The shop assistant's gaze swept quickly over the two of them, and the smile on his face faded slightly on the spot.
His tone transitioned seamlessly from “warm and attentive” to “polite, but don't expect too much enthusiasm”: “What kind of talismans do you need, Daoist friends?”
Xue Mingzhao pointed at an icy-blue talisman paper in front of her and asked, “What kind of talisman is this?”
The assistant replied, “This is an Ice Condensation Talisman. Once activated, it turns wind into ice. For anyone hit by it, the cold energy will continuously linger deep within their meridians, gradually eroding the entire limb. One talisman can be used three times, which is much lighter and more convenient than a magic treasure.”
Xue Mingzhao's eyes lit up. “Then how much is this?”
“Eight hundred spirit stones.”
Xue Mingzhao let out an “oh” and asked again, “Then is there the kind of talisman that can blow up an entire building in one go?”
The assistant maintained his professional smile. “Yes, the mid-grade Thunderfire Talisman. The explosion is mixed with lightning and flames, dealing double damage. Five hundred mid-grade spirit stones.”
Xue Mingzhao quickly ran through the spirit stone conversions in her mind—
Ten low-grade spirit stones equaled one mid-grade spirit stone.
Ten mid-grade spirit stones equaled one high-grade spirit stone.
Ten high-grade spirit stones equaled one supreme-grade spirit stone.
On the market, if a price was asked without specifying the grade, it defaulted to low-grade spirit stones. However, for high-priced goods, the grade had to be explicitly stated.
Five hundred mid-grade spirit stones converted to five thousand low-grade ones.
She had less than two hundred low-grade spirit stones in her pocket in total, which wasn't even enough for a fraction of it.
Xue Mingzhao nodded, her expression unchanged. “Not bad.”
“Is there anything more powerful?”
The assistant's smile remained unchanged. “The high-grade Mountain-Collapsing Talisman. Its impact is enough to shatter small hills. The price is slightly more expensive, at five hundred high-grade spirit stones.”
No ripple of emotion could be seen on her face as she said flatly, “Mediocre. Senior Brother, let's go.”
Su Ye followed her out the door and lowered his voice. “Junior Sister, your eyes were practically glued to that Mountain-Collapsing Talisman just now.”
Xue Mingzhao looked straight ahead, not stopping her pace. “You saw wrong. That was a look of disdain.”
The assistant politely saw the two of them to the door, his smile not fading in the slightest.
The moment they turned around, the corners of his mouth slumped, and he rolled his eyes at the ceiling.
“Mediocre” indeed. With that meager wealth on you, if you can even pull out five hundred mid-grade spirit stones, I'll take your last name.
Actually, the assistant's eye still wasn't sharp enough.
Let alone five hundred, even if all the spirit stones in Xue Mingzhao's bag were added up, they would amount to at most five mid-grade spirit stones.
Su Ye followed behind and couldn't help but advise her, “Junior Sister, that shopkeeper is pure black-hearted and unscrupulous, asking for astronomical prices. I don't think it's worth it at all. When we have money in the future, let alone a Mountain-Collapsing Talisman, I'll buy out the entire shop and give it to you.”
Xue Mingzhao turned around, her eyes frighteningly bright. “Who said it's expensive? It's simply an incredible value.”
“Senior Brother, you get what you pay for. Quality comes at a price.”
“How can you disparage something just because you can't have it? What's the difference between you and a scumbag?”
Su Ye: “...”
So, Junior Sister just can't afford it and is biting the bullet to save face, huh?
The two of them left the talisman shop, strolled around the street for a bit, and ultimately bought nothing.
As it grew late, Su Mingyuan led the two youngsters through several alleys, passing by several high-end inns with carved beams, painted rafters, and nameplates inlaid with spirit stones.
Finally, they stopped in front of a shop whose plaque was only carved with the three words “Yunlai Inn”, without even any glowing runes.
He looked up and nodded in satisfaction—it looked simple and wouldn't rip off customers.
The three of them pushed the door open and went inside.
Behind the counter stood an assistant, carving something with his head down. Without even looking up, he said, “All rooms are eighty spirit stones a night. How many rooms do you want?”
Su Mingyuan painfully took out five mid-grade spirit stones and placed them on the counter. “Two rooms, for three nights.”
With a wave of the assistant's hand, the five mid-grade spirit stones on the counter instantly vanished, replaced by twenty dusty low-grade spirit stones and two wooden tokens. “Second floor, turn right.”
Su Mingyuan took them and led the two of them upstairs.
Upon reaching the second floor, Su Mingyuan walked up to a room door, pulled out a wooden token, and infused it with spiritual energy.
The restriction on the door lit up slightly and then dissipated, and the door slid open silently.
Xue Mingzhao followed suit, infusing spiritual energy. The restriction dispersed accordingly, and her room door slid open gently.
Inside was a bed, a table, a stool, and a simple map of Yunque Heavenly Capital hanging on the wall. Other than that, there was nothing, making it not much different from a mortal inn.
The Chaos Spiritual Root spoke up faintly in her dantian, “This is my first time seeing such a crude place. Following you, I guess I'm here to undergo a tribulation.”
Xue Mingzhao was too lazy to pay attention to it. With her hands cradling the back of her head, she stared at the ceiling, starting to scheme her grand plan of selling talismans.
A high-grade Mountain-Collapsing Talisman was five hundred high-grade spirit stones. Then, for her supreme-grade Sky-Blasting Talisman, the price had to double at the very least.
She closed her eyes and listed a long string of zeros in her mind, the corners of her mouth curling upward uncontrollably.
She rolled over and pulled out her transmission jade pendant.
This was given to them by their master back at the sect, one for her and one for Su Ye.
She infused spiritual energy, and the jade pendant lit up with a soft glow.
“Senior Brother, are you there?”
After a moment, Su Ye's voice came through: “Junior Sister, I'm here. Master is here too.”
“Senior Brother, let's go out and wander around again tonight.”
The next room was silent for a moment. Presumably, Su Mingyuan had nodded, as Su Ye's voice came through again: “Okay, I'll wait for you at the door at the Hour of the Dog.”
Xue Mingzhao put away her jade pendant and continued to plan with satisfaction.
In the adjacent room, Su Mingyuan sat on the bed, looked at Su Ye, and said, “If you come across a high-grade Foundation Establishment Pill, remember to tell Master.”
Su Ye blanked for a moment, then nodded.
Su Mingyuan paused, then added, “Your junior sister's cultivation speed is too fast. In just one month, she jumped from being a mortal to the seventh level of Qi Condensation. She will probably establish her foundation soon.
The step of Foundation Establishment is crucial. We cannot make do with an ordinary Foundation Establishment Pill; it must be at least high-grade. Otherwise, her foundation will be unstable, making the road ahead difficult to walk.”
Su Ye hesitated for a moment, but still spoke up: “Master, a high-grade Foundation Establishment Pill costs at least five thousand high-grade spirit stones.”
It wasn't that he had to dampen the mood, but with the current wealth of their master and disciples, could they really afford it?
Su Mingyuan's expression remained unchanged. “I know what I'm doing.”
Su Ye looked at his master's calm face, then thought back to how pained his master looked when paying the room fee. He really wanted to ask, “What exactly do you know?” but swallowed his words, fearing a scolding.
At the Hour of the Dog, Xue Mingzhao went down the stairs right on time.
Su Ye was already waiting at the foot of the stairs. The two of them walked out side by side. As she passed the counter, she paused, turned, and approached the assistant, asking with a smile, “Excuse me, Daoist friend, where is the largest and most luxurious talisman shop in Yunque Heavenly Capital?”
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