Selling Meat (Seeking Follows)

Green Bamboo Mountain Market.

Fang Xi deliberately activated the Primordial Chaos True Skill, transforming into a masked, burly man. Carrying dozens of pounds of Taisui Meat, he entered the market.

This Taisui Meat had naturally been cut from the Great Liang World.

As for Taisui?

It had been settled in the Great Liang World.

In any case, this demon was like a plant demon. It had little offensive ability, was too lazy to move, and was very easy to raise!

As for bringing Taisui to the Cultivation World?

Fang Xi had once entertained the thought, but quickly rejected it.

Taisui was, after all, a demon. He could not completely confirm that it possessed no intelligence.

Once the information leaked, it would be far too dangerous.

Fang Xi walked past numerous market buildings before stopping in front of a shop.

On the golden signboard, the three large characters "Hundred Skills Tower" had been written in bold, flying strokes.

In Green Bamboo Mountain Market, Pill Cauldron Pavilion specialized in selling pills, Heavenly Talisman Hall sold talismans, and Thousand Mechanisms Hall mainly dealt with cultivation techniques and even puppets. Drunken Immortal Tower was where female cultivators did business, while Ming Qing Pavilion was an elegant place for drinking tea and listening to qin music.

Hundred Skills Tower, meanwhile, sold all kinds of goods—there was nothing it did not have. At the same time, it also purchased various spiritual items on a long-term basis.

Fang Xi's target was this very tower!

Setting up a stall myself would be too slow, and too conspicuous...

Selling to vendors might fetch a higher price, but I could get cheated, or attract unwanted attention...

Compared to that, the reputation of a major merchant should be a little more reliable. At the very least, they wouldn't attack me over a few or a dozen Spirit Crystals...

Of course, once his Spirit Crystals accumulated to several hundred or thousand, no merchant's reputation would be reliable. The other party might even be the first to make a move!

After all, it was simply a question of whether the gains were worth the risks.

A few Spirit Crystals were not worth sacrificing Hundred Skills Tower's reputation for. But several thousand, or ten thousand Spirit Crystals? Even if the people behind the scenes personally smashed the signboard, they probably would not hesitate for long.

It was precisely because he had seen this clearly that Fang Xi had insisted on waiting until he reached the second level of Body Refining before taking up this business.

Those willing to attack him over a few or a dozen Spirit Crystals would, at most, be mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators... At least he still had the power to defend himself!

As he entered Hundred Skills Tower, a shop assistant immediately came to greet him. "This fellow Daoist..."

"I'm here to sell Yao Beast Meat!"

Fang Xi slammed the Taisui Meat onto the counter. His voice was hoarse, his manner coarse, and he even carried a hint of Killing Intent!

This was not an act. Although he was still a little white rabbit in the Cultivation World, he already had quite a few lives on his hands in Daliang. His bearing was naturally different.

"All right, please wait a moment!"

The shop assistant hurried to the back to find the manager.

Any cultivator capable of hunting yao beasts was a ruthless character! Even if the other party's cultivation seemed low, it could still be a disguise!

Before long, a male cultivator dressed in sky-blue brocade embroidered all over with gold coins came out. He looked around forty and had a well-fed face filled with a kindly smile. "This fellow Daoist wishes to sell Yao Beast Meat? I'm Qi Liu, one of Hundred Skills Tower's managers. May I take a look first?"

"Please!"

Sensing the unfathomable spiritual power fluctuations of a Late Qi Refining cultivator, Fang Xi felt a chill in his heart and gestured with one hand.

Qi Liu's expression also turned solemn. He opened the bundle and saw the pale-white Taisui Meat.

He first formed a spell seal and cast a spell onto it to test for poison.

Then, looking somewhat uncertain, he took out a bronze mirror and shone it over the Taisui Meat.

Buzz!

A faint ring of white light appeared on the bronze mirror.

Qi Liu nodded. "Fellow Daoist, take a look... This is a magical artifact specifically used by our tower to appraise Yao Beast Meat. The color represents its grade. White indicates first-grade Qi Refining level, while blue indicates a Foundation Establishment yao beast... The number of rings represents its strength. One ring means it is comparable to early-stage Qi Refining, two rings to the mid stage, and three rings to the late stage... The yao beast you hunted can barely be classified as first-grade low-rank... And based on my spell calculations, this meat is biased toward the Wood Attribute and can greatly nourish qi and blood. Is that correct?"

"Indeed. The manager's eyes are truly discerning." Fang Xi nodded in acknowledgment.

Taisui was a type of fungus, so it could barely be counted as biased toward the Wood Attribute.

As for its strength? That was even more laughable. It was absolutely no injustice to classify it as first-grade low-rank.

"Heh heh..." Qi Liu laughed somewhat smugly, then grew a little puzzled. "Please forgive my poor eyesight, but I cannot tell what species this yao beast is."

With that, he looked toward Fang Xi, his eyes carrying a probing intent.

"Well, I can't recognize it either. It's probably some kind of hybrid or mutated species..."

Fang Xi's heart leaped, but he answered calmly.

"Hmm. The Cultivation World is vast beyond measure. Even I may not be able to identify every yao beast species. What a pity..."

There were plenty of strange and bizarre yao beasts in the Cultivation World, so Manager Qi Liu did not pursue the matter too deeply. After thinking for a moment, he named a price. "This Yao Beast Meat... how much is the customer planning to sell it for?"

The main event had arrived. Fang Xi smiled directly. "According to market prices, first-grade low-rank Yao Beast Meat sells for one Spirit Crystal per pound!"

