Lin He suddenly stopped beside a certain stall because the vendor had set out a sign stating clearly-low-tier spirit beasts for sale.
The vendor was a young man in his thirties. Customer traffic was sparse in the afternoon, and he was currently reading a book about Five Elements Spells. Finally catching a customer, he hurriedly put away the book and asked with great enthusiasm,
"Fellow Daoist, are you looking to buy a spirit beast?"
Lin He nodded. Hearing this, the young man was overjoyed. He pointed to several cages set up beside him, where five low-tier spirit beasts were locked up.
Seeing Lin He looking at the cages with apparent interest, the young man immediately perked up and began explaining energetically,
"This first one is a Tier 1 low-grade fierce beast, the Mountain-Pushing Beast. Don't let its wild boar-like appearance fool you; it can cast the Stone Skin Technique, and its defensive power is astonishing. At a critical moment, it can absorb damage for its master and save a life."
Lin He nodded. The Mountain-Pushing Beast before him was merely Tier 1 low-grade, but he already had two Tier 1 peak-grade ones on hand, which he used to act as meat shields.
Seeing Lin He's gaze skip past the Mountain-Pushing Beast, the young man furrowed his brows and had no choice but to continue explaining the second one,
"This spirit beast is called the Wind-Howling Eagle. Although it currently only has Tier 1 mid-grade cultivation, it can handle tasks like reconnaissance, searching, and tailing. It's an exceptional low-tier auxiliary spirit beast. Additionally, it can cast the Wind Blade Technique to assist in combat. What do you think, Fellow Daoist?"
Hearing this, Lin He nodded. He had also nurtured two Tier 1 peak-grade specimens of this Wind-Howling Eagle. The main thing was that this spirit beast could fly, perform various auxiliary tasks in mid-air, and cast wind blades to assist in combat. It was an all-around auxiliary spirit beast, very practical, and Kirin Pavilion within Yellow Maple Valley cultivated quite a number of such spirit beasts.
Seeing that Lin He merely nodded without expressing an intention to buy, the young man's brows locked tightly together, and he could not help but grow somewhat worried. However, he still continued his introduction,
"It seems Fellow Daoist has rather high standards. Then this third spirit beast will surely satisfy your needs. Fellow Daoist, please take a look at this Azure Water Crocodile."
The Azure Water Crocodile possessed a great reputation among low-tier spirit beasts. Its mastery of water-attribute spells was extremely formidable, making it an unquestionable primary attacker. In the original novel, facing a peak-tier 1 Azure Water Crocodile, Nangong Wan did not dare to be careless, commanding a group of Covering Moon Sect disciples to join forces before finally killing it.
Yet this Azure Water Crocodile clearly had not fully matured, and its cultivation was merely Tier 1 mid-grade. Under this level of cultivation, its strength was greatly discounted, which was no wonder it could be captured by this vendor who was only at the tenth layer of Qi Condensation.
With the Azure Water Crocodile enjoying such a big reputation, Lin He naturally would not let it go, and he had similarly nurtured two Tier 1 peak-grade ones. As for this Tier 1 mid-grade one, he could only ignore it.
Seeing Lin He shake his head, the young man finally revealed a look of impatience. He even began to suspect whether this person before him was doing it on purpose, so he said in a deep voice,
"Are you truly sincere about buying a spirit beast, Your Excellency? Or are you deliberately here to toy with me?"
Lin He instead smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist need not get angry. I am truly here to buy spirit beasts. I'll take both of your remaining spirit beasts."
"Hm?" Hearing Lin He's promise, the young man's expression improved somewhat. He pointed to the remaining two spirit beasts and said with a trace of pride,
"Fellow Daoist certainly has a good eye. To capture these two Icefire Wolves, I spent a full half-month."
Looking at the two Icefire Wolves before him, Lin He could not help but click his tongue in wonder. These wolves were extremely bizarre; half of their bodies were blazing hot, while the other half were extremely cold. Yet these two contradictory energies had miraculously fused into a single body, which was truly incredible.
The reputation of these Icefire Wolves was even greater, surpassing even the Azure Water Crocodile. For no other reason than that the offensive capability of the Icefire Wolf was extremely formidable; they could not only cast fire-attribute spells but also ice-attribute spells. However, their weakness was equally prominent, which was that their defensive power was far too poor.
