Chapter 33: Eating, Drinking, and Having Fun

"Deal!"

In any case, this map fragment couldn't even be traded for a single Spirit Stone. Now that someone wanted it, he would trade it regardless of the price; any amount gained was profit.

The Little Medicine Boy put down the map fragment, picked up the medicine bottle left on the table, and left.

Long Xuan was stunned for a moment. To think he came up here just to sell one thing, and it was a tattered map fragment at that. To be this shabby and not even feel embarrassed?

The Little Medicine Boy walked down. Now that he was closest to the table, Long Xuan didn't dawdle. He simply took over and laid out his items one by one on the table.

The materials for the Ice Cold Divine Flame formula were truly too precious and too rare. A significant portion of them could only be obtained through barter; they could not be bought with Spirit Stones.

Since there happened to be a Treasure Exchange Meeting for bartering, he decided to collect the materials for the Ice Cold Divine Flame formula.

But to trade for so many expensive materials, he would inevitably have to bring out many valuable treasures; otherwise, who would trade with him?

Yet, showing off wealth might attract unwanted attention. This was unavoidable; he couldn't just stop collecting those materials for fear of danger and give up on refining the Ice Cold Divine Flame.

Wanting to collect expensive materials while facing zero risk was simply impossible.

This Treasure Exchange Meeting was already considered the safest channel for acquiring resources, so he couldn't give it up.

After accumulating for so many years, while he couldn't bring out priceless treasures, he still had quite a few things he could show off.

For instance, he often went to Qian's Gambling Stone Shop to "shear the sheep," accumulating a pile of Upper Grade Spirit Insects. Most of these he had no use for, so he decided to take this opportunity to get rid of them.

There were also various Spirit Pills he had refined a few years ago; they were almost expired from long disuse, so he took this chance to clear them all out and refine new ones.

These Spirit Pills were all general-purpose ones, not unique pill types, so he could sell them with peace of mind.

There were also various treasures he had picked up as bargains at street stalls. He took out everything he didn't need. In an instant, the table was filled with all sorts of treasures, forming a stark contrast with the Little Medicine Boy who had just stepped down. It was simply incomparable; without comparison, there would be no hurt.

The row of people below stretched their necks, all showing interest in the items he brought out, and all had an inclination to trade.

"I only want Thousand-Year Ice Marrow, Cold Stone, Fire Stone..."

Long Xuan stated a small half of the hardest-to-collect materials for the Ice Cold Divine Flame formula.

As soon as his voice fell, Di Xin walked over quickly, fearing that someone might beat her to trading for the things she wanted.

"I don't have the most precious Thousand-Year Ice Marrow, but I have twenty percent of the remaining materials. I want to trade for all your Upper Grade Spirit Insects and Medium Grade Spirit Insects."

Long Xuan looked at her in surprise. He hadn't expected that she alone could provide twenty percent of the materials on his Ice Cold Divine Flame formula. She was truly wealthy; as expected of an Array Master, her material collection was indeed rich.

That she could possess twenty percent of the materials for the Ice Cold Divine Flame formula could not be a coincidence; it could only mean her net worth was extremely fat and she had everything. Long Xuan was certain she was a little rich woman, and he couldn't help but take a deep look at her.

And that she wanted to trade for all his Medium and Upper Grade Spirit Insects made Long Xuan even more surprised. One had to know that while Upper Grade Spirit Insects were precious, the prerequisite was that one had the Gu Formula for them; otherwise, taking them back was just a waste of food—besides constantly consuming one's resources, they were useless.

Therefore, trading Upper Grade Spirit Insects wasn't very easy. Plus, displaying these things at street stalls could invite trouble, which was why he had hoarded so many.

Could it be that Di Xin had a rich collection of Gu Formulas and could cover all his Spirit Insects?

Long Xuan couldn't believe it. Just how many Gu Formulas had this woman stolen, and why hadn't she been beaten to death by others yet?

"The value is roughly equivalent. Deal."

In truth, Long Xuan couldn't tell who was losing or gaining, but since it was roughly equivalent, he couldn't be bothered to haggle. Calculating so many items in detail would take forever, so he readily proceeded with the trade.

Long Xuan's items were very popular, and it didn't take long for them to be traded away completely.

At this moment, a small half of the materials for the Ice Cold Divine Flame formula had been collected. Don't look at the fact that more than half remained; the rest were ordinary supplies.

Except for the Thousand-Year Ice Marrow, all remaining materials could be bought in full at the Qian Clan Merchant Association using Spirit Stones.

Unfortunately, it was precisely because the market for Cockroach Gu was saturated and he lacked Spirit Stones that he had come to this Treasure Exchange Meeting to pick up bargains. He could only pin his hopes on the treasure map giving him a surprise.

