Devour

Chapter 332 Night Market Chips

The night in Shanhui City is as hazy as the natural twilight, and the mysterious night market is filled with shadowy figures.

Unidentified buyers were busy bargaining in low voices, not asking about the origin, authenticity, or return of the goods. After the two sides compromised, the people who found the bargain dropped ingots of real gold and silver and pocketed the treasures they liked.

Ningxiang and others lingered in front of a stall for a long time.

The stall owner looked like a scholar, with a tall figure and a yellow Confucian robe with gold edges, revealing an elegant temperament. He said calmly: "Sir, please be careful, each piece is exquisite!"

Li Hantian whispered, "Jian Wu, I know you must have some incredible treasure hidden, please take it out and show me around."

The stall owner hushed softly, "Keep your voice down. Master Li, we are close friends, don't you know my rules? Rare treasures need to meet the right person!"

Jinlian covered her mouth with her hands and smiled sweetly, "Elder Jianxiu, other people only know about the Sixth and Ninth Masters of Shanhui City, and only a few Taoist friends recognize the golden sign of the Fifth Master in the night market. Please don't let us down if you come all the way to show your support!"

Jianxiu was very considerate of Jinlian and smiled, "We have prepared enough of the goods you requested a few days ago. One hundred and forty kilograms of long-cast iron, refined into exquisite ingots, the price is very good! The material cost one million four hundred thousand taels of gold, and the labor cost is five thousand two hundred and fifty taels of gold."

Li Hantian applauded: "The wages given by Elder Jianxiu are very fair. The Changsheng Association will ask for ten times more."

Jian Xiu said politely, "Refining is not easy. Merchants need to operate ten times as fast. Otherwise, how can we support such a large team? The salary I earn is barely enough to maintain the refining cauldron. If I make this my business, it is not enough to feed my friends."

Ningxiang asked, "Can I exchange it for black gold payment?"

Jianxiu nodded and said, "Of course no problem."

The transaction was completed successfully.

Jinlian blinked her eyes and curiously inquired, "What you said just now about rare treasures was definitely not without purpose. What treasures are they?"

Jian Xiu hesitated for a moment, but when he saw Jin Lian's hopeful gaze, his heart softened and he said truthfully, "This item is useless to you and me as sword cultivators, and it's incomplete, so it's just of great collection value."

Xing Jue, who had been silent at the side, interrupted and said, "Senior, are you also a sword cultivator? If it is useless, why do you keep it? Can I see it for myself?"

Jianxiu was reluctant to answer him, but seeing Jinlian stretching out her delicate hand to ask for it, he had to carefully take out a piece of gold paper as thin as a cicada's wing from the Sumeru mustard seed and hand it over to her.

Jinlian took it and spread it out so that everyone around could watch it. The material that looked like gold paper at first glance was actually a base woven with extremely fine gold threads, and the equally fine platinum threads outlined a vivid human figure wielding a wonderful sword move.

"It's a martial arts secret book! There's only one incomplete page of swordplay with only one ancient character left." Ningxiang looked at the broken part of the page with regret.

Jian Xiu said solemnly, "It is a long-collected nameless sword manual. The ancient platinum character translates to 'spiritual', so it can be called 'spiritual sword manual'. Due to the lack of mental formulas, it is useless to sword cultivators, and I'm afraid it won't work for sword cultivators. It is an ancient relic. From the perspective of material and historical significance, it is an excellent antique and the price is still not low."

Xing Jue stared at the sword manual for a while, and suddenly asked, "How much do you want to sell it for?"

Jian Xiu was surprised and asked, "Do you want to buy it? You give me the impression that you are also a swordsman."

Xing Jue groaned and said, "I'm just asking about the price."

Jinlian urged, "Tell me about it. I want to hear it, too."

Jian Xiu gave her a gentle smile and said, "It's up to fate! If you like the golden dragon head, the price is the lowest, thirty thousand taels of gold."

Shen Ya smiled and said, "It's a pity that none of us practice swords. One of our swordsman friends didn't come along, so I don't know if he's interested."

Ningxiang frowned and said, "Maybe he is very interested. But it's a pity that it's just a fragment, and its quality cannot be determined, so it's useless!"

Jian Xiu was unwilling to accept this and argued, "Don't underestimate this page of sword manual. Although it is a fragment, our Heavenly King was quite shocked after seeing it. He once said that if he were a sword cultivator, he would be obsessed with it. Therefore, I think the grade of the Spiritual Sword Manual is very high. Thirty thousand taels of gold per page is for the sake of Jin Longtou's face, otherwise anyone else would have offered a million!"

Jinlian was startled and quickly handed the sword manual back to him, saying with an awkward smile, "I really don't understand the prices of antique items."

Jian Xiu put away the sword manual and said in a gentle voice: "If Jin Longtou has any ideas, please leave a message for me."

