The Spirit Plant Shop.
Still in the same spot.
At that moment, a red clay stove, three jin of blood food, and two jars of steaming meat broth sat on the stone table.
Snow fell from the sky. A snake and a fox sat in silence, the atmosphere somewhat delicate.
Su Changsheng gently sipped the meat broth, drinking it carefully, one small mouthful at a time, feeling immensely satisfied.
He never dared eat and drink like this in his daily life.
Leaving aside whether it was dangerous, the setup before him alone cost well over a hundred jin of flesh and blood. If the Fox Woman had not been footing the bill, all he could have done was look on enviously.
But someone offering favors for no reason was either scheming or stealing. Could she really have spent so much to invite him to warm himself by the fire, drink broth, and eat meat just for those few Concealment Runes?
Su Changsheng wondered.
Little Four, the Fox Woman, was a clever yao too. She first cut Su Changsheng a piece of blood food, then began speaking as though making casual conversation. "The owner of the Spirit Plant Shop recently took on some outside work and upgraded the equipment at all the spirit plant stalls. That's where these stoves and stone jars came from. Apparently, she plans to imitate humans and start selling broth and drinks. She even calls it a... a tea-something?"
Her red lips parted slightly. For a moment, the Fox Woman could not recall that awkward term and did not know what to say.
"A teahouse!"
Su Changsheng spoke softly.
"Yes, yes, yes, a teahouse... It seems you've studied humans quite a bit too, Xi."
The Fox Woman sounded impressed.
"I've only heard about them now and then!" Su Changsheng shook his head, then continued, "Enough of that. Tell me what you're after. You didn't invite me here just to trade for Concealment Runes, did you? A few mere Concealment Runes wouldn't even cover this meal."
"It's not that expensive! The Spirit Plant Shop only just opened, so the prices are very low. It only costs fifty jin of blood food." The Fox Woman shook her head, then looked at Su Changsheng, whose thick body had grown a full size larger, with a complicated expression and continued:
"I did come to you for something else. But your transformation makes me even more curious. So thick and so big-it's unbelievable."
"Have you advanced to a level three half-demon?"
The Fox Woman's feelings were complicated.
At their last meeting, this half-demon white snake named Xi had only been a second-level half-demon, yet even then, he had given her a sense of deadly danger.
Now, after a mere half-month apart, his body had grown a full size larger, and he felt even more threatening than before. When they first met just now, she had almost thought she had mistaken him for another yao!
Faced with the Fox Woman's question, Su Changsheng merely said calmly, "I was lucky enough to break through to level three."
There was no need for him to keep hiding it. Raising the standing of his half-demon white snake identity would help with his next moves.
Besides, as a level three half-demon, he already counted as a yao of some standing on the outskirts of the Yao Stronghold. Since he could not conceal his change in size, he might as well say it outright. It was a false identity anyway; at worst, he could abandon it.
Continuing to shrink back timidly would only make other yao more suspicious.
"Level three! You really are level three!"
"Wait, can a snake yao's body change this much just from breaking through to level three?"
"Could it be..."
The Fox Woman muttered to herself, then seemed to think of something. Her eyes suddenly widened, and a faint blush appeared on her lovely face. Lowering her voice, she asked with a hint of anticipation, "It's the Lesser Poison Dragon Shedding Rune! That must be the reason, right? You mastered it, successfully made a Lesser Poison Dragon Shedding Talisman, and used it to advance! Only feedback from the rune could cause such a huge transformation!"
She seemed to be asking, yet also declaring it as fact!
As expected of a fox yao, her imagination really does run wild. Still, this suits me perfectly.
Su Changsheng silently praised her.
The Fox Woman's guess was exactly what he had deliberately led her toward. Ever since realizing he could no longer conceal his bodily changes, he had been considering all the situations that might arise.
After thinking it over, he had decided that handling things through the Fox Woman would be the safest approach. Hence their present conversation.
With that thought, Su Changsheng took the inferior Lesser Poison Dragon Shedding Talisman from his clothes and placed it on the table. His meaning was self-evident. (There was an error earlier; he only used the perfect-quality one.)
At the sight, the Fox Woman first covered her mouth with her slender fingers, afraid she might cry out in surprise. The enormous, pale softness of her breasts, wrapped in two pieces of hide, rose and fell sharply with her breathing, as though they might break free at any moment.
"S-so impressive!"
"As expected of Master Xi, so thick and so big. You've truly astonished this humble girl."
Su Changsheng: "..."
Listen to that! What kind of ravenous, suggestive talk was this!
Pah!
Don't you dare seduce Master Snake, you enchantress! Taste my rod!
Intermediate runes were easy to identify. One only needed to sense the demon power and spiritual energy gathered upon them. Both condensed into clusters, utterly beyond anything a low-level rune could match.
Still, to be safe, the Fox Woman took out her treasured Lesser Poison Dragon Shedding Talisman. Only after comparing the two for a long time did she draw a deep breath.
She could now be certain that the rune before her was indeed a Lesser Poison Dragon Shedding Talisman.
Though its quality was poor, the snake yao had only obtained the method for making this rune a month ago. Successfully producing an intermediate rune in such a short time was truly no easy feat.
Most importantly, the yao before her was only a level three half-demon. To create an intermediate rune beyond his level while still at level three-with such talent for runes, even if he was not one in ten thousand, he was certainly hard to find among a thousand.
In the Fox Woman's mind, both Su Changsheng's danger and his value as a talisman maker abruptly rose severalfold. Some little schemes she had originally harbored quietly dissipated as well.
She had a new plan.
"How about entrusting this kind of rune to me to sell as well? For this quality, ninety jin of flesh and blood each. If the quality is better, the price can rise accordingly!"
The Fox Woman asked.
"One jin of wraith beast blood food, or runes, cultivation methods, techniques, spirit plants, and the like of equivalent value."
Su Changsheng held up one finger and spoke calmly.
Blood food was important, but the Lesser Poison Dragon Shedding Talisman was clearly a strategic resource, something even yao below level six found difficult to obtain. Something in such high demand naturally had to be exchanged for other precious resources.
Ordinary blood food could easily be obtained by trading Concealment Runes.
After advancing to level three, both spirit plants and wraith beast blood food were becoming increasingly important to him. He had to mend the roof before the rain and prepare in advance.
"Well..." The Fox Woman hesitated. Su Changsheng had posed a difficult problem for her. As a minor leader in a certain organization, she could easily obtain ordinary blood food, but precious resources were just as hard for her to find.
Even she did not have much.
Yet faced with the temptation of an intermediate rune, the Fox Woman could not help nodding and agreeing to Su Changsheng's demand.
Afterward, Su Changsheng handed over ten Skilled Level Concealment Runes and one Lesser Poison Dragon Shedding Talisman, while the Fox Woman paid with a piece of wraith beast scalp weighing roughly nine liang and a hundred and fifty jin of ordinary blood food.
The trade concluded, and they went their separate ways.
Watching Su Changsheng swiftly leave the Yao Market behind, the Fox Woman hesitated for a moment, then drew a deep breath and instructed the Eagle Yao who had just landed:
"Cancel the plan to beat the grass and startle the snake."
"But follow him! Find out just who he really is! If possible, we'd best recruit him into our organization!"
"Those few in the Yao Stronghold are running out of patience. We have to move faster!!"
Before you continue