By then, the entire Chaotic Star Sea will be boiling over.

"Guest, what do you need?"

Xiao Er spotted Su Ji from afar and immediately broke into a smile.

Su Ji waved a hand. "Checking out."

He hadn't been idle just now.

He'd been mulling over the ins and outs of the Chaotic Star Sea.

This place wasn't called "Chaotic Star Sea" for nothing.

It sat near a stretch of ocean.

And once every ten years, that ocean produced a spectacle known as "a sky full of falling stars."

When that happened, countless points of light would appear on the sea's surface, as if stars had plunged into the waters, or as if some mysterious passageway had opened.

It was said to hold great fortune, and great danger, too.

That was why the place was originally called Star Sea City.

Of course, all of that he'd pieced together from the gossip of the motley crew of cultivators who loitered around the inn.

As for when exactly this spectacle would arrive, no one knew the precise date. They only said it was close.

"By the way, Xiao Er, why is your town so quiet?"

Earlier, when Su Ji and Su Jiu had gone out, they'd hardly seen any open shops, so they'd had to make do with some steamed buns.

Even considering that cultivators could forgo food entirely through fasting, it was still unnaturally quiet.

"Guest, you wouldn't know it, but our Chaotic Star Sea is a city that never sleeps..."

"You have to go out at night to see the real Chaotic Star Sea."

"Head west about five li from here, and at night there's a night market. You could try your luck there."

Having said that, he looked at Su Ji with hopeful eyes.

This man was richly dressed, dignified in appearance, and accompanied by such a beautiful dao companion.

He must be some young master of a great family, come to the Chaotic Star Sea looking for thrills.

Such people were always the most generous with their spending.

And he was happy to answer their questions.

But after Su Ji heard the information he wanted, he nodded thoughtfully, then walked out the door.

Xiao Er could only curse his luck inwardly—he'd run into a tightwad.

...

Just as Xiao Er had said.

The moment night fell, the place transformed. Lights blazed, voices clamored.

All sorts of things—some that could see the light of day, some that couldn't—appeared here.

Su Ji and Su Jiu melted into the bustling crowd, like two drops of water joining the sea, utterly unremarkable.

"Senior Brother, are you sure we can get information here?"

Su Jiu tugged at Su Ji's sleeve and whispered.

She looked at the bizarre stalls around them, and the unsavory-looking cultivators, and felt a little rattled.

"Relax." Su Ji kept his voice low. "The more chaotic the place, the more opportunities there are."

As he spoke, he studied the stalls with keen interest.

"Look over there at that talisman seller. His talismans look like chicken scratch, and he still dares to hawk them."

"And that one, selling pills. Those pills are practically fossilized. Clearly some old leftover stock."

Su Jiu followed his pointing finger and saw he was right.

"So what do we do?"

"We sell something too." Su Ji's answer was simple.

"Sell what?"

Su Ji didn't reply. Instead, he pulled a small jade bottle from his robe and shook it in front of Su Jiu.

It was one of those healing pills he'd "helped himself to" from Elder Yao's pill room.

Su Jiu was doubtful. "Senior Brother, it's not like you're short on spirit stones, right?"

As far as she knew, Su Ji's storage ring still held at least several million spirit stones.

"It's not really about the stones." Su Ji smiled. "These were personally refined by Elder Yao. The quality might be average, but the medicinal effect is pure. In this mixed bag of a market, these count as rare treasures."

"Wait... Senior Brother, exactly how many bottles did you 'help yourself' to?"

Su Jiu suddenly caught on.

"All of them. I put in so much effort, is it wrong to grab some pills to recoup my losses?" Su Ji said, completely unashamed.

Su Jiu: "..."

Su Ji lowered his voice as he spoke. "We need to find someone who knows their stuff."

The two wandered through the night market for a while, and finally stopped in front of an unremarkable stall.

The stall owner was an old man with snow-white hair and beard, his body hunched, carefully examining what looked like an ordinary medicinal herb.

When he heard footsteps, he couldn't even be bothered to lift his eyelids.

Su Ji wasn't in a hurry. He placed the jade bottle on the stall and slid it gently toward the old man.

Only then did the old man slowly raise his eyes. He glanced at the bottle, then glanced at Su Ji, a hint of scrutiny in his gaze.

He uncorked the bottle and brought it to his nose, taking a whiff.

"Hm?"

A flicker of surprise passed through his clouded eyes.

"Friend, may I pour one out to take a closer look?"

