The young woman saw that the visitor went straight for magical artifacts as soon as she entered the door, and assumed that she wanted to buy an offensive magical artifact. Therefore, she recommended the Linglong Needle, which was slightly cheaper but could generate more profit. However, the visitor was only looking and not buying, and the young woman's face immediately turned sour.
Seeing her like this, Shi Lan frowned slightly. This was too materialistic. She had thought she was a kind-hearted person, but now it seemed she had been thinking too much.
The young woman, being worldly-wise, quickly composed herself and asked, "What would you like to buy, little sister?"
Shi Lan pursed her lips and said, "I want a defensive array plate."
Upon hearing this, the young woman smiled and turned to take two array plates from another shelf, saying, "These two, one has three defensive arrays and one offensive array, and this one has one defensive array, one illusion array, and one killing array."
Shi Lan blinked and asked her, "How much?"
The young woman replied decisively, "Eight hundred spirit stones, no bargaining."
Shi Lan froze. She had only managed to scrape together two hundred spirit stones from all her pockets. Even with the knife, it would barely be enough to buy a formation plate. But she still had to pay the inn's rent and wanted to buy spirit talismans and other items, so it wouldn't be enough.
After pondering for a moment, Shi Lan smiled apologetically at the young woman and said, "I'm sorry, I don't have enough spirit stones."
Upon hearing that it wasn't enough, the young woman's face fell again. Shi Lan felt annoyed and turned to leave. Her original intention to negotiate a barter deal with a discount faded away.
As soon as Shi Lan stepped outside, she saw the young man looking in her direction. Remembering the talisman she had mentioned earlier, Shi Lan strolled over to him.
The young man looked somewhat uneasy, and seeing her expression, asked, "Fellow Daoist, are you still buying spirit talismans?"
Shi Lan replied sullenly, "Buy some."
The young man immediately showed delight and began to introduce the talismans on the stall to her.
Listening to his introduction, Shi Lan picked out twelve and asked, "Do you know who else sells array plates here besides Ruibaozhai?"
The young man was organizing talismans. After listening to her words, he thought for a while before saying, "To be honest, I have a younger sister who likes to study this. She can't make array plates yet, but she can make simple defensive array flags. I wonder if you would like to have her?"
Shi Lan had no concept of the array flags, so she quickly asked, "How effective are the array flags?"
The young man said, "The defensive effects of array flags and array plates are not that different. The main problem is that array flags take too long to set up. They are more than enough for setting up a cave, but they are probably not up to the task of fighting an enemy."
Shi Lan raised an eyebrow, feeling a bit more favorably disposed towards him. He was so honest, wasn't he afraid of losing customers? He had just been worried about her leaving because of the few spirit stones she had given him for the talisman.
"How many spirit stones does a set of defensive gear cost?"
The young man frowned and thought for a while before hesitantly saying, "One hundred... fifty."
Shi Lan almost laughed when she heard this, and deliberately teased him, "One hundred and fifty? Then round it down, and I'll take the whole set."
The young man's face scrunched up like a bitter gourd, and he opened and closed his mouth several times before saying, "Fellow Daoist, it's one hundred and fifty spirit stones. One hundred isn't even enough for us to buy materials."
Shi Lan didn't understand formations, but judging from his honest reaction just now, she felt that he hadn't lied to her. Thinking of Ruibaozhai's 800, Shi Lan felt that 150 wasn't expensive, so she said, "Alright, I'll give you face, 150 it is."
As she spoke, she opened her storage bag, counted the money, and prepared to settle the payment.
The young man rummaged through his storage bag and pulled out a set of array flags, handing them to her. He then grabbed two spirit talismans and stuffed them into Shi Lan's hand, saying, "Fellow Daoist, I misspoke earlier. Consider these two spirit talismans my apology."
Shi Lan was taken aback, then shook her head with a smile, put the food away, and prepared to return. On the way, she walked past a steamed bun shop and bought two more steamed buns to try.
The young man glanced at her retreating figure, then looked up at the young woman standing by the entrance of Ruibaozhai, who was coldly staring at him, and a chill ran down his spine.
The young woman gave a cold laugh, twisting her alluring body as she turned around.
The young man quickly packed up his stall and hurried away from the market.
Back at the inn, Shi Lan set up the array flags according to the instructions given by the young man, and then installed the spirit stones. A faint bluish light immediately enveloped the courtyard, then disappeared in a flash.
Shi Lan reached out and touched it, feeling the invisible barrier, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Back in the house, Shi Lan took out a still-warm steamed bun, took a bite, and the faint aroma of grain mixed with the rich flavor of meat made her taste buds very satisfied. After swallowing, a faint spiritual energy even flowed along her meridians.
Shi Lan was somewhat surprised and finally understood why the steamed buns were so expensive.
The spiritual energy circulated in her body for a while, and since it was unrestrained, it slowly dissipated from her skin. Shi Lan sat quietly for a while before calming her mind and beginning to cultivate the Chaos Technique.
A few days later, Shi Lan emerged from the inn looking refreshed. Her aura was subtly concealed, and apart from the innkeeper and staff, no one else noticed that Shi Lan was any different from them.
Seeing everyone eating and drinking as usual, Shi Lan felt a little smug. In the past few days, she had not only successfully broken through to the seventh level, but also mastered the several spells attached to the Chaos Technique. In particular, she was able to use the concealment and attack spells without having to make hand seals.
However, what troubles Shi Lan now is that while she has plenty of experience, she lacks practical skills. She feels she should gain more experience, which would not only replenish her depleted storage bag but also help improve her combat abilities.
Shi Lan touched her storage bag, wondering where outside the town would be suitable for her current level. Two handsome men and beautiful women with flowing robes walked over from a distance. Shi Lan squinted at them for a moment, then immediately turned around, but her ears were perked up, listening to the snippets of conversation coming from behind her.
“Mingrou, this town is so remote, it probably doesn’t have the Moon Shadow Stone you need.”
Shi Lan glanced at the backs of the two people as they walked past her.
The beautiful woman gently gathered her wind-blown hair and tilted her head playfully towards Liu Minde. "Father found the Sun Crystal Stone at an inconspicuous stall. Our fate is sealed. I believe we will find the Moon Shadow Stone. When that happens, I will ask my master to inlay these two stones into my crown. That way, our dual cultivation ceremony will be even more perfect."
Hearing her say that, Liu Minde smiled gently, put his big hand around her waist, and affectionately tapped her nose with his finger, saying, "Alright, anyway, we've almost finished preparing everything we need for the ceremony. I'll accompany you all over the Yunmeng Sect's territory these days. I don't believe we can't find a single Sun Crystal."
The beautiful woman giggled happily, tilting her head, looking incredibly blissful.
Shi Lan followed the two at a distance, listening to their discussion about the Dual Cultivation Ceremony, and was so angry she wanted to grind her teeth.
For so many years, Liu Minde had been weaving a beautiful dream for the original owner. The original owner cherished this dream, spending every day in bloodshed, all for the sake of one day living happily ever after with this kind older brother. To realize this dream, she sacrificed her cultivation time, traversing the forest every day, fighting to the death with cunning and cruel spirit beasts. But what was the result...?
Shi Lan gave the two of them one last cold look before quietly leaving. (To be continued.)
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