"Ahem, alright, I got these two, the rest is a matter of time. Let's go."
Fu Xian glanced one last time at all the inspirations in the room – alas, they were formed over centuries probably. Rich in wealth, the long foundation of this whole neighbourhood.
Looking at this, he could only dream of the sight in larger neighbourhoods…
He calmed his mind and straightened his robe, patting it lightly, as if to clean it of any dust.
Walking to the door, he stopped one last time. Not to turn, but to make prepare a polite face to meet people.
'Alas in my past life, if I wanted to be introverted, it would be fine. Here, being introverted is very difficult.
Why didn't I get to reincarnate into a lonely temple and live the life of a hermit? Or even into a wizard, shutting myself in my tower and studying the truth…'
His joke delighted him a bit as he fully adjusted himself, his smile impeccable.
Opening the door, he stepped into this new group of people. He felt like he was back in high school – when he had to find new friends, or back when he got his first job, where he was clueless and had to learn everything slowly…
"There you are, our dear talisman cultivator!"
He entered into a large hall, with thirty to forty people visible.
Right at the entrance, another person seemed to have just entered and greeted him.
Fu Xian felt a strong aura and cupped his hands "Greetings, senior!"
"Haha, no need for formalities! Here, in our little neighbourhood, we are all close. You only need to address senior Ruan as senior, the rest of us are your senior brothers and sisters!"
"Senior brother!" Fu Xian called not, accepting the name.
He knew that by becoming a third stage cultivator, he finally filled the requirement to truly join the neighbourhood.
Else, he couldn't explain why he, as a third stage cultivator, called a stranger of the fourth stage a senior brother.
"I am Li Puyan, a fourth-grade spiritual planter. I mainly cultivate grapes and various fruits. I am also a fourth-grade wine brewer and juice refiner, so if you ever want any wine or juice, you can ask me!"
"Puyan, this junior just entered and you already want to corrupt him with your wine, don't you feel ashamed?" a female voice questioned Puyan from afar.
"Haha, Huan Jiming, don't you try and make me sound like I corrupt people!" Puyan said, pulling Fu Xian towards the voice.
When they got close, Fu Xian saw a stunning lady. She had a beautiful appearance and a perfect body, wearing slightly revealing clothes…
He was surprised! In the cultivation world, there was no such thing as "male wear and female wear", everyone wore the same cultivation robes! Only special people wore different clothes…
Just as he thought so, Jiming smiled at him "Hehe, little one, every look costs a thousand spirit stones!"
He quickly averted his gaze, only to hear laughter around him.
"Hahaha, you guys are bullying a junior!" another person came from further away. He had a protruding belly and wore a wide sleeved robe, looking like he enjoyed live to its fullest.
"Isn't this our dearest and most welcomed customer, Zui Longbao!" Puyan said while he winked at Jiming.
"Hehe, it's really our priced customer! Flirty Zui, why haven't I seen you at the pavilion in the past few months? Puyan just send us special Cherry Wine, a combination of wine and juice, his newest creation! It's very… intoxicating!"
A glint of excitement flashed across Longbao's face, but it quickly disappeared. He sighed "Alas, you! If I could, why wouldn't I join you?
It's just that I've been working hard these days!
My Zui clan has been experiencing some troubles and I had to leave the immortal city to take care of matters!"
"Understandable! If things are fixed, why don't you throw another banquet? Your clan leader can afford to invite me for a whole banquet, right? I will even invite my sisters!"
Longbao had a look of longing but didn't agree to anything. He turned back to Fu Xian, whom the three had inexplicably ignored, and smiled at him "I am Longbao of the Zui clan! My Zui clan is a fifth-grade cultivation clan in the Liang Empire, specialised in growing spiritual rice. If you wish to buy spiritual rice, I am the one that sells the best quality of rice all around!"
"Hmph, you!" another voice broke through.
The four turned to the newcomer – it was an older man with an air of a farmer, even carrying a hoe on his back "You have the best rice? Just be honest. Your rice is simply cheaper than others, but if you really want good rice, you should buy it from me, Panyu!"
Fu Xian cupped his hands to both "Senior brothers, thank you for telling me! I have been looking forward to buying some rice lately. Now that I know both sell rice, I will naturally visit and buy a bit of all, after all, I just advanced and don't know yet which rice is the most fitting for me!"
"Sure sure, no problem, just visit me!" Longbao said.
"Hmph!" Panyu scoffed then turned to Fu Xian, nodding kindly "Although my rice is a bit more expensive, it has various effects and can improve cultivation the best!"
Then he turned, walking to a corner. In that corner, there were a few other old men and women, all looking like farmers. They greeted Panyu before slightly nodding to Fu Xian.
"Those guys are the farmers in our little neighbourhood. If you ever need high quality agricultural resources, but it from them!
But if you need cultivation plants or the sorts, go to that group –" Puyan explained, pointing towards a group of equally old people, all of whom had a thick smell of plants, a whole different aura from the farmers who smelled of earth.
The three present all chatted and occasionally pointed to other groups, explaining them.
This way, Fu Xian somehow ended up together with a smaller group. The three were kind and had a casual air.
Initially, Fu Xian wanted to look for a group of talisman makers, but he saw no one.
Seeing him look around, Huan Jiming smiled and told him casually "In our neighbourhood, 50% are professionals, mainly spiritual planters and alchemists. They alone are around 20 people, which is nearly half of the whole neighbourhood. I am talking about real cultivators and not casual practitioners – if we talk about this, then everyone has a few arts they try.
Just as Puyan said, he is a planter of grapes and fruits, while his casual practice is wine brewing and juice refining. Meanwhile, I am a Dancer and my casual practice is to sing and play instruments.
Longbao here is a Merchant mainly – buy things cheap and sell them expensively, or put them through a process of refinement and then sell them. He has no casual practice, since he has money, he can just buy what he wants and doesn't need a secondary profession to keep ends meet.
We three all practice different kinds, which is why we usually talk among each other. Haha, in the end, we fit together very well and even started a little business…
You, on the other hand, have an orthodox art… but because we have no talisman cultivator, it's difficult for you to talk with others.
As for the other half… they are all beast, treasure or other kinds of hunters. They don't have a main profession and mainly fight beasts. As for their secondary profession…
Secondary professions are only usable when they depend on a connected main profession. Without this, learning and progressing is too expensive and no one will do this unthankful job.
And because they are out most of the time, they can't even practice spiritual planting, since it requires consistent care…
Among them all, over thirty, maybe only three or four have a proper profession, and none of them is talisman drawing."