Lin He had actually been searching for Icefire Wolves all along, but his luck was not too good, and he had never run into any. Today, his luck had finally turned, and he happened to encounter them, so he naturally could not give up.
These two Icefire Wolves were merely Tier 1 mid-grade. If others ran into them, they would mostly have to consider whether it was worth it, but for Lin He, who could nurture spirit beasts, it was a massive bargain.
Right now, there was still over a month until the Forbidden Land Trial, which was enough to elevate these two Icefire Wolves to Tier 1 peak-grade. By then, they would substantially boost his strength.
"State your price, Fellow Daoist."
Seeing Lin He act so decisively, the young man hurriedly raised the price, saying, "You wouldn't know, Fellow Daoist, but to capture these two Icefire Wolves, I suffered quite a bit. The selling price for these two Icefire Wolves is sixty spirit stones. How does that sound to Fellow Daoist?"
"Sixty spirit stones?"
Lin He let out a cold laugh and said, "Your Excellency takes me for a fool, don't you? The price of a Tier 1 low-grade spirit beast is only eight to ten spirit stones, yet you dare sell a Tier 1 mid-grade one for thirty spirit stones?"
"You can't calculate it like that, Fellow Daoist. Could it be that you don't know the renown of these Icefire Wolves? Merely discussing their attack power, they rank near the top among low-tier spirit beasts. Otherwise, Fellow Daoist wouldn't have made up your mind to buy them."
"No matter how great their renown, your Tier 1 mid-grade strength is only equivalent to a mid-stage Qi Condensation cultivator, so their practicality is heavily discounted."
After a round of bargaining between the two, they finally settled at a price of twenty-five spirit stones. Lin He put on a look of considerable heartache as he paid fifty spirit stones to the other party, causing the young man to be exceedingly happy.
Seeing the shopkeeper looking so happy, the joy in Lin He's heart vastly surpassed his, but on the surface he still maintained the appearance of having suffered a heavy loss. This was also an act performed to avoid exposing his wealth.
Although the cultivators nearby were not numerous, if Lin He casually shelled out fifty spirit stones while maintaining a nonchalant attitude, he would likely fall into the schemes of those with ulterior motives. After all, this world did not care about any laws.
Lin He possessed eight Tier 1 peak-grade fierce beasts within his portable space. If he went all out, he could fight even upon encountering an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. However, he preferred to avoid trouble whenever possible; he was no battle maniac and disliked engaging in meaningless fights.
Actually, according to Lin He's initial thoughts, he did not plan to let any of these five spirit beasts go, but now he no longer wanted to waste spirit stones to buy them because there were plenty of wild Demon Beasts inside the Forbidden Land Trial.
Thinking thus, Lin He had just prepared to leave when he heard a commotion coming from a nearby stall.
"Can't you sell this Diamond Talisman to me for eight spirit stones? It's just one spirit stone short, is there any need to haggle over every last detail like this?"
"No way. Nine spirit stones means nine spirit stones, not a single one less!"
A short, plump youth and a skinny shopkeeper were quarreling, the reason turning out to be a Diamond Talisman.
"Preposterous! Do you truly have no idea who I am?" The short, plump youth asked angrily, "I am a member of the Liu family of the Yuanwu Kingdom. Do you know the consequences of angering me?"
The skinny shopkeeper, however, wore a mocking expression. "The Liu family? What a joke. Your Liu family has long since fallen on hard times, without even a single Foundation Establishment cultivator left, with only a few scrawny cats and dogs remaining. And you're still putting on airs here? If you can't afford the spirit stones, then get lost, and don't delay my business."
"You..." The short, plump youth roared, "My Liu family's ancestors once formed ties with an exalted expert. Just you wait, one day, our Liu family will take back everything we've lost."
The short, plump youth left the market looking furious. After he left, another four cultivators unexpectedly emerged from different locations and began walking in the direction the short, plump youth had departed.
Lin He silently watched all this, choosing not to follow behind. Instead, he touched the Storage Bag at his waist and pondered,
"It looks like what that Senior Brother Liu said should be true. These people following up behind are likely doing so to snatch the token belonging to the Liu family. Now that the token is already in my hands, there's no need to create extra complications."
Thinking of this, Lin He did not follow them, heading straight toward Myriad Treasures Pavilion instead.