Prosperity After the Chaos

"Any who harm fellow cultivators or violate Market regulations without cause will not be tolerated by us disciples of Li Fire Palace. Demonic beasts are running rampant outside the Market. From this moment onward, a curfew will be enforced. Sect reinforcements will arrive in two days..."

On the streets, cultivators stationed by Li Fire Palace led the way, using sound-transmission spells to warn all cultivators.

The Wang Family and Zhou Family also mobilized, assisting the Li Fire Palace cultivators in stabilizing the Market.

At this moment, the Great Elder of the Wang Family was cursing furiously within the clan. He had accounted for everything, except for a third party intervening.

It led to all their efforts going down the drain. Under Li Fire Palace's temporary suppression, the cultivators within the Market gradually settled down.

After all, Li Fire Palace's reinforcements would arrive in two days. The demonic beasts outside the Market, terrifying as they had been last night, would become enticing Spirit Stones in two days.

After leaving Shen Lie's home, Lin Chang'an walked through the streets of the Market.

The corpses on the road had long since been cleared away. Only the blackened bloodstains still testified to everything that had happened last night.

"I hope someone managed to snatch some Talisman Inheritance last night."

Lin Chang'an muttered to himself. Having lived here for twenty years, slaughter between cultivators had long become commonplace to him.

Last night had merely been on a larger scale.

When he arrived at the newly designated trading district of the Market, its bustle stood in stark contrast to the silence of the other residential districts.

In just one night, everyone seemed to have returned to how things had been before. The slaughter and chaos of last night seemed as though they had never happened.

The Market was now as noisy as during a festival.

A great number of looted goods were laid out on stalls at low prices, while Li Fire Palace cultivators stood coldly on guard around them.

However, whether they were stallholders hawking goods or cultivators entering the Market, every one of them wore black clothes and bamboo hats, concealing their faces.

"A First-tier Mid-grade Golden Light Talisman for five Spirit Stones? You must be dreaming of Spirit Stones!"

"Buy it or get lost. In two days, Li Fire Palace's reinforcements will arrive and clear out the demonic beasts outside. If you don't buy it, plenty of others will."

Dressed in black and wearing a bamboo hat, Lin Chang'an radiated a fierce, brutish aura. He drove away the poor fool who could not afford his wares.

At a time like this, other things might depreciate in value, but Talismans and magical artifacts that directly affected one's combat strength and could save one's life were absolutely hot commodities.

"You!"

"You what? If you're not buying, get out of the way! Don't ruin my business!" The disguised Lin Chang'an shot the haggling cultivator a vicious glare.

"I'll buy!"

In less than an hour, after selling eight First-tier Mid-grade Golden Light Talismans, Lin Chang'an packed up his stall and rose to his feet. He mingled into the crowd and secretly changed his appearance once more.

"First-tier Mid-grade Fireball Talismans. I'll trade you two Golden Light Talismans for three of yours."

"Get lost!"

"Fellow cultivator, don't be so hot-tempered. I'll add three more Spirit Stones."

In less than half a day, Lin Chang'an had sold off all the Golden Light Talismans he had previously been unable to move, leaving only a few for temporary protection.

Looking at the medicinal pills, cultivation materials, and more than several dozen Low-grade Spirit Stones in his Storage Bag, Lin Chang'an muttered to himself.

Sure enough, danger and opportunity went hand in hand.

There would never be a better chance to clear out his stock. After all, more than seventy percent of the goods in the Market now were secondhand.

His few First-Order Mid-Grade Talismans would not even make a splash if tossed into the Market.

Arriving before a stall he had long been eyeing, Lin Chang'an asked coldly:

"Fellow cultivator, can you guarantee this First-Rank Mid-Grade Flying Sword Talisman Jade Slip is genuine?"

Before the stall lay a damaged Jade Slip covered in cracks. It was obvious that it had gone through a fierce struggle.

Seeing a customer approach, the masked old cultivator spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Fellow cultivator, this is a First-Rank Mid-Grade Flying Sword Talisman manuscript. You don't see such a thing often. Go ask around—if a First-Rank Mid-Grade Talisman manuscript appears even at an Auction, it starts at a hundred Spirit Stones."

