89: Chapter 89 for Sale Again

The thirteenth day. The ink jade moss was ground into powder.

Under the roasting of the spirit fire, the dark green moss dehydrated and became brittle. A single pinch with the fingers crumbled it into powder, which piled up like a small mountain in a coarse porcelain bowl, emitting a very strong, earthy, fishy smell.

Licorice was sliced as an auxiliary ingredient to neutralize the cold nature of the ink jade moss.

Twelve Medium Grade antidote pills.

The pills were dark green, their surfaces densely covered with fine moss-like medicinal patterns. Holding one in the mouth could slowly release its medicinal power, neutralizing most toxins from first-rank Yao Beasts and common hallucinogens.

The evening of the fifteenth day. The fire was extinguished on the final batch of Medicinal Pills.

Jiang Yan turned off the fire-gathering Restriction on the Artifact Refining furnace. The cyan-white flames in the furnace belly slowly extinguished, and the crimson-gold patterns on the furnace walls faded from bright to dim.

The Cultivation room retained the dry heat from the spirit fire, mixed with the bitter fragrance of Medicinal Pills, the astringent scent of herbs, and the burnt smell of heated metal.

He stood before the stone bed and laid out the results of the past half-month one by one.

The spirit-binding whip, with dark purple spiral patterns, tapered into a ring at the handle.

The wind-ripping claws, their six blades gleaming with a cold, dark gold luster under the light of the night pearl.

The heavy sword was broad and thick, the bone spikes were sharp, and the bracer felt smooth and warm.

The nine formation patterns on the upgraded Li Fire Killing Array Formation Plate glowed faintly.

Two jade bottles—one containing High Grade peiyuan pills, and one containing Medium Grade peiyuan pills. A small coarse porcelain bottle contained twelve dark green antidote pills.

His reserves of Spirit Stones were less than a hundred.

But his fingers traced from the spirit-binding whip to the wind-ripping claws, from the heavy sword to the bone spikes, and from the Formation Plate to the Medicinal Pill bottles—the sum of these quickly liquidable assets was enough to support the launch of his next plan.

Morning light spilled over the courtyard wall. The thin mist at the mouth of the stone well had not yet dispersed; the gray-white mist rolled slowly above the well, taking on a faint golden hue when touched by the sunlight.

Jiang Yan did not disturb anyone.

There was still light in the window of the stone house to the east, where Liu Ruyi's figure was hazily hunched over a desk.

The one to the north remained with its doors and windows tightly shut, the Spirit Gathering Array running at full speed within his Divine Sense perception.

He walked lightly across the courtyard, pushed open the courtyard gate, and stepped into the alley.

The Thousand Illusion Demon Mask was activated.

His bones clicked softly. His cheekbones lowered by half a fraction, wrinkles deepened from nothing at the corners of his eyes, his skin shifted from slightly yellowish to grayish-white, and his hair began to fade from the roots, turning salt-and-pepper.

A gray-haired old man in his fifties stood at the alley entrance, wearing a half-old gray long gown, his face looking weathered.

The shopkeeper of the Hundred Artifact Hall was a short, stout Cultivator at Qi Refining Stage 5, whose belly stretched the front of his dharma robe tight, and who wore a brass thumb ring for identification around his neck.

When he took the heavy sword, he first weighed it in his hand, then pressed the thumb ring against the spine of the sword—the moment the identification Restriction was activated, a very faint yellow light flashed across the surface of the thumb ring.

"Sturdy, Armor-Piercing, Heavy Strike, Sharp, Nimble—" He called out the Restrictions one by one, but paused when he reached the sixth.

He moved the brass thumb ring back and forth along the sword spine several times, his eyes fixed on the changes in the light patterns on the ring's surface, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter.

"This one is—"

He injected a wisp of spiritual power into his palm, and the sword body suddenly emitted a low, humming sound.

The sword hilt vibrated violently in his palm, making the webbing between his thumb and index finger go numb, nearly causing him to drop it.

He quickly retracted his spiritual power, set the sword on the counter, and rubbed his hand, his eyes filled with undisguised surprise as he looked up at the gray-haired old man before him.

