Xiao Yu stopped in front of a shop. A large character meaning "talismans" adorned its signboard. After looking it over, he stepped inside.
"Welcome, senior. Please let us know whatever you need." As soon as Xiao Yu entered the shop, an attendant came forward to greet him.
"I am surnamed Lu. I have a batch of spirit talismans to sell," Xiao Yu said, getting straight to the point.
"Please follow me to a private room in the back, senior."
Crossing the spacious hall, the attendant led Xiao Yu into a tastefully furnished room at the rear of the shop.
"Please wait a moment, senior, while I inform the shopkeeper." After serving Xiao Yu spirit tea, the attendant went out to fetch the shopkeeper.
Before long, an elderly man in blue robes, around sixty years old, entered. Xiao Yu swept him with his spiritual sense and discovered that he was at the early stage of foundation establishment.
"Welcome to our shop, fellow Daoist. I am Wang Yue, and I have the honor of serving as its shopkeeper. I trust my staff haven't neglected you!" The old man greeted Xiao Yu warmly as soon as he entered.
"Greetings, fellow Daoist. I am Lu Renyi," Xiao Yu replied, rising to his feet.
After they took their seats as host and guest, the old man asked Xiao Yu, "My staff tells me you wish to sell spirit talismans. What kind are they, and how many do you have?"
"Please take a look, fellow Daoist!" Xiao Yu took out a Fire Serpent Talisman and handed it to the old man.
The old man picked up the spirit talisman and examined it carefully. "Excellent. Abundant spiritual power and superior quality. How many do you have? Our shop will take them all!"
"That depends on your offer."
"A Fire Serpent Talisman generally sells for around seven spirit stones on the market. Naturally, our purchase price is slightly lower. However, if you have a large quantity, we can surrender some of our profit. We only hope you will come to us again the next time you have talismans to sell," Shopkeeper Wang said.
Hearing this, Xiao Yu took out seven hundred Fire Serpent Talismans without hesitation and placed them on the table. He had already learned their value before coming and knew the old man was telling the truth, so he had no intention of haggling much.
After inspecting them, Shopkeeper Wang's face lit up with delight. This man is no ordinary cultivator. He's likely a skilled talisman maker, or has one backing him. I need to befriend someone like this and leave a good impression. If he becomes a regular customer, I'll have another source of stock. He promptly named a price:
"I can offer four thousand five hundred spirit stones for all these talismans. What do you think, fellow Daoist?"
"Agreed." Xiao Yu was thoroughly satisfied with the offer.
"Here are the spirit stones. Please put them away, fellow Daoist. If you have more talismans like these, please continue selling them to our shop. We will make certain you are satisfied." The old man took out a bag of spirit stones and handed it to Xiao Yu.
"Certainly, certainly. With such a generous shopkeeper, I will definitely return if I have more stock. Farewell!" Xiao Yu accepted the spirit stones with satisfaction and patted his chest in assurance.
The old man was delighted. Whether the man meant what he said or not, his offer had been considerably higher than the market purchase price. With profit to entice him, there was little fear he would not return. He said, "Allow me to see you out, fellow Daoist!"
Next, Xiao Yu found a general goods shop and sold off all the mid- and high-grade magic tools he had no use for, along with various other items, as a single lot. In the end, he received another fifteen hundred spirit stones and more.
His total supply of spirit stones now approached seven thousand. With a bulging purse came peace of mind, and Xiao Yu went on a shopping spree through the market. He bought large quantities of basic materials for talisman making and equipment refining, while focusing especially on collecting spirit medicine seedlings and seeds.
Taihao Market truly lived up to its reputation as a large market jointly managed by two major righteous sects. In just one evening, after visiting only half the market, Xiao Yu had collected most of the spirit medicine seedlings and seeds needed to refine Origin-Raising Pills.
Early the next morning, Xiao Yu arrived before an enormous, lavishly decorated pavilion. Above its main entrance hung a signboard over ten feet long, bearing three large characters for "auction house," carved with the sweeping vigor of flying dragons and dancing phoenixes.
