Picking Up a Bargain

"Boss, how many Spirit Stone is this bottle?" Lu Yang asked casually as he squatted down.

"Sir, you have a discerning eye. This jade bottle is something I obtained from a secret realm opened up by Nascent Soul Cultivator. It contains diluted Taiyi True Water and costs 80,000 Spirit Stone."

Lu Yang's eye twitched. He thought to himself, "Are you robbing me? The entire net worth of Golden Core cultivator is only 100,000 Spirit Stone."

Moreover, even the Immortal Fairy told me that the Taiyi True Water inside had been diluted ten thousand times, and that the power contained in my piss was more than that.

In the marketplace, if you're not quick-witted, lack experience, or have poor judgment, you're likely to get ripped off.

Fortunately, I have an immortal fairy.

"What are the effects of this bottle of pills?"

"Cultivators often struggle to form their core on the first try. This bottle of pills can simulate the core formation process, and it's about 60% similar to the real thing, greatly increasing the success rate. It costs 30,000 Spirit Stone a bottle," the vendor enthusiastically promoted.

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou exchanged a glance, somewhat puzzled. Isn't Core Formation always a one-time success?

Lu Yang shook the pill and laughed, "Boss, you're not being honest. Even with the sealing method, the pill's effects are still dissipating. Thirty thousand a bottle is the price of a complete pill, not the price of this bottle."

The vendor smiled and praised Lu Yang's good eye, but secretly he was alarmed, realizing he had encountered a knowledgeable person.

"As for this flying sword, don't tell me it was used by the master of the secret realm," Lu Yang said casually, his attitude leaving the vendor unsure of what to believe.

The peddler was caught up in the situation and unaware of the truth, but Meng Jingzhou clearly understood that Lu Yang's elaborate preparations were all for this flying sword.

Could such a dilapidated flying sword be hiding some secret?

"This flying sword is incredibly hard, having withstood centuries. While it may not be a weapon for the Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, it is certainly one of the most powerful close-combat Law Treasure. It survived a great battle, and repairing it would have been a waste, which is why it was placed in the secret realm!" the vendor said confidently, as if he had personally witnessed Nascent Soul Realm cultivator using the flying sword to kill an enemy.

Lu Yang didn't believe the vendor's nonsense, but then another question suddenly occurred to him: how could the immortal sword be so badly damaged? Even after hundreds of thousands of years, it shouldn't be like this.

Unless a major battle truly took place and the Legend of Sword and Fairy was damaged!

Who is the enemy?

"Alright, you can fool others with that, but don't think I can't see it. This flying sword is of questionable quality; even Golden Core cultivator would have a hard time using it. It should be Foundation Establishment cultivator's sword."

Although the peddler didn't know the origin of the flying sword, he couldn't let Lu Yang draw a conclusion.

"This is definitely the sword of the master of the secret realm when he was in the Golden Core stage; it couldn't possibly have been used by the Foundation Establishment Realm!"

Lu Yang gave an expression that suggested he was too lazy to argue. "Three thousand Spirit Stone for a flying sword that's broken like this. I'd have to repair it after buying it."

"At least 20,000!"

"Let's go." Lu Yang got up and left.

"Wait a minute, the price is negotiable, 18,000 Spirit Stone!"

Lu Yang coldly replied, "Five thousand Spirit Stone."

The vendor gritted his teeth. He'd tried selling flying swords elsewhere, but nobody bought them because they were too worn out. This time, at the Qingzhou Grand Ceremony, he was finally getting a buyer. If he missed this opportunity, who knew when he'd get another chance? "Five thousand it is, consider it making a friend!"

Seeing that Lu Yang had obtained the flying sword as he wished, Meng Jingzhou curiously asked via telepathy, "What is the origin of this flying sword?"

"A flying sword used by High Antiquity immortals."

Meng Jingzhou gasped, looking at Lu Yang with envy. What a steal!

Lu Yang had originally intended to subtly inquire where the vendor had obtained the flying sword, but the vendor immediately claimed it came from a secret realm opened up by a Nascent Soul Cultivator, so he knew he wouldn't get any information out of him.

