Hearing Fang Qingyuan’s words, Jiang Kui nodded and said,
"Don’t look for anything too expensive; it’d be a waste of Spirit Stones. An average place will do. We’ll only be here for a few days, so every little bit we can save helps."
Fang Qingyuan naturally had no objection, but he suspected there were no truly cheap inns in Lianshui City.
"Ten Spirit Stones a day for one room? How can it be so expensive?"
At the entrance of an inn, Jiang Kui winced at the price. The mont she saw Fang Qingyuan reach for his money, she grabbed his arm and pulled him out the door.
Fang Qingyuan said helplessly,
"Senior Sister, this is Lianshui City. It’s built on a Fourth-rank Spiritual Land. Haven’t you noticed? Even the Spiritual Qi at the base of the mountain is nearly as rich as on our Yuanling Mountain.
Lianshui City has regulations to prevent too many Cultivators from overstaying. Any visiting Cultivator who wants to live here long-term needs a temporary residence permit. Without one, you can’t rent a ho; you can only stay in inns.
That’s why the inns are so expensive. Does that make more sense now, Senior Sister?"
After listening to Fang Qingyuan’s explanation, Jiang Kui whispered,
"I understand all that, but it still stings! Ten Spirit Stones is enough to power the Mountain Protection Array for a whole day! If you exchanged it for grain, it could feed a thousand mortals for months! And we’d spend it on a single night’s stay? No way. Find another inn."
In the face of Jiang Kui’s penny-pinching, Fang Qingyuan could only try to persuade her again.
"This place is actually one of the more affordable ones; the others are even more expensive. Besides, ten Spirit Stones includes three als and care for Jinbao. It’s a real bargain."
At this, Jiang Kui’s brow finally smoothed out a little, but then she suddenly asked,
"How many rooms were you planning on getting?"
Fang Qingyuan said, puzzled,
"Two, of course."
"Doesn’t that an we’d be spending twenty Spirit Stones a day? Absolutely not. What’s the maximum occupancy for one room?"
"Two people."
"Perfect. Book one room. One room is enough for the two of us, we’ll still get als for two, and Jinbao is included. Now that makes feel much better."
A conflicted look appeared on Fang Qingyuan’s face when he heard this. He argued,
"I don’t think that’s a good idea. People will talk if word gets out."
Jiang Kui glared, pulling rank as his senior sister. Looking at Fang Qingyuan, she said,
"Listen to your senior sister. If I’m not afraid, what are you afraid of? We’re not part of so Confucian Family or Daoist sect, so why should we care about gossip? How did you end up more prudish than one of their disciples? Besides, even if you wanted to try sothing, could you even beat ?"
With that, Fang Qingyuan had nothing more to say. Since Jiang Kui wasn’t concerned with such trivialities, he wouldn’t pretend to be so perfect gentleman either. ’It was just the subconscious influence of my past life’s mories,’ he thought. Now that Jiang Kui had snapped him out of it, Fang Qingyuan decided to follow his heart.
....
Inside a room of over thirty square ters, Fang Qingyuan and Jiang Kui sat facing each other. Although Jiang Kui had claid not to care about gossip, being alone in a room with Fang Qingyuan still made her heart flutter.
Luckily, it wasn’t just Fang Qingyuan and Jiang Kui; Jinbao the bear was also there watching from the side, which made the situation a little less awkward.
Jinbao tilted its head, curious as to why its masters were acting a little different than usual.
After a long mont, Fang Qingyuan broke the silence.
"In seven days, Lianshui City will hold its monthly auction. We can go and try our luck. In the anti, we should spend these seven days visiting other shops to compare prices."
Jiang Kui’s expression had returned to normal by now. She nodded and said,
"That makes sense. But what about this Spirit Stone Crystal Core? Should we submit it to the auction? We might be able to get more Spirit Stones for it that way."
Fang Qingyuan thought for a mont before replying,
"Most of the Cultivators at the auction are Foundation Establishnt Cultivators. To them, the Spirit Stone Crystal Core is both expensive and useless. If we want to sell it, we’ll need to find a major power."
