The Free Market

Wang Hong also went over when he saw this. The meat of this demonic beast was bright red, covered with snowflake-like patterns.

"As everyone knows, a first-tier mid-grade demonic beast's strength is equivalent to a cultivator in the middle stage of Qi Condensation. It took my brothers and me half a day to hunt this Golden-Haired Demonic Ox," the dark-faced man continued to explain. "Demonic beast meat is rich in spiritual energy, and consuming it can also improve one's cultivation. It's much more cost-effective than eating Spirit Rice. Spirit Rice costs one Spirit Stone per jin."

"Fellow Daoist, don't take me for a fool. How can demonic beast meat be compared to Spirit Rice?" the middle-aged man who was haggling shook his head. "The spiritual energy in Spirit Rice is neutral and gentle, making it the easiest to refine and absorb, with no side effects. However, the spiritual energy within demonic beast meat is violent and not easy to absorb. If consumed long-term, it can even affect one's mind."

"The symptoms you're talking about would at least take several consecutive years of consumption. Who eats demonic beasts every day for years on end?

Besides, can't you hire Spirit Chefs to prepare it? The Spirit Meals made by Spirit Chefs are not only delicious and have no side effects, but their efficacy is also even more powerful," the dark-faced man added.

"Hiring Spirit Chefs still requires spending Spirit Stones, right? How about this: one Spirit Stone for a hundred and twenty jin of demonic beast meat, what do you say?"

After a round of bargaining, back and forth, the dark-faced man finally nodded in agreement, cut off a large piece of meat, threaded it with a grass rope, and handed it to the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man took it and took out a finger-sized, crystal clear, green-glowing cube from his embrace, handing it to the dark-faced man.

Wang Hong guessed that this must be a Spirit Stone. Do all these immortal masters use these stones as money? He had to find a way to get a few to see.

Wang Hong continued to browse and found that all transactions here were conducted using the same kind of Spirit Stones, only with different colors.

There were all sorts of goods for sale here, but unfortunately, Wang Hong didn't recognize any of them. Wang Hong wasn't in a hurry; he considered it a learning experience.

One stall had two piles of ore. One pile was black and shiny, with a small sign in front that read: Mysterious Iron Ore, one Spirit Stone per jin. The other pile of reddish ore had: Crimson Copper, two Spirit Stones per jin. Wang Hong stood nearby for a while and learned from others' conversations that they were used for refining Magic Artifacts. But what were Magic Artifacts? What were they?

Another stall specialized in selling materials from demonic beasts, with horns over three feet long, huge beast claws, and a small clump of golden fine fur, all described with exaggerated praise by the stall owner.

At this moment, Wang Hong was looking with great interest at a stall selling spirit herbs. He finally saw something he recognized.

On the stall before him was a foot-long medicinal herb with a white stem and green, heart-shaped leaves. This was the Green Leaf Vine, a precious medicinal material that Wang Hong had seen in ancient texts but had never had the chance to see. When it reached ten years of age, its stem was white, and after fifty years, the stem would turn from white to green.

There was also a Turtle Leaf Grass, with patterns on its leaf veins resembling a turtle's shell, also an extremely rare medicinal herb recorded in ancient texts.

There were also several other medicinal herbs on the stall, which Wang Hong didn't recognize, likely also rare medicinal materials.

Wang Hong saw several other precious medicinal herbs recorded in ancient texts at other stalls.

Wang Hong also found a hundred-year-old Ginseng at one stall. He inquired about the price, and it was selling for twenty Spirit Stones.

Hearing this price, Wang Hong's heart immediately felt much lighter. He had dozens of subordinates to support, and he had just been worrying about becoming penniless. Now, at least for the short term, he didn't have to worry about lacking Spirit Stones; he had his first earnings secured. He still had one to two hundred Ginsengs over a hundred years old in his Mysterious Space, the largest being two hundred years old.

