Chapter 51: Purchase

"Five spirit stones, five White Origin Fruits, ninety catties of spiritual rice."

Li Tongya counted the property on his person. White Origin Fruits were auxiliary ingredients for most elixirs. Since his family had no alchemy inheritance, he could sell them first. Spiritual rice was rich in spiritual energy and could be kept for consumption upon returning.

"Still owe Xiao Yuansi ten spirit stones."

Li Tongya felt a headache and thought to himself:

"Xiao Yuansi also looked like he knew he wouldn't get it back in a short time. That Envoy has already returned, so let's owe it for now... We'll talk about it in a few years."

He wandered around the street twice, seeing all kinds of cultivation techniques and spiritual items, but he simply couldn't find any inheritance of the hundred arts of cultivation.

Li Tongya squatted down and rummaged through the stall in front of him. The stall owner, covered in a black veil, said:

"Fellow Daoist, what are you looking for?"

The voice was soft and melodious; it was actually a woman.

Li Tongya smiled bitterly and asked:

"Fellow Daoist, do you have any inheritance of the hundred arts of cultivation?"

"This is your first time at the market, right?"

The woman smiled and said.

"Not bad."

"The talismans, elixirs, and formations around Li Xia Jun come from only three sources: Mount Qingchi Sect, noble clans, and rogue cultivators."

The female cultivator smiled, staring at Li Tongya with bright eyes, and explained:

"Mount Qingchi Sect is the largest supplier. In order to continuously harvest cheap materials and then produce these finished products to sell to us, Mount Qingchi Sect has always prohibited any market under its rule from selling the inheritance of the hundred arts of cultivation."

"As for the noble clans, who would take out their own rice bowl to sell? They and Mount Qingchi Sect tacitly block the circulation of these hundred arts of cultivation together to get a share of the pie."

Li Tongya nodded as he listened, looked up at the female cultivator, and asked with some confusion:

"Are there so many rogue cultivators in Li Xia Jun?"

The female cultivator couldn't help but shake her head, leaned in slightly, and explained:

"There are several million people in Yue Country. Just one prefecture has six or seven hundred thousand people. Under Mount Qingchi's rule, there are five prefectures, which can gather three or four thousand people with spiritual apertures, not to mention the noble clans whose bloodlines extend, so there are probably over five thousand cultivators."

"Fellow Daoist sees things very clearly."

Li Tongya looked at the stall, but the few talismans were of little use, and he couldn't bear to buy them.

"Three talismans for one spirit stone."

Hearing this, Li Tongya hurriedly shifted his gaze from the talismans and stopped at the pale blue magic sword in front of him.

"Forged from Deep Smoke Stone and quenched with the cold air of a snowy land, it not only strikes with divine speed but also carries cold frost when attacking enemies."

The female cultivator became much more enthusiastic and said with a smile:

"This sword is very easy to use. If I hadn't just obtained a new magic tool, I wouldn't be willing to take it out to sell. It only costs ten spirit stones."

Being truly short of money, Li Tongya scanned the stall with some reluctance. Seeing that the sky was about to darken, he picked up a black bow and arrow on the stall and said:

"How about this bow?"

"Ho, forged from Zhengping Qingwu Wood, using the tendons of a Green Origin Wheel monster. Pouring magic power into it can attach sharp energy to the arrow. I'll sell it to you for four spirit stones."

Li Tongya smiled and replied:

"Two spirit stones."

"Not enough."

The female cultivator shook her head.

Li Tongya pointed to the bowstring and said:

"This bow of yours looks like it has been used for a long time. Two spirit stones plus five White Origin Fruits, discounted to two and a half spirit stones, sell it to me."

The female cultivator gritted her teeth, looked at the sky, and finally replied:

"Deal."

Li Tongya gave the spirit stones and spiritual fruits to the female cultivator, picked up the bow, and stood up. Tightening his pocket with the remaining three spirit stones, he saw that some people at the surrounding stalls had begun to pack up, so he quickened his pace and wandered around the market.

The shops in front sold things for the Qi Refining stage, which Li Tongya couldn't afford, so he didn't bother to look and kept his head down, searching through the stalls.

After walking only a few steps, Li Tongya saw a teenager wearing hemp clothes and a beast-skin jacket standing by the side of the road, with a large iron cage beside him, inside which were more than a dozen furry dog-beasts.

"Fellow Daoist, would you like to see these Shuttle-Forest Beasts!"

The teenager was standing there with a troubled face. Seeing Li Tongya stop to look at the dog-beasts, he was overjoyed and explained:

Hearing this, Li Tongya immediately understood that this child probably hadn't sold any all day, so he said in a low voice:

"What's the use of biting mortals?"

"This! This... these dog-beasts are very smart, and they can smell things in the wind, distinguish monster energy..."

"How to buy?"

"One spirit stone for one..."

Li Tongya turned his head and walked away, scaring the teenager until his face turned red. He pulled Li Tongya's sleeve and said:

"One spirit stone for two, two!"

Li Tongya had to stop, shook his head helplessly, and explained:

"Your dog-beasts look okay, but if they really encounter a cultivator, a few spells from afar will solve them. What's more, feeding these dog-beasts requires spiritual rice and monster meat, right? I don't have enough of these cultivation resources for myself, how can I use them to feed these beasts..."

The teenager was stunned, nodded thoughtfully, pursed his lips and said:

"Fellow Daoist, wait a moment, I have some other things."

Only then did he take out a small silver box from his arms and said with some expectation:

"This thing is called a Wu-Zuo Insect. It can spit out Wu-Zuo spiritual silk. You only need to use some spiritual bran and other things containing spiritual energy to feed it. These insects have sharp teeth and are not picky eaters. They eat spiritual rice leaves or stalks. If there are really no spiritual items, using some animal lean meat can also keep them alive, so they won't starve to death."

Hearing this, Li Tongya became interested. He took the silver box and saw a few grey-green little insects shaking their heads and crawling in the box, with a few mulberry leaves underneath.

"What is the use of this Wu-Zuo spiritual silk?"

"It can weave some spiritual clothes and silk, which are hard to damage by ordinary knives and guns, and can also be sold."

Thinking of the spiritual leaf stalks still stored at home, Li Tongya was tempted, but showed a troubled look:

"I'm afraid I won't be able to raise them..."

"Fellow Daoist, if you are willing, I will add an insect book, and the secrets of raising them are all in it. I will sell it together with these few spiritual insects, only charging you two spirit stones!"

The teenager gritted his teeth and said eagerly.

"Okay."

Li Tongya pondered for a few breaths and replied.

After putting away the silver box and the wooden slip handed over by the teenager, Li Tongya saw that the sky had darkened, so he bid farewell to the teenager and walked slowly to the carriage. The coachman was dozing off on the carriage. Li Tongya laughed softly and waited silently.

When Wan Yuankai arrived, he was dusty, with some joy on his face. Looking at Li Tongya, who was holding the bow and leaning against the carriage, he smiled:

"Brother Tongya, what treasure did you get?"

"Just a bow of the Embryonic Breath level, how can it be called a treasure."

Li Tongya smiled, got on the carriage together, and handed the bow and arrow in his hand to Wan Yuankai. Seeing him test the string, he asked:

"How is it?"

"It's Zhengping Qingwu Wood, ox tendon."

Wan Yuankai pulled the string, frowned, looked at it again and again, and replied:

"At most three spirit stones, any more would be a loss."

Li Tongya smiled and nodded when he heard this. The two chatted for a few words, each with their own thoughts in the dim night, and soon fell asleep on the swaying carriage. ===== CHAPTER 52 =====