The Shopaholic Old Man

The night market north of the city was bustling with people. Booths and stalls were packed densely together, with at least one to two thousand cultivators gathered in this incredibly lively night market.

Wearing extremely ordinary blue cloth clothes, Wei Suo, who didn't attract any attention, walked along the street, from one stall to another, circling several plazas where stalls were most concentrated.

The shops and street stalls had all sorts of items, such as various artifact refining materials, various weapons, magic artifacts, and so on. Among them were many good things. Anyway, Wei Suo was already used to it. He didn't have many spirit stones on him, and for many good things, even knowing he couldn't afford them, he didn't even have the thought to go up and haggle.

But after only walking about half a circle, the Green Robe Old Man couldn't stop calling out.

"Buy it! The Quicksand Talisman is good, very useful for fighting demonic beasts, hurry and buy it!"

"A second-tier Flying Cloud Talisman! Don't you not know any flying escape techniques? Hurry and buy it."

"Wild Ice Thorn Pear, it's a good thing! Feeding a few to an Ice Raven can allow it to break through to the first tier, hurry and buy it, buy it..."

"Black Meteorite Iron! A good material for refining magic shields that even Earth Fire can't melt! I didn't expect this guy to be even more vulgar than you, to be able to get such a material! Hurry and buy it."

Fortunately, the Green Robe Old Man, hidden in the Ghost Nurturing Jar, could communicate through a method similar to sound transmission, his voice directly echoing in Wei Suo's ears. Otherwise, the surrounding vendors would have excitedly come forward to hawk their wares to this guy who wanted to buy everything.

"Damn it!" Wei Suo couldn't help it anymore. "Old man, you said to buy the Quicksand Talisman and the Flying Cloud Talisman, I can still accept that, after all, I still need those two things. But what use are the wild Ice Thorn Pear and Black Meteorite Iron to me? If I buy this wild Ice Thorn Pear, where am I going to catch a live Ice Raven for you to feed it? Black Meteorite Iron can't even be melted by Earth Fire, what should I do with it after buying it, use it as a pillow? If you want to buy the entire market, my spirit stones aren't enough! I'm still worried about where to find spirit stones to refine the Heaven Mending Pill."

"Cough cough..." The Green Robe Old Man felt a little embarrassed after hearing Wei Suo's words. "I used to really like browsing these markets and buying things. I've been cooped up in this Ghost Nurturing Jar for too long, it's been one or two thousand years since I bought anything, I'm really itching for it. But I'll be mindful from now on, I'll try not to buy useless things, alright?"

"Forget it," Hearing the Green Robe Old Man back down, Wei Suo felt a pang of sympathy. "Since you like buying things so much, I'll try to bring you along when I buy things in the future. If I earn more crystal stones later, I'll let you buy to your heart's content. But for now, everyone is tight on money, you should help me pick out some cost-effective things that I need now."

Wei Suo lowered his head and spoke softly, which in the eyes of others looked like he was talking to himself. Rogue cultivators at his level didn't attract any attention. When he said this to the Green Robe Old Man, two rogue cultivators who seemed to be doing quite well happened to pass by him. Hearing his words, these two rogue cultivators exchanged glances and immediately felt extreme sympathy for Wei Suo. "Poor guy, he's so desperate for spirit stones that his brain is malfunctioning. He's actually talking to himself, fantasizing about earning more spirit stones to buy to his heart's content or something."

"It's that guy." Just then, Wei Suo's gaze suddenly sharpened unconsciously.

"Who?" The Green Robe Old Man immediately sensed the change in Wei Suo's emotions.

"An arrogant guy at the Circulation Realm First Level. He snatched one of my Earth Fire Furnace rooms that day. If we hadn't had another one, we wouldn't have had an Earth Fire Furnace room to use temporarily. It's that guy over there wearing that red magic robe."

What Wei Suo saw was the sinister-looking Red-robed Middle-aged Cultivator he had seen at the auction before, who had later snatched an Earth Fire Furnace room.

"Old man, what is that guy buying?" Wei Suo cautiously moved closer and saw that the sinister Red-robed Middle-aged Cultivator was buying a bag of fiery red crystal sand from a cultivator, and a fist-sized, black ore that seemed to have corn-kernel-like bright silver crystal stones embedded within it.

