Chapter 74: Demonic Cultivator

“Yes, is there a problem?” Chen Beiwu nodded, his gaze strange as he looked at him.

Upon hearing this, Wei Xuesong felt a trace of doubt rise in his heart, and said in a low voice: “Of course there’s no problem. Fellow Daoist, do you usually like to purchase some peculiar items?”

“Fellow Daoist, do you have a channel?” Chen Beiwu showed interest.

“Hehe, most of the things sold within Hidden Mist Market are ordinary goods.

If Fellow Daoist wishes to find some true treasures, I do happen to have a good place to recommend.”

Wei Xuesong took out a jade token.

“Fellow Daoist must have heard of the name of True Person Zhu.”

“I know a little.” Chen Beiwu’s expression shifted slightly.

True Person Zhu’s full name was Zhu Shaoyuan, an inner sect elder of Mirror Moon Palace, and also the open overseer of Mountain Submergence Realm in Earth Proliferation Territory.

All the cultivation markets within Mountain Submergence Realm had to hand over offerings to Mirror Moon Palace every year, and True Person Zhu was precisely the Golden Core cultivator in charge of collecting those offerings on behalf of Mirror Moon Palace.

“Recently, the Groom-Seeking Assembly has been growing more and more popular, attracting many cultivators eager to join in the excitement. True Person Zhu’s personally taught disciple, the true heir of Mirror Moon Palace, Zhu Qiong, happened to travel to the Cangwu Mountain Range and intends to put some treasures up for sale at the Red Flood River black market.”

“To curry favor with the true heir Zhu, the Red Flood River black market is even holding an auction in advance. It’s said that a Foundation Establishment Pill might even appear at that time.”

“If Fellow Daoist is interested, this black market jade token can be sold to you at a discount.”

Hearing this, Chen Beiwu glanced at the jade token.

“How many spirit stones does Fellow Daoist want to sell it for?”

Wei Xuesong chuckled.

“Only eleven spirit stones.”

“Alright.” Chen Beiwu retrieved spirit stones from his storage pouch.

Taking the spirit stones, Wei Xuesong handed over the jade token.

“Remember, tomorrow night at You hour, Blackrock Mountain at Red Flood River.

Miss it, and the chance is gone.”

Chen Beiwu nodded, turned, and left.

Watching Chen Beiwu’s figure vanish, Wei Xuesong couldn’t help stroking his chin, then let out a sly chuckle.

…

At dusk, in a lower-grade cave dwelling of Hidden Mist Market.

Chen Beiwu exhaled a turbid breath, finishing his cultivation of the All Laws Converge, Heaven Book of the Divine Tree.

At his left side, Iron Egg lay on the ground, breathing in and out heaven and earth spiritual qi, while Gold Egg happily swam about in the vat.

After this period of feeding, coupled with the feedback from their Companion Beast contract following his breakthrough to the Eighth Level of Qi Refining, Gold Egg’s progress in refining turbid energy into clarity and transforming demonic power into spiritual power was two-tenths faster than before.

At this rate, in just one or two more days, Gold Egg would be able to completely complete the Companion Beast metamorphosis, converting all its demonic power into spiritual power.

At that time, he would be able to form a Companion spiritual power circulation with Gold Egg, causing his cultivation speed to soar once more.

Chen Beiwu took out the black market jade token and shook his head speechlessly.

“Cultivators of the Southern Wastes always love playing such tricks!”

The jade token Wei Xuesong had given him was problematic—within it was hidden a trace of aura from a Concealment Ant.

Concealment Ants had semi-transparent bodies, could change their surface colors according to their environment, and liked to move in swarms.

They were a special kind of Exotic Beast able to shield their own demonic fluctuations and probe the purity of a cultivator’s spiritual roots.

The aura left behind by such a beast was extremely difficult for a Qi Refining cultivator to perceive.

Therefore, beast tamers often subdued Concealment Ants and used their traits to leave hidden tricks on items.

Had Chen Beiwu not possessed divine sense far surpassing that of Ninth Level Qi Refining cultivators, he likely wouldn’t have discovered the jade token’s problem.

At this moment, Iron Egg finished cultivating.

Its nose twitched, and its gaze locked on the jade token in Chen Beiwu’s hand.

“Woof woof woof!”

Chen Beiwu turned his head in surprise.

“You also sensed the aura of a Concealment Ant?”