"A Vibration Restriction. This Restriction is almost never seen on the market."

He calmed his breathing and picked up the sword again, holding it horizontally in his palm.

The dark cyan luster of the sword body was particularly striking in the dim shop, and the Restriction patterns on the sword spine glowed faintly in the lingering spiritual power.

"The quality is top-notch, the layout of the Restrictions is reasonable, and the ratio of Materials—" He flicked the sword body with his fingernail, producing a crisp 'clang.' "The ratio of ink iron to cyan gold is perfect."

He paused. "But this shop follows standard industry rules for acquisitions—"

"Two hundred and twenty-five Spirit Stones. No bargaining."

The gray-haired old man's voice was hoarse, his tone flat.

The shopkeeper's mouth twitched. "Fellow Daoist, the industry rules—"

"Two hundred and twenty-five. A Vibration Restriction; this is the only one in Black Stone City. If you won't buy it, I'll go next door."

The shopkeeper was silent for a moment, his gaze shifting back and forth between the Vibration Restriction patterns on the sword and the old man's expressionless face.

Then he laughed twice.

"Deal."

Two hundred and twenty-five Spirit Stones were stacked on the counter.

The cyan-white fluorescent light merged into one, casting an oily sheen on the shopkeeper's fat face.

The gray-haired old man put the Spirit Stones into his pouch, turned, walked out the door, and disappeared around the street corner without looking back.

The shopkeeper chased out the door and shouted, "May I ask your name, Fellow Daoist?" but there was no one left at the street corner.

Half an hour later, a lean man in his early thirties walked into a general store on the East Street.

He had dark skin, slightly high cheekbones, and was dressed in the common attire of a Yao Beast hunting Cultivator, with a few dried traces of beast blood on his cuffs.

The scarred-faced female shopkeeper took the three bone spikes. She first held them up to the sunlight filtering in from the doorway to examine the natural earth patterns in the bone.

On the grayish-white bone surface, pale yellow earth-attribute spiritual patterns radiated outward from the core, the natural lines flowing smoothly and naturally.

Then, she flicked the tail of the bone spike with her fingertip.

The moment the Acceleration Restriction activated, the bone spike leaped violently on the counter.

The tip of the bone spike pierced into the counter surface, sinking deep into the wood, while the tail continued to vibrate violently, emitting a very faint humming sound.

It had missed piercing the ledger spread out on the counter by only half an inch—the pages of the ledger had been flipped by the shockwave.

The female shopkeeper looked down at the deep groove in the counter surface.

Her eyelids twitched. She looked up, her expression shifting from scrutiny to surprise, and then from surprise to satisfaction.

"Good craftsmanship. Not a single natural spiritual pattern in the bone was damaged; the Restriction and the spiritual patterns are perfectly overlaid. A Medium Grade boutique item; the piercing power is at least thirty percent higher than a Flying Sword of the same rank."

She pulled the bone spike out of the counter with a movement so deft it didn't seem like a woman's.

She flipped the bone spike over in her palm to examine the Acceleration Restriction patterns on the tail.

"Two hundred and fifteen for the three of them as a bundle."

The lean man did not haggle. The grade of the Materials wasn't particularly high, so he was quite satisfied with this price.

He put the Spirit Stones into his Storage Pouch, nodded, and turned to leave the general store.

The female shopkeeper leaned against the doorframe, watching him disappear around the street corner, and muttered to herself, "With craftsmanship like this, I wonder which Artifact Refiner made them."

Over half an hour later, a fair-faced scholar in his forties appeared at the entrance of a newly opened Magical Artifact shop on North Street.

He wore a sparse goatee and a faded Confucian gown, a genial businessman's smile on his face.

The shopkeeper of this shop was a young man at Qi Refining Stage 5, with just a few soft whiskers sprouting on his chin, clearly someone who had only recently taken over the business.

He took the Red Sun Wood bracer, looked it over several times, but only recognized a few common Restrictions.

"A Medium Grade defensive Magical Artifact, nice quality. The market price is about—"

"There is another Restriction."