Chapter 427: The Three Treasures (For the Silver Grand Alliance Leader's Congratulations)
Chapter 427: The Three Treasures (For the Silver Grand Alliance Leader's Congratulations)
Fang Xi carefully surveyed the old man's stall and discovered that it contained mostly peculiar bamboo tubes and boxes of gold and jade.
Sounds resembling insect chirps faintly emanated from within the bamboo tubes.
Gu cultivators differ from insect cultivators. Insect cultivators are merely a small branch of beast-taming arts, skilled in nurturing and commanding various spirit insects.
Gu cultivators, however, use secret techniques to refine all sorts of 'Gu', which are said to possess various incredible wondrous uses.
According to Fang Xi's understanding, insect cultivators were akin to master breeders, while Gu cultivators had reached a level comparable to bio-modification.
"I'm not busy. . . tell me first, what Gu do you have at your stall?"
Fang Xi grew interested and began conversing with the elderly Gu cultivator.
"These Gu insects, depending on the secret technique, vary infinitely in kind. . . but generally, they can be divided into four ranks: Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow!"
"So that's how it is. . ."
Fang Xi rummaged briefly through the stall, showing little interest in low-rank items like the 'Sleep-Inducing Gu' or 'Golden Toad Gu'.
Instead, he picked up a bamboo scroll titled {Gu Cultivation Essentials}, leafed through it, and began reading with considerable interest.
This essential guide contained no secret Gu cultivation arts or methods for refining any specific Gu insects, but it did record the insights of a certain Gu cultivator, which greatly broadened his horizons.
"The Dao of Gu cultivation lies in the law of the jungle. . . Different insects are hidden within a ritual cauldron artifact and refined with secret techniques, urged to devour each other. The last one standing becomes the 'Gu'!"
"There are tens of thousands of Gu insect species, but none are stronger than the 'Golden Silkworm Gu'!"
"If this Gu insect is cultivated to 'Earth' rank, it can be further refined into a Hundred Poisons Gu, which then serves as raw material for Gu cultivator magic treasures. Whether it's the 'Hundred Poisons Demonic Banner' or the 'Golden Silkworm Sword'. . . both possess unique wondrous uses and count as top-tier magic treasures."
"Legends say that 'Heaven' rank Gu insects possess even supreme divine abilities. If one has already refined them into a life-bound Gu insect, achieving perfect synchronization, they can even serve as a vessel for cultivators to refine a Second Primordial Spirit secret art. . ."
Fang Xi was quite pleased with what he read. He dropped a few mid-grade Spirit Stones, bought the book, and continued browsing the market.
‘Who said cultivators can't pick up a bargain. . . ’
‘Here in Heavenly Guardian City, there are bargains everywhere. . . Just buying a few spirit herbs or spirit artifacts. . . Back in the Southern Barrens, it'd at least double my profit. . . ’
‘But is this profit as high as the Green Leaf Merchant Guild's treasury? Not at all. . . ’
Now that he was a Nascent Soul cultivator, such small bargains no longer caught Fang Xi's eye, which was quite a shame.
His wish of finding great bargains, conceived during his Qi Refinement days, would likely never be fulfilled.
"Oh?"
At this moment, he arrived at a stall selling jade slips and cultivation techniques. Looking at the several rolls of beast hide and fragments in the corner, he was slightly surprised.
Fang Xi picked up a roll of beast hide and saw a very strange symbol written on it in a dark green script.
These symbols, likely a form of writing, he had never encountered in any ancient cultivation world text.
Yet, faintly, they bore a striking resemblance to the void runes he had comprehended, suggesting some kind of connection.
"Fellow Daoist is also interested in these demon scripts?"
The stall owner, a white-robed Core Formation cultivator, was holding an ancient book and smiled upon seeing this.
"Demon scripts?"
Fang Xi looked at the dark green characters on the beast hide. "These are actually demon race characters? !"
"Precisely. . . This humble one enjoys reading and delving into ancient texts. I also have some interest in these demon scripts, though I find it hard to get started. . ."
The white-robed Core Formation cultivator continued: "This is because such demon scripts are only likely to be carried by high-level demon cultivators, and after intense battles, the spoils are often heavily damaged. . . More crucially, most demon race cultivation techniques and secret arts cannot be used by our human race, just as the demon race cannot learn many of our human techniques and secret arts. . . Therefore, few cultivators are interested in researching them. Perhaps only those Nascent Soul old monsters have the extensive time and energy to decipher these demon scripts one by one. . ."
Fang Xi examined them closely and realized that many of the demon scripts being sold were indeed incomplete.
Some even appeared directly on metal fragments, making it unclear whether they were pieces of some cauldron artifact or defensive magic treasure. . .
Ultimately, he took out a few superior-grade Spirit Stones and bought all the demon scripts at the stall.
"Fellow Daoist is truly one of us! This humble one is 'Zeng Wanshu'. These demon scripts can be sold to you at half price. If Fellow Daoist ever manages to decipher a bit of them in the future, please do me the favor of informing me; I would be eternally grateful."
Zeng Wanshu bowed deeply to the ground, speaking sincerely.
Judging by his appearance, never letting go of a scroll, he must also be a lover of books.
"Full price is fine. . . I've always preferred wandering the four seas, and I don't wish to owe you any favors. . ."
Fang Xi chuckled, insisted on paying the full price, took the beast hides and golden cauldron fragments inscribed with demon scripts, and departed leisurely.