Now that everything was ready except for Spirit Stones, he prayed that the treasure marked on the map would fetch a high price.

After Long Xuan went down, the next to take over was that acquaintance, Li Laodao. After greeting him, he laid out various Inner Gu he had refined for harming people on the table.

Everything was for backstabbing people, which made many people below change their expressions. Their hearts jumped, and they looked at him differently, their eyes filled with wariness.

Long Xuan naturally wasn't interested. In his view, this belonged to minor paths. They might be accurate for backstabbing, but their effect in actual combat was limited; after all, the speed of killing was too slow, which would give the opponent a chance to fight for their life.

If Li Laodao had put his energy into the righteous path, he wouldn't have been in such a sorry state when they went into the ancient tomb last time.

But although he wasn't interested, there were plenty of others who were. After all, this type of Gu insect didn't occupy one's Gu insect quota, so one could prepare many of them.

Thus, quite a few loose cultivators came up to trade, including the female loose cultivator who had previously traded for the sound-isolation array with Di Xin, who traded away all of Li Laodao's Stone Gu.

Long Xuan thought with schadenfreude that this woman was indeed planning to backstab someone. He didn't know which fellow would be the next to have bad luck. May this unlucky ghost pray for his own blessings; he silently mourned for this person.

After Li Laodao went down, a few more people went up, and this time the exchange meeting came to a complete end.

Many loose cultivators actually hadn't gone up, but because their net worth was too thin, they were too embarrassed to go up and make a fool of themselves. They didn't have the thick skin of the Little Medicine Boy; to go up with an entire net worth of just a tattered map was simply embarrassing.

Otherwise, if so many loose cultivators all went up to show their treasures, the Treasure Exchange Meeting could have lasted an entire day.

After the Treasure Exchange Meeting ended, everyone left one after another. Many people had satisfied smiles written on their faces; it seemed they had all gained quite a bit.

Long Xuan also mingled in the crowd and followed them out. He had also gained a lot from this trip. Not to mention those materials, just that treasure map alone made him a huge profit. A treasure map could have anything buried in it; it might really be worth hundreds of millions, and he was very much looking forward to it.

However, what he didn't know was that three people were quietly trailing behind him. The leader was precisely that female loose cultivator who had traded for the sound-isolation array disk, accompanied by two burly men with unkind appearances.

"Are you sure it's him? He doesn't look very old," one of the bald burly men said via soul transmission.

The female loose cultivator glanced at Long Xuan's back and replied via soul transmission: "Although he isn't the fattest, he is definitely the weakest. If we don't kill him, who do we kill?"

"The road to Big Stone Village is his only path. The only difficulty is that Big Stone Village is too close to the market and belongs to the no-killing zone. For this reason, I specially traded for an array disk today that can isolate the sounds of fighting, which should be foolproof."

The other fierce-looking burly man nodded and said: "That road happens to be a stone road. I have already buried Stone Gu on the road. Plus, it's three against one; this time we will surely be foolproof..."

At this moment, Long Xuan had no idea he was being targeted. Seeing that it was still early, he strolled around the market again and, by the way, had a wonderful meal at the best restaurant in the market.

The Longevity Path should be about eating, drinking, and enjoying life, farming in peace, and not participating in the schemes and deceit of the Gu World. Moreover, cultivation matters could be left to his clones; he was more than happy to be idle.

A person's life was meant for enjoyment, not for suffering.

If it weren't for the fact that the beautiful female Gu cultivators in this world all liked to refine Love Gu, he would have wanted to visit entertainment venues.

After eating and drinking his fill, he strolled through the night market again, playing until late at night, before walking toward Big Stone Village, humming a little tune along the way, looking to be in a good mood.

Little did he know that this action of his completely tortured the few people who had been lying in ambush on the road. Hiding in the grass and feeding mosquitoes for half a day, they had waited until the flowers withered. They had waited so long that they thought he wouldn't come.

Just when they were about to give up, they finally saw that figure that made them gnash their teeth, which immediately made them perk up, their eyes releasing hateful glares.

Long Xuan was not a god; how could he know that someone would ambush him on the road ahead, and that it was the same group that traded for the sound-isolation array disk? He had actually become the unlucky ghost he spoke of himself. This was truly a disaster falling from the sky; world affairs were unpredictable.

However, although he hadn't anticipated this matter, it didn't mean he wouldn't act cautiously.

Ever since he became neighbors with that Li Laodao who liked to backstab people, he had been filled with wariness toward this world. He felt danger everywhere he went, fearing that one day he would be Gu-ed by some old backstabber.

So much so that he was scared into refining the Heavenly Mechanism Eye as early as possible. Usually, when passing by, the Heavenly Mechanism Eye was kept on the whole time, magnifying everything on the road ahead, cautious to an excessive degree.

And it was precisely this timid caution that saved his life today.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 34 =====