Buying a Spirit Beast

Han Changjiong shook his head. "I don't know, but I've seen how fierce the Fire Carp Beast is. I think it'll win. Ninth Brother, do you want to buy a spirit beast? You can play with it when you're bored and relieve some of the tedium."

Han Changming was tempted. He had more than three hundred spirit stones in his Storage Bag, enough to buy a spirit beast. After watching other people's beasts fight, he was indeed interested in owning one.

"Sure. Let's go take a look and buy one that suits me."

Han Changjiong and Han Changming got up to leave. Han Changjiong returned the token to the attendant and received forty spirit stones.

They arrived at a spacious, brightly lit hall. Many enormous iron cages stood on the floor, holding all kinds of large spirit beasts.

There were giant blue dogs with two heads, golden eagles with two pairs of wings, giant tigers with three eyes, and scorpions with two tails.

These were all first-rank spirit beasts. Behind the long bluestone counter stood more than a dozen enormous iron cages, each holding a second-rank spirit beast.

Han Changjiong walked up to the counter and said to an attendant in a blue robe, "I'd like to buy a first-rank spirit beast. Show me the catalog."

The attendant took out a thick book and handed it to Han Changjiong, who passed it to Han Changming.

Han Changming leafed through it carefully. The book listed a great many spirit beasts.

Giant-Toothed Rabbit, a low-grade first-rank spirit beast. It ran fairly fast and could cast fire-element spells. Price: one hundred spirit stones.

Wind-Chasing Leopard, a low-grade first-rank spirit beast. It ran extremely fast and could cast wind-element spells. Price: one hundred and thirty spirit stones.

Earth-Shaking Rhino, a low-grade first-rank spirit beast. It had thick skin and flesh and knew the Stone Skin Technique. Price: one hundred and fifty spirit stones.

Han Changming spent half an hour browsing, still eager for more.

To be honest, several spirit beasts caught his interest, but they were far too expensive. Even the cheapest cost a hundred spirit stones, and none of those appealed to him.

Suddenly, delight flickered in Han Changming's eyes.

Alligator Turtle Beast. It excelled at earth-element spells and had thick skin and flesh. A high-grade Alligator Turtle Beast could easily bite through an enemy's defensive shield. Price: one hundred and eighty spirit stones.

If he'd had an earth-element spirit beast to help him when he encountered the demonic cultivators last time, he wouldn't have ended up in such a sorry state.

"Could you lower the price on this Alligator Turtle Beast?" Han Changming asked, pointing to the book.

There was an illustration in the book: a huge yellow turtle biting down on a massive blue tiger. It looked rather gruesome.

"We have Spirit Beast Eggs, thirty spirit stones each. Hatching one takes at least a year or so, so it's a lengthy process. You'll need to place the egg on a spirit vein or build a little nest out of spirit stones and set the egg on top to hatch it. The richer the spiritual energy, the sooner it'll hatch."

Han Changming smiled and nodded. "I'll take two Alligator Turtle Beast eggs."

Two eggs cost just sixty spirit stones, much less than a hatched Alligator Turtle Beast.

The attendant in the blue robe brought over two oval, white Spirit Beast Eggs. They gave off a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy.

After Han Changjiong checked them and found them satisfactory, Han Changming happily paid sixty spirit stones. He then spent another fifty on a three-foot Spirit Beast Bag.

Back at the Spirit Talisman Pavilion, Han Changming took out thirty spirit stones, piled them up, and placed the two Spirit Beast Eggs on top.

He bit his finger and used his blood to draw two intricate crimson runes on the eggs.

The two eggs gave off a faint glimmer, and the blood-red runes vanished.

According to the attendant in the blue robe, the eggs needed to absorb enough spiritual energy before they would hatch.

Han Changming placed the Spirit Gathering Stone among the pile of spirit stones. The spiritual energy it contained was equivalent to that of a high-grade spirit stone, so it should shorten the eggs' incubation time.

He took out his Talisman Brush, cinnabar, and talisman paper and began crafting talismans.

The day passed in a flash. Han Changming spent the entire time in his room making talismans.

His success rate for crafting low-grade first-rank talismans had reached forty percent, while his rate for middle-grade first-rank talismans was nearly thirty percent. The Talisman Brush he had was only a low-grade first-rank artifact; a brush of too low a grade would also affect his chances of success.

The next day, after breakfast, Han Changming left the Spirit Talisman Pavilion. He planned to buy a better Talisman Brush.

He headed straight for the Divine Weapon Pavilion. It sold many kinds of artifacts, including Talisman Brushes, though they were a little expensive.

A high-grade first-rank Talisman Brush cost three hundred spirit stones, while a middle-grade one cost two hundred. Han Changming had just spent over a hundred spirit stones the day before and had less than two hundred left.

After thinking it over, he decided to check out the square where Rogue Cultivators set up their stalls and see if he could find a Talisman Brush.

If he couldn't, he would borrow a few dozen spirit stones from Han Changjiong.

Before long, he reached the square and began wandering around.

The stalls offered all kinds of goods, but most were ordinary. Han Changming looked as he walked, but didn't see any Talisman Brushes for sale.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, he stopped in front of a small stall.

The stall displayed materials from demonic beasts. Beside a wooden box full of Clam Pearls lay a pale blue Talisman Brush, its whole body wreathed in a faint azure glow. It was a high-grade first-rank artifact.

The stall owner was a middle-aged man in his thirties with fourth-layer Qi Refining cultivation.

Han Changming crouched down, picked up a Clam Pearl, and casually asked, "How much are the Clam Pearls?"

Clam Pearls came from the bodies of clam-type demonic beasts and could be used in artifact crafting or alchemy. But the wooden box held only first-rank Clam Pearls, which weren't rare. Their shapes were also irregular, greatly reducing their value for alchemy or artifact crafting.

"Five spirit stones apiece. Buy ten, get one free; buy fifty, get ten free."

Han Changming casually picked up a few Clam Pearls to examine them, then set them down and took the Talisman Brush. "How much for this brush?"

"Fellow Daoist, you've got a good eye. A second-rank talisman maker used this brush. It originally cost three hundred spirit stones. If you like it, you can have it for two hundred and eighty."

"Two hundred and eighty? Who knows how many hands this brush has passed through. One hundred spirit stones, final offer." Han Changming haggled.

Han Changjiong had taught him this: when buying from Rogue Cultivators, push the price down as low as possible. They didn't have much patience for selling at stalls and were eager to get rid of their goods for spirit stones before heading out to sea.

After several rounds of haggling, the middle-aged man stubbornly held firm at two hundred spirit stones.

"Two hundred, then. I'll pay part of it with a few Water Shield Talismans. And throw in five Clam Pearls."

The middle-aged man hesitated briefly, then agreed.

Han Changming inspected the Talisman Brush, confirmed it was in good condition, and readily paid with spirit stones and five Water Shield Talismans. Then he left with the brush and five Clam Pearls.

Back at his lodgings, Han Changming immediately began refining the Talisman Brush.

The brush was called the Deep Cyan Brush. It was made primarily from fifty-year-old Deep Cyan Bamboo, along with whiskers from a Three-Tailed Spirit Cat and various other materials.

Once he had finished refining the brush, Han Changming eagerly took out his talisman-making tools and began crafting talismans.

Before long, a pale yellow rune appeared on the talisman paper, followed by a second, then a third...