Baleful Qi, Dragon Qi, Picking Up a Bargain

"A Daoist priest?" Fang Shu's heart skipped a beat.

At this moment, a horse-faced demon was loitering around Fang Shu, talking animatedly and showing off his insights to the others.

Upon hearing this, Fang Shu opportunely chimed in:

"May I ask, Brother Ma, why did the legendary Daoist priest seal the ancient treasure within Spirit Stone?"

The horse-faced monster heard this, glanced sideways at Fang Shu, blew on a tuft of mane on its forehead, and said:

"My friend, you're quite ignorant. It wasn't those Daoist priests who wanted to seal the ancient treasure within the Spirit Stone; it was our Immortal cultivator immortals who used the Spirit Stone to seal their artifacts."

The other party continued smugly:

"Another theory is that after the Daoist priests were wiped out, they caused endless harm. Even their so-called 'spiritual treasures' were a scourge, very evil."

Our ancestors used medicinal liquids to seal these things and buried them in the earth's energy. Over time, the Spiritual Qi within the "spiritual treasures" was extracted, forming the Spirit Stone that encased them, which became what are known as "ancient treasures."

Fang Shu heard this and his expression suddenly changed.

He cupped his hands in greeting and said, "I see, Brother Ma is indeed very knowledgeable."

Upon hearing this, the horse-faced monster's arrogance became even more pronounced, as it swung its horse head smugly.

Fang Shu continued exchanging pleasantries with the other party.

He also inquired about the specific rules of "stone gambling" in the Monster Market and found that apart from the extremely high entry requirements, everything else was no different from that in the market.

Suddenly, Fang Shu muttered to himself, "If someone really finds a treasure, will they be able to take it back?"

The horse-faced monster heard this and looked at Fang Shu with the condescending expression one would give a country Fang Shu.

Although this fellow's attitude was poor, he answered every question and said firmly:

"Whose territory is this? This is the territory owned by the Mountain King!"

What kind of treasure is this? Our Mountain Lord has seen it all before. Disciples of the Immortal Sect on the mountain often come to the Mountain Lord for appraisal.

The other party said nonchalantly, "As long as you find something good, you don't need to worry about your way back. The Mountain Lord will naturally invite you to a gathering and help you with your return journey. You'll see."

Fang Shu followed the other person's gaze.

The Immortal cultivator had extracted the finest medicine from the pile of waste did not seem to mind flaunting his wealth. Instead, he calmly accepted the envy of the crowd and then walked deeper into the Monster Market, surrounded by a throng of people.

And there were vendors from the Monster Market banging gongs and shouting:

"The mountain king has summoned us! Our distinguished guest has arrived!"

The horse-faced Immortal cultivator pointed at the departing immortal. "Brother, if you don't return safely to Guling Town, you can cut off my head and use it as a football."

The surrounding Immortal cultivator and demons also heard Fang Shu's conversation with the horse-faced demon, and all cast mocking glances at Fang Shu.

Fang Shu showed a hint of fear and quickly bowed to the horse-faced monster again.

But he didn't care at all, thinking to himself, "This Monster Market even offers delivery service. No wonder its business is so booming and has such a good reputation."

He pondered that he couldn't necessarily believe everything the people around him said.

However, it seems that as long as the treasures unearthed are not too rare or precious, the owner of this Monster Market would not covet them. Even if he did covet them, he would not take them by force; he could simply redeem them with a small amount of money.

On a whim, Fang Shu also entered the jade gambling area to join in the fun.

Because a precious medicine was just prescribed.

Many customers from the Monster Market were attracted there, making the casino monster beam with delight, as it kept shouting:

"Feel free to touch and look around; if you find something valuable, it's yours!"

Fang Shu also touched them and found that the stones in the casino were all heavy.

Each stone has a different shape and weight. Generally speaking, the more intense the Spiritual Qi on the surface and the denser the stone, the higher its price.

It is precisely because of the dense Spiritual Qi that even Divine Sense cannot penetrate it and learn the details inside.

Fang Shu is currently just an Immortal cultivator Refining Essence; he doesn't even have Divine Sense, and being a newcomer, he is even more confused.

After taking a quick look around, he decided to stop and go explore other places.

