Chapter 35: The Market Fair
"Eat, strong!"
In the valley of Zhenyang Palace, Qin Mu took out a Solidify Origin Pill he had refined himself, the size of a fist, and gestured to the demon ape. "Strong, sturdy!"
The demon ape scratched its head, accepted the Solidify Origin Pill, swallowed it, and showed no reaction. It muttered in confusion, "Strong?"
Suddenly, the demon ape went berserk. Its fur grew wildly, and a sapling sprouted from its head, quickly growing into a large tree branch.
—It seemed a tree seed had fallen into the demon ape's fur, and the Solidify Origin Pill had stimulated it, causing it to grow uncontrollably.
Its size also surged, muscles bulging continuously, bones thickening and strengthening, forcing the demon ape to roar in agony as it thrashed about. Qin Mu stepped forward to stop it, but the demon ape punched him into the ground. Its second fist struck the earth, shaking Qin Mu loose from the dirt and sending him bouncing up, only to be punched flying by the ape.
Qin Mu charged back, and the demon ape roared without end. Man and ape clashed again in the valley, sending rocks flying in all directions.
After taking the Solidify Origin Pill Qin Mu had refined, the demon ape grew even larger and stronger, its power increasing significantly. When Qin Mu tried to confront it head-on, his own strength was completely overwhelmed, unable to match the demon ape's might.
Forced into a corner, Qin Mu had to convert his primal energy into the fire attribute. Scorching hot primal energy coursed through his body, and faint dragon patterns emerged on the skin of his back—a great dragon's markings. The dragon's limbs connected to his own, with the dragon claws precisely at the positions of his hands, overlapping with his fingers.
Five-Clawed Fire Dragon!
Fire-attributed primal energy belonged to the Vermilion Bird type, but Qin Mu didn't have a Vermilion Bird spirit embryo; his was a human-shaped spirit embryo. The dragon patterns on his back weren't from the primal energy itself but from the effects of practicing the Thunderclap Eight Forms taught by Old Man Ma.
Old Man Ma's Thunderclap Eight Forms, when practiced with primal energy, were profoundly mysterious. The flow of primal energy within the body formed a dragon pattern that spread across the entire body. If someone like Old Man Ma, with a Green Dragon spirit body, performed the Thunderclap Eight Forms, his primal energy would carry wood and thunder attributes, and the dragon patterns on his back would be green, interwoven with lightning.
But Qin Mu hadn't mastered Green Dragon primal energy and could only use Vermilion Bird primal energy, so beside the dragon patterns on his back, there were clusters of fire clouds.
Whenever he activated the Thunderclap Eight Forms, these unique patterns would appear on his body; when he stopped, they would gradually fade and disappear.
With his primal energy circulating, Qin Mu's strength surged, allowing him to finally face the demon ape head-on. But the ape was in a frenzy, ignoring all rules of combat, willing to take hits just to land its own. In the end, both man and ape were battered and bruised, lying flat on their backs, gasping for breath, unable to move.
The large tree branch on the demon ape's head had grown into a tree as thick as a bucket, bearing bright red fruits. The effects of the Solidify Origin Pill faded, and the tree stopped growing.
The batch of Solidify Origin Pills Qin Mu had refined was indeed problematic—the medicinal power was too strong, too fierce, lacking balance. Only a creature as robust as the demon ape could withstand the pill's impact. If any other martial artist at the spirit embryo realm had taken it, they would likely have exploded from the strain.
Now that the medicinal power was exhausted, the demon ape's body began to shrink slowly, but it was still much taller and stronger than before. Qin Mu felt that the pills he had refined might have some issues.
But judging from the demon ape's performance, the problems weren't severe, and even if there were issues, they seemed beneficial.
He picked a fruit from the tree on the ape's head, peeled it, and ate it. It was sweet and moist, with a hint of medicinal fragrance.
The demon ape sat up, pulled the large tree off its head—its roots crawling all over its face—and plucked a handful of leaves and fruits, chewing them slowly.
Qin Mu handed the remaining Solidify Origin Pills to it and instructed, "Only one pill at a time. Don't take more. And if you want to fight, go find other exotic beasts outside. Don't tear down Zhenyang Palace."
The demon ape's eyes lit up. It quickly took the pills and nodded repeatedly.
The pills Qin Mu refined were too large. An apothecary's Solidify Origin Pill was only the size of a pinky finger, but his, due to his lack of skill, were the size of an ordinary person's fist. So this batch only had a little over twenty pills.
Qin Mu left with peace of mind. Once he was far away, the demon ape immediately took out one of the absurdly large pills and rushed off excitedly to settle a score with a nearby exotic beast.
That neighboring beast had a grudge against it, often invading its territory, stealing prey to fill its belly, and beating it several times. It wasn't until Qin Mu left his handprint on the cliff wall that the beast realized a new boss had moved in and stopped its incursions recently.
The demon ape arrived at its enemy's territory, swallowed the pill, roared, and charged in.
Two days later, the day of the temple fair finally arrived. Granny Si brought cloth, Old Man Ma carried some new furniture he had made, the Apothecary shouldered a basket of herbs, and the Butcher loaded an exotic beast that Cripple had caught the day before onto the cart, likely planning to slaughter and sell the meat at the fair. The Butcher would sell the meat, Cripple would get a cut—a clear division of labor.
