Purchase

Li Shiming had about one hundred and ninety-two Spirit Stones he could use, and he had to set aside the Spirit Stones for next month's cultivation.

He walked up to a stall selling books. A sign had been set up on the stall, bearing the character "Zhang."

"The books here can only be opened to one page. Turn one more page and you'll have to buy it at the listed price!" Stall Owner Zhang had seen Li Shiming trade with Old Liu and knew he was a potential customer, so the moment Li Shiming stopped, he spoke at once.

Li Shiming picked up a book. The words Body Lightening Art were written on it. He opened to the first page, which contained an introduction to the Body Lightening Art and not the slightest bit of actual content.

The Body Lightening Art was a common Spell; this was stated in the description on the first page.

Li Shiming did not know the exact meaning of a common Spell, but since it was common, it should be a Spell all cultivators could learn.

He set the Body Lightening Art by his hand, then looked through several other books: Fireball Spell, Object Manipulation Spell, Sound Transmission Spell, and Freezing Spell.

"Fellow Daoist Zhang, how many Spirit Stones for the Body Lightening Art?" Li Shiming asked, pointing at the one by his hand.

"All the Secret Manuals here are ten Spirit Stones each!" Stall Owner Zhang replied in a deep voice.

Li Shiming had his own calculations in mind. Not one of these was a cultivation method; they were all Spell books. And anything that could be displayed and sold openly would not be some powerful Spell.

A manual like this was ten Spirit Stones, the value of ten catties of Spirit Rice. To him, that was not particularly expensive.

But he knew very well that he absolutely could not act generous. This was not the secular world, but the Cultivation World.

Whether it was Fan Yiyang or Gu Jia, both had told him about the dangers of the Cultivation World. He did not want to draw attention and bring fatal trouble upon himself.

"Five Spirit Stones each. I'll take three!" Li Shiming countered.

"Fellow Daoist, that's not how you bargain. Twenty Spirit Stones and you can choose three. If I hadn't failed to make a sale today, I wouldn't sell them this cheaply!" Stall Owner Zhang said, sounding rather unwilling.

Li Shiming did not haggle further. He took out twenty Spirit Stones and placed them on the table, picked up three books, and left the stall.

A smile instantly appeared on Stall Owner Zhang's face. As he put away the Spirit Stones, he took out three more books to replace them.

Li Shiming actually wanted to buy them all, but he did not want to appear too wealthy, so he bought only three.

For a complete novice like him, all five Spells were useful.

He walked to the area of the temporary stalls. The goods here were a jumble of everything imaginable, all sorts of strange and unusual items.

There were also some books, but he did not go look at them.

From his experience just now buying Secret Manuals, he could judge that those selling books would not let him flip through more pages. Without seeing the content, there was no way to determine whether a Secret Manual was genuine.

Li Shiming would rather trust the fixed stalls than these temporary ones.

Among the temporary stalls, he even saw people exchanging secular calligraphy, paintings, and treasures for Spirit Stones. He just did not know what sort of cultivator would use Spirit Stones to buy such things.

"Hm?" As he was passing a temporary stall, his steps slowed when he saw something beside it.

It was the root of a plant, along with two branches broken off to one side.

What caught his attention was the faint Spiritual Qi on the plant root and the two branches. Of course, in this Market, the vast majority of items carried Spiritual Qi.

But plants that carried Spiritual Qi were Spirit Plants. Why would one appear here?

At the break in the plant root, there were traces of burning, and the two branches were the same.

Whether because too much time had passed since the root and branches had been separated, or for some other reason, the condition of the root and branches was extremely poor.

"Fellow Daoist, how much for this?" Li Shiming bent down and pointed at the Spirit Plant root and the two branches as he asked.

"I picked it up. Take it for five Spirit Stones!" The stall owner's face was covered with cloth, and his reply came out muffled.

Five Spirit Stones was not expensive. If this Spirit Plant were intact, then forget five Spirit Stones—the price would probably be many times higher.

Li Shiming did not know whether he could save it, but for five Spirit Stones, it was worth a try.

The stall owner probably thought the same way, which was why he had set the price at just this level.

Li Shiming took out five Spirit Stones and put away the Spirit Plant root and the two branches.

He had already reached the end of the Market. He turned around and quickened his pace. This time, his goal was very clear: the first stall by the entrance.

"Fellow Daoist Hao, how are the Talisman Papers sold?" Li Shiming asked in a deep voice.

"A stack for ten Spirit Stones!" Stall Owner Hao's narrowed eyes gained a hint of life, and his voice was somewhat aged.

"Give me two stacks. How much for this Talisman Brush?" Li Shiming did not bargain. He had observed that many cultivators came to this stall to buy Talisman Paper, and the transactions were all very quick. That showed the price was fixed.

"A Red Hare Brush made from the tail hair of a Red-Haired Rabbit. Thirty Spirit Stones!"

"I want these Talisman Ink Materials. How many Spirit Stones?" Li Shiming asked next.

"Talisman Ink Materials are ten Spirit Stones!" Stall Owner Hao answered very quickly.

Li Shiming took out the Spirit Stones, and Stall Owner Hao pushed the items over to him. The transaction was complete.

He turned and left the Market. As soon as he exited, he took out a Low-Grade Body Lightening Talisman and activated it, then pushed off hard with both feet and sped into the distance.

He did not return directly to Central Capital, but chose a road that took a long detour.

All five of his senses were fully open. All 190 CPUs of the IBMz15 Mainframe were activated, constantly analyzing the information transmitted by his five senses.

Suddenly, his forward rush changed into a turn, and he switched directions.

Just now, in the IBMz15 Mainframe's analysis, there had been something wrong with the way a bird rose from the woods ahead.

There was a difference between a bird taking off on its own and fleeing in fright, and the IBMz15 Mainframe's database contained articles on that very subject.

From the way that bird had taken flight, there was an eighty percent chance someone was in the forest.

And this was not a proper road. To reach this place, one would need the support of a Low-Grade Body Lightening Talisman; otherwise, it would be very difficult to traverse such steep, uneven mountain terrain.

The two figures in the forest watched Li Shiming turn away, but showed no intention of chasing him.

They could tell that Li Shiming was a complete novice. In the Market, although Li Shiming had very much wanted to appear experienced, he had exposed far too many flaws.

Li Shiming seemed cautious, but in truth, he had already tempted quite a few cultivators.

First, he had a Storage Bag. That alone was extremely eye-catching.

He had always thought a Storage Bag was a Magic Artifact every cultivator owned, but he did not understand the hardship of Rogue Cultivators, and he had never truly interacted with Rogue Cultivators before.

Second, there was the calm he had shown when passing the stalls selling Magic Artifacts. It was an attitude of disdain toward the Magic Artifacts on display.

An experienced cultivator could immediately judge that Li Shiming carried Magic Artifacts on him, and that their quality was better than those on the stalls.

Finally, there was his spending. Although in total it had only been an exchange of around a hundred Spirit Stones, the novice behavior he had shown earlier was enough to make some cultivators throw caution to the wind.

Li Shiming thought of the map in his mind. There were not many roads leading down from the Market. He needed to descend the mountain as quickly as possible; once he left this place, he could run freely.

Thank you to "Qu Qingju" for the 1-yuan tip!!