Chapter 451: A Trip to the Marketplace

Chapter 451: Chapter 451: A Trip to the Marketplace

Bai Mo personally gave Ah Er a bath.

The rascal was always fooling around outside, and who knows what he got into, but his fur was in a sorry state.

Bai Mo washed him with a suitable herbal juice, and the badger was completely transformed.

His glossy fur reflected waves of light under the sun, smooth and sleek against his body. He cut a truly fine figure.

"I’ve heard this is how wealthy Cultivators raise their Spirit Beasts. He really does look different now."

Bai Mo sighed, tucked six brocade boxes into his embrace, and shooed him out the door.

Ah Er lowered his head and drooped his eyes, looking utterly listless.

Bai Mo comforted him, "Don’t look like that. Be bold."

"When you get back, I’ll pick a day and take you to buy a Flying Ship. That way you won’t have to beg others for a ride when you go out..."

Hearing this, a light immediately sparked in Ah Er’s eyes.

"Aroo!"

He made a few gestures.

Bai Mo shook his head.

"I’ll get you the Flying Ship, but how you pilot it is up to you. I can’t help you much with that."

This made sense. Ah Er mulled it over for a moment, recalling Bai Mo’s usual piloting. ’It doesn’t seem that hard,’ he thought, and nodded emphatically.

After bidding Bai Mo farewell, Ah Er set off.

Along the way, he occasionally ran into familiar Spirit Beasts, and they would greet each other.

When they saw his slick, glossy appearance, they were all stunned.

The story of their brawl with the Blue Luan that day had already spread far and wide within the local Spirit Beast circles.

After all, they were just the common rabble among Spirit Beasts; no one had ever seen one of them hold their head high in front of those others.

Ah Er, who had lived on Mi Mountain for a long time and was naive to the ways of the world, had managed to pull together a ragtag army that day with pills and friendships, fighting the others to a standstill.

It was said that after the incident, the Blue Luan and the other Spirit Beasts involved were punished and had a hard time.

But now, seeing Ah Er coming and going as if nothing had happened... did this badger have an enlightened and indulgent master?

Ah Er was puzzled by the reactions of the Spirit Beasts he encountered.

It wasn’t until he eavesdropped on their conversations that he finally understood, and a sudden sense of heroic pride swelled within him.

As he continued on his way, his heart swelled with relief. He felt the loneliness of being at the top, a desolate sense that he was one of the movers and shakers of his era.

He casually strolled to a familiar marketplace.

This market was situated in a valley next to a Spiritual Spring. It never lacked for disciples coming and going, and it was always bustling with activity.

Ah Er was already a regular here.

The Cultivators in the market were pleasantly surprised to see him.

"What happy occasion is this? You’re certainly putting on some airs!"

Many disciples greeted him.

"What are you after today?"

Facing the eager gazes of the disciples, Ah Er shook his head, pulled out six brocade boxes with his paw, hugged them to his chest, and sighed repeatedly.

"Oh, he must be short on funds and needs to sell some Pills..."

"I’ve heard that those Cultivators who study the Alchemy Dao often have huge expenses. It seems even this big spender is no exception."

Hearing the disciples say this, Ah Er was stunned for a moment, then nodded in deep agreement.

The disciples laughed and chatted amongst themselves.

"Come, let me see the quality of those Pills of yours!"

Suddenly, from behind a stall with no customers, a disciple beckoned and called out. In front of him were various items like dried fruits and vines as thick as an arm.

Because he didn’t have many goods, he was extremely picky about his customers.

Ah Er swaggered up to the stall and tossed the Pills down, letting the disciple choose as he pleased.

He appeared nonchalant, but he was actually watching the disciple’s cooperation. ’My assessment of this disciple just went up a notch!’

’I’ll raise the rating for this stall when I get back!’

The disciple lazily picked out a brocade box and opened it.

A warm aura washed over his face, but beneath it lay a hidden trace of sinister cold.

