Chapter 636: Rare Treasures, Madness

Top-grade materials were traded one by one.

But no matter how top-grade the materials were, He Pingsheng remained largely unmoved.

When the trading session had lasted two hours, a female cultivator suddenly stood up.

He Pingsheng recognized this woman—she was the same one who had traded him the Xun Tao Tian Mu before.

"Fellow cultivators, I am Long Yue. I have here a rather special forging material!"

"Please, all of you, take a look!"

With that, the woman in blue Dao robes pulled out a large lump of material, as big as a human head, shimmering with golden light.

The material floated in midair.

Everyone extended their spiritual sense toward it.

He Pingsheng did too.

He suddenly became deeply interested in the material, for the instant the woman revealed it, he felt the Hong Meng Zi Jin Gun nurtured in his dantian stir.

The thing had begun to pulse in his dantian without warning.

With a hint of anticipation, a touch of greed.

Like a creature spotting delicious food.

This…

He Pingsheng's brow twitched.

The Hong Meng Zi Jin Gun was of extremely high rank; under normal circumstances, it never easily devoured other materials.

Only items of the utmost extreme rank could stir its interest.

Now that the Hong Meng Zi Jin Gun showed such intense excitement, it was clear the woman's material was no ordinary thing.

"This item was obtained by me in an ancient secret realm, but since acquiring it, nearly five hundred years have passed, and I still do not know its purpose."

"And I don't recognize it either!"

"If any of you recognize it, please enlighten me?"

The woman's gaze swept across the crowd.

Almost everyone shook their heads.

"Don't know!"

"Never seen such an arcane material!"

"Forgive me, Immortal, but I've never encountered this substance—I have no idea what rank it is!"

"Yeah, I think this thing isn't even high-ranked!"

"Fifth rank, maybe even fourth!"

"Impossible!" someone said: "If it were only fourth or fifth rank, how could we not sense it?"

The crowd stirred.

The woman said: "Fellow cultivators, don't rush—look here!"

She reached out, cupped the shimmering material in her hands, and gently placed it on the table before her.

At first, the material seemed normal.

But after one breath, it began to deform.

It turned soft and sagged.

Less than five breaths later, it had turned into mush, flattened out across the table!

"So soft?" Gu Song gasped.

"This… this this this… this material… is this miraculous?"

Someone, unable to find words, could only marvel with "miraculous."

"Mo Sang, fellow Daoist!" another called to Mo Sang: "You're an Elder of the Holy Fire Trading Company—have you ever seen or heard of such an item?"

"No!" Mo Sang shook his head. "I've never seen this thing before!"

"And given how soft it is, it probably can't even serve as a primary material for forging a magic treasure, can it?"

"Exactly!" someone agreed: "If it's this limp, how could it fight?"

"Hahahaha…"

"Puh… puhpuh…"

"Hahahaha—I'm dying!"

The moment Mo Sang mentioned it becoming a soft magic treasure, nearly everyone pictured the scene and burst out laughing.

"Alright, alright!" Gu Song forced back his laughter and waved his hand: "Come on, anyone willing to bid?"

Then, after three breaths…

Almost everyone shook their heads.

Bid?

What would you even do with this thing?

It won't harden!

"Cough, cough…" Seeing no other bids, He Pingsheng cleared his throat and asked: "Immortal, what price are you asking?"

"I want to see it!"

He truly wanted it.

Though He Pingsheng didn't know what this thing was or what use it had.

But my staff likes it!

Swish…

Every eye turned to He Pingsheng.

The woman exclaimed excitedly: "Dragon Zhe Daoist, do you recognize this?"

He Pingsheng shook his head with a wry smile: "Forgive me, Immortal—I don't recognize it either."

The woman said: "If you don't recognize it, why do you want it?"

He Pingsheng replied: "I'm merely curious. If you're willing, I'll make an offer."

The woman thought for a moment: "Fine… make your offer…"

"If your offer satisfies me, I'll trade it to you."

But it was impossible!

The woman wasn't foolish.

She merely suspected He Pingsheng might know the item's value, so she was testing him.

Let's see what price he'll offer.

He Pingsheng considered, then pulled out a vial of five-rank supreme-grade 【Ji Dao Dan】, specifically fire-aspected.

This item was priceless anywhere.

Of course, this vial contained only four pills—not twelve.

"Take a look at this!"

He Pingsheng tossed the vial over.

Every spiritual sense reached into the vial.

"Holy shit…"

"Heavens, Ji Dao Dan?"

"Fire-aspected Ji Dao Dan?"

"This… is it supreme-grade?"

"A single pill could break through a Dao barrier for this old man!"

In the room, countless people went wild.

Everyone here was a forger, nearly all possessed a Fire Spirit Root, and many cultivated fire as their primary path.

Seeing He Pingsheng's four Ji Dao Dan, they nearly lost their minds.

He Pingsheng merely smiled calmly at the woman.

But she shook her head: "No—your offer is too low. I refuse."

Refuse?

He Pingsheng waved his hand and reclaimed the four pills.

Then he pulled out ten pills of five-rank 【Bing Yu Pi Pa Gao】.

The woman shook her head again.

He Pingsheng put away the Bing Yu Pi Pa Gao and tossed a six-rank 【Sheng Yuan Dan】 onto the woman's table.

"This…" Seeing the Sheng Yuan Dan, the woman hesitated.

"Holy crap…" someone swore: "That's a Sheng Yuan Dan… and supreme-grade too! A Void Refinement cultivator who takes one gains… a thousand years of lifespan."

"Sssss…"

"If taken at a lower rank, the effect doubles!"

"This…"

"Excellent item!"

"Perfect!"

Seeing the Sheng Yuan Dan, nearly everyone's eyes turned red.

This is a sixth-rank elixir; for a Void Refinement cultivator, it grants a thousand years of life; if used at a lower level, say by a Soul Transformation cultivator, it could grant two thousand years.

Yet Soul Transformation cultivators themselves only have two thousand years of life.

To instantly double one's lifespan—can you imagine the allure?

Crucially, over ninety percent of Soul Transformation cultivators will reach the end of their wisdom in that realm.

To speak plainly, right now, among those present, many are already at that brink.

Who wouldn't be envious?

Who wouldn't go mad?

So when they saw He Pingsheng produce the Holy Essence Elixir, everyone secretly hoped he would fail to trade with the woman named Long Yue!

"I'm sorry," the woman said after much thought, shaking her head. "I don't want to trade."

"But I do want this elixir."

"If possible, I would be willing to exchange it for another treasure—would you consider that?"