Spirit-Nourishing Fruit (No More Today)

"Fellow Daoist Lin, you have advanced to the Nascent Soul Realm?"

"A portly old man in a golden robe exclaimed in surprise."

"Hehe, Fellow Daoist Xu, is it not allowed for me to advance to the Nascent Soul Realm?"

The Nine-Year-Old Rogue Cultivator chuckled and said meaningfully.

"That's not it. I heard that when you obtained the Nascent Soul Formation Pill, you were hunted down by many Core Formation Cultivator and didn't show your face for many years. Rumors circulated that you died and your cultivation dissipated, but it seems that was just a rumor."

The old man in the golden robe explained.

The Nine-Year-Old Rogue Cultivator sneered and said, "Indeed, some people were chasing me, but I killed them all. Otherwise, I wouldn't be standing here."

"Fellow Daoist Lin, please sit down and let's talk!"

The True Monarch Thousand Mechanisms invited the Nine-Year-Old Rogue Cultivator to sit down, and the group sipped tea and chatted.

"I heard that Fairy Red Plum and her friends went to Immortal Fallen Island in search of treasure, but suffered heavy losses."

Xu Xin said.

Master Ice Silkworm nodded and said, "I've also heard about this. I heard they encountered a Late Fourth Rank Amethyst Flying Scorpion. If it weren't for Fairy Red Plum having a flying Spirit Treasure, they would have perished as well."

He has been in the North Sea Cultivation World for some time, where he has met many Nascent Soul Cultivator and learned a great deal of information.

"Late Fourth Rank Amethyst Flying Scorpion? A flying Spirit Treasure!"

Shen Long was secretly surprised.

Flying Spirit Treasure are even rarer than attacking Spirit Treasure. As far as he knew, the Fairy Red Plum was also one of the Ten Immortals of the North Sea.

"I heard that Fellow Daoist Lin also obtained a Spirit Treasure on Immortal Fallen Island!"

The old man in the golden robe chuckled as he looked at the Nine-Year-Old Rogue Cultivator.

"Spirit Treasure isn't like a cabbage; I wish I had Spirit Treasure."

The Nine-Year-Old Rogue Cultivator shrugged it off. His gaze shifted to True Monarch Thousand Mechanisms, and he said, "Daoist Wang, you didn't call this gathering just to chat idly with us, did you? Let's get down to business!"

"If you fellow cultivators have nothing else to do, let's move on to the next step: exchanging items!"

"It was proposed by True Monarch Thousand Mechanisms."

Shen Long and the others did not refuse; they had already said what they needed to say.

As the initiator, True Monarch Thousand Mechanisms took the lead in exchanging items, offering dozens of materials, including many fourth-tier Demon Core and a Puppet Beast in the Nascent Soul Realm.

"In exchange for materials of equal value, materials for weapon forging will be given priority."

"True Monarch Thousand Mechanisms said."

Shen Long's gaze fell on a Cyan Jade Box containing two purple spheres. Pointing at the Cyan Jade Box, he asked, "Daoist Wang, what kind of Demon Beast's Demon Core is this?"

"The Demon Core of a fourth-tier, early-stage Amethyst Flying Scorpion."

"True Monarch Thousand Mechanisms said."

Shen Long took out a Cyan Jade Bottle and handed it to True Monarch Thousand Mechanisms, saying in a telepathic message, "This is ten drops of Ten Thousand Poison Paste. How about exchanging it for these two Demon Core?"

True Monarch Thousand Mechanisms uncorked the bottle, and a pungent smell wafted out. He immediately felt a little dizzy, quickly plugged the bottle, nodded, and gave the two Demon Core to Shen Long.

The cultivators all sent telepathic messages to True Monarch Thousand Mechanisms, taking out their items for True Monarch Thousand Mechanisms to examine, with many wanting to exchange them for fourth-tier Puppet Beast.

The Nine-Year-Old Rogue Cultivator took out an exquisite Golden Jade Box and handed it to True Monarch Thousand Mechanisms.

True Monarch Thousand Mechanisms opened the box, glanced at it, and quickly closed it. He then communicated with the Nine-Year-Old Rogue Cultivator, exchanging the fourth-tier Puppet Beast for the Nine-Year-Old Rogue Cultivator.

