The two of them thanked the elderly man and walked toward the mysterious stall.
Once the cloth curtain was lifted, it was indeed strange inside.
The entire stall was empty, with only a single black wooden table, and there was nothing on it.
A woman sat behind the table.
She wore a black brocade robe. Her eyebrows were like an ink painting, her eyes like cold pools, and her long eyelashes cast a small shadow beneath them.
Her nose was high and straight, but the lower half of her face was completely concealed by a bronze mask, exuding an indescribable sense of mystery.
Xue Mingzhao and Su Ye exchanged a look.
Where were the goods?
There was nothing at all on this stall. Was she selling air?
The woman seemed to see through their thoughts. She looked up at them and said in a cold, clear voice, “Just tell me what you want. As long as you can afford the price, I can produce it.”
The Chaos Spiritual Root jeered in Xue Mingzhao's mind, “What boastful words! Ask her for a Primordial Heaven-Mending Stone! Let's see if she can produce that!”
Xue Mingzhao completely ignored the Chaos Spiritual Root's egging on.
Judging from her twenty years of experience reading novels, someone who acted this mysteriously was in all likelihood a deeply hidden powerhouse.
She got straight to the point. “Do you have a Ten-Thousand-Year Bodhi Seed?”
With a wave of the woman's hand, a jade box appeared out of thin air on the table.
“One hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones.”
Xue Mingzhao: “...”
Her heart ached. It was so expensive!
She had just given more than half of the money from selling the pills to her master to replenish the sect's treasury, leaving her with barely over a hundred thousand in her pocket.
Did the heavens literally crawl into her coin pouch to check?
The price was set right at her absolute limit!
Xue Mingzhao wasn't ready to give up yet and wanted to bargain. “Looking at the quality of your goods—”
Before she could finish, the woman cut her off. “My goods are never fake, and there is no bargaining.”
She was crisp and decisive, leaving absolutely no room for negotiation.
Xue Mingzhao: “...”
Fine then.
Heartbroken, she pulled out a spirit stone bag and handed it over. “One hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones. Feel free to count them.”
The woman took the bag, swept her divine sense over it, and casually put it away.
Xue Mingzhao tucked the jade box into her robes. Recalling the woman's earlier words, “As long as you can afford the price, I can produce it,” her heart stirred, and she asked, “Can you also produce a Guixu Stone here?”
Upon hearing the words “Guixu Stone,” the woman finally looked at them properly.
She raised an eyebrow, her tone remaining flat. “Ten million.”
“Supreme-grade spirit stones.”
Xue Mingzhao's face remained calm as she nodded composedly. “Understood. I will come back to you if I need it.”
In reality, her mind was in complete chaos.
Ten million supreme-grade spirit stones?!
She hadn't even seen what a supreme-grade spirit stone looked like!
Beside her, Su Ye's eyes went completely wide.
Ten million... and of supreme-grade spirit stones, no less...
He had never seen so much money in his entire life!
Looking at Xue Mingzhao's forced composure, a trace of amusement flickered in the woman's eyes. “The Guixu Stone is a sacred treasure of the Nine Underworlds Heaven-Burning Asura Gate and is not easy to obtain. This price is already the lowest I can offer.”
She leaned forward slightly, her voice confident. “In the entire Tianyan Continent, I am the only one who can fulfill this order.”
Xue Mingzhao's heart stirred. For the other party to be so confident, not only did she have connections, but her cultivation was likely far beyond her own estimations.
Reining in her inner wariness, Xue Mingzhao let out a sweet, obedient smile. “So that's how it is. If I manage to gather enough spirit stones in the future, I will definitely come trouble you again, Big Sister.”
The woman looked at her, her lips seemingly curving upward. “My name is Zhe Yan.”
Zhe Yan.
Xue Mingzhao muttered to herself. Was she named Zhe Yan because she wore a mask to cover her face?
She didn't ask further. There had to be a reason why the woman didn't want to show her face.
“Then we'll be off first, Sister Zhe Yan. See you next time!”
Xue Mingzhao waved her hand and turned to leave the black market, leading Su Ye, who had still not recovered from the astronomical price.
The moment they left the black market, Su Ye could no longer hold it in. His voice was still trembling. “Junior Sister... ten million supreme-grade spirit stones... just how much money is that...”
“And the Nine Underworlds Heaven-Burning Asura Gate, that's a demon sect! Are we really going to deal with them?”
Xue Mingzhao patted his shoulder and said earnestly, “It's fine, Senior Brother. One must always have dreams. What if we suddenly strike it rich one day?”
...
Xue Mingzhao led Su Ye straight into Jiudan Pavilion.
Seeing them arrive, the shop assistant hurriedly and eagerly led the two of them into a private room. Immediately afterward, he sent a rapid secret transmission to the manager: “Manager, those two supreme-grade pills are back!... No, I mean, the two customers who brought the supreme-grade pills are back!”
Before even half a cup of tea's time had passed, Shen Ting arrived in a hurry, looking travel-worn.
Su Ye had only taken a single sip of tea from his cup when he saw the other man make his rushed appearance.
“Apologies for keeping you waiting,” Shen Ting said, his eyes filled with anticipation. “Does Fellow Daoist Xin wish to sell the same batch of pills as last time?”
Xue Mingzhao shook her head slightly.
Shen Ting nodded in understanding.
Supreme-grade pills were inherently scarce. It was already no easy feat for her to bring out so many in one go last time.
Yet in the next second, Xue Mingzhao pulled out dozens of porcelain bottles with a clatter and lined them up on the table.
A rich, dense medicinal fragrance surged outward continuously, on the verge of overflowing the room.
Startled, Shen Ting quickly raised his hand to cast a barrier, locking the medicinal fragrance tightly inside, fearing it would attract the covetous eyes of outsiders.
His eyes were filled with shock. “Fellow Daoist Xin, what kind of pills are in these? The spiritual energy is overwhelmingly dense!”
By the looks of it, they were all of top-tier quality.
This Fellow Daoist Xin truly knew how to bring him surprises.
Immediately after, he felt a silent pang of distress in his heart. Such high-quality pills were actually casually packed in ordinary porcelain bottles used by mortals, devoid of any spiritual energy. It was simply a waste of heavenly treasures!
Xue Mingzhao also had her own little calculations.
Jade bottles were so expensive, and the bottles weren't factored into the price during transactions anyway.
If it weren't for the fact that pills had to be contained in something, she would have preferred to just dump them onto the table for Shen Ting to count.
Xue Mingzhao lifted her chin, her tone casual. “Open them and see for yourself, then you'll know.”
Shen Ting picked up one of the porcelain bottles, uncorked it, and poured a pill into his palm.
The round pill gleamed with a faint golden light, and a rich medicinal fragrance wafted over him.
His pupils contracted, unable to hide his pleasant surprise. “A supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pill! Your master actually succeeded in refining it!”
Xue Mingzhao nodded slightly.
“My master also refined quite a few other pills. Just inspect all of them and calculate the total price.”
Shen Ting's gaze swept over the remaining dozens of porcelain bottles on the table, his heart pounding wildly.
An audacious thought crossed his mind: every single one of these porcelain bottles contained supreme-grade pills!
Rate on N.U.
