The Golden Silk Jade Book

?The Golden Silk Jade Book

Faced with Bi Fan's frenzied counterattack, the eldest of the three was thrown into disarray.

The man was only one realm above Bi Fan. After Bi Fan used the Divine Power Talisman and Divine Speed Talisman, the gap between them had all but vanished.

Bi Fan's martial skill was clearly far superior to his opponent's. The Carefree Immortal Finger, Floating Rain Flying Flowers Sword, and Blood Demon Art were all high-level techniques—nothing ordinary cultivators could learn.

His opponent clearly had no high-level techniques. The best he had was a mid-level one, and at first he'd managed to keep Bi Fan at bay by relying on his abundant spiritual energy.

Now the tables had turned, and Bi Fan had him pinned down instead.

"Big Brother, attack! Kill him and avenge Second Brother!" The other man was badly injured, so all he could do was shout encouragement.

He didn't realize that his shouting was upsetting his big brother. With his mind in disarray, his fighting strength would weaken.

Suddenly, Bi Fan wielded the Floating Rain Flying Flowers Sword in his right hand and unleashed the Blood Transformation Divine Palm with his left.

The Blood Transformation Divine Palm was a technique from the Blood Demon Art, vicious and sinister to the extreme. Anyone struck by it would turn into a pool of blood in an instant, leaving not a trace behind.

Bi Fan hadn't wanted to use it, but since he'd already killed one of them, there was no making peace. He had to kill the others to keep his secrets safe.

In this battle, Bi Fan had exposed quite a few of his trump cards. If the enemy learned about them, it would bring endless trouble.

Bi Fan's opponent was caught off guard. He dodged the Flowing Light Sword's attack but was struck by Bi Fan's palm.

"Roar!" The man let out a howl, his face contorting in agony.

Then came a series of crackling sounds, and he slumped to the ground.

His body began turning into a pool of blood, but he was still alive. The unbearable agony made him bulge his eyes.

Bi Fan couldn't help retching at the sight. It was too gruesome, too terrifying!

"Big Brother, what's wrong? Big Brother..." The injured man looked terrified and began dragging his wounded body away.

Bi Fan leaped after him and ended his life with a single sword strike.

The Blood Transformation Divine Palm was too gruesome. Bi Fan decided he wouldn't use it lightly again unless his life was on the line.

To spare the man further pain, Bi Fan had also ended his life. The screams had been enough to make anyone's hair stand on end.

None of the three had a Cosmic Bag. Bi Fan only took a few Magic Tools, tossing them into his Cosmic Bag to trade for something later.

Bi Fan continued on his way, and the journey went smoothly. He ran into no further trouble.

Before long, Bi Fan reached the outskirts of Tingfeng Valley. He'd already memorized the route through the maze formation, so he went in on his own without needing a guide.

Tingfeng Valley was as lively as ever. He could hear all kinds of hawking before he'd even reached the heart of the valley.

"Come and see! Top-quality pills and Magic Tools! Anyone interested, come take a look!"

"Secret manual for a divine art! Trading it for a high-grade Magic Tool! If you want it, hurry!"

These cultivators might have spent most of their time in hard cultivation, but they were just as skilled at doing business. Their shouts were even louder than those of street vendors.

Bi Fan paid no attention to the calls. He walked along, looking for the things he needed.

This time, he mainly wanted to buy some antidote pills to prepare for his expedition into the Demon Territory.

Still, he wasn't in a hurry to buy them. Instead, he browsed the stalls one by one.

After finding a bargain last time, Bi Fan was still dreaming of striking it lucky again. Even if he didn't, browsing the stalls could teach him a lot. There was no need to rush.

Bi Fan had only gone down the mountain once, and there was so much he still needed to learn. This was a rare opportunity.

Whatever the item, Bi Fan examined it with keen interest and asked its price, though he rarely made an offer to buy.

