Chapter 88: A Lucky Find, Qingyuan Country

Chapter 88: Chapter 88: A Lucky Find, Qingyuan Country

Li Changsheng landed on his feet, recalled Xiaohua into the Spirit Beast Bag, and strode inside.

The moment he entered, a cacophony of voices assaulted his ears.

"Hot Spirit Rice Balls! One spirit stone fragment each!"

"Hundred Spirits Fruit! Crispy and delicious Hundred Spirits Fruit! Three for just one spirit stone fragment!"

"Sweet and sour Hawthorn Fruit! One spirit stone fragment a skewer! Get them before they’re gone..."

"..."

Cultivators who looked more like street peddlers—carrying bamboo baskets on their backs and shoulder poles—shouted their wares as they weaved through the crowd.

Li Changsheng had been here several times. He knew these peddler-like Loose Cultivators were selling fruits that had been stored with Spirit Stone powder, infusing them with a trace of Spiritual Qi.

He had to admit, although the Spiritual Qi within was negligible, the Spirit Stone storage process really did improve the taste quite a bit.

Li Changsheng scanned his surroundings.

Even though he had visited a few times, he couldn’t help but feel a little surprised.

Perhaps it was the novelty or the lively atmosphere, but this simple marketplace was bustling with people.

Most of them were dark-skinned Spirit Farmers, with a smaller number of tough-looking Loose Cultivators.

Li Changsheng withdrew his gaze, flagged down the Hawthorn Fruit peddler to buy a skewer, and began to wander around while eating it.

The vendors with stalls on either side of the main path were clearly more concerned with their image than the shouting peddlers, as they didn’t call out loudly.

Most of them sold low-grade Spirit Plants, while others offered low-grade spirit ores and butchered Spirit Beast Meat.

A very small number of stalls had Cultivators selling talismans and Elixir Pills.

Then there were those selling bizarre-looking objects that had no trace of Spiritual Qi.

Li Changsheng had been wandering around for the past few days, hoping to rely on his Golden Finger to make a small fortune from these strange items.

In those few days, he had indeed discovered a few items whose Spiritual Qi had dissipated over time but were made of excellent materials, such as Spirit Jades and Spirit Plant Withered Branches.

But the Loose Cultivators weren’t fools.

Even though Li Changsheng controlled his expression, they still noticed something was up and directly quoted him an exorbitant price—ten Spirit Stones!

After this happened several times in a row, Li Changsheng learned his lesson.

When he found a stall with an item worth some Spirit Stones, he would pick up a common object instead, put on a stern face, and ask for the price.

Then, after the stall owner quoted an outrageous price, he would just walk away, leaving the owner to stare at the strange object with surprise and suspicion.

Some stall owners would only ask for one or two spirit stone fragments.

But why would he spend Spirit Stones on junk? He would haggle with the vendor until they became so annoyed they refused to sell, only then would he leave with a look of reluctance.

After days of this behavior, the Loose Cultivators had formed a first impression of this Spirit Farmer.

A Spirit Farmer who was always looking for a bargain but was extremely stingy.

And today, he had come to the marketplace to buy all the items he had scouted out over the past few days.

After walking about ten meters, Li Changsheng squatted down in front of a stall. Chewing on his Hawthorn Fruit, he casually rummaged through the items on display.

The stall owner was a large, dark-faced man with a full beard.

Seeing a potential customer, he had just put on a smile, ready to praise his own wares.

But when he saw Li Changsheng’s face, his smile froze. He rolled his eyes and plopped back down on his stool.

Li Changsheng put down a rock he was holding, looked up at him, and said with feigned displeasure, "Vendor, aren’t you going to tell me what all this stuff is?"

The bearded man shot him a glance and said lazily, "See for yourself."

Li Changsheng circulated his Spiritual Power to make his face flush red. He picked up a piece of bright yellow withered wood, about the length of a forearm and as thick as a thumb, and said angrily, "You tell me to see for myself, but at least give me a price!"

