My Martial Arts Can Train Themselves

Chapter 9: Little Senior Sister Zhuang Chenglu

The sun gradually set.

Yang Yi retrieved his pass from the disciple on duty and continued up the mountain.

When he reached the top of the mountain, he found the place brightly lit with elegant bamboo houses arranged in a row.

Yang Yi raised his head to look at the mountain peak in the center. He saw a trickle of spring water flowing into each bamboo house along several canals. There were a secret rooms for cultivation and inside the bamboo houses. The mouths of springs could be found inside those rooms.

"From the looks of it, the further in the house is, the more spiritual springs it would contain."

Yang Yi's gaze fell on the few dilapidated bamboo houses at the edge.

Those should be the lowest grade ones. There were no spiritual springs there. At most, he would only be getting some water vapor.

He followed the number plate given by the disciple on duty and walked toward the central part of the Spiritual Spring Mountain.

The mountain here was decorated with a kind of fluorite. Other than the bamboo houses, there were also some dazzling stalls.

The items on sale at the stalls were mostly herbs, spiritual food, demonic beast meat, and other goods.They were items that would go well with cultivating on the Spiritual Spring Mountain. There were also some peculiar trinkets on sale.

Yang Yi took a look around and knew that the target customers for these items were mainly outer disciples like him.

They were not expensive, but their prices were not exactly affordable.

"Junior Brother, over here!"

Someone suddenly called out to him from the side.

Yang Yi looked over and saw a stall owner with a thin face. He was wearing a blue uniform.

"Yes, Senior Brother?"

The person was also an outer disciple, but he looked a little old.

Yang Yi was young and handsome, so calling him "Senior Brother" was not an exaggeration.

"I don't recognize you. Is this your first time here?" asked the senior disciple with a kind smile.

"Yes, I'm Yang Yi. May I know your name, Senior Brother?" Yang Yi answered honestly.

"Han Houchun."

"Greetings, Senior Brother Han."

Han Houchun waved his hand with a smile. "Junior brother Yang, you can't be like this. You look gullible. The Senior Brothers and Sisters manning the stalls are all thieves. They will probably con you good, seeing that you're a newbie."

"They don't own the stalls?" Yang Yi was surprised.

"Of course. Only the inner sect has the right to set up stalls here. They're just like me. They're all hired to watch the stalls." Han Houchun patted his chest and said proudly, "My stall belongs to Senior Brother Zhou Da of the Diligent Mountain Court."

"The Diligent Mountain Court puts great emphasis on practical combat. The disciples have a quota of hunting demonic beasts every month. Senior Brother Zhou Da is one of the best. That's why we have this stall that sells demonic beast meat."

He adjusted the position of the lantern in front of his stall and shone more light on the goods.

Yang Yi saw a portion of neatly packaged demon beast meat on the stall.

The demonic beast meats were all smoked into strips. Some were dark, some were red, and some even emitted a kind of fierce aura. It was obvious that they were not ordinary goods.

"What do you think? Junior Brother Yang, demonic beast meat is nutritious. It's best enjoyed while you're soaking in a spiritual spring."

Han Houchun was very enthusiastic. He pointed at a piece of meat and said, "This is the palm meat of the black-striped bear. It will help improve your strength. A pack like this only costs 200 taels."

"..."

Yang Yi smiled politely.

"You don't like it? What about this one? It's the back of the neck of the fire-biting tiger. When you eat it while cultivating in a spiritual spring, your cultivation will advance by leaps and bounds! A pack only costs 100 taels." Han Houchun extended a finger.

"Senior Brother Han, I don't have any plans to buy anything for the time being. Maybe next time..."

Yang Yi was ready to refuse.

Han Houchun immediately interrupted him with an earnest tone, "Junior Brother Yang! You should focus on the bigger picture here! Do you think that I'm lying to you? You might not know this, but everyone who ate the meat of a demonic beast has nothing but praises for it. You're only wary because you don't understand it! When you taste it yourself, you'll understand how wonderful it is."

Seeing that no one was around, he leaned closer and said softly, "Junior Brother Yang, since it's your first time here, I can think of a way to give you a discount, if you don't have enough money."

"..."

Yang Yi knew that he was being clung to.

However, he could not do anything about it. Looking at the senior disciple's stance, he would not let him leave if he did not buy something.

"In that case, give me a cheap pack of demonic beast meat, Senior Brother."

He decided that he would try some demonic beast meat. He could always stock up on it in the future if he liked them.

"Alright, let me see. Got it. This ardent sound sparrow meat is good, and it's cheap. After discount, it's 80 taels for a single pack."

