What?!
Chen Jianghe was aghast.
The next instant, he turned his Divine Sense inward to examine his Spiritual Platform. The Spirit-Turtle Mark on it was exceptionally clear, looking exactly like Xiao Hei, right down to the patterns on his shell.
"Xiao Hei, you have an Inheritance Cultivation Art?"
He transmitted his voice to Xiao Hei through the mark on his Spiritual Platform. At that moment, he even worried that his memories had gotten muddled.
"Of course, the [Three-Turn Demon Ascension Art]. Didn't I already tell you? You two-legged beasts have such terrible memories!"
Xiao Hei's increasingly cheeky voice came through the Spirit-Turtle Mark.
"Hiss-"
Chen Jianghe sucked in a cold breath. He struggled to suppress his shock, not daring to let it show for fear that the fat shopkeeper would notice.
Xiao Hei's Inheritance Cultivation Art, the [Three-Turn Demon Ascension Art], should have been bestowed by the Spiritual Platform.
The Golden Finger the Spiritual Platform's mark granted me was Xiao Hei's lifespan, while what it granted Xiao Hei was the [Three-Turn Demon Ascension Art], a cultivation art that Spirit Beasts didn't possess.
Could the [Three-Turn Demon Ascension Art] have given Xiao Hei the potential to break through to become a Tier 2 Spirit Beast?
Joy stirred in Chen Jianghe's heart. As long as Xiao Hei could break through, he would have no need to worry about his lifespan at all.
The shopkeeper also said Black Crystal Mystic Tortoises couldn't awaken Divine Abilities after entering a tier. I wonder whether Xiao Hei has awakened any. Never mind, I'll ask him in detail when I get back.
Countless thoughts raced through Chen Jianghe's mind in just a few breaths.
Just then, the fat shopkeeper seemed to remember something and said to Chen Jianghe, "Legend has it that only great demons who have assumed human form possess cultivation arts. That's beyond anything you could imagine, fellow Daoist."
"Yes, yes, of course."
Chen Jianghe hurriedly nodded in response, then steered the conversation away from cultivation arts. "Then... do you buy Spirit Beasts?"
"Are you thinking of selling a Black Crystal Mystic Tortoise, fellow Daoist?" At his words, the shopkeeper narrowed his eyes and gave a meaningful smile, seemingly seeing through Chen Jianghe's thoughts.
"We do. As long as it's a Spirit Beast, our shop will buy it."
"Then how much would it be worth?"
"Two Spirit Stones."
"So little!"
Raising a Black Crystal Mystic Tortoise into a Spirit Beast cost four Spirit Stones: one Spirit-Opening Pill and one Spirit-Nurturing Pill.
Of course, the cost could also be reduced to one Spirit Stone by purchasing only a Spirit-Opening Pill, but that would extend the rearing period to eleven or twelve years.
"A Black Crystal Mystic Tortoise's bloodline purity doesn't qualify for any grade. Apart from high intelligence and a long lifespan, you could say it has nothing going for it."
"It can't even compare to a Small Blue Fish. Do you think twelve Spirit Stones is too much for me to charge you, fellow Daoist?"
With his experienced eye, the fat shopkeeper had already seen that Chen Jianghe was only here to ask about prices. A cultivator at the Qi Refining Third Layer must have only just become a Senior Fisher-Farmer.
He simply wouldn't have that many Spirit Stones to buy a Spirit Beast to help him raise Small Blue Fish.
Still, he wasn't angry.
To him, every Senior Fisher-Farmer was a potential customer. Being unable to afford one now didn't mean they couldn't afford one in the future.
"There's something you don't know, fellow Daoist. What's expensive isn't the Black Crystal Mystic Tortoise, but the Heart-Linking Lock. If you don't want the Heart-Linking Lock, I'll sell you the Black Crystal Mystic Tortoise for three Spirit Stones."
Chen Jianghe nodded, looking embarrassed.
He had overlooked the Heart-Linking Lock included with it.
Something that allowed simple communication with a Spirit Beast had to be a Dharmic Instrument. Even if it wasn't as good as a Spirit Beast Ring, it would still be worth a considerable sum.
"Thank you for explaining, fellow Daoist," Chen Jianghe said, cupping his hands.
"Not at all. You've become a Senior Fisher-Farmer at the Qi Refining Third Layer, fellow Daoist. Your future prospects are surely boundless. Sooner or later, you'll be able to afford a Spirit Beast," the fat shopkeeper said with a cheerful smile.
Chen Jianghe felt that the atmosphere at the Clock Tower Market on Heart of the Lake Island was quite good. This shopkeeper, who had no Spiritual Root, had smiled throughout their conversation, never once showing contempt because he lacked Spirit Stones.
After leaving the Spirit Beast Pavilion, he browsed some other shops.
