Chapter 140: Jing'an Notes: Statue

After a preliminary interrogation of the captives, Lin Guangcheng learned that it was not due to any grievances within the Secret Realm, nor any other matter, but that someone had plotted to target him.

It was only because he had inadvertently revealed his hand that he was ambushed and intercepted. Put this way, it was actually he who had implicated Chen Zi Ya.

With this, Lin Guangcheng felt relieved; at the very least, he was now in the mood to accompany Chen Zi Ya to browse the stall square.

Because he had spent some time in the morning taking medicine to heal his injuries in the suite, plus the time taken to interrogate the captives, it was already noon by the time the two stepped out of the inn's main entrance.

However, it did not matter; the timing was just right. The Dongyang Market was quite large, feeling much like the market in Qingyun City.

After walking for a while and asking for directions, the two finally found the stall square. They had also gained other insights; at the very least, Lin Guangcheng now knew where the Wanbao Pavilion and the Gambling Stone Workshop were located.

At this time, the amplification array on the guest ship sounded: "Respected guests, our guest ship will stay at the landing field of Danyang Prefecture for two days and will set off after Chen hour the day after tomorrow. Please return on time for guests who are going out, otherwise, we will not wait."

Today was not any special day, so there were not many people setting up stalls. However, compared to those on the first deck of the guest ship, there were several times more; at a glance, there were probably six or seven hundred stalls in the square.

It was enough for Chen Zi Ya to browse for a long time. Lin Guangcheng followed behind her, keeping a little bit of attention on her, while also searching for items that interested him. Of course, his main goal was to look for items with auras.

Next were spirit seeds, spirit medicines, spirit plants, spirit grasses, as well as spirit crystals and other things his mother needed for talisman making; these were all his targets.

Having just browsed a dozen or so stalls, they encountered a stall selling books. There were dozens of books placed on it, and Lin Guangcheng took a careful look.

Many were common cultivation manuals, such as the Thick Earth Technique, Blazing Flame Technique, Withered Wood Technique, and the like—there were quite a few. Of course, there were also introductions to alchemy and artifact refining.

However, what caught Lin Guangcheng's eye was a copy of "Xu Jing'an's Talisman Sutra Essays" placed in front of the stall owner. It looked like it should be a talisman master's notes on talisman making.

Fortunately, there were no ambushes or sneak attacks this time. Before the sky completely darkened, the two arrived at the entrance of Danyang Market, spent four spirit stones at the entrance to handle the entry and exit credentials for the two, which were jade tokens, and each kept one.

His mother would likely need and like it, so he asked directly: "Boss, how many spirit stones for these essays?"

The stall owner was a middle-aged cultivator. He glanced at Lin Guangcheng and introduced: "This is a high-grade talisman master's notebook. Although it is not a talisman legacy, it is still very precious. I can see you are someone who knows the trade; I'll charge you five hundred spirit stones!"

Lin Guangcheng rolled his eyes upon hearing this. This thing could be copied as many times as one wanted; it just took some time, yet the owner actually wanted five hundred spirit stones! Lin Guangcheng began to haggle: "Thirty spirit stones. You can copy this thing as many times as you want; it just takes some time. I believe you don't even know how many copies you've sold."

The stall owner shook his head repeatedly: "No, no. No matter how many copies are made, the content above won't change; it is all high-grade talisman-making notes."

"It is very precious talisman-making experience, guaranteed to be the real deal, and it will definitely allow a talisman master to avoid many detours."

"If you really want it, I'll sell it to you for a cheaper price of four hundred and fifty spirit stones!"

Lin Guangcheng also shook his head: "Too expensive. I am not a talisman master; I'm just buying this as a gift for an elder. I can't afford four hundred and fifty spirit stones. I'd better go find something else as a gift!"

After saying this, he put down the essays and walked toward the next stall.

The book stall owner was in a panic. He had sold dozens of these; the talisman masters near Dongyang Market basically all had a copy, and he hadn't sold many in the last year or two.

It was rare to encounter a cultivator interested today; he couldn't let this opportunity slip by.

The stall owner hurriedly ran over, grabbed Lin Guangcheng, and said: "Thirty spirit stones is indeed too little. Add a bit more."

Lin Guangcheng thought for a moment and said: "How about I add five more, thirty-five spirit stones?"

The book stall owner felt as uncomfortable as if he had been punched. Holding his breath, he said: "The lowest is one hundred spirit stones!"

Lin Guangcheng saw that his face was flushed, considered it, and agreed.

In fact, he hadn't expected to buy this high-grade talisman notebook for thirty-five spirit stones. The price of one hundred spirit stones offered by the stall owner was within Lin Guangcheng's acceptable range, which was why he agreed.

