Mysterious Jade Pendant

Chapter 41: Mysterious Jade Pendant

Wood chips scattered and slowly fell away, revealing a jade pendant of emerald green. It hovered in midair, giving off a faint glow. Anyone could tell at a glance that it was a valuable object.

"How could there be a jade pendant inside? Could it be that the White Jade Ants stopped eating just now because of this pendant, and not because of that plank?" Looking at the floating pendant, Luo Mu didn't snatch it up recklessly. Instead, he frowned in confusion and guessed to himself.

He released his spiritual sense. The jade pendant shimmered, and Luo Mu's spiritual sense was actually blocked by it, unable to penetrate even a fraction. This gave him a slight shock. If his spiritual sense couldn't get inside, the pendant had to be extraordinary.

How could a jade pendant that could block spiritual sense be ordinary?

He reached out and grabbed the pendant. It felt pleasantly warm. Luo Mu examined it carefully in his hand. A lotus flower was carved all over its surface, so lifelike it seemed real. Aside from that, there were no other markings.

Though Luo Mu still couldn't figure out what the pendant was or what it did, he was certain it was a good thing. The Female Ghost hadn't turned up, but he'd found a jade pendant like this instead. At the thought, Luo Mu was overjoyed. Two hundred Spirit Stones had not only bought him the shop, but also earned him an unknown jade pendant. He felt he'd struck it rich.

With delight on his face, Luo Mu put the pendant into his Storage Bag, intending to deal with it later. He knew nothing about it—not even its name or its specific function—and handling it recklessly might cost him dearly. Luo Mu had never been one to take a loss, so of course he wouldn't do something so foolish.

After putting away the pendant, Luo Mu ordered the White Jade Ants to keep eating the wooden floorboards. Though he was thrilled to have gotten lucky and found an unknown jade pendant, he hadn't forgotten about the Female Ghost.

At Luo Mu's command, the five White Jade Ants didn't waste any time. They began eating again...

An hour later, Luo Mu stood on the first floor of the shop, his face dark as he stared up at the ceiling. An hour ago, there had still been a second floor. Now, where was it? Even the first floor was in tatters, chewed up all over.

"Fine, you win!" Looking at the wrecked shop, Luo Mu's mouth twitched and his expression turned ugly as he cursed through gritted teeth.

He hadn't even slept while searching for the Female Ghost, but he hadn't found her—instead, he'd smashed the shop to pieces. Now the shop was a wreck, and the Female Ghost was nowhere to be seen. It was no wonder Luo Mu was cursing. If he hadn't found that unknown jade pendant along the way, he might have been ready to die.

"I don't care where you're hiding or what grudges you had with the previous owner. This shop belongs to me, Luo Mu, now. If you come out and cause trouble again, don't blame me for showing no mercy." Luo Mu swept his gaze around, then spoke with murderous intent.

His voice echoed through the empty shop. No one answered, and of course the Female Ghost didn't appear either, as if she'd vanished from the world.,

Luo Mu snorted and put aside the idea of continuing to search for the Female Ghost. If he kept looking, he'd end up tearing down the entire shop. He'd only just found himself a place to stay; he didn't want to wreck it so soon.

"Looks like I'll have to get someone to renovate the shop, and buy furniture all over again. I didn't think I'd have to spend money again so soon." Luo Mu grumbled as he counted the few Spirit Stones left in his Storage Bag.

As he spoke, Luo Mu sat cross-legged on the floor, closed his eyes, and began cultivating. He still had his spirit insects out to protect him. Since he hadn't found the Female Ghost, this was the only way he could put his mind at ease.

When he woke the next day, Luo Mu went to find a few mortals to renovate the shop, restoring the second floor to its original appearance. Then he bought some essential furniture.

Fortunately, ordinary furniture was very cheap. Buying it all cost Luo Mu less than thirty Spirit Stones, and the renovation cost even less. Mortal labor was dirt cheap. The first and second floors of the entire shop were renovated in a day, for a total of eighty Spirit Stones.

Together, the two expenses came to just a little over one Low-grade Spirit Stone. One Low-grade Spirit Stone wasn't a small amount to ordinary people. Among mortals, very few could earn that much in a day.

While the shop was being renovated, Luo Mu stayed there without taking a single step away, carefully watching the workers. He wasn't worried that the ordinary workmen would steal anything from him; there was nothing valuable in the shop anyway. He only wanted to see whether there were any other strange places where the Female Ghost could hide.

But after a full day, Luo Mu still came up empty-handed. The shop had been renovated beautifully, but he still hadn't found the Female Ghost's hiding place.

With no other choice, Luo Mu truly had to give up. Still, he became a little more cautious.

As the sky gradually darkened and the workers left, Luo Mu went outside, closed the shop door, and headed into the distance.

