Fellow Daoist, Please Stay!

"Fellow Daoist, please wait!" Zhao Hao only gave a soft mm and said nothing more.

That pressure, gone as soon as it appeared, was like an invisible hand clamping tightly around the steward's heart.

"Senior... Senior, forgive me!"

The steward no longer dared to remain seated. He hurriedly sprang up from his chair, a fine layer of cold sweat already beading on his forehead.

He had spent decades greeting guests and seeing them off in this market city, and he still had some eye for people.

This senior before him had restrained his aura to the utmost, but the texture of the spiritual power he had released in that instant just now was absolutely not something a Qi Refining cultivator could possess.

Especially that pressure—it was even more solid and weighty than certain Foundation Establishment Early Stage clan cultivators he had seen!

This was definitely a Foundation Establishment expert who had concealed his cultivation!

Thoughts spun rapidly through the steward's mind, and the smile on his face became ever more respectful, even carrying a trace of flattery.

As he carefully withdrew half a step, he began introducing things without a trace of fuss. "Senior may not know this, but our Hundred Treasures Pavilion is the largest merchant association in the Northern Lands. Our pavilion master is even a senior expert of the Nascent Soul Realm, and our branches are spread throughout all the major market cities of the Northern Lands. Our reputation is absolutely guaranteed."

This was both a show of goodwill and a veiled warning.

Zhao Hao did not answer. He still toyed with the teacup in his hand, as if he did not care at all about some Nascent Soul pavilion master.

Seeing this, the steward felt even less certain. He quickly got to the point. "May I ask what sort of art Senior requires? Though this humble shop is not large, we do have some common Foundation Establishment Realm arts."

Seeing that Zhao Hao wore a mask that blocked divine sense, and that they were within the territory of the Extreme Yin Sect, he formed his own judgment.

He first listed several spells commonly used by righteous cultivators, such as the Ten Thousand Sword Technique, Sword Control Technique, Golden Awl Technique, and the like. Seeing that Zhao Hao had no reaction at all, he lowered his voice and continued cautiously.

"Of course, this humble shop also has some... arts more suitable for us cultivators of the Northern Lands."

"For example, this Yin Curse Technique is a soul-path art. It can enslave living souls to cast curses, leaving one's opponent mentally disturbed and unable to focus. It is only six hundred Spirit Stones."

"There is also this Ten Thousand Blood Spirit Devouring Technique, a blood-path secret art, incomparably vicious, priced at eight hundred Spirit Stones."

"If Senior's divine sense is powerful, then this Yin Soul Nail is absolutely your best choice. This technique ignores physical defenses and attacks the soul directly, impossible to guard against! The price is one thousand Spirit Stones!"

The steward finished introducing them all in one breath, then quietly waited for Zhao Hao to choose.

In his view, this senior's aura was cold and sinister, so there was an eight- or nine-in-ten chance he would choose those demonic secret arts.

After Zhao Hao finished listening, however, he remained unmoved.

He set down the teacup, and his hoarse voice sounded once more.

"Do you have cultivation methods?"

The steward's heart tightened, and he hurriedly replied, "Yes! We have the Foundation Establishment section of the Ten Thousand Blood Return Demon Canon..."

"Do you have righteous-path cultivation methods?"

Zhao Hao cut him off directly.

The steward's expression instantly froze. He glanced at Zhao Hao in astonishment, and stormy seas surged in his heart.

A Foundation Establishment senior with a cold and sinister aura was not asking about demonic arts, but instead was interested in righteous-path cultivation methods?

What sort of approach was this?

He did not dare ask more and immediately answered respectfully, "Yes, yes! Senior, we also have three righteous-path cultivation methods here."

"One is the Longevity Essence Nourishing Canon. This method mainly focuses on health preservation. After cultivating it, one can live ten years longer than cultivators of the same level, and its cultivation difficulty is low, making it the first choice of many Rogue Cultivators and clan cultivators. However, its flaw is that its magic power is mediocre, so one suffers more during magical combat."

