Chapter 89: Small Inner Market

Wang Yu did not return to his cave dwelling but went directly to the Spiritual Object Pavilion.

When he came out again, the two magic artifacts—the silver hammer and golden ring—that were originally in his storage bag, as well as the five-colored glaze, had already vanished. In their place, there were five hundred spirit stones in the storage bag.

There was no help for it; he had already tried to sell these two magic artifacts several times in the Small Inner Market without success. Now that he was in dire straits, he could only dispose of them to the Spiritual Object Pavilion at seventy percent of their value.

However, this was not surprising. Unlike the inferior standard magic artifacts used by rogue cultivators outside, the magic artifacts used by Four Symbols Sect disciples are at least mid-grade or higher. Furthermore, some inner sect disciples who are not short on spirit stones will even find artifact refiners to customize personal magic artifacts according to the characteristics of their own cultivation techniques.

This is also one of the reasons why, with the same cultivation realm, sect disciples can easily crush rogue cultivators outside.

Wang Yu had also once been tempted to go to the Artifact Refining Hall to ask about the price of customizing a magic artifact.

As a result, that duty-bound Artifact Refining Hall deacon told him arrogantly that the customization of ranked magic artifacts starts at one thousand spirit stones, with the refining materials provided by oneself, and one has to wait until a year later; if the refining fails, only half the fee is refunded.

Upon hearing this, he naturally turned and left, completely extinguishing the thought of going to the Artifact Refining Hall to customize a personal magic artifact.

However, if it's not cost-effective to have others refine magic artifacts, what about learning artifact refining himself and customizing magic artifacts for himself?

After all, artifact refiners are so profitable; becoming an artifact refiner would not only solve the magic artifact issue but also earn a large amount of spirit stones.

Wang Yu pondered in his heart, saw that the sky was getting late, and immediately boarded the mechanical bird, heading straight for a small valley among the mountains.

The valley is not large, only a few dozen mu in size, nestled in a large forest, and can be considered quite hidden.

Wang Yu let the mechanical bird land on the open space in the center of the valley, then jumped down and put away the mechanical bird.

It could be seen that this valley only has two small paths intersecting in a cross shape. At the center of these two paths, there are a dozen or so pavilions of varying sizes, and in addition, there are more than thirty small wooden houses that look like temporary structures.

Wang Yu did not go to these wooden houses but headed straight for a pavilion in the center, familiar with the route.

As soon as he walked in, in the small hall on the first floor of the pavilion, two young women with similar appearances, wearing outer sect clothing, were talking to a burly woman standing behind the counter.

"Auntie Li, we sisters are your old customers. Please sell the first-rank 'Spirit Pearl Rice' to us a bit cheaper."

"Yes, Auntie Li, as long as the price is slightly lower, we sisters can buy a few more jin at once."

The two pretty women said, one after the other.

"No, our Young Master said that the Li family's spirit rice harvest is not much this year. Being able to take out a batch to sell to sect disciples at a fair price is already out of consideration for fellow sect member friendship." The middle-aged woman stood with her hands on her hips and shook her head repeatedly.

Upon hearing this, the two young women were still unwilling to give up and continued to haggle.

"Young Master Wang, you're here." At this moment, the middle-aged woman saw Wang Yu enter, immediately ignored the two young women, and greeted Wang Yu with a full face of smiles.

"Auntie Li, give me fifty jin of spirit rice and twenty jin of ranked demon beast meat, preferably soaked in medicinal wine." Wang Yu said politely to the woman.

Don't look at the woman in front of him as having no profound cultivation; she has the Li family, the most powerful among the Four Symbols Sect's vassal families, as her backing.

The Li family not only has several Foundation Establishment cultivators but even has a direct disciple who became a true disciple of Mount Qinglong. Opening a small shop in the sect's Small Inner Market, the sect's top brass naturally turns a blind eye.

Most of the other shops here are also like this.

Either they have a powerful family behind them, or they have a true disciple or a powerful inner sect disciple as their backing; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to stay open for long.

