Chapter 428

Deal?

Now it's Qingqing's turn to be somewhat surprised.

Fourth-level talismans differ from second- and third-level ones because fourth-level talisman makers are rare, talisman materials are hard to find, and talismans are single-use; thus, once talismans reach the fourth level, their value and price surge geometrically.

Moreover, even an ordinary fourth-level Five Elements talisman is quite powerful.

A handful of dozens thrown out will force any Nascent Soul cultivator to flee far away.

In terms of value, forty fourth-level talismans are not much less than what he has produced.

After all, Yunhe once traded thirty fourth-level talismans with Wuxiang Jianjun for the blood essence of a Li Fire Peacock.

Moreover, even an ordinary fourth-level Five Elements talisman is quite powerful.

Furthermore, at their level of strength, the value of items is difficult to measure; the main goal is simply to satisfy each side's needs.

Moreover, at their level of strength, the value of items is hard to gauge; the primary goal can only be what each needs.

While metal-attributed demon beast blood and the Heavenly Fragrant Herb are useless to Qingqing, forty fourth-level talismans are another matter—they can play a crucial role at critical moments.

"However, I first need to confirm the level of your blood essence and the age of the Heavenly Fragrant Herb," Yunhe transmitted.

Yunhe then exchanged a few more things.

It's a pity that neither Void Essence nor Heaven-lock Purple Cold Crystal are common enough; even if someone possesses them, what he has to offer lacks sufficient appeal.

To be honest, even his success rate in drawing fourth-level talismans is not high.

It's clear that the two treasures Qingqing produced fully satisfy his needs.

Tian'ao Lao Ren called each person to leave in turn; the old monsters present could see that he acted fairly, deliberately avoiding those who had traded at the exchange or cultivators who had displayed great wealth, in order to prevent possible disputes after the exchange ended.

Tian'ao Lao Ren flew up to Ao's Head again and smiled, saying, "Thank you all for your presence; this exchange has concluded successfully. Next, those I call will go first, while the others please wait a moment."

Yunhe nodded silently.

It contained exactly forty fourth-level talismans.

He also transmitted:

"This is the blood essence of a Golden-haired Marten; though the beast itself isn't particularly precious, its cultivation has reached the rare mid-fourth-level stage."

After a moment's thought, Yunhe agreed to the exchange.

Although these ores are far rarer than Heaven-lock Purple Cold Crystal, they are still excellent materials for refining fourth-level magic treasures.

"Moreover, this stalk of Heavenly Fragrant Herb is a thousand-year-old spiritual plant; its value, Yun Lao Mo, you surely know."

After all, although the Yin-Yang Double Bell is decent and an external avatar can barely use it, its high recognizability means he prefers not to use it; instead, he would rather exchange for materials and later possibly craft one for his external avatar.

This is nearly all of the talismans he currently has on hand, most of which he drew while practicing the Spirit Body Talisman, the Cloud Escape Talisman, and the Phoenix Feather Pattern.

The transaction is complete.

Yunhe flew out of the Tian'ao Treasure Ship, immediately unfurling his Ice Phoenix Wings; with a single flap, he shot forward tens of li in an instant, and after just a few breaths he had completely vanished.

Hearing this, Qingqing snapped out of her surprise, glanced at Yunhe with a slightly complex expression, flicked her blue robe, and amidst the surging demonic power manifested a bone-made bottle and a green plant glowing with a faint green light.

Before he left, however, Wuchen Heshang transmitted a divine sense to him.

His perception was correct: this kind of demon beast, the Golden-haired Marten, is similar to the Land Mountain Turtle and not a high bloodline demon beast, but if it reaches mid-fourth-level cultivation, it naturally becomes another matter and is sufficient to meet his needs.

That is, he had slain the Land Mountain Turtle and the Green Bullfrog, gaining enough material to practice; otherwise, even another fourth-level talisman maker couldn't produce so many fourth-level talismans all at once.

However, he didn't immediately go down; instead, he remained on Ao's Head and looked around once more.

Furthermore, the method for drawing Five Elements talismans from his cultivation of the Great Longevity Grand Five Elements True Scripture also gives him a higher success rate in drawing ordinary fourth-level Five Elements talismans compared to other talisman makers.

At the same time, he also sold off all his recognizable treasures, effectively clearing out his miscellaneous items.

Mostly using Spirit Grain Pills as condition, he exchanged for a large amount of refining materials, preparing for future magic treasures for his external avatar.

The higher the age of the Heavenly Fragrant Herb, the greater the effect and benefit of absorbing the Black Crystal Divine Herb for him—this is beyond doubt.

But after a brief hesitation, she gritted her teeth and threw what she had in her hand toward Yunhe.