"Another is the Heavenly Origin Qi Nourishing Art. This method is upright and balanced, and cultivators of all five-element attributes can cultivate it. Its advantage lies in steadiness."

"As for the last..." When the steward spoke to this point, his tone paused and took on a trace of solemnity.

"It is the Li Fire Imperial Spirit Canon!"

"This cultivation method originated from the secret-realm ruins of the ancient sect, the Li Fire Sect. It was created specifically for cultivators with a fire spiritual root, and its offensive power can be called top-tier among cultivation methods of the same level!"

"The cultivation method also comes with several secret arts for condensing 'Li Fire.' If one can find a spiritual flame of heaven and earth and merge it into the art, one can even fight across realms!"

"It is just that... this cultivation method only has the Foundation Establishment section. As for the later Golden Core section, I'm afraid one would have to search for it in that Li Fire Sect secret realm."

Li Fire Imperial Spirit Canon!

Top-tier offense!

It even came with secret arts!

The eyes beneath Zhao Hao's mask suddenly lit up.

He had a fire-attribute Heavenly Spiritual Root. Was this cultivation method not custom-made for him?

As for the later cultivation method being lost?

He could think about that after he cultivated to the Golden Core stage. For now, he still had to focus on the Foundation Establishment Realm first.

"I'll take this Li Fire Imperial Spirit Canon." Zhao Hao no longer hesitated in the slightest and spoke directly. "How many Spirit Stones?"

The steward was delighted and hurriedly gave the price. "In reply to Senior, this art requires two thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones."

Zhao Hao nodded, took out two thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones from his storage bag, and the steward carefully received them into a storage bag. Then he took a jade slip from his own storage bag and handed it to Zhao Hao.

After completing this transaction, however, he showed no intention of getting up.

The steward was just about to offer a few words of flattery when he heard that hoarse voice ring out again.

"I'll take all the spells you mentioned just now, as well as the Foundation Establishment sections of those two righteous-path cultivation methods and three demonic cultivator methods."

"Ah?"

The steward was utterly dumbfounded.

He stared blankly at Zhao Hao, unable to react for a moment.

All of them?

What did this senior mean?

Righteous-path cultivation methods and demonic-path spells—just which path did he cultivate?

Besides, the mana traits of the righteous and demonic paths were completely different. It was fundamentally impossible to cultivate both at the same time!

Zhao Hao offered no explanation. He merely looked at him in silence.

The steward's scalp prickled under his gaze. Not daring to ask any further questions, he hurriedly packed up the six spells and five cultivation methods, eleven jade slips in total, one by one.

"S-Senior, the total is fourteen thousand three hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones."

"Senior may simply pay fourteen thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones."

With another casual wave of Zhao Hao's hand, spirit stones piled across the entire table.

Following the rules, after making a great oath upon his heart demon never to spread the cultivation methods, Zhao Hao put away all the jade slips, turned, and left.

When he walked out of Hundred Treasures Pavilion, the steward's gaze from behind him—mixed with awe, confusion, and incomprehension—still followed him closely.

Zhao Hao did not care in the slightest.

He stroked his storage pouch, his heart burning hot at the sight of that huge pile of jade slips.

Nearly twenty thousand spirit stones were gone just like that.

The fortune that old ghost Jia Ren had painstakingly saved up over a lifetime was not even enough for Zhao Hao to spend once.

If that old ghost Jia Ren were still around and saw the family wealth he had worked so hard to save being squandered like this, who knew whether he would crawl up just to curse Zhao Hao as a wastrel.

His steps quickened. He wanted to return to his temporary cave dwelling as soon as possible.

He could hardly wait to see just how powerful this Li Fire Imperial Spirit Canon, said to be an ancient cultivation method, would become after being enhanced by the system!

However, just as one of his feet was about to step out through the main doors of Hundred Treasures Pavilion, a somewhat hesitant voice, carrying a hint of surprise, suddenly drifted down from the second floor of the pavilion.

"Fellow Daoist, please wait!"

Zhao Hao's body stiffened. He stopped, then slowly turned his head.