"Shopkeeper, why is this book incomplete?" Bi Fan held a jade book edged with golden threads. It clearly contained only a small portion at the beginning; the rest was missing.

After taking a close look, Bi Fan saw that even the first page seemed to be missing. The book didn't even have a title.

The shopkeeper was an old man. He peered at it through half-closed eyes, then said, "It's a body-tempering cultivation method, but it only has the first three stages. You can cultivate it up to the Golden Core Realm at most. If you're interested, give me a hundred crystals. I won't cheat you."

"Shopkeeper, it looks like the most important part at the beginning is missing. Is it really worth a hundred crystals?" Bi Fan put the golden-threaded jade book back on the stall and stood up to leave.

After his experience last time, Bi Fan had gotten much better at reading sellers.

Shopkeepers who claimed they wouldn't cheat you were usually the worst of the lot. They'd fleece you blind and never lose a wink of sleep over it.

A hundred crystals was no small sum. Even though Bi Fan was very interested in the Golden Silk Jade Book, he wasn't about to hand over that much.

The Golden Silk Jade Book was incomplete, with only three jade pages left, so its value had plummeted. With the first page missing too, it was worth even less.

"Little brother, don't go. We can talk about the price. I'll give you a twenty-percent discount. How about that? This is a rare opportunity—you'll never find another one if you pass it up." The old man smiled and grabbed Bi Fan's arm.

Bi Fan shook his head. "If the first page were still there, I'd pay a hundred crystals. But without it, who knows whether I can even cultivate it? If something goes wrong midway, I'd only be asking for trouble. I might as well buy a complete body-tempering method."

Bi Fan pretended to leave, and the shopkeeper grew anxious. "Little brother, how about this? Give me twenty crystals. That's already my cost price."

"Ten crystals. If you're willing to sell, I'll buy it as a souvenir. Otherwise, you can keep it." Bi Fan was decisive.

The old man stared at Bi Fan for a while, unable to tell what he was thinking. At last, he sighed. "Fine. Ten crystals, and the jade book is yours."

The deal was done, and Bi Fan moved on to another stall.

Bi Fan browsed dozens of stalls in a row but found nothing else.

"Little brother, looking for pills? I've got every kind of pill you could want, as long as you have enough crystals," said a chubby middle-aged man.

Bi Fan glanced over and saw many jade bottles on the stall. They probably held pills.

"Do you have any antidote pills for sale?"

"Antidote pills? Of course. Do you need ordinary ones or something better? The best antidote pill I have is the Bilo Pill," the chubby shopkeeper said with a smile.

The Bilo Pill could neutralize most poisons and was considered a fairly high-grade antidote.

Bi Fan had heard of the Bilo Pill. The better Yellow Springs Pill wasn't available, so the Bilo Pill was still a good choice.

"Do you only have the Bilo Pill? Do you have any Yellow Springs Pills?" Bi Fan asked.

He asked on purpose, hoping the man wouldn't take him for a clueless customer and rip him off.

"Looks like you know about the Bilo Pill, so I don't need to waste my breath explaining," the chubby shopkeeper said with a grin. "One Bilo Pill costs eighty crystals. It's worth every crystal."

Bi Fan shook his head with a bitter smile. He didn't know how much the Bilo Pill was worth, but at eighty crystals each, he couldn't afford to buy many.

Bi Fan planned to spend some time training in the Demon Territory, so naturally, the more Bilo Pills he had, the better.

"Shopkeeper, I'll look around first and come back to buy later." Bi Fan decided to check three shops before settling on a price.

"Don't rush, young man," the chubby shopkeeper said with a smile. "The price is negotiable. How many Bilo Pills do you need? If you buy a lot, I'll give you a discount."

"Your price is too high. I need a hundred, but I'm nowhere near having enough crystals," Bi Fan said.

The chubby shopkeeper narrowed his eyes and thought for a while. "I'll give you my best price: five thousand crystals for a hundred Bilo Pills. Ask around if you like. You won't find a lower price than mine."

