Flame Serpent Art

"Are there really such fools?"

The shopkeeper sat up straight, carefully examining the golden spirit rice. Its gold-like color immediately excited him.

"How much do you have? I'll take as much as you have. One Supreme-Grade Spirit Rice for one Low-Grade Spirit Stone!"

Hearing this, Shen Fan was immediately delighted. This price was about the same as what that person had said earlier.

With that, Shen Fan took out all fifteen Supreme-Grade Spirit Rice he had on him.

"This is all I have. I'm from the Heavenly Xuan Sect's spirit field. I accidentally dug these up while farming!"

"You little brat, you've really struck gold! Seems like the spirit field you're cultivating once grew Supreme-Grade Spirit Rice!"

After inspecting them, the shopkeeper didn't hesitate and directly handed over fifteen Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

"Little brother, fifteen stones, count them!"

"No need. Your place is also run by our Heavenly Xuan Sect. You wouldn't cheat your own people, right?"

With that, Shen Fan pocketed the fifteen Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

"By the way, I'll ask while I'm here, what's the price of a storage bag?"

"Heh!"

A hint of mockery appeared on the shopkeeper's face.

"The lowest grade one is five hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones!"

"Whoa!"

Shen Fan gasped.

Then, he turned around and left without hesitation.

This thing was still beyond what he could afford right now.

Fortunately, spirit stones weren't that big, only the size of a fingernail. Fifteen of them in his pocket wouldn't attract attention.

As he exited, the young man was about to go inside to look for him.

"I thought you'd run off!"

"Do I look like that kind of person?"

Shen Fan snorted. The feeling of having money made him feel more confident.

"By the way, do you know where they sell spells? First-order low-grade or something, preferably fire attribute!"

Shen Fan thought about it. He now had the Azure Water Fire Ward to remove fire toxins, allowing him to cultivate safely.

But he didn't have a single offensive spell for self-defense.

Cultivating fire-attribute spells in a place like the Waste Elixir Chamber, where fire-attribute spiritual energy was abundant, would be perfect.

"Of course, but if you want first-order low-grade, you can find them in the shantytown!"

With that, the young man led Shen Fan to the shantytown.

This person seemed very familiar with the place.

Soon, he brought Shen Fan to a stall.

He seemed to have known the stall owner for a long time and directly said, "I brought you a customer (a fat sheep). Didn't you have a fire-attribute spell? Give him a good price (rip him off)!"

"Oh, it's Biaozi! Since you brought him, I'll naturally give him the lowest price!"

The owner smiled knowingly and then took out an ancient wooden box from under the stall.

"Little brother, this was unearthed from the tomb of a Golden Core Expert. Although it's first-order low-grade, it's still a spell that the Golden Core Expert used when he first started cultivating, called Flame Serpent Art!"

The owner spoke eloquently.

"This art originated from the ancient fire cultivator sect, the Crimson Flame Sect. It was originally an entry-level spell for outer disciples, but it was widely spread among rogue cultivators due to its simplicity and practicality. It's ranked 17th among fire-type spells in the Compendium of Five Elements Basic Spells and is a must-learn skill for Qi Refining cultivators."

"Moreover..."

"Although the Flame Serpent Art is first-order low-grade, its strength lies in its flexibility and versatility. It's suitable for novice cultivators to familiarize themselves with fire-attribute spiritual energy manipulation and lays the foundation for learning higher-level fire-type spells, such as Fireball Art, Heaven Burning Art, and so on!"

"Also, did you know? This thing requires hand seals and incantations, but it's almost instantaneous!"

"Just imagine, streams of fire serpents spewing out, wouldn't the opponent have to run away with their head in their hands!"

The owner's words left Shen Fan stunned.

Anyway, the bottom line was:

Although this Flame Serpent Art was the lowest grade, it was definitely the most awesome!

"How much is it?"

Shen Fan couldn't help but be tempted and subconsciously asked.

Seeing that the other party was interested, the owner wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Thankfully!

His effort hadn't been in vain.

"Not expensive, only five low-grade spirit stones!"

"That's not expensive?"

Although Shen Fan didn't know the price, he knew how to haggle.

"Forget it, I'll go look somewhere else!"

"Hey, doing business is all about bargaining, right? Even if we don't make a deal, we can still be friends. Brother, you name a price, and I promise not to haggle!"

The owner quickly stopped Shen Fan.

Shen Fan pondered for a moment, then directly cut the price in half: "Two low-grade spirit stones!"

"Deal!"

Without saying a word, the owner covered the wooden box and stuffed it into Shen Fan's arms.

"See! Brother, I told you I wouldn't haggle!"

"I..."

Shen Fan was stunned. "What the hell!"

"Pay up!"

The owner reached out his hand to ask for the money.

"No, I wasn't ready. You need to give me some time to adjust!"

Shen Fan suddenly felt like he'd been ripped off. Maybe this Flame Serpent Art could be obtained for less than one low-grade spirit stone.

"Let's do it again. I'll start, you haggle, I'll counter. Let's do it one more time!"

"Are you kidding me?"

The owner slammed the table and roared angrily.

"Two low-grade spirit stones, are you going to pay or not!"

As soon as he said this, a sense of déjà vu—"There's a guy selling melons..."—appeared in Shen Fan's mind.

It's a good thing I'm not Hua Qiang, or I'd give you a "Sarilang" performance!

The owner's roar immediately attracted the attention of everyone at the surrounding stalls.

Seeing this, Shen Fan could only swallow his anger.

Then, he pointed at the young man who had been following him and said, "You're really treating me well!"

The man was shameless and followed with a grin.

Anyway, his task was to keep an eye on Shen Fan.

Returning to the place agreed upon with Baishitong, Baishitong returned with large and small bags in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

Seeing that Shen Fan was still there, Baishitong breathed a sigh of relief.

"Check it out. If it's right, we'll exchange money for goods!"

Shen Fan took the bag and immediately began to check it.

When he saw that the bag contained the medicinal herbs he needed, he unhesitatingly gave three low-grade spirit stones to Baishitong.

In fact, among so many medicinal herbs, Shen Fan only really needed five or six kinds.

Although it was a waste of money, at least it was safe.

After all, what he needed was to preserve corpses.

If someone with ulterior motives saw it, they would definitely be able to guess that it was needed for the Corpse Refining Art.

That would be troublesome!

On the way, Shen Fan bought a pound of Supreme-Grade Spirit Rice.

Then, after giving Baishitong three hundred grains and that Biaozi ten grains of spirit rice, he turned and left.

"Brother, come find me next time you need something. I'll be around here!"

Baishitong shouted loudly from behind.

After speaking, he turned to Biaozi and said.

"Did you see how many spirit stones that guy had on him?"

Biaozi shook his head, "No, but I took him to Zhang Lao San's place, and he bought a low-level Flame Serpent Art for two spirit stones!"

Baishitong was surprised and said, "What did he buy that for? It can only light a fire and cook!"

"Hehe, this kid is a complete newbie and doesn't know anything!" Biaozi said triumphantly.

"In that case..."

Baishitong narrowed his eyes and looked at Shen Fan's departing figure.

"Call the brothers and tell them we have a job!"