The bearded man’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. He glanced at the withered wood in Li Changsheng’s hand and said, "Three spirit stone fragments." He paused, then added, "Take it or leave it. No haggling!"

"You...!"

Li Changsheng seemed furious. He proceeded to pick up several more bizarrely shaped objects and ask about their prices one by one.

He continued until the vendor grew impatient.

Li Changsheng picked up a piece of dark, heavy wood about the size of his palm. "What about this piece of wood?"

The vendor, who was now attending to a new customer, spared it a glance. "One spirit stone fragment." Then he turned his head back and began to boast enthusiastically to the customer in front of him, claiming his item came from some dangerous land and was a Spiritual Object that was concealing its own nature.

A smile flashed across Li Changsheng’s eyes. He took out a spirit stone fragment, tossed it onto the stall, and turned to leave, toying with the block of wood in his hand.

Not long after he disappeared into the crowd, the vendor saw off his customer, and only when he turned back did he notice a glittering spirit stone fragment on his stall.

"Huh... he actually bought it?" ℴ

The vendor looked astonished. Then he chuckled, picked up the spirit stone fragment, weighed it in his hand, and laughed. "Heh, no matter how stingy you are, you can’t resist a bit of greed!"

’As for him getting a steal?’

The vendor thought it was impossible. Absolutely impossible.

’It’s just a piece of wood I picked up by the river. Other than being a little heavy and a little hard, there’s nothing else strange about it. How could it possibly be a treasure?’

Li Changsheng didn’t know what the vendor was thinking; he was currently ecstatic.

After leaving the bearded man’s stall, he used the same trick to acquire five more bizarre-looking items in succession.

Among them were three pieces of jade, a dried-up stalk of grass, and a purplish-red root.

Although he wasn’t sure how many Spirit Stones these Spiritual Objects, now devoid of Spiritual Qi, were worth, he was certain they couldn’t be bought for just one or two spirit stone fragments.

He planned to wait until the next crop of Spirit Rice was mature, then make a trip to a proper marketplace to sell the rice and see how many Spirit Stones his new acquisitions were worth.

Lost in his happy thoughts, Li Changsheng arrived at the center of the crossroads.

Compared to the other four paths, the stalls at the intersection were clearly of a higher grade.

The auras of the Cultivators manning these stalls were, for the most part, stronger than his, and the goods on their stalls were all Spiritual Objects priced in whole Spirit Stones.

Li Changsheng had no intention of buying anything. He just looked at the stalls one by one, cataloging some of the Spiritual Objects he had never seen before.

As he was passing a stall surrounded by a large crowd, he suddenly stopped and squeezed his way over.

After pushing into the crowd, he discovered that this stall was selling talismans.

Displayed on it were low-grade talismans, such as Fireball Talismans and Water Arrow Talismans.

The vendor was an old man of about sixty with a goatee.

Facing the crowd of onlookers, not only was he not shy, but he spoke with great eloquence and confidence.

He was describing the famous mountains and scenic rivers of the three nations under the Cyan Yang Sect’s jurisdiction: Baiyue, Qingyuan, and Nanfeng.

He would occasionally throw in some interesting local customs and anecdotes, keeping the crowd captivated and unwilling to leave.

According to him...

Baiyue Country was mountainous, with stockades serving as cities. Its people were robust and often fierce and brave.

Qingyuan Country had a pleasant mix of mountains and rivers, vast lands with many fields, and its towns were as numerous as stars in the sky.

Nanfeng Country bordered the Mist Marsh. Its territory was filled with great rivers and lakes, as well as many fierce beasts and poisonous insects.

Li Changsheng’s eyes flickered, his heart finding it difficult to remain calm.

He himself was from a small city in Qingyuan Country, Chi City.

’I wonder how things are at home. Are my parents healthy?’

Just as he was lost in his memories, someone in the crowd suddenly spoke up and asked.

"Since you know so much about the three mortal nations under the Cyan Yang Sect, you must be familiar with the Cyan Yang Sect itself. Why don’t you tell us about it?"