Ding Huan didn’t need any reminders; the Money Storage Token Exchange would never leak his information.
Offending a Foundation Establishment powerhouse was certainly not a good thing.
Instead of returning to the Rest Building, Ding Huan headed for the larger Thorny Alley Black Market.
He wanted to purchase a Magic Artifact Talisman Pen.
It was only upon arriving that Ding Huan realized just how wrong he had been to expect decent magic artifacts here.
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There were indeed magic artifacts, but they were all incredibly shoddy.
Like worn-out shoes, broken hairpins, half a weapon, and so on.
After some inquiries, Ding Huan finally understood what was going on.
All the magic artifacts here came from a planet of an Advanced Civilization.
Spaceships from an Advanced Civilization Planet would bring these worthless magic artifacts to the Four-direction Star Land as a side job.
Here, these magic artifacts might be worthless on their planet of origin but were considered treasures on the Four-direction Star Land.
Left without choice, Ding Huan could only purchase some materials.
Besides, he bought some books describing ores and materials.
Most of this knowledge also came from the Advanced Civilization Planet, just to have the locals help in the search.
The most important purchase was a large bag for his cauldron, which had been awkward to carry around.
After a big shopping trip, Ding Huan returned to the Rest Building.
Even though he knew his strength was not considered weak here, Qi Xinyue was still unsettled and unable to focus on her cultivation until Ding Huan returned.
Only then did she finally relax and retreated to her room to rest.
Early the next morning, Ding Huan, along with Qi Xinyue and Lao Liu, left the Rest Building to rent a house.
With ample purple-gold coins at hand, Ding Huan rented a courtyard for ten thousand purple-gold coins a year.
This courtyard was actually meant for four people to share, normally costing about two thousand five hundred per person.
Renting it alone and living there with Lao Liu, a total of three people, didn’t seem particularly odd.
The courtyard wasn’t far from the busiest central district and was very close to the City Lord Mansion.
If any spaceship from a high-level external civilization came, Ding Huan believed he could detect it at the first opportunity.
After all, he didn’t need to practice Cultivation now and had plenty of time to wander outside.
After settling down, Ding Huan continued his research on the Jade Scrolls.
He still had about a dozen Jade Scrolls he hadn’t looked at because he had become completely engrossed in Talisman Making Jade Scroll last time.
Now, without a high-level talisman pen, he couldn’t make talismans, so he simply resumed his study of the Jade Scrolls.
"Taoist Record," which delved into sects, was set aside.
"The Arrangement of the Seven Imperial Array"—how could he understand that? He set it aside.
"On Spirit Grass," he could look at this one, but it wasn’t urgent, so he set it aside.
"Spirit Root Theory," he didn’t need to look at this for the time being.
...
"Concealed Storage Technique"?
Was it about prediction?
This particular Jade Scroll piqued Ding Huan’s interest, and he infused his Divine Will into it.
"The vast universe, all things have a set destiny, the transformations of heaven and earth all have divinatory trigrams, Qian with its three solid lines, Kun with six broken..."
After immersing himself in the Concealed Storage Technique, a new Taoist Divine Power suddenly appeared in his memory—the Big Calculation Skill.
An overwhelming flood of intricate information rushed in.
Even with his powerful Sea of Consciousness and substantial Divine Will, this vast influx of information almost knocked him unconscious.
It took him two full days to gradually regain his senses.
Taoist Divine Power? This was the first time he had encountered Divine Power, wasn’t it supposed to be Cultivation Technique and Magic Skill?
After collecting himself for about ten minutes, Ding Huan began to sort through what he’d learned.
Clearly, the Big Calculation Skill was the knowledge hidden in that leather scroll he had obtained, and researching the Concealed Storage Technique had triggered this memory.
When Ding Huan delved into the Big Calculation Skill again, he was completely stunned.
What he had previously considered to be the intricate Concealed Storage Technique was a mere babble compared to the Big Calculation Skill.
The Concealed Storage Technique could at best predict the past and future of events around him through vague predictions, without a clear concept.
While the Big Calculation Skill was about calculating the past and future of the vast universe, even with clear patterns to follow.
As for predicting events around oneself, that was just basic-level knowledge.
Ding Huan immediately thought of the Ten-thousand-year-old Ancient Cypress in Luoh River City on Earth, and the scavenger old man—it was his discovery of the scroll beside the Ancient Cypress that had changed his life.
The only difference was that he was originally supposed to revisit the Ancient Cypress, but with one or two hundred years of experience, he had given up on the idea.
He had felt it was somewhat absurd, but with his memory of the Big Calculation Skill, it didn’t seem absurd at all.
Right now, he couldn’t make heads or tails of the Big Calculation Skill and might need a long time just to scratch the surface.
But what if his cultivation became incredibly strong?
Wouldn’t he be able to predict the future of his current planet? And his own future?
Ding Huan shivered subconsciously—that was a terrifying thought.
It was a good thing he hadn’t paid any mind to the Ten-thousand-year-old Ancient Cypress.
Nevertheless, the Big Calculation Skill was definitely valuable, even if he couldn’t thoroughly study it now; just learning a bit of it would be immensely beneficial to him.
With that thought, Ding Huan lost all interest in studying the other Jade Scrolls and immersed himself in the ocean of the Big Calculation Skill.
...
For the following several weeks, Ding Huan was awoken by extreme hunger.
Even he found it unbelievable—how complicated the Big Calculation Skill was; once he started his calculations and insights, he fell deep into it unaware.
