Chapter Ten: A Narrow Escape

  Chen Taizhong didn't bother the staff much either, after leaving the Task Hall, he found an inn to stay in, still choosing a standard room for five spiritual coins per day.

  He had previously only stayed in a one-day-two-spirit daily rental house and was eager to know what the difference was between a one-day-five-spirit and a one-day-two-spirit.

  The fact told him that this distinction was indeed quite large. A standard room with five spiritual energies, the spiritual energy was much more intense than a daily rental house. Practicing in it for one day was equivalent to practicing in a daily rental house for a day and a half.

  That is to say, Liu Ling cultivated in a daily rental room for three days, which is equivalent to cultivating in a standard room for two days, however... it would cost ten more spiritual energy.

  Which one is more cost-effective? Of course, it's more cost-effective to cultivate in a standard room. Although four more ling were spent, a day of time was saved.

  For cultivators, time is the most useless - a meditation session can pass by in hundreds of years, but at the same time, it is also the most useful. A Jiu Xian ( Ninth Heaven Immortal) can live for two hundred years, and if one enters the Ling Xian realm, there won't be too much problem with their cultivation method, at least they can live for three hundred years.

  If I can level up as quickly as possible, spirit stones are really no problem.

  So he tried for a day and then directly threw an orange spirit stone to the inn, which was a mid-grade spirit stone. "First register me for twenty days, I want to make a breakthrough."

  The inn didn't think much of it either, many people came here to rush through, just wanting a place where no one would disturb them.

  The guest living in 9303 has a somewhat extravagant taste, and since entering the room, he basically doesn't set foot outside, even meals are delivered directly by the waiter.

  During this time, the inn had a rather intense spiritual energy fluctuation, roughly equivalent to a 4th-level Youxian impact on a 5th-level model. However, the inn's Lingqi array was covering all the rooms, so it didn't attract too much attention.

  On the twentieth day, Chen Taizhong finally ended his closed-door training. He had successfully broken through to the third-level peak. In comparison, the fourth level was not as easy to break through; that was already within the realm of a mid-grade Cultivator.

  He settled the bill, apart from the rent of one hundred spirit stones, the food also cost more than thirty spirit stones. This was still without him taking the pills that assisted in his cultivation, it could be seen that burying his head in cultivation required a vast amount of resources.

  He left the inn and went to a pawnshop first, as thirty days were about to arrive.

  The shopkeeper had already forgotten who the person was, but after taking over the IOU and looking at it, a strange expression suddenly appeared on his face. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, "May I ask, do you have any more of this spider silk?"

  "What business is it of yours?" Chen Taizhong glared at him, still resentful about the man's earlier attempts to lowball him. Now that he had the money to redeem the goods, he wasn't going to bother with this guy. "I'm here to redeem them."

  The shopkeeper helplessly twitched his mouth, and after the Blood Sand Marquis's people asked about this spider silk, he also found someone to appraise it. Only then did he discover that this unremarkable white silk thread was actually the spider silk of the renowned Cleanliness Spider.

  Nightmare Spider is also known as the Cleaning Spider, their existence in the Ascension Channel not only devours Ascenders but can also effectively clean up some spatial debris, hence this alias.

  As mentioned earlier, this spider silk has spatial power, so it is a strategic resource for medium-sized battles and above. The effect of one ball of spider silk is not great, but its value is not low either.

  Like the boss's handful, the market price is basically around 100 spirit stones, but this thing is too rare and has no market price. If someone really wants to buy it on the market, they can sell it for as much as 500 spirits.

  But a single nightmare spider can spit out spider silk that is at least ten times larger than this bundle, and twenty times larger is also normal.

  At that time, the shopkeeper regretted - should have fixed this spider silk at a price of 50 Ling, if the other party is willing to redeem it, the pawnshop will make more profit, and if not redeemed, this thing can be sold at a high price without worry.

  The owner has come to redeem it now, with a very bad tone. He can only complain that his eyesight is not good enough and he was not polite enough at the time.

  Of course, he still wanted to try, "If you have any more of this spider silk on your hands, our pawnshop is willing to buy it at a high price."

  "How much is it going to cost?" Chen Taizhong furrowed his brow and asked aloud.

  "It's just this much... thirty spirit stones," The shopkeeper's price wasn't very honest, but that was normal. The other party used to be so poor they didn't even have two spirit stones, and had no choice but to pawn their belongings. Now that they were in a better situation, why would they lower the price?

  Chen Taitzong didn't respond, handed over three pieces of spiritual stone to the other party, took that small ball of spider silk and turned around to walk out the door.

  The shopkeeper was still waiting for him to haggle over the price, but seeing him turn around and walk away directly made him a bit anxious. "You really have the heart to sell, the price can still be negotiated."

  "I wasn't really planning on selling," Chen Taizhong replied without turning his head, "I was just asking about the price."

  "Damn it..." The shopkeeper muttered under his breath, but to him, this was just an unsuccessful deal, although the other's response was really infuriating.

  Then someone came in and out of the pawnshop. The next afternoon, a young man with a second-level Youxian cultivation level entered, followed by two middle-aged men with eighth-level Youxian cultivation levels.

