After thanking the receptionist, he asked another question "Where is the general affairs hall?"
The receptionist answered "Every two steps, there is one. In the second, fourth and sixth steps, to be exact. If you wish to exchange items there, then I recommend going to the second step. The hall in the fourth step tends more to aid foundation building cultivators, and the one in the sixth step doesn't have any qi-refining resources at all."
Jia Yi thanked once more as he walked to the teleportation hall.
He wasn't heading to the second step but to the first, intending to visit the market.
While he was walking, he was curious "The first stop has the large market, the second has a general affairs hall, the fourth has one too, the fifth has the higher market, and the sixth has a hall once more.
What about the third step?"
Xianghu behind him seemed to have thought of the same thing, expressing his guess "Maybe there is another market?"
Jia Yi shook his head, thinking it was unlikely. There was a lower market and a higher market, to open a market in the middle even though the two other markets can fully meet the needs would be a bit too useless.
Xianghe smiled as she said "My guess is that it's likely a gathering place for the foundation building cultivators!
After all, markets are mainly focused on selling, especially ours, and we usually don't buy many things. Not to mention that the price of buying things is often at least 10% lower than the selling price.
And there are also items you can't sell or you don't want to sell.
If there was a gathering place for them, they could simply gather, talk and exchange their items."
Jia Yi agreed with this guess "That's more likely. The higher market probably has a similar function, it's just that that one is for the origin light elders, while this one is for the foundation building seniors."
The three were already queueing up in front of the teleportation room, heading downwards.
When the door opened, Jia Yi stepped out, looking at the vastly different image in front of him.
There was still the platform, but here, many ships were docking.
Just from a single glance, he saw fifty ships of different sizes.
He was confused for a moment before realising "Cultivators probably can't take the ship upward… but where do they all come from?"
Foundation building cultivators had their own flying tools and usually didn't need a ship, so where did these ships, clearly tended to qi-refining cultivators, come from?
He waited for a moment until the other two came out, then the three looked at the market with surprised expressions.
Not only were there many ships, outside the teleportation hall, to the back, there was also a huge market.
The road was paved with blue stone, various shops were aligned left and right, and between them, there were a few food vendors, selling various snacks.
There were around a hundred cultivators walking around the entrance, making the market seem prosperous.
Fortunately the road was large so there was no issue. Jia Yi and his two cousins walked into the market, occasionally stopping to look into various shops.
These shops at the entrance generally sold spiritual plants, weapons, rice and corn, wine, and other popular items, mostly consumables.
The vendors also had various meat and corn snacks, the aroma drifting towards the three.
Jia Yi simply walked towards one after seeing it looked familiar.
When he was in front of it, he confirmed that it was a corndog!
"Hey, how much is this… corn sausage?" he asked, a bit weird when he heard the name, but not thinking much about it. Anyways, it was basically right, at least to him.
"Two spirit stones per sausage…" the vendor said, then stopped when he saw the badge on their waist.
It wasn't the front he saw – every disciple here was an Azure Cloud Sect disciple. No, it was the other side, the symbol of the Jia family, that made him stop.
"Jia family descendants pay only a single spirit stone." He changed his words.
Jia Yi didn't think much of it. Isn't it normal to enjoy lower prices when you buy from a relative? Even if this owner wasn't a relative, being in someone else's home, you have to give them lower prices.
He happily paid three stones, forcing the sausages into the hands of his two cousins, who were sat on paying it on their own.
"You two! I'm taking you out, you don't have anything in particular to buy, so obviously since you're coming with me, I will pay for you! Not to mention it's such a small matter."
After saying so, he just turned while smiling, looking around the shops once more.
At one point, he entered a rice and corn selling shop, just to at the prices.
There, he was shocked!
The lower-grade Green Shining Rice was sold at the price of one spirit stones for three kilograms!
Compared to the other rice, it was three times higher, but the issue was… he still knew very well that the family paid a spirit stone per additional kilogram!
Now it seemed the family welfare was even higher when it came to donating spirit stones to the young!
Looking at this, he really felt that there was basically no difference between branches in the early stage.
The family gives so many additional bonuses, but only in the family ground. What about the others? Those that resided here, even if they had higher spiritual power, it wouldn't aid them much, but they would definitely lose out on these resources!
"It's no wonder father and fourth uncle remain in the family territory! The bonus there is so much higher than here!" Xianghe commented
Jia Yi nodded, but thought that it was likely not that simple. Else, wouldn't all middle-aged family members return? Instead, there were only a few dozen.
It was likely restricted, maybe to those side branches that had just advanced to a side branch, like the Miaoxue lineage.
Anyways, he didn't bother with it.
Even with such a large difference, he wouldn't return.
He then checked the price for the mid-stage Green Gleaming Rice and saw that it was priced at three spirit stones for a single kilogram, the price being ten times higher than the lower-grade one.
But it made sense, because mid-grade rice was generally consumed by late-stage qi refining cultivators.
As for high-grade rice… it was the staple food of lower-stage foundation building cultivators.
Jia Yi looked at the price and saw that it increased to 50 spirit stones for a single kilogram.
Although cultivators from the foundation building stage onward could practice bigu, the art of eating air and filling the stomach with spiritual power, generally, most don't do it.
Food also has spiritual power and refining it gives is like having at least an extra hour of cultivation. Food can be processed by the body freely, without worry of having any poison left or developing a resistance.