sinovels Chapter 84 Market Treasure Hunt
Chapter 84 Market Treasure Hunt
After seeing Fan Hao off, Li Ya lost interest in continuing to sell fish and instead strolled around the market.
"Please help me, Ling Shu, to deduce the value of the goods in the stalls based on the existing data."
At the request of fellow Daoist, the Spiritual Pivot assists in deduce the value of the goods at the stalls visited.
[Spiritual Energy Consumption: 500 strands of True Qi per point]
[Required spiritual items: "The Fallen Dragon Valley Spiritual Materials Atlas" and "The Azure Lotus Spiritual Medicine Record"]
[Time required: One incense stick's time]
Li Ya walked slowly along the market, stopping and starting as he went.
Along the way, the stalls on both sides offered a wide variety of goods, including gold and iron ore, amulets, and animal bones and hides.
After walking to a secluded stall, Li Ya stopped.
The stall was simple, with only a tattered gray cloth covering the ground. There were no exquisite jade boxes, and most of the items on display were dusty and unremarkable, far less attractive than the surrounding stalls. As a result, very few people stopped to inquire about them.
The stall owner was a young cultivator with a withered face and weak aura. He exuded a strong bloody smell, and there were faint bloodstains on his clothes. His exposed skin had large areas of burn marks.
Seeing Li Ya stop, he quickly cupped his hands and said, "Fellow Daoist, take a look. These are all pieces of submerged wood that I collected from the bottom of the water. They sink as soon as they enter the water, are extremely hard, and produce a metallic sound when struck."
Li Ya did not respond, his gaze sweeping over the withered wood on the stall.
Most of these dead trees are dry, cracked, and dull; no one would stop looking at them.
In the mortal world, submerged wood would be sought after by high-ranking officials and nobles, but in the eyes of cultivators, unless it is spiritual wood that has sunk into water and transformed into submerged wood, it can be used to nourish the soul.
Li Ya originally intended to leave, but the result Ling Shu gave him at this moment surprised him.
Picking up a piece of dark wood, I noticed that it was heavy and solid, with a matte black finish.
It looked like just an ordinary piece of driftwood, which would have been abandoned on the riverbank or in the mountains and ignored by everyone.
【Submerged Wood: Submerged wood is a superior type of wood. After hundreds of years, it is buried in the silt of waterways following landslides and river drying up. Through geological processes, the wood's properties are completely altered. It is resistant to decay and insects, and does not turn to ash, hence the name "submerged," and is considered a dwelling place for spirits.】
[Insect Jade: Insect jade is the molted form of spirit wood found in submerged wood. The wood contains insects that, buried for a long time, neither rot nor decay, gradually absorb the spiritual energy of the dragon vein, their bodies transforming into jade-like forms, becoming lustrous and smooth, the color of black amber, the texture of solidified fat—this is called insect jade. It is the finest food for spirit insects, and all kinds of spirit insects crave it. With prolonged consumption, their bodies are tempered by dragon energy, their spiritual energy increases daily, and they shed their mortal form, truly a divine elixir for spirit insects.]
"Such a wondrous thing exists! Does that mean I can eat this wine-loving worm too?!"
Seeing Li Ya lingering and staring intently at the piece of submerged wood, the stall owner casually said, "If you like this piece of submerged wood, you can take it for fifty taels of red copper coins. With a little refining, it can be used as a dwelling for spirits."
"I had no choice. Some time ago, the earth erupted with fire, and I was accidentally burned in my internal organs and damaged my essence by the aftershocks. I sold all the rare spiritual materials and protective treasures that I had painstakingly accumulated, just to exchange them for healing pills to stabilize my injuries."
Li Ya's expression remained unchanged, and he said calmly, "Give me all this ebony!"
"I happen to need this ebony wood to refine a magical artifact. May I ask where this ebony wood was found?"
"This..." The stall owner hesitated. He was seriously injured and could only collect some ebony from the river to sell. If he revealed the location, wouldn't he lose his source of income?
Li Ya saw through his concerns and immediately said, "Fellow Daoist, I won't take advantage of you for nothing. As long as you tell me the truth, I will give you another five taels of Moon Toad Coins. What do you think?"