Mute brought his furnace and blacksmithing tools, Deaf brought his brush, ink, and paper, and they called for Qin Mu. Everyone harnessed the ox cart and headed toward Granny's Temple.
The cart was packed to the brim, creaking along the road to Granny's Temple. Qin Mu drove the ox cart, his spirits low. Market fairs had once held some appeal for him as a child, but now that his knowledge had grown, they weren't as interesting.
Still, when they arrived at Granny's Temple, Qin Mu was startled. The fair was bigger and livelier than he had imagined. Surrounding the ruins of Granny's Temple was a market stretching ten miles, filled with countless stalls, bustling with people coming and going, a lively scene.
This wasn't just people from nearby villages; it was villagers from dozens of settlements within a hundred or two hundred miles, most of them gathered here!
"On the map of Zhenyang Palace, this place isn't called Granny's Temple; it's called Tianlang Palace," Qin Mu noted in surprise, wondering why it had been renamed.
The ox cart entered the market, and Qin Mu saw all kinds of strange and novel things displayed on small stalls. There were sugar figurine makers, cooks frying up dishes, acrobats, fire-breathers, exotic beast sellers, ore vendors, jewel merchants, and even people selling their daughters—a vast array of goods and services.
"I, a father and daughter from Niujia Village, passing through this land, seek neither fame nor profit. My daughter has come of age but has yet to be betrothed. Thus, I hold this martial contest to seek a worthy son-in-law, a hero of unmatched skill..."
Qin Mu saw a commotion ahead, stopped the cart, and craned his neck to look. It turned out to be a martial contest for marriage at Granny's Temple, with a young man and woman fighting fiercely on a platform. He watched for a bit, lost interest, and moved on, only to find that Granny's Temple had several such platforms.
These platforms were built on earthen stages, where young men and women from various villages—many of them young martial artists—competed. Of course, there were also white-haired old men who jumped up, claiming to seek a spouse, only to be booed off the stage by the crowd.
"Some villages have too few men, so these martial contests are really just a way to recruit a live-in son-in-law."
Granny Si warned Qin Mu, "If you become a live-in son-in-law, you'd belong to another village! Don't you dare go up!"
Qin Mu nodded, though his hands itched to try. Blind grinned and said, "Let Mu'er go up, it doesn't matter. He can fight one platform after another, beat all the marriage contests at Granny's Temple, and marry a dozen girls..."
Granny Si shot him a glare, and Blind quickly shut his mouth.
The Crippled Elderly Village had fixed stalls at Granny's Temple. Soon, the ox cart arrived at these spots. Qin Mu helped the Butcher set up his meat stall, then helped Old Man Ma unload the furniture, set up Mute's forge, arranged Granny Si's tailor shop, and fetched water for Deaf to grind ink, hanging up his paintings and couplets.
Once everything was ready, Qin Mu saw Blind sitting at a table with a banner hanging from his bamboo staff, reading "Six Lines and Eight Trigrams, Fortune Telling and Disaster Relief." He thought to himself, "Can Blind Grandpa really tell fortunes?"
The Apothecary set up his medicine stall nearby, while the Butcher had already gutted the exotic beast and hung up the meat. The villagers of Crippled Elderly Village started hawking their wares, no different from ordinary folks.
"Mu'er, there's an empty platform next to us. Go hang this scroll up there."
Deaf wrote swiftly, producing a scroll that he handed to Qin Mu. "Once it's hung, don't come down. Just stand on the platform. That's your business for today. If you're still standing on that platform when the sun sets, you'll have passed the temple fair test."
Qin Mu looked at the scroll. It read: "Kicking the Yong River with no rivals, sweeping eight hundred villages in the Great Wasteland!" There was also a horizontal banner: "Number One in the Spirit Embryo Realm."
Qin Mu glanced at the nearby platform, which had two polished wooden pillars with a horizontal plaque between them, blank—likely where the banner was meant to go.
"Deaf Grandpa, will I get killed?" Qin Mu asked, turning back to Deaf.
Just then, he saw Blind pull out another banner that read, "Win or lose a million, place your bets and no takebacks," clearly planning to make a fortune while Qin Mu fought.
Granny Si had already placed a bet at Blind's gambling stall, and the Apothecary excitedly set out his healing medicines, waiting for the wounded to come down from the platform. Old Man Ma was busy making crutches and stretchers, while the Butcher was selling "Dragon Blood Elixir," a miraculous body-strengthening potion!
Qin Mu's face darkened. These sly old men and women were finding every way to make a profit!
"Deaf, add a note: only martial artists at the spirit embryo realm are allowed to go up."
Granny Si thought for a moment and added, "What if some divine ability user jumps up and kills Mu'er?"
—Some readers have asked when Mu Shen Ji will be released for paid chapters. Zhai Zhu has discussed it with the editors. It won't be released in August; it will go paid on September 1st. Mu Shen Ji will have two months and ten days of free public chapters. Mu Shen Ji is now eligible for fan titles. Zhai Zhu's fan title is: Divine Dynasty! To claim it, open the Qidian app, click Discover, then Activity Center, then Fan Title Activity, search for Zhai Zhu, and click claim. Note: a certain amount of fan value is required. The event lasts until July 31st.