Iron Egg nodded, then shook its head.

It did not know what a Concealment Ant was.

It merely smelled an unpleasant odor from the jade token.

“Can you memorize the cultivator’s aura on it?” Chen Beiwu handed the jade token to Iron Egg.

The latter leaned forward, nose twitching slightly.

“Woof!”

Iron Egg spat out a pale golden flame, which transformed into a crude flaming star map that slowly spread out above its head.

Looking closely, Chen Beiwu saw two red dots suddenly appear at the center of the star map.

“This is the approximate location?” he asked in surprise.

Iron Egg nodded.

To be safe, Chen Beiwu took out a map of the southern part of the Cangwu Mountain Range.

After carefully comparing, he discovered that both red dots corresponded to areas at the foot of Blackrock Mountain.

“You’ve worked hard.” Chen Beiwu stroked Iron Egg’s head, then put away the jade token without erasing the aura inside.

At the same time, at the foot of Blackrock Mountain.

Wei Xuesong sat cross-legged on a giant rock, a Concealment Ant the size of a grain of rice standing on his shoulder.

“Has the Phoenix Yellow Dendrobium been gathered?”

He opened his eyes, turning to look at the shadow that had silently appeared behind him.

Shi Botao tossed out a storage pouch, his tone impatient.

“Such a trivial business is worth troubling me for?”

“Even a mosquito is still meat. In these times, earning a few spirit stones isn’t easy.”

Wei Xuesong chuckled, took the storage pouch, and pulled out a jade bottle.

“Fellow Daoist Shi, this is the Yang Charm Pill you wanted.”

At that, Shi Botao’s expression eased.

He opened the jade bottle, sniffed it, but a trace of dissatisfaction flashed in his eyes.

“Why is the quality of this pill worse than last time?”

“I was lucky enough to successfully refine two furnaces of Yang Charm Pills already.

Fellow Daoist shouldn’t be too picky.” Wei Xuesong smiled.

The Yang Charm Pill was an extremely unorthodox second-tier low-grade spiritual pill.

After a male cultivator consumed two doses consecutively, his body would emit a faint fragrance, resembling sandalwood mingled with the freshness of pine.

This fragrance could unconsciously shift its scent according to a female cultivator’s preferences, and might even earn him some favor from Foundation Establishment female cultivators.

If not for the fact that the mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator behind Shi Botao had an old connection with his master, Wei Xuesong would never have wasted so much time and effort refining such a pill.

“Forget it, here is your payment.” Shi Botao tossed over another storage pouch.

After a sweep with his divine sense to confirm the number of spirit stones inside, Wei Xuesong nodded in satisfaction.

“Transaction settled. If Fellow Daoist Shi needs pill refinement in the future, I can give a twenty percent discount.”

Shi Botao did not reply, but instead mounted his flying sword, transforming into a rainbow streak as he left.

Although Wei Xuesong was a Ninth Level Qi Refining cultivator, he had the backing of a second-tier high-grade alchemist, which was why Shi Botao simply paid straightforwardly.

‘The Gu Clan’s Groom-Seeking Assembly is just a pretext. Fellow Daoist Shi wishes to win a beauty’s heart with Yang Charm Pills, but it will likely be all in vain.’ Wei Xuesong sighed inwardly, then turned his gaze to the Concealment Ant on his shoulder.

‘Well? Can you pinpoint the exact location of the jade token?’ he asked with his mind.

Hearing the Concealment Ant’s response, Wei Xuesong smiled in satisfaction.

Refining pills was easy, but finding herbs was hard—especially precious spiritual herbs!

To come across a talent with a Heavenly Root aligned with water was a rare opportunity.

If he accidentally let such a person slip away, he’d regret it immensely.

The only thing that puzzled Wei Xuesong was why, during their first meeting, the Concealment Ant had failed to sense Chen Zi’ang’s spiritual root purity.

‘Could it be that fellow had a Concealment-type spiritual artifact protecting him?’

Thinking of this, an ominous feeling welled up in Wei Xuesong’s heart.

If Chen Zi’ang truly had a Concealment artifact, it would mean his cultivation realm was concealed, and that he wasn’t merely a Seventh Level Qi Refining cultivator.

‘Looks like I’ll need to probe him a bit during tomorrow’s exchange.’ Wei Xuesong thought to himself.

After being cautious for decades, he had no intention of capsizing in some gutter.

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