Chapter 25: Xiao Fa Writes a Letter

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  After entering the market, Leidong finally opened his eyes. The market is not big, but there are many ancient and fragrant facades, each store selling a variety of things, including all kinds of law instruments, elixirs, talismans, and Taoist tools. Some stores sell everything, like a small grocery store. And some stores specialize in elixirs or law instruments. In addition, there is a street dedicated to monks who set up stalls to sell their own goods, for just one spiritual stone stall fee, they can set up shop on that street for a day.

  Lei Dong never thought that there would be so many cultivators gathered here. It wasn't like the crowds of people rushing to the market in his hometown, but it was still bustling with people. After wandering around for half a day without making a sound, Lei Dong gradually understood. The business of the store that sold everything was indeed good, but precisely because they did everything, it was very difficult to buy high-quality goods inside.

  Specialty stores sell things very regularly, for the sake of long-term plans, they usually pay great attention to their reputation. However, some small things, specialty store prices are one or two percent more expensive than outside, but the quality is relatively guaranteed. As for those miscellaneous stalls, they are all set up by individuals, from a single yin mushroom to the treasures used by Jin Dan masters, it's really everything you need. Of course, the quality of the things on the stall is hard to say. Many people in order to be cheap, with the idea of spending small money to gain big benefits, often lose out at the stalls.

  It's better to sell than to buy, according to Lei Dong's observation, the vast majority of stall owners are old-timers who have been practicing here for years. Each stall seems to have formed a tacit alliance with each other, specializing in cheating those new faces and low-level cultivators. However, there are also a small number of people who come to sell things because they are not satisfied with the purchase price in the store, so they are willing to set up stalls here, hoping to sell them at a good price.

  Even for the latter type of stall owners, Lei Dong didn't dare to easily believe them. Who knows if he's just some old sly fox pretending?

  Spent a spirit stone to rent a room in an inconspicuous inn for a month. Every night, he would practice his aura and sit in meditation in the room. During the day, he continued to wander around, occasionally chatting with shop assistants and stall owners. Lei Dong's two lifetimes of experience had taught him that although he was not skilled at social interactions, he understood more than his peers. He would take advantage of others' idle moments to say a few auspicious words, subtly flattering them. As a result, although he didn't spend money buying things, he also didn't annoy people. He remembered everything he heard and saw in his heart, pondering it secretly.

  More than 20 days later, Lei Dong stepped into a small shop that specialized in selling Ling Gui with confidence. Although this place was still within the influence of the Yin Xie Sect, it was a gathering place for evil cultists, and the market for Ling Gui was not small here. After listening to rumors, secretly inquiring, and comparing several similar shops, Lei Dong finally confirmed that this shop had a good reputation, reasonable prices, and did not cheat customers. Only then did he decide to sell his mid-grade Ling Gui in this shop.

  The ordinary little second who had no cultivation in his body carefully listened to Leidong's intention and then politely invited him into the private room, knowing that the acquisition of medium-grade spiritual objects was not something he could take charge of, so he went to invite the shopkeeper after a while.

  Then, two seventeen or eighteen-year-old palace maids came to pour tea and serve water. They were delicate and charming, but quite pretty. However, Lei Dong, who had been in the Wan Gui Cave for a long time, was not very interested in them. First, there were many human maids of all kinds in the Wan Gui Cave. Second, Lei Dong felt that he was still young and should focus his energy on cultivation.

  In a moment, a middle-aged shopkeeper, dressed in a neat and tidy manner, walked in with a smile and bowed: "Sorry, sorry, I was busy with something earlier and made you wait for a long time. My name is Li, and I am the third shopkeeper of this Linggui Pavilion. You can call me Old Li. May I ask how to address you?"

  "Mr. Li is too polite, my surname is Chen and my name is Hua." Lei Dong stood up calmly and returned the courtesy, "Mr. Li's cultivation far surpasses mine, how dare I be presumptuous?" In the world of immortal cultivation, what matters most is strength, where the strong prey on the weak. When encountering a higher-level cultivator who is stronger than oneself, it's better to be humble and low-key. Otherwise, one might accidentally say something wrong and offend the other party, and then they wouldn't know how they died. This self-proclaimed Old Li, the third shopkeeper, Lei Dong couldn't see through his cultivation with just one glance, so he didn't dare really call him Old Li.

