Facing all the sneer, the young man’s face reddened, and he looked at Shiao Chen fearfully. If not that he got stuck in cultivation and couldn’t make any breakthroughs for a long time, how dared he to act like this.
“Senior, that was just my wishful thinking. How could it be possible for you to want this kind of low-grade talisman. I will leave right now.”
“Wait,” said Shiao Chen, who gave him a glance and added, “Leave the one hundred Fireball Talismans behind and take two pills from the bottle.”
These words silenced all and then the market was in an uproar.
That young man was full of joy and excitement. He put down that one hundred talismans without hesitation, prudently took two Spirit-refining Pills from the jade bottle and left with heartfelt delight.
Since even the trashy Fireball Talisman worked for the exchange, plus one successful case, elixirs sold like hot cakes.
“Senior, I also have tens of Fireball Talismans and more than ten Earth Ripping Talismans, Body-binding Talismans and Diamond Talismans. I want to exchange for three Small-restoration Pills.”
“Senior, I have talismans including Kui Water Gold Needle Talismans, Explosive Fire Talismans and Swamp Talismans. And I hope to exchange for two Spirit-gathering Pills and one serving of Top Blood Jasper Cream.”
After over one hour, the elixirs on Shiao Chen’s booth almost lessened by half, but the talismans in his storage bag added up to over one thousand, which made him very satisfied.
One lowest grade Fireball Talisman could only attack with the power of the third level of Qi Refining, but what if one hundred of them were used at the same time? Even cultivators of Foundation Establishment, if hit, would be badly wounded if not dead. If used well, it could save his life.
“Ahem!”
A hum was heard among the crowd, which overawed all present with mighty spirit power and divine sense. Then the market was like being pressed the mute button, so quiet that even the sound of a falling needle could be heard. A path appeared among the crowed and an insidious man over 30 years old, wearing black clothes, came in big strides. Standing in front of Shiao Chen’s booth, he looked at the elixirs displayed with fervency.
A cultivator at Foundation Establishment!
Shiao Chen panicked inwardly but instantly clamed himself down. Although he failed to establish foundation, his power was fully reinforced and rather pure. In fights, he was not necessarily weaker than cultivators at the preliminary stage of Foundation Establishment.
“Senior, do you want to exchange for some elixirs?” Shiao Chen asked modestly with hands folded.
The man in black hesitated for a while and said slowly, “I have talismans that those small potatoes have definitely no access to.” With some complacency flashing through his faces, the man in black took out a blood-red talisman, which seemed like burning, from his storage bag. Judging from the dense and complicated patterns, it was surely quite extraordinary.
“Fire Explosive Talisman. Once spirit power is infused in it, explosion surely happens. Its attacking power equals to that of a cultivator at the preliminary stage of Foundation Establishment. How much would you pay for it?”
Eagerness appeared in Shiao Chen’s eyes. Fire Explosive Talisman was classified as second grade talisman with fairly strong attacking power. With it, he would have one more means to keep himself safe.
“Three Soul-nourishing Pills.” Pondering for a while, Shiao Chen took out three pills from his storage bag. Their rich fragrance suddenly spread out, which indicated clearly that their grade was much higher than those on the booth.
The Soul-nourishing Pill could help improve the cultivation of cultivators at Foundation Establishment, which made the people around look more covetous.
Mania also flashed through the eyes of this man in black and without hesitation he said, “Deal!” After carefully taking over the three Soul-nourishing Pills from Shiao Chen, the man hesitated for a while and continued, “I also have one high-grade Water Needle Talisman, which, once used, can release thousands of water needles. With it, you can even hold back a cultivator at the middle stage of Foundations Establishment.”
“I will exchange for it!” Shiao Chen said promptly. However, since the man had already gotten some Soul-nourishing Pills, Shiao Chen, with some thought, took out five Soul-replenishing Pills and handed them to the man in black.
“Sense-restoring Pills!” The man in black clearly knew a lot about elixirs. Looking really joyful, he checked prudently, nodded to give consent to the deal and then put the high-grade Water Needle Talisman onto Shiao Chen’s hand.
Shiao Chen checked carefully, And, after making sure nothing went wrong, he nodded with satisfaction and put it into his storage bag.
“Senior, do you have any other talismans to exchange? I will surely give you reasonable prices.” Shiao Chen looked at the man in black quite fervently.
The man hesitated for a while and shook his head.
Right at this moment, Shiao Chen put on a trace of properly managed disappointment in his eyes. This was seen by the man, who smiled coldly in the heart and walked away in big strides.
After another 15 minutes, Shiao Chen got two hundred more talismans, waved his hand and announced, “So much for today and off you go.”
Still lots of people didn’t get the chance to exchange for elixirs they wanted, but the power Shiao Chen showed was the seventh level of Qi Refining, which overawed them and made them dare not to complain. At last, they had no choice but to leave slowly and reluctantly. Of course, there were people dodging eye contacts, who left without getting far away enough.
Shiao Chen smiled coldly in his heart, simply packed up his things and flew away with a flash of green light.
After leaving the Small Cliff Market, Shiao Chen flew in a moderate speed. Having flown for about several hundred kilometers, he found the space in front of him twitched and then a man appeared and stood in his way.
Shiao Chen gave him an expressionless glance and said calmly, “Friend, what do you want to do? We have closed the deal and why are you standing in my way?”