"Come and see! All sorts of cultivation technique books for sale cheap! Pick and choose as you like, there's always one for you!"

A tall, thin young man was shouting loudly.

"Walk by, don't miss out! Miss this village, and you won't find this shop again!"

The tall, thin man's stall had over a hundred books of various kinds, and quite a few people were gathered in front of the bookstall, selecting them.

Wang Hong also went over. The books here were truly varied, with all sorts of content, piled up haphazardly.

The first book that caught his eye had a picture of a beautiful, shapely woman on the cover, with the title "One Hundred Techniques for Pursuing Female Cultivators." He casually flipped through it and found nothing but boring content. Wang Hong thought, Are immortals all this idle?

He casually picked up a book titled "Basic Fire Spells" and flipped through it. He recognized the characters, but when put together, he couldn't understand a single sentence.

He picked up another book, "Wood Element Art," and flipped through it. This seemed to be a cultivation technique similar to internal energy cultivation methods. He still couldn't understand it.

He flipped through some of the other books and found a very thick book in the pile, with the title "Comprehensive Guide to Cultivation" written in regular script.

Wang Hong flipped through a few pages and found that this book was very suitable for his current situation. It introduced various basic knowledge of cultivation. It included simple reviews of some cultivation techniques, introductions to various spiritual items in the cultivation world, and much common knowledge of the cultivation world.

Wang Hong pondered how to buy this book. He raised the book in his hand and asked, "How much for this book?"

The tall, thin man glanced at Wang Hong and said, "Ten Spirit Stones."

Then he continued to hawk his wares, apparently not expecting Wang Hong to be able to afford it. Wang Hong reluctantly put the book down and moved on.

After several hours, he had browsed the entire large square, looking at all the stalls, and his harvest was considerable.

Wang Hong was now planning to sell some items from his Mysterious Space to raise some Spirit Stones. After looking around, all transactions here were conducted using Spirit Stones as currency, or direct bartering.

Wang Hong mused that there were at least two types of items in his Mysterious Space that he could sell here for Spirit Stones. One was the Ginseng he had just seen, and the other item also surprised Wang Hong.

The Rice and Wheat he had planted in his Mysterious Space had mutated over the past few years and could now grow to be as tall as a person. Their growth cycle had also lengthened considerably, taking more than ten days, roughly equivalent to a full year to mature. The most significant change was that the grains they produced were now as large as eggs. Each grain of rice was crystal clear and tasted even better.

Wang Hong had just seen a stall selling Spirit Rice and curiously went to take a look. He found that it was identical to the Rice in his Mysterious Space. The price was one Spirit Stone for ten grains of Spirit Rice.

Wang Hong still had a lot of Spirit Rice stored in his Mysterious Space, which he could sell for Spirit Stones. However, Spirit Rice was bulky, and with so many people around, it was inconvenient to take it out of his Mysterious Space.

The stalls in the square were comprehensive, mostly selling various items, but there were also some stalls specializing in purchasing various items. There were dozens of stalls that simply advertised the purchase of spirit herbs.

Wang Hong found a stall run by a kind-looking old man and took out a small cloth bag from his embrace, handing it to the old man.

"Elder, please take a look at this and tell me how many Spirit Stones it's worth."

The old man slowly opened the cloth bag and saw two plump Ginsengs lying inside, with complete root systems and very fresh.

"Young man, these two Ginsengs of yours are of excellent quality, with very rich spiritual energy. They must have grown in a place with abundant spiritual energy. Judging by their age, they should be about a hundred years old."

The old man covered the cloth again and said unhurriedly, "For these two Ginsengs of yours, I can offer a maximum of thirty-five Spirit Stones. If you agree, we can finalize the transaction immediately."

Wang Hong pondered for a moment and then nodded in agreement. These two Ginsengs should sell for around forty Spirit Stones if sold individually. Buyers would surely want to make a profit. He took the Spirit Stones handed by the old man and quickly stuffed them into his embrace.