Translator: AnubisTL
Profound Ancient City maintained strict order; no one dared to cause trouble or refuse to pay within its walls.
Merit points flowed into Li Qing's token one transaction after another.
As his merit points steadily accumulated, Li Qing's smile grew even brighter.
In contrast, the past few days had been exhausting, running back and forth across the city to fulfill artifact refinement commissions, only to earn a few thousand merit points. The efficiency had been abysmal.
"Heh, it seems that with the recent peace, the city's residents have more merit points to spend."
"I heard earlier that someone was selling fifth-tier demonic beast flesh and blood," a cultivator said, his voice tinged with disappointment. "I can't believe I'm just a step too late—almost all of it's already gone."
Li Qing, who had been counting merit points in his token, finally looked up from behind his stall.
The speaker was a stout cultivator with a fleshy face, his eyes squeezed into narrow slits by the excess fat.
"There's still a little over a hundred jin of flesh and blood left," Li Qing said calmly. "If you want it, I'll let you have it for one thousand contribution points."
The fat cultivator chuckled. "Easy enough. But I'm not just interested in the flesh and blood. Fellow daoist, do you happen to have any of this demonic beast's essence blood left?"
"I'm willing to pay a high price for it!"
Li Qing had no intention of selling the essence blood; he planned to keep it for his own use. Without hesitation, he refused. "Apologies, fellow daoist, but I've already used up the essence blood."
To be honest, he had already earned a substantial number of merit points from selling the flesh and blood alone—well over ten thousand. His merit deficit was now quite manageable.
Once he sold this arrow, he wouldn't need to worry about merit points for a long time, enough to sustain his cultivation for a considerable period.
"Do you even know who I am?" the fat cultivator demanded, his voice rising in agitation.
Before Li Qing could respond, the man answered his own question: "I am Hou Xianshe of the Marquis Family. You'd better hand over that essence blood and sell it to me, or I'll make sure you can't find a foothold in this city."
Li Qing had already learned a bit about the various families in Profound Ancient City.
This ancient city had seen many city lords come and go. When a city lord ascended to immortality, their descendants naturally remained, establishing their own families within the city.
The Marquis Family, to which this fat man belonged, was one such clan. Their clan head was a powerful fifth-tier mid-stage body refiner.
In the spirit realm, not all descendants of immortal cultivators possessed spiritual roots. Families with significant influence in the city would often push their rootless children onto the path of body refinement, using vast resources to help them progress far along this road.
However, the later stages of body refinement grew increasingly difficult, with advancement becoming even harder than for cultivators of the same tier.
Rumor had it that reaching the final stages required essence blood from powerful, high-level demonic beasts—without it, further progress became impossible.
Since this fat man was also a body refiner, it was no surprise he was after Li Qing's essence blood.
Li Qing paid him no mind. A family guarded by a mere mid-stage fifth-tier body refiner posed no threat to him.
"The city's laws don't require me to sell to you to establish a presence here. You'd do well to think before you speak," Li Qing said calmly, completely unfazed by the fatty's threats.
"You—" Fatty Hou's voice faltered. He wanted to retort, but Li Qing's subtly oppressive aura silenced him. It felt as if he were facing not a nascent soul cultivator, but a figure of immense authority accustomed to command.
Soon, Fatty Hou slunk away from Li Qing's stall, daring not to utter another word.
"Heh, it seems even in the spirit realm, there's no shortage of brainless fools. They've grown accustomed to throwing their weight around under the protection of their ancestors, truly believing everything should bend to their whims."
Li Qing shook his head and resumed meditating behind his stall.
News of a spirit treasure appearing in the market had already spread. Several people had offered Li Qing prices, but none had tempted him.
They departed, hoping to find something else that might sway Li Qing to trade for the bone arrow.
Two days later, only the bone arrow remained floating on Li Qing's stall, drawing the gazes of everyone who passed by.
The Demon Beast Flesh and Blood had all been sold, and even the complete beast hide had been purchased by a talisman master.
"Three days remain on the stall rental," Li Qing thought. "If no one offers a satisfactory price by then, I'll pack up and leave."
"If all else fails, I'll head to the royal city of the Giant Spirit Race afterward. I should be able to fetch a good price there."
Just as Li Qing was contemplating this, a figure slowly approached his stall.
"Young friend," the man said, stroking his long, drooping mustache, "I am the manager of the Golden Abundance Trading Company in Profound Ancient City. In three months, we plan to hold an auction in the Giant Spirit Race's capital."
"If you haven't found a buyer for this bone arrow by then, why not consign it to our auction?"
The man was middle-aged, with a pair of long mustaches framing his lips. His mana was formidable, revealing him to be a cultivator in the late divine transformation realm.
Li Qing glanced at the man, recalling what he knew about the Golden Abundance Trading Company.
The company enjoyed considerable renown across the Tonggu Continent. With branches established in the territories of the three major races—excluding the Tree Demon Clan—their business nearly spanned the entire continent.
Rumor had it that the company's extensive reach stemmed from connections with powerful factions on overseas continents.
After pondering for a moment, Li Qing decided to accept the offer.
"Alright, if no one buys this arrow within three days, I'll consign it to your trading company's auction."
"Excellent! A pleasure doing business with you!"
With that, the manager of the Golden Abundance Trading Company departed as quickly as he had arrived, his movements hurried and efficient.
Three days later, as expected, no one had purchased Li Qing's arrow. He shook his head, realizing he had overestimated the purchasing power of the human cultivators in the city.
After all, it was a yellow-grade spirit treasure, suitable only for cultivators at the divine transformation realm or higher. By that stage, most cultivators already possessed their own preferred treasures and would rarely spend a fortune on a new spirit treasure.
These cultivators were likely focused entirely on preparing for their next minor heavenly tribulation, conserving every last resource.
Packing up his stall and pocketing several tens of thousands of merit points, Li Qing left the market. He headed straight for Old Man Jian's cave abode, his purpose clear.
"It's time to acquire the Dustfall Pill, completely integrate my aura into this world, and then restore my mana."
(End of the Chapter)
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