Amidst those magnificent rockeries, there was a row of booths, one for each cultivator, displaying their treasures. Each person had the opportunity to enter a booth once and make exchanges. If one could make a trade, they did so; if not, harboring any covetous thoughts afterwards would be futile since one wouldn’t necessarily know who ended up with the treasures.
After all, the others’ trades were not known to them.
The advantage of this small trading event was that it greatly increased security and reduced the likelihood of coveting, but for these Purple Mansion cultivators, the chance of missing out on treasures was also significant!
Nevertheless, the rules were already set, and Lin Shiming couldn’t change them. For him, this was actually good news.
He found a booth and began to take out several treasures he had prepared in advance for the exchange.
He took out three magical treasures that he found no use for, plus some Fourth Rank spiritual medicines and materials, such as Red Lotus Fruits.
His plan was to exchange them for some inner cores and materials from mantis Great Demons, and moreover, if there were any Buddha Sect Techniques of a higher grade than Intermediate Profound Rank, he would naturally want to exchange for those as well.
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The cultivators who were exchanging with Lin Shiming, seeing that he had brought out three magical treasures, including one Inferior Grade Fourth Rank defensive treasure, couldn’t help but give him a second glance, their eyes filled with a bit more respect.
However, upon learning what Lin Shiming wanted to exchange for, they all shook their heads, indicating they had neither Demonic Beast materials nor information, and none of the Buddha Monks offered up any techniques in exchange.
Lin Shiming wasn’t surprised and just continued to wait with his eyes closed.
"Fellow Daoist, do you need information or corpses of mantises?" Suddenly, a cultivator dressed in black robes transmitted a message to Lin Shiming.
"If I tell you of a place where there is a Fourth Rank Late Stage Frost Winged Mantis with ten wings, could it be exchanged for a magical treasure?"
"Information alone can be exchanged for half a treasure. Fellow Daoist, you would still need to offer some spiritual medicines to make an exchange!" Lin Shiming was delighted internally. The Frost Winged Mantis ranked fifty-ninth on the list of heavenly spirit insects; compared to the Eight-winged Sky Mantis, its bloodline was clearly superior and purer.
If the Golden Winged Mantis could absorb the bloodline of the Frost Winged Mantis, as long as it was successful, breaking through to become a Fourth Rank Great Demon was absolutely no problem.
Of course, for the Golden Winged Mantis, facing such a high-bloodline Frost Mantis, there was a certain possibility of failure.
Without taking risks, all that was left was to wait for the Golden Winged Mantis to consume enough Demonic Beast flesh and blood to advance gradually.
That would take too long and wouldn’t be of much use to Lin Shiming.
"Agreed!" The cultivator then took out some Fourth Rank Spirit Soil and exchanged it for the Fourth Rank defensive treasure.
As for the information about the Frost Winged Mantis, he swore an oath by the Heavenly Dao.
Lin Shiming glanced over it and seeing that the information pointed to the Coral Alliance territory, he was at ease.
However, Lin Shiming’s expression suddenly stiffened when the man picked up two magical treasures.
Lin Shiming’s eyes turned cold, but the other party, not caring at all, opened his mouth:
"I also have a Buddha Sect Technique. I will exchange it for your other magical treasure!"
Then, he threw down a Jade Slip and walked away!
When Lin Shiming checked the Jade Slip, he found it contained the Great Sun Tathagata Scripture, a Supreme Grade Profound Rank Technique that could be cultivated up to the Purple Mansion Late Stage and was especially suitable for Lin Houshou.
Lin Shiming, pleased with this discovery, didn’t care about the cultivator’s odd behavior, and put away the Jade Slip. He had now acquired all the treasures he had come for.
Next, Lin Shiming continued to exchange for mantis Demonic Beast materials and information, but in the Southern Sea Cultivation World such Demonic Beasts were rare, and he didn’t acquire anything further.
Soon, it was Lin Shiming’s turn for the free exchange, as the token given by San Yang Hermit began to glow brightly.
Lin Shiming straightened his robes and started visiting the booths one by one.
The treasures he encountered next broadened his horizons. Beyond magical treasures, there were many natural spiritual materials that tempted him, such as the Fourth Rank Wood Demon Heart and the pure Wood Attribute Spirit Vein’s Mu Xin Spiritual Liquid, as well as the pure Gold Attribute Spirit Vein’s Golden Core Marrow.
He was unable to secure the Wood Demon Heart but exchanged Fourth Rank magical artifacts for the Mu Xin Spiritual Liquid and the Golden Core Marrow.