Han Houchun did not say anything and wrapped the ardent sound sparrow meat and handed it to Yang Yi.

"Can't it be cheaper?"

Yang Yi knew that the price was definitely inflated.

"This is already the cheapest price."

Han Houchun's smile gradually disappeared, and he raised his voice. "This ardent sound sparrow has already mastered the force. Even Senior Brother Zhou Da had to spend a lot of effort to kill it. Long-term consumption of this can help alleviate any stubborn injuries."

"Is it effective on internal injuries?" Yang Yi raised his eyebrows.

"Of course. Would I lie to you for just 80 taels of silver?"

Han Houchun saw that business was promising, and he was secretly happy.

"Okay, I'll take your word for it."

Yang Yi hesitated slightly before he bought it.

However, just as he was about to take out the money, someone grabbed Han Houchun's wrist!

The latter cried out in pain.

The wrapped meat of the ardent sound sparrow fell.

Yang Yi looked over and found that it was an inner sect Senior Sister with a bamboo cane.

"What a profiteer! The price of eight taels of ardent sound sparrow meat has increased tenfold. Whose stall is this?"

Her voice was as clear as a lark. Even if she was angry, she was still pleasing to the eyes.

"I-it's Senior Brother Zhou Da's stall from Diligent Mountain Court!"

Han Houchun cried out in pain. His face was pale and sweat was dripping from his forehead.

"Senior Brother Zhou Da is a righteous man. He would never do such a thing. You were trying to deceive a fellow disciple. Do you know what will happen to you if I report this matter to Senior Brother Zhou Da?"

This Senior Sister held Han Houchun in one hand and kept hitting him with the cane in the other hand.

"Senior Sister Zhuang, I've made a mistake. Ouch! I won't do it again!" Han Houchun cried out bitterly.

"Go, apologize to this Junior Brother. If he doesn't forgive you, I'll report this matter to Senior Brother Zhou Da."

The inner sect Senior Sister twisted her hand and pushed Han Houchun in front of Yang Yi.

Yang Yi was completely stunned.

What was going on?

"Junior Brother Yang, I've made a mistake. Please forgive me on account that this is my first offense."

Han Houchun was full of tears. He was almost going to kneel in front of Yang Yi.

"Senior Sister, why don't we forget about this matter?"

Yang Yi looked at this Senior Sister who seemed to be the same age as himself.

He did not want to cause any trouble over this trivial amount of money.

The others were giving them looks when they heard the commotion.

"Alright, for your sake, Junior Brother, I'll let him off this time."

The Senior Sister stepped in front of Yang Yi and giggled. "Junior Brother, you don't look familiar. Let me introduce myself. My name is Zhuang Chenglu, from the inner sect's Harmony Court."

Zhuang Chenglu?

Her name sounded familiar.

Yang Yi instantly reacted. Was this not the person who cultivated the vitality pills that the Crimson Afterglow Technique stole?

"What's wrong, Junior Brother? You don't look too good," Zhuang Chenglu blinked and asked.

"It's nothing. My name is Yang Yi. Thank you for helping me out just now, Senior Sister Zhuang." Yang Yi bowed guiltily.

"Don't mention it. It was nothing. I hate profiteers the most."

Zhuang Chenglu played with her cane and sized Yang Yi up before asking, "Junior Brother, would you like to buy some medicine to treat your internal injuries?"

"Sure." Yang Yi nodded.

"Ha, ardent sound sparrow meat won't help. Why don't you give me the 80 taels of silver, and I'll give you some nine-thorn flower petals. When you soak in the spiritual spring to cultivate later, sprinkle some into the water. You'll feel the effects right away."

Zhuang Chenglu took out a handkerchief and opened it, revealing a few bright red petals.

"I was going to use them to cultivate some pills, but since you have a need for them, I'll give them to you."

"Thank you, Senior Sister!"

Yang Yi did not suspect her motives after knowing who she was. He accepted the petals of the nine-thorns flower and handed over the money at the same time.

"I was joking. How can I take your money?" Zhuang Chenglu weighed it in her hand and looked at it again. She smiled with satisfaction and said, "Try them out, Junior Brother. It's time for me to go down the mountain."

Yang Yi bowed and left.

Han Houchun was watching from beside the stall. He could not help but roll his eyes as he muttered, "She is clearly more cunning! The nine-thorn flower is just a wild flower that can be picked everywhere!"

"Watch your mouth." Zhuang Chenglu raised her cane and left merrily.

Han Houchun smiled apologetically. He did not want to provoke this young lady, who had an extraordinary status, even in the inner sect.