"Five spirit stones, five White Origin Fruits, ninety catties of spirit rice."
Li Tongya counted up the wealth upon his person. The White Origin Fruit was the auxiliary herb in most pill formulae, and since the household yet lacked any art of pill-making, it could well be sold off first; the spirit rice, being rich in qi, could be kept and carried home to feed upon.
"And I still owe Xiao Yuansi ten spirit stones."
At this a headache began to brew behind Li Tongya's brow, and he thought to himself:
"Xiao Yuansi, too, wore the look of one who knew it would not be recovered soon; and the envoy is long since gone home. Let it lie owing... in a few years I shall see."
He wandered up and down the street two turns, and saw every manner of arts and spirit objects, yet nowhere did he come upon the transmission of the Hundred Arts of cultivation.
Li Tongya squatted down to rummage through the stall before him, and the stall-keeper, veiled in black gauze, spoke:
"What is it the dao friend seeks?"
The voice was soft and pleasing — and it was, it turned out, a woman's.
Li Tongya smiled wryly and asked:
"Has the dao friend the transmission of the Hundred Arts of cultivation?"
"This is your first visit to the fair, is it not?"
The woman laughed lightly as she spoke.
"It is."
"The talismans, pills, and formations about Lixia Prefecture have no more than three sources: the Qingchi Sect, the great houses, and the scattered cultivators."
The woman cultivator smiled, sparkling with spirit as she fixed her gaze on Li Tongya, and explained:
"The Qingchi Sect is the greatest supplier of all. So that it may reap in endless cheap materials and work them into finished goods to sell back to us, the Qingchi Sect always forbids any fair under its rule from selling the transmission of the Hundred Arts."
"As for the great houses — who among them would put the very craft of their own livelihood up for sale? They and the Qingchi Sect, in a wordless understanding, join together to stop up the circulation of these Hundred Arts, the better to cut a slice of the profit for themselves."
Li Tongya nodded at this, and lifted his eyes to glance at the woman cultivator, answering with a shade of doubt:
"Are there so many scattered cultivators in Lixia Prefecture?"
The woman shook her head and leaned in a little nearer to explain:
"The State of Yue numbers some tens of millions of souls; a single prefecture alone holds six or seven hundred thousand. Beneath the rule of Qingchi there are five prefectures, and from them you could well scrape together three or four thousand who carry spiritual apertures — to say nothing of the great houses, whose blood runs on unbroken from generation to generation; the rest of the cultivators must number five thousand and more."
"The dao friend sees the matter clear indeed."
Li Tongya looked over the stall; the few talismans were of no great use to him, and he grudged the buying of them.
"Three talismans for one spirit stone."
At this Li Tongya made haste to avert his gaze from the talismans, and it came to rest upon the pale blue sword before him.
"Forged of mist-blue stone, hardened in the cold of the snow; it strikes with a great speed, and lays frost and chill upon the foe besides."
The woman grew a good deal warmer, and said with a smile curling in her voice:
"This sword serves wonderfully. Were it not that I have newly come by an instrument to my taste, I would not part with it. Only ten spirit stones."
With his purse so pinched, Li Tongya swept the stand once more with lingering, reluctant eyes, and saw that the sky was darkening. He picked up a dark-hued bow from the stall and asked:
"And this bow?"
"Ho! It is forged of black-elm wood, with the sinew of an Azure Origin beast; pour in your power and it will lay a keen edge upon the arrow's flight. Four spirit stones and it is yours."
Li Tongya laughed lightly and answered:
"Two spirit stones."
"Not enough."
The woman shook her head.
Li Tongya pointed to the bowstring and spoke:
"Think but look at it — this bow has seen long use already. Two spirit stones, and the five White Origin Fruits besides, reckoned at half a stone more; sell it to me at that."
The woman bit at her lip, looked up at the sky, and at last answered:
"Done."
Li Tongya gave her the stones and the fruits, then rose with the bow in his arms, and, tightening his grip on the three spirit stones left in his purse, saw that folk at the stalls all about had begun already to pack up their goods. He quickened his pace and walked the fair with a searching eye.
