One Wish to Own the World

"What kind of gadgets do you think they are going to sell?" Alaric asked the group as they walked toward the fifth-highest mountain around the valley, belonging to the fifth strongest sect of the continent.

"There will probably be goggles that you can put on your eyes, and it'd let you see long distances," Ken said, remembering the binoculars from Earth.

"That makes sense, that senior also mentioned something like that. But what about the other stuff?"

"We will see, what's the point in guessing blindly?" Tiara interrupted the conversation. As for George, he gave up on talking and only said something when he had to, knowing the rest of the group looked down on him. As a group that Ken gathered, none of them was a good person.

"Here it is."

They could see the mountain base and the gate that was built on the path leading uphill. Four disciples stood guard, mainly for appearance's sake. They invited over customers from all sects, so there was nobody to apprehend at the entrance. The troublemakers would be revealed only at the market itself.

The improvised wooden gate was surprisingly fancy with the beautiful carves of coiling dragons, tigers, and other beasts, making most people stop to look at it for a moment before going inside. 

The market was a long path at the mountain base that circled around the whole thing, and on both sides of the path countless stalls were located, trying to fight for the customers' attention. They walked through the gates with a polite nod to the guards and followed the road signs straight to the market area.

The moment they stepped through the ornate gateway, an entirely different world unfolded before them. The scent of ink from newly inscribed talismans mingled with the pungent aroma of exotic herbs and the metallic tang of freshly forged steel. The cacophony of the bustling market echoed through the vast stretch of the mountain base, almost sounding like the center of a mortal city.

A few steps further took them to a stall offering gadgets of curious design. A crowd had gathered around as the vendor demonstrated a mechanical contraption. With a turn of a crank, the device sprung to life, extending a series of mirrors that refracted light in a mesmerizing display, outlining a formation in the air that rippled with a silent, unseen force.

"What does this formation do?" Tiara asked in curiosity. She did like pretty things herself, but only when they also had functionality.

"It calms the mind and is supposed to help with enlightenment," Ken recognized the formation that emitted by the mirrors. "It's a fancy way to store a formation and indeed looks good, but in the end, a scroll would be much cheaper and simpler to produce," he gave his judgment.

"I will take one," Tiara decided. She could spend some extra money on beauty as long as the product itself was as useful as its uglier counterpart.

Ken's attention, however, was caught by a stall that seemed to be dedicated to alchemical creations. The vendor, an old man with a long white beard that helped him look wiser, held the crowd in awe as he unveiled a tiny vial containing a swirling, iridescent liquid. 

"One drop of the Ethereal Elixir," he proclaimed, "and your senses will be heightened to perceive the truth of the world beyond the veil. Ideal for those who want to deal with formations by themselves or face a higher-ranked formation master!"

"Probably a scam, elixirs are quite rare. I don't think I've consumed more than one or two my whole life," Alaric commented, making Ken nod in agreement. He always designed his creations as pills and believed the condensation of the herbs into the round shapes kept more of their qualities intact through the process than mixing them with fluids.

"I will buy one just in case, maybe it can give me new ideas," Ken said and pushed his way through the crowd and paid a few thousand medium Qi Stones for the elixir.

George, on the other hand, was fascinated by a collection of mysterious sealed scrolls at a modestly adorned stall. The pretty female vendor explained, "These scrolls contain formations capable of altering the fabric of reality. A single whisper and the world bends to your will... for a fleeting moment."

"How much is it?" George asked in excitement. He would only need a single moment to kill his enemies if reality itself bent to his whims!

"It's…" The seller scrutinized him, perhaps trying to estimate his net worth, "only 1000 medium Qi Stones per scroll," she gave her final evaluation.

"Fairy, how about this, I buy a couple of these scrolls, and we explore their mysteries together tonight? There's more to learn about each other before the tournament demands my focus."," George said as he leaned closer, his eyes betraying his eagerness. He emphasized the part of the tournament, wanting to impress the lady and make her assume he was a top disciple.

"Haha, Young Master, how can you ask someone like me out, I'm from a competitor sect and not even ranked there," the woman laughed but contrary to her words, her tone was flirtatious and her body language spoke volumes of her mutual interest.

"How can competition stand in the way of romance?" he asked with a wide smile as he noticed her reaction, "In love's grand scheme, hurdles fade like a dream," his face turned serious as he gazed at the starry night.