"Daoist Wang, I'd trade you Ten Thousand Year Profound Jade, and you still wouldn't even consider it?"

A portly old man in a golden robe frowned and said.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, while the Ten Thousand Year Profound Jade is indeed precious, what Fellow Daoist Lin has brought out suits my taste even better."

"True Monarch Thousand Mechanisms," the explanation continued.

The old man in the golden robe frowned but said nothing more.

Master Ice Silkworm and other Artifact Refiner, including Chu Buyu, all sent telepathic messages to the golden-robed elder, expressing their desire to exchange for the Ten Thousand Year Profound Jade.

After examining the belongings of the other Nascent Soul Cultivator, the old man in the golden robe did not agree to the exchange.

Most of the items that True Monarch Thousand Mechanisms brought out were exchanged; the Nine-Year-Old Rogue Cultivator traded for a Nascent Soul Realm Puppet Beast.

"This guy has had some pretty fortuitous opportunity. Not only did he manage to get Nascent Soul Formation Pill at the Auction, but now he's also gotten a fourth-tier Puppet Beast."

Shen Long thought to himself, his face full of curiosity.

He had a Third Rank Puppet Beast, but after he advanced to the Nascent Soul Realm, the Third Rank Puppet Beast was no longer of much use.

The cultivators took turns exchanging items, and they brought out quite a few good things, including Millennial Spirit Herb, fourth-tier Demon Core, Spirit Wood, ores, Law Treasure, and so on.

Shen Long took a liking to many things, but the prices were high, and he couldn't provide what the seller needed.

Half an hour later, Shen Long stood up and took out dozens of materials, placing them on the blue stone table. These included materials from Fourth-Rank Spirit Beast, Millennial Spirit Herb, and Fourth-Order Pill.

"Exchange for the Essence Blood of a fourth-tier Flood Dragon."

Shen Long spoke.

"Fellow Daoist Shen, what's in your gourd?"

The Nine-Year-Old Rogue Cultivator pointed to a Cyan Gourd and asked curiously.

"Ten Thousand Poison Paste!"

Shen Long said.

"The Ten Thousand Poison Paste?"

The Nine-Year-Old Rogue Cultivator nodded, took out a Cyan Jade Box, handed it to Shen Long, and said, "Fellow Daoist Shen, how about I exchange four early-stage fourth-tier Demon Core for these Ten Thousand Poison Paste?"

Shen Long shook his head; the Ten Thousand Poison Paste wasn't that cheap.

The Nine-Year-Old Rogue Cultivator, undeterred, transmitted his voice, "How about I trade you five Millennial Spirit Herb?"

He took out a golden storage bag and handed it to Shen Long. Shen Long scanned it with his divine sense and shook his head.

Chu Buyu and the others brought out quite a few things, but none of them contained the Flood Dragon Essence Blood.

Shen Long frowned, thought for a moment, took out two Golden Jade Box, and took out two blood-red fruits from each box.

"Blood Snake Fruit!"

A flash of surprise crossed Xu Xin's eyes.

Shen Long said, "Two Blood Snake Fruit in exchange for the Essence Blood of a fourth-tier Flood Dragon."

The Blood Snake Fruit is ripe, but Shen Long has not yet eaten it.

True Monarch Thousand Mechanisms was somewhat tempted. He took out a Cyan Storage Bag, handed it to Shen Long, and said through telepathy, "Fellow Daoist Shen, how about I exchange two Jade Spirit Fruit with you?"

"Jade Spirit Fruit?"

Shen Long was somewhat surprised that True Monarch Thousand Mechanisms actually possessed the Jade Spirit Fruit.

"Daoist Wang, the Blood Snake Fruit takes much longer to mature than the Jade Spirit Fruit. Two Jade Spirit Fruit are not enough."

Shen Long bargained.

Blood Snake Fruit can strengthen the physical body, while Jade Spirit Fruit can strengthen the Divine Sense. It's hard to say which is better, but Shen Long has quite a few Blood Snake Fruit, but not many Jade Spirit Fruit.

"Add one more Jade Spirit Fruit; I don't have any more."

The True Monarch Thousand Mechanisms bargained.

Shen Long agreed and made the exchange with True Monarch Thousand Mechanisms.

