Over the next few days, Zhou Qing barely left his room, devoting himself wholeheartedly to comprehending the Silver Dragon Hand and Silver Dragon Step.
Moreover, he was lucky enough to obtain another Spirit Egg. As he absorbed it, a soothing sensation spread through his entire body, and he could even clearly sense the black-and-white Spirit Core gradually growing stronger.
He heard that Lu Yaoyao had entered seclusion to break through to Foundation Establishment. Without her coming to disturb him again, Zhou Qing's life became quite leisurely and carefree.
"Fourth Child, today's the last day of the Treasure Exchange Gathering. Let's go take a look!"
Early in the morning, Yan Xiaohu came bustling over to find Zhou Qing.
Without even thinking about it, Zhou Qing naturally refused outright.
Yan Xiaohu seemed to have expected this long ago and said with a grin, "Oh, what are you afraid of? Whether it's true or fake, everyone from the five sects knows what you and I are like. It's no big deal."
"Besides, I've been wandering around outside these past few days, and nobody's cursed me to my face for being a hooligan. At most, they point fingers behind my back and spit at me twice."
Zhou Qing: "..."
As the Five Sects Treasure Exchange Gathering, held only once every twenty years, reached its final day, the number of people had not decreased. Instead, it had grown even larger.
After all, whether they left early or late, they would not miss this final day.
Amid the bustling crowd, Zhou Qing leisurely walked his chicken behind Third Senior Brother, looking around in every direction.
There really were quite a few people pointing at him behind his back, but Zhou Qing took it in stride. The matter was already out in the open anyway, and people's mouths belonged to them—what could he do about it?
"Eh—"
Before long, the Silver Dragon Hand within Zhou Qing began circulating on its own once more, followed immediately by a reaction from the Silver Dragon Step.
Could something good have appeared again? Zhou Qing was delighted and hurriedly began searching all around.
"Fourth Child, slow down!" Yan Xiaohu called out in confusion.
Very quickly, Zhou Qing arrived before a stall and instantly fixed his gaze on a palm-sized bronze furnace.
The bronze furnace looked quite old, with rust mottling many parts of it.
Zhou Qing could basically conclude that it was the source of the reaction. He immediately used Daily Appraisal.
Useless Furnace: An ordinary furnace, but its inner wall became extraordinary after once being stained with the heart's blood of an elderly Suanni. If tempered with Pill Fire, a trace of treasure blood may be extracted.
Upon seeing the appraisal information, Zhou Qing's pupils abruptly contracted.
An elderly Suanni Fierce Beast was an extremely rare spirit beast. Moreover, both the Silver Dragon Hand and Silver Dragon Step had reacted to it, which meant the dried blood inside would be greatly beneficial to these two divine abilities.
"Senior Brother, how much is this item?" Zhou Qing asked, pointing at the bronze furnace.
The stall owner appeared to be a disciple of Tianji Gate. Seeing someone inquire, he hastily rose with great enthusiasm.
"This Junior Brother has a good eye. This furnace is a rare pill furnace. One look tells me Junior Brother is a distinguished Pill Refiner. One price only: two hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones!" The stall owner held up two fingers as he spoke.
Yan Xiaohu could not help but interject, "This broken furnace is a pill furnace? Forget how small it is—where are its three legs? Where's the furnace mirror? Where's the lid?"
After Yan Xiaohu fired those three questions in a row, the stall owner could only smile awkwardly.
"Since my Junior Brother sincerely wants it, two stones!" Yan Xiaohu began haggling.
The stall owner immediately shook his head repeatedly. "No, no, that price is too low. I'd barely make anything. Twenty Low-Grade Spirit Stones."
"Fine, twenty it is!" Zhou Qing agreed without hesitation and prepared to take out the money.
Yan Xiaohu immediately grew anxious and quickly grabbed Zhou Qing. "This broken thing isn't worth that much. You agreed way too fast. You still lack experience—I could at least bargain the price down to..."
"I'll offer thirty!" Before Yan Xiaohu could finish, a voice suddenly rang out beside them.
When the two turned around, they saw several disciples from the Azure Flame Dao Palace striding over with their noses in the air.
The leading man had a steady aura and appeared to be about as strong as Yan Xiaohu.
The Tianji Gate stall owner's eyes immediately lit up upon hearing the offer.
