Chapter 31

“You don’t know, do you?”

Wang Dun looked at He Pingsheng and smirked slyly. “This bottle of low-grade Yanghua pollen can sell for over ninety spirit stones!”

“Let’s split half a bottle and sell it—you get thirty spirit stones, I get twenty!”

“What do you say?”

He Pingsheng shook his head. “Brother, you’re being foolish… If we sell this pollen at Fenghe Zhuang, they’re certainly familiar with Elder Kumu. If we sneak in to sell it, aren’t we walking straight into a trap?”

“Hehehe…” Wang Dun chuckled. “That does make some sense.”

“Then let’s hold onto it for now and sell it later. Fenghe Zhuang might not even notice us!”

He Pingsheng added, “You’re being foolish again. Elder Kumu said this pollen loses its fire spiritual energy very easily. If we wait too long and all the fire energy drains away, it’ll be useless—how can we trade it for spirit stones?”

“Hahahaha…” Wang Dun burst into laughter. “Good! Very good!”

“Brother, I was just testing you just now!”

“I was afraid you’d secretly hoard the pollen!”

“You’re right—this pollen is useless if we keep it.”

“First, neither of us could ever sell it.”

“Second… if we hold it too long, even within three months, its spiritual energy will surely drain away.”

“I didn’t expect you to be so sharp—you saw it at a glance.”

“Here,” Wang Dun pulled out three spirit stones and handed them to He Pingsheng. “Elder Kumu told me to prepare these. He said if you passed the test, these three spirit stones are compensation for your hard work these past days!”

“If you’d failed, you’d have gotten a good beating today!”

He Pingsheng broke out in goosebumps.

Damn it!

These people really are all calculating.

“Thank you, Brother!” He Pingsheng bowed and took the three spirit stones.

At this point, he now possessed five spirit stones.

Elder Kumu was surprisingly generous.

Hmm… probably because he makes so much.

Just now, Brother Wang said one bottle sells for over ninety spirit stones. Ten bottles a month equals nine hundred.

Sssss…

Indeed!

Still, making money is the best.

“Let’s go!” Wang Dun pulled out a paper crane.

He Pingsheng asked, “Where to?”

Wang Dun replied, “Where else? To Matou Mountain Market—to sell Elder Kumu’s pollen. Otherwise, if the fire energy drains later, who’ll take responsibility?”

“Open…”

Wang Dun channeled a thread of spiritual energy into it; instantly, the paper crane transformed into a yellow immortal crane.

Of course, it wasn’t a real immortal crane—just a puppet, and not even a very lifelike one.

He Pingsheng had seen such paper cranes before at the Second Floor of the Changyi Pavilion in the Outer Sect—they sold for five spirit stones each, could carry a thousand jin, and fly a thousand li in a day.

And each could be activated three times.

“Get on!” Wang Dun leapt onto the paper crane first. “He Brother, hurry up—time is short!”

“Alright!” He Pingsheng figured Elder Kumu and Wang Dun wouldn’t scheme against a penniless disciple, so he leapt onto the crane’s back.

“Hold tight… hohoho… go!”

Shhh…

The paper crane’s wings fluttered slightly, and in an instant, it soared into the sky.

The valley beneath shrank, and the entire Grand Void Gate faded into the distance.

It was He Pingsheng’s first time flying—he felt unreal. He reached out and pinched his thigh hard.

Beside him, Wang Dun laughed heartily. “Don’t worry—it’s not a dream!”

“He Brother, first time riding one?”

He Pingsheng nodded. “Yes.”

“No problem,” Wang Dun reassured him. “Just ride a few more times—you’ll get used to it!”

As he spoke, he adjusted the crane’s speed and direction toward the southeast.

“Matou Mountain Market is three thousand li from our Grand Void Gate—not far. We’ll leave in the morning and arrive by noon, and still make it back before nightfall!”

The wind howled, distorting Wang Dun’s voice.

As Wang Dun had said, about two hours later, the two descended from the sky and landed in a valley.

The valley was vast, with a small town at its entrance.

The town was filled with all manner of cultivators.

Extremely bustling.

He Pingsheng’s spiritual sense swept out—most cultivators coming and going here were at the Fourth Layer or below.

“He Brother,” Wang Dun said, “don’t casually use your spiritual sense—it’s impolite. If you offend some eccentric cultivators, you might end up in a fight—and losing your life isn’t uncommon.”

He Pingsheng had never known this—he quickly retracted his spiritual sense.

Wang Dun continued, “This is Matou Mountain Market!”

“Within ten thousand li, there are dozens of sects like ours, all part of an alliance called the Daoxuan Alliance.”

“Matou Mountain lies at the very center of the Daoxuan Alliance, so they established this market here.”

“So cultivators from all sects can exchange goods and information.”

“Of course, there are also many independent cultivators here.”

Hearing Wang Dun’s explanation, He Pingsheng now understood Matou Mountain and the Daoxuan Alliance a little better.

He Pingsheng followed Wang Dun as they walked.

He noticed there were many merchant guilds here.

As far as the eye could see, both sides of the street were lined with shops selling all kinds of goods.

Many individual cultivators had set up stalls on the ground.

Wang Dun pulled He Pingsheng straight into the shop named Fenghe Zhuang.

“Manager Liu!” Wang Dun stepped up to the counter and grinned. “I’m a disciple of Elder Kumu from the Grand Void Gate!”

“Oh!” Manager Liu looked up. “So you’re Elder Kumu’s disciple? Come in, come in… What brings you here?”

Wang Dun said, “My master is occupied and sent us to sell some pollen for him—top-quality Yanghua pollen. Take a look!”

As he spoke, He Pingsheng opened a cloth bundle, revealing eleven bottles.

“Hehe…” Manager Liu smiled. “Alright, let me see.”

He carefully opened each bottle, examined them all, then nodded. “Good. Ten and a half bottles total—all low-grade. At the previous price, ninety-six spirit stones per bottle—that’s one thousand and eight in total.”

“Alright, you can go.”

With that, Manager Liu waved them off.

He Pingsheng froze: No spirit stones? Just send them away?

Then Manager Liu added, “Wait—I need to give you an official seal. Otherwise, how can you explain this to Elder Kumu?”