It wasn't that he was afraid to go inside because of the Female Ghost. He wanted to have a look at the night market. He'd been in Jinxiu City for a while, but with all his other tasks, he hadn't had time to visit. It was an absolute treasure trove for low-level cultivators. Now that he had some free time, he could go and see what he might find.

Even if he didn't need something himself, as long as there was a profit to be made, Luo Mu would buy it.

Jinxiu City covered a vast area. Though it was divided into four smaller cities—east, south, west, and north—each was still quite large. The night market was one of Jinxiu City's most distinctive features. Each smaller city had several streets of night markets, scattered around different parts of the city.

Luo Mu had come to a night-market street in the North City.

This night market was in the North City, the closest one to Luo Mu's shop. It was also the largest night market in the entire North City, bustling with people and packed with cultivators setting up stalls. Naturally, the goods for sale were all kinds of things, in a wide variety. Things people knew and things they didn't could all be found here. With good luck, one might really find a treasure.

The cultivation world was vast, with countless rare treasures. There were far too many treasures unknown to low-level cultivators to count. Plenty of people with poor judgment must have mistaken treasures for junk and sold them off. And at the night market, treasures were sometimes sold by low-level cultivators who couldn't recognize what they had.

That was exactly why Luo Mu had come to this night market, hoping to try his luck. Who knew? Perhaps he'd get lucky and stumble upon something valuable.

Luo Mu's cultivation wasn't very high; in the cultivation world, he was only a low-level cultivator. Still, he'd read quite a few books. They were all basic, low-level texts, but they'd broadened his horizons considerably.

Of course, even his knowledge had its limits. Take the jade pendant he'd found last night, for example. Apart from knowing it had to be a treasure, Luo Mu knew nothing about it.

All in all, there was no harm in wandering around the night market. Even if the odds of finding a treasure were low, it was better than having no chance at all.

As soon as he entered the night market, Luo Mu grew excited. He wandered this way and that, looking around in high spirits. He actually spotted quite a few things he'd never seen or heard of before.

"Fellow Daoists passing by, come take a look! A first-grade, high-tier spirit herb for only ten Low-grade Spirit Stones! There's only one, so once it's gone, it's gone!" A bearded man who looked to be in his thirties, with a cultivation level of only the fourth layer of Qi Refining, held up a spirit herb and shouted.

Sure enough, as soon as the man shouted, cultivators immediately gathered around. In just a little while, a young woman bought the herb. As she left, her face was alight with excitement. It was clear she'd gotten quite a bargain.

"An intermediate-grade Ice Arrow Technique talisman! Just five Spirit Stones! Fellow Daoists who want one, hurry!"

"Beginner-grade magical artifact, the Lingfeng Awl! It comes and goes without a trace, as fast as lightning—a must-have for fighting and brawling! Only fifteen Spirit Stones..."

Shouts of vendors filled the air. Luo Mu wasn't in a hurry. He went from stall to stall, looking them over one by one. He'd already seen several stalls. Their goods were ordinary items he recognized, and none were any use to him. They weren't worth much, so of course Luo Mu wasn't foolish enough to buy them.

"One Qi Gathering Pill, thirty Spirit Stones!" As soon as he approached the stall, he heard the vendor's cold voice.

Several cultivators had surrounded the stall so tightly that not even a drop of water could get through. They all seemed to be there for the Qi Gathering Pill. When Luo Mu first heard the price, he was startled. Thirty Spirit Stones for one pill was no small sum.

Though Luo Mu had asked around about the price of Qi Gathering Pills before, seeing them sell for so much at the night market made his heart leap with joy. He'd had his eye on the six bottles of Qi Gathering Pills in his Storage Bag for a long time.

Each bottle held ten pills, so six bottles made sixty in all. Doing the math, it really was quite a fortune—enough to make Luo Mu a hefty profit.

Though Luo Mu was excited, he didn't let it show. He chuckled to himself, then left the stall. It only had one Qi Gathering Pill for sale and nothing else, and quite a crowd had gathered around it. That showed just how much demand there was for Qi Gathering Pills.

There was no need to think about it. Luo Mu already knew how things would end: that one Qi Gathering Pill would surely be snapped up by Qi Refining Stage cultivators.

After all, a pill shop charged thirty-five Spirit Stones for a single Qi Gathering Pill. This vendor was asking only thirty, a full five Spirit Stones cheaper. Five Spirit Stones was already a huge amount for an ordinary low-level cultivator.

"Cultivation manuals! Top-grade cultivation manuals on clearance!" Luo Mu was still secretly delighted and had only just walked a few steps away when he heard a vendor at a stall ahead shouting.

"A cultivation manual? Isn't that exactly what I need most right now? But what kind of good manual could there be at this night market?" Curious, Luo Mu walked over.

(Although today's chapter is a little late, I still managed to finish it. Please don't hold it against me, everyone.)