  After exchanging a few pleasantries, Li Zhuang also sipped his tea and smiled: "I heard from Xiao Er that Brother Chen has a mid-grade Linggui for sale to our humble shop. I'd like to thank Brother Chen for trusting our store. Brother Chen must have inquired about our reputation before coming here. Here, I can assure you that as long as you are a client of our shop, we guarantee that we will not leak any information about you, and at the same time ensure that both parties' transactions are fair and just, so you won't be taken advantage of."

  Lei nodded, doing business, especially long-term business, indeed attaches great importance to reputation. But he also understood that once the things he brought out made them extremely envious and could easily eliminate him without making a sound, they would not mind finding opportunities to play the role of bandits. There is a bottom line issue here. As the saying goes, it's not that you don't betray, but the chips for betrayal are too small and the price is too high.

  However, considering the strength and reputation of Linggui Pavilion, it's not worth risking everything to kill a mid-grade spirit for adventure. As a result, Leidong is also relatively at ease. Of course, it's necessary to keep an extra eye and be vigilant. After all, one's current strength is too weak.

  "That's a mid-grade spirit ghost that I, as a junior, happened to capture while doing a sect mission. The reason I'm selling it is because I don't specialize in the Ghost Controlling Technique, and also, I don't want my fellow disciples to be too envious of me." Lei Dong said calmly, explaining why he wanted to sell it, while also subtly hinting that he was a disciple of a sect, not some low-level loose cultivator from outside.

  Li Zhuang heard this and became even more enthusiastic, after all, the disciples of the sect and the scattered cultivators were indeed very different. Any disciple of a sect, no matter how low-ranking, would definitely be avenged by the sect if they suffered losses while traveling outside. This was a survival rule for the sects, and if their own disciples were bullied and ignored, it would be like being a turtle hiding in its shell. Over time, the centripetal force of the sect would gradually disperse, and as people's hearts dispersed, the sect would naturally weaken day by day.

  Especially here, it still belongs to the sphere of influence of the Yinxiu Sect. The rest of the recent other sects seem to be tens of thousands of miles away. From this, we can see that if this little brother's words are true, he should be a disciple of the Yinxiu Sect. As for the Yinxiu Sect, Li Zhuangui wouldn't even have the thought of offending them.

  "Mr. Chen, please rest assured that the content of this transaction will not be leaked out in any way." Li Zhuang said with a serious face: "As for that shop assistant, I will personally take care of him too."

  He couldn't help but laugh: "Then there's no need, things aren't as exaggerated as Li thought, just don't spread it outside." But in his heart, he was thinking that Li must have guessed that he was a disciple of the Yin Evil Sect, otherwise he wouldn't be so cautious. However, it didn't matter, the Yin Evil Sect had many caves and no one would be bored enough to investigate him for a mid-grade spirit ghost.

  Li was also slightly relieved in his heart, after all, cultivating a clever and agile little servant requires not a small amount of thought. After a brief moment of contemplation, he said: "I wonder what price the young master intends to sell us for?"

  Before coming, Leidong had also carefully inquired about the price of medium-grade Linggui. In a regular specialized store like Linggui Pavilion, medium-grade Linggui is also a relatively rare item. Due to its rarity, it usually sells for around 1,300 to 1,400 ling outside, and it's quite sought after. Leidong, who had already thought about the price, said in a steady voice: "1,200 ling."

  Li's face slightly paused, and he smiled bitterly: "The price you offered is a bit high. Although we can sell it to outsiders for around 1,300-1,400 yuan, our store is located here, and the rent, taxes, and labor costs are not low. If you agree to sell at 1,000 yuan, we will make an immediate deal."

  "You can't say that, medium-grade spirit ghosts are rare items and in short supply. If you take them, Li Boss, you can sell them for 200 spirits with one hand. If you don't do this business, does your store not need rent and other expenses? Just doing it conveniently." Lei Dong said while drinking tea, talking fluently. It's not that he was happy to discuss prices, but such a big transaction, coming and going, would involve tens or hundreds of spirits, which is no small amount. Although he had the Soul-Devouring Tower in hand, which could manufacture medium-grade spirit ghosts, if he didn't collect and sell them everywhere, then his own death date wouldn't be far off either.

  You one sentence, I one sentence, finally gritted teeth and sold out 1,100 Ling. This is already more than the estimated 400 Ling before Leidong came to this market. With some satisfaction in his heart, his spiritual stone assets have finally exceeded 1,000.