But just then, a series of "rising, rising, rising" sounds rang out.

Immediately afterwards, another series of "Oh dear!" sounds of regret echoed through the jade gambling area, attracting the attention of many transgender people.

Fang Shu squeezed through the crowd to join the fun and immediately spotted a leopard-headed monster with a deathly pale face. The monster stared wide-eyed at the rough stone that had been cut open.

The rough stone was shaped like a stone pillow, and in terms of both shape and appearance, it looked very much like Spirit Stone that contained an ancient treasure.

Fang Shu overheard a few words and discovered that the Immortal cultivator and monsters around him were also saying that this pillow stone was the little stone king that was attracting a lot of attention in the casino.

The leopard-headed monster, enraged that someone had prescribed a precious medicine, spared no expense to have someone kill the Pillow Stone.

As it turned out, the leopard-headed monster actually managed to unearth something inside – a true "ancient treasure"!

Unfortunately, as soon as the opening was made, an Evil Qi seeped out.

This indicates that the ancient Evil Qi within it has not yet been dissolved by heaven and earth.

Even if you acquire an ancient treasure like this, which still harbors Evil Qi, you must still invite a Majesty Empowerment Discipline master to perform a blessing and exorcise the evil spirits. It may take several years, or even decades, to completely eliminate the Evil Qi within it.

Such a process would naturally cost a considerable amount of money, and success is not guaranteed.

Furthermore, the ancient treasures inside stones that have been oozing Evil Qi have a greater than 50% chance of being worthless, having already been damaged or even rotted into dust during the long sealing process.

From time to time, there were sounds of Immortal cultivator or demons clicking their tongues all around.

"Neither fish nor fodder."

"What a pity, what a pity."

At this moment, the gambling den master in charge of cutting the stone asked the leopard-headed man, "Sir, where should we cut this time?"

Upon hearing this, the leopard-headed monster trembled, pointing here and there.

Unable to make a decision in the end, it burst into tears, which aroused discussion among the surrounding Immortal cultivator and monsters.

Seeing this, the gambling den's demon master had no choice but to get up, hand the partially cut pillow stone to the other demons present, and shout:

"But there are still brothers who want to take over; maybe one of them will get lucky and snag a huge bargain!"

"Who knows, maybe there's only a hint of Evil Qi on the outer layer of this stone, and not much inside at all."

Upon hearing this, many Immortal cultivator and demons were truly tempted, and they all took the pillow stone and rubbed it hard with their claws or faces.

Some monsters even licked the stone with their tongues, trying to gauge the level of Evil Qi within it and whether it was worth taking the plate.

Fang Shu stood nearby, and after the stone was passed around, it naturally ended up in his hands.

He accepted it casually, intending only to broaden his horizons and see what this so-called Evil Qi was.

Upon receiving the stone, his body stiffened instantly, and even his pupils constricted slightly.

Fortunately, he managed to keep his composure in time. Although he appeared somewhat unusual, to onlookers, it was merely due to a sudden encounter with Evil Qi energy.

Only Fang Shu himself knows.

At this moment, the Dao Register in his mind was buzzing and vibrating, and words were appearing:

[Contact with Dragon Qi has been made, connection possible... Dragon Qi is corrupted, connection impossible... Analyzing... The contact object has been determined to be "rootless Dragon Qi," already corroded...]

[Should we extract the owner's vital Qi and Blood, cleanse the Dragon Qi, and refine it into the talisman?]

A storm raged in Fang Shu's heart.

Is what Immortal cultivator and mortals consider "Evil Qi" actually what his Daoist Dao Register calls "Dragon Qi"?

Furthermore, is the "Daoist priest" associated with the Dao Register he obtained truly the same being that, as others have said, extinct 100,000 years ago?

A strong sense of wonder immediately arose in his heart, making him eager to buy this piece of jade and study the so-called "Dragon Qi."

Whether or not there are ancient treasures is secondary; the key is this "Dragon Qi," which may have a tremendous effect on his Dao Register!

However, Fang Shu controlled his mind; he only subconsciously tightened his grip on the rough stone.

After carefully stroking it, he secretly tried it out and found that the Dao Register seemed to be able to extract the "Evil Qi" from the jade stone from a distance.

