Facing the fat boss's small eyes, which were filled with panic and scrutiny, Su Yueli's expression beneath her mask didn't waver in the slightest. She simply asked back very calmly, “What, you won't take them?”
“We'll take them! Of course we will!”
The fat boss's face piled up with a cheerful smile once again, his speed at changing expressions truly a masterclass.
Lowering his voice, he chuckled. “Once things enter our Dark Fiend Domain, they become ownerless items. There's nothing we wouldn't dare to take. However, young lady, the Cangyun Sect is currently searching for someone like mad over in the imperial city. These items are quite hot to handle.”
Su Yueli was in no mood to bicker with him and spoke coldly, “Cut the nonsense. Calculate the value of the items inside. I don't want cultivator goods; exchange them all for resources that martial artists can use.”
The fat boss's eyes flickered slightly as he used his spiritual energy to carefully calculate the value of the five space rings once more.
“Tsk, tsk, they're truly worth a fortune. Two elite inner disciples', two ordinary inner disciples', and one... personal disciple's?”
“The spirit stones, healing magic treasures, talismans, and spiritual herbs inside add up to about eight hundred high-grade spirit stones. You certainly have incredible methods, young lady.”
The boss stroked his chin, his small eyes filled with shrewdness. “Since you only want martial artist resources, the higher the grade, the better, right?”
“Yes. Bring out the real stuff. Don't try to fool me with trash.”
Gritting his teeth, the fat boss carefully pulled out a black jade box from beneath the counter.
Opening the box, a dark-red elixir lay inside, emitting a thick, bloody aura and violent energy.
“Please have a look, young lady. This is our prized possession. It's a Mountain-Suppressing Blood Pill refined from the essence blood of a Ninth Realm demon beast, supplemented by dozens of top-tier mundane ancient medicines.”
“The strength of a Ninth Realm demon beast is equivalent to a Ninth Realm great cultivator in the cultivation world!”
“This pill has unimaginable divine effects for a martial artist breaking through bottlenecks and strengthening their blood qi. Logically speaking, although your five space rings are valuable, they are, after all, hot stolen goods that can never see the light of day outside. A massive depreciation fee would normally be deducted, meaning they wouldn't be enough to exchange for this pill. However, seeing as it's your first time here, I'll take a loss and give you a good deal. What do you say?”
Hearing this, the corner of Su Yueli's mouth beneath her mask twitched violently.
Did he take her for an easy target? This was pure black market price gouging.
Although she didn't cultivate the immortal path, she had lived for nearly two hundred years and was very clear about prices.
Mundane martial artist resources in the Great Li Dynasty were originally far less expensive than cultivator resources.
Although this Mountain-Suppressing Blood Pill was refined from the blood of a Ninth Realm demon beast and was indeed precious, it was absolutely not worth the entire net worth of five elite Cangyun Sect disciples, let alone the numerous high-grade spirit stones inside.
This shopkeeper was clearly taking advantage of her eagerness to get rid of the goods to jack up the price.
However, after some thought, Su Yueli ultimately nodded and agreed.
After all, keeping these five space rings was indeed completely useless to her. If she tried to sell them outside, it would instantly draw the pursuit of countless old monsters from the Cangyun Sect.
Although she was taking a bit of a loss here, exchanging them for a high-level blood medicine that could provide substantial help for her to break through the Eleventh Realm and push toward the Twelfth Realm was not a bad deal.
“Deal.” Su Yueli grabbed the black jade box and stored the pill inside.
The fat boss cheerfully put away the five space rings, his eyes narrowing into slits as he smiled. “You are very straightforward, young lady! If you have such good goods in the future, feel free to bring them over!”
With the deal concluded, Su Yueli didn't want to linger for even a moment. She turned to leave the Dark Fiend Domain, intending to head straight to that secret realm at the Great Li border.
However, as she walked down the chaotic street, her peripheral vision swept over her surroundings, and her heart chilled slightly.