"Hahaha... Since our tower is purchasing it, naturally we have to offer less than the market price." Qi Liu smiled faintly. "However... considering that this is your first transaction with our tower, I'll give you this face. Ying Song!"

The shop assistant hurried forward, weighed the Yao Beast Meat separately, and announced the total. "Sixty-seven pounds in all, worth six Spirit Crystals and seven Spirit Crystals in fragments."

He immediately took out six multicolored Spirit Crystals along with several fragmented Spirit Crystals and stuffed them into Fang Xi's hand.

Looking at this scene, Fang Xi nearly had to circulate Primordial Chaos Energy to stop himself from trembling.

Heaven have mercy!

When had he ever possessed so many Spirit Crystals?

The original body had farmed for a year, and even with various miscellaneous earnings, only made two or three Spirit Crystals a year!

If not for his lack of Spirit Crystals, how could his cultivation have remained stuck all this time? And how could he have abandoned the Body Refining techniques of the Cultivation World to study something like Blood Qi Martial Arts?

Was it not all because of one word—poverty!

Now, he had finally seen so many Spirit Crystals!

Fortunately, Fang Xi knew he was currently in the tiger-and-wolf's den. He casually stuffed the Spirit Crystals into his robes and laughed loudly. "Manager, you're refreshingly straightforward!"

He was just about to take his leave when Qi Liu's voice came from behind him. "Wait!"

"What is it? Does Manager Qi have any further instructions?"

Fang Xi narrowed his eyes slightly, while Primordial Chaos Energy had already gathered in his palm.

At such a close distance, even if the other party was a great expert of Late Qi Refining, he would suffer in a clash against a Body Refining Cultivator!

"Heh heh... Nothing. I just wanted to ask whether this is all the meat from that yao beast. If you have more later, don't forget to patronize our little shop."

With a beaming smile, Qi Liu escorted Fang Xi out of Hundred Skills Tower, then bowed and watched him leave.

After Fang Xi's back disappeared into the crowd, Ying Song came over. "Uncle Six... Did I misjudge him earlier? This cultivator doesn't even have a storage pouch. He might merely have gotten a yao beast corpse through sheer luck... And ten pounds of meat for one Spirit Crystal is rather too expensive..."

"Heh heh, you're my nephew, so I'm looking after you. You still have much to learn."

Qi Liu returned to the counter with a beaming smile and examined the Taisui Meat. "Although this Yao Beast Meat is only first-grade low-rank, it is exceptionally pure and greatly nourishes qi and blood. Sold to body cultivators, it can fetch at least one Spirit Crystal per five pounds! As for whether that man got lucky or is truly a ruthless character, what does it have to do with me? A yao beast has, at most, several hundred pounds of meat. Would we really smash Hundred Skills Tower's signboard over a few dozen Spirit Crystals? If we dared do that, the Lineage would never let us off!"

"Uncle Six is right!" Ying Song looked thoroughly enlightened.

Qi Liu gazed in the direction Fang Xi had left. There was one more thing he did not say.

When the other party had approached just now, even he had felt a chill run through his heart. That customer's cultivation looked weak on the surface, but he might well have cultivated some formidable aura-concealing technique. He was definitely a hard nut to crack!

To provoke someone like that over a first-grade low-rank yao beast? His brain was not broken yet!

"Was I being too cautious?"

After circling through several places and changing his appearance several times, Fang Xi walked out of the market, still feeling somewhat shaken.

There was no helping it. He had been so reckless in Daliang because he knew no one could defeat him there.

And he was so cowardly in the Southern Barrens Cultivation World because he knew there were far too many people who could defeat him!

Fortunately, after leaving the market, Fang Xi pretended to walk some distance farther. No rogue cultivator suddenly leaped out to kill him and seize his treasures or anything of the sort.

Seeing this, he immediately discarded his original outer garment, changed into a spiritual farmer's clothing, and turned back toward the shantytown.

Then Fang Xi prepared to find Chen Ping to repay his debt, while also asking where he could buy a Forbidden Breaking Talisman.

Speaking of which, when I first befriended Chen Ping, I was also thinking of broadening my channels and selling Daliang's goods...

But now, his channels are still far too weak. That mere Old Daoist Jiuxuan is practically poorer than I am!

Di Qi is the only one who seems somewhat promising... Next time I hunt another yao beast, I can consider selling it to him.

As for the Taisui Meat?

After selling a few hundred pounds, Fang Xi planned to stop.

Otherwise, if people found out that he possessed a yao beast capable of continuously producing Yao Beast Meat, would they not tear him apart alive?

Speaking of which, Taisui's trait is truly excellent.

Just holding it means I can continuously produce Spirit Crystals...

Er, no, that's not right. I forgot that body cultivators are only a niche group and that the market will eventually become saturated... And before the market becomes saturated and the price plummets, I might already be exposed...

Fang Xi arrived at Chen Ping's room and knocked on the door.

The one-month deadline was nearly up. He was a man of his word, so he had to repay the debt.

He had originally borrowed four Spirit Crystals to purchase Qi and Blood Pills, promising to repay five Spirit Crystals a month later. Five meant five!

Although that interest was terrifying—twenty-five percent per month, or three hundred percent annually!

That fellow Chen Ping really does have a talent for lending money at interest.

While he was thinking, Chen Ping opened the door. His face was filled with irrepressible joy, which then changed into a sobbing expression. "Fellow Daoist Fang..."

"What happened?" Fang Xi was utterly baffled.

"I just received news... My master, Zong Wu, has undergone Liberation by Violence!"

Chen Ping answered with a grief-stricken expression.