Primordial Heavy Water

As the exchange meeting began, many people around the lotus pond visibly grew excited. After all, this was one of the Southern Mountain Society's traditional benefit events.

According to Wind Spirit, this downward exchange meeting had been single-handedly organized by Heavenly Talisman Elder, in hopes of strengthening the Southern Mountain Society's cohesion.

As the initiator, Heavenly Talisman Elder was the first to take out an item from his sleeve and casually toss it into the Treasure Light Basin floating in midair.

Bzz!

The Treasure Light Basin's original multicolored radiance abruptly contracted, replaced by a profound, deep-blue glow.

He Sheng's gaze narrowed slightly as he pondered inwardly:

"According to what Wind Spirit said, the Treasure Light Basin's light is ranked from worst to best as gray, then white, green, blue, purple, gold, and red.

Blue treasure light should correspond to rare second-tier spirit materials, up to materials approaching the third-tier treasure grade.

This deep-blue treasure light means that what Heavenly Talisman Elder brought out is already nearly as valuable as a third-tier treasure material?"

Looking closely, He Sheng saw that Heavenly Talisman Elder had placed a golden talisman into the Treasure Light Basin. The spirit patterns across its paper were intricate and complex, faintly carrying an unfathomable aura.

"Five Thoughts Resonance Talisman, a premium second-tier talisman of exceptional quality." Heavenly Talisman Elder spoke slowly in a hoarse voice. "I trust this old man need not explain what this talisman does. Those willing to exchange for it need only place their trade item into the Treasure Light Basin. A light-blue treasure glow will suffice."

He Sheng truly had no idea what effect this talisman possessed for it to be worth nearly as much as a third-tier treasure material, so he sent Wind Spirit a voice transmission to ask.

"Fellow Daoist Xiang, this Five Thoughts Resonance Talisman is the society leader's unique talisman.

It has only one effect. After activating it, it unites one's five thoughts, allowing one to briefly enter an ethereal state of resonance and thereby perceive the fortunes and misfortunes awaiting oneself over a period of time in the future."

Foresee fortune and misfortune?

He Sheng frowned slightly, feeling that this effect was rather too mystical.

What counted as fortune?

What counted as misfortune?

Unless there were clear signs pointing to fortune or disaster, it seemed it could only serve as a reference.

He Sheng had never encountered this sort of power before, so he truly could not get a handle on it for the moment.

Yet while he was still mulling it over, he noticed that Zhang Tuo, Jin Zhaofa, Liu Xuanyi, Li Lin, and the others had all taken out items one after another, attempting to exchange for the Five Thoughts Resonance Talisman.

He Sheng could not help being surprised. Was this talisman truly so astonishingly effective that everyone was scrambling for it, or were they merely showing support?

"During the earlier voting, Heavenly Talisman Elder openly cast his vote for Wind Spirit, yet only one person followed suit. That shows Heavenly Talisman Elder's authority isn't particularly strong, so there's no reason for everyone to deliberately flatter him.

That means this Five Thoughts Resonance Talisman really is worth a great deal."

A bastard would be a fool to pass up a bargain.

Since this was a benefit event where one could trade downward, He Sheng had to get in on it.

After hesitating briefly, he took from his storage pouch a spirit material refined from one of the Thousand-Legged Centipede's pair of sharp, thorned antennae, each over a zhang long.

The antennae had originally been a pair. For now, he took out only one and placed it into the Treasure Light Basin.

The treasure light that appeared in the basin was deeper than light blue yet lighter than deep blue, but it firmly surpassed the trade items produced by all the other cultivators.

Heavenly Talisman Elder carefully examined the thorned antenna several times and could not help saying, "It appears to be a spirit material refined from some kind of demon beast material. Quite rare indeed."

At this point, Heavenly Talisman Elder paused and looked toward He Sheng.

"Fellow Daoist Xiang, will you be using your priority exchange right as a new member?"

He Sheng shook his head.

Naturally, he intended to save his priority exchange right for the Comprehension Fruit.

Heavenly Talisman Elder nodded. After a brief deliberation, his gaze moved back and forth between the thorned antenna He Sheng had produced and a silver stone Zhang Tuo had brought out. In the end, he chose He Sheng's thorned antenna.

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Xiang." Wind Spirit immediately sent a voice transmission to congratulate him, then reminded him, "Remember well, Fellow Daoist: the Five Thoughts Resonance Talisman can only be used in a tranquil, secluded environment, and absolute safety must be ensured."

