Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists-Chapter 44 - Encounter (Seeking Recommendations)_1
Chapter 44 -44: Encounter (Seeking Recommendations)_1
Chapter 44 -44: Encounter (Seeking Recommendations)_1
After a while,
Fang Xi felt that Situ Qingqing was not paying much attention to his side and finally seized the opportunity to disguise himself as an Individual Cultivator and enter the Green Bamboo Mountain Market.
This time, he was dressed in a dark green robe, with a wide-brimmed hat covering his head, his stature burly and emitting a fierce evil Qi.
‘Last time I was just at the beginning stage of Qi Refining, and even the shop waiter looked down on me.’
‘This time it’s much better, middle-stage Qi Refining, that can’t be considered bad…’
When he passed by the Hundred Tricks Tower, Fang Xi didn’t even glance at it.
Some hatreds, if not at the right time, he would only bury them in his heart.
After paying a Spirit Crystal as a booth fee at the Situ Family’s stronghold in the market, Fang Xi went to his own booth and slapped his Storage Bag.
A roll of snake skin, a large amount of chalky white snake bones, and snake meat preserved in ice blocks appeared before him.
The stench mixed with a foul smell caused the neighboring stall owners to frown.
But looking at Fang Xi, who looked fierce and not easily provoked, they didn’t dare to say anything and could only curse inwardly.
“It’s actually Monster Beast Meat!”
“A Cultivator who can hunt Monster Beasts is surely a ruthless person!”
“I also want to hunt Monster Beasts, but unfortunately, in Yue Country, Monster Beasts are extremely rare. Whenever they’re found, they’ve already been claimed by local Cultivators…”
“Let me have a look!”
The onlookers whispered among themselves as a scholarly-dressed Immortal Cultivator stepped forward, “Sir, may I inquire what rank this Monster Beast Meat is and how you are selling it?”
“First-grade, low-quality Monster Serpent Meat, ten pounds for one low-quality Spirit Stone! A bundle of snake bones for five Spirit Stones! The snake skin is negotiable…”
Fang Xi sat cross-legged, his eyelids barely lifting as he answered.
“What a pity, this meat seems to have been stored for some time, and even with the ice, it’s not very fresh…”
The scholar stood up regrettably, giving his assessment.
“Scram, pauper!”
Fang Xi’s eyelids opened, revealing a sliver of sharp brilliance.
This scholar was not a body cultivator, and his clothes were not even worth a low-quality Spirit Stone, and most importantly, his cultivation was only at the early stage of Qi Refining!
He was not Fang Xi’s target customer at all!
“Ah, ah… why the anger, sir? I’m leaving now… I’m leaving now…” The scholar was so frightened that he stumbled away, blending into the crowd.
The onlooking Individual Cultivators laughed, but they did not think there was anything wrong with it.
In the Cultivation World, a Cultivator with higher cultivation has the right to disdain those below him, a world where the strong prey on the weak.
Fang Xi, once at the very bottom, had barely climbed up a little bit after advancing to middle-stage Qi Refining.
A pity… there was still a long distance from the top.
“Oh? Is there more Monster Beast Meat?”
Before long, a rough voice came through.
The crowd parted down the middle, and a tall man towering over two meters tall, like an iron tower, made his way to the booth, ignoring the snake skin and bones, focusing only on the snake meat.
After asking for the price, he shook his head, “One Spirit Stone for ten pounds is too expensive!”
Fang Xi sized him up, confirming that he was also a body cultivator, and immediately revealed a friendly smile, “If the sir is buying more than fifty pounds, I can offer a discount…”
After some bargaining back and forth, eventually, the burly man threw down four Spirit Stones and took away fifty pounds of snake meat.
Unfortunately, after the big man, there weren’t many customers left.
Only a Talisman Apprentice came by, spending a Spirit Stone to buy all the snake blood, supposedly to prepare talisman ink.
Fang Xi was not in a hurry, for an Immortal Cultivator’s patience was always good, and besides, the spiritual energy inside the market was far superior to that in the shantytown area, a perfect place to meditate.
