Chapter 107: Hong Family Market, Trading

Chen Mo picked up the clear tea in the cup and took a light sip.

It is said that the tea produced by Xiaqi Mountain is of quite good quality, but he does not know how to appreciate tea, and he did not feel anything different when drinking it.

"Daoist Xuanming, you have been looking at these medicinal pills for a long time; it is time to give a price, isn't it?"

Chen Mo set down the teacup and looked at the headmaster of the Xiaqi Sect, Daoist Xuanming, before him.

"These medicinal pills are indeed all used for the cultivation of Qi Refiners; I am willing to offer fifteen Blood Essence Stones." Daoist Xuanming spoke slowly after finishing his inspection of the last bottle of pills.

He did not care about the origin of these pills; since their Xiaqi Mountain could conduct dense gathering business, then of course they had to handle some things that could not see the light of day from time to time.

Regarding this, he had always only conducted transactions and never asked about anything else.

Moreover, the things before him were merely cultivation pills; although the price was relatively high, they were not considered very rare, and they were everywhere on the market.

Whether he took them out to sell or kept them for his own use, he would make a steady profit on this business.

"No, the price is too low." Chen Mo shook his head in refusal, although he did not know the true value of these pills either.

But since one asks for an exorbitant price, the other must counter-offer; in any case, there had to be some haggling.

In the end, after a round of negotiation, the two reached a deal at the price of eighteen Blood Essence Stones.

After settling the goods and payment, Daoist Xuanming ordered someone to brew a new pot of tea and began to chat idly with Chen Mo.

"May I ask, Daoist, if this junior wishes to hire someone to forge weapons or purchase some Talismans, where should I go to look?"

After chatting for a moment, Chen Mo suddenly asked.

He had many things in his hands, and it was impossible to sell them all in one place.

He was not worried about the revenge of the family behind that Foundation Establishment powerhouse; this was something for the Imperial Court to do, and if they wanted to take revenge on him, it would be equivalent to provoking the Imperial Court.

It was mainly because he did not want people to know that it was he who killed that Foundation Establishment powerhouse.

His current strength was still relatively too weak, and he could not expose everything.

Not to mention reaching the top level of the current age, if he could have a first-class standard, then he could consider gradually showing his own strength.

"Our Xiaqi Mountain does not have these things, but I do know of one place.

Within Damang Mountain in Leye Prefecture, there is a Hong Family Market; there should be the things you need there."

Daoist Xuanming thought for a moment and said.

He was not surprised by what Chen Mo wanted to buy; Talismans were made by Qi Refiners, but that did not mean all Talismans could only be used by Qi Refiners.

A portion of Talismans could be activated with Inner Qi to unleash their power.

As for wanting to forge weapons, that could only be done there; their Xiaqi Mountain was good at alchemy, but no one knew how to forge weapons.

"I will give you a letter; if you carry my letter, you will be able to enter and exit that market."

Daoist Xuanming stood up and ordered someone to bring pen, ink, paper, and an inkstone.

The Hong Family Market was also a Dongtian Fudi; without someone to introduce him, Chen Mo would not be able to enter even if he arrived at the mountain gate.

"Many thanks, Senior." Chen Mo cupped his hands in thanks.

"I have a very close personal friendship with your foster father; this is but a small matter!"

A letter was quickly written, and Daoist Xuanming fetched a seal to leave the unique mark of their Xiaqi Mountain on it.

The letter was actually very brief, with only a few sparse sentences, stating Chen Mo's identity and that he was introduced by him to go to the Hong Family Market.

After accepting the letter, Chen Mo stayed at Xiaqi Mountain for one more day, found a rough map from here to the Hong Family Market, and did not set off until the next day.

He did not take the official road but chose to take the most direct path; although he had to cross mountains, forests, and wilderness, with his strength, these were not problems.

Running at full speed, he crossed over a thousand miles of wilderness in just one day and arrived near Damang Mountain.

Chen Mo did not take advantage of the night to go up the mountain; he spent one night in the wilderness, and the next morning, he took a set of clean clothes from his Storage Bag to change into before he climbed the mountain.

Damang Mountain was not high, being less than three hundred zhang.

The mountain paths were all paved with man-made bluestone slabs, over two zhang wide; one could not imagine how much manpower it had consumed.

Chen Mo's pace in climbing the mountain was not fast; walking along the way, it was not just him, as there were also people climbing up or going down the mountain.

After walking a dozen zhang along the mountain path, Chen Mo saw an inn for temporary rest.

Although the inn was built on the mountain, its decoration was still quite extraordinary, with lacquered wooden beams and pillars and bluestone bricks, standing a full three stories high.

