A Deal Struck, the Underground Black Market

A short while after the maid left, an old man with yellow hair hanging down beside his face walked into Lin Xiye's private room, all smiles.

"Fellow Daoist, may I take a look at that hundred-year-old Spirit Tempering Grass..."

The old man was one of the Immortal-Seeking Pavilion's stewards. Upon seeing Lin Xiye, he got straight to the point.

Hearing the old man's request, Lin Xiye wasted no words and took out the hundred-year-old Spirit Tempering Grass!

The moment Lin Xiye brought it out, a rich medicinal fragrance spread through the room.

"It really is a hundred-year-old precious herb!"

"Good, very good..."

The old man studied the hundred-year-old Spirit Tempering Grass in Lin Xiye's hand, offering one word of praise after another.

To cultivators in the Four Body Tempering Realms and the Spirit Nourishing Realm, hundred-year-old Spirit Tempering Grass already counted as a precious herb!!

"Hmm..."

"This hundred-year-old Spirit Tempering Grass is of good quality, but it seems you used one of its branches and leaves, Fellow Daoist..."

"Going by market prices, it's worth roughly two or three low-grade Spirit Stones."

"But if you're serious about selling, the Immortal-Seeking Pavilion can offer four low-grade Spirit Stones!!"

The old man stroked his beard as he spoke.

This time, Lin Xiye chose not to haggle.

Four low-grade Spirit Stones was a fair enough price.

Besides, Lin Xiye only wanted to exchange it for Spirit Stones quickly and buy some resources.

With the Immortal-Appraising Treasure Mirror in hand, he could always buy some low-grade precious herbs and use the mirror to enhance and upgrade them... Then he could sell them for plenty more Spirit Stones!

Of course, Lin Xiye would not resell too many precious herbs in the Three Origins Immortal Market!

If he used the Immortal-Appraising Treasure Mirror to enhance and resell too many precious herbs... he would inevitably attract the attention of those Spirit Nourishing cultivators!

If he exposed the Immortal-Appraising Treasure Mirror's secret for the sake of a few Spirit Stones and resources, the loss would outweigh the gain. He might even invite a fatal disaster...

Lin Xiye planned to begin cultivating some loyal immortal cultivators once the matter of the silver mine was settled and he had reclaimed the five-hundred-li sphere of influence from the Song Household!

Once there were enough immortal cultivators, the Lin Household could also open an immortal cultivation market and establish an immortal cultivation chamber of commerce...

When that time came, he could use the Lin Household's own chamber of commerce to resell a steady stream of resources and precious herbs enhanced by the Immortal-Appraising Treasure Mirror.

"Deal!!"

As Lin Xiye pondered, he struck a deal with the old man.

After taking the hundred-year-old Spirit Tempering Grass from Lin Xiye, the old man soon had the maid bring over four low-grade Spirit Stones...

Four low-grade Spirit Stones were equivalent to four hundred Spirit Stone fragments!! In all his time cultivating, this was Lin Xiye's first encounter with genuine, intact low-grade Spirit Stones.

Unlike Spirit Stone fragments, intact low-grade Spirit Stones could calm the mind and nourish the meridians simply by being worn.

If a mortal wore a low-grade Spirit Stone over a long period, they could even ward off all illnesses and live to a hundred...

Spirit Stone fragments, on the other hand, contained Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi... but had no such effects!

With the four low-grade Spirit Stones in hand, Lin Xiye did not leave the Immortal-Seeking Pavilion immediately. Instead, he wandered around.

Because he had sold the Immortal-Seeking Pavilion a hundred-year-old Spirit Tempering Grass, the old man had also taken care to give him a VIP card.

With the VIP card, Lin Xiye could not only enjoy a ten percent discount on all purchases at the Immortal-Seeking Pavilion, but was also free to visit its second floor...

It could only be said that in this world of immortal cultivation, no rule was set in stone.

Often, the so-called rules could simply be broken at will!

Lin Xiye was in no hurry to visit the Immortal-Seeking Pavilion's second floor.

The pills and materials on the first floor were already enough for his needs!

"Huh?"

When Lin Xiye came to a counter, he immediately stopped.

A particularly eye-catching sign hung over the counter: "Spirit Nurturing Pill · low-grade!"

Price: two low-grade Spirit Stones.

As its name suggested, the Spirit Nurturing Pill was a supplementary pill that could help cultivators break through to the Spirit Nourishing Realm!

A low-grade Spirit Nurturing Pill could increase a cultivator's chance of breaking through to the Spirit Nourishing Realm by twenty to thirty percent!!

"Senior, our Immortal-Seeking Pavilion doesn't have any Spirit Nurturing Pills in stock at the moment..."

Seeing Lin Xiye linger at the counter selling Spirit Nurturing Pills, a maid came over and spoke with an apologetic expression.

There were many immortal cultivators at Organ Refining Perfection in Huai Mountain Commandery, and whenever a Spirit Nurturing Pill appeared, those cultivators would scramble to buy it!

Just half a year ago, a low-grade Spirit Nurturing Pill had been auctioned at Guyuan City's Three Origins Immortal Market!

The Spirit Nurturing Pill had started at fifty Spirit Stone fragments, but the bidding had ultimately driven it to the astronomical price of thirty low-grade Spirit Stones!!

Spirit Nurturing Pills were, at most, Spirit-Nurturing Grade pills.

Ordinary Spirit-Nurturing Grade pills, even those of the highest quality... could sell for no more than five or six low-grade Spirit Stones.

Thirty low-grade Spirit Stones was already enough to buy Foundation Establishment Grade pills and Law Treasures!

As the maid continued to explain and apologize, Lin Xiye gave a faint acknowledgment and thought nothing of it.

Special pills like the Spirit Nurturing Pill and the Foundation Establishment Pill were often in short supply, let alone in Guyuan City-even in the Falling Rosy Clouds Sect and the entire immortal cultivation world of the Jin Kingdom!

"Fellow Daoist..."

"Although our Immortal-Seeking Pavilion has no Spirit Nurturing Pills in stock at present,"

"I know of a place where one might appear, along with other things that may interest you, Fellow Daoist."

Just as Lin Xiye was pondering, the old man who had traded with him stepped out from nearby.

"You must know of it, Fellow Daoist... the underground black market!!"

"In Guyuan City, besides our Three Origins Immortal Market, there's also a hidden underground black market!"

"They sell everything in the underground black market! But many of those things are of unknown origin..."

The old man continued speaking, but toward the end he paused and said no more.

Lin Xiye naturally knew about underground black markets.

When he was cultivating in the Falling Rosy Clouds Sect, he had visited its underground black market several times...

Compared with immortal cultivation markets, underground black markets offered all sorts of treasures, but also all sorts of fakes passing themselves off as the real thing...

At immortal cultivation markets, large trading shops usually guaranteed their transactions! In a large shop at an immortal cultivation market, one might overpay for something... but there were almost never any fakes!

In an underground black market, on the other hand, even if you were cheated, you could only blame your own bad luck!!

After all, once a deal was struck in an underground black market... the buyer and seller would completely lose contact.

Most importantly, everyone entering an underground black market rented a mask that concealed their presence and appearance!

"Fellow Daoist, this is a map showing the location of Guyuan City's underground black market. It also marks when the market opens each month."

"If you're interested, Fellow Daoist, you can go and try your luck..."

The old man took out a crumpled map and placed it directly in Lin Xiye's arms.

The old man was quite willing to cultivate friendly ties with Lin Xiye.

After all, Lin Xiye might successfully break through at any moment and become a Spirit Nourishing Realm expert!