"That's Fire Cloud Crystal, it can further enhance the heat of flames. That ore is Yellow Tooth Copper Ore. Yellow Tooth Copper has excellent fusion with other refined metals, and it's generally used to increase the flexibility of Flying Swords, because the flexibility requirement for ordinary thick Magic Treasure bodies is not that high," the Green Robe Old Man sneered. "The heat of the Green Toad Earth Fire Furnace alone isn't enough, and he still needs Fire Cloud Crystal, plus this Yellow Tooth Copper. It seems this guy is refining a Flying Sword."

"This guy should be a Sword Cultivator. He also wanted to buy Silver Gang Essence before. It seems that if I ever have to face this guy in the future, I'll have to be even more careful." Wei Suo nodded, he was very clear about the power of Flying Swords.

Just then, as if sensing Wei Suo's hidden hostile gaze, the Red-robed Middle-aged Cultivator, who was putting away the Fire Cloud Crystal and Yellow Tooth Copper Ore, suddenly turned around and looked towards Wei Suo's direction with a sinister gaze.

Wei Suo was startled and immediately pretended to be nonchalant, looking at two nearby stalls along with a few other cultivators.

The Red-robed Middle-aged Cultivator didn't seem to recognize Wei Suo. After a brief sweep of his sinister gaze, he walked towards a street alley.

Wei Suo didn't want to provoke this Red-robed Middle-aged Cultivator, who was likely a Sword Cultivator, so he waited until his figure disappeared into the alley before looking up.

"Are you treating me like an idiot? This piece of junk, and you want to sell it to me for three hundred low-grade spirit stones, and you call it a mysterious Magic Treasure Fragment? You're looking for death, aren't you?"

"If you don't want it, fine, but why be so abusive? Do you think I'm easy to bully?"

A fierce argument could be heard from a stall not far ahead.

"Magic Treasure Fragment?"

Upon hearing this voice, Wei Suo was startled and quickly walked towards that stall. Magic Treasures were something every cultivator dreamed of, and Wei Suo had personally witnessed the power of Nangong Yuqing's Magic Treasure Fragment. Although it could only be activated once a day, the power of her Magic Treasure Fragment, which retained some of the Magic Treasure's might, was far superior to Lin Daoyi's Magic Treasure Replica, which could be considered a semi-Spirit Artifact.

The stall owner was a square-faced middle-aged cultivator in his forties wearing a leather robe. He had dark skin and large hands and feet. Arguing with him in front of his stall was a skinny, bamboo-pole-like cultivator in blue clothes, about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with a somewhat sallow complexion.

Wei Suo reflexively used his Qi Gazing Technique and found that both cultivators were at the Divine Ability Realm Fifth Level, with similar cultivation bases. However, the Sea of Consciousness radiance on them was not intense, suggesting they were cultivating similar low-grade Profound Tier Cultivation Techniques. Their magic robes were also similar. The square-faced stall owner's leather robe was made from the hide of a Black Water Weasel, and the skinny cultivator's robe was made from the silk of Blue Silk Bamboo. Their defensive levels were roughly equivalent to first-tier defensive magic talismans.

At this moment, the skinny blue-robed cultivator was looking at the square-faced stall owner with killing intent in his eyes, while the square-faced stall owner glared back at the cultivator, unwilling to back down. In his hand, he held a gray fragment, half the size of a small knife.

"Bullying you? If it were some other ignorant cultivator, wouldn't they be cheated by you and lose hundreds of spirit stones for nothing?" the skinny cultivator continued coldly.

"This kind of transaction is inherently a matter of one willing to hit and one willing to be hit. And do you dare deny that this is not a Magic Treasure Fragment?" the square-faced stall owner sneered, flipping his hand over and taking out a red jade pendant, his meaning self-evident.

"Fire Dragon Pendant!"

Several surrounding cultivators gasped in unison. The square-faced stall owner had just produced a famous Magic Treasure Replica from the Guiyi Sect. This Fire Dragon Pendant was at the same level as the Fire Phoenix Belly-Cover Wei Suo obtained, belonging to the semi-Spirit Artifact category. However, one was an offensive Magic Treasure, and the other was a defensive Magic Treasure. The square-faced stall owner taking out this item now clearly meant for the skinny cultivator to be sensible.

"What, you think I'll be afraid of you just because you have this item?" The skinny cultivator's eyes flashed with cold light. He reached out and grabbed, producing two items: a round, small shield emitting white mist, and a white bone-like talisman. Both items had a skull-like rune on them.

