale. Seen from afar, it was like countless tiny paper boxes scattered in a chessboard pattern across the pale green, boundless land.

The house styles varied, but the vast majority were simply constructed sheds, some made of stone, others of wood. Viewed from a distance, although not as neatly arranged as the houses in Spirit Water Village, they seemed to follow a particular layout. There were relatively wide gaps between households, and some even had courtyards.

This complex and diverse style gave a sense of being unrefined yet brimming with vitality.

Bai Sui was surprised to notice that these shacks… actually had house numbers.

It seemed that despite the complexity, the management here was very orderly.

Before coming to Jade Pool Market, Bai Sui had imagined what it would be like, but seeing it with her own eyes still left her deeply impressed.

When cultivators established markets, they always followed the principle of “building beside a spring.” The “spring” here referred to a natural spirit spring, a blessed place where spiritual energy was especially abundant—so abundant that the energy surged like waves, mist billowed and clouds steamed, and at the center the spiritual energy gushed forth like a spring, continuous and unending. Extending outward for over a dozen li was all the spring’s coverage area.

Abundant spiritual energy meant cultivators could achieve faster cultivation speeds.

Larger springs could be used directly to open a mountain gate, ensuring the prosperity of a lineage; smaller ones could also be enclosed to establish cities or markets of varying sizes.

Thus, spirit springs had always been regarded as treasures by the major sects, a sought-after hot commodity.

Jade Pool Market had developed relying on the early “Jade Pool Spring.”

Legend had it that the reason the Crimson Sun Sect chose this location to establish a market was because they discovered a small natural spirit spring here, and then demarcated the area covered by the spring to build Jade Pool Market.

Initially, Jade Pool Market was only divided into two parts: the Inner Market and the Outer Market, each built to accommodate fifty thousand residents.

But time flew, and several hundred years passed in the blink of an eye. As more and more people migrated here, the Inner and Outer Markets alone were no longer sufficient to house so many.

Thus, on the outer periphery of the Outer Market, the temporary settlement Bai Sui saw before her gradually took shape.

Jade Pool Market, in fact, was divided into three parts: the Inner Market, the Outer Market, and the “Jade Pool Outer Ward.”

Regardless, as the core area of Jade Pool Market, the Inner Market and Outer Market had denser spiritual energy compared to elsewhere. To reside inside, one needed to have certain achievements, for resources were limited and naturally went to the capable.

The living conditions in the Outer Ward were relatively lower, making it the first choice for cultivators unable to secure a dwelling in the core market area. Roughly estimated, nearly two hundred thousand people lived here! That accounted for two-thirds of the entire Jade Pool Market!

At this moment, the yellow ox was already pulling Bai Sui and the others through the market’s Outer Ward.

The roads, paved with bluestone, were slightly bumpy and wide enough for three ox carts to travel side by side.

On both sides stood very traditional, old-style mortise-and-tenon buildings, rows of low houses—not exactly dilapidated, but bearing the marks of years of wear. Besides the many residential buildings, one could occasionally see pastry shops, tea sheds, restaurants, rice stores, and other buildings full of merchant atmosphere. Life here seemed to form its own cycle. Bai Sui occasionally spotted children playing and vendors hawking food, a scene brimming with a bustling, down-to-earth air.

But as she watched, she suddenly felt something wasn’t right.

That was it—she hadn’t seen anything related to cultivation for sale!

“Uncle Tian, why do I only see common goods like food, clothing, and daily necessities for sale, but nothing cultivation-related?”

Bai Sui asked curiously.

“It’s indeed like that.”

Uncle Tian, driving the ox cart, smiled and pointed ahead: “But don’t forget where you are. Up ahead is the market! The Outer Ward is the Outer Ward after all—how can it compare to the Inner Market and Outer Market? It’s not that the Outer Ward can’t trade cultivation-related items, just that when comparing the two, good things naturally fetch better prices inside the Inner and Outer Markets. Moreover, the competition within the market is fierce, transactions are transparent, and with the Market Master personally presiding, what petty criminals would dare cause trouble there? Naturally, one is less likely to be cheated. Over time, it became an established custom that valuable items must be traded inside the market.”

So that was it!

Now Bai Sui understood. No wonder so many cultivators wished to reside in the market—the reason lay here.

Those near the waterside pavilion get the moonlight first; proximity to the trading hub made it easier to obtain resources!

And to cultivators, resources were as good as their lifeblood, directly determining the speed of their cultivation!

Furthermore, the interior of the market was closer to the spring, meaning more abundant spiritual energy—an absolutely huge temptation for cultivators.

Setting aside the Inner and Outer Markets at the core, even just the Outer Ward before her—Bai Sui carefully sensed it and found that the spiritual energy here was indeed considerably denser than over at Spirit Water Village!

No wonder so many cultivators could gather here!

If one could enter the Inner or Outer Market, cultivation would probably be even faster.

Thinking this, Bai Sui began to long for the day she could live in the Inner Market.

But for now, she could only daydream. After all, cultivators harboring such thoughts were probably a dime a dozen. Besides, every inch of land inside the market was worth its weight in gold; it was not a place ordinary people could afford!

Just as she was thinking, a slight disturbance appeared ahead.

Uncle Tian, driving the ox cart, also suddenly stopped.

“What’s going on?”

Bai Sui looked over curiously. It turned out two young cultivators had quarreled over some trivial matter, which then led to a standoff.

Both were young and hot-blooded, and who didn’t have friends or relatives? So after each called for friends, under Bai Sui’s very eyes, the standoff quickly escalated into armed fighting. Chaos erupted instantly, various “ultimate moves” were unleashed one after another, cultivators from both sides continuously cast techniques or triggered offensive talismans, and innocent bystanders and nearby buildings unfortunately suffered collateral damage.

For a moment, people were thrown off their feet, and the scene became utterly chaotic.

However, Bai Sui’s eyes were opened wide. She stared intently—so this was how cultivators dueled… It was actually this unorganized and lacking in method.

She wanted to watch a bit longer, but Uncle Tian cracked his whip and urged the ox on, taking her swiftly away.

Once they reached a safe spot, Uncle Tian panted: “See that? The Outer Ward isn’t an absolutely safe place either. Armed fights like the one just now are all too common, and no one can guarantee it won’t happen beside you. So, unless necessary, ordinary folk like us should avoid setting foot in the market too often, lest we become the fish in the pond that suffer disaster.”

“Is the Inner Market and Outer Market also like this?” Bai Sui asked.

Before Uncle Tian could reply, Tian Dong beside him shook his head and answered: “Of course not. The Inner Market and Outer Market prohibit armed fights. Violators will face severe punishment. Of course, the Outer Ward has similar rules, but the enforcers aren’t on the same level, so the deterrence is far weaker.”

As they spoke, a team dressed in management uniforms appeared. At the sight of them, the two brawling parties immediately ceased hostilities, each fleeing in separate directions, scattering away.

The gunpowder vanished in an instant, and that farce of weaklings pecking at each other came to an abrupt end.

If this had happened in the Inner Market or Outer Market, the instigator would at the very least have their cultivation crippled!