"So what you’re saying is?"
"We’ll go to the rulers of this city, the Lianshui Alliance. We’re disciples of the Beast Taming Sect, and the Lianshui Alliance has a good reputation, so we don’t need to worry about safety. They have the ans to purchase it and would likely be willing to."
After Fang Qingyuan finished, Jiang Kui nodded, and the two lapsed into silence again. A mont later, Fang Qingyuan stood up.
"You should get so rest, Senior Sister. I’ll go ditate in the outer room."
After Fang Qingyuan left, Jiang Kui lay down on the wooden bed. She stared blankly at the rafters above, lost in her own thoughts.
.....
The night passed peacefully. As dawn broke the next day, Fang Qingyuan opened his eyes to see Jiang Kui erging from the inner room.
"Qingyuan, let’s go."
Jiang Kui seed to be in high spirits. Apparently, when it ca to sothing like shopping, not even a Foundation Establishnt Female Cultivator was immune.
Fang Qingyuan stood up and called for Jinbao, and the two of them, along with the beast, left the inn.
Strolling through Lianshui City and taking in its prosperity, Fang Qingyuan thought to himself with a sigh, ’It wouldn’t be bad to settle down here in the future.’
’Unfortunately, I’m already a disciple of the Beast Taming Sect. The Lianshui Alliance wouldn’t agree to living here, and it isn’t realistic anyway.’
’Besides, there’s an Immortal City back at Zongshan, and in terms of scale, it’s even larger and more magnificent than Lianshui City. I don’t need to be envious of what others have.’
The Treasure Pavilion, Vast Collection Pavilion, and Spirit dicine Pavilion all had branches in Lianshui City, but Fang Qingyuan didn’t visit any of them. Their goods were excellent, to be sure, but they were also far too expensive.
Eventually, after wandering for a while, Fang Qingyuan and Jiang Kui stopped in front of a shop called the "Water Refining Workshop."
Judging by the na, this shop specialized in the art of "water refining." Using various types of Spirit Fire was the mainstream thod in Artifact Refining; by comparison, water refining was rather niche.
However, water refining had its own unique thods, and the Magical Artifacts produced were generally of exquisite quality. The only reason it hadn’t beco mainstream was that refining a single artifact took far too long.
Refining a Magical Artifact with fire might take a few months, but with water refining, the initial material purification phase alone could take several years. By the ti a single artifact was finally complete, a decade or more might have passed.
It took too much ti and catered to too small a market, so it was only natural that the art of water refining never beca a prominent practice.
Fang Qingyuan and Jiang Kui stepped inside, but no one ca out to greet them. The shop was several hundred square ters, yet only one or two other Cultivators were inside, browsing for a Magical Artifact that caught their eye.
Without hesitation, Fang Qingyuan led Jiang Kui straight toward the section for Foundation Establishnt Stage Magical Artifacts.
Qi Cultivation Cultivators generally used First-tier Magical Artifacts. Early-stage Cultivators used Tier One Lower Grade, while Mid-stage Cultivators used Tier One Middle Grade.
A Cultivator was ant to use a Magical Artifact that corresponded to their realm. Otherwise, their cultivation level and Spiritual Power would be insufficient. A High-level Magical Artifact might be powerful, but using it just a few tis would completely drain their Spiritual Power, making it not worth the cost.
And yet, Fang Qingyuan had obtained a Tier Two Lower Grade Turtle Shell Shield back when he was only at the Mid-stage Qi Cultivation realm. Among Qi Cultivation Cultivators, this made him quite wealthy.
However, when he used this Turtle Shell Spirit Shield, he could only utilize its basic defensive capabilities. He had never once managed to activate its innate [Spirit Support] ability.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, but that he was unable to.
With his cultivation at the Mid-stage of Qi Cultivation, just being able to activate the Second-Order Lower Grade Magical Artifact was an achievent in itself. Anything more was out of the question.
