Mortal: Reborn in Yellow Maple Valley, Awakening the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts

After Han Li carefully stored the spirit seed, he followed another attendant in a blue robe upstairs to the second floor. Chu Zifei watched his retreating figure, a thought suddenly occurring to him. According to the timeline, the Blood Forbidden Trial was about to begin; no wonder Han Li would appear at the Myriad Treasures Pavilion at this time.

Upon hearing Elder Ding's question, Chu Zifei finally came to his senses and smiled apologetically, cupping his hands in a gesture of respect: "I'm sorry, Elder Ding, to be honest, I only have one spirit seed in my possession."

Upon hearing this, Old Ding let out a long sigh, his disappointment evident in his expression.

"but......"

Chu Zifei changed the subject, "I have something else I wish to trade with your shop."

Upon hearing his words, Old Ding's expression instantly changed; all his disappointment vanished, replaced by intense anticipation. Judging solely from the exchange between the two just now, what Chu Zifei offered was undoubtedly a priceless treasure.

Before Old Ding could respond, a fist-sized black stone was gently pushed onto the table.

When Mr. Ding saw the stone, he hesitated at first, but after examining it closely for a moment, disbelief appeared in his eyes. He then took the stone and carefully examined its color, texture, and quality, even weighing it in his hand.

"This...could it be Xuan Tie Jing (a type of refined iron)?"

Although there was a hint of doubt in Old Ding's tone, his expression was very certain.

Chu Zifei did not answer, but simply nodded, tacitly acknowledging his guess.

Upon receiving Chu Zifei's affirmation, Elder Ding was overjoyed. Although he was just an ordinary person, he had been in charge of Wanbao Tower for decades. With his rich experience, how could he not know how precious this item was? This was an important material for refining a Core Formation magic weapon!

"How would you like to proceed with this transaction, young friend?"

Suppressing his excitement, Old Ding couldn't wait to ask.

"I need three things: a piece of spirit wood that can be used to refine a mid-grade magic weapon, a tendon from a Foundation Establishment stage early-stage demon beast, and a magic weapon that can bewitch Foundation Establishment stage early-stage cultivators."

Instead of beating around the bush, Chu Zifei directly revealed his hand, telling the other party what he needed.

  

Upon hearing this, Elder Ding did not immediately agree. Instead, he lowered his eyes slightly, tapped the table lightly with his fingertips, and after quickly weighing the pros and cons and calculating the prices in his mind, he slowly spoke: "Spirit wood and Foundation Establishment demon tendons are acceptable, but magic artifacts are not."

He paused briefly, then offered a compromise: "I'll make the decision. Replace the magic artifact with a high-level talisman; the effect will be just as good."

Chu Zifei chuckled inwardly. He had never really expected to obtain a magic weapon; he was merely deliberately inflating the price to leave room for the other party to lower it. Although the materials for refining a Core Formation magic weapon were precious, they were still just materials, not finished magic weapons. The two materials he had just asked for, plus the magic weapon itself, had indeed exceeded the value of Xuan Iron Essence.

"In that case, let's do as Elder Ding says."

"However, we still need to add another hundred taels of gold and one hundred taels of silver." Chu Zifei, seeing that things were going well, took the opportunity to offer his final condition.

This time, Elder Ding did not refuse. Although ordinary gold and silver could be used to aid in weapon forging, they were not considered scarce resources and were insignificant to Wanbaolou. He immediately waved his hand, summoned a servant, and whispered a few instructions.

After hearing this, the attendant accepted the order, turned around, and walked straight into the inner hall.

About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the servant returned to Old Master Ding's side with a wooden tray, on which were neatly arranged items that Chu Zi did not need.

Old Ding took the wooden tray and began to introduce each item one by one. He first picked up a piece of brown wood about a foot long and as thick as a wrist and said to Chu Zifei, "This is Kunwu wood. It is tough and more than enough to make a mid-grade magic weapon. In terms of strength, it is even better than the spiritual wood used to make high-grade magic weapons."

Seeing Chu Zifei nod in agreement, Elder Ding picked up a translucent tendon with dark red patterns visible inside: "This is a serpent tendon. This serpent was a genuine early Foundation Establishment stage demon beast in its lifetime. Its tendons and bones are highly refined, making it a top-grade material for crafting magical artifacts."

Chu Zifei's heart stirred slightly. He carefully examined the coiled snake tendon and seemed quite satisfied.

Finally, Elder Ding solemnly picked up a cyan talisman and said to Chu Zifei, "This is a mind-bewitching talisman. Even a cultivator in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage will be confused and lose focus for three breaths under the influence of this talisman. However, the stronger one's Dao heart, the weaker the effect."

Upon seeing the talisman, a hint of joy finally flashed in Chu Zifei's eyes. With the Bewitching Heart Talisman in hand, and the Vine Prison Talisman he had previously acquired, the two talismans complemented each other, enough to give him the power to protect himself when facing a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Without further hesitation, he exchanged items with Old Ding and completed the transaction. After each keeping what they needed, both were happy.

As for the gold and silver that Chu Zi insisted on, they had already been packed into wooden boxes and placed at the door. He raised his hand, took out his storage bag, and with a light sweep of his divine sense, put the two wooden boxes into the bag.

After doing all this, Chu Zifei left Wanbaolou. A moment later, he stood at the entrance of the market street, looking back at the bustling scene, and thought to himself: This trip to the market was not in vain. Not only did I gain more than I expected, but I also met the future savior of suffering, Han Tianzun! Just as I remembered from my previous life, he really was plain-looking, and his skin was even a little dark!

"Luckily, I'm better looking than him, hahaha!"

Thinking of this, Chu Zifei chuckled and left the market without looking back, speeding straight towards Huangfeng Valley.

Nothing unexpected happened along the way, and they didn't even encounter any fellow disciples.

An hour later, as Chu Zifei passed a secluded mountain stream, he suddenly stopped, turned around, looked at the empty woods behind him, and casually said, "Come out, you've been following me all this way, aren't you tired?"

As soon as he finished speaking, with a slight fluctuation of spiritual energy, two figures appeared out of thin air from the open space behind him.

One of the cultivators, who appeared to be middle-aged, asked in a deep voice with surprise and doubt, "My concealment cloak is so strong that even a Foundation Establishment cultivator cannot see through it. How did you manage to see through it?"

Chu Zifei didn't answer directly upon hearing this. After recognizing the newcomers, his eyes narrowed slightly: "So it really is you!"

The two people who followed Chu Zifei were the stall owner who had sold him the broken stone cauldron earlier, and the gray-robed old man who had stopped him at the north street entrance to ask about the price.

How could these two possibly have imagined that Chu Zifei had never seen through the magical artifacts they used to conceal their tracks, but instead clearly understood their methods of following them here?

Back when he met the old man at the North Street intersection, Chu Zifei had already determined that the old man and the stall owner selling the stone cauldron were in cahoots. He realized that the two of them were setting a trap in secret, so he decided to play along and deliberately follow their plan to thoroughly find out what tricks they were up to behind the scenes.