Once I left the mansion from the side gate, I moved quickly to avoid the potential spies … but then, I slowed down, observing the mansion. Half an hour later, a Bone Forging martial artist sneaked out. Even for a second, I didn't think that he was sent by the old woman.

She would have used a Connate Realm artist. Also, if she was the one to send him, he wouldn't have bothered to sneak.

Twenty minutes later, he went to a random cottage, and before I could close in the distance, a bird flew. Some kind of pigeon, though larger than ordinary. No doubt a savage beast, and it flew far faster than I could take down.

With a shrug, I let it go. Ultimately, there was no hope for me to catch and suppress the spies in the mansion without getting undue attention from the old woman. And, her continued pity was more important.

Hopefully, I would be able to visit again for another lesson on spirit plant care. I had excellent excuses like pampering Aisnam, but that only worked as long as she believed me to be a smart yet headstrong martial artist, easily controlled by her niece. I doubted that she would be equally willing to provide the same support if she knew I was sharp enough to catch spies she had missed.

It was a risk I had to take.

I tightened my grip on the box, hoping that there was not a mysterious way to track it. I still swung by the hiding spot, picked the talisman brush and the protection talismans I had created, and pulled the map, examining it to chart myself a route.

The first thing that really caught my attention was the size of the map covered. The map wasn't even showing the full continent, but I could easily count more than sixty mortal kingdoms, each big enough to be a major country back on Earth, the wilderness gap between them even larger than the countries.

Just how big was this world?

To make it even more shocking, while several mortal kingdoms, particularly the nearby ones, had some notes about which cultivation families had their members stationed, the map didn't show their bases. Also, there was no mention of Kartpa Valley and Entsa Pavilion. Whether they were all outside the area of the map, or no one dared to put them on the map, I didn't know.

I didn't care particularly either, at least not in the short term. Even more interestingly, the cultivation market was at the edge of the map, near a mountain range named Misty Mountains.

Luckily, while the map revealed a huge area, the cultivation market she had directed to me was close. I just needed to pass through three mortal kingdoms, or take a slightly longer route through the wilderness to avoid it.

I chose the second option, but with a twist. First, I chose the fastest load that cut through the kingdoms, making sure I was visible enough for several people to notice me. Even if they weren't spies, people would inevitably question them about my direction. I also made sure that they noticed my sharp turn into the wilderness as I was spooked by something…

Then, once I was in the wilderness, I found a river to erase my scent, swam upward quite a bit, and doubled back at full speed. That trick wasted a day, and the alternative path extended the journey two more days, but I found it to be an acceptable exchange.

I might have got stronger, but safety was still paramount.

What followed was another long, boring travel. Halfway through that journey, I found a deep cave and activated all the rewards I received from the old woman.

It was a good thing that I did, because the light show from reaching Major Immersion was even more intense. I glowed for almost ten minutes before it faded. However, the knowledge I received was far more effective.

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Creating more Connate Realm artists was a child's play. Too bad that their usefulness seemed to be limited.

Then, I continued to run.

For someone supposed to be a Freeloader, I was running around too much, which was certainly annoying. Luckily, despite everything, I always loved running, and the new running art I devised was even more fun.

"Let's call you Rabbit Dash," I said after I ran alone for another full day, and paused to camp. Once again, I didn't light any fire, using Volcano Essence to cook instead.

It reminded me of Elsana and Lannayin. I couldn't help but wish that they were alright. However, I limited myself to wishing. After all, after concluding their disappearance was related to cultivators, I didn't dare to follow up.

I wasn't strong enough for that.

Then, once I was merely three days away from the cultivator market, I saw something that had confirmed I shouldn't get arrogant. "How dare you disrespect me, you pathetic dog!" someone shouted, followed by a slash of a sword. They were far away, easily ten miles away, maybe even farther, but his Qi-enhanced voice was still strong.

"My ancestor will make you pay! I belong to the Onit family. You don't dare to kill me!" the defender shouted. But, the bodies of two others at a distance, wearing a similar outfit as the defender, showed that his declaration wasn't as effective as he might think.

It wasn't the first time I had seen a cultivator show. Previously, the show of the Elder of the Kantpa Valley as he attacked the defensive formation had been intimidating enough. After all, he had displayed power strong enough to destroy the city literally.

What was going on in front of me was intimidating for a whole different reason. Since both of them had been pushing themselves to the limit, I could see that both of them were at the Qi Gathering stage, but one of them was in the Ninth Stage, while the other was merely at the Fourth.

Yet, contrary to everything else I had heard, it was the young man at the Fourth Stage that was easily dealing with the one at the Ninth Stage, and doing so with a lazy confidence, letting the defender recover after every hit.

And, here I was, feeling confident of my untested ability to deal with someone a minor Stage above me.

I didn't continue to watch. The young man clearly had a sensitive pride, and I didn't want to take the risk of insulting him. I moved fast enough, making sure to put a large distance. When I doubled the distance, he finally stopped playing with his opponent and killed him. Then, he started walking away with a deceptive speed. He looked slow, yet with each step, he covered a hundred meters.

Freaky, even in this new world.

It was a good reminder not to get too arrogant.

The only reason I still dared to go the cultivation market — after camping for an extra day — was that the freaky young swordsman had been moving in the opposite direction. And, he looked far too arrogant to bother tricking any observer.

Still, as I walked toward the cultivation market, I couldn't help but feel surprised at the thinness of the Qi around. I expected to find a denser Qi environment. Or, at least, a formation similar to the one I had seen at Markas.

Yet, when I finally climbed over a hill and saw the market, I couldn't help but feel disappointed. I expected some kind of amazing city, yet, what I found was something slightly better than a village, and only because there were a few fancy buildings among the other, fancier, buildings.

Qi density was similarly disappointing. It was not even intense enough to match the garden of the old woman, let alone the Spring Palace. Though, maybe I shouldn't be surprised. After all, if the place was too valuable, they wouldn't have used it as a marketplace.

The market wasn't crowded. Several groups of people wearing robes and masks, throwing suspicious glances at each other, and some shop owners that was watching the streets like hawks. Not exactly the crowd I imagined at the mention of the cultivator market.

Not that I had the luxury to turn my nose at it.

I quickly fashioned a similar mask for my face and made some changes to my cultivation. I still kept my essence over my Cultivation, hiding its true scale. Enough to show others that I was a cultivator. A poor one, but also a potentially dangerous one.

In other words, a bad target for robbery.

Of course, there was no fight at the market. The old woman mentioned that it was more about an unwritten rule. If someone tried to rob someone at the market, all the other cultivators were supposed to punish the attacker.

Some kind of collective punishment to allow the market to operate.

However, as I got closer, I noticed that the largest building, which was simply named the Pavilion, had some kind of subtle shimmer around it. Maybe it wasn't just the agreement that was keeping things balanced.

I approached, keeping the token hidden for the moment. The token clearly had the sigil of the Verdant Family, and I didn't want to take the risk of revealing myself early or even immediately completing the transaction.

It was the chance to finally collect some information. I didn't want to waste it.