Chapter 29: Crab Crone, Prototype of the Vision of the Future (Begging for Monthly Votes, Begging for Follows)

The Five Fierce Spirits Ritual Fair is divided into the Front Street, Middle Street, and Inner Market; their locations differ, and so do the stall fees.

The Front Street mostly sells plants, stones, and the like dug out from the Plague Domains, possessing supernatural attributes, but not many.

Jiang Yan glanced a few times, then quickened his pace into the Middle Street; afterward, various supernatural goods became more numerous, and many Plague Domain creatures appeared.

The ears also received the noisy sounds of haggling and bargaining:

"Come look at the Chi I just caught from the Desolate Grade-A Plague Domain; passersby, don't miss it. Don't let its snake-like appearance fool you; it has one head and two bodies.

Carry it with you, and when you call out its name, you can walk on water as if on flat ground, easily exploring treasures sunken in the deep sea. Perhaps you'll find a Former Talisman-grade relic, reach the peak of life, and marry a noble lady from a prestigious family."

Jiang Yan looked over and saw a stallkeeper wearing a straw raincoat standing beside a special glass tank as tall as a person; inside swam a peculiar dark-green small snake with two bodies.

"I have twenty plague-refugee bones just obtained from the Desolate Grade-B Plague Domain. This is a rare item; killing a hundred refugee shadows might not even yield one. Quantities are limited; first come, first served.

There are other good items too. Historical Walkers skilled in poison refining can discuss details with me."

Beside him, a tall, thin stallkeeper also called out enthusiastically, holding up dark-green withered bones that emitted a faint glow.

However, the crowd that gathered the most was at a stall selling crabs.

Every crab was as big as a basketball, carrying a moss-covered stone shell, with their claws and legs bound, bellies facing upward, constantly spitting foam.

The stallkeeper introduced: "These are stone crabs born by a Crab Crone of the Foundation Realm. Not only are they delicious, but they can also increase the cultivation speed of Water-attribute Practice Methods."

"Is it genuine? It looks not much different from ordinary black stone crabs," someone asked curiously.

The stallkeeper patted his chest and assured: "Of course it's genuine; I personally watched her give birth to them."

"Hmph, seeing you so confident, I thought you were the one who fathered them with her."

"Get lost!"

As the words fell, the surrounding onlookers burst into laughter.

"Interesting!"

Jiang Yan also smiled faintly.

"Master, are these things very good? I will work hard to earn money and buy them for you in the future."

The Coffin Spirit hid inside the pocket, communicating through the connection between offspring and the Demon God embryo.

It had seen how its Master worried about money every day recently.

It vowed to work hard to relieve its Master's troubles.

Hearing this, Jiang Yan laughed heartily and said: "Haha, I accept this intention. However, compared to these things, the stallkeepers' mouths are even more powerful; they can turn the dead into the living."

The Coffin Spirit asked in confusion: "Are they selling fake goods?"

"Not exactly."

Jiang Yan shook his head slightly and explained: "Zhao Zhao Yinman's notes mentioned that the Chi can indeed allow one to breathe underwater, but that is its only function. Catching fish and shrimp in a river is fine, but in the sea... there are surging undercurrents.

One careless move and you'll be swept away; moreover, if you dive too deep, the water pressure can crush a person into meat paste.

Most crucially, that Chi's life lamp is nearly burnt out. It's the same trick as a black-hearted pet shop: forcibly drugging it to make it look spirited. If bought, it will most likely become... um, a 'Week-Long Monster'."

"As for the stone crabs, they are indeed real, and their effects are not a lie, but the Crab Crone is a demon beast with extremely vengeful nature; it will hunt down anyone who eats its children, all the way to the ends of the earth.

The stallkeeper's own strength is not strong, yet he obtained the stone crabs, which means he either found a bargain or used some method to secretly kill the Crab Crone. However, he failed to annihilate its soul, causing thick resentment to attach to them. Eating them rashly easily leads to nightmares, affecting the spirit and forming a Nightmare Suppression."

Speaking thus, Jiang Yan felt even more the benefits of a powerful divine soul; not only could it see through illusions, but it could also sense the cicada before the autumn wind even stirred.

Otherwise, even with Zhao Zhao Yinman's notes filling the gaps in supernatural knowledge, he would still have stepped into many traps today.

If he keeps improving like this, perhaps he can truly master the Vision of the Future.

"Humans are truly too treacherous."

The Coffin Spirit was greatly shocked; the tricks of human society were too deep.

It must become even more treacherous than them to protect its Master!

Jiang Yan smiled, looked around, and continued searching for what he needed.

