Chapter 39: Dragon Ridge Lane
The carriage started moving again, and they quickly crossed a small hill. There was a lively market in the distance, not too far away. It was completely different from the rest of the land, where everything was empty and barren.
There were several guards on patrol at the entrance of the valley. Upon seeing Tie Ma, one of them scanned the carriage with his eyes and asked, "Do you have a Dragon Ridge Token?"
Tie Ma took out the Dragon Ridge Token, showed it to him, and tossed over the spirit stone he had received from Fang Chen.
The guard nodded slightly. "You may enter."
This was Dragon Ridge, a gathering place for cultivators. Fang Chen's soul had already long since entered and probed the place. There didn’t seem to be any experts at Senior Yun He’s level. The strongest in the area was only at the Qi Refining Realm.
Dragon Ridge was quite large. It resembled a small town. However, not everyone here was a cultivator. One could see martial artists, similar to Tie Ma, but they were mostly the attendants and followers of cultivators.
Fang Chen had thought that the place was related to the Spirit Blood Sect, but when his soul followed the old woman into Dragon Ridge, he realized that it was just a marketplace for cultivators.
She had traveled all the way here just to purchase some resources for her cultivation.
"Wait for me in the carriage," he instructed. He wore the mask he had in his hand and left the carriage. He then began exploring the place, but he didn’t let the woman escape his sights.
Most of the cultivators here wore masks. Similarly, the old woman had disguised her appearance before she entered. Apparently, many things here were of unclear origins, prompting the cultivators who shopped here to be on guard.
"Selling three Strength Talismans, six low-grade spirit stones. Non-negotiable."
"Departing Flame Sword; four Soul Imprints. Releases flames upon activation. Extremely powerful. Now selling for eighty low-grade spirit stones. Negotiable."
"High-quality Qi Condensing Pills. A set of twelve for fifty-five low-grade spirit stones. One pill costs five low-grade spirit stones!"
As Fang Chen strolled along the street, he heard yells coming from both sides. Those cultivators had relatively low cultivation levels, ranging from the first to the second stage of the Qi Refining Realm.
In addition to those smaller stalls, Dragon Ridge also had some seemingly formal shops that sold more expensive items. The cultivators there had higher cultivation levels.
Fang Chen stopped in front of a stall that was selling talismans. Not too far from the stall, the old woman was haggling over a few Qi Condensing Pills. She intended to buy five of them, but didn’t seem willing to buy them at their original price and relentlessly tried to get a discount.
As Fang Chen was eyeing the woman, someone approached the stall he stood near. "Brother, are you using the most common cinnabar and yellow talisman paper for these Strength Talismans? These are of pretty low quality. Three for four low-grade spirit stones seems appropriate."
The stall owner rolled his eyes. "Making talismans consumes time and energy. It may take ten days or half a month just to produce one. And a considerable amount of spiritual energy is consumed during the process. This is already the lowest price. If you want to haggle, go somewhere else!"
Ten days or half a month to make one talisman? Fang Chen glanced at the stall owner. His aura seemed to be on par with Fang Chen. They were both at the second stage of the Qi Refining Realm.
Was making talismans really that difficult?
He thought the stall owner was just saying that to raise the price, but surprisingly, the buyer hesitated for a moment and still decided to buy the talismans for their original price.
This... Strength Talismans are slightly simpler to make compared to Divine Movement Talismans or Vajra Talismans. If I don't do anything else for a day and only make Strength Talismans, producing forty or fifty shouldn't be a problem. A peculiar expression appeared on Fang Chen’s face.
Wouldn’t that mean that he would be able to make a massive amount of spirit stones if he started selling talismans?
He was suddenly tempted. He had seen many people selling treasures similar to Daoist Xue’s Soul Subduing Bell. He was pretty interested in those.