A dark green Pill sat inside. Its surface was covered in patterns, like the crackle glaze on porcelain.

The disciple holding the box stared intently for a moment, then glanced quickly at Ah Er. Seeing his innocent and ignorant look, the disciple couldn’t help but force a small smile.

"This Pill, how are you selling it?"

Ah Er extended a paw and turned one of the brocade boxes over.

The price was clearly marked on the back: eight thousand Spirit Stones.

"HISS... so expensive!"

A disciple craning his neck to watch from the side sucked in a sharp breath.

But then, a passerby in the market strolled over, fanning himself with a paper fan. He examined the Pill’s quality and exclaimed in admiration:

"This is a top-grade Tier Three Pill. Moreover, it’s infused with the Dao of some unknown High Tier foreign entity. Its demonic nature is palpable, and it’s wreathed in Spirit Charm."

"Not bad at all. I’ll take one."

With the price clearly marked, he didn’t mind showing off his own knowledge a bit.

The disciple manning the stall was displeased.

"Junior Brother, I saw it first. If anyone’s choosing, I’ll be the one to choose first."

He quickly opened the remaining boxes and examined the quality of the Pills inside.

Seeing that all six Pills were different, he gave Ah Er another long, assessing look.

People came and went in the market, and among them were those who were well-informed.

"I heard someone inside the sect has been summoning otherworldly beings for several days straight. Utterly audacious."

"The Foreign Affairs Hall was going to investigate, but someone shamelessly shut them down. Could these Pills be...?"

The disciples looked at each other, never imagining that the cultivator behind this Spirit Beast was such a ruthless character.

As more disciples gathered to look, Ah Er wore a smile on his face, but inwardly, he let out a huge sigh of relief.

’The process is different from what Bai Mo told me, but as long as the result is fine, it doesn’t matter.’

...

「After a good while.」

Ah Er refused the many disciples’ attempts to haggle and finally sold all the Pills. He then watched as his customers consumed them on the spot.

The moment the Pill entered his stomach, dark green patterns spread across the skin of the disciple who had been manning the stall.

He made a tentative chopping motion with his hand. It looked slow but was actually fast, accompanied by a low, rumbling sound like distant thunder.

And on the jade bricks of the marketplace floor in front of him, a cut had silently appeared.

This was refined from the Dao of the being that had killed the yaksha.

If Nai Daoist hadn’t been there that day, that being could have captured Bai Mo in an instant.

"This is good!"

A moment later, after paying the fine for the damaged jade brick, the stall-keeper disciple praised.

He looked at Ah Er and asked:

"Is this how this Pill is supposed to be used?"

Ah Er’s eyes were wide as he nodded emphatically, but he was secretly recording the disciple’s performance in his mind.

Another disciple who had also taken a Pill asked with a smile:

"They say this Pill involves karma. Will the one whose Dao was stolen come looking for revenge against me?"

Ah Er quickly shook his head and drew a paw across his own neck.

"So he really was killed."

"In that case, doing things this way was just to be safe and avoid any new complications."

"As expected of someone who studies the Alchemy Dao. Such a cautious person..."

The buyers stopped looking at him and exchanged a few words, quickly figuring out the Pill’s true nature.

"The master of the Dao is dead, so the Pill’s otherworldly power cannot be replenished. It’s like water without a source."

"With normal use, it will last five years at most..."

Such a duration was worthy of the Pill’s price. Ah Er had acted as a conscientious seller.

After the disciples dispersed, he saw that it was still early and scurried away.

He first secretly hid in a corner to jot down notes on the disciples’ performance after taking the Pills, then ambled over to several blacksmith shops in the market.

Quite a few Flying Ships were on display inside.

Since they were for show, the displays were quite impressive.

Ah Er lingered there, his paws clasped behind his back, shaking his head and critiquing what he saw with soft chirps.

The disciple minding the shop didn’t pay him any mind, thinking he was just being curious.

The shop had been in business for so many years, but no one had ever imagined that a Spirit Beast would come to buy a Flying Ship.