Even the large inns in the prefecture city did not have such specifications.

"Guest, do you have an introduction from someone you know or a token?" Seeing Chen Mo walk into the inn, a waiter walked over.

He was called a waiter, but looking at his tall and sturdy physique, he had definitely practiced Martial Dao for a few years.

"The headmaster of the Xiaqi Sect, Daoist Xuanming, introduced me." Chen Mo took out the letter he had prepared from his Huai.

"Please wait a moment, guest." The waiter took the letter without daring to open it and ran away with small steps.

Before long, he returned again with the letter.

"Please follow me, guest." Returning the letter to Chen Mo, he walked in front to lead the way.

Passing the back door of the inn and walking another dozen zhang along the mountain path, although it was still a mountain path before his eyes,

Chen Mo could already sense that there were many cultivators and Martial Artists coming and going behind this mountain path.

Blood Qi circulated, stimulating his eyes.

The mountain path before his eyes instantly disappeared, and a bustling and noisy market appeared before him.

It was as if the entire mountain peak had even been leveled to leave an extremely spacious area for this market.

The Hong Family was a famous immortal-cultivating family in Ding Prefecture, with four Foundation Establishment powerhouses in the clan, and they had an excellent relationship with the Golden Core sect, Yunya Pavilion.

The Hong Family Market was also a famous market in the entire Ding Prefecture; the commercial goods swallowed and traded every day were much larger than those of Xiaqi Mountain.

Only this market had the ability to consume everything in his hands.

"Guest, once you walk through the Illusion Array inside, you will have truly entered the market; there will be a deacon inside to receive you." The waiter who had brought Chen Mo bowed and saluted, then silently retreated.

Taking another step forward, the bustling and noisy market came into view; there were many pedestrians coming and going, and regardless of high or low, all had cultivation on their persons.

At the entrance of the market, there were several cultivators and Martial Artists patrolling and guarding the place.

Seeing Chen Mo walk inside, someone immediately came to greet him.

"This must be the Martial Artist recommended by Daoist Xuanming. This is a Passage Token; if the guest comes again, just show this token."

A middle-aged Martial Artist handed Chen Mo a plaque made of golden nanmu, with a large "Hong" character written on it.

This market did not have very strict identity verification; after all, the business they solicited was not limited to one prefecture or one region, but covered the entire Ding Prefecture.

When opening doors to do business, if identity verification is too strict, it will only turn many people away.

The Hong Family Market did not seem to have much of a gap compared to ordinary markets in mortal cities.

If there was any difference to speak of, it was that the decorations appeared particularly luxurious.

The beams and pillars used in every shop were definitely golden nanmu, the kind that were at least several hundred years old, and even the streets were paved with white marble slabs.

Whether they were cultivators or Martial Artists, relatively speaking, they would not be short of silver.

Therefore, the luxurious decoration of this market naturally far exceeded that of mortal markets.

Chen Mo first found an inn in the market to stay; the inns in the market were all opened by the Hong Family and provided free of charge to Martial Artists or Qi Refiners who came to trade.

Of course, the conditions could not be called very good; if one wanted a better room, they would have to pay extra.

Chen Mo chose a room at random to stay in, changed into a cloak that concealed his face, and covered his whole body with Inner Qi Gauze to ensure that no one could spy on his appearance.

Only then did he quietly leave the inn.

There were quite a few people in the market dressed like him, the purpose being to conceal their identities and sell things that were difficult to sell.

Of course, no matter what their specific identity was, they still needed to have their identities verified by Hong Family Martial Artists or cultivators when entering or leaving the market.

This was, after all, still a market, not a black market.

But no matter who was conducting transactions in the market, the Hong Family would not care much.

Even if they wanted to know, they had no way of knowing; the market was filled with shops from many different forces, not just Hong Family shops.

Chen Mo came to this market this time not only because he really wanted to sell things, but also because he intended to buy some things to take away.

The Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist was already nearing perfection, and he could already consider practicing other techniques.

It would be best to have a hammer technique; to fight those monsters in the Mirage Sea, it was better to use blunt weapons.

In addition, he could also consider purchasing some Talismans that Martial Artists could use.

Finally, he also intended to purchase a portion of medicinal pills; of course, this portion of pills he purchased was not for cultivation, but mainly for healing injuries and recovering Inner Qi.

This type of pill was hard to find, at least much harder to find than ordinary pills for supplementing Qi and Blood, and the price was naturally not cheap.

But he still had to prepare some on his person to be prepared for any eventuality.

If he went to explore other Mirage Seas next, he would also be able to use these pills.

Walking casually through the market, Chen Mo's gaze kept scanning the shops on the left and right sides.

