Muckworm Child, Rootless Duckweed

In the eyes of others, they had stepped into the former Tianjiang Dragon Manor.

But in Yang An's eyes, they had ascended to an isolated island within a sea of mist.

Soon, as Yang An and the others stepped onto the island, a figure approached them and bowed.

"I am a child under the True Person. Please follow me and rest for a while."

The child was polite and would lead everyone to rest first. Yang An and the others were the first to arrive at the Communal Feast Convention and would have to wait for other cultivators to arrive later.

Everyone responded courteously.

A flicker of strangeness flashed in Yang An's eyes, but he restrained his emotions and followed behind the others, moving into the island with the child. He tried his best not to look at the child walking in front.

That was no child at all, but a humanoid creature formed by countless Muckworms intertwined.

Each Muckworm was the size of a finger, like a snail without its shell, densely entangled together, enough to make one's scalp tingle and hairs stand on end at a glance.

And this was not the only "child" before them. As they walked further, they saw more "people." They seemed to be attending to their own duties, not casually approaching Yang An and the others.

Among them were also many who looked like normal humans, but there were still some bizarre creatures that made people extremely uncomfortable.

On this island, surrounded by dense fog, Yang An surveyed his surroundings. Everywhere he looked, he could see the scattered remains of unknown creatures on the ground.

Some were just skeletons, some still had a bit of rotting flesh, some were as tall as mountains, some were as small as washbasins, and they even attracted many birds to fight over them, completely disregarding the people walking around.

Occasionally, the breeze that brushed past carried a rather pungent smell of decay.

But all of this was ignored by the people beside him. Their five senses had been completely blocked by the Illusionary Insect Corpses, plunging them into another illusion. They could only see the legendary beauty of Tianjiang Dragon Manor, and not the grotesque and eerie scene of white bones scattered across the island.

Although everything on the island appeared extremely bizarre, Yang An did not feel any danger for the time being. He was like an unknown outsider, quietly observing everything.

The group followed the Muckworm Child all the way and were eventually led into a cave on the island. Lights were dotted inside, and it had been cleaned very thoroughly, with no strange things.

Seeing this, Yang An had no choice but to sit down with the others. It wasn't until the Muckworm Child reappeared, bringing a pot of clear tea and several cups.

While the others weren't paying attention, Yang An subtly tested the tea with his finger. No prompt popped up before his eyes, indicating that it was just ordinary clear tea. Only then did he relax.

The waiting time was a bit long.

Pan Shi's injuries had not yet healed, so he took this opportunity to meditate and recuperate.

Pan Yu seemed to be lost in thought, occasionally showing a silly smile. Yang An suspected she might be shipping couples in her mind, perhaps already corrupted by another world.

Black Brow, who was making himself at home, seemed eager to talk to Yang An, but Yang An ignored him, offering only a polite smile and maintaining his distance.

Yang An's mind was not on this either. He was considering what he should do next after the other cultivators arrived.

Before the Communal Feast Convention, there would naturally be a very important trading session.

On the way there, Yang An had learned from Pan Shi that to exchange items with other cultivators, it could only be done through bartering.

Besides the currency systems of ordinary people, there was no unified item that cultivators could use as currency for transactions.

Mundane gold and silver were almost useless to most cultivators, so transactions between cultivators usually involved exchanging items of equal value.

Of course, this didn't mean that cultivation methods could only be traded for cultivation methods, or elixirs for elixirs.

The reason it was called a trade was naturally based on the needs of both parties. As long as the other party's needs were met, elixirs could be exchanged for cultivation methods, and gold and silver might even buy rare magic artifacts.

Because of this, when the needs of the other party were unknown, many cultivators would choose to inflate the value of the items they possessed to gain more profit.

Over time, the trades at the Communal Feast Convention naturally saw some instances of overpricing, and even deception, with many people being misled or deceived.

Sometimes, even the person offering the item might not know its true value, simply inflating its price.

This was akin to sifting through sand; while gold might be found, most of it was a misjudgment, or people were deceived into thinking ordinary gravel was a treasure.

This strong sense of déjà vu undoubtedly reminded Yang An of the common practice of finding hidden gems in antique markets in his previous life; it was exactly the same.

However, the more it was like this, the more Yang An looked forward to it.

His cheat, besides purifying items of their usage costs, could also display the true information of items. This kind of trading method, where one could find hidden gems, was undoubtedly perfect for him.

Others might be deceived, but he definitely wouldn't be!

This was his personal advantage, and the upcoming trading session was his time to shine.

The only unfortunate thing was that he was very poor right now, with only two items on him that had some value.

One was the practice method for the Lighting Method, which had already been purified and had no usage cost. The other was the magic artifact stick he had picked up from that previous defiled Taoist.

Yang An did not intend to trade the former. After interacting with Pan Shi and the others for these days, he had learned some things from him and had become more knowledgeable about cultivation.

In this world, anything related to cultivation came with a certain cost, whether large or small, light or heavy. As long as one came into contact with or used it, one would inevitably have to bear the corresponding cost.

But apart from mundane items, anything that cultivators could use absolutely had no cost.

Never!

If Yang An were to take out the practice method for the Lighting Method, from which the cost had already been removed, it would definitely cause a huge stir in this world and bring him great trouble.

Having already considered this, he understood the principle that an innocent man is guilty when he possesses a treasure. Therefore, on the way there, he had already destroyed the incomplete page of the Lighting Method, committing the practice method to memory.

In other words, the only thing he could truly use for trading was that disgusting stick.

So, how to use this magic artifact from the defiled Taoist to obtain what he needed was the question that needed to be considered next.

And what were the things he needed?

Without a doubt, it was a cultivation method.

Although the Lighting Method he mastered was incredibly powerful, its limitations were too great, and influenced by his own being, its growth potential could only reach this point.

In a direct confrontation, he would absolutely not be a match for a cultivator relying solely on the Lighting Method and the Bone Relic Buddha Light; Yang An was well aware of this.

Since mastering the Lighting Method, he had survived more by his ability to seize opportunities and his judgment.

Techniques were ultimately just techniques; the key depended on the person using them.

Without a cultivation method, a person was like a rootless duckweed.

Unable to become a cultivator, one would forever remain a mortal, vulnerable to a single blow.