Walking down from the second floor, Lu Li did not immediately leave, but instead went to the spirit medicine area to buy thirty Buddha-Heart Fruits.
These Buddha-Heart Fruits were entirely yellow, about the size of an infant's fist, and looked very much like a laughing Buddha statue.
According to Lu Li's plan, he had intended to buy forty, because he had obtained forty stone orchid plants from Wu De earlier, which could just form forty sets of Meridian-Nourishing Pill materials.
Unfortunately, the Myriad Treasure Pavilion only had thirty, which was a small regret.
As for the price, it was about the same as what Wu De had said earlier: sixty Low Grade True Essence Pills per fruit. He spent a total of eighteen hundred, leaving him with twenty-five thousand True Essence Pills remaining.
After thinking for a moment, Lu Li spent another three thousand True Essence Pills to purchase ten high-grade explosive talismans, to be prepared for emergencies.
Wu De did not purchase anything, and was waiting for Lu Li outside. When Lu Li came out, he asked, "What did you buy again, kid, taking so long to come out?"
Lu Li stated plainly that he had bought several Buddha-Heart Fruits.
Wu De was stunned. "Are you stupid, kid? Even if stored in jade vessels, these Buddha-Heart Fruits can only be preserved for at most a year. Once the medicinal efficacy passes, won't you be wasting True Essence Pills for nothing?"
"Is that so?" Lu Li feigned surprise. "Then I was careless."
Though he said this, he wasn't worried at all in his heart, because the second-floor space hall seemed to have special restrictions, completely eliminating concerns about spirit medicines losing their efficacy.
"Ah, I really can't believe you. What kind of nonsense did that lousy master of yours teach you?" Wu De looked disdainful and shook his head. "Let's go, everything's done. You promised to treat this old man to drinks."
Seeing Wu De's expression, Lu Li thought that although this old man was somewhat tricky, he sometimes seemed genuinely kind-hearted. He nodded. "Let's go, where shall we drink?"
"I remember there's one just ahead, follow me."
Wu De spoke while walking forward along the street, and Lu Li quickly followed.
Most of the cultivators coming and going on the street were in a hurry; almost no one was strolling to enjoy the scenery. It seemed they were all unfortunate people toiling for their cultivation.
Not long after, the two arrived in front of a luxurious restaurant in the middle section of the market district, with four golden characters written in flamboyant calligraphy above the door: 'Hongyun Restaurant.'
Lu Li had made a small profit today, and after days of only eating Inedia Pills without any oil or salt, he felt his mouth was insipidly bland. He simply went directly to the second floor, preparing to have a proper meal.
Those Inedia Pills were really ordinary; although they could sustain energy, eating them was like chewing wax, making people very uncomfortable. Every time he ate them, he would swallow them whole to avoid tasting their flavor.
Although both the first and second floors of Hongyun Restaurant used True Essence Pills as currency, there were clearly far fewer people on the second floor than the first. Of the more than thirty tables, only seven or eight were occupied.
While walking, Lu Li suddenly noticed a black-clothed man drinking alone in the corner. The man had good looks, but his face was completely expressionless, and his deep, abyss-like eyes occasionally emitted cold glints.
Perhaps everyone felt the chill emanating from this person was too heavy; intentionally or unintentionally, the tables around the black-clothed man were all empty.
Lu Li merely glanced briefly, but received a narrowed-eye look in return from the other party.
"A master, definitely a master!"
Just from that one look, Lu Li felt as if he had been seen through completely, as if he weren't wearing any clothes. He couldn't help but be inwardly startled, forcing out a somewhat apologetic smile before quickly sitting at a window seat farther from the black-clothed man.
After sitting down, Wu De noticed Lu Li's complexion wasn't quite right and couldn't help asking, "What's wrong?"
Lu Li lightly tapped the table. "Don't you think the aura from that black-clothed man in the corner feels somewhat familiar?"
"Black-clothed man?" Wu De pretended to casually glance back, then quickly turned around, frowning. "Nine out of ten, he's with those two outside Bei Wang Valley."
"What should we do?"
"Don't worry, this is a market district. All market districts have one rule: no fighting within the market district... Even if he wants to make a move, he'll have to wait until we leave the market district. Let's eat first."
There was really such a rule?
No wonder he had never seen anyone drawing weapons in the market district.
Hearing this, Lu Li also felt slightly relieved.
Not long after, a smiling waiter brought up the wine and dishes they had ordered. Seeing the delicious-looking food, Lu Li stopped thinking about the black-clothed man and began wolfing down the meal.
However, when he was halfway through eating, the black-clothed man suddenly stood up, making Lu Li's heart jump as he showed some alertness.
Wu De's wine cup also froze halfway to his mouth.
What the two didn't expect was that the black-clothed man paid his bill and went straight downstairs, never once looking at them from start to finish, as if they didn't exist in his eyes at all.
Lu Li looked down through the window and saw that after leaving the restaurant, the black-clothed man didn't stop, but headed toward the market district exit. This left him somewhat puzzled. "They're not together?"
Wu De also breathed a sigh of relief, thoughtfully saying, "Perhaps we misjudged. Never mind, let's drink, let's drink."
Approaching the end.
Lu Li suddenly asked, "Old man, what are your plans next?"
"Plans?" Wu De shook his head. "This old man has many plans, but I can't tell you. Consider this a farewell drink. After drinking, this old man will leave. You're quite to this old man's taste. When I become stronger, I'll come back to watch over you. You'd better stay steady and don't get yourself killed."
Lu Li's mouth twitched, thinking this old man truly couldn't spit out ivory from a dog's mouth. He raised a cup of wine and drank it all in one go, quietly saying:
"I'm fine. Instead, old man, your character is too poor. You should be careful walking at night, don't get secretly killed. Otherwise, when I want to burn incense for you, I won't be able to find your bones."
"You beast!" Wu De wasn't angry when he heard this, but instead laughed heartily. "Then let's see which of us brothers dies first."
"Compete to see who dies first? I definitely can't beat you at that!"
"......."
After bickering for a while, it finally came to the time when the music ends and people disperse. Wu De stood up, looking seriously at Lu Li. "Kid, this old man is really leaving now. Across heaven and earth, we'll meet again if fate allows!"
Lu Li thought for a moment, took out a Storage Bag, and said, "Old man, to be honest, when I first met you, I really wanted to kill you, but... now I really hope you don't die too early. Otherwise, my long Cultivation journey would probably lose much of its fun."
Then he handed the Storage Bag to Wu De, solemnly saying, "Don't open this until half a month after leaving here, otherwise... I'll feel very uncomfortable."
Seeing Lu Li so solemn, Wu De thought the contents couldn't be simple things. For a moment, he felt extremely touched. "Kid, this old man remembers your sentiment. Stay alive. This old man said I'd watch over you for a lifetime, and I'll watch over you for a lifetime!"
With that, he gently patted Lu Li's arm and left despondently.