"Not good. It's Yin Xiao. I heard he's Cui Yingying's admirer. You peeked at his sweetheart bathing, and judging by this, he's clearly here to make trouble for you on purpose."
Seeing this, Yan Xiaohu hurriedly transmitted his voice to Zhou Qing.
Zhou Qing's expression immediately darkened upon hearing that.
"Is this thing important to you? If it isn't, I can play along with the stall owner and fleece him properly!" Yan Xiaohu asked quietly.
Zhou Qing nodded slightly.
Yan Xiaohu instantly regretted asking.
"You're Zhou Qing, the voyeur maniac?" Yin Xiao glanced indifferently at the Old Hen being led along, then sized Zhou Qing up from head to toe as he asked coldly.
The other Azure Flame Dao Palace disciples behind him all crossed their arms, their expressions unfriendly.
Sure enough, they had come to stand up for Cui Yingying.
He had started with sneers and mockery. Zhou Qing would not indulge someone like that.
Looking at Yin Xiao's thoroughly displeased face, Zhou Qing suddenly smiled.
"What, you've heard about what happened to me too? Let me tell you, that night was simply thrilling. In that pool filled with mist, there were girls everywhere, especially several Core Disciples. My eyes nearly popped out of my head..."
"Insolence!" Yin Xiao suddenly stepped forward, and a terrifying aura instantly spread out.
Yan Xiaohu immediately blocked Zhou Qing and said, "What, you want to fight? Come on, let's go to the plaza over there!"
Yin Xiao stared at Zhou Qing, his hands clenching with cracking sounds. He wished he could swallow him alive and tear him apart.
But he soon snorted coldly and swept a glance at Yan Xiaohu.
"You two scum of the earth, just wait. Thirty Spirit Stones. Wrap it up!"
Yin Xiao turned to the stall owner and spoke almost as if issuing an order.
Yan Xiaohu immediately said, "I offer fifty!"
"I offer one hundred!" Zhou Qing called out as well. The two brothers looked at Yin Xiao together, their faces brimming with provocation.
The Tianji Gate disciple's eyes nearly curved into slits from smiling.
After doing business for so long, this was exactly the kind of scene he loved.
"One hundred and thirty!" Yin Xiao responded at once.
Without the slightest hesitation, Yan Xiaohu said, "One hundred and eighty!"
"Three hundred!" Zhou Qing followed with another bid.
Yin Xiao immediately frowned. It was obvious that even now, he had no idea what he was buying. He had merely seen the two voyeur maniacs making a deal from afar and shouted out a bid.
He had originally wanted to rip them off, but he had not expected them to turn the tables so quickly and disgust him first instead.
However, he was now riding a tiger and could not get off. If he simply gave up like this, would that not be far too humiliating?
Fine. They liked playing, did they? Then he would play with them properly.
"Five hundred!" Yin Xiao stared at them and called out again.
"Eight hundred!"
"One thousand!"
"One thousand three hundred!"
"I offer one thousand eight hundred!"
"If you've got the guts, add two thousand!"
"Two thousand it is!"
"Sold!"
Zhou Qing and Yan Xiaohu spoke in unison.
Yin Xiao was immediately stunned.
"You're not raising the bid?"
Zhou Qing and Yan Xiaohu exchanged a look and chuckled. "No more bids, no more bids. You Azure Flame Dao Palace people really are wealthy, willing to spend such a huge sum on a broken furnace. Senior Brother, you'll have to treat us to a meal later."
Zhou Qing smiled at the stall owner.
The Tianji Gate senior brother was already grinning from ear to ear and nodded repeatedly.
"Alright then, you go on with your business. We'll be leaving!"
After saying that, Zhou Qing turned and left directly with Yan Xiaohu.
The Tianji Gate stall owner hurriedly picked up the furnace and offered it over with both hands, his face full of flattery.
"Brother, two thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones!"
Yin Xiao looked at the furnace being handed over, which resembled a chamber pot, and blinked.
Those two had shouted bids louder than the last. Yan Xiaohu in particular had been spraying saliva everywhere, his face nearly pressed right up against him.
He had carelessly been dragged into it. In a moment of impulse, he had spent two thousand just to buy this thing?
The other Azure Flame Dao Palace disciples behind him also quietly took a step back.
They knew perfectly well that Senior Brother Yin Xiao no longer had that much money on him. What if he asked to borrow from them?
Before you continue