"Alright, you're not fat, just robust!" Li Meirong kept giggling, successfully making Bai Qingyue all the more aggravated.

"Hmph." the fox spirit snorted, tail flicking with ire. "Of course I'm robust. Every inch of me is packed with rippling muscles!"

Meanwhile, Bai Qingyue's thoughts turned to a more devious side as he began planning his revenge.

'Eventually, we'll see who ends up with a round belly!' he furiously thought.

Snowball's cheeks were puffed up in an obvious display of discontent, so Li Meirong stopped her teasing and decided to drop the subject before her Fox Spirit's snout turned into a balloon.

There was a certain type of satisfaction one felt when they were just about to arrive home, and Li Meirong couldn't wait to finally rest her weary body. She was utterly exhausted.

With Snowball in her arms, she returned to the stables only to discover that Cai Huise was long gone. Without the twin-tailed cat around, she opted to mount one of the available cranes instead, travelling to the sect's bustling marketplace.

The sect's inhabitants lived separately from the rest of the world. Not only was it nearly impossible for non-cultivators to reach the sect grounds, the Forgotten Waters sect's inhabitants rarely left the sacred islands, except for on rare occasions, such as when the Grandmasters ordained a mission for their disciples, or in search of certain cultivating materials, such as herbs and other rare, special items.

Similarly to a religious faction, cultivators lived in seclusion. Because of their solitary circumstances, the sect operated as though it was an independent city, filled with residences, transportation systems and education for those of higher status. Here, one was qualified for better standards if they had a strong spiritual foundation or a worthy attribute. Otherwise, a cultivator would more often than not be treated as a servant, or in other words, an outer sect disciple.

Servants were deprived of almost all the rewards that one would supposedly acquire from joining a sect, and Li Meirong was granted that exact position in Forgotten Waters.

After having lived in the sect for five years, Li Meirong had grown used to the established system. In her opinion, even living in the "lowest class" of the sect was still better in comparison to the other available living conditions in this world. She had begun to think so after collecting herbs once, straying from her path without noticing and coming upon a farmer's village. To her dismay, she had discovered that the living conditions of the village peasants were horrendous. It wouldn't be out of place to say that every day was a struggle to survive for those who were not wealthy in this world.

As a cultivator, making a living would not be difficult in the secular world. Cultivators stood apart from the crowd and were practically worshipped by civilians for their prowess.

Nevertheless, it would be difficult for a cultivator to integrate into society after returning to normal civilization.

Li Meirong and Snowball shortly reached the crowded market. The area was filled with stands, beauty parlours, restaurants, inns and even brothels. The place seemed like a common ancient town square.

The differences between a normal town and a cultivator's marketplace became more apparent to Li Meirong upon closer inspection. For example, a pet shop stand sold low-levelled magical spirit beasts, and the restaurants around the area offered meals infused with spiritual essence. A jewellery shop provided items for sale that had grown a consciousness, or which had souls residing within them.

Not to mention that the only accepted form of exchange in the sect's marketplace was the trading of goods and services, or the highly sought-after crystal-like gems called Beast Cores. Gold, silver and copper had little to no value among cultivator groups.

The shining gems known as Beast Cores were mostly used for trade in the market. The cores were harvested from hunting magical beings such as spirits and demons. To put it simply, a Beast Core was the life essence extracted from a spiritual entity, containing a creature's mystical powers.

Consuming Beast Cores was highly beneficial for cultivators, and the core's value depended upon a beast's rank. The higher the rank, the rarer and more valuable the core became.

Li Meirong did not have a lot of Beast Cores in her possession, except for a select few from the victims who fell prey to Chou's appetite, her usual way of obtaining goods was by trade. She exchanged fruits and herbs, and received some other basic necessities such as paper, wool and mutton.

Upon Li Meirong and Snowball's arrival to a stand filled with medicinal herbs, the Fox Spirit's ears perked up as he curiously asked, "Why have we come here?"

Pinching his button nose in an affectionate manner, Li Meirong explained, "So I can buy herbal medicine for your bath!"

Snowball's fur didn't seem as dirty anymore, but she knew that his back was still badly injured, and getting tossed in the ashes of a volcano certainly wouldn't have been good for his health. What if the wound got infected? The spirit-infused herbal extract would benefit the condition of his ailing body.

Snowball's eyes glinted with what Li Meirong assumed was excitement at the prospect of getting pampered by her. His fluffy tails swished around in anticipation as he made a seemingly harmless suggestion.

"Let's take a bath together!"