Dragon Skeleton Jade Mud

Looking at the Nine-Tailed Fox in the iron cage, a shackle around her neck as she greedily gnawed on a Red Spirit Eel, Tang Yuan frowned slightly for a moment. When Monkey Master divined the secrets of heaven years ago, he once enlightened me: Dragon Skeleton Jade Mud is the crystallized remains of an ancient true dragon, a top-grade heavenly treasure that can only be chanced upon, not sought.

Moreover, this Dragon Skeleton Jade Mud has countless threads connecting it to my Nine-Faced Snake's innate Divine Ability, Nine Faces.

And the fortuitous opportunity to obtain this Dragon Skeleton Jade Mud has something to do with an earth-yellow snake and a Nine-Tailed Fox.

But I can't confirm whether the Nine-Tailed Fox in the cage is the one Monkey Master spoke of.

"Hu Mei'er, let this Red Spirit Eel be your last meal," the shopkeeper said, his face full of contempt.

"Shopkeeper Luo, what do you mean by that?" Huang You'er asked angrily.

The shopkeeper yawned and did not answer.

Huang You'er's lips trembled, but she asked no more.

Tang Yuan looked at the handsome young shopkeeper with his sword-like brows and starry eyes. He took out thirty Spirit Stones, placed them on the table, and cupped his hands in greeting. "Shopkeeper, I'm a Rogue Cultivator, newly arrived in your esteemed locale. I'd like to buy some pills and Spiritual Qi. Could you tell me about what you have?"

"I am Luo Ningran." The young shopkeeper returned the cupped-hands salute and began introducing the shop's wares to Tang Yuan, his manner somewhat flippant.

Tang Yuan asked about this and that, and Luo Ningran gradually grew impatient.

The reason was obvious: the pills and Spiritual Qi in the shop started at ten Spirit Stones apiece, and Tang Yuan's thirty Spirit Stones could hardly buy anything.

Tang Yuan had only intended to look around the shop this time and had no plans to buy pills or Spiritual Qi. His purse was thin, and he would have to sell several batches of Red Spirit Eels before he could actually start buying them.

After asking questions for half the time it took an incense stick to burn, Tang Yuan had intended to leave the shop. But when he saw the sorrow in Huang You'er's eyes, he thought of Monkey Master's reminder. He pointed at the Nine-Tailed Fox in the cage and asked, "Shopkeeper Luo, what's the story with this Nine-Tailed Fox?

"Is she for sale?"

"Of course she is, but you probably can't afford her. The price is five hundred Spirit Stones." Luo Ningran gritted his teeth as he spoke of the Nine-Tailed Fox. "A year ago, this Nine-Tailed Fox swindled me out of five hundred Spirit Stones on the pretext that she knew the whereabouts of some Foundation Establishment-level treasure called something Jade Mud.

"So my Luo Household captured her half a year ago and planned to sell her for five hundred Spirit Stones to offset the loss.

"But she still hasn't sold, and I'm running out of patience. I plan to sell her to the Drunken Immortal Tower in the city tomorrow for three hundred Spirit Stones.

"Hmph, I'll have the Drunken Immortal Tower skin her, rip out her heart, and make her into a delicacy, to vent the hatred in my heart."

Jade Mud?

Tang Yuan looked at the Nine-Tailed Fox in the iron cage again and thought to himself, Could this Nine-Tailed Fox really know the whereabouts of the Dragon Skeleton Jade Mud?

"A life for a life, a debt repaid in coin-that's only right and proper," Tang Yuan said in agreement.

With a thud, Huang You'er dropped to her knees. "Senior Tang, please save my elder sister.

"If you save her, I'm willing to swear a Mystic Spirit Incantation Oath and serve as your slave."

"Fellow Daoist Tang, over the past half year, I've seen this Huang You'er kneel before at least ten human cultivators. Don't take her seriously," Luo Ningran said with a chuckle.

"If I buy you and save your life, would you be willing to become my slave too?" The corners of Tang Yuan's mouth lifted slightly as he looked earnestly at the Nine-Tailed Fox in the iron cage.

"In the past half year, you're the first person to ask me that.

"All right, so my silly little sister won't be sad, I'm willing to go on living.

"If you really can buy me and save my life, I'll also swear a Mystic Spirit Incantation Oath to be your slave for the rest of my life." The Nine-Tailed Fox tilted her head and sighed alluringly.

"Fellow Daoist Tang, don't joke around. This Nine-Tailed Fox costs five hundred Spirit Stones," Luo Ningran said with a frown.

"Weren't you going to sell her to the restaurant for only three hundred Spirit Stones? How about this: we each take a step back. I'm willing to buy this Nine-Tailed Fox for four hundred Spirit Stones." Tang Yuan snorted.

"Whatever I can recoup is better than nothing. Four hundred Spirit Stones, deal.

"Let's see the money." Luo Ningran held out his hand.

"As for Spirit Stones, I don't have that many on me right now.

"But I do have a bottle of Spiritual Qi. Please take a look at it, Shopkeeper Luo.

"There's no need to go to a private room, but we will need a soundproof barrier." Tang Yuan took a jade bottle from his Storage Bag.

Luo Ningran, whose cultivation was at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer, led Tang Yuan suspiciously to one side. He formed Hand Seals, and a soundproof barrier enveloped them both.

After all, Luo Ningran was a Late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator. If they had gone into a private room, Tang Yuan could have used the Mystic Spoon to escape with his life, but he was also afraid Luo Ningran would seize his jade bottle.

Inside the shop, however, Luo Ningran probably wouldn't resort to force for the sake of his shop's reputation.