Jiang Kui had been using a Tier One Upper Grade magical artifact, the [Flowing Water Silk Sword]. This weapon ca with a [Silk Bind] effect. When activated, it could disperse her Spiritual Power like a spider spinning its web, silently ensnaring an opponent and obstructing the flow of their Spiritual Power.
This Magical Artifact had been with Jiang Kui for over a decade, but now that she had reached Foundation Establishnt, it was no longer suitable, no matter how accustod she was to it.
She could, in theory, spend Spirit Stones to upgrade the [Flowing Water Silk Sword]. However, the cost would be more than buying two new Second-Order Lower Grade Magical Artifacts, and in the end, she would only get a Tier Two Lower Grade [Flowing Water Illusionary Silk Sword] or a [Solid Water Profound Ice Sword].
Although reluctant, Jiang Kui still decided to sell her [Flowing Water Silk Sword] to recover so of her Spirit Stones.
Peering through the small protective Arrays covering the items, Fang Qingyuan and Jiang Kui put their heads together, staring eagerly at the few Magical Artifacts displayed inside.
The display case held Second-order Magical Artifacts: sabers, shields, and swords. In addition to these, there were also special Magical Artifacts like cauldrons, bells, towers, and pagodas.
But these special Magical Artifacts were all extrely expensive. Though they were all Second-order Magical Artifacts, their value was two to three tis greater than that of the swords and sabers.
This was because artifacts like cauldrons, bells, towers, and pagodas were difficult to refine. They required more spiritual materials and were often crafted by combining several special First-grade top-quality magic tools, or even other Second-order Magical Artifacts.
Higher cost naturally ant better effects. A specially shaped Magical Artifact would often possess three or four special attributes. For example, the [Moral Demon-Suppressing Ruyi Tower] before Fang Qingyuan had four distinct effects: [Exorcism], [Oppression], [Weight], and [rit].
The [Exorcism] effect could effectively suppress negative Cultivation Techniques and things related to demons, ghosts, yin, darkness, death, blood, and disease.
[Oppression] could slightly suppress Magical Artifacts of a lower tier, and was even more effective against low-level spirit beasts and summons.
[Weight] increased the Magical Artifact’s mass, allowing it to crush opponents with sheer force. This was a common attribute for stone or tal-aspected Magical Artifacts shaped like mountains, great seals, or dharma images.
The final effect, [rit], was even more incredible. It imbued the Magical Artifact with a virtuous aura that suppressed all negative and evil entities. Furthermore, the more such creatures it slew, or the more good deeds its owner perford, the stronger the power of virtue attached to the artifact would beco.
Unfortunately, ghostly creatures were rare in this realm, leaving such a powerful ability with no real use. It could only be put on display for sale. Otherwise, this Magical Artifact would have undoubtedly been a sect-defining treasure.
’It’s a great item, but it’s not for ,’ he thought. ’And most importantly, it’s extrely expensive.’
The [Moral Demon-Suppressing Ruyi Tower] was priced at a hundred thousand Spirit Stones, which was the highest price tag for a Second-order Magical Artifact.
A typical Second-Order Lower Grade Magical Artifact was generally valued between three thousand and ten thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones, while a Second-Order Middle Grade Magical Artifact was worth between ten and thirty thousand.
The very best Second-Order Top-grade Magical Artifacts were priced between thirty thousand and one hundred thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones. The [Moral Demon-Suppressing Ruyi Tower] was priced at the absolute ceiling, which made him suspect the owner didn’t actually want to sell it.
’If I had to appraise it,’ Fang Qingyuan thought, ’this artifact is worth sixty or seventy thousand Spirit Stones at most. Anything more is just an inflated price.’
Ignoring these special artifacts, Jiang Kui’s gaze shifted back and forth between three Magic Swords, her expression indecisive.
Seeing this, Fang Qingyuan called out loudly,
"Shopkeeper! We’ve got business for you! Get out here and help your custors!"
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