Fan Mingzhu's eyes darted around. She recognized this Phoenix Tail Orchid from the Divine Cauldron Sect's Complete Compendium of Herbs, but none of the pill formulas she knew could use this spiritual herb. The reason she followed suit in bidding was simply because she was resentful about what happened last night and didn't want Shi Xuan to buy it so easily.

"The pill formula is a sect secret, how can it be revealed casually?" Fan Mingzhu said lightly, "We also need to consider who the stall owner wants to sell the things he sells to."

The stall owner was clearly interested, but Shi Xuan already had the phoenix tail orchid in his hand. Logically, she had just quoted a price, and Shi Xuan had agreed, so the deal should have been done. But seeing a new buyer appear and offer double the price, she hesitated.

"How about we..."

"How about what?" Shi Xuan interrupted her, then turned to Fan Mingzhu and said, "Are you deliberately following me around and disturbing my shopping at the market? Does that mean that whatever I buy on this street today is something you need?"

Two of the disciples following behind Fan Mingzhu were already blushing slightly, which showed that Senior Sister Mingzhu really didn't want to snatch that spiritual herb because she needed it.

There are also a few staunch supporters who unconditionally support Fan Mingzhu no matter what.

A square-faced disciple shouted, "How dare you talk like that! My senior sister Mingzhu doesn't have the time to follow you around all day! Besides, the goods belong to the stall owner, so the stall owner has the final say!"

Shi Xuan smiled slightly and said in an extremely mocking tone, "Fan Mingzhu, you, the daughter of the sect leader of the Divine Cauldron Sect, can't even come up with a pill formula. I think you should change your name to Fan Tongzhu!"

"Pfft, hahaha! You gluttonous pig, hahaha!" Lu Wenxing was already laughing uncontrollably.

Fan Mingzhu had never suffered such humiliation before, and her eyes immediately turned red, causing the supporters behind her to become tense and ready to draw their swords.

Lu Wenxing, not to be outdone, laughed heartily and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. The other disciples of the Lianfeng Sword Sect followed suit. Shi Xuan's prestige on Baicao Peak was no joke; these were her most loyal supporters.

The atmosphere reached a freezing point, and a major battle between the two sides was imminent.

Just then, Shi Xuan spoke unexpectedly. Her expression was relaxed and she even had a smile on her face. She deliberately raised her voice and used some spiritual power to make her voice travel further.

"Ladies and gentlemen, don't miss this opportunity! The delicate young lady before me is none other than Fan Mingzhu, the daughter of the Divine Cauldron Sect's leader. Now, I'm going to tell you all a very interesting story about her, but the protagonist of this story has absolutely nothing to do with this Divine Cauldron Sect leader's daughter, Fan Mingzhu!"

Fan Mingzhu was truly panicked at this moment. The terrible memories of last night were attacking her, and she already knew what Shi Xuan was going to say next.

Yesterday, only a small group of disciples from the six sects watched her. Today, in this market, is she going to be pointed at and gossiped about by all the peddlers and laborers on this street?

She never expected that Shi Xuan would act so unpredictably. As a direct disciple of a sect, he showed no self-restraint and did things that disregarded his dignity!

"Once upon a time, there was a girl, oh, this girl is not Fan Mingzhu in front of me..." Shi Xuan had already started.

Fan Mingzhu could no longer bear it, stomped her foot angrily, turned around and ran away.

Seeing that Fan Mingzhu had run away, the Shen Ding Sect disciples behind her had no choice but to protect her and retreat as well. They left behind a few onlookers who had just gathered, and Shi Xuan's insincere sigh.

The young stall owner was dumbfounded. So the customer who came later just ran away? Are they not buying yucca anymore?

She looked in the direction Fan Mingzhu had run off in, confirming she wouldn't be coming back, and felt quite disappointed. It seemed she had no choice but to sell to the customer in front of her. Ten mid-grade spirit stones were quite a lot; she had originally wanted to ask for more, which was acceptable.

Then, when Shi Xuan turned to look at her, he changed his mind: "Now I'll offer five mid-grade spirit stones."

"What...didn't we agree on ten mid-grade spirit stones?" The girl was a little stunned. In just a short while, twenty spirit stones had disappeared. Could it be that even ten spirit stones couldn't be kept?

"What happened just now is just now. Since you know that we agreed on ten, but you still insisted on going back on your word and selling to Fan Mingzhu, then what we said just now doesn't count." I didn't want to lower her price, but this girl is a bit greedy. I'll treat this as a lesson for her. Being too greedy can lead to losing everything.

"But..." The stall owner hesitated. She regretted it now. If she had sold it for ten spirit stones in the first place, none of this would have happened. She had been selling this herb here for three days without a single customer asking about it. She had finally found someone willing to pay ten mid-grade spirit stones, but she ruined it because of her greed.

Shi Xuan wasn't in a hurry. He said slowly, "Have you thought this through? If I don't sell it for five spirit stones this time, I might not be able to sell it for five next time either. You saw it just now, didn't you? Even the daughter of the Divine Cauldron Sect Master can't come up with a single pill formula that uses this herb."

After Shi Xuan finished speaking, he was about to put down the phoenix tail orchid in his hand. Although his senior brother's pills required this ingredient, he was still far from being able to refine the Soul-Returning Pill. There were still six Soul-Gathering Stones and the cultivation level from Qi Refining to Golden Core to be separated from him. There would be plenty of opportunities to go out and find it in the future.

Seeing that she was about to put the orchid down, the stall owner quickly stopped her, saying, "No, I, I'll sell it!"

The stall owner knew Shi Xuan was right; if it weren't for their argument, she still wouldn't know the name of this spiritual herb. For days, no one in the market had known what kind of spiritual plant it was, so now that a buyer had been found, she should sell it quickly.

Shi Xuan took out five mid-grade spirit stones from his storage bracelet and placed them on the stall. He then took out a Qin wood box and put the phoenix tail orchid inside. Qin wood is the best container for preserving spiritual herbs; a Qin wood box that is sealed tightly enough can even preserve a spiritual herb for a thousand years.

After buying the phoenix tail orchids, Shi Xuan wanted to check out other stalls, but she had only taken two steps when the stall owner called her back.

“My lady, I have something else here that I can’t quite make out. Perhaps you alchemists will recognize it.”

With difficulty, she took out a piece of dry wood and placed it in front of Shi Xuan, saying, "This piece of wood and the phoenix tail orchid were both obtained in a small secret realm. Although this wood is not so conspicuous, it is very heavy, even heavier than the ironware in my hand. That's why I was curious and brought it back."

Shi Xuan stepped forward and examined it closely, then touched it with his hand and used some spiritual power to explore its interior. He concluded that it was a piece of Soul-Nourishing Wood!

Such a large piece of Soul-Nourishing Wood is truly rare. This wood looks very similar to common willow, but it is much heavier, has a finer internal structure, and has a faint purple tinge on the outer edge of the growth rings.

The main purpose of this thing is to contain and nourish a person's soul. It is of little use to ordinary people, but some cultivators whose souls do not perish after death can be kept in this soul-nourishing wood. Evil cultivators especially love this kind of thing.