Cultivation Starting from Choosing Augments

Chapter 428: Chapter 204: Attending the Sea Spirit Festival, Ink Flood Dragon, Fighting Crab

He glanced at Ling Tianyi and noticed the man wasn’t carrying a sword at his waist.

That was why he hadn’t even recognized him as a Sword Cultivator at first.

’These people, showing up here at this time... they’re most likely also here for the Hundred Herbs Secret Realm.’

’Once inside the Secret Realm, I’ll have to be a little careful.’

It wasn’t that Xiao Chen was afraid of them, but that there was no need to get into a fight.

With the token in hand, he could easily avoid everyone else and quietly make a fortune.

So, right from the start, he could keep his distance from them after entering the Secret Realm to avoid being dragged into any pointless conflicts.

It was still morning, and the market in the eastern part of the city had yet to open.

So Xiao Chen went to the western part of the city to do some sightseeing first.

This side of the city was also celebrating the Sea Spirit Festival, and the streets were lined with colorful festive decorations.

The majority of Cultivators were gathered in two main places.

The first was the Fighting Crab Market, a place dedicated to selling all kinds of Fighting Crabs that had been caught over the past half-month.

Many Cultivators, especially visitors, would come here to buy a crab to use for blessings in the evening.

It was worth noting that the vendors here also offered a release service at no extra charge.

The service entailed a Cultivator buying a Fighting Crab and telling it their wish.

The vendors would then keep these Fighting Crabs in a separate tank and wait for the auspicious hour at night to release them into the sea along with the Crab King to deliver the messages.

Of course, some people would also choose to buy a few to take back and enjoy their freshness.

After all, Fighting Crabs were a specialty of the Nanlao Sea; you couldn’t get them this fresh anywhere else.

The Fighting Crabs here came in various sizes.

Strangely, however, the stalls only had Fighting Crabs at the Early and Late Stages of Qi Refining. There were none to be seen at the Middle Stage.

Xiao Chen’s curiosity was piqued, and after asking around, he learned the reason.

Those Fighting Crabs had all been taken aside to participate in the annual Pearl-Snatching Contest.

The second gathering spot was, in fact, the location of the Pearl-Snatching Contest.

A massive water tank was set up here, a full zhang high, six zhang wide, and twenty-four zhang long.

Onlooking Cultivators could purchase a Fighting Crab, place their own mark on it, and then release it into the tank to compete against the crabs of the vendor or other Cultivators.

Pearls of different colors had been placed in the tank beforehand, hidden inside shells.

Whoever’s Fighting Crab managed to snatch a pearl from the tank would receive a prize of a certain tier based on the pearl’s color.

The Fighting Crabs being sold for the contest were all at the Middle Stage of Qi Refining and looked more or less the same on the surface.

Thus, the Pearl-Snatching Contest tested a Cultivator’s discernment as well as their luck.

The former determined how powerful the chosen Fighting Crab was, while the latter determined the color of the pearl it managed to snatch.

Both were indispensable.

.

Live Spirit Beasts were pricey. A single Middle-Stage Qi Refining Fighting Crab cost fifty Spirit Stones, and that was only because their sheer numbers had driven the price down.

A Land Spirit Beast of the same level would cost at least a hundred Spirit Stones.

Therefore, while the crowd of onlookers was large, most couldn’t afford to play and could only watch others participate.

Even some Foundation Establishment Cultivators were hesitant to spend that much.

Xiao Chen, however, was intrigued. After all, fifty Spirit Stones wasn’t a large sum for him.

So, he eagerly began to pick out a suitable Fighting Crab from a smaller tank on the side.

He soon spotted a lively Fighting Crab with black spots on its carapace, darting back and forth in the tank.

"I’ll take this one. Help me write a red character on its back."

The grand prize was a red pearl, so Xiao Chen used a red character as his mark, wanting to test his luck.

As it turned out, his performance when it came to luck was, as always, consistently stable.

Barely a Quarter Hour after the black-spotted crab was dropped into the tank, one of its pincers was torn off by another Fighting Crab tasked with guarding the pearls, and it scurried off to hide in a corner.

He sent another one in, but the result was the same. It didn’t even manage to grab a white pearl.

Feeling a bit defiant, Xiao Chen once again carefully selected a crab, this one with red pincers.

This one lasted a little longer, but was ultimately defeated.

He picked and chose again, finally settling on one with black stripes.

Perhaps it was the war of attrition, but this time his crab finally defeated the guard crab and successfully drove it off.

But as it turned out, the shell the black-striped crab claimed was empty. The pearl it once held had already been won by the first wave of customers at 7:00 AM that morning.

HISS!

Watching two hundred Spirit Stones go down the drain, Xiao Chen frowned and walked away from the contest.

’He had thought that catching the Rainbow Fish King meant his luck had turned after reaching Core Formation.’

’Who would have thought that even as a Golden Core True Man, my luck would still be as terrible as ever.’

’Looks like I should avoid anything involving luck from now on.’

He glanced up at the sky. It was just Noon, so there was still plenty of time left in the day.

So, Xiao Chen headed to North City, the very heart of Hundred Herbs City.

Not only was it home to a large number of Alchemists, but it was also the location of the City Lord’s Mansion and a grand square where several large statues stood.

In the very center was a high platform, a remnant from a past alchemy grand competition.

On a major day like this, the square was naturally teeming with Cultivators.

Some Alchemists were even starting their furnaces right there on the platform to perform Alchemy, openly showing off their skills.

They weren’t worried about anyone stealing their techniques. Or rather, if someone could learn Alchemy just by watching, Hundred Herbs City would consider it a great stroke of luck.

As Xiao Chen arrived, he happened to see a new Alchemist taking the stage.