However, this discovery made him even more cautious, and he did not act on it immediately.

Instead, he sighed and handed the exposed gemstone to the next onlooker.

In the end, the jade gambling went around in circles, but not a single Immortal cultivator or demon dared to take on the task.

The leopard-headed monster was on the verge of tears.

The monster in the gambling den kept urging, "Nobody dares to take over, brother, why don't you just make one more cut and be done with it?"

However, the leopard-headed demon couldn't make a decision. It wanted to sell the jade stone and redeem some Spirit Stone. After all, once it was completely opened, only a pile of rubble would remain inside, making it utterly worthless.

The man looked around at the onlookers with a fawning expression, his voice trembling as he said:

"Eight taels, only eight taels of Spirit Stone!"

This remark drew a burst of laughter from the onlookers. "Eight taels? I'd rather have five taels than eight taels."

"Given the weight and Spiritual Qi energy of this stone, it would be wonderful if it yielded an antique treasure for collection."

The crowd was discussing it.

Fang Shu listened in for a while and discovered that most of the so-called "ancient treasures" were actually used by the current Immortal cultivator as collectibles and raw materials for refining artifacts.

Only a small number of ancient treasures will be re-refined and transformed into "Law Artifact" and other objects known as "Law Treasure".

Fang Shu didn't delve into the details; he remained calm and continued to observe the scene from the sidelines.

When the leopard-headed monster couldn't help but shout out "five taels of Spirit Stone," he finally made his move:

"Yes, I'll take it."

These words drew surprise from the Immortal cultivator immortals and demons, and all eyes immediately fell on Fang Shu.

The leopard-headed demon looked at Fang Shu with relief, quickly handed him the stone, and said, "You can't go back on your word." Then he took five Spirit Stones from Fang Shu's hand.

"Brother, open it!"

Seeing that someone was actually willing to take the bait, the surrounding Immortal cultivator and demons became even more excited and immediately started jeering.

However, Fang Shu had no intention of showing off. On the contrary, he found the stares of the people around him too annoying, which made him frown slightly.

At this moment, the gambling den employee walked up with a smile and immediately pointed to the shack next to him, offering a good option.

It turns out that in the Monster Market, jade gambling not only involves cutting the stones open in full view of everyone, but also in makeshift shacks.

This will prevent others from being envious and causing unnecessary trouble.

Especially for someone like Fang Shu, who took over someone else's business halfway through, it is most appropriate for him to cut it up privately, so that Fang Shu can do it himself without relying on others.

With a slight stirring in his heart, Fang Shu readily complied, carrying the stone pillow alone, and entered the shack.

Once inside the shack, the noise from the outside world is immediately shut out, and the shack also provides smoke for concealment free of charge. Just pour a ladle of liquid, and the shack will be filled with thick blue smoke, preventing anyone from peeping inside or outside.

After Fang Shu became familiar with the environment, he immediately poured several large ladles of smoke-filled water, filling the shed with thick blue smoke so that he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face.

Holding the rough stone, he didn't even need a cutting knife or saw; he simply picked up an iron hammer and smashed it down hard.

Bang!

The instant the hammer fell, he quickly activated the Dao Register, swiftly drawing most of the Dragon Qi from the jade into the Dao Register, leaving only a small portion.

This small portion of Evil Qi, acting as a cover, rose and dissipated between heaven and earth.

Buzz buzz buzz!

The Dao Register in Fang Shu's mind immediately trembled violently, his Qi and Blood was being drained and consumed, and characters appeared and moved:

[Having absorbed the impure Dragon Qi, currently undergoing cleansing... Having obtained the Dragon Qi, the Dao Register is being renewed...]

A deep joy filled Fang Shu's heart.

Excellent! This Dragon Qi is indeed of great use to Dao Register talismans.

Its effect is surprisingly similar to the Treasure Blood of Cheng the Jar, capable of triggering the self-renewal of the Dao Register!

Overjoyed.

Fang Shu belatedly came to his senses.

With a strange look in his eyes, he groped around and picked up something from among the rubble.

With one strike of the hammer, it seemed as if a decent antique treasure had truly been unearthed from the rough stone, rather than a worthless fragment.