  These two are from the Zheng family of Xue Sha Hou. Seeing a young man coming in to pawn something, they didn't say anything and waited for him to leave before planning to leave themselves - this is how they've been spending their days, following anyone who comes into the pawnshop, as long as it's a first or second-level Youxian.

  The Zheng family has a must-get attitude towards the nightmare spider.

  The shopkeeper was also used to it, anyway he couldn't afford to offend the Blood Sand Marquis. Since they were just bystanders, he didn't bother to intervene, but thinking about the young man's arrogant attitude yesterday, he couldn't help but mutter a sentence, "It's done, no need to wait, they've already been bailed out."

  "What did you say?" A middle-aged man with a dark face and long beard turned around, his eyes staring, and his momentum involuntarily released.

  "This is Tian Xia Pawnshop, I ask you to restrain yourself," the shopkeeper's face sank, and Tian Xia Business Alliance was not a soft persimmon that anyone could bully.

  "Alright, old thirty-seven," another man patted the dark-faced man's shoulder and then looked at the shopkeeper with a bad expression, "You're saying that the spider silk was redeemed by someone?"

  "Yes," said the shopkeeper with a slight nod, "it was redeemed by someone yesterday."

  "Damn it!" The black-faced man was furious, and he walked up to grab the other's collar. They had been guarding here for almost a month, and today they were suddenly told that Spider Silk had been redeemed yesterday. He couldn't express how angry he was - Are you kidding me?!

  But his hand stopped halfway, he forcibly controlled himself, and only gritted his teeth to ask, "Then why didn't you say it earlier?"

  The shopkeeper's smile is self-explanatory, does it need any explanation? The pawnshop in the world is for pawning goods, not selling information.

  "Thirty-seven," another middle-aged man stopped his family member again, then looked at the shopkeeper and asked calmly, "I suppose you still remember that person's appearance?"

  "What's the difference whether I remember or not?" The shopkeeper's face didn't show any expression.

  "If you remember, sir, would you kindly inform me of Zheng's family intentions?" The man bowed slightly.

  "Unfortunately, I really don't remember," said the shopkeeper with a sigh, but his eyes were rolling around restlessly.

  "You," the dark-faced man couldn't help but think that this person was intentionally making a fool of himself. The spark ignited suddenly.

  The shopkeeper didn't fall for it and spoke on his own, "The Tianxia Business Alliance does business with integrity, standing firm on honesty, and will not leak any information about our cooperative partners."

  "Believe it or not, I'll beat you up, and the Merchant Guild won't even lift a finger for you?" The dark-faced man finally lost his patience.

  "Shut up!" His accomplice finally couldn't bear it anymore, and after a stern shout, he asked again, "Believe in a poor and downtrodden wandering immortal, won't become the business partner of the Tianxia Chamber of Commerce, is that what you mean, boss?"

  The shopkeeper just smiled and didn't answer.

  "Ten spiritual stones for the goods," this person was quite straightforward, patted the storage bag, and placed ten spiritual stones on the counter - aren't you not seeing a rabbit without releasing a hawk? I'll directly give you the payment.

  The shopkeeper saw the situation and didn't pretend anymore, but instead smiled slyly and asked back, "The clue to the Flying Ascension Nightmare Spider... ten spirit stones, isn't that a bit too little?"

  "How much do you want?" The man's face turned ugly, the nightmare spider was recognized by someone, and it was within his expectation, but the other party pointed it out so clearly, this matter is estimated to be a bit tricky.

  "Twenty spirits will do," said the shopkeeper, not daring to open his mouth too wide - the Zheng family was not one to be trifled with. The Heavenly Merchants' Guild didn't fear the Blood Sand Marquis, but he was just a small shopkeeper, how could he have that kind of guts? Earning an extra ten spirits would satisfy him.

  "Alright," he nodded and took out another ten pieces of spiritual stone, "tell me, what does that person look like..."

  After listening, the dark-faced man narrowed his eyes and spoke coldly, "We've been observing people entering and leaving the pawnshop recently, and we haven't found the person you mentioned... Twenty taels isn't a lot, but since you deceived the Zheng family, you should have enough to spend with your life."

  "It's actually quite easy for someone to disappear," his companion chimed in.

  They have been working together for a long time and always play the roles of good cop and bad cop.

  "This person has already reached the third level of Youxian, in just one month, from the first to the third level," replied the shopkeeper lazily. "You're only focusing on the first and second levels of Youxian, so you wouldn't notice him... If I were you, I'd put more attention on the master."

  In just one month's time, from a first-level cultivator to third level? The two of them exchanged a glance, and both saw an intense look of incredulity in each other's eyes.

  In fact, they assumed that this person might have made a successful breakthrough, so they were staring at not only the first-level Youxian, but also the second-level, however, to say that within a month, he would be promoted two levels... what a joke?

  "You're not thinking of getting rid of him and keeping this stuff for yourself, are you?" The black-faced man said with a suspicious glance at the other person.

  The shopkeeper smiled and didn't say much.

  "Let's go," another man pulled at Hei Lian Hanzi - at this time, entangled in such a small matter, losing the Blood Sand Marquis' person.

  (Updated to, thank you for your support, Kuang Xian successfully rushed to the homepage, but it's about to fall off the list, loudly calling for recommendation votes.)