"Young Master, you are good with words. Unfortunately, I'm only a seller here and can't give you the scrolls for free, but if you buy ten- no, twenty, and let me experience their effects, I might have a lot of free time tonight," she said coyly and played with her hair.

"Haha, of course!" George hurriedly pulled 20,000 medium Qi Stones, a sum he took nearly 4 years to accumulate, making Henry who happened to be around raise his eyebrows beneath his black blindfold.

"Three things cannot be hidden for a long time: the sun, the moon, and the truth. This poor monk thinks the truth will come to light before the sun is revealed," Henry patted George's shoulder before moving on to another stall. George only spared him a single confused glance before returning his attention to his future date.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group browsed the other goods that caught their eyes. Alaric, interested in music, was in front of a large stall with a variety of guqins, zithers, pianos, drums, flutes, and more.

"There are so many instruments!" he said as he moved his fingers on the different tools and strings, making tapping sounds and occasional rings. 

"Brother, what is the highest quality you have?" He eventually asked the vendor.

"We have here instruments up to the sixth grade," the vendor said pridefully, looking for Alaric's admiration. However, the reaction was slightly different than expected.

"No seventh-grade guqins?" Alaric asked with a hint of disappointment.

"I'm afraid not, seventh-grade items are usually custom-made, not mass-produced. Just a single tool would take over a month to create," the young seller explained.

"I see, thanks for the explanation. I will buy this one then," Alaric said, somewhat in a letdown. He chose an ornate wooden guqin with beautiful strings made of silk that made clearer and smoother sounds than the others.

"That'd be 198,000 medium Qi Stones or 180 high ones," the vendor said. Alaric simply took out the sum and paid it without hesitation, courtesy of Darma's hard work to earn the group's money.

Henry, the poor monk with no earthly needs, also did not shy away from spending. He bought a painting of an eight-arms Buddha sitting cross-legged with an ethereal demon encompassing him. He felt a strong pull to that drawing, and if Ken would check the monk's luck, he'd find out it rose a little.

The four, excluding George, assembled again after finishing their purchases and went together to the busiest section, the area where the binoculars and the other tools for watching the tournament were sold.

"Indeed, there are goggles like you predicted, Team Leader," Alaric pointed at some.

"I think this one is much more interesting," Tiara replied, crouching in front of a large bowl of water with colorful fluids inside, "How does it work?" she asked the busy vendor.

"Everyone, we will run another display of the goods!" The vendor shouted in response, answering everyone at once. He waved his arm and two beautiful women in qipaos climbed on a small stage behind the counter, smiling at the crowd that turned silent for the show.

"First, we have the goggles! We've produced glass and inscribed it to enhance vision, allowing you to see a few kilometers in the distance!"

The girls wore fancy golden goggles and made a spin, "Wow, I'm so glad this guy decided to take a bath in the stream downhill right now!" one of the girls exclaimed, prompting a burst of laughter from the crowd who strained their eyes to see, yet could only make a vague silhouette.

"Here, Lily, try these. Don't you want to see the view more clearly?" The other girl said in a chuckle and offered her friends binoculars before explaining, "These can offer you even better vision, up to twice more zoom-in than the goggles!"

"You're right! I can almost feel his abs under my hands with this thing! Hehe, let me aim the binoculars just a little bit lower…" she said with a mischievous tone, amusing the crowd.

"That's enough Lily, don't violate the man's privacy!" the other woman scolded her playfully, prompting a "boo" from the woman as she removed the item and the two left the stage with a light applause and giggles from the crowd.

"Next, we have the Divination Pool! While we call it that way, it doesn't show you the future, only the bottom of the valley in real-time. It's connected to the formations inscribed on the platform, and you can choose to see whatever you want!" He poured his Qi into the same bowl of water Tiara eyed earlier and the colors started to twirl inside it.

Soon, an image of the serene pond was shown from a bird-view, "You only need to pour your Qi into the divination pool and it can feel your intentions and show you any scene you want within the platform!" 

The images changed and conveyed scenes of dangerous-looking fish inside the water, a forest with the animals roaming inside it quietly, the sight of the icy plain as if someone flew above it, and more.

"There's only one catch, only those with an intent can use it or the item will fail to understand your desires! As for the rest, I'd suggest buying the other two products."

"We will get it," Ken declared.

The time before the competition passed quickly, and soon, it was time for the tournament to start.