Zeng Wanshu watched Fang Xi's receding back, then thoughtfully stroked his chin, a shrewd glint flashing across his face: ‘Hehe. . . I never thought anyone would actually want this rubbish, and I even sold it for five superior-grade Spirit Stones. What a profit. . . Pretending to be a book lover really does win over many fellow Daoists. ’
He picked up the scroll in his hand, feigned reading, and then casually pulled out a few more rolls of demon script books from his storage pouch, tossing them into the corner of his stall. . .
...
"Merit Ranking!"
After casually browsing the various stalls, Fang Xi arrived below the Merit Ranking.
The first thing he saw was the number one ranked Nascent Soul Spiritual Item on the exchange list — the 'Infant Transformation Pill'!
This pill was refined as an imitation of the ancient 'Infant Condensation Pill'; due to the lack of a few crucial heaven and earth spirit herbs, its efficacy was only twenty to thirty percent of the original.
Even so, in the Western Desert Cultivation World, it took the combined might of eight major Nascent Soul sects hundreds of years to barely gather enough materials for a single batch. Fang Xi glanced at the required merit points and curled his lips: "It feels like you'd need to kill several shapeshifting demon cultivators to earn enough, what a scam. . ."
His gaze swept downwards, and he immediately spotted several decent rewards.
After another round of searching, in a rather conspicuous spot, he found what he desired:
"The Demon-Slaying Sword, the Ten Thousand Demon Banner, and the Demon-Reflecting Mirror. . . These three magic treasures, collectively known as the 'Three Demon-Exterminating Treasures', have imitation crafting methods that are quite cheap. Even for the authentic crafting methods, the merit points from killing a few third-order demon beasts would barely suffice."
Fang Xi scanned the Merit Ranking a few more times, then approached a registration desk.
"Esteemed Senior, are you here to accept a mission?"
The one in charge of registration was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, who constantly held a Demon-Reflecting Mirror in his hand. Upon seeing Fang Xi approach, his demeanor instantly became more respectful.
"Mm, process the paperwork. I intend to leave the city to hunt demons."
Fang Xi tossed out his yellow token.
Rogue cultivators mostly disliked being restricted on the city walls; even if the merit points were higher, most chose to go solo with a single sword or form small teams to leave the city and exterminate demons.
"This junior understands. . . May I ask for Esteemed Senior's name?"
"Revered Master Mu!"
The Foundation Establishment cultivator swiftly registered it: "Esteemed Senior's token permissions have been updated. You may use a teleportation array once for a round trip to the demon race territory. Please keep this recording stone safe; it serves as a merit point proof. . . If it is lost or damaged, leaving behind critical demon beast materials can also serve as proof."
Fang Xi nodded to show he understood, then proceeded to the other half of the city district.
Upon entering, he immediately saw enforcement teams, composed of high-level cultivators, flying across the sky.
If one cultivated spirit eye techniques, they could even see the various colored flashes of spiritual light from spells constantly flickering atop the city walls in the distance.
The atmosphere suddenly grew tense, as if one had instantly entered a war zone!
At this moment, a team of cultivators also passed by, sweeping a glance over Fang Xi.
But the yellow token at his waist emitted a hazy yellow glow, seemingly confirming his identity.
The leader of that team of cultivators was an aloof female cultivator. After a slight nod, she showed no intention of conversing, and they simply passed each other.
Following the map, Fang Xi soon arrived at a heavily guarded hall.
A subtle divine consciousness instantly swept over him.
‘A Nascent Soul old monster is presiding, but only an early-stage one. . . ’
He feigned ignorance and walked into the hall.
Rumble!
Pillars of lightning, reaching from heaven to earth, seemed to prop up the entire hall.
Beneath the lightning, there were small teleportation arrays.
"Short-distance teleportation arrays!"
Fang Xi's eyes lit up slightly. He could now set up such arrays himself and was keen to examine the craftsmanship of his Western Desert counterparts.
"Fellow Daoist, are you also preparing to leave the city to hunt demons?"
A burly man in the late Core Formation stage immediately stepped forward and extended an invitation: "I am You Tianhao. How about we form a team?"
"Apologies, I prefer to travel alone."
Fang Xi flatly refused, ignoring the man's unsightly expression. He walked up to a teleportation array, presented his token, and stepped onto it.
"This teleportation is random, Fellow Daoist will be dropped anywhere within a certain area, which we have already thoroughly scouted. Demon race appearances there are relatively rare."
"May Fellow Daoist return with a great victory!"
The cultivator in charge of the teleportation congratulated him with a solemn expression and unleashed a magic seal.
Silver light flickered.
The world instantly changed!
"The discomfort of this short-distance teleportation array is much less than that of ancient teleportation arrays."
Fang Xi looked at the array's radiance in the sky and the grassland stretching out on the ground, pondering to himself.
Just then, a jackal-like third-order demon beast passed by not far away. Its body was like a mountain, enveloped in raging flames.
Upon seeing Fang Xi, it immediately pounced!
‘This counts as a low frequency of demon beast appearances? ’
Fang Xi was speechless inwardly. He opened his mouth and spewed out a stream of pitch-black flames.
Initially, when the Fiery Jackal saw Fang Xi's mana fluctuations were only at the Core Formation stage, it roared ferociously and spewed out a crimson flame.
But as the pitch-black flame emerged, the crimson flame was instantly incinerated by the black flame.
Subsequently. . . it followed the connection between the flames and landed on the Fiery Jackal's body.
Sizzle!
The black flame instantly engulfed the demon beast's entire body, turning it into a pile of ashes before it even had a chance to let out a howl!
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