189: Chapter 189 The Target Appears

Before the Woman in Black Dress could speak, Lin Tian had already calculated everything in his mind.

This Spirit Fox was something the people present couldn't use. After the atmosphere cooled down, he would privately approach the Woman in Black Dress, and with Vicious Beast Materials plus silver banknotes, he had a high chance of acquiring this young Spirit Fox.

He had already practiced his Beast Taming Technique to the mastery Realm; controlling a Fifth-Grade Black Crocodile was no issue at all, and taming a young Spirit Fox would be as easy as turning over his hand.

But before he could speak, the old man in the dark green cloak in the corner made a sound first.

"What do you want to exchange for it?" The old man's voice was hoarse and deep, like sandpaper grinding against dead wood.

The Woman in Black Dress turned her head, her gaze from beneath her veil falling upon the old man, her voice gentle and calm: "What I want is very simple—at least three drops of blood essence from a Fifth-Grade Transformation Realm Vicious Beast. Or the equivalent in gold and silver, ten thousand taels."

The old man did not hesitate, extending a withered, thin hand from beneath his cloak, holding a small jade bottle in his palm, "Three drops of Black-Armored Lizard blood essence, Fifth-Grade Transformation Realm, to trade for your Spirit Fox."

The Woman in Black Dress took the jade bottle, pulled out the stopper to sniff it, and nodded.

The old man walked forward, carefully picked up the young Spirit Fox from the stone platform, tucked it into a specially made leather pouch inside his cloak, and turned to walk toward the iron door.

The Woman in Black Dress watched his back, the corners of her mouth beneath her veil slightly curling into a meaningful arc.

Lin Tian watched the two of them leave the stone chamber one after the other, pressing down the thought that had just emerged.

He could not produce three drops of blood essence from a Fifth-Grade Transformation Realm Vicious Beast; that Black Crocodile was his guardian beast, not his material warehouse, and it was impossible to draw blood from it.

He had ten thousand taels of silver, but the Woman in Black Dress clearly wanted blood essence more. Since the old man had made the offer first, if he were to outbid him, it would break the rules of the black market.

Although the Spirit Fox was good, his primary goal tonight was Treasure Fish feed; since he couldn't get it, he would decisively let it go.

The shopkeeper clapped his hands again: "The transaction continues, next one." A young man wearing a half-face mask stood up from his seat and walked briskly to the stone platform.

He was tall and slender, with the mask covering only the upper half of his face, revealing a young and clean jawline, and a pair of eyes that were bright and spirited behind the mask.

He didn't say any polite pleasantries, directly reaching into his bosom and pulling out a palm-sized cloth bag to place on the stone platform.

The material of the cloth bag was ordinary coarse linen, the opening tied with hemp rope, looking completely unremarkable, but when it was placed on the stone platform, it made a very light and crisp sound.

Several people below the platform swept their gazes over, and someone frowned and asked: "What is it? So mysterious."

The young man didn't speak, only gently pulling open a corner of the bag's tie, then tilting the bag forward to let a small amount of the contents be revealed under the light.

They were dark green granules, uniform in size, with a layer of extremely fine powder coated on the surface, shimmering with a faint fluorescence under the light.

The young man closed the bag again, his voice clear and bright: "Treasure Fish feed."

As the four words fell into the air, before the others could react, Lin Tian's hand had already unconsciously gripped the chair's armrest tight.

It has come; he had waited so long tonight, and finally, he had waited for it.

"Is this bait for Treasure Fish?" The fat man in the grey robe who had previously bought the Cold Silver Spear stepped closer, stretched his neck to look into the bag again, and smacked his lips, "It really is—I saw it once at Bixia Peak, it is exactly this thing. Little brother, where did you get this?"

The young man did not answer the fat man's questioning, only tying the bag opening tight again, his gaze sweeping across the faces of the people below the platform, finally landing on Lin Tian—for no other reason than that Lin Tian was the only person in the entire venue who had actively asked for Treasure Fish feed just a moment ago.

Lin Tian met his gaze, and without waiting for him to ask, spoke up: "What do you want to exchange for it?"

The young man looked at Lin Tian and said, word for word: "Treasure Herb, or Treasure Fish."

As the words fell, the atmosphere of the entire stone chamber felt as if someone had splashed it with a basin of cold water.

Several gazes shot toward the young man on the platform at the same time, full of unconcealed disbelief.

The fat man in the grey robe was the first to cry out: "Damn, what a greedy demand!"