The chubby shopkeeper looked sincere, and he probably wasn't lying.

The Bilo Pill could save a life at a crucial moment. For Bi Fan, even a hundred crystals each wouldn't have been too much.

But he needed quite a few, so naturally, he hoped to push the price down. After all, he didn't have many crystals. Even counting everything he'd acquired, he had only seven thousand.

If Bi Fan hadn't killed a few people and found two bargains, he wouldn't have had even a few hundred crystals now.

With Bi Fan's level of strength, crystals were hard to come by, so he had to spend them sparingly.

"Are you sure you can't go any lower?" Bi Fan tried to bargain once more.

The chubby shopkeeper shook his head. "Any lower and I'd be losing money. I can't go lower."

"Shopkeeper, can I trade Magic Tools for them?" Bi Fan suddenly remembered that he still had plenty of Magic Tools in his Cosmic Bag that he had no use for. He might as well trade them for pills.

"Of course. Take out your Magic Tools, and I'll appraise them."

With a clatter, Bi Fan took out all the Magic Tools he'd acquired recently that he didn't need. There were twenty-eight in all, including four high-grade ones.

He couldn't sell the Flowing Light Sword and Silver Thread Robe he used himself. He also kept the Soul Capturing Bell, the low-grade Magic Treasure Clear Light Sword, the mid-grade Magic Treasure Mountain Splitting Saber, and the high-grade Magic Tool he'd won as a champion's reward. He planned to sell the rest.

When the chubby shopkeeper saw Bi Fan produce so many Magic Tools at once, his tiny, bean-like eyes nearly popped out of his head.

It took a while for him to regain his composure. Then he began picking up the Magic Tools one by one to appraise them.

For some reason, the chubby shopkeeper offered prices a little higher than market value. Bi Fan knew roughly what the items were worth.

In the end, all the Magic Tools Bi Fan had brought in were worth a total of four thousand two hundred crystals. Bi Fan added another eight hundred of his own and bought a hundred Bilo Pills.

Once the deal was done, the chubby shopkeeper looked delighted. "Little brother, I haven't had the pleasure of learning your name."

"There's no need to exchange names. We might never see each other again."

Bi Fan wasn't about to leave his name behind. If anyone traced the Magic Tools back to their original owners, he'd be in serious trouble.

"Little brother, next time you come to Tingfeng Valley for pills, remember to find me. Just ask around for Gold Fatty," the chubby shopkeeper called out.

Having bought what he needed, Bi Fan didn't leave Tingfeng Valley right away. Since he'd made the trip, he might as well explore the whole valley before leaving.

After that, Bi Fan asked the prices at nearly every stall and committed them to memory.

He realized that the more prices he learned, the less likely he'd be to get cheated in future trades.

Bi Fan also asked other stalls about the price of Bilo Pills. Once he learned that Gold Fatty hadn't ripped him off, he was in a good mood.

Whenever Bi Fan spotted a manual, he liked to flip through it and memorize its contents.

But the shopkeepers were all sharp. The moment he'd read a few lines, they snatched the manual back, refusing to let anyone read it carefully.

Bi Fan looked through more than a dozen manuals, but each time, the shopkeeper took it away after he'd only read a little. His hopes of memorizing their contents came to nothing.

"Little brother, are you buying this Record of Exotic Beasts or not? Five crystals. It's cheap."

"Give it to me." Bi Fan took out five crystals and bought a book as thick as a brick.

The Record of Exotic Beasts described all kinds of wild beasts, Magic Beasts, demon beasts, exotic beasts, and poisonous creatures. It was an ordinary book, sold everywhere, and exactly the kind of thing Bi Fan needed.

Bi Fan never skimped on the things he needed.

As he continued browsing, Bi Fan bought a few more necessities: things for bandaging wounds, setting simple traps, and grappling hooks for climbing steep cliffs...

Now that he had everything he needed and had reached the Viscera Realm, it was time to venture into the Demon Territory.