"Three thousand spirit stones?"
Li Yunjing frowned slightly, tapping his fingertips against the counter. "That price is downright robbery."
"You may not know this, fellow Daoist, but this mystic yin stone comes from foreign lands, not our Cang Kingdom. You can only find it through luck!"
The old man offered an ingratiating smile. "You think it's expensive? So do I!"
"Two thousand."
Li Yunjing cut him off. "This isn't high-grade mystic yin stone, after all. It's ordinary stock, barely good enough to refine a spirit artifact."
The old man's expression changed. Clearly, he had not expected such a knowledgeable customer.
He glanced around, then lowered his voice. "Since you know its worth, fellow Daoist, twenty-eight hundred. Not a stone less."
As they haggled, a commotion suddenly erupted outside the shop.
A squad of cultivators in matching attire strode toward them, led by a sinister-looking middle-aged man with a cold jade token hanging at his waist.
"They're from the market administration!"
The scrawny cultivator who had guided them turned deathly pale and quietly backed away.
The middle-aged man's gaze flashed like lightning as he surveyed everyone in the shop, finally settling on Li Yunjing, Zhao Qi, and Su Muqing. "You look unfamiliar, fellow Daoists. Where might you be from?"
"I'm a wandering rogue cultivator passing through your esteemed territory."
Li Yunjing inwardly stiffened, but his expression remained unchanged.
"Is that so?"
The middle-aged man sneered and abruptly produced a bronze mirror. "Then would you care to take a look in this replica of the Xuantian Mirror?"
The atmosphere in the shop instantly froze.
From the corner of his eye, Li Yunjing saw that the old man had quietly retreated behind the counter, pressing a finger against some hidden mechanism.
"What? Is this how the Cold Moon Market treats its guests?"
Li