Su Ji nodded. "Go ahead."

The old man didn't dawdle. He popped the cork, tipped out a single pill, and held it in his palm for a careful look.

The pill was round, rich in color, and gave off a faint, clean fragrance.

"Decent quality."

The old man nodded, offering a fairly neutral assessment.

"Three pills in this bottle. Three hundred mid-grade spirit stones in total."

Su Jiu raised an eyebrow. "Old man, that price isn't exactly fair."

The old man lifted his head, a glint of sharpness flashing in those clouded eyes.

"And what do you two young friends think it's worth?"

Su Ji glanced at Su Jiu.

Knowing how to refine pills and knowing how to price them were two entirely different matters.

Even if he'd inherited the art of pill-making, the inheritance didn't teach you pricing.

Unless he had comparable pills with established prices as a reference, he could work backward from the difference in efficacy.

"At least a thousand per pill." Su Jiu held up one finger. "These are healing pills personally refined by a Nascent Soul stage alchemist. The effect is gentle, with absolutely no impurities."

The old man fell silent for a moment.

He pulled a storage pouch from his robe and slid it across to Su Ji.

"Then let's call it making friends. Twelve hundred a piece. I'll take all three."

Su Ji took the storage pouch, swept it with his spiritual sense, confirmed it was correct, and nodded.

"Deal."

The old man carefully put the pills away, then raised his head to size up Su Ji once more.

"Young friend, do you have more?"

The old man suddenly spoke.

Su Ji paused for a beat, then smiled. "What, old mister, you want more?"

"These pills are made by a master's hand, pure and clean in effect. Here in the Chaotic Star Sea, they're a rare find."

The old man was unusually talkative all of a sudden.

Su Ji hesitated a moment, then pulled out two more jade bottles.

The old man's eyes lit up. He took the bottles, uncorked them, and inspected each one.

"Good! These two bottles, I'll take both!"

The old man seemed a little excited. He pulled two more storage pouches from his robe and pushed them across to Su Ji.

"Count it yourself. I won't short you a single stone."

Su Ji stowed the pouches, but didn't leave right away.

He looked at the old man and suddenly asked, "Old sir, I'd like to ask you something."

The old man raised his head, a gleam of shrewdness in those murky eyes.

"Young friend, with goods like this, you're clearly no ordinary cultivator."

"But you don't seem to be from around here?"

"Since you're a stranger to these parts, the things you'd most want to ask about are probably one of two things. First, you must be curious about why the Chaotic Star Sea is dead by day but alive by night?"

Su Ji didn't deny it. "Mm."

"I'm all ears."

The old man smiled, lowering his voice.

"Because of the rules." There was a hint of mockery in his tone. "The Chaotic Star Sea may be chaotic, but even chaos has its rules."

“The night market belongs to everyone.”

“Whether you’re a righteous cultivator or a rogue cultivator of the demonic path, once you enter the night market, you follow the rules.”

“No fighting. No robbery. No killing.”

“Whoever breaks the rules becomes an enemy of the entire Chaotic Star Sea.”

“That’s why many cultivators don’t dare show their faces by day.”

“Simple as that.”

“This news isn’t hard to come by—consider it a freebie. If you’ve got more questions, though, it’ll cost you…”

Su Ji listened, then nodded thoughtfully.

“Thank you for your guidance, Elder.”

“No need for thanks.” The Old Man waved a hand. “Since you’ve come, young friend, I assume you’re after the Boundless Sea.”

“Allow me one piece of advice: the Boundless Sea is full of opportunities, but it’s also perilous beyond measure.”

“Every time the miracle appears, countless cultivators end up buried beneath the waves.”

“If you go, be careful.”

Su Ji smiled but said nothing in reply. He set a storage pouch on the table.

He didn’t lack spirit stones, but spirit stones made gathering information far easier.

As for why not just use spirit stones to ask directly?

Well, why take a business partner out for a foot massage and bath? If you just handed them the cash equivalent and said “here you go,” see if they’d even bother to talk to you.

Su Ji asked, “When will the miracle of the Boundless Sea appear?”

“Soon.” The Old Man glanced up at the sky. “Going by past patterns, it should be within the next few days.”

“When it comes, the whole Chaotic Star Sea will boil over.”

Su Ji nodded and asked a few more questions, all of which the Old Man answered in turn.

Just before leaving, Su Ji turned back and looked at the Old Man, a trace of thought in his eyes.