Jiang Yueyan said quietly, "There's something strange about this book. Devil Qi and Spiritual Qi are mixed together. First..."
Before Jiang Yueyan could finish, an arrogant voice interrupted him.
"Hold it!" Xiao Linyu had appeared behind Tang Yao and the others at some point, but this time he was alone. The Azure Cloud Sect disciples hadn't come along.
Xiao Linyu narrowed his eyes. Although he wasn't strong, his past experience told him that anything these talented disciples wanted to buy had to be good.
"Old man, I'll give you a thousand high-grade Spirit Stones. Sell it to me!" Xiao Linyu confidently tossed the old man a small Storage Bag.
The old man's eyes practically lit up. An idiot like this didn't come along every day! How could he not seize the chance to fleece him!
As the saying went, three years without a sale, then one sale fed you for three years.
He immediately plastered a smile across his face, smiled courteously at Xiao Linyu, stood up, and reached out as though to snatch the book from Tang Yao's hands.
He had thought it all through. Even if these disciples from major sects refused to give it back, that was fine. Could they beat him in the street? Did their major sects not care about saving face?
Besides, this was his book. He could sell it to whomever he pleased!
Tang Yao clearly saw what the old man was thinking. Naturally, she wouldn't let him snatch it away. She twisted aside, dodging as nimbly as a loach.
"What are you trying to do? Since when can you take back something you've already sold?"
If this book was useful, it was theirs. If it wasn't, they would still be the ones to resell it to Xiao Linyu and make five hundred high-grade Spirit Stones off that idiot.
The old man's eyes darted about. Knowing he couldn't snatch it back, he wanted to make a scene. All four major sects cared about face.
Before the old man could put his plan into action, a graceful figure appeared before them.
"Xiao Linyu, are you making a disgrace of yourself again?"
A woman in a dark green gauze dress approached with measured steps, the Pill Furnace-shaped jade hairpin in her hair tinkling. Behind her followed a yawning youth carrying a sword in his arms.
"Sis..." The instant Xiao Linyu heard her voice, he turned into a quail, all his arrogance gone.
Xiao Rong's gaze also swept over the Profound Heaven Sect disciples, and when she saw the ancient book in Tang Yao's hands,
she frowned and formed hand seals. "Devil Qi?"
A streak of green pill fire shot straight at the book's surface. The ancient book burned in the green flames without being destroyed. Several wisps of black threads gathered above it, forming a snarling ghost face. "Hehehe, three thousand years, and finally someone..."
"So noisy." Song Tinglan casually hurled his sword sheath, and the ghost face vanished in a puff of smoke. In the ensuing silence, he said blandly, "I've been refining Calm Mind Pills lately. Noise is the last thing I can stand!"
Everyone: "..."
Jiang Yueyan said, "This Devil Cultivator was so weak..."
Tang Yao replied to her eldest senior brother, "Exactly. Everyone here could spot that Devil Qi. How strong could he be..."
Xiao Linyu asked quietly, "You all could tell there was Devil Qi in it?"
Everyone: "..."
At that moment, Xiao Rong very much wanted to sew her stupid little brother's mouth shut.
The old man was dumbfounded. He hadn't expected this thing to harbor a Devil Cultivator either. Reading the situation, he immediately rolled up his stall and fled, afraid that if he was even a second too slow, these major sect disciples would remember him.
After learning the full story, Xiao Rong walked up to Tang Yao and handed her a card. It was black, with gold dust flowing through it when it moved. "I'm truly sorry. My younger brother is unruly. Please accept this as an apology."
On the Eastern Continent, the four major sects and five great households held absolute authority. Rashly offending the Jiang Household and the Profound Heaven Sect over some flyspeck profit wasn't worth it. If she gave this card to Jiang Yueyan, he probably wouldn't deign to accept it. Giving it to the girl before her was just right.
Then Xiao Linyu was dragged away by the ear by his sister, disappearing completely into the crowd amid cries of, "Ow... ow! Sis, leave me some dignity!"
Tang Yao put both the black card and the ancient book into her Storage Bag. The black card went without saying; it definitely held plenty of Spirit Stones. As for the ancient book, Devil Cultivators wouldn't take a fancy to just anything. She would study it once she got back.