The Mu Xin Spiritual Liquid could aid the Wood Demon in reaching a higher level, while the Golden Core Marrow could help Lin Xianzhi’s cultivation speed up a bit, perhaps even finding a breakthrough to the Purple Mansion Middle Stage.
As for the Fourth Rank pure Earth Attribute Spirit Vein, Lin Shiming saw no trace of it.
What thrilled Lin Shiming the most was a Minor Divine Ability Fruit Tree. Having consumed its fruit once before, he was well aware of its value.
He still had the Minor Divine Ability Revival Wind, but unfortunately, the cultivator who possessed the fruit tree only wanted to exchange for items that could break through the bottleneck of the Purple Mansion Late Stage.
Insisting firmly on their demand, Lin Shiming had no choice but to leave disheartened.
And to think, this was after nearly seventy or eighty people had exchanged places, many treasures may have already been taken.
For example, the compartments of the Purple Mansion Late Stage Cultivators and the Purple Mansion Peak Cultivators were mostly empty now.
This was also linked to strength and wealth; these number plates were all prearranged.
The Purple Mansion Exchange Meeting ended swiftly, yet in Lin Shiming’s mind came the telepathic message from San Yang Hermit!
There was still one month left for the auction, and the operation to deal with the Shocking Sea Ape was clearly about to commence.
Perhaps San Yang Hermit had also acquired some incredible treasures!
Once all the Purple Mansion Cultivators dispersed, there were, including Lin Shiming, only five people left in the hall at the end.
What surprised Lin Shiming was that a monk was among those who remained.
"All right, everyone is here. This time, our purpose is to slay the Shocking Sea Ape. However, we have a Natural Gravity Formation and need someone who practices Body Cultivation..." San Yang Hermit approached and reiterated the matter with the Shocking Sea Ape.
"Rest assured, San Yang donor. Eradicating demons and defending the path is my duty," declared the monk named Hong Chen Hermit, who then stepped forward first after making a gesture of Buddhist respect.
As a force under Xu Ri Island, Lin Shiming naturally did not lag behind and was the second to stand out.
The remaining two were a married couple, also known as Purple Cloud Fiendish Couple, famous Purple Mansion Loose Cultivator spouses.
Without exception, all five were Purple Mansion Middle Stage Body Cultivators, but Lin Shiming knew that only the male cultivator named Yun Sha from the Purple Cloud Fiendish Couple practiced both Body and Magical Cultivation.
"This is the Five Elements Thunder Formation, specifically designed to counter Demonic Beasts with strong fleshly power. Everyone, refine the Array Plates," San Yang Hermit took out four Jade Slips and four Array Plates.
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One Array Plate corresponded to one Jade Slip.
After collecting the Jade Slips, he looked at the four people and did not rest until he saw each of them crush their respective Jade Slip.
"Let’s all prepare here for a day; we’ll set off tomorrow. Otherwise, if the Shocking Sea Ape escapes, we will all regret it!"
...
Above the calm and sunny sea, a huge dark peak jutted out from the sea’s surface.
A series of ape calls echoed, startling the sea surface into producing countless terrifying waves.
A Spirit Boat descended from afar.
The figures of Lin Shiming and the others appeared.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the Shocking Sea Ape is extremely formidable both in water and on land. There are two of them, and I hope everyone will give their all!" San Yang Hermit continued to speak.
On the Spirit Boat, Lin Shiming and the others nodded in agreement. He raised his hand and already felt a faint gravity.
Even the water he conjured from the sea was heavier than that from other regions.
The terrifying waves and the ape calls reverberating through the sky clearly showcased the immense strength of the Shocking Sea Ape.
"Alright, be careful when setting up the formation. This separating gauze is made from thousand-year ice silkworm threads, and the Shocking Sea Ape should not be able to detect it!" San Yang Hermit took out four Snow Silkworm Garments and distributed them to the four to drape over themselves.
Lin Shiming took the Snow Silkworm Garment and casually draped it over himself.
The five took positions in five different directions, encircling the island.
Since there was a Fourth Rank Thunder Formation in place, naturally, the formation would bombard the demon first.
Then the five would swarm forward together.
The closer they got to the center of the island, the more terrifying the gravity felt, causing Lin Shiming to grow suspicious. According to San Yang Hermit, it was caused by a natural Earth Attribute Spirit Vein.
But the gravity of an Earth Attribute Spirit Vein could not be this strong.
And at that moment, the system’s prompt sounded again:
"Please obtain Star Meteor Cold Iron to feed the Devouring Ants, which can induce their next evolution!"
Lin Shiming’s pace slowed; he realized San Yang Hermit had deceived them. The gravity field below was not produced by an Earth Attribute Spirit Vein, but by Star Meteor Cold Iron!