"White Bone Magic Shield, Bone Arrow Talisman! It's a disciple of White Skull Hermit!"

The surrounding cultivators erupted in another commotion. The two items produced by the skinny cultivator were the signature goods of White Skull Hermit, a rogue cultivator who was skilled in artifact refining. White Skull Hermit was a formidable figure near Luoyue City, rumored to have cultivated to the Circulation Realm Fifth Level many years ago. He also sold Bone Arrow Talismans, which had the power of a second-tier magic talisman, and the White Bone Magic Shield had a defensive power comparable to a second-tier defensive magic talisman, but it could be used continuously. This item was only possessed by the disciples of White Skull Hermit.

"What, are you trying to pressure me with White Skull Hermit? As an unknown person like me, White Skull Hermit wouldn't even be able to find me if he wanted to deal with me." The skinny cultivator's identity was now obvious, but the square-faced stall owner showed him no respect, coldly sneering, "If you want to be arrogant, go back to Luoyue City and be arrogant there."

"To kill you, do I still need my master? Do you dare to come out of the city with me to fight right now?" the skinny cultivator roared in anger.

"If you're looking for death, I'll fulfill your wish." The square-faced stall owner's killing intent was fully revealed. Just as a conflict between the two seemed inevitable, a voice interjected, "Let's all be harmonious and make money. Seeing that both of your cultivations have reached the Divine Ability Realm Fifth Level, breaking through to the Circulation Realm is just around the corner. Why get angry over a trivial matter? Even if you win, it's not worth it to damage your magic artifacts. Since you are both experts, and the dispute started because of this item, why don't you let me take a look at this Magic Treasure Fragment? I have a hobby of collecting such ancient Magic Treasure Fragments. If I find it satisfactory, I'll buy it, and you two can turn your conflict into friendship?"

"You want to see this Magic Treasure Fragment?" The square-faced stall owner turned his head in surprise. The speaker was a young cultivator wearing ordinary green clothes. He was not without apprehension towards White Skull Hermit, and now that someone had come to mediate, it was naturally the best outcome for him.

The skinny cultivator snorted, still seemingly displeased, and said coldly, "This Magic Treasure Fragment is too ancient. Although it still retains some of its power, there is no way to know how to use it. It's no different from ordinary broken bricks and tiles."

Seeing that the green-robed young cultivator didn't heed his advice, and the other party was kindly offering to mediate, the skinny cultivator didn't say much more to the green-robed young cultivator. Instead, he felt a bit grateful. After nodding to the green-robed young cultivator, he gave the square-faced stall owner a fierce glare and turned to leave.

"I haven't seen this kind of fragment before, why don't you sell it to me at a lower price?" The green-robed young cultivator glanced at it briefly and then smiled at the square-faced stall owner, saying.

This green-robed young cultivator, who was quite good-looking, was naturally Wei Suo. Hearing Wei Suo's words, the square-faced stall owner spat in the direction the skinny cultivator had left and said, "I wanted three hundred low-grade spirit stones from that guy, but since it's for a brother like you, I'll only ask for three low-grade spirit stones."

Everyone's red tickets are mighty, can we dare to break through 7000 today and set a new record? Anyway, I must add an update today. Also, the first batch of names for the new book support event has been compiled. The first supporter was classmate No Tail Cat, the 100th was classmate Fading Eyes, the 200th was Sweetie, the 300th was classmate Jesus Loves Pig, sigh, the 400th and 500th were both classmate Bei Luo, the 600th and 800th were actually Sweetie again... The 700th was classmate Ke Wen, the 900th was classmate Bookworm in the Well, the 1000th was classmate 1ce Zi, the 1100th was classmate Lock Clear Autumn, the 1200th was classmate Fat Little Beggar, the 1300th was classmate Use Missiles to Blast Your Ass, the 1400th was classmate I Am Lu Manman, the 1500th and 1600th were both classmate Pan Pan's Handsome Guy. I will send my gifts to all the above classmates. Please also help the administrators to contact them and collect their mailing addresses. As of now, there have been a total of 1646 supports. Thank you all for participating in the new book gift-giving event. The event is still ongoing, and interested classmates can also participate. The winning lists for red ticket check-ins and book review check-ins will also be compiled after the new year. Also, my dedicated YY room number has been upgraded to a five-digit number, 63803. If you want to open a room, don't go into the wrong room number and get molested, haha. Finally, the fourth update will definitely be released later in the day! Let's be mighty together!