"Very well, I will now draw the path for you, fellow Daoist. You need not worry that I will deceive you. I am a disciple of Peach Blossom Village, and I am registered in this camp."
After examining the identity jade token, Li Ya nodded.
Both of them felt they had gotten a good deal and were afraid the other would back out.
Jade-transformed insects are not uncommon in the Central Continent, but none are as nourished by the spiritual energy of the dragon vein as those in Fallen Dragon Valley, which can be called immortal bait.
The wine worms in the Qi Sea and Wine Aperture refine true qi all day long, and now the five elements true qi around his body is extremely pure.
Originally, his true qi was far superior to that of other cultivators of the same realm. After cultivating the "Five Pivots and Five Palaces Orthodox Chapter", the true qi of just one palace and one line was enough to suppress other cultivators of the same realm, let alone those who cultivated all five palaces.
The wine bug is a tireless workhorse, so it deserves a treat. There's no time like the present, so let's give it a good meal tonight.
He picked up the withered roots and looked at the route drawn by the stall owner.
"It's not far from the camp, but with all the twists and turns, it's not easy to find."
Dragon-type spirit creatures, which are rarely seen in the outside world, are commonplace in this market.
In the past, Yunfu Sect and a few other sects probably monopolized Fallen Dragon Valley. If it weren't for Bai Yujing, they would probably be so envious that they would have flattened Yunfu Mountain.
Anyone who survives the inferno unscathed will return with a significantly fuller wallet.
In the market, not a single spiritual object of the Dragon Blood Tree level was seen. Perhaps the truly good things had not been circulated and were all hidden away by each family.
As the sun sets, the market lights gradually come on, and the crowds become even more abundant.
Some of the cultivators who went out to search for spiritual objects during the day have returned and are selling off some items they no longer need.
Many of the vacant stalls were already occupied.
The voices of the surrounding monks rose and fell, some exclaiming in surprise, others negotiating, some arguing, and some rejoicing...
At this moment, a cluster of stalls, far exceeding the size of ordinary small stalls, caught his attention.
There was no one here during the day, but there was at night. It seems they came back from outside.
Several stalls were pieced together, and everywhere you looked, there were all sorts of rare herbs and medicines.
Like the leafy greens sold at the market, they were bundled together.
"Good heavens! A bunch of worthless bastards!"
A muttered curse rang out from the crowd. Li Ya looked again and saw that it was true. The spiritual herbs and medicines on the stall were of all ages, and even some that had just grown and were only a few years old had been pulled out.
Small-leaved ginseng, dragon bone calamus, magic mushroom, climbing vine...
Dozens of medicinal herb seedlings were neatly arranged, some with damaged roots and bent branches and leaves, clearly indicating that even if they were planted, they might not survive.
"Judging from their attire, they seem to be cultivators from the Hundred Thousand Mountains in the Southern Frontier. They possess the treasure trove that is the Hundred Thousand Mountains, so why would they come to Fallen Dragon Valley to try and get something for nothing?"
"So it was those natives. They really have no manners of cultivators whatsoever."
"They're all seedlings, not a single mature herb. What's the point of buying them?"
Occasionally, a cultivator would pass by, stop, glance at the scene, and then shake his head and turn away.
Several cultivators dressed in robes adorned with silver ornaments listened calmly, as if they had heard these words countless times before.
Li Ya had previously heard the Spirit Messenger mention that a complete hierarchy of contempt also existed in the Central Continent.
Aside from the difference in social status, cultivators who had been to the Fishing Platform in the East Sea looked down on all other cultivators in Baiyu equally, and the other cultivators were also willing to be looked down upon.
The rest is about spreading outwards from Baiyujing as the center, with cultivators closer to Baiyujing looking down on those further away.
The cultivators from the Ten Thousand Mountains of Southern Xinjiang, the Snow Mountains of Western Regions, and the Tianlan Grassland of Northern Border are at the very bottom of this chain, and are often labeled by cultivators from other places.
After hearing this, Li Ya could only sigh, "Even the cultivation world has regional discrimination!"