Chapter 392: Bargaining

She Junshu calmed her emotions and explained, "Do you know the origin of the Snake People, fellow cultivator?"

Yan Buji had heard Ru Yin mention this along the way, and said, "It is said to have been founded by a great expert, similar to the Dragon People?"

"Not just that." She Junshu shook her head: "Although the Snake People were founded by a great expert, our common ancestor is a heaven-supporting giant beast from the Manghuang Era, honored as the Heavenly Snake."

The Heavenly Snake of the Manghuang Era?!

That really is ancient enough.

No one knows how many years of gap separate the Manghuang and Shanggu Eras; although history has some records, the exact years remain undetermined to this day, making it one of the great unsolved mysteries of the cultivation world.

Terms such as the legend of the Human Emperor, the myriad gods standing tall, and the myriad races flourishing all originate from the Manghuang Era; only when the human race prospered in the Shanggu Era did the habit of recording history arise, and today's fragmented accounts of the Manghuang Era are compilations made by the human race during the Shanggu Era.

As for the Manghuang history recorded by other races, even fewer people know about it.

She Junshu continued: "The ancestor of our Snake People, the Heavenly Snake, is said to have fought a great battle with the Divine Elephant, another heaven-supporting giant beast, and perished; its lingering will was not extinguished, and after being suppressed in a place where no living being can reach, its shattered body turned into Heavenly Snake Stone, which remains in the world."

"Is this the origin of the Heavenly Snake Stone?" Yan Buji looked puzzled.

Although Yan Buji didn't know if it was true, he wondered whether the Heavenly Snake Stone was really that precious.

At least Yan Buji could see no use for this stone at all.

She Junshu's expression turned grave as she looked at Yan Buji: "Yan Buji, if possible, I'd like to discuss this in detail with you."

"Hmm."

The two found a private room in a tavern, sat down, and began to talk in detail.

"Regarding this Heavenly Snake Stone, I hope you'll keep it confidential, fellow cultivator. The Dragon People are buying up all the Heavenly Snake Stone they can; I don't know what price you're asking."

"Well, about the price..." Yan Buji glanced at She Junshu a few times, thinking about what he could get from the Snake People.

She Junshu shifted her body under Yan Buji's glances, her face flushing, and said, "If it were me... please allow me to return and dissolve the marriage engagement...."

"Oh no, you've overthought it, fellow cultivator." Yan Buji was speechless, thinking, "Do I look that desperate?"

Although She Junshu's appearance is indeed not bad, but....

Wait, why does she seem indifferent to this? Aren't you engaged?

She Junshu pursed her lips and didn't say much more.

"What spiritual materials does the Snake People have for sale? May I take a look?"

She Junshu hesitated, then still gave out a list.

Yan Buji examined it carefully and exclaimed, "You can even sell Six-Transform Immortal Material?!"

The Snake People have a way to cultivate Six-Transform Immortal Material, but... it's used to exchange resources with Transformation Spirit Stage Supreme Elders. She Junshu said vaguely.

In other words, don't bite off more than you can chew; just because you see something good doesn't mean you should want it.

Yan Buji naturally understood, laughing, "Haha, just a bit curious... what is the value of a Fivefold Transformation Burial Dragon Flower?"

"It's worth 200,000 spiritual stones per stalk; it can be exchanged for Fivefold Transformation spiritual materials, with the exact value depending on the worth of the spiritual materials you produce."

"In that case, since the Heavenly Snake Stone hasn't been mined yet, I don't know how much reserve remains there, but taking a base of 100 catties, how much material could it be exchanged for?"

"If you need Burial Dragon Flower, 100 catties of Heavenly Snake Stone can be exchanged for three stalks."

"Only three stalks?"

"Burial Dragon Flower isn't a simple spiritual material either; since you recognize it, you surely know its efficacy and how difficult it is to cultivate." She Junshu laughed.

Yan Buji shook his head: "At least five stalks."

"Four stalks."

"Alright, 100 catties of Heavenly Snake Stone equals 800,000 spiritual stones; without exchanging for Burial Dragon Flower, let's look at other spiritual materials."

"Huh?"

She Junshu raised her eyebrows, realizing she had fallen into a trap.

So he was testing the value of her Burial Dragon Flower to gauge the spiritual stone price of the Heavenly Snake Stone?!

"Tsk!"

"I've lost out!"

She had unexpectedly incurred an extra expense of 200,000 spiritual stones, her expression not looking great, but thinking that for the Heavenly Snake Stone, paying a bit more was fine.

Yan Buji smiled and continued bargaining with She Junshu.

Mainly, Yan Buji holding the Heavenly Snake Stone was useless to him, while the other side had huge demand, creating a supply-demand imbalance, naturally giving Yan Buji the initiative.

After all, the Heavenly Snake Stone might only be useful to the Snake People, with no alternative buyer, and while holding it in hand waiting to sell at a high price, who knows what the Snake People think of the Dragon People; peaceful trade is best, so Yan Buji, while bargaining, maintained that both sides should gain some benefit and did not press too hard to drive down the other's goods' value.

In short, after Yan Buji determined what benefits 100 catties of Heavenly Snake Stone could fetch from the Snake People, they each left contact information to begin trade after the conclave ended.

"However, if you could mine all the Heavenly Snake Stone at once for trade, fellow cultivator, that would be best." She Junshu smiled.

Mainly it's to save trouble; multiple round‑trips for trade involve travel expenses, and the Frigid Winter Ocean isn't very peaceful—one might run into trouble if noticed.

Yan Buji, however, shook his head: "Doing that would require too much manpower and material cost for the nobles and us; we can't devote all personnel to mining the Heavenly Snake Stone, so we'll take it slow. If we ever encounter someone oblivious, I'm sure the Snake People wouldn't want this to fall into others' hands."

She Junshu smiled and looked at Yan Buji: "In other words, the Snake People will handle the security issue?"

"That would be best; the Dragon People aren't lacking in high‑level combat power, but they're hard to pull away from cultivation. The Snake People are willing to bear the risk, and we would naturally be grateful."

"Then what about this price...."

Yan Buji looked at her and whispered, "Each transaction, I can give you an extra five catties of Heavenly Snake Stone."

She Junshu's eyes lit up, she rose and clasped her hands, saying, "Thank you, fellow cultivator, for your generosity!"

This amounts to She Junshu receiving a kickback; after she clarifies the security matter with the Snake People herself, Yan Buji won't need to reduce his profit share, and She Junshu will also get a return—naturally a win‑win.

Once the trade talk was over, it naturally turned into ordinary chatting.

"Speaking of which, Fellow Cultivator She, since you have an engagement, have you thought about when to wed? If I have the time, I'll definitely come to congratulate you."

"Oh dear, the Snake People's engagement isn't as serious as you think, fellow cultivator; after all, the Snake People number over a million and don't place much importance on engagements. As long as you haven't married yet, you can do whatever you like~" She Junshu said with a meaningful tone.

Yan Buji raised his eyebrows; he didn't want to become a rough outlaw.

"I see, but Fellow Cultivator She, do you have any news about the Martial Dao Profound Skill? If so, could you help me gather some?"

She Junshu wore a strange look, after carefully sensing for a moment she suddenly realized and said: "I just said, why is Dao friend Yan's aura so strange? It turns out you are actually also a Martial Dao cultivator!"