Did she really come too early after all?
Xue Fuyao thought to herself, and just at that moment she suddenly noticed a figure walking past her.
She looked toward that figure, and her eyes instantly lit up; there could be no mistake, this person was the very one who had sold the Broken Jade to her in the past.
To avoid drawing attention, Xue Fuyao did not immediately follow, but instead continued to stroll unhurriedly among the various stalls, occasionally seeing something suitable for herself.
As for picking up leaks, where was such a thing easily done? In any case, she had spent so many years in the Cultivation Realm in her previous life, and the only time she had truly picked up a leak was this single instance, because after all, this sort of thing required a discerning eye.
Still, while it would not do in her previous life, it might perhaps work in this one, for in this life she possessed the Heavenly Eye.
Xue Fuyao looked over every single stall before finally arriving unhurriedly at the aforementioned person's stall.
She examined the items on the stall one by one, and quickly locked onto the Broken Jade she wanted.
Yet Xue Fuyao was taken aback when she saw the Broken Jade, because the size of this piece was clearly more than twice as large as the one she had bought in her previous life, and furthermore, there was more than one piece of Broken Jade.
She looked toward a piece of Broken Jade placed on the other side. This piece of Broken Jade was identical to the one from her previous life, save that the color differed slightly and their shapes could not be pieced together, hence they were treated as two different items.
Xue Fuyao began picking and choosing just as she had at the other stalls.
She first picked up the larger piece of Broken Jade and asked for the price in a casual tone.
"Boss, how is this piece of Broken Jade sold?"
The stall owner glanced up at Xue Fuyao, and seeing the customer draw close, rolled his eyes and said, "This piece of Broken Jade was found by me inside the cave abode of an Ancient Great Power. Seeing that you have an affinity for it, I'll sell it to you for one mid-grade Spirit Stone."
Upon hearing this asking price, Xue Fuyao blossomed with joy inwardly while frowning slightly on the surface. "One mid-grade Spirit Stone is too expensive, unless you throw in something else."
She put on the appearance of being very shrewd, yet gave one the impression of a shrewdness that did not understand things, looking rather foolish with eyes full of limpid innocence and stupidity.
"Very well, then pick any two things at random," the boss said with a wave of his hand.
Xue Fuyao earnestly selected the other piece of Broken Jade along with a black flute of indistinguishable material.
At the very least, the stall owner had not lied to her about one thing: the items on this stall indeed came from the cave abode of an Ancient Great Power, except that he had gone in to pick up the scraps after everyone else had already plundered the place.
Xue Fuyao had incidentally overheard the boss himself talking about this matter.
At the time, he was boasting to people inside a tavern, and Xue Fuyao, who had likewise come to eat and listen to gossip, heard it loud and clear.
After obtaining the items she wanted, Xue Fuyao prepared to leave. Just as she turned around, she brushed past a young girl of about her own age.
All the way back to her dwelling, Xue Fuyao finally stopped suppressing the smile on her face.
She carefully took out the two pieces of Broken Jade, and subsequently produced a bowl and a Dagger.
In her previous life, the reason she had been able to make the Broken Jade acknowledge her as master was that she happened to be severely wounded while being pursued and killed, and the Broken Jade became soaked in fresh blood, thereby unwittingly acknowledging its master.
She placed the two pieces of Broken Jade into the bowl, then picked up the Dagger and made a heavy slash across her wrist.
Hisss!!
The pain caused Xue Fuyao to draw in a sharp breath as fresh blood continuously flowed into the bowl.
And those droplets of blood falling into the bowl were quickly absorbed by the two pieces of Broken Jade.
After a long while, Xue Fuyao felt the connection with the two pieces of Broken Jade inside her body, and knowing that she had succeeded, she stopped the bleeding behavior. The next second, the two pieces of Broken Jade vanished right where they were.
Another distinction between Heaven-and-Earth Spirit Treasures and ordinary magical artifacts was that Heaven-and-Earth Spirit Treasures could be drawn into a cultivator's body, whereas ordinary magical artifacts could not.
Sensing the two pieces of Broken Jade within her body, she found that alongside their original abilities, there was now an additional capacity to alter her appearance, voice, physique size, and cultivation realm.
It seemed her previous guess had not been mistaken; this truly was a Heaven-and-Earth Spirit Treasure possessing camouflage abilities.
It was only a pity that merely this little bit remained.
Xue Fuyao camouflaged her Spiritual Root into a wood-element Heavenly Spiritual Root, leaving everything else unchanged.
Although the Broken Jade also possessed the ability to alter her appearance, she still preferred her hair ribbon.
Having acquired what she wanted, Xue Fuyao felt herself lighten considerably all over, and finally had time to properly stroll around Cloud City.
Although she had spent a very long time in Cloud City in her previous life, she had never strolled through it properly. Perhaps owing to a shift in her state of mind, she discovered for the first time that Cloud City was actually so beautiful and so bustling.
After strolling around outside for a spell, Xue Fuyao instinctively came to the tavern she had frequented most often in her previous life.
This tavern was not the finest one in Cloud City, but precisely because of that, all sorts of people gathered here, and many foreign cultivators chose to rest here or stay for a couple of days.
In her previous life, her favorite activity was to find a corner, order a pot of tea and a plate of pastries, and then sip tea while listening to these people chat and boast. From those conversational contents, she was able to understand what was happening in the Cultivation Realm.
This time when Xue Fuyao came here, she once again chose a secluded table close to the crowd, and ordered a pot of tea along with a plate of pastries.
Though it was identical fare, simply because her state of mind had changed, even the flavor upon eating it had undergone a transformation.
"Have you all heard? That young master of the Long Household was backstabbed by someone, resulting in the total destruction of his cultivation."
"Really or fake? Isn't the young master of the Long Household already close to Foundation Establishment? Just who did it, daring to offend the Long Household? They must have a death wish."
"I heard his foundations weren't ruined, it's just that his cultivation vanished entirely and he can only recultivate from scratch. What a pity; originally this young master Long had hope of becoming the youngest Foundation Establishment cultivator in the entire Cultivation Realm, but now it's all ruined. Word is that he was backstabbed while exploring a Secret Realm, and the culprit hasn't been found yet."
"Tsk tsk tsk, I suppose this young master Long didn't know how to conduct himself normally, which is why he got backstabbed."
Hearing these people's discussion, Xue Fuyao suddenly recalled that such an incident indeed seemed to have taken place.
Long Wuqing, the young master of the aristocratic Long Household-tsk tsk, whenever she thought of this name she could not help but complain mentally, wondering what kind of parents could give their child such a name.
Long Wuqing had been backstabbed by someone inside the Secret Realm, inadvertently triggering restrictions within the Secret Realm, which led to the total loss of his cultivation. As for the mastermind behind it all, it was none other than Long Wuqing's fiancée and her paramour.
By the time Xue Fuyao heard about this matter back then, the whole affair had already reached its climax and near conclusion, so she had heard the ins and outs of the matter from the mouths of others.
In short, the entire affair could be described in a single phrase: greed exceeding bounds, like a snake trying to swallow an elephant.
Before you continue