The first things he traded and sold were the thirty-two Origin True Stones, which he directly exchanged for thirty-two Blood Essence Stones.

Although these two types of stones were Mirage Spirits, they were completely different from other Mirage Spirits.

This was mainly because there were no harsh requirements for absorbing the power within them; one could use them as soon as they were obtained.

In addition, although these two types of Mirage Spirits had distinctions between high and low grades, under the same quality, the power contained within did not differ much.

Furthermore, the quantity produced was always relatively stable, and would not suddenly be much more or much less.

Therefore, they could be used as currency for transactions, while other Mirage Spirits were difficult to use that way.

Walking through the market, Chen Mo always ensured that no one was following him, and he completed transactions in several shops one after another.

After deducting the expenses for purchasing Talismans, pills, and techniques, Chen Mo still had a total of one hundred and twenty-seven Blood Essence Stones left, which was absolutely enough to complete his next rebirth.

Quietly walking back to the inn where he was staying, he then took off his cloak and took out the things he had bought and large handfuls of Blood Essence Stones from his Huai.

The Talismans Chen Mo purchased this time totaled eight, six Godly Travel Talismans, which could increase his speed when activated with Inner Qi.

There were also two Protective Talismans; as long as they were activated with Inner Qi, they could temporarily open up a safe area and disperse the Mirage Sea around his body.

Although Chen Mo had one unused Protective Talisman on hand, he felt it was better to prepare two more of this type of Protective Talisman.

There were many other Talismans, but Martial Artists could not use them; currently, there were only these two types of Talismans in the Hong Family Market that could be activated with Inner Qi.

There were twelve medicinal pills, six of which were named Green Wood Rejuvenation Pill; whether it was a Martial Artist, a cultivator, or an ordinary person, they could treat their own injuries after taking them.

The other six were Qi Returning Pills, which could speed up a Martial Artist's recovery of Inner Qi, but they could not be swallowed continuously, otherwise there was a risk of damaging the meridians.

The most important things were two techniques, one external hammer technique named Eighteen Vibrations of Running Thunder, priced at one Blood Essence Stone.

Chen Mo prepared to take it for his own use.

Techniques like this that were put out for sale were not considered precious, and their power was not bad either; some were even very profound.

The reason they were cheap was mainly because they were common enough and spread widely enough.

Being able to buy them in this market, one might be able to see them in other markets as well.

Therefore, the price was relatively not that expensive.

In addition, there was also an internal and external health-preserving technique named Bright Jade Longevity Technique.

This technique was even cheaper and could be bought with silver.

The manager of that shop didn't even charge money for it, directly giving it to Chen Mo as a throw-in.

This technique had a very wide circulation; not only in this market, but many people could be seen practicing it in many mortal cities.

Many wealthy merchants or rich families who had only made their fortune in the last generation or two would practice this health-preserving technique to seek longevity.

This kind of health-preserving technique that could be widely spread all possessed several advantages: simple and easy to practice, and it did not consume any resources.

The disadvantage was that it was very difficult to achieve great success.

If this Bright Jade Longevity Technique were practiced to the extreme, it would at most reach the Inner Breath Realm; it was impossible to reach the Meridian Opening stage.

However, there were still many benefits to practicing this health-preserving technique: strengthening the body, immunity to all diseases, prolonging life, and it could even greatly slow down the aging of one's appearance.

Chen Mo bought this technique, but he didn't intend to practice it himself; he mainly prepared to teach it to Zhao Yu.

Even if she couldn't achieve any great success, it could at least strengthen her body; not to mention true immunity to all diseases, she would definitely not be so easily susceptible to colds and flu.

In addition, he also placed an order at a blacksmith shop within the market for one hundred feathered arrows suitable for use with the Kui Ox Treasure Bow.

Each one was mixed with Iron-Reinforced Spear, sufficient to bear the power of the Kui Ox Bow.

As for these feathered arrows, he naturally could not obtain them now; he would have to wait a month before coming to collect them.

Putting the medicinal pills and Talismans into his Storage Bag one by one, Chen Mo picked up a Blood Essence Stone and immediately began to refine it.

Ultimately, it took ninety-eight Blood Essence Stones for the Transformation Pearl to be considered fully charged.

He kept only ten Blood Essence Stones to use as currency for trading with others, and refined all the rest until they were gone.

After finishing this, he was in no rush to leave the market; of course, he did not undergo his transformation here either, as this place was not particularly safe, and everything would wait until he returned home.

After practicing his Inner Qi steadily in the inn for another two days, Chen Mo then set off to return to Zhu Niu Ji.

(End of this chapter)