Tian'ao Lao Ren pointed casually, and several Nascent Soul old monsters rose, bowed to him from afar without a word, then transformed into streaks of light and fled.

Having obtained the metal-attributed demon beast's blood essence and the Heavenly Fragrant Herb, Yunhe considered his participation in this exchange a success.

In the end.

Not long after he left, a figure wrapped in a strong wind appeared in the sky.

Afterward, no one tried to contact him, and Yunhe simply descended from Ao's Head.

Once most people had left, Yunhe also departed under Tian'ao Lao Ren's indication.

The Heavenly Fragrant Herb is already rare, let alone a thousand-year-old specimen.

"Please, fellow Daoist, you go first."

Yunhe, who had just been about to say that this blood essence seemed not pure enough, stopped himself.

But someone contacted Yunhe via divine sense, asking if he could exchange something else for Ji Huan Lao Zu's Yin-Yang Double Bell, offering to provide some relatively rare precious fourth-level ores in return.

His identity merely caused a small stir at the exchange; afterward, the trading proceeded smoothly as before.

Its expression was somewhat complicated.

Thus, Yunhe hesitated not, flipped his hand, and gained a simple storage bag.

After taking the storage bag, Qingqing scanned it with her demonic sense and confirmed the quality of the talismans inside.

The surging demonic qi within the strong wind's wrap condensed to the extreme, revealing the figure of a middle-aged man in a yellow robe.

If the Gold-devouring Armored Beast were present, it might recognize this person as the Wind-swallowing Beast of the Demon Alliance.

This exchange was also attended by it as one of the great demon beasts capable of assuming human form.

However, what it produced wasn't particularly rare or valuable, so it didn't attract much attention.

It gazed in the direction Yunhe had gone, its eyes flickering.

Not long after.

Soon, a greenish shadow appeared beside it.

The transaction is complete.

It stared in the direction Yunhe had gone, its eyes flickering.

Not long after.

Another green shadow appeared at its side.

Noticing the arrival, the Wind‑Swallowing Beast showed a smile, clasped its hands and said, "Brother Qing!"

The newcomer was none other than Qingqing of the Azure Wood Flood Dragon clan.

But Qingqing didn't seem to think much of the Wind‑Swallowing Beast, giving it a sideways glance and speaking half‑teasingly: 'What, Wind‑Swallowing Beast, you've set your sights on this Old Devil Yun?'

The Wind‑Swallowing Beast didn't really care about Qingqing's expression.

As a demonic beast, it understood Qingqing's nature better than human cultivators, and merely smiled, saying: 'I have sensed the aura of the Gold‑Armored Devouring Beast on this person.'

Most cultivators and demon tribes identify others via divine sense, but the Wind‑Swallowing Beast possesses an ability no other demon beast has—a sense of smell.

"Gold‑Armored Devouring Beast?" Qingqing snorted.

But before it could say anything, the Wind‑Swallowing Beast's next words caused its expression to turn solemn.

"There's also the aura of a flood dragon."

"Huh?"

"I'm afraid there's more than one." the Wind‑Swallowing Beast said calmly, its expression unchanged.

Old Devil Yunhe has a spirit pet, a Cold‑Chant Flood Dragon, which is no great secret.

"What do you mean?" Qingqing retorted.

The Wind‑Swallowing Beast licked its lips, 'I don't know if Brother Qing is interested.'

"Hmph!"

Qingqing gave a light hum, 'Put away those useless thoughts! How the Demon Alliance conducts itself is your own business; stop trying to drag our Azure Wood Flood Dragon clan into trouble!'

Having said that, Qingqing didn't look back and fled toward the direction of the demon beast forest.

Regarding Qingqing's reaction, the Wind‑Swallowing Beast wasn't surprised; it merely watched the direction of its departure, eyes flickering, and murmured:

"Useless? Some things you can't escape just by wanting to dodge. If you can hold onto it, the south may not be so certain."

Hum—

The Wind‑Swallowing Beast flickered and vanished from the spot at great speed.

After the two demon beasts had left, a human figure slowly appeared on the distant horizon.

It was Yunhe!

The azure lotus dao crown on his head gathered its brilliance inward, and the faint ghost‑worm aura on his body completely dissipated.

'The insect fluid of the Ghost‑Worm Concealing Breath Technique has also been exhausted.' Yunhe gazed toward the direction where the two demon beasts had been hovering, a hint of regret flashing in his eyes.

"Gold Armor, that's the Wind‑Swallowing Beast, right?" Yunhe asked in a calm tone.

"Yes, Master."

From the spirit beast pouch came a somewhat flustered sound from the Gold‑Armored Devouring Beast.

Yunhe smacked his lips, 'Too bad, I couldn't lure it in. It's said the Wind‑Swallowing Beast's wings can tear through any airflow; if combined with the Ice Phoenix Wings, using wind to aid ice, its power would surely increase greatly.'