Suddenly, a burst of scolds came from somewhere in the background. "Old lady, are you buying or not? If you are not going to buy anything, don’t stand in front of my stall. These Qi Condensing Pills are priced at five low-grade spirit stones each. That’s it! Have you even bothered to ask who I am?"
When Fang Chen turned to look, he saw the stall owner scolding the old woman, whose face was alternating between shades of white and green. But surprisingly, she didn’t retort. She reluctantly took out the spirit stones and bought the Qi Condensing Pills as they were priced.
It seems the forces in the cultivation world are complicated. This old woman is from the Spirit Blood Sect, yet she daren’t act recklessly against a Qi Refining cultivator two stages lower than her, Fang Chen's thoughts subtly shifted. This was good news. At least, it proved that the Spirit Blood Sect was not invincible. However, this could just entail that her status within the sect was relatively low. That’s why she had to tread carefully when she dealt with other cultivators.
The old woman didn't leave after completing her purchase. Instead, she found an open space to set up a stall of her own. She placed some spirit herbs, medicinal plants, and some special metals up for sale.
When he saw that, a faint smile crossed Fang Chen's eyes, and he no longer paid her any attention.
The opportunity to enter Dragon Ridge Lane was a rare one. He needed to plan each of his moves carefully.
After about an hour of walking around, Fang Chen had roughly circled the entirety of Dragon Ridge and had gained some understanding of the prices.
The entire area seemed like an antique market.
Many people were trying to make a quick profit, selling items at exorbitant prices to deceive those who didn’t know better. However, there were still some people who genuinely conducted business.
Earlier, someone had been selling a Departing Flame Sword which had four Soul Imprints. It was a treasure that only cultivators at the fourth stage of the Qi Refining Realm could display its strength to the fullest. But after a cultivator had bought it, he discovered that two of its Soul Imprints were actually damaged! It could only display the strength of a treasure at the third stage of the Qi Refining Realm.
The buyer immediately realized that he had been scammed, but when he returned to the seller to settle the score, he found that he had already ran away. The buyer then stormed out of Dragon Ridge, filled with rage. Whether he could catch up to the other party was another matter altogether.
Fang Chen suddenly stopped in front of a stall where many items related to talismans were being sold. There were dozens of brushes, numerous cinnabar ink, and piles of yellow talisman paper on display. But there was a difference between the items he had used before to create his talismans and these ones. These emitted spiritual energy, whilst his didn’t. These were no ordinary items.
"Brother, do you enjoy making talismans? Then you've come to the right place. Look at these brushes; all of them are made from the finest hairs of demonic beasts."
"Here, take a look at this cinnabar. It was unearthed from a spiritual mine, buried underground for who knows how many years, absorbing rich spiritual power."
"And these yellow talisman papers were made from a thousand-year-old ancient tree. After refining them into talismans, you will yield only those of the best quality.”
The stall owner enthusiastically introduced the items to Fang Chen.
"How much for these?" Fang Chen smiled faintly.
The stall owner glanced at Fang Chen's appearance, probed his aura, and said, "Don’t worry, they’re cheap! One low-grade spirit stone for a tael of cinnabar, and one low-grade spirit stone for a hundred sheets of talisman paper."
"As for these brushes, I don't know which one fellow cultivator likes. They are of varying qualities, and therefore, different prices."
Fang Chen looked around for a bit before picking out the brush that emitted the strongest spiritual energy. "How much for this one?"
"Brother has a good eye! This brush is extraordinary—" Fang Chen interrupted the owner, who was on the verge of a lengthy sales pitch. "Just state the price."
The stall owner's eyes spun about before he declared, "Ten low-grade spirit stones!"
"Too expensive." Fang Chen tossed the brush down and left, not sparing the man another glance.
Ten low-grade spirit stones? The owner might as well just go and rob people instead. He could easily buy a treasure with a Soul Imprint for that price. No matter how rich the spiritual energy rolling off the brush was, it couldn’t be compared to an actual treasure.
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