Wild Dogs

"A talisman?"

This was the first time Yang Fan had ever heard of this thing.

Seeing that Yang Fan seemed a little confused, Elder Shi explained.

"A talisman is a talisman made by extracting a portion of the power of a magical artifact."

"Although it is a talisman, it can still unleash a small portion of the power of a magic weapon, but it requires a Qi Refining Stage Level 6 or above to activate it with full force."

Just as Elder Shi was explaining to Yang Fan, not long after, the maid entered the secret room carrying a jade box.

"Elder Shi, the talisman is here."

After handing over the talisman, the maid obediently left.

"Please look, sir. This is the Flying Needle Talisman."

After taking the jade box and opening it, Yang Fan's expression turned somewhat strange.

There was nothing special about it; inside the jade box was a jade talisman that was full of cracks and had lost its luster.

Although it looks like a talisman, it is actually made of some kind of jade.

Strange patterns were drawn around the jade talisman, and a golden flying needle pattern was in the center of the talisman.

However, the talisman looked very dilapidated at this moment, as if it would break into pieces at any time.

Yang Fan frowned as he looked at the jade talisman. He didn't even dare to touch it, fearing that it would shatter completely.

"Is this the talisman?"

Yang Fan looked at Elder Shi with a strange expression.

"Ahem, you're right, sir. This is the flying needle talisman I told you about; it's incredibly powerful."

"Although the talisman is very powerful, it has a limited number of uses; it can only be used ten times after it is crafted."

"The reason this talisman looks so broken is because it has been used several times, so its condition is poor."

Yang Fan then realized that it was a second-hand talisman treasure, which made it no surprise.

"How many more times can this talisman be used? It won't even last once, will it?"

Yang Fan hesitated for a long time, but still didn't dare to touch the talisman.

"How could that be? This flying needle talisman can be used once more. As long as the guest drips his blood essence and then activates it with spiritual energy, he can control the talisman."

Old Shi spoke enthusiastically, but Yang Fan remained skeptical.

"How do you kill the Gu worms with this?"

"That's easy!"

Seeing that Yang Fan seemed interested, the old man immediately began to offer his guidance.

"Once the guest activates the talisman, it will transform into an extremely fine flying needle."

"When the time comes, we can use this flying needle talisman to pierce the Gu worm and kill it instantly!"

Yang Fan's heart skipped a beat; this might actually be a good idea.

If you try to forcibly remove the Gu worm by separating the body, you may awaken the Gu worm.

However, if you use flying needles, you can instantly kill the Gu worms.

Once the Gu worm dies, we can find a way to remove it.

Thinking about it carefully, it might actually be feasible.

Yang Fan would give it a try as long as there was even the slightest chance.

"How many spirit stones!"

"Great, five hundred spirit stones will do."

Old Shi smiled and held up five fingers.

"Snapped!"

Yang Fan slammed the jade box shut, cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, and turned to leave.

"Hey, why are you in such a hurry, customer? I'll make an offer, and you can negotiate..."

"How can I negotiate such an exorbitant price?"

Yang Fan shook his head coldly.

"This talisman can only be used once. You dare to ask for five hundred spirit stones? That's outrageous!"

He is not a fool.

This talisman is clearly too useless.

It's not very effective for defense, and it's not very valuable for assassination either.

The flying needles are too small; at most, they might prick someone's eye or something, but they obviously can't cause a fatal injury.

This talisman is so useless, and it only has two uses left. Five hundred spirit stones is simply outrageous.

"You flatter me, sir. How about two hundred spirit stones?"

Yang Fan glanced at Elder Shi, then waved his hand, and two medicinal herbs flew out, rolling twice on the table before stopping.

"I'll trade these two medicinal herbs for your Flying Needle Talisman. In addition, you'll have to give me another hundred spirit stones."

Old Shi was somewhat displeased; how could two hundred-year-old medicinal herbs be of such high value?

But his expression changed immediately after he saw the two medicinal herbs clearly.

"Medicinal herbs that are a thousand years old!"

"Is there a problem? Two thousand-year-old medicinal herbs for this talisman, and you give me an extra hundred spirit stones, and we'll have a deal."

Looking at the medicinal herbs on the stone table, Old Shi picked them up, examined them twice, and nodded repeatedly.

"Okay, deal!"

The old man hurriedly handed Yang Fan one hundred spirit stones, and Yang Fan immediately took the two herbs in his hands as if they were precious treasures, examining them carefully.

"Goodbye!"

Yang Fan put away the spirit stones and jade box, then turned and left.

"Wait a moment, sir!"

Old Shi hurriedly spoke up.

"Something wrong? We're even now."

"Of course, of course we're even. What I'd like to say is that if you need any more of this kind of medicinal herb in the future, please come to our Tianji Pavilion first."

"Our Tianji Pavilion is honest and fair, and we will definitely offer the highest prices in the entire market."

Yang Fan shook his head slightly.

"I only discovered this by chance; how could there be so many medicinal herbs every day?"

"We'll definitely have customers."

Old Shi chuckled and lowered his voice.

"The guest must be a junior elder from some sect nearby."

"If I'm not mistaken, these should be medicinal herbs treasured by your clan."

Old Shi gave him a knowing look, and Yang Fan was taken aback. He then gave a vague smile, neither confirming nor denying.

"I understand!"

"Young master is a man of status, and it is inconvenient for him to be seen in public."

"These medicinal herbs are just sitting idle in the sect anyway, so we might as well take them out and exchange them for some money."

I've seen plenty of these spoiled rich kids.

