News of a Level-Five Demon Beast

"Wind Spirit Howler? Ice Snow Mantises?"

In a spacious VIP room of the Golden Jade Pavilion, two young men in splendid robes stood respectfully below Wei Suo. One of them had gold thread embroidered along the edges of his clothing. Clearly, his status was much higher than that of the other attendants in the Golden Jade Pavilion. He was Liu Xiang, the young man who had delivered the Spirit Stones from the auction to Ji Ya at the Treasure Pavilion that day.

When Liu Xiang and the richly dressed youth beside him saw the Wind Spirit Howler and the large pile of Ice Snow Mantises Wei Suo took from his Treasure Pouch, surprise immediately flashed through their eyes.

"How many Low-grade Spirit Stones do you think these are worth?" Wei Suo asked as he drank a cup of fine tea.

"This Wind Spirit Howler has already matured and is worth five hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones." Liu Xiang inspected it carefully. "But these Ice Snow Mantises, although they appear intact, have merely been coated with paint..."

Wei Suo broke into a sweat and hurriedly said, "I just slapped that paint on casually. I wasn't trying to pass off inferior goods as better ones. Just give whatever price you think is fair."

"That is not what I meant." Liu Xiang did not waste words. "The demon cores of these Ice Snow Mantises are all intact, and some of their parts can still be used for artifact refining. Altogether, they are worth one thousand six hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones. Would that be acceptable, Senior?"

On Tianxuan Continent, cultivators of lower cultivation generally addressed those of higher cultivation as Senior. Liu Xiang's cultivation clearly could not have been lower than Wei Suo's, yet he still respectfully called Wei Suo Senior, showing just how professional he was. In Wei Suo's original estimation, it would already have been quite good if he could sell all these things for eighteen hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones. Now they could fetch twenty-one hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones in total, so Wei Suo was naturally very satisfied. He immediately nodded. "Fine."

After saying that, Wei Suo hesitated slightly, then took out a thin, gauze-like, translucent item that glimmered red. It was precisely the Fire Phoenix Belly-Cover that had made Han Weiwei think he was a perverted lecher.

"Fire Phoenix Treasure Robe?" Surprise flashed through Liu Xiang's eyes again. "Senior, are you planning to entrust our Golden Jade Pavilion to auction this item?"

"Not that." Wei Suo coughed, looking somewhat embarrassed. "I heard that your Golden Jade Pavilion has a Senior Zhang who is an artifact refiner and can refine artifacts for customers. I want to add a layer of clothing outside this Fire Phoenix Belly-Cover without affecting its effects. Can that be done?"

"So you want this treasure robe used as an inner layer?" Liu Xiang professionally refrained from laughing and nodded in understanding. "That should not be difficult. But what kind of material do you want for the outer garment? Do you have any special requirements?"

"As long as it can strengthen the defensive effect a bit, that'll do. At the very least, it can't be easily cut open and expose the Fire Phoenix Treasure Robe inside. As for the rest, make it look ordinary. Better yet, make people think it's trash, with no defensive power at all," Wei Suo said.

"This guy..." The moment Wei Suo said that, even the highly professional Liu Xiang could not help breaking into a sweat. He was too embarrassed to wear a women's Fire Phoenix Treasure Robe, so he wanted it made into an inner layer—that was already quite wretched. And other people made magic robes as gorgeous as possible, yet this man wanted his made to look as shabby as possible. Wasn't that hiding one's light under a bushel to the extreme?

Still, Liu Xiang immediately nodded. "That can be done. Our Golden Jade Pavilion happens to have a batch of Dark Wind Mulberry Silk. It will not affect the power of the Fire Phoenix magic robe, and it can even unleash a layer of gale-force wind to further raise the robe's defensive grade. Once the garment is finished, we can add a layer of ordinary green silk cloth on the outside. That way, it should look no different from the clothes you are wearing now. The price will be around three hundred and fifty Low-grade Spirit Stones. Is that acceptable?"

"Fine." Wei Suo nodded, then asked, "How many Green Armored Beetle demon cores do you have in the shop right now? How much is each one?"

"Green Armored Beetle demon cores? We currently have fifteen. Each is worth sixty Low-grade Spirit Stones."

"Good. I'll take all fifteen."

"This person looks like nothing more than an ordinary low-level cultivator. How does he keep bringing in goods of this grade?" At the entrance of the Golden Jade Pavilion, the other richly dressed youth, who had been standing respectfully beside Liu Xiang, looked at Wei Suo's departing back and said, "At the rate he earns Spirit Stones, even Circulation Realm cultivators cannot compare with him. And why did he suddenly buy so many Green Armored Beetle demon cores? Could there be something suspicious about him?"

"Do not forget the rules of our Golden Jade Pavilion. No matter how suspicious he may be, he is still our customer. It is not our place to make wild guesses or investigate him." Liu Xiang glanced at the richly dressed youth beside him and said coldly, "Besides, cultivators are like hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Some low-level cultivators may not necessarily be inferior to high-level cultivators. Some cultivators also possess secret listening arts. If he heard what you just said, it would certainly displease him. You must be more careful in the future."

"Understood." The richly dressed youth beside Liu Xiang immediately turned solemn and quickly nodded.

"Damn it, I'm so poor!"

After walking some distance away from the Golden Jade Pavilion, Wei Suo shook his head gloomily as he poured True Essence into a communication jade talisman in his hand.

The Wind Spirit Howler and Ice Snow Mantises had sold for a total of twenty-one hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones. After splitting them evenly with Nangong Yuqing, Wei Suo could receive over a thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones. Adding the more than seven hundred he already had, he should originally have had around eighteen hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones. But altering the Fire Phoenix Treasure Robe and buying fifteen Green Armored Beetle demon cores had cost him a total of twelve hundred and fifty Low-grade Spirit Stones.