At that moment, Xiao Yu wore a black bamboo hat with a black veil around its brim, concealing his face.
A faint smile touched Xiao Yu's lips beneath the hat as he entered the pavilion. Inside the hall, the decor matched the exterior, with gold as its dominant color: golden pillars, golden lamps, gold-trimmed tables and chairs, and more.
In contrast to its extravagant furnishings, the hall was rather deserted. Apart from a few white-robed attendants, no one else was present.
Seeing Xiao Yu enter, one of the attendants approached and asked, "Senior, the auction won't be held until the day after tomorrow. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Are you still accepting items for consignment?" Xiao Yu asked, lowering his voice to a rasp.
"Of course. We accept consignments any time before the auction begins, though your item must exceed a certain value. This way, senior. I'll take you to see our appraiser!" As the white-robed attendant spoke, he led Xiao Yu onward.
When they reached a room at a corner on the second floor, the attendant told Xiao Yu, "Senior, Master Song is in this room. Please enter on your own from here. It would not be appropriate for me to go inside!"
Xiao Yu nodded, then pushed open the door and entered.
The room was sparsely furnished. Aside from a long, gold-trimmed table and a counter behind it, there was nothing else inside. A golden-haired old man with a ruddy face sat behind the table. Apparently, he was the Master Song the attendant had mentioned.
"Greetings, fellow Daoist. I am surnamed Lu!" Xiao Yu cupped his hands toward him. The man was at the middle stage of foundation establishment, so Xiao Yu did not dare put on airs.
"I am Song Qian. Greetings, fellow Daoist. If you have anything to consign, please take it out and let me have a look!" The old man went straight to the point. Perhaps he had said similar words too many times, for his tone held not the slightest inflection.
Xiao Yu smiled faintly, turned his hand over to produce a jade bottle, and placed it on the table before pushing it toward the old man.
With a sweep of the old man's broad sleeve, the jade bottle landed in his hand. He opened the stopper and sniffed it, his expression shifting. Then he tipped the bottle over, and two blue pills the size of broad beans rolled into his palm.
"Foundation Establishment Pills!"
The old man looked at Xiao Yu with some surprise. These days, people who brought Foundation Establishment Pills to auction were exceedingly rare. Demand for them in the cultivation world had always outstripped supply, and they seldom appeared on the market. For this man to produce two at once was even more extraordinary. Could he be an important figure in some sect or family?
"Is something wrong, fellow Daoist?" Xiao Yu asked when the old man merely stared at him without speaking.
"Ah, please forgive me, fellow Daoist. I lost my composure for a moment. There is nothing wrong with these pills. They are more than worthy of auction! Do you have any requirements for their sale?"
"Give priority to anyone with pill formulas suitable for improving a foundation establishment cultivator's cultivation. The more formulas, the better. Any shortfall can be made up in spirit stones." Xiao Yu had long since settled on this.
This was also why he had traveled all the way to this market in Fengdu Kingdom. Selling Foundation Establishment Pills in Yue Kingdom was too risky. Especially now, with less than a year having passed since the Blood Forbidden Trial, producing two at once would inevitably attract the attention of interested parties.
"That should be no problem. Our auction house can spread the news beforehand. I believe quite a few members of cultivation families will want these Foundation Establishment Pills, and some of them possess a considerable number of pill formulas. However, according to our rules, we will take ten percent of the final sale price as the consignment fee."
"No problem. As for the arrangements, I'll leave everything to you!"
"In that case, fellow Daoist, please await the news. This is our consignment token. Once the items have been auctioned, you can present it to collect the proceeds." Finally, the old man took out a token and handed it to Xiao Yu.
"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Song. I will take my leave!"
After leaving the auction house, Xiao Yu began wandering through the market again. He intended to use these two days to collect as many spirit medicine seedlings and seeds as possible. Whenever he encountered a variety he did not already possess, he would buy some.
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