Translator: Cinder Translations
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"Let's go! Let's see what kind of goods this Witch's Curse Store sells. If the treasures are decent, we could also occupy a mountain peak here in the Isolated Ridge." Song Wen said.
"You want to stay here long-term?" Zhou Siyi asked.
"As wanderers, is there a more suitable place for cultivation than here? There's no sect control, all kinds of cultivation resources can be freely traded, and strength speaks the loudest. This is truly the ideal place for us wanderers to cultivate." Song Wen said as they walked.
Soon, the two entered a relatively large shop.
A young attendant, at the eighth level of Qi Refining, came out to greet them.
The attendant had a sharp, monkey-like face, looking sly and cunning.
He smiled faintly, showing a half-smile, and cupped his hands in greeting.
"What would you two customers like to buy?"
"Just browsing." Song Wen replied.
Both he and Zhou Siyi's eyes scanned the shelves of the store.
This was a store specializing in spiritual herbs. Although the store wasn't very large, it had a good variety of spiritual herbs, including several types of third-tier herbs.
Zhou Siyi's eyes suddenly brightened. She stepped forward and approached a glowing, multi-colored herb placed on display.
The herb was in a jade box, crystal clear and translucent, with the contents clearly visible inside.
"This is... the third-tier 'Demon Spirit Grass'!" Zhou Siyi exclaimed softly, her eyes filled with joy.
The Demon Spirit Grass was the main ingredient used to refine the 'Dragon Strength Pill.'
Zhou Siyi had searched the East Huafang Market for this herb but hadn't found any. Now, unexpectedly, she came across it in this inconspicuous store in Wu Yuan Market.
The attendant's beady eyes spun quickly, and he began to calculate in his mind.
Seeing that Song Wen and Zhou Siyi appeared young, though he couldn't sense their cultivation levels, their calm demeanor and behavior led him to deduce that they must be disciples of some sect or family.
But when he saw Zhou Siyi's expression of joy over the Demon Spirit Grass, he inwardly looked down on them a little.
"They probably come from some small family and have never seen much of the world," the attendant thought to himself.
Although he looked down on them, he still put on a humble attitude.
"You have good eyesight, this is indeed Demon Spirit Grass, and it is two hundred years old."
"How much does it cost?" Zhou Siyi asked.
"Five thousand spirit stones per stalk," the attendant replied.
"So expensive!" Zhou Siyi exclaimed in surprise.
The Demon Spirit Grass, being a key herb for enhancing third-tier demon beasts, was cultivated in the Beast Master Sect's spiritual herb peak. However, the quantity was limited, and demand within the sect was high, so the Beast Master Sect prohibited it from being sold outside.
However, inside the sect, it could still be bought and sold, and the price within the sect was usually only a few hundred spirit stones.
The price in this store was six to seven times higher than the price within the Beast Master Sect.
Zhou Siyi was astonished when she heard the price.
Meanwhile, the attendant, seeing this scene, was even more convinced that Song Wen and Zhou Siyi were from a small family and hadn't seen many high-tier herbs before.
"No wonder they're looking around so curiously. They've probably never seen so many second-tier and third-tier spiritual herbs in one place!" the attendant sneered inwardly.
But his face was still full of smiles.
He took a couple of steps and arrived in front of Zhou Siyi. He grabbed the jade box from the shelf, holding it with both hands and presenting it to her.
He flattered, "Customer, take a closer look. This is a two-hundred-year-old third-tier spiritual herb. Five thousand spirit stones, absolutely worth the price."
Zhou Siyi raised her hand, about to use her spiritual power to retrieve the jade box.
But then she hesitated and decided against it.
She worried that using her spiritual power might reveal her identity as a Golden Core cultivator.
Instead, she reached out to grab the jade box herself.
Just at that moment, the attendant suddenly loosened his grip.
The jade box fell with a thud.
The attendant looked shocked, appearing flustered as he tried to catch the falling box, but failed to grab it.
Zhou Siyi was about to use her power to catch it, but felt someone tugging at her sleeve. Without turning her head, she already knew it was Song Wen.
She knew that Song Wen was preventing her from using her power to catch the jade box.
Thus, a small jade box fell to the ground, under the watchful eyes of a Nascent Soul cultivator, a Golden Core cultivator, and an eighth-level Qi Refining cultivator.
"Crack!"
The jade box, which should have been sealed with protective formations and was supposed to be extremely sturdy, shattered like a fragile clay pot.
The attendant stared at the broken pieces of jade and the Demon Spirit Grass lying among the shards, his face filled with panic.
"What... what should we do now?"
After sighing for a while, the attendant finally looked up and turned to Zhou Siyi, scolding her.
"Customer, why are you so careless? You broke the jade box. Now the value of the Demon Spirit Grass will be greatly reduced."
Zhou Siyi's expression suddenly turned cold.
Although she spent most of her time at the Beast Master Sect and had little contact with the outside world, she wasn't blind to the tricks people used. She could easily see through such a poorly executed scheme.
She raised her hand, intending to slap the attendant to death.
However, Song Wen stepped in front of her before she could act.
"It's just the jade box that's broken. This doesn't affect the value of the Demon Spirit Grass, does it?" Song Wen said, his tone uncertain.
It was this uncertain tone that emboldened the attendant even more.
"Of course it affects!"
The attendant scolded loudly, holding the Demon Spirit Grass in front of Song Wen.
"Look at this! The leaf is even scratched. Who would I sell this to now?"
Song Wen looked troubled, hesitating before saying, "How about... we just buy the Demon Spirit Grass?"
The attendant, seeing this, toned down his arrogance a little.
"Now that's more like it. Five thousand spirit stones. Pay up."
"Sigh..." Song Wen sighed as if accepting his fate. He took out a storage bag and started pulling out spirit stones.
After what seemed like dozens of breaths, he finally counted out five thousand spirit stones.
The stones were stacked in a large pile on the ground.
"Here are five thousand low-grade spirit stones. The Demon Spirit Grass you have should belong to me now."
The attendant looked up, surprised to see two young people able to take out five thousand spirit stones at once.
But his eyes shifted greedily. Five thousand low-grade spirit stones were no longer enough for him. He saw an opportunity and decided to squeeze more from them.
"Who said it's five thousand low-grade spirit stones? I said it's five thousand mid-grade spirit stones."
"Five thousand mid-grade spirit stones! How could a third-tier spiritual herb be worth that much?" Song Wen argued.
The attendant smiled mockingly.
"I say it's worth that much, so it is."
He turned and shouted towards the back of the store.
"Shopkeeper, come out quickly! These people destroyed the spiritual herb and refuse to compensate!"
He was calling for backup, worried that if Song Wen got angry, he might attack, and he wouldn't be able to defend himself against them.
A tall, burly female cultivator, with a muscular frame, stepped out with large strides.
"Who dares to cause trouble in my store?"
Her voice was loud, like thunder.
She was a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, with thick vital energy, and her powerful physique gave off a strong sense of pressure.
"It's them," the attendant pointed at Song Wen and Zhou Siyi, preemptively blaming them.
(End of the Chapter)
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