Subsequently, Lin Guangcheng paid the spirit stones and left with the talisman-making essays.

Chen Zi Ya saw Lin Guangcheng buy a notebook on talisman making and asked: "Senior Brother, are you also a talisman master?"

Lin Guangcheng explained with a smile: "No, I bought it as a gift for my mother. She is the talisman master; she should like it." Chen Zi Ya nodded and kept this information in her heart.

The two continued to browse forward. There were quite a lot of miscellaneous items on the stalls. Every few steps, Chen Zi Ya would discover one or two things she didn't recognize before and would ask the stall owner, but she asked a lot without buying anything.

It felt like she was here to broaden her horizons, not to pick up bargains.

Soon, after browsing over a hundred stalls, Lin Guangcheng bought twelve demon-alluring grass seedlings at the price of five spirit stones each; they were all one or two years old.

There were also several common spirit medicines, all live plants that could be replanted. Chen Zi Ya, on the other hand, hadn't made a single purchase yet.

However, seeing that she was in a very good mood and didn't seem to mind, Lin Guangcheng felt relieved.

After browsing another two hundred stalls, Lin Guangcheng looked up inadvertently and saw something two feet tall on one of the stalls ahead, emitting gold, yellow, and red auras. He didn't dare to stare at it for too long, fearing the stall owner would discover the anomaly.

This was the first time Lin Guangcheng had seen such an aura. Previous ones had all been multicolored or single-colored; this was his first time seeing a three-colored aura.

He tried hard to remain calm, not daring to show the slightest flaw on his face. After browsing the few stalls ahead, he finally arrived at the stall emitting the aura.

This was a miscellaneous goods stall, with all sorts of messy items: half-old storage bags, low-grade damaged dharma artifacts, a few seemingly old cultivation manuals, and some withered spirit medicines and grasses. There were quite a lot of things.

The item emitting the three-colored aura was a wood carving. To be precise, it was an Arhat statue with a layer of dark patina on the surface, carrying a sense of vicissitudes and mottled age.

There were Buddhist sects in this realm, but within the sphere of influence of the Six Sects, it was rare to see Buddhist cultivators. Now that he had encountered what was clearly a Buddhist treasure, Lin Guangcheng hesitated a bit.

Buddhism placed the greatest importance on karma. If he took this treasure, it would be equivalent to forming a certain karma with the Buddhist sect. Lin Guangcheng had too many secrets on him and really didn't want to attract too much attention.

However, he still asked the boss: "Boss, how come you have Buddhist items here? Can I take a look?"

The boss was an elderly cultivator. Upon hearing this, he glanced at Lin Guangcheng and introduced: "Many things here were sold to me by fellow Daoists who set up stalls. It's been too long, and I don't remember who it was. If you're interested, take it and look!"

He took the Arhat statue from the stall owner and observed it carefully. It should be a carving of the Subduing Dragon Arhat, and the craftsmanship was at least master-level; it was carved very vividly, lifelike, and with piercing eyes.

The weight was moderate, and the material should be first-grade spirit peach wood, just like the thunder-struck wood in Lin Guangcheng's storage bag; both were trunks of spirit peach trees.

He hesitated for a moment before asking: "Boss, how many spirit stones for this statue?"

The stall owner said: "It's rare for someone to like it. Let's make it cheaper, five hundred spirit stones!"

When Lin Guangcheng heard this, he knew the owner was trying to fleece him! He countered: "This is ordinary first-grade spirit peach wood. Where do you see it being worth five hundred spirit stones? Fifty spirit stones! It's a gift for an elder; I can't afford anything too expensive."

The stall owner shook his head repeatedly: "I'm selling a Buddha statue, not spirit peach wood. Three hundred spirit stones! This Buddha statue is quite old and carved very realistically; it counts as an antique."

Lin Guangcheng sighed: "Too expensive. Eighty spirit stones; I can't afford any more."

The stall owner thought for a moment and said firmly: "This is the cheapest: two hundred spirit stones."

Lin Guangcheng shook his head, put down the statue, and said to the stall owner: "Sorry, I can't afford it!"

He then left the stall, thinking to himself that this was also good; there was no need to form karma with the Buddhist sect.

Unexpectedly, having only walked two steps, the stall owner chased after him: "Fine, fine, I'll sell it to you."

Lin Guangcheng was a bit stunned. Wasn't his attitude very firm? Why did he sell it? But since it had come to this, Lin Guangcheng could only pay eighty spirit stones to the stall owner.

He took the Arhat statue and put it into his storage bag. He would study it slowly after returning!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 141 =====