Shen Long possessed even more precious items, such as two Heaven Soul Ghost Lotus over 1,500 years old, but he didn't intend to take them out. There were many experts present, and if he revealed something too valuable, he might attract unwanted attention.

More than half an hour later, the exchange ended, and after chatting for a while, the cultivators returned to their respective homes.

Back at his residence, Shen Long entered a Alchemy Room.

He took out Incense Burner and a stick of Calm Heart Incense, lit the Calm Heart Incense, placed it in the Incense Burner, and closed his eyes to meditate.

After a short while, Shen Long opened his eyes, took out the Crimson Crow Cauldron and alchemy materials, and began to refine the Three-Leaf Spirit-Nourishing Pill.

He opened his mouth and spewed out a ball of Three-Colored Flame, which landed at the bottom of the Crimson Crow Cauldron, causing the temperature in the room to rise rapidly.

He threw the ingredients into the Crimson Crow Cauldron one after another and then closed the lid.

After a while, a faint medicinal fragrance wafted out of the cauldron.

Shen Long concentrated intently, his Divine Sense closely monitoring the situation inside the cauldron.

······

A secret chamber, with runes flashing on the stone walls.

The Nine-Year-Old Rogue Cultivator sat cross-legged on a Cyan Prayer Mat, with a black jade lock placed in front of him.

"You've had quite a haul at this gathering, acquiring a Nascent Soul Realm Puppet Beast in exchange."

A melodious female voice came from the Black Jade Lock.

"Don't worry, I won't go back on my promise. However, my cultivation is too weak. I'll go to Immortal Fallen Island after I improve my strength."

"That's what the Nine-Year-Old Rogue Cultivator said."

"You dare to play me? We clearly agreed that you would use those things to exchange for cultivation resources, and once your strength increased, you could go to Immortal Fallen Island."

An angry female voice came from the Black Jade Lock.

"I don't even have a single Spirit Treasure. How can I possibly venture into Immortal Fallen Island with just a Nascent Soul Realm stage Puppet Beast? Even Fairy Red Plum's team suffered a great loss when they entered Immortal Fallen Island. I don't want to follow in their footsteps."

The Nine-Year-Old Rogue Cultivator said coldly.

In his early years, he entered Immortal Fallen Island in search of treasure and obtained this Soul-Suppressing Lock. Inside was the Remnant Soul of a high-level cultivator, Remnant Soul knew many secrets, including some Ancient Cultivator Cave Abode.

The Nine-Year-Old Rogue Cultivator obtained a lot of cultivation resources thanks to the information provided by the Remnant Soul, which enabled him to advance to the Nascent Soul Realm and exchange with True Monarch Thousand Mechanisms for a fourth-tier Puppet Beast.

"Are you making a fool of me? Trying to renege on your debt?"

The woman's voice turned cold.

"I had no such intention. I used High-Grade Spirit Stone to exchange for a fourth-tier Puppet Beast. True Monarch Thousand Mechanisms might have his eye on me. With his strength, he could destroy me without breaking a sweat. If you teach me some powerful secret techniques, I'm willing to make another trip to Immortal Fallen Island."

The Nine-Year-Old Rogue Cultivator bargained.

"Hmph, do you think I'm that stupid? If you don't want to go, then don't expect to get any useful information out of me."

The woman's tone was icy.

"It's not that I'm unwilling to go, but you have to give me enough strength! With my current cultivation and strength, plus with True Monarch Thousand Mechanisms watching over me, I'm very likely to be killed as soon as I leave the Marketplace. Let me tell you, if I'm killed, I will definitely destroy the Soul-Suppressing Lock before I die."

"The Nine-Year-Old Rogue Cultivator threatened."

"I know your situation, but I can't hold on much longer. If you want to drag it out, then drag it out! Even if I'm completely destroyed, you won't gain anything more."

The woman said coldly.

The Nine-Year-Old Rogue Cultivator frowned, pondered for a long time, and said, "Let me improve my strength first, and I promise you, I will definitely go if I improve my strength."

The woman did not respond, seemingly unwilling to communicate with the Nine-Year-Old Rogue Cultivator.

The Nine-Year-Old Rogue Cultivator asked several questions, but the woman did not respond.

He snorted coldly and put away the Soul-Suppressing Lock.