Starting as a stray dog, I embarked on a journey of cultivation.

"Although the Wuxiang Black Market doesn't ask about the origin or destination of goods," Gou An said in a slightly heavy tone, with a hint of caution in his eyes, "as long as there is a transaction, it will inevitably leave a trace."

Long Youzi's heart tightened, and he quickly asked in a low voice, "Master, what should we do now? Leave this place immediately?"

"No rush." ​​Gou An shook his head slightly, raised his hand and handed over a heavy storage bag, stuffing it into Long Youzi's hand. Inside was the storage bag containing 500,000 low-grade spirit stones from this transaction.

"This! What is this?" Long Youzi looked bewildered. The moment his fingertips touched the storage bag, he felt the thick spiritual energy inside.

"Here's your share of the spoils!" Gou An said calmly. "Later, you can go all out, wander around and buy whatever you want. Pick out spiritual materials, pills, and magical artifacts—they don't need to be useful, just make them varied to cover up our true purpose."

Long Youzi suddenly realized and subconsciously looked around.

The entire black market street was teeming with people, all wearing masks and robes, seemingly bustling and disorderly, but in reality, undercurrents were surging, and no one knew which faction's spies were hiding behind the masks.

"Is someone really watching us?" Long Youzi asked in a low voice.

"Whether it happens or not, we must prepare for the worst." Gou An said calmly, "That's called prevention."

Long Youzi said no more, carefully put away the storage bag, and followed Gou An as they strolled slowly through the black market streets.

The two seemed to be strolling around leisurely, stopping to examine any novel trinkets they saw, occasionally buying a few spiritual herbs, a few bottles of ordinary pills, and some ordinary magical artifacts, their demeanor relaxed and natural.

Unfortunately, despite searching all the way, they couldn't find the two spiritual materials that Gou An needed.

After some twists and turns, the two finally stopped in front of an elegant attic in a quiet corner of the black market.

The shop sign reads four characters: Baicao Danlou.

Before even stepping through the threshold, Gou An could smell a clear and pure medicinal fragrance.

The attic was warmly lit, with layers of wooden shelves filled with well-sealed bottles of spiritual herbs and pills. Compared to the chaotic atmosphere of other places, this place was clean, orderly, and much more elegant.

As soon as the two entered, a young shop assistant dressed in a plain robe and wearing a pure white mask immediately stepped forward, bowed, and greeted them in a clear voice: "Fellow Daoists, are you looking to purchase some pills? Our shop has all kinds of healing, qi-strengthening, and breakthrough pills."

"I don't need any pills," Gou An said directly, his gaze sweeping across the shop. "I'm here to find two rare spiritual materials."

Upon hearing this, the man in the pure white mask quickly smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist, please speak! Although our shop mainly sells pills, we also buy and sell all kinds of spiritual materials. We have a complete range of products, but the price will be slightly higher if you buy spiritual materials separately."

"Price is not a concern," Gou An said confidently. "I'm just worried you might not have it here."

The shopkeeper laughed heartily, his tone incredibly confident, even slightly arrogant: "Fellow Daoist, please speak freely. Our Hundred Herbs Pill Pavilion has been operating in this Formless Black Market for over a hundred years, and we've never been short of stock!"

"In that case..." Gou An slowly said, "I need the Mind-Cleansing Flower and the Moonflower Essence."

Upon hearing this, the masked shopkeeper immediately breathed a sigh of relief, his smile widening: "I thought it was some kind of priceless treasure, but it turns out to be just these two commonly used spiritual materials. Our shop has plenty in stock, and you can take them anytime."

"However, I want it to be a thousand years old," Gou An added casually.

The moment the words left his mouth, the previously confident man froze on the spot, his voice trailing off: "A thousand! A thousand years?"

"What? No?" Gou An raised an eyebrow.

The waiter quickly snapped out of his daze and, forcing a smile, replied, "Yes!"

Then he added, "Yes, we do have them, but thousand-year-old spiritual materials are extremely rare and very expensive. I'm afraid you can't afford them, fellow Daoist."

"Name your price!" Gou An was now confident, holding over 30 million low-grade spirit stones.

Seeing this, the shopkeeper had no choice but to add, "Ordinary Qingxin Flower and Yuehua Ling can be bought for a few hundred spirit stones. A hundred-year-old one costs five times more, a five-hundred-year-old one costs twenty times more, and a thousand-year-old one costs a hundred times more."

"A single plant costs hundreds of thousands of low-grade spirit stones, and two plants together would cost nearly a million!"

Hearing this, Long Youzi was secretly shocked and muttered, "Good heavens, they really dare to ask for that! Just two random herbs are worth the entire fortune of a second- or third-rate sect."

"Wrap it up," Gou An replied without hesitation.

This completely terrified the young man.

He thought the other party was just asking casually and would probably be deterred by the price, but to his surprise, the other party made the decision without even blinking.

He was immediately at a loss, his face full of embarrassment: "Fellow Daoist, please wait a moment! The stock of ancient materials is scarce, and I have no authority to allocate them. I must ask the manager for permission!"

After saying that, he hurriedly turned around and quickly retreated into the inner hall.

Seeing this, Long Youzi couldn't help but complain: "They were just bragging like crazy, but when it comes to actually taking delivery, they chickened out. They were probably just talking big."

A moment later, a steady footstep came from the inner hall.

An elderly man wearing a ram's horn mask and a gray robe walked out slowly, his demeanor calm and composed, clearly the person in charge of the shop.

The old man bowed slightly, his tone humble: "Fellow Daoists, you have been waiting long. I heard you require a thousand-year-old Pure Heart Flower and Moon Essence Poria?"

"That's right." Gou An nodded.

The old man with the ram's horn spoke frankly: "To be honest, our shop does have these two kinds of spiritual materials in reserve, but the oldest is only a little over five hundred years old, not yet reaching the thousand-year quality. My son was arrogant and boastful just now, I hope you won't take offense."

Long Youzi immediately curled his lip and retorted, "As expected, he's just bragging."

"It's alright." Gou An didn't mind: "Anything over five hundred years old is fine, one of each."

The old man breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and quickly took out an exquisite ice-sealed jade box, which was clearly a storage treasure specially made for storing spiritual materials.

With a flick of his fingertip, the lid of the box opened slightly, and two beams of spiritual light slowly rose from within.

A plant entirely emerald green with translucent petals—it is truly a flower that soothes the soul.

A silvery-white, glossy plant with plump roots—this is the Moonflower Poria.

The two spiritual materials possessed a concentrated and undissipated spiritual energy, indicating they were of superior quality and had been exceptionally well-maintained.

Gou An glanced at the item, confirming that the age and condition were fine, with no mold, damage, or contamination from evil spirits. He immediately said, "Name your price."

The old man smiled slightly: "Both plants will be counted together. Fellow Daoist, you only need to pay 15,000 low-grade spirit stones."

The price was fair, and there was no price gouging.

Gou An nodded, flipped his hand and took out two storage bags, one containing ten thousand and the other five thousand low-grade spirit stones, and handed them over.

After carefully verifying the quantity and purity of the spirit stones and confirming that everything was correct, the old man with the ram's horn solemnly handed the two jade boxes to Gou An.

The transaction of the spirit stones was completed cleanly and efficiently.

Gou An carefully put away the jade box, and without lingering, turned and walked out of the Hundred Herbs Pill Pavilion with Long Youzi.

After casually strolling around the black market for a while, I planned to find an opportunity to leave.

What Gou An didn't know was that the waiter with the pure white mask on his face watched Gou An and Long Youzi's figures disappear from sight.

"Looks like two big fish!"