To deal with the upcoming Plague Domain, he analyzed his strengths and weaknesses.

With the 【Mother Dull Fire Seal of the Vajra Mother】 present, he did not need to consider defensive means; offensive means were covered by the Sanskrit Sword and Buddha Armor.

What was lacking were some special abilities and means to instantly boost combat power; even if it required paying a certain price, he could accept it.

As a trump card for survival.

If none existed, he would look for special skills to temper the five viscera and six bowels, especially the liver.

If all were absent, he would consider supernatural corpses filled with supernatural spirituality, which could grow better spiritual rice, or be buried for the Coffin Spirit to increase its strength.

The reason he didn't buy everything was, of course, because...

Poverty.

If he had money, he would even buy that Chi to add the ability to breathe underwater.

Having many skills never burdens the body.

Unfortunately, the Middle Street was too vast, and the goods were of mixed quality. Compared to the Inner Market, which required an entry fee and guaranteed authenticity by the Five Fierce Spirits Association, it tested one's eye extremely.

He originally thought the Ash Lamp could help avoid pitfalls, but it turned out...

Pitfalls were everywhere.

After picking for a long time without finding satisfactory materials, Jiang Yan felt somewhat disappointed.

"Indeed, finding bargains in novels requires overwhelming luck."

"If all else fails, I can only ask Old Ba to advance this year's salary and go check the situation in the Inner Market."

Just as Jiang Yan was pondering, a little girl wearing ancient clothing embroidered with the pattern "Five Fierce Spirits Ritual Fair" darted out from the crowd.

She wore two bun hairstyles, a short-sleeved skirt bearing the Five Fierce Spirits Ritual Fair mark, looked sweet and cute, and came to Jiang Yan's side, smiling and saying:

"Big brother, you must be visiting the Five Fierce Spirits Ritual Fair for the first time, right?"

Though phrased as a question, her tone was certain.

Jiang Yan asked with interest: "How did you figure that out?"

The little girl lifted her head and chest, speaking proudly:

"Because regulars head straight for the venues they need and don't linger in one place too long; after all, there are too many old-timers on the Middle Street, and battling wits and courage with them is a pure waste of time, and they sell only goods that haven't moved in months.

Only newcomers look around everywhere, taking a look at each stall, thinking it all so fresh.

Actually, it's quite normal. Though the Five Fierce Spirits Assembly is good, there are too many stalls here and the wares are too mixed, easily dazzling the eyes and making it troublesome to find things. In times like these, you need me, the gold-medal shopping companion who knows this place inside out—Ningning."

Jiang Yan asked, "Are you someone from the Five Fierce Spirits Assembly?"

"Not yet."

Ningning shook her head and said, "But my father is an extraordinary being who can tame Five Fierce Horses; he is responsible for transporting and protecting guests' safety. He's truly formidable."

When introducing her father, Ningning's eyes sparkled.

"Indeed, very formidable."

Jiang Yan nodded in praise, not perfunctory just because the other party was a child.

His own father had once been a bricklayer, and his mother had taught herself hairdressing, earning money to supplement the household.

Earning money through one's own efforts is always worthy of respect.

Ningning said with a grin, "Dad says my talent is average and unsuitable for becoming a History Walker; it's too dangerous. But I can take first place every time at my school, relying on this unyielding spirit. So, during spare time after finishing homework, I work part-time to save money.

When I grow up, I'll buy suitable extraordinary materials to awaken my spiritual nature and become a History Walker as formidable as Dad.

Brother, for you powerful ones, because your strength is formidable, you spend money like water. Unlike us, because we have no money, we must calculate carefully for every purchase, so we are skilled at haggling.

Hiring me costs only five hundred per hour; I'll earn a bit of the money that leaks from between your fingernails."

As she spoke, Ningning also made a gesture of rubbing her thumb and index finger together, her expression exaggerated but not annoying.

Jiang Yan was amused as well; he briefly outlined his needs and said:

"If you can find materials meeting these conditions, I'll pay you double the price."

"Special demon corpses, and they must be cheaper? The conditions aren't simple, but... they won't stump me. It's just that the shop is in the Inner Market, and the extraordinary organs might have some damage. Can you accept that, big brother?"

"Yes." Jiang Yan nodded in agreement.

Others need only to extract extraordinary organs to refine various items; once damaged, their value drops greatly.

His Demon God Embryo is not so delicate; as long as there is still part of the body containing extraordinary spiritual nature, it can be nurtured into offspring.

Requesting monthly votes, requesting continued reading,

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(End of this chapter)