Divine Will swept through the area, and Qi Xinyue was no longer in seclusion, instead she was cultivating the Extreme Shadow Jutsu.
Lao Liu was still tirelessly attempting to break through to the Foundation Establishment as a demon cultivator, but no matter how hard it tried, it was always just a little short.
Ding Huan simply closed his eyes and began to predict what was going to happen in Four-direction City.
As soon as he began the prediction, Ding Huan’s mind once again plunged into a blur.
The intense headache made Ding Huan shake his head hard, forcing himself to calm down.
It must have been that his predicted range was too large, so he simply started to predict events within the range of his Divine Will.
With his current level of cultivation, his Divine Will could easily cover a range of thirty-four li.
Four-direction City was filled with strong individuals, many of whom were more powerful than Foundation Establishment cultivators, so Ding Huan didn’t dare to use his Divine Will carelessly.
If Divine Will couldn’t be used, prediction should be unaffected.
Even if his mastery of the Big Calculation Skill was only superficial...
It could hardly even count as superficial.
Thinking back, predicting the events within this thirty-four li range should be enough.
This time, the prediction did not result in the previous kind of blurry vision that would enter his mind and then be followed by a headache.
In Ding Huan’s perception, it was as if an online video had appeared.
Some people he didn’t recognize walked among them, and some events happened from near to far.
While Ding Huan was engrossed in these trivial matters, a sudden big news broke out in Four-direction City.
An exquisite material had appeared in the Old Field Black Market of Four-direction City—a Demon Core of an Immortal Demon Beast.
This Demon Core was wrapped in dirt and the seller did not realize it at first, treating it as an ordinary rock and selling it to a merchant.
This merchant knew more than the average person and realized what he bought must have been covered in dirt.
After purchasing the Immortal Demon Pill and returning to his residence, the merchant removed the dirt, and the vast Immortal Demon aura soared straight to the heavens.
The entire Four-direction City went crazy for it, with the Four Great Families and three Sects fighting over that Immortal Demon Pill.
By the time Ding Huan could no longer continue with his prediction, the matter seemed to be unresolved.
Wait...
Ding Huan suddenly opened his eyes. Wasn’t that Immortal Demon Pill the one that appeared tonight?
Thinking of this, Ding Huan had no mood to continue predicting.
He immediately performed the Dust Removal Technique on himself, changed his appearance, and quickly left the house.
He was worrying about how to obtain an artifact in order to buy a spaceship ticket to an Advanced Civilization Planet when such an Immortal Demon Pill appeared.
He couldn’t afford to miss it.
Ding Huan moved extremely fast, and by the time he arrived at the Old Field Black Market, the market had just begun.
Relying on the memory of his prediction, Ding Huan stopped in front of a stall.
The vendor had just arrived too and was beginning to take things out.
Ding Huan pretended to squat down to examine the vendor’s goods.
Originally, Ding Huan came for that Immortal Demon Pill, but the more he looked, the happier he became.
Although he didn’t recognize most of the items here, he felt that these were all high-level Spirit Grasses.
Just then, the vendor took out that Demon Core.
Almost as soon as the vendor placed the Demon Core on the stall, Ding Huan’s Divine Will sensed a merchant quickly approaching.
This was the very person he had predicted would purchase the Immortal Demon Pill.
Before the merchant could get any closer, Ding Huan had already grabbed the Demon Core.
The vendor was not powerful enough to sense the intense aura of the Demon Core, but as soon as Ding Huan grabbed it, he felt something was amiss.
Despite a layer of dirt preventing the aura from leaking, holding the Immortal Demon Pill still left him immensely shocked.
This was definitely a treasure. Compared to the Demon Core he had obtained from the Demon Dragon on Earth, it was insignificant.
"Vendor, your goods today are not bad at all, how much for these few items in purple gold coins?"
Ding Huan held the four medicinal herbs and the Immortal Demon Pill in his hand and asked.
The vendor chuckled,
"Of course, these items almost cost me my life, especially that Element Purple. I truly risked my life to obtain it."
What the vendor referred to as Element Purple was a Spirit Grass held in Ding Huan’s hand, which bore a purple flower.
"Just tell me how much it costs. If I can afford it, I’ll buy it; if not, then forget it."
Ding Huan spoke frankly, noting that the merchant behind him had not taken his eyes off the items in his hand.
"Twenty thousand purple gold coins."
The vendor stuck out two fingers. His mental price was ten thousand purple gold coins.
After all, in business, the other party was bound to counteroffer.
"Not bad, although slightly expensive, it’s still worth it."
Ding Huan split the money with Divine Will. In nearly a blink of an eye, he filled an empty sack with twenty thousand purple gold coins.
Without any hesitation, he threw the sack to the vendor.
The vendor caught the sack tossed by Ding Huan, a bit stunned. Was the deal made just like that, without bargaining?
But by this point, Ding Huan had already walked far away.
He quickly checked the sack Ding Huan had given him and discovered it indeed contained twenty thousand purple gold coins, elated in his heart.
Today was truly his lucky day.
Such a generous customer, he might encounter a few times a year. One who spent such a big amount and was so open-handed, this was really the first time.
Ding Huan was well aware that as soon as he threw the sack behind him, the merchant tried to intervene.
His speed was too fast, and the other party couldn’t stop him in time. This transaction had already concluded.
At this moment, the merchant was quickening his pace to chase after him.