Ningxiang suggested, "Juan and Jing'er were taken to the Maori Chicken stand by Ge Chu'e. Let's go over and see what's going on."

Everyone bid farewell to Jianxiu and left.

Jian Xiu's eyes followed the beauty away, and after a while he sighed and said, "I wasted many years setting up a stall at the night market just to see her a few more times. I made no progress until her cultivation level surpassed mine. I'm afraid I'm just being sentimental and worrying in vain!"

He estimated that it was getting late and was about to close his stall when a figure hurriedly came in front of him. When he looked up, it was Xing Jue.

Jian Xiu asked curiously, "What do you need, little brother? Just tell me."

"Golden Dragon Head asked me to ask you, can this sword be exchanged for that page of the Spiritual Sword Manual?" Xing Jue said with a smile, pulling out the Jingluan Sword from his treasure bag and handing it over.

Jian Xiu stretched out his right hand to take the long sword and carefully examined it. He flicked the sword with his left index finger, which made a pleasant sound. He said slowly, "It is made of Feiying steel and inlaid with a dark shadow sparrow crystal core. It is evaluated as a high-quality treasure. The sword is well maintained, and it can be seen that the owner cherishes it very much. The production cost is less than four thousand taels of gold, and the market price can be seen to be around thirteen thousand taels. Am I right?"

Xing Jue nodded slightly and said, "Senior, you have an extraordinary eye and accurate evaluation. The sword is called 'Jingluan Sword'. Do you think it's okay to trade it?"

Jian Xiu narrowed his eyes slightly, and stroked the sword's spine with his slender fingers as if touching his lover's skin. He hesitated for a moment and said, "Does Jinlian Longtou really want to exchange this sword?"

"That's right." Xing Jue said in a firm tone, waiting for the other party's response.

"Okay! I agree." Jian Xiu quickly put away the Jingluan Sword, took out the page of the Spiritual Sword Manual and gave it to Xing Jue, secretly rejoicing in his heart: "I finally have an artifact that reminds me of someone I have seen before."

Xing took the sword manual without showing any expression, put it away, turned around and quickly caught up with the team.

Seeing that he could no longer hold back his joy, Shen Ya whispered, "Did you rush back to get some great benefits? You're smiling so smartly."

Xing Jue spoke gently but with determination: "After careful consideration, I made a bold decision to sell the Jingluan Sword to Elder Jian Xiu in exchange for a bargaining chip."

Shen Ya was deeply surprised and said, "That's the only treasure your master has left behind! Are you willing to give it up?"

Xing Jue sighed, "I was indeed reluctant to part with it in the past, but Master left me more than one thing, there is another one that is even more valuable. The Jingluan Sword is considered quite good in Qiongqi Continent, and it is only a slightly better sword if it is placed here. Any candidate for the examination has a stronger weapon. If I don't find a way to obtain a high-grade sword and practice the Purple Cloud Sword Technique, I will end up being lost in the crowd."

Shen Ya was silent for a long time before he said, "Well... your concerns are not unreasonable."

Ningxiang called out to the stall in front of her in a tender voice, "Juan, we've got all the goods, what are you still looking at?"

Yun Juan turned around and smiled beautifully: "Thanks to Ge Chu'e for leading the way, we finally found the right herbs!"

The stall owner was a Pleione chicken that was as tall as a man and had colorful feathers. He raised his head high and said, "We have all kinds of medicinal herbs. Come and have a look... Oh oh!"

Ge Chuwu smiled and said, "Your Majesty, please look, the goods on this stall are much more substantial than those at Jiuyouzhai. I have been searching for many days and found this is the best."

Pleiades laughed out loud, "Daoyou, you went to the wrong place to buy medicine at Jiuyouzhai. Most of the spiritual medicine markets are in the Enci Palace area. By the time you get to Yuzhen Palace, the medicine has already been sold out. You can go to my Oh Xianfang during the day and take a look. There will definitely be surprises!"

"Ohxianfang? Ohxian... the name sounds familiar, could it be... old Oh Daxian?" Cheng Bai strode over from behind.

Shanhui City restricted mana but not spiritual consciousness. Cheng Bai found everyone easily and looked at Pleione and tried to greet him, "Old Immortal, how are you?"

Maori has a long neck. He was delighted when he saw Cheng Bai and said hurriedly, "It is an honor to meet an old friend! I am just a mere immortal and I dare not boast of my own superiority. Brother Cheng, do you have anything you like?"

Cheng Bai was delighted: "It is indeed him, he has also arrived at Shanhui City."

Shangguan Jing'er, who was standing in front of the stall, turned around and said obediently, "Master, Sister Yun brought me to see the Demon Sealing Grass."

Cheng Bai was very interested and asked, "How many are there?"