To inflate prices, vendors will fabricate the origins of items as much as possible; in other words, this flying sword was at most obtained from the Nascent Soul Realm.

It was probably found by chance by someone in the Nascent Soul Realm, and its origin can no longer be traced.

Lu Yang examined it for a moment. The flying sword was broken, but there were no bloodstains or nicks. The cross-section was rough, as if it had been broken by brute force.

His Sword Spirit Root intuition told him that this was once an absolutely peerless sword.

"Qilin Immortal is a sword cultivator?"

The Immortal Fairy shook her head. "No, the Qilin Immortal doesn't use a sword. Let's go, let's see what other good things we can find."

"Wait a minute, if the Qilin Immortal doesn't use a sword, what's the purpose of this flying sword?"

"Hey, didn't I tell you? When Qilin Immortal did something wrong, those two girls, Longfeng and Qilin Immortal, stood their flying swords upright, forming a square, and made Qilin Immortal kneel on the tips of the swords."

"The Qilin Immortal then commissioned the Yingtian Immortal to forge a batch of flying swords, making them appear gleaming with a cold light, clearly extraordinary. However, when used, they had no power, like kneeling on foam."

"Later, the two girls, Longfeng and Feng, discovered this and, in a fit of rage, broke all the flying swords in half. The one you have in your hand is one of them."

Lu Yang: "..."

So I spent five thousand Spirit Stone to buy this thing?

Lu Yang was even thinking of asking the Immortal Fairy to help him find a bargain, so that he could also find one for himself and Meng Jingzhou, and both of them could experience the joy of finding a bargain.

It seems best to forget about it now; let's not let the Immortal Fairy waste Meng Jingzhou's Spirit Stone.

"My lord, the disciples from the Moon Laurel Palace, the Five Elements Sect, and the Prison Suppressing Sect have arrived and are waiting at the entrance," the subordinate reported respectfully.

Upon hearing this, the governor nodded slightly, showing great importance to the people from the Five Great Immortal Sects: "Only three have not come —the Ask Dao Sect and the Hanging Temple? Then please invite them all over."

The Qingzhou Grand Ceremony is jointly organized by the Qingzhou government and several top-tier sects in Qingzhou. If people from the Five Great Immortal Sects come, it will raise the price of the Qingzhou Grand Ceremony.

"When that patriarch of the Ask Dao Sect served as governor here, he set a good precedent." The governor sighed. Regardless of whether the people of the Ask Dao Sect were reliable or not, their imaginative ideas were unmatched by anyone else.

That's why the Qingzhou Grand Ceremony was conceived by the Ask Dao Sect Seeking Sect.

A successful Qingzhou Grand Ceremony will be counted as a political achievement.

The most attractive aspect of the Qingzhou Grand Ceremony is the exchange between cultivators, but the Five Great Immortal Sects can easily exchange ideas internally, as their partners are all geniuses, so they don't really care about this grand ceremony.

Sending someone here is a gesture of respect to the Qingzhou government.

"What are you standing there for? Go on!" The governor looked at his subordinate, who was standing still, with a puzzled expression.

"My lord, this is the situation: it seems the disciples of the immortal sects have nowhere to stay."

"Where is the post station?"

"As you instructed, sir, to ensure that the high-ranking cultivators experience the warmth of the government, they are all staying at the post station."

"What about the inn at the foot of the mountain?"

"The place is full."

"Then let's build a few temporary houses."

"There's no space. When it was planned, all the available space was filled up to accommodate more people."

The governor was in a dilemma. It was a good thing that the Five Great Immortal Sects had sent people over, but if they were not treated well, it would give them something to talk about, and it would be difficult to invite people from the Five Great Immortal Sects in the future.

"There isn't a single house built by the government left?" The governor, unwilling to give up, asked his subordinates to think again.

The subordinate actually thought of a place, "There is a place where people can live, and it has a huge area with many empty rooms. We built it ourselves, and you can just say the word to move in. You won't need to spend any Spirit Stone."

The governor's eyes lit up. "Where is it?"

"Cell."