Just like at the Spirit Beast Pavilion, these shops' proprietors were ordinary people without Spiritual Roots. They were presumably mortals from the Yun Household.
Moreover, none of them put on airs of superiority, treating every customer very amiably.
The Spirit Beast Pavilion sells Black Crystal Mystic Tortoises. Doesn't that mean some Senior Fisher-Farmers also raise their own Black Crystal Mystic Tortoises? Once they've saved enough Spirit Stones, they can simply buy a Heart-Linking Lock.
For cultivators at the bottom, if they could save a single Spirit Stone, they would never willingly spend that extra stone.
This way, he wouldn't have to worry about Xiao Hei being exposed either. To outsiders, he would simply be a thrifty Senior Fisher-Farmer, raising his own Black Crystal Mystic Tortoise while slowly saving Spirit Stones to buy a Heart-Linking Lock.
But then he recalled that he had only been a Senior Fisher-Farmer for a year and hadn't even finished raising a single batch of Small Blue Fish.
The later Xiao Hei was exposed, the better.
After browsing a while longer, he came to a shop selling Spirit Talismans. It was a little over fifty square meters, with simple furnishings: an L-shaped crystal counter and a row of long cabinets divided into small compartments behind it.
Walking up to the counter, he looked at the Spirit Talismans beneath the crystal panels. Each type had a detailed description.
A Low Grade Protection Talisman could release a five-element defensive screen capable of blocking an all-out strike from a Qi Refining Third Layer cultivator. It cost two Spirit Stones.
A low grade Water Escape Talisman allowed the user to travel through water, escaping up to two li. It cost three Spirit Stones.
A low grade Water Arrow Talisman could release a water arrow with power comparable to an all-out strike from a Qi Refining Third Layer cultivator. It cost one Spirit Stone.
A middle grade Divine Movement Talisman doubled the user's flying (running) speed for a quarter of an hour. It cost ten Spirit Stones.
"Shopkeeper, please get me a Peace Talisman."
Chen Jianghe pointed at the Peace Talisman inside the crystal counter. It was an unranked Spirit Talisman with no grade.
It was one of the basic Spirit Talismans.
Once used, it could help mortals dispel all manner of illnesses. It cost thirty grains of Spirit Sand.
"Seventy-five grains of Spirit Sand in change. Please take them."
Chen Jianghe had paid with one Spirit Stone. Since the Peace Talisman cost thirty grains of Spirit Sand, his change should have been seventy grains.
Yet this shopkeeper had given him seventy-five grains of Spirit Sand.
Clearly, with one hundred and five grains of Spirit Sand exchanged for one Spirit Stone, a Spirit Stone could also be spent as one hundred and five grains of Spirit Sand in the Yun Household's shops on Heart of the Lake Island.
Outside, one Spirit Stone was worth only one hundred grains of Spirit Sand.
In this respect, the Yun Household was very good at winning people's hearts, treating Senior Fisher-Farmers and Retainers entirely as their own people.
Chen Jianghe spent another ten grains of Spirit Sand on a sachet meant to ward off illness and calamity. According to the sundries shopkeeper, it had been soaked in a spirit medicine solution.
Holding it, he could smell a faint medicinal fragrance.
He placed the Peace Talisman inside the sachet, then left the Clock Tower Market and headed toward the Riverside Residential Area.
"No. 32 Fumen Residence. This is it."
Chen Jianghe arrived before a small courtyard and looked at the plaque above the entrance, confirming that it was the address Yu Daniu had written in his letter.
The Riverside Residential Area had nearly a hundred courtyards, all adjoining small courtyard homes occupying two-tenths of a mu each.
Their walls were built from gray bricks, providing plenty of privacy.
Chen Jianghe stepped forward and knocked.
Before long, the courtyard gate opened, and out came none other than Yu Daniu.
"Brother Jianghe, you're finally here! We've been waiting for you to start the feast." At the sight of Chen Jianghe, Yu Daniu's face lit up, and he smiled guilelessly.
Through the gap in the gate, Chen Jianghe saw quite a few people in the courtyard, several of whom looked familiar.
They were Junior Fisher-Farmers who had married into the Yun Household alongside Yu Daniu.
He didn't recognize the others.
"Little Niu was just born, wasn't he? They're all here to offer their congratulations. You know a few of them too."
Noticing Chen Jianghe glance into the courtyard, Yu Daniu recalled his habit of keeping to himself and offered an explanation.
Then Yu Daniu lowered his voice. "Actually, they're all here to learn from my experience. Hehe."
Seeing Yu Daniu's happy, secretly delighted expression, Chen Jianghe smiled heartily too. "Daniu, congratulations. You've already got the next generation."
As he spoke, Chen Jianghe took out the congratulatory gift he had prepared.
"Just a little something for my nephew."
"Give my regards to your wife. I won't come in."
(End of chapter)
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