The shops up ahead dealt in the things of the Qi Refining realm, and Li Tongya could not afford them, so he looked there little; he kept his head bent, peering at the stalls.
He had gone but a few steps when he saw a youth, clad in a hempen shroud and a jerkin of beast hide, standing by the roadside beside a great iron cage, in which were shut a dozen or more shaggy dog-beasts.
"Does the dao friend care to look at these Suolin beasts!"
The youth had been standing with a woebegone look; seeing Li Tongya stop to gaze at the dog-beasts, he was overjoyed, and explained further:
"These dog-beasts are of a gentle temper, and come to full growth already holding the Luminous Understanding Wheel, the second wheel of Embryonic Breathing. Sharp of tooth and fang, swift of coming and going, they can bite down a score of common men with ease; and of feeding they ask only a little spirit rice of a day..."
At this Li Tongya understood at once — the boy had likely sold nothing the whole day through. He said in a low tone:
"What good is biting down common men?"
"But — but these dog-beasts are shrewd creatures; they can scent the wind to find things, tell out demon qi..."
"How do you sell them?"
"One spirit stone apiece..."
Li Tongya turned his head and made to go, at which the youth was so frightened his face flushed crimson, and he caught at Li Tongya's sleeve, saying:
"One stone takes two — two!"
Li Tongya was obliged to halt, and shook his head with a helpless smile, explaining:
"Your dog-beasts look comely enough, but let them truly meet a cultivator and a few spells flung from afar will be the end of them. And what say you — do they not ask to be fed spirit rice and demon meat? These cultivation rations our own house finds them scarce; how should we squander them on beasts such as these..."
The youth gave a start at this, and nodded with a thoughtful look, then screwed up his mouth and said:
"Stay but a moment, dao friend; I have yet another thing."
So saying, he drew from his breast a small silver box, and said with some hope in his eyes:
"This thing is called the Wu-tonic silkworm: it spits the Wu-tonic spirit-silk. It asks only such things as bear qi — spirit chaff and the like — for its feeding; its little teeth are sharp and not picky, and it will take spirit rice leaves or straw. And should you have no spirit things at all, a little of the fine fat of beasts will keep it alive, so that it need not starve."
Hearing this, Li Tongya was at once interested, and took the silver box; a few grey-green little worms were crawling about, bobbing their heads within, and beneath them were laid a few mulberry leaves.
"What use is this Wu-tonic spirit-silk?"
"It may be woven into spirit garments and silks, which common sword and spear are hard put to pierce; or it may be sold again."
At the thought of the stores of spirit leaves and straw still lying at home, Li Tongya's heart was somewhat moved, yet he put on a difficult look:
"Only I fear I could not rear them..."
"Should the dao friend be willing, I will add a worm-manual yet; the whole of the raising craft is written within it, and with these few spirit worms together — I ask but two spirit stones of you!"
The youth screwed up his courage and fixed his gaze on him, pleading.
"It shall be."
Li Tongya considered a few breaths, and answered.
He put away the silver box and the wooden tablet the youth handed him, saw that the sky was grown dark, and took his leave of the youth; then he sauntered slowly to the cart, where the driver was already dozing upon his seat. Li Tongya laughed low to himself and fell to waiting in silence.
When Wan Yuankai came he was dusty from the road, and his face wore a certain joy. Seeing Li Tongya with his bow in his arms, leaning against the cart, he laughed:
"Brother Tongya, what treasure have you got yourself?"
"A bow of the Embryonic Breathing realm — scarce a treasure."
Li Tongya smiled, and the two climbed up into the cart together. He handed the bow to Wan Yuankai, and when the man had tried the string, he asked:
"Well?"
"It is black-elm wood, with ox sinew."
Wan Yuankai wound the string a little, knit his brow, and examined it closely ere he answered:
"Three spirit stones at the most. More than that, and it is a loss."
At this Li Tongya smiled and nodded, and the two fell to talking a few words more, each harbouring his own thoughts beneath the sinking dusk; and it was not long before they slept, lulled by the rumbling of the cart.