And so he meditated throughout the day.
As the market was about to close, Fang Xi pondered inwardly, “Today’s business was not bad, and I’ve made a total of nine Spirit Stones…”
Individual Cultivators without residency tokens were not allowed to stay overnight in the market, this was also to prevent them from leeching off the market’s spiritual energy.
Just as Fang Xi was about to pack up, he saw two Cultivators coming towards him, laughing and talking, and his eyelids twitched slightly, ‘Could it be these two people?’
It was none other than Chen Ping and Lu Zhi.
At this moment, Chen Ping was wearing a lake-blue robe embroidered with golden edges made of Heavenly Silkworm Silk, looking spirited, while Lu Zhi had changed out of her mourning clothes and was wearing a bright red dress, looking even more enchanting.
The two of them were looking around and soon arrived at Fang Xi’s booth.
“Not bad at all, here you can really buy Monster Beast Skins!”
Chen Ping poked at the snake skin, but then showed some regret, “Pity… it’s only from a first-grade, low-quality Monster Beast. Sir, how much for this roll of snake skin?”
Clearly, he had not recognized Fang Xi.
After all, Fang Xi had already adjusted his body shape with his cultivation, looking tall and burly, very different from his previously slightly slender appearance.
“One price, ten Spirit Stones!”
Seeing a big spender coming his way, Fang Xi glanced at Lu Zhi thoughtfully, immediately raising the price.
Men, especially in the presence of women—and particularly beautiful women—tend to spend money lavishly to show off.
“Deal!”
Chen Ping readily agreed without a second thought.
On the contrary, Lu Zhi frowned, “This snake skin is worth at most five Spirit Stones… Isn’t ten a bit too much?”
“Eh… This snake skin is in perfect condition, and if it’s carefully processed, it could make at least a hundred talisman papers. Special talisman papers made of Monster Beast Skin are much better than ordinary paper, and it’s said to even increase the success rate of talisman crafting. This is really not expensive… ” Fang Xi was, after all, good friends with Chen Ping and knew some ins and outs of talisman papers, so he spoke off the cuff.
“Exactly, and… Sister Zhi, this kind of Monster Beast Skin for talisman papers is different for me… Besides, as you know, I am already a first-grade high-quality Talisman Master, so this bit of extra cost is insignificant to me; I can earn it back by drawing a few more talismans.”
Chen Ping looked tenderly at Lu Zhi.
‘Are these two that close now? Could it be that a wedding banquet is next?’
‘That’s not right… Has Chen Ping really progressed so quickly in his talisman arts? Last time I heard, Jiuxuan said he was trying to craft a first-grade high-quality talisman, and now he has succeeded? That’s unscientific… No, that’s not cultivation!’
While Fang Xi was internally grumbling, Lu Zhi was actually persuaded, nodding, “Alright, let’s do it your way then!”
Chen Ping immediately tossed out ten Spirit Stones and took the snake skin.
Fang Xi watched the big spender leave, still feeling a bit regretful.
‘If I had known it would be like this, I should have sold the Chameleon Demon Beast skin too… It’s a pity, it’s a little too conspicuous to bring out now.’
He had given the Chameleon Demon Beast to Di Qi; selling the skin now might expose his identity.
Moreover, since the Monster Beast skin had its special properties, Fang Xi wanted to keep it for himself.
Just as he watched Chen Ping leave, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a flash of green.
Fang Xi’s pupils contracted slightly, but then he acted as if nothing happened and continued to pack up his stall and leave…
Not until after he left the market did he let out a long sigh, “That was Situ Qingqing… Is she tracking Chen Ping?”
“Could it be… she’s investigating Chen Ping and not me?”
“Did I just overthink things before?”
“That’s not right… Why would the Situ Family pay such close attention to Chen Ping? Could it be they want to recruit him, or capture him and take him back to use as a tool? No, that doesn’t make sense… He won’t enjoy such treatment unless he could break through to the second-grade Talisman Master rank, but how could that be possible?”