Later, Jiang Yueyan led the two of them to the Treasure Pavilion with utterly conspicuous nonchalance. He stopped. "This is run by the Xiao Household. You can use that card to buy things inside."
"Buy some pills, Spirit Artifacts, and such. They'll come in handy for tomorrow's secret realm too." Jiang Yueyan led Tang Yao and Chu Song into the Treasure Pavilion.
The four attendants at the entrance immediately perked up upon seeing Jiang Yueyan. They looked at him as though he were a walking supreme-grade Spirit Stone. Just as they prepared to pull out all the stops, Jiang Yueyan walked to the resting area and told his junior brother and sister, "You two go ahead. I'll wait here."
The four attendants shifted their gazes, their disappointment turning to excitement!
Younger meant easier to fool!
And with the Jiang Household's young master footing the bill, here came their monthly sales targets.
The four split into two teams and got to work. With one attendant on her left and another on her right, Tang Yao felt her head buzzing.
"Get me a hundred bottles each of Spirit Restoration Pills, Healing Pills, Grain Avoidance Pills, and Clear Heart Pills."
The attendant on her left grinned almost from ear to ear and immediately turned toward the storeroom. "I'll fetch them for you right away!"
Not to be outdone, the attendant on her right continued introducing products. Tang Yao called for Vermilion Bird through her Divine Sense, but no response came. Ever since he had finished an entire basket of fire spirit mushrooms last time, he had been asleep and hadn't woken in two days.
Following White Tiger's instructions, Chu Song selected a pile of Spirit Plants and defensive Law Artifacts.
When the four attendants stood beaming, ready to receive Jiang Yueyan's payment, he instead motioned for Tang Yao to take out that black card exclusive to the Xiao Household's main family. All four attendants looked as though they were questioning their lives.
What???
That couldn't be right!
After all that, the Jiang Household had pulled out their Xiao Household's black card...
As the sky darkened, Tang Yao returned to her room after arriving back at the inn. She had to admit, this premium room really was comfortable. Even the bed gave off a little Spiritual Qi, allowing cultivators to gain a slight cultivation effect while lying on it.
Tang Yao took out the ancient book and infused it with Spiritual Qi, but it remained unresponsive. No matter how she looked at it, it seemed like an ordinary scroll.
Did it need a drop of blood? These routines were all the same anyway. Blood-Drip Recognition.
Whatever it was, she'd try it first.
With a give-it-a-try attitude, Tang Yao bit her finger and pressed her bloodied fingertip against the ancient book. In an instant, the book erupted with a brilliant white light, dragging Tang Yao into a space.
Darkness surrounded her, and a palace came into view, wrapped in masses of Devil Qi. Tang Yao walked to its entrance, where an invisible devil power prevented her from advancing.
"Insolent brat! This is my territory! Get out at once!" A vicious voice rang out, and then an aged phantom appeared before Tang Yao.
In the great war three thousand years ago, he, a general of the Devil Race, should have perished. But his soul had accidentally attached itself to this divine artifact. In nearly a thousand years here, he had failed to absorb and refine it. Instead, the divine artifact had been influencing them all along, each side holding the other in check.
Today, that powerless fool had even run outside. Not only had he beaten the grass and startled the snake, but he had also pointlessly lost his soul.
Now, lacking strength, he could only rely on intimidation. Fortunately, the newcomer was a young girl.
"I was wondering why Devil Qi kept lingering around this book. So there was a worm eating away inside it," Tang Yao said in realization.
Tang Yao glanced at the devil general, then paid him no further attention.
The devil general: "..." Were children in the cultivation world all this composed now? He was a member of the Devil Race!
Tang Yao examined the palace carefully. At present, Devil Qi surrounded it, making its doors impossible to open.
Suddenly, she closed her eyes and activated her Spirit Root. Countless streams of devil power instantly surged toward Tang Yao in a vortex.
After being absorbed into her body, they transformed into Spiritual Qi and spread throughout her.
The devil general froze outright! This was?!
It all made sense now! He had wondered why she wasn't afraid of him. So she was a good child of their Devil Realm!
The devil general's expression went from "wanting nothing more than to cut Tang Yao down" to "a good child of the Devil Realm."
Tang Yao looked at the devil general strangely. Something seemed to have appeared on his face...
Kindliness?