"Three Spirit Stones. I'll gamble once." Lin Chang'an ignored his boasting and directly named a price.

"Get lost! I'd rather snap it in half!"

The masked old man's eyes bulged. Damn it! A treasure worth over a hundred Spirit Stones, and this guy offered three Spirit Stones? What kind of nonsense was that?

Yet Lin Chang'an merely sneered.

"If you dared guarantee it was genuine, it would naturally be worth over a hundred Spirit Stones. But do you dare?"

The other man was so furious that his eyes widened, but he said nothing. If he dared guarantee it was genuine, why would he be selling it here?

It had all been looted, and some of it was damaged. Otherwise, who would be setting up a stall here?

Lin Chang'an calmly stared at the faint red mark on the damaged end of the Jade Slip. He knew it far too well.

At an Auction eighteen years ago, this very Flying Sword Talisman Jade Slip had been sold for one hundred and fifty-three Spirit Stones.

He still remembered it vividly, because the red mark at the broken end of the first Jade Slip should have been a Plum Blossom Seal when complete.

Eighteen years had passed. If someone had gone to such lengths to forge it, he would accept it. It was only a few Spirit Stones, after all—the cost of trial and error was low.

"Right now, the Market is full of people fishing in troubled waters. You can't even guarantee it yourself, yet you dare ask for over a hundred Spirit Stones?"

Lin Chang'an looked at him as if he were an idiot, making the old man's face flush red.

Too many outside Rogue Cultivators had come to the Market lately, so naturally there were plenty of fakes. Last night, he had merely picked up a bargain himself. Who knew whether it was fake?

"But it can't be just three Spirit Stones!"

The old man spoke unwillingly, but Lin Chang'an gave a disdainful sneer and stood up to leave.

"Right now, if there aren't a hundred stalls in the Market selling First-Rank Mid-Grade Talisman manuscripts, there are two hundred. There are even complete First Tier Talisman inheritances. Whoever I buy from, it's still a gamble."

Seeing Lin Chang'an preparing to leave without the slightest hesitation, the masked old man slapped his thigh and hurriedly called out:

"Oh, fellow cultivator, why are you in such a rush? Don't go. Ask high, bargain low—we're all respectable people. Let's discuss it some more."

But when he saw Lin Chang'an heading straight for another stall selling Mid-Grade Talisman manuscripts, the old man truly panicked.

"Fellow cultivator, three Spirit Stones it is."

"Fine."

The money and goods were exchanged cleanly.

When Lin Chang'an received the remaining Jade Slip, he could not help rubbing his hands in secret. After more than twenty years of cultivation, it was about time luck came his way!

Yet in the next moment, after seeing the latter portion of the Jade Slip's contents, Lin Chang'an's eyes widened.

Fuck!

My three Spirit Stones!

What Flying Sword Talisman manuscript was this? It was clearly the utterly commonplace First Tier Low-Grade Fireball Talisman manuscript.

But when Lin Chang'an turned back, the stallholder was nowhere to be found. That old bastard had clearly fired one shot and changed locations.

"After hunting wild geese all day, today I had my eyes pecked out by one."

Lin Chang'an ground his teeth in hatred. He had finally thought he was about to pick up a bargain, only to be dealt such a blow.

Meanwhile, amid the crowd, the old man from before had changed to a new location. A sly grin spread across his face as he once again pulled an identical damaged Jade Slip from his robes.

"Only old ghosts like you, who think yourselves so experienced, will be stirred by greed. With such a fine opportunity, if I don't bring out some of my hidden treasures, how will I earn Spirit Stones?"

Caressing the hard Spirit Stones in his Storage Bag, the old man smiled. He had made another profit.

It had to be these old ghosts. Every one of them was craftier than the last, thinking they had experience, yet not knowing that cleverness could be mistaken for cleverness.

"True Treasure Pavilion has opened up Talismans, Pill Recipes, Artifact Refining, and even Formation Inheritance to the public!"

Lin Chang'an had thought his attempt to pick up a bargain had failed. He was preparing to return and work on his grand talisman-drawing plan, then feast on another wave of benefits tomorrow, when he heard this news.

It left Lin Chang'an somewhat shocked.