Chapter 204 Strange Objects

The old man grinned, revealing a tooth missing from his mouth, and said enthusiastically:

"Senior, this is a good thing, twenty spirit stones."

He may not recognize things, but the fact that he is valued by the sect's cultivators means he must be extraordinary.

It's not unreasonable for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to ask for twenty spirit stones for something they like.

At this moment, he completely forgot about his unsuccessful attempts to sell his wares at several sect shops.

Wei Shouqing sneered:

"What good could a broken rock possibly contain? Here's a spirit stone, and we'll take it."

The old man's face was stiff, and he said with his neck rigid:

"If it weren't something good, would this senior even be interested? Twenty spirit stones, not a single one less."

Ji An felt a stream of energy flow into his body through his fingertips, then into his dantian along his immortal meridians.

His mind connected with the stone tortoise, and he discovered that the numbers associated with Genling were constantly fluctuating, increasing slowly but steadily.

“I want it,” he asked, his eyes fixed on the other person.

"Tell me where you got the item, and I'll pay you with spirit stones immediately."

He was invigorated and, too lazy to play any games of feigning indifference, went straight to the point.

The old man's eyes darted around, a cunning glint in them:

"Senior, if you want to know the treasure land where things are produced, there is a different price."

He originally asked for an exorbitant price, but to his surprise, the other party didn't even try to bargain. What does that mean?

He had no recollection of where he got the item, but he knew that the place where he got the stone could not have had anything more like it.

He collected it because he initially thought it was a peculiar seed, and he would definitely pick up any more 'seeds' he could find.

He had tried planting things in the past when they couldn't sell them, but they never sprouted.

Ji An felt the airflow becoming increasingly weak, and the rate at which his spiritual energy increased slowing down even further. He put the things down and said with a half-smile:

"Tell me, what kind of price?"

In a short period of time, Genling's points increased by about ten, and he had already benefited from most of the gains.

The old man stretched out his hand and said in a deep voice:

"The senior has good judgment and knows the value of things."

"For just one thousand spirit stones, I will give you the map of this treasure land, senior."

He was getting old and was planning to find a small place to retire. He originally intended to leave in a few days on a caravan.

If he could swindle some spirit stones, he would run away immediately. A Foundation Establishment cultivator couldn't possibly keep an eye on a nobody like him all the time, and he was confident he could leave without the Qi Refining cultivator knowing.

Ji An grinned, a mocking smile playing on his lips:

"Sure, take me to that place. If we can't find fifty of these stones, you know what will happen."

His divine sense had just locked onto the other person, and he could feel that the other person's heart was beating abnormally fast, most likely thinking of some wicked idea.

"Uh, I can't guarantee that. Also, I can't give you directions either. The map can be discounted."

Wei Shouqing coldly laughed:

"Keep making things up, keep making things up. A thousand spirit stones? You're asking for trouble."

Ji An said calmly:

"The items are somewhat useful to me, but they are only effective when there are large quantities."

"One item alone isn't very useful, but I'm still willing to pay twenty spirit stones for it."

If it weren't for the stone tortoise, he wouldn't have noticed anything special about it, and he figured most Foundation Establishment cultivators wouldn't have either.

If the other party can obtain more, exchanging spirit stones for spirit energy is still a worthwhile deal.

The stall owner picked up the stone and firmly shook his head:

"I've decided to raise the price to fifty spirit stones."

He initially quoted 20 spirit stones, which the other party accepted without hesitation. He thought he could raise the price a little more.

It seems that selling the map is out of the question, so he plans to extract as many spirit stones as possible.

The deal has not yet been finalized, and he holds the power to set the price.

The opponent is a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but no cultivator in the Immortal City is allowed to make a move; this is an ironclad rule jointly established by the three sects.

Some sect cultivators acted recklessly and were severely punished and ordered to compensate for their losses.

This is a major reason why independent cultivators are willing to come to the Immortal City; at least on the surface, the three sects have acted fairly.

"I've changed my mind, I don't want the things anymore."

If you get more similar stones, you can find me at Wei's Talisman Shop on Zhuque Street.

"If you only have this one left after half a month, then you don't need to go."

Ji An shook his head, put his hands behind his back, and left.

The stone held little remaining of its magic, and he departed with a flourish.

He had intended to offer the other party some benefits, since he had already received some himself.

But if the other party becomes greedy, he will not play along.

Moreover, he believed that if the other party could find more stones, they would definitely come looking for him.

Wei Shouqing snorted coldly and lowered his voice:

"I'll give you one more chance. Sell it to me for five spirit stones."

His uncle gave him five hundred spirit stones to pay the bill, and he could tell that Ji An really wanted this thing at first.

The old man narrowed his eyes and shook his head in refusal, believing that the two were playing hard to get.

Ji An didn't continue exploring; it was getting late, and it was time to go home.

On the way, Wei Shouqing asked cautiously:

"Senior, what is that yellowish-brown stone?"

He wanted to find out the details before deciding whether to accept the high price and buy the item back.

"I don't know, but it intuitively feels useful to me, so I wanted to buy it."

Wei Shouqing smiled ingratiatingly, thinking to himself:

'If you don't want to talk about it, then don't. Why be so perfunctory?'

After dinner, Ji An and Wei Songnian chatted for a while before returning to their guest room.