That left Wei Suo with only around five hundred and fifty Low-grade Spirit Stones.

Although Wei Suo still had other valuable items, such as the Jade Cloud Ganoderma and the white jade box that had been confirmed to truly be a Treasure Origin Jade Box, the Green Robe Old Man would definitely find those things very useful in the future. Wei Suo therefore could not sell them.

For an ordinary rogue cultivator at the fourth level of the Divine Ability Realm, five hundred and fifty Low-grade Spirit Stones would already be an astonishing fortune. But the more of the world Wei Suo saw, especially after going through that auction, the more he understood just how great the gap was between himself and truly formidable cultivators. The more he felt poor enough to die.

There were simply too many things Wei Suo needed to buy now.

If the Fire Phoenix Belly-Cover, after being modified by the Golden Jade Pavilion, truly gained another level of defensive power as Liu Xiang had said, it would come close to a genuine Low-grade Spirit Artifact. It could already withstand the spells of a Circulation Realm Fourth Level cultivator. As far as defense went, that would be enough for Wei Suo for quite some time to come.

The Golden Snake Lightning Art was quite powerful, and its golden snake lightning also had a numbing effect. This spell technique would barely suffice for Wei Suo for the period ahead as well.

As for offensive power, the Azure Water Blade was already thoroughly inadequate. He could only make do with Fireball Talismans and other offensive spell talismans. But using second-tier or higher spell talismans in battle was simply far too costly.

So next, he definitely had to find a powerful offensive spell technique to cultivate.

There were also some places that could not be reached just by running on two legs. Wei Suo did not even possess a flying artifact or Magic Treasure, let alone offensive Magic Treasure Replicas or genuine Magic Treasures.

To buy everything Wei Suo ideally wanted for the coming period, let alone five hundred and fifty Low-grade Spirit Stones, even fifty thousand might not be enough.

And next, Wei Suo also had to prepare the materials to refine Heaven Mending Pills. According to the Green Robe Old Man, Heaven Mending Pills were also consumables, much like Spirit Stones. If Wei Suo wanted to cultivate without stopping, that would be another enormous expense.

"What are you looking at?"

From a distance, Nangong Yuqing spotted Wei Suo standing beneath the notice board at the market in the north of the city. When she first saw him, a little warmth had risen in her heart, because she could guess why he had called for her. After all, not many people these days considered other things more important than a pile of cold, hard Spirit Stones. But when she walked over and saw what Wei Suo was doing, Nangong Yuqing could not help cursing in frustration. Wei Suo had not noticed her arrival and was very obviously sneaking glances at a red-robed female cultivator with a very ample chest not far away.

"Huh? I wasn't looking at anything. When did you get here? How come I didn't see you at all?" Wei Suo's old face reddened slightly, but he put on an expression of having done absolutely nothing. He swiftly took out a leather pouch. "Those things sold for a total of twenty-one hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones. There were originally two hundred and ten Mid-grade Spirit Stones in here. I took one hundred and five. Count them and see if it's right."

"I won't be in Lingyue City for the next two days. If you need anything, you can only look for me after two days. I probably won't be able to see any communication jade talismans either." Nangong Yuqing glared at Wei Suo and put away the leather pouch without even looking at it.

"You won't be in Lingyue City for two days?" Wei Suo froze slightly. "What are you going to do?"

"Someone from Tie Ce discovered the trail of a Heart Devouring Worm. But to deal with a Heart Devouring Worm, we must have enough White Phosphorus Beast Bone Powder. We're going to hunt enough White Phosphorus Beasts first over the next two days." Nangong Yuqing looked at Wei Suo as she spoke.

"A Heart Devouring Worm! A level-five demon beast?!" Wei Suo sucked in a sharp breath.

Heart Devouring Worms were also famous across Tianxuan Continent. These demon beasts, which looked like giant silkworm larvae, could not only release rings of blue-yellow light with astonishing offensive power, but more importantly, their bodies could remain invisible for long periods. They could also extend a pointed tube from their mouths. Their greatest hobby was to secretly approach cultivators, pierce through their crowns in one strike, and treat their brains as a little appetizer.

Only White Phosphorus Beast bone powder could cause changes in their skin and reveal their true forms, making them unable to maintain their transparent invisibility. White Phosphorus Beasts were themselves level-four demon beasts, and ordinary cultivators would not carry their bone powder around. Thus, even when not ambushed by a Heart Devouring Worm, formidable cultivators below the Circulation Realm Second Level had only one word awaiting them when facing one alone: death.

"Isn't that too dangerous?" After sucking in a breath, Wei Suo could not help asking Nangong Yuqing again.

"We have made arrangements. There should not be any problem." Seeing Wei Suo's worried expression, Nangong Yuqing felt a faint warmth in her heart and nodded.

Wei Suo thought that made sense. Tie Ce was, after all, one of the major powers in Lingyue City, not something a small rogue cultivator like himself could compare to. After nodding, Wei Suo took out two Illusionary Light Talismans and handed them to Nangong Yuqing. "These are for you."

"What are these?"

"These are Illusionary Light Talismans. Use them sparingly. They're troublesome to refine, and if you use too many, everyone will know about them and they won't work anymore." Wei Suo explained, "One can create thirty Ice Snow Mantises, and the other can create a Wind Spirit Howler. Of course, they're all fake and can only fool people."

Nangong Yuqing's lips moved, but she said nothing and accepted them.

"I'll give you some Fireball Talismans too." Wei Suo had always been a complete miser, but for some reason, even though Nangong Yuqing was merely going with Tie Ce's people to hunt demon beasts, when she was about to leave, Wei Suo suddenly could not help taking out a handful of Fireball Talismans and stuffing them into Nangong Yuqing's hands.