Fang Xi chuckled to himself, burned his clothes, changed back into his Spirit Farmer outfit, and returned to his shed to continue cultivating.
The path of cultivation values perseverance.
Even if his daily Qi Refining was as slow as a snail, he couldn’t neglect it.
‘Now that I have the Spirit Stones, should I buy some pills tomorrow to aid in cultivation?’
While sitting cross-legged, an idea popped into Fang Xi’s mind: ‘But that doesn’t seem too valuable… The Spirit Stones I have are enough to buy several Qi Blood Pills and other medicinal pills suitable for a body cultivator… With the aid of medicinal pills, Martial Arts would progress faster. If I pushed Martial Arts to the third level of body refining, then whether I continue selling meat or doing other trades, I would feel much more at ease, and my accumulation of Spirit Stones would be faster. Later on, buying Spiritual Pills to aid in cultivation seems more efficient and would also increase my combat power!’
Promote combat power!
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As Fang Xi sensed looming dark clouds, this reason grew even more compelling.
After all, preserving one’s life was of utmost importance!
The next day.
Fang Xi woke up early and, without paying any attention to the greeting from the female cultivator next door, went to the market.
Hundred Refinements Workshop!
As soon as he entered, he was hit with a wave of heat.
As the largest talisman forging shop in the Green Bamboo Mountain Market, Hundred Refinements Workshop looked unassuming and without flair.
In front was a counter selling talisman tools, and in the back, there were many forges where a dozen apprentices, under the guidance of their masters, tried to repair and forge talisman tools.
“Sir, are you looking to purchase a talisman tool?”
A red-faced, bare-chested blacksmith came up to greet him politely.
“I want to have a talisman tool made!”
Fang Xi said, taking out the previously mentioned Chameleon Demon Beast skin, “Although the rank of this monster beast isn’t high, it’s adept at hiding its form. I wish to use this skin as material to craft a special class talisman tool suitable for concealment!”
“I see, please come inside, and I’ll fetch Master Gu!”
The blacksmith led Fang Xi into a guest room, and before long, the door opened, and an elderly man with graying hair stepped in, “I am Master Gu Tian, you wish to craft a special class talisman tool?”
“Indeed!” Fang Xi nodded.
After inspecting the Monster Beast Skin, Master Gu took out a curious talisman tool and examined the skin for a while before nodding and then shaking his head, “The rank of this Monster Beast Skin is average, its defense is average… but fortunately, it’s quite intact and can be engraved with an array. Does the young master have any other requirements?”
“The grade of the tool doesn’t need to be high, low-grade will suffice. I have no real demands regarding its defensive capabilities,” Fang Xi said, “The main thing is concealment; it should be optimal and hopefully imperceptible by mortals by any means… As for detection by Immortal Cultivators’ Spirit Eye techniques, there’s no need for that level of specification.”
Even with all the odd customers Master Gu had seen, Fang Xi’s requirements still left him incredulously stunned, “So… this is a tool specifically against mortals?”
Such a tool that cultivators could see through at a glance was simply an insult to his craftsmanship!
Only then did Fang Xi reveal his full intent, “So… there’s no need for any precious materials or complex arrays… Could it be made a bit cheaper?”
Low-grade talisman tools in the Green Bamboo Mountain Market usually went for around ten Spirit Stones, while middle-grade and high-grade talisman tools varied from dozens to hundreds of Spirit Stones.
However, custom-making a special class talisman tool would certainly be more expensive, even if it were low-grade.
Master Gu fell silent, and then spoke, “Okay, I will charge you fifteen low-grade Spirit Stones, five as a deposit. Let’s sign a contract…”
Hundred Refinements Workshop had a solid reputation ever since its establishment.
Besides, by signing a contract, confidentiality could be ensured.
For Fang Xi, this was undoubtedly desirable.
After infusing a trace of Magic Power into the contract as a marker on both copies, Fang Xi handed over five Spirit Stones and walked out of Hundred Refinements Workshop.