He began to ponder the events of the afternoon. The appearance of a strange object that could directly increase spiritual energy meant that there was another way to enhance spiritual energy.

There should also be rare items that can enhance the spirit of Gen and increase other spiritual energy.

If we can figure out why these strange objects are formed, perhaps we can try to create them.

Even if not, one can search for rare items more purposefully.

He doesn't know if this is an isolated case, but if there are a large number of such rare items, he is willing to offer a generous reward of spirit stones.

Next, we'll see what the stall owner does. If the other party manages to acquire even more rare items, it means this isn't an isolated case.

After thinking things through, Ji An took out the mutated turtle egg and nourished it with his magic for half an hour.

He put away the beast eggs, released the Lesser Cloud and Rain Technique, and as the spiritual rain fell, he made a water control incantation to begin practicing the spell.

Wei Shouqing sat up straight and recounted the events of the afternoon in detail.

Wei Songnian frowned slightly and said:

"Tomorrow, go find that stall owner and buy the item for twenty spirit stones."

Senior Brother Ji must have his reasons for wanting to buy it.

In his memory, Ji An was a thorough pragmatist who wouldn't even glance at things he didn't need, but would buy things he did need without hesitation.

"What if the stall owner still insists on raising prices?"

"Then let him keep his stuff to lay eggs!"

The next day.

Wei Songnian walked into the guest room with a smile and placed the small, yellowish-brown stones on the table.

Ji An put down the talisman brush and smiled:

"Thank you so much, Junior Brother. How much spirit stones did you spend?"

He felt that this thing was no longer of much use, but he couldn't let down the kindness of others.

Wei Songnian stretched out his hand, fingers spread wide, grinning from ear to ear:

"Five spirit stones. This morning, Shouqing found the stall owner and immediately asked if he was selling three spirit stones."

After some haggling, they finally settled on a price of five spirit stones.

The stall owner was supposed to get twenty spirit stones, but he only got five, and his expression was priceless.

Ji An put on a polite smile, but sighed inwardly.

The stall owner's actions suggest that there is most likely only one of these unusual items.

"This bastard actually tried to deceive me. Junior brother, please take care of him in the future."

Daring to ask for a thousand spirit stones, the Qi Refining stage cultivator actually had the idea of ​​deceiving the Foundation Establishment stage cultivator; human greed is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant.

Wei Songnian's smile tightened, and a coldness appeared on his face.

"How dare you deceive your senior brother! You cannot be let off lightly."

I'll give the order later; if the opportunity arises, he should be given a severe beating.

"Don't make any moves while I'm in the Immortal City."

Ji An still held a sliver of hope: if the stall owner was lucky enough to find another rare item, he would overlook the matter.

"Understood, Senior Brother, you go ahead with your work. I'll send someone to keep an eye on things."

Wei Songnian took his leave; he needed to investigate the stall owner first.

Although it's more likely that the other party is just an ordinary rogue cultivator, the forces in the Immortal City are deeply entrenched, and it would be difficult to handle if they had any connections with important figures.

The Wei family's shops have many competitors, and any mistakes they make will be widely publicized, so they have to be careful.

Ji An picked up the strange object and felt the wisps of energy flowing into his immortal meridians and into his dantian, causing his spirit to grow again.

Two quarters of an hour later, he felt a continuous flow of energy entering his dantian and being swallowed by the stone turtle, which surprised him.

Genling gained another five points. The effect of this strange object far exceeded his expectations. He originally thought that there was very little spiritual energy left inside.

Another quarter of an hour passed, and although the intervals were long, there were still occasional increases in the number of spirits.

Ji An's surprise turned into delight. He found a red silk thread, tied the strange object tightly, made it into a pendant, hung it around his neck, and kept it close to his body.

During lunch, Ji An said:

“Junior Brother Wei, keep a close eye on that stall owner. The stone is more useful than I thought.”

He didn't think that the mystery of the strange object would be discovered by others; at least, Foundation Establishment cultivators didn't have that ability.

His spiritual strength far surpassed that of other cultivators of the same level, comparable to a ninth-level Foundation Establishment cultivator. Without the stone tortoise, he would never have discovered the stone's mystery.

Wei Songnian's face showed a serious expression, and he nodded firmly:

"I trust my senior brother to handle things."

Three days later.

Ji An was drawing talismans when he heard heavy footsteps outside.

Wei Songnian walked into the room with a bitter and embarrassed expression, and waved to the maid.

The maid understood, and quietly stepped out.

"Senior brother, that stall owner didn't set up his stall today. My men went to investigate his residence and found it deserted. We don't know where he went."

That person must have excellent disguise skills, otherwise my men wouldn't have lost track of them.

The most important way for cultivators to recognize people is through the fluctuations of their soul. Each cultivator's soul fluctuations are unique, but they can only be recognized at close range. At long distances, they are identified by their facial features.

Wei Songnian sent three people to keep watch in shifts, but no one was watching over the time between midnight and dawn.

The result was a mistake, which made him very embarrassed.

Ji An pondered for a moment and said:

"Let's search in the city for a few more days. If we still can't find it, then we'll give up."

He was now completely certain that the stall owner was incapable of finding any more rare items; otherwise, he wouldn't have given up such an easy windfall.

(End of this chapter)