The man in black laughed sinisterly and answered evilly, “Haha, my purpose is very simple. Be sensible and give me back the two talismans I exchanged with you before and offer me another dozens of elixirs. Then I may consider to show mercy on you and let you walk out of here safe and sound.” In his view, Shiao Chen was definitely the lineal disciple of a certain big sect, otherwise he couldn’t have so many elixirs at just Qi Refining. Therefore, he didn’t show any malicious intentions at the market. And now he showed himself because he had made sure that Shiao Chen was totally by himself without any secret protection. Thinking that he probably could get some good stuffs again this time, he just couldn’t hold back that greed in his eyes.
Shiao Chen showed fear at the right moment and posed his body in a posture like that he was trying to flee back.
“Aha, let me give you a little piece of advice: Struggle no more, for it is not only in vain but also will make you suffer more.” The man in black said confidently. Although he was just at the preliminary stage of Foundation Establishment, killing a cultivator at Qi Refining was dead easy.
“Go die!” The man in black opened his mouth and a sharp red light shot out and went straight to Shiao Chen, which was his spirit tool that had been nourished in his body. Even though he was fighting a cultivator at Qi Refining, the man in black still used his spirit tool to hit with all his might in order to make sure he could kill his foe instantly, which showed that the man in black was extremely prudent. If it was someone else, he would surely make it. But unfortunately, it was Shiao Chen that he was attacking.
“Now!” After the man in black opened his mouth and took out his spirit tool, he thought that Shiao Chen was a dead person and let his guard down to the lowest point. And right at this moment, Shiao Chen suddenly restored his sanity and ended his show of acting like panic-stricken.
The man was shocked, but before he could react, he felt his divine sense being pierced through by sharp iron cone and the next moment he spit out blood so forcefully that it even formed a bloody fog. After a wobble, he fell to the ground.
The power of the spirit tool lessened greatly after the death of its owner. With a buzz sound, it tried to flee away. Shiao Chen waved his hand expressionlessly, drawing that red spirit tool to his palm after it gave a plaintive whine.
A middle grade spirit tool!
Shiao Chen felt very happy and excited in his heart, but it was not the proper time to prob into it. Therefore, he just attached two Restrictive Talismans on it and put it into his storage bag.
When Shiao Chen landed, the man in black, due to fatal injury to his divine sense, had already fallen on the ground and died. Shiao Chen did not feel guilty about this. If not for his evil thought of killing Shiao Chen, how he could end up like this. Shiao Chen took this man’s storage bag, scanned coldly behind him and then with a snort left on a light shield.
Minutes later, several people appeared not far away from where Shiao Chen had stood. Pale and fearsome, they looked at each other and couldn’t help but swallow involuntarily.
Shiao Chen could kill a cultivator at the preliminary stage of Foundation Establishment in an instant, which meant he definitely had some of his power concealed! Besides, the warning glance he gave before he left told them that he had already found them tailing him. Thinking that they were just one step away from death, they couldn’t help but feel blood frozen and fled away.
Without being discovered by others, Shiao Chen got back to Luoyun Valley. After prudently checked the spells outside the valley, he nodded satisfactorily and entered the herbal garden on the hillside.
He first classified all kind of talismans he had collected. The power of a single talisman was small, but if tens or even hundreds of them were used together, even cultivators at Foundation Establishment probably dared not to confront it directly.
Later, he took out the two high grade talismans exchanged with that man in black, played with them for a while and then put them away carefully.
Then he took out a storage bag, which originally belonged to that man in black. With a wave of hand, Shiao Chen broke all spells on it and then poured all things in it out.
After emptying the storage bag, Shiao Chen’s eyes brightened. Despite how bad the man’s character was, he was the wealthiest cultivator at Foundation Establishment Shiao Chen had even seen.
In the storage bag, there were hundreds of low-grade spirit stones and even several middle grade ones. Shiao Chen gladly put all of them into his own storage bag. Except that red middle-grade spirit tool, there were three more spirit tools, one middle grade and two low grade. Shiao Chen took over them all. Although elixirs were a great fortune for others, for Shiao Chen, they were of little value. With a causal glance, he didn’t find any high-grade elixirs, so he just put them aside carelessly.
At last, what was left were some talismans and two jade boxes. Shiao Chen checked these talismans carefully and he found another three Fire Explosive Talismans and Two high grade Water Needle Talismans, which were really happy surprise for him.
The things in jade boxes were stored so carefully by the man in black, which meant they were obviously very precious. Shao Chen couldn’t help swallowing and opened one of them cautiously. A weird talisman came into sight. It was called weird because it was not like any other talismans with complicated patterns but rather simple – several lines formed a lively picture of a needle like thing.
Shiao Chen took it in hand and sensed it, but he didn’t find anything unusual and couldn’t even perceive any turbulences of spirit power. Even so, Shiao Chen got a hunch that it was definitely quite something. Therefore, he put it back into the jade box prudently and put it away.
After opening the second jade box, there were two jade slips, one green and one milk white. Shiao Chen took up the green one and put it down after looking at it for a while. There was an incantation named The Wave Origin of Real Water, which was a small top-grade cultivation scripture, but it was of little value for Shiao Chen.
Shiao Chen took up the other jade slip and put it on his forehead, the words of Formations and Talismans came to sight; this slip was about how to lay out formations and transform them into talismans. Shiao Chen was so pleased because although the Formation Basics he got from Alchemy Taoist also involved some explanations of formation talismans, but the content was relatively simple. Though useful for beginners, the formations in it were just plain ordinary. However, Formations and Talismans combined both and was more fit for Shiao Chen.
After an hour, Shiao Chen took his divine sense back from the jade slip and put it away carefully. The content of formations and talismans was extensive and profound. It was not late to went deep into it when he got sufficient time.