Of course, these were all things he inquired about from Zhou Chu. Last time, he purchased a large amount of spirit rice and demon beast meat here; otherwise, how could this Auntie Li be so enthusiastic the moment she saw him?

Upon hearing the quantity of items Wang Yu wanted to buy, the woman's eyes crinkled with laughter:

"Good, good, Young Master Wang, please wait a moment. I'll give you a ten percent discount. Someone, hurry up and prepare the things for Young Master Wang."

The woman shouted to the back, and immediately someone on the second floor responded. A moment later, a burly mortal servant came down carrying a bag of spirit rice and half a bag of demon beast meat.

After Wang Yu took them over, he weighed them in his two hands, felt that there was no difference in weight, and directly put them into his storage bag. He then took out two blue mid-grade spirit stones and handed them to the woman.

The spirit stones he had just obtained immediately shrank by nearly half. Although it pained him to spend them, for the sake of daily nourishment of his body, nurturing the mana in his body, and making his future cultivation smoother, it was naturally still worth spending.

The two young women beside him, seeing Wang Yu spend two hundred spirit stones to purchase so much spirit rice and demon beast meat, couldn't help but stare straight.

You must know, they buy spirit rice and monster beast meat by the few jin or ten-odd jin; how could they bear to spend so many spirit stones all at once?

"Does Young Master Wang want to buy anything else? Our shop recently brought in a few jin of good tea leaves prepared with special methods. Drinking them can refresh the mind and spirit, and they have some effect on contemplating spells and cultivation arts. It's only one hundred spirit stones per jin." Mother Li continued to promote other items to Wang Yu.

"Many thanks, but I am still focusing on cultivation, so I have no use for these things for the time being." Wang Yu felt a bit tempted when he heard this, but he still shook his head rationally and left the pavilion.

After he went out, he did not fly away immediately, but instead walked toward a certain corner of the valley, where there was a lonely, short stone house with several people going in and out.

Looking from afar, these people included both men and women, and one even wore inner sect disciple attire, but their expressions after leaving were varied; some were full of joy, some were frowning, and one even left while cursing.

Wang Yu waited in the distance for a while, and only after everyone had left and no one went to the stone house for a short time did he quietly walk over, push open the door, and go inside.

"So it is Wang Shidi. Are you here to ask about the matter from last time?" Inside the stone house, there was only a table, a chair, and a bookcase. A young man with ordinary features was sitting on the chair, and as soon as he saw Wang Yu enter, he asked with a smile.

"Wan Shixiong, I paid the ten spirit stones fee last time. Now that a month has passed, I naturally have to come and see if there is any news." Wang Yu asked calmly.

The person named Wan Shan before him was an inner sect disciple of White Tiger Mountain. It was said that he was a famous "know-it-all" of the Four Symbols Sect, and he had opened an information shop in this small inner market, specializing in some brokerage matters. It was said that he had earned a fortune in spirit stones.

When Wang Yu came to the small inner market last time, he had specifically sought him out to ask him to inquire about a matter.

"Wang Shidi, rest assured. I have always kept your matter in mind. Regarding your desire to learn artifact refining, I already have three pieces of news here, but I feel they don't seem very suitable for you, which is why I didn't notify you proactively." Wan Shan said with a smile.

"Oh, Shixiong, please tell me first, and I will listen." Wang Yu said noncommittally.

"One is that a new rogue cultivator artifact refiner has arrived at the Guangyuan Market and is willing to recruit apprentices, but the other party's asking price is relatively high—three hundred spirit stones for an apprentice spot, no bargaining. Moreover, he only knows how to refine one type of entry-rank magical artifact, so it is very lackluster." Wan Shan said unhurriedly.

"Guangyuan Market is a bit too far; I don't want to leave the sect." Wang Yu shook his head.

"Another is the Yu family of Heavenly Water Lake, which was just removed from the sect roster recently. Their entire clan is preparing to leave Tongzhou, so they are preparing to sell their clan's complete entry-rank artifact refiner legacy, but the asking price is two thousand spirit stones." Wan Shan said again with a smile.