The soundproof barrier blocked not only sound but also their figures and Spiritual Qi.

Inside the barrier, Tang Yuan gripped the jade bottle tightly in his right hand, removed the stopper with his left, and held the bottle out in front of Luo Ningran.

Luo Ningran glanced absentmindedly into the bottle, and his eyes immediately went wide.

Before Luo Ningran could speak, Tang Yuan had taken back the jade bottle and replaced the stopper.

"Could this be a wisp of... a wisp of..." Luo Ningran was so excited that he was momentarily at a loss for words.

"That's right. It's a wisp of fourth-grade wind-attribute Spiritual Qi called Bi Crow Moon Gang." Tang Yuan smiled.

"F-Fellow Daoist Tang, could you let me take another look? I want to make sure."

Tang Yuan nodded and showed Luo Ningran the Spiritual Qi in the bottle again.

Heaven is helping me! Who would have thought... Luo Ningran rubbed his hands together and thought to himself, The old ancestor of my household promised that if I could find a wisp of Bi Crow Moon Gang, he'd give me more resources so I could reach the Qi Refinement Tenth Layer, Qi Refinement Great Perfection, sooner.

Three breaths later, Luo Ningran asked, "Fellow Daoist Tang, how much do you intend to charge for this wisp of Spiritual Qi?"

Whether in the Human Realm or the Demon Realm, fourth-grade Spiritual Qi was divided into three tiers, with prices ranging from one thousand to four thousand Spirit Stones per wisp.

In the Demon Realm, Spiritual Qi was used for breathing in and absorbing to raise one's cultivation, but it was used even more often for refining pills.

There were two kinds of Foundation Establishment Pills in the Demon Realm. One was refined from medicinal herbs and mineral medicines that were heavenly materials and earthly treasures, and was called an "Ordinary Foundation Establishment Pill."

The other was refined with the addition of special fourth-grade Spiritual Qi and was called a "Foundation-Fortifying Foundation Establishment Pill."

An Ordinary Foundation Establishment Pill could increase the chance of successfully reaching Foundation Establishment by ten percent.

A Foundation-Fortifying Foundation Establishment Pill, on the other hand, could not only increase the chance of success by twenty percent, but more importantly, it could preserve one's life.

After taking a Foundation-Fortifying Foundation Establishment Pill, even if one failed to break through to Foundation Establishment, one's body would not perish and one's Dao would not dissipate.

The fourth-grade Spiritual Qi Bi Crow Moon Gang was a special wind-attribute Spiritual Qi that could be used to refine Foundation-Fortifying Foundation Establishment Pills.

When Luo Ningran asked the price, Tang Yuan remained silent for two breaths, then held up four fingers.

"Forty thousand Spirit Stones?! Fellow Daoist Tang, that's asking for the sky.

"Even the exceedingly rare lower-tier third-grade Spiritual Qi costs only ten thousand Spirit Stones a wisp." Luo Ningran smiled awkwardly, but he wasn't angry.

"Four thousand Spirit Stones a wisp, no bargaining.

"My master gave it to me as spending money. If you like it, Shopkeeper, I can ask my master for a few more wisps when I return to my sect another day." Tang Yuan looked earnest.

Good heavens, his spending money amounts to thousands of Spirit Stones!

Could this unremarkable-looking Tang Yuan come from some overseas Nascent Soul sect? Fortunately, I didn't act rashly just now and kill him to seize his treasure.

Luo Ningran admired his own prudence a little more. Smiling, he said, "One wisp of Bi Crow Moon Gang can only be used to refine one Foundation-Fortifying Foundation Establishment Pill. If you can sell me two more wisps within twenty years, Fellow Daoist Tang, I'm willing to buy them at four thousand Spirit Stones a wisp."

"As you know, Bi Crow Moon Gang is rare. I can't promise I'll be able to sell you two more wisps within twenty years." Tang Yuan smacked his lips.

"Understood.

"If I obtain them, it will be my good fortune; if not, it will be my fate." Luo Ningran nodded, then frowned. "It's just that we don't have that many Spirit Stones at the counter today. Could you wait while I go back to my Lineage to fetch them, Fellow Daoist Tang?

"It should take about two hours."

"How could that work? The longer the night, the more dreams may come. How am I to know whether you're going home for Spirit Stones or going to fetch reinforcements?" Tang Yuan curled his lip. "How many Spirit Stones can you produce now? Make up the rest with the pills and Spiritual Qi at your counter."

"We can produce one thousand Spirit Stones at the counter now." Luo Ningran dispelled the soundproof barrier. "Please choose whatever you like, Fellow Daoist Tang."

After looking things over, Tang Yuan chose two wisps of Thunder Metal Gui Sha, three wisps of Thunder Wood Sha, and three wisps of Thunder Water Sha, ten wisps of Spiritual Qi in all, along with ten bottles of pills and two Jade Slips containing pill-refining methods.

"Fellow Daoist Tang, there are still three hundred and eighty Spirit Stones left. What else would you like?" Luo Ningran beamed.

Tang Yuan took twenty Spirit Stones from his Storage Bag. "Didn't we agree? I still intend to buy this Nine-Tailed Fox.

"By the way, I hope you can have a Beauty-Preserving Pill ready within six months, Shopkeeper."

"Although this Nine-Tailed Fox can already take human form, allow me one extra word, Fellow Daoist Tang: take care of your health.

"This is the restriction Jade Slip for the shackle around the Nine-Tailed Fox's neck. With it, I guarantee she won't dare step out of line and will obey your every word." Luo Ningran shook his head, looking regretful...