Another middle-aged scholar waving a folding fan also shook his head: "Not to mention whether one can produce a Treasure Herb, even if one had it, who would trade a Treasure Herb that is decades or even centuries old for a bag of fish feed? As for Treasure Fish, although everyone here can occasionally eat it, there are only one or two a month, not even enough for oneself, how could one possibly take it out to trade? And even if one were to trade, how many bags of this stuff is one Treasure Fish worth? Little brother, your asking price is too bold."

Lin Tian remained silent and did not speak.

He did indeed have one Treasure Herb—the ninety-year-old Water Lotus obtained from the bottom of the water pool—but it had already been refined by him when he had his Breakthrough to the Late Stage of the Fourth Grade, and now he couldn't even produce a single root fiber of a Treasure Herb.

He also had two Treasure Fish, but they were the only male and female breeding fish in his private fish pond; whether he could breed the first batch of fry depended entirely on them, so it was absolutely impossible to take them out for exchange.

The young man asked the people below the platform twice more, his gaze falling on Lin Tian several times, but Lin Tian could only shake his head: "I do not have these things."

The light in the young man's eyes dimmed a little, and he sighed, tucked the cloth bag back into his bosom, cupped his hands toward the shopkeeper, and turned to walk toward the iron door.

Shopkeeper Zhang glanced at his back, only shook his head, and did not try to keep him.

Lin Tian watched the back of the young man reaching out to push open the iron door, several thoughts flashing rapidly through his mind.

Since this young man could produce a whole bag of fish bait, he most likely knew how to concoct it himself, or knew someone who could.

Even if he couldn't trade for this bag of fish bait tonight, as long as he could establish a connection with this person, he wouldn't have to worry about a stable source of feed in the future.

He waited in the stone chamber for a moment, and when the next Martial Artist walked onto the stone platform to start introducing their items, he stood up calmly and quietly retreated out through the side door.

The guards in the corridor were still standing straight and didn't spare a glance at his early departure.

He walked quickly up the stone steps, passed through the small gate of the teahouse's backyard, and returned to that secluded alley.

The alley was very dark, with only a paper lantern at the alley entrance shining with a dim yellow light, and the moonlight was cut into a narrow silver ribbon by the eaves on both sides, shining on the bluestone road surface.

The young man was walking alone toward the alley entrance, his pace not fast, and the moonlight stretched his shadow thin and long.

"Wait a moment." Lin Tian called out to him in the alley.

The young man's footsteps paused, and he turned around, a layer of vigilance immediately rising in his eyes beneath the mask.

One hand was already pressed against his waist, his voice growing a bit colder: "What do you want to do?"

"Don't misunderstand, I just want to talk to you." Lin Tian stood a few steps away, spreading his hands to signal that he had no malicious intent, "Can you sell this bag of fish bait to me first? I can buy it with silver, and as for the things you mentioned, I will give them to you in the future."

The fingers the young man had pressed against his waist did not loosen, and he shook his head directly: "No, I need Treasure Fish right now. Anything else is out of the question."

Lin Tian was silent for a moment, and then spoke slowly under the moonlight: "I truly do not have Treasure Fish right now. I need the fish bait to raise the first batch of fish; without the bait, I cannot raise the fish large, and without raising the fish large, I cannot produce Treasure Fish to trade with you—this is a cycle."

He looked into the young man's eyes and said, word for word, "If you are willing to give me this bag of fish bait first, when the first batch of Treasure Fish leaves the pond, I will return double to you."

Upon hearing this, the hand the young man had pressed against his waist moved slightly.

He was silent for a long while, and then asked: "How many can you give me?"

Lin Tian's heart stirred slightly; there was a chance. "How many do you want?"

The young man thought for a moment, held up two fingers, and then flipped the back of his hand, "Ten."

Lin Tian frowned; ten Treasure Fish was indeed not a small number, but considering that after having a stable supply of feed, the production of his private fish pond after half a year would definitely be more than ten, he nodded after a moment: "No problem. However, I want a long-term cooperation. You keep providing me with fish bait, and I will trade with Treasure Fish every time."

The young man, however, shook his head: "I am afraid that won't work."

"Why?" Lin Tian was stunned, "I can trade with Treasure Fish every time, and I won't shortchange you on the price."

The young man fell silent, the moonlight shining on his half-face mask, and a kind of extremely complex fatigue appeared on the half of his face that was revealed.

After a long while, he spoke, his voice much lower than before: "Sorry, I don't have that much time. I have other things on my side that are waiting to use Treasure Fish."

Lin Tian asked, "Then could you give me the method for making the fish bait?"