These medicinal herbs were originally meant for the sect, but these spoiled brats secretly took them out and resold them, profiting from them for nothing.

"It's good that you know. We'll talk about next time next time."

Yang Fan pretended to be exposed and left in a fluster.

Once Yang Fan left, the smile on Old Shi's face vanished, replaced by deep contempt.

"These spoiled brats are squandering the wealth accumulated by their ancestors without a second thought. The sect's foundation built up over many years is about to be ruined by these second-generation rich kids."

But then he chuckled.

"That's for the best, then I can collect more medicinal herbs. Anyway, it's not my family that's losing money."

After leaving the secret room, the maid at the door greeted them with a smile.

"Does the guest need anything else?"

"No need, goodbye!"

Yang Fan hurriedly left the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion.

He deliberately circled the crowd several times to make sure no one was following him before he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"It seems I've been mistaken for some spoiled rich kid, and these people want to do long-term business with me."

That's fine too; being misunderstood is actually safer.

Once he was sure no one was following him, Yang Fan relaxed and continued strolling around the market.

With the spirit stones he had just acquired through the transaction, he felt more confident as he strolled around the market.

As Yang Fan walked, he looked around, trying to see if he could buy anything that would be useful to Xiao Hei.

Xiao Hei is not a demon beast; under normal circumstances, it will grow old in another ten years or so.

However, since Yang Fan already has the spare capacity, he can train Xiao Hei and perhaps transform Xiao Hei into a dog demon.

"Top-quality monster meat, don't miss it if you pass by."

A series of shouts came from the side. Yang Fan went over, asked around, and after confirming that the monster meat had a certain effect on the transformation of ordinary beasts into monsters, he bought some for Xiao Hei.

Before leaving, he prepared some food for Xiao Hei and secretly placed it in the back mountain.

I'll use the monster meat to nourish myself properly when I get back.

After selling all the monster meat, Yang Fan was about to leave when he glanced around and saw a young girl setting up a stall all alone in a corner of the market.

The girl's clothes were tattered, and she looked pale and thin, looking around helplessly.

Although people walked past her stall from time to time, they did not stop.

Seeing this, Yang Fan sighed.

This girl was clearly not very skilled in cultivation, so she couldn't get a good spot and could only set up a stall in the corners of the market.

And judging from the appearance, the items on her stall weren't very good.

Seeing the girl's helpless appearance, Yang Fan recalled how helpless he was when he was first brought to the Xu family.

Touched by a soft spot in his heart, Yang Fan walked over, wanting to see what the girl was selling.

When he got to the girl's stall, he realized why no one was buying anything from it.

The reason was simple: everything on the girl's stall was secondhand.

Moreover, many of them can already be described as junk.

Unless it's given away for free, nobody would want this.

"Young master, would you like to buy something?"

Seeing someone stop in front of her stall, the girl quickly stood up, looked at him timidly, her eyes full of nervousness and anticipation.

Looking at the girl's thin body, Yang Fan sighed and scanned the stall, wanting to see if there was anything useful.

"Huh? You even have alchemy tools here?"

Yang Fan looked in surprise toward the corner of the stall, where there was a dilapidated little alchemy furnace and two tattered books under it.

"Ah, um, my grandfather used to be an alchemist in Lingyan Valley. These were left behind by him, but..."

The girl's hands were twisted together, and her face gradually turned pale.

This broken alchemy furnace is completely incapable of refining pills.

As for those books, although they were related to alchemy, the key parts were destroyed when her grandfather left Lingyan Valley.

Otherwise, they wouldn't be unable to refine pills and wouldn't be living such a miserable life.

The thought that the young master would not want her things if she told him the truth made her nervous.

But after thinking about it, she still steeled herself and looked at Yang Fan.

"Young master, this alchemy furnace cannot be used to refine pills, and those books are also incomplete..."

Yang Fan was somewhat surprised.

It is truly admirable that this young girl could remain true to herself despite her poverty.

"No problem, just tell me your price."

What might be junk to others is not to Yang Fan.

He has plenty of ways to turn waste into treasure.

Hearing that Yang Fan actually wanted more, the girl was so surprised she couldn't close her mouth.

After hesitating for a long time, she trembled as she extended one finger.

"Ten spirit stones? Okay!"

As Yang Fan spoke, he reached for a spirit stone.

"No, one piece, one piece is enough."

Even if it were just a single spirit stone, the girl was too nervous to accept it.

Looking at the trembling girl, Yang Fan felt even more pity for her.

He smiled and handed her ten spirit stones.

"Ten yuan it is, I'll also pick out a few more things, since I'm interested in alchemy and such."

Yang Fan spoke with a smile, his gaze sweeping across the stall.

Aside from the alchemy equipment, Yang Fan looked around for a while and then casually picked up two medicinal herbs.

"That's enough."

Yang Fan smiled and put the things away, then turned and left.

Watching Yang Fan's retreating figure, the girl was filled with excitement.

Although Yang Fan's face could not be seen, his gentle voice told one that this young master was a good person.

With this thought in mind, the girl gritted her teeth and immediately followed.

"Young master, wait!"

Yang Fan stopped and looked at the girl in surprise.

"Does the young master wish to learn alchemy?"

Yang Fan hesitated for a moment and then nodded.

"Yes, I am indeed learning alchemy. Why?"

After hesitating for a while, the girl looked at Yang Fan, gritted her teeth, and took out a crumpled booklet from her bosom.

"Young master, this is my grandfather's alchemy knowledge. Neither my brother nor I have much talent for alchemy, so we are giving it to you."

Yang Fan wanted to refuse, but the girl shoved the booklet into his arms and ran away.