The waters in this Dark Fiend Domain were even deeper than she had imagined.
Among the outlaws setting up stalls and wandering around, Third and Fourth Realm martial artists were everywhere, and there were even a few ruthless characters faintly lurking who exuded the aura of Sixth and Seventh Realm cultivators.
These people spent their lives in this lawless place, living on the edge of a blade, and their gazes were each more sinister than the last.
By now, Su Yueli's unfamiliar figure—dressed in a loose black robe and wearing a white carved mask—had already attracted quite a bit of attention. Several obscure, malicious gazes were glued to her back.
Su Yueli's brows furrowed slightly. She was just about to employ her movement technique to leave this troublesome place as quickly as possible.
Right then, a shout coming from a secluded corner ahead suddenly piqued her interest.
“Take a look, come and see! Information from all over the world for sale! Whether it's the top-secret inside info of major sects or the latest developments in secret realms everywhere, as long as you have enough spirit stones, there's nothing we don't know!”
Su Yueli raised an eyebrow, her steps pausing.
This was truly a case of being offered a pillow just as she was getting sleepy.
Although she had decided to try her luck in that dangerous secret realm at the border, she was almost completely in the dark about the specific situation there and the border dynamics.
Rather than blindly walking in to seek her own death, she might as well buy some intelligence to test the waters first.
With this thought, Su Yueli turned around and walked toward the information stall.
Sitting behind the stall was an old man as thin as a rail.
The old man was blind in one eye, and his remaining eye gleamed with a ruthless, cunning light like that of a lone wolf.
He was puffing away on a tobacco pipe, looking very mundane yet exuding an indescribable aura of eccentricity.
Seeing Su Yueli stop in front of his stall, the one-eyed old man exhaled a thick cloud of smoke and laughed sinisterly, “Customer, what would you like to ask about? I guarantee the information here is genuine.”
Su Yueli got straight to the point, her voice cold and deep. “I want to buy all the latest developments regarding the border between Great Li and Great Wei, as well as the core information on that dangerous secret realm in the border region. Name your price.”
“Five hundred mid-grade spirit stones.”
The boss tapped his tobacco pipe, quoting a price that made Su Yueli's brows knit tightly.
The underground prices in this Dark Fiend Domain were simply outrageous; they were outright fleecing customers.
One had to know that in those major sects, an ordinary chores disciple worked themselves to the bone for a whole year only to earn a salary of thirty thousand low-grade spirit stones, which only amounted to three hundred mid-grade spirit stones.
This old ghost opened his mouth and directly demanded two years' worth of hard-earned money from a bottom-tier cultivator.
The old man saw that Su Yueli was feeling the pinch, laughed sinisterly, and proactively offered a breakdown:
“Too expensive? Then we can sell them separately. If you don't want the core clues to the secret realm and only buy the latest intelligence on the Great Li border, it'll only be one hundred mid-grade spirit stones.”
Su Yueli felt quite helpless.
She was currently completely in the dark about the situation ahead, so for safety's sake, she could only accept being fleeced.
She didn't want to be stingy, so she simply gritted her teeth and directly tossed out five hundred mid-grade spirit stones.
Since she was buying, she might as well get the real deal.
The old man swept up the spirit stones and immediately spoke with a grin, “Done! Straightforward! To tell you the truth, the border has indeed been restless lately. The neighboring Great Wei Dynasty has been making constant minor moves...”
“There are frequent small-scale magic clashes at the border, and on top of that, the demon beasts of the northern border have also been acting up and growing restless lately. Fortunately, the cultivators stationed at the border by our Great Li Dynasty are very powerful and have forcibly suppressed everything for now.”
“As for the secret realm you asked about, it's called the Myriad Bones Wasteland. Rumor has it that a few hundred years ago, a peak Twelfth Realm grand cultivator of the immortal path passed away in meditation inside, leaving behind a complete inheritance. Somehow, this news was leaked, and many geniuses from various sects are currently rushing over there. There are plenty of valuable rare treasures inside.”
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