The gathering was not far from the spirit beast defense line. When Shi Yu arrived, a bustling scene unfolded before her.
All kinds of stalls filled the open ground, mostly selling spirit beast materials and spiritual plants, along with a few tea and food stalls. A medley of sounds echoed through the market—hawking wares, haggling over prices, sharing cultivation insights, and, naturally, plenty of shouting and provocation.
If not for the unusual items on display and the extraordinary backgrounds of the passersby, this scene wouldn't have looked much different from a bustling market fair in the Mortal Realm.
Shi Yu had come mainly to buy spiritual materials for refining spirit robes and artifacts, hoping that with a bit of luck, she might also find some natural treasures suitable for forging Spirit-Gathering array plates.
“If I come across good spiritual plants, I can buy a few to transplant into the Yin-Yang Fate-Tapping Bell as well.”
The medicinal field inside the bell had expanded by a full ring, leaving plenty of empty space for planting. The spiritual energy inside was dense enough to almost condense into liquid; planting her crops inside would yield immense benefits.
Walking inward from the outermost edge of the market, Shi Yu passed several stalls before finally stopping.
Before her sat a middle-aged cultivator on the bare ground, picking his teeth with a blade of grass held between his lips. A piece of coarse cloth was spread in front of him, displaying various items.
Squatting down, Shi Yu looked at a python skin still stained with blood. Her eyelashes fluttered slightly as she recognized the creature it came from, thinking to herself, A Wood-Seeking Python. Not bad, this will come in handy.
She reached out, but just as her fingers were about to touch the python skin, her hand twitched as a subtle, strange sensation welled up in her heart.
Noticing this inexplicable feeling, Shi Yu kept her composure. She picked up the python skin to examine it as if casually browsing, while her peripheral vision swept over the stall.
A moment later, her gaze locked onto a pitch-black stone lump sitting right beside the python skin.
The surface of the stone lump was smeared with grime and covered in toad-like warty bumps. The spiritual energy fluctuations emitting from it were so faint as to be almost imperceptible, making it utterly inconspicuous.
Judging by the grime on it, it was probably carved out from the belly of some spirit beast, Shi Yu mused.
Although she didn't know what it was, it gave her a unique sensation.
Withdrawing her gaze, she unfolded the python skin and asked the somewhat slovenly vendor, “How much for this python skin?”
The vendor sized Shi Yu up and down. Seeing only a young lad, he assumed she lacked experience and would be easy to fool. His eyes darted before he blurted out, “Eighty spirit stones.”
Shi Yu replied calmly, “The texture of this Wood-Seeking Python skin is indeed tight, fine, and tough, but its scales are dull and lifeless—a clear sign of excessive spiritual energy loss. Moreover, there are tears on both the belly and back, so it isn't an intact piece. Its value is greatly reduced. Thirty spirit stones at most.”
With that, she set down the python skin, turned, and made to leave.
The vendor hadn't expected someone so young to be so knowledgeable, fully aware of the market values of spiritual materials.
He offered an embarrassed smile and hurriedly stopped Shi Yu. “Hey, wait, little brother!”
Shi Yu turned back slowly. The vendor rubbed his hands together and said, “Thirty spirit stones is way too low. It took me a ton of effort to kill this Wood-Seeking Python—I had to gulp down so many Rejuvenation Pills and Dew-Condensing Pills...”
He chuckled greedily. “How about fifty spirit stones?”
Seeing Shi Yu remain unmoved, he grew anxious. “Forty-five! Forty-five spirit stones, I can't go any lower!”
Only then did Shi Yu bend down, pick up the python skin, and casually scoop up a few other minor odds and ends from the stall—naturally including the pitch-black stone lump. “Forty-five for all of these together?”
The vendor's eyes quickly swept over the items in her hand. Seeing that they were all worthless trinkets, his face lit up in a wide grin, and he snapped, “Deal!”
Shi Yu handed over the spirit stones, stowed the items into the Yin-Yang Fate-Tapping Bell, and continued walking deeper into the market.
Tucking the spirit stones away, the vendor muttered smugly to himself, “Tsk, still too wet behind the ears. Here I thought he was sharp, but a few words were all it took to pull the wool over his eyes.”
Shi Yu possessed keen senses and had not walked far, so she naturally overheard his muttering. Her eyelashes drooped into a subtle, quiet smile.
The python skin was indeed only worth about thirty spirit stones, but her true target had never been the skin itself, but the pitch-black stone lump.
Her caution was well-warranted. Murder and robbery were everyday occurrences in places like this. Had she shown explicit interest in an item of unknown origin, she might have drawn unwanted eyes.
I'll examine it carefully after I return.
...
By the time Shi Yu purchased a few more spiritual materials and plants, Jiang Qihe finally broke free from the mob of rogue cultivators seeking spirit talismans and rushed over to find her.
Shi Yu glanced at him, noticing his hair bun was tousled and his robes were rumpled from being squeezed in the crowd. She sighed in marvel, “Manager Jiang, you've had a tough time.”
Jiang Qihe gave a bitter smile and waved his hand. “Not at all, not at all.”
“It is all thanks to Young Master Shi's brilliance. I told them all to make their purchases at Tongyi Pavilion.”
With so many people eager to buy spirit talismans, Jiang Qihe was thrilled. However, knowing that the hundred or so talismans Shi Yu sold him this time would likely sell out within two days—even if he rationed them daily to drag it out—it was still not a long-term solution.
Now that Tongyi Pavilion was finally showing signs of resurgence, he couldn't let it be just a flash in the pan.
Thinking this over, Jiang Qihe cleared his throat softly and proposed to Shi Yu, “Young Master Shi, if you happen to have spare time later on, would you consider selling more talismans to Tongyi Pavilion?”
“We can discuss the price further. What do you think?”
Buying spirit talismans at six spirit stones left Tongyi Pavilion with very little profit margin. Willingness to negotiate the price higher was clearly a desperate move to throw money at building reputation.
Shi Yu was not a greedy person. Selling everything in bulk to Tongyi Pavilion saved her a great deal of trouble, and she did not mind the small markup Tongyi Pavilion made on resells. She simply smiled and said, “No problem. Six spirit stones remains fine. I only hope Manager Jiang can keep an eye out for the items I need in the future.”
Shi Yu had browsed the gathering, yet still saw almost no natural treasures required for forging Spirit-Gathering array plates.
She had many matters demanding her attention and couldn't afford to waste time searching endlessly, so entrusting the task to someone else was the sensible path.
Jiang Qihe nodded repeatedly. “Of course, of course! Clerks will come here daily to purchase goods, so I will instruct them to keep a lookout for whatever Young Master needs.”
Grateful that Shi Yu's spirit talismans had relieved Tongyi Pavilion's awkward inventory shortage caused by the beast riot, he naturally kept her requirements at the forefront of his mind.
Moreover, Jiang Qihe increasingly felt that Shi Yu possessed an unfathomable aura, suspecting she hailed from some prominent sect or prestigious family with deep heritage.
After all, he had watched Shi Yu progress from crafting minor novelties like jade talismans to successfully crafting spirit talismans—and even leaving her own mark inside them.
In such a short time, she had not only become a Tier-1 talisman master, but a standout among them. Truly...
A young prodigy.
If he knew that Shi Yu was only crafting Tier-1 spirit talismans due to her cultivation level, and that crafting them posed no difficulty for her at all, who knew what expression he would make?
After walking around for a while longer and seeing that it was getting late, Shi Yu called for Jiang Qihe, preparing to head back.
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