Simply put, when using the Five Thoughts Resonance Talisman, one's five thoughts would merge and enter an ethereal state of resonance, much like the soul leaving the body. Naturally, one had to ensure the physical body's absolute safety.

He Sheng nodded and committed every word to memory.

Next, Zhang Tuo and Wind Spirit brought out items for exchange in succession.

The former produced a silver-white shield, a top-grade defensive artifact of exceptional quality. It was worth a fortune and could sell for nearly ten thousand spirit stones outside.

Brother Piao did not possess a single artifact of this caliber. Only the Owl Dragon Banner, the treasure that served as Lower River Market's centerpiece, could compare with it.

The gap in value between magical artifacts was, in truth, enormous.

An ordinary low-grade artifact could be bought for a few dozen spirit stones, while a typical top-grade artifact would easily cost three or four thousand spirit stones. An exceptional-quality top-grade artifact would cost twice that, and defensive artifacts had always been worth even more.

He Sheng was rather tempted by this defensive artifact, but just as he was about to make an offer, he heard Zhang Tuo's specific conditions.

The man explicitly stated that he would exchange the shield artifact only for three types of exceptionally rare second-tier spirit materials. He wanted nothing else, and in the end, no one was able to meet his requirements.

He Sheng was beginning to get the idea. So this exchange meeting truly only allowed downward exchanges, but if someone did not wish to trade away their item, they could simply set obscure conditions that no one else could possibly fulfill.

"Looks like whether others get to take advantage of a bargain depends entirely on one's conscience?"

After Zhang Tuo, it was naturally Wind Spirit's turn. What he brought out was the so-called Sinking Water.

He Sheng had previously browsed through the many manuals and records scavenged from the He Family's Transmission Tower, and had happened to come across descriptions of this item.

This Sinking Water was originally a lower-grade second-tier spirit water. It seemed unremarkable, yet it could be refined into the famed Primordial Heavy Water!

Of course, a heavenly treasure like Primordial Heavy Water was not so easily refined. First, it required a vast amount of Sinking Water—at least three to five hundred drops to refine a single drop of Primordial Heavy Water;

Second, one had to possess a profound method of water refinement and purification.

The Sinking Water Wind Spirit had brought out filled an entire bottle, amounting to roughly three hundred drops, and was quite valuable.

The problem was that seemingly no one present had any use for it. There was not a single person capable of refining Primordial Heavy Water, and this bottle of Sinking Water gave off a medium-blue glow, requiring an item with a light-blue treasure glow in exchange.

After weighing it up, everyone felt there was no bargain to be had, and not a single person made a move.

Next came Jin Zhaofa. He produced a third-tier treasure material—Heaven-Sharp Refined Gold—causing an immediate stir.

Its treasure glow was directly purple, and rather deep in color at that. After all, it was a mid-grade third-tier treasure material.

Quite a few people rubbed their hands eagerly, but upon hearing Jin Zhaofa's requirements, they all lowered their banners and beat their drums.

Jin Zhaofa had stated plainly that he would only trade for several specific lower-grade third-tier treasure materials. In the end, no one could produce them, so the matter was naturally dropped.

When it came to Liu Xuanyi, he brought out a green fruit the size of a walnut. It was precisely the Comprehension Fruit.

The moment this fruit entered the Treasure Light Basin, it displayed a deep-blue glow, clearly marking it as something of extraordinary value.

"This Comprehension Fruit was obtained by chance. It can permanently raise one's innate comprehension. I have heard that the improvement is quite pronounced, so its effects are far from insignificant."

Liu Xuanyi swept his gaze over the crowd. Only after seeing interest appear on many faces did he continue:

"I intend to exchange it for two rare upper-grade second-tier spirit materials, to refine a magic treasure prototype. Specifically, I need..."

He named more than ten specific spirit items, every one of them a precious and rare second-tier material. Producing even one would not be easy, let alone two.

Then Liu Xuanyi seemed to think of something. He glanced at He Sheng and said:

"High-quality spirit materials processed from demon beast materials are acceptable as well, but they must carry an ancient wilderness aura."

"Ancient wilderness aura? Isn't that Black Jade Blood Python an ancient wilderness variant? Its entire body is steeped in ancient wilderness aura."

He Sheng's heart stirred, and he was just about to take something from his storage pouch.

But someone beat him to it!

It was Li Lin, seated in the seventh chair. He immediately took out an item and tossed it into the Treasure Light Basin with a flick of his hand.

Whoosh!

Blue treasure light appeared within the basin. The shade of blue was actually deeper than the Comprehension Fruit's glow, with even a faint hint of purple showing through.