The Gold‑Armored Devouring Beast curled up inside the spirit beast pouch, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Its master is merely an early Nascent Soul cultivator, yet he set his sights on a mid‑Fourth Level demon beast—what could it say?

Most importantly, it felt that if the Wind‑Swallowing Beast took the bait, it could very well suffer badly.

"That Qingqing fellow didn't take the bait either." Yunhe kept shaking his head, "All I can do is make little Han Shuang wait a bit longer."

If it came to dealing with the Wind‑Swallowing Beast, Yunhe was confident he could defeat it when fully prepared, but against this Azure Wood Flood Dragon, Qingqing, he had little confidence.

Unfortunately, the fragment of the "Huayuan Dan" formula that Qingqing obtained in trade genuinely interested him.

"Forget it. It's too severely damaged; even if obtained, it might not be repairable."

With that thought, Yunhe finally turned and fled toward the distance.

For him at present, the most important thing is to fully condense the Five‑Element Spirit Body.

He originally thought he would have to hunt the White‑Furred Golden‑Winged Tiger to condense it, but he never expected this exchange to yield the needed metal‑attribute demon beast's essence blood.

Southern Border, the Fan family's land.

Since he intended to enter seclusion, for Yunhe there was no place safer in the Southern Border than the Fan family's grounds.

He placed the Gold‑Armored Devouring Beast and the Cold‑Chant Flood Dragon, among other demon beasts, outside the cultivation chamber, then himself dove into the chamber.

"Monk Wuchen actually said he had something to discuss."

He took out the congealed‑fat ice‑clear lotus.

"No matter how important others' affairs may be, they are not as important as one's own cultivation and cultivation base. Since he didn't speak up directly upon first seeing me, it shows the matter isn't that urgent; I can only let him wait a bit longer."

He lightly patted the corpse‑refining sack.

His external incarnation appeared inside the cultivation chamber.

"Main body."

"This seclusion will be very important; please trouble you to guard the Dharma for me." Yunhe said to his external incarnation.

The external incarnation nodded calmly, fully understanding: "I understand."

After speaking, he flipped his palm, a gray‑white banner appeared, and with a flick of his form he hid in a corner of the cultivation chamber.

Outsidemost lay the Fan family's residual mountain‑protecting great formation, and there sat the Gold‑Armored Devouring Beast, a Fourth Level‑initial demon beast, holding the fort.

The cultivation chamber contained two Fourth Level Five‑Element formations set up by Yunhe, and inside also had his external incarnation guarding the Dharma, making this cultivation absolutely safe.

Unless a late‑Nascent Soul grand cultivator launches a strong assault, Yunhe believes that even if he doesn't show himself, a mid‑Nascent Soul cultivator couldn't break in in a short time.

Nothing is more reassuring than having his external incarnation guard the Dharma.

Having done these,

Only then did Yunhe sit cross‑legged on the lotus platform, close his eyes, and begin to regulate his breath.

Following his usual habit, he first cultivated for three days to ensure nothing would go wrong with himself.

Three days later.

"The Black Crystal Divine Plant should wait until after I have fully condensed the Five‑Element Spirit Body before use, lest it cause some mistake."

Having already adjusted himself to peak condition, Yunhe without hesitation took out the vial of essence blood sourced from Qingqing—the 'Golden‑Haired Marten'.

He took a deep breath.

He formed the hand seal.

"Five Elements Spirit Technique!"

He let out a low shout, and a five-colored ring flew from his hand, encircling the bone vessel.

Crack—!!

In an instant.

The bone vessel shattered.

A mass of extremely pure bright red blood hovered in midair.

Within that extremely thick essence blood, a faint golden-furred marten growled ferociously.

Seeing this, Yunhe smiled slightly, "Just a mere golden-furred marten."

He waved his hand, and the five-colored ring instantly contracted, crushing the golden-furred marten's phantom directly.

Thereafter, using the secret art from the 'Great Longevity Great Five Elements True Technique,' he refined and extracted its most essential part.

Slowly.

A phantom of a white-furred tiger gradually appeared, and a fierce aura gradually emerged.

Metal True Spirit White Tiger, Western Geng-Xin Metal, the sharp spirit.

Even without condensing a 'Five Elements Spirit Body,' merely condensing a 'Metal Element Spirit Body' could greatly enhance Yunhe's sword technique and sword art.

Time passed.

That mass of essence blood gradually dissipated, completely turning into an illusory phantom of a Metal Element Spirit Body.

Yunhe's eyes flashed with bright light, he opened his mouth, and the Metal Element Spirit Body phantom shot straight in, heading directly to his Qi Sea Dantian.

In an instant.

His Qi Sea Dantian surged.

(End of Chapter)