20: Evolutionary Talent

The secret passage was pitch black, with only the fluorite embedded in the walls emitting a faint green glow, barely illuminating the ground beneath his feet.

Seeing this, Lin Yi's expression remained unchanged, and he walked forward with steady steps, not hesitating in the slightest due to the darkness. After walking in the secret passage for about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, he finally reached the end.

However, at the end, there was no door, but rather a smooth, cold black stone wall.

Seeing this, Lin Yi stopped and stood still. After about three breaths, a very faint sound of a mechanism turning came from inside the black stone wall.

"Click, click, click!"

As the sound rang out, the rock wall to Lin Yi's left silently slid open, revealing a gap just wide enough for one person to slip through sideways.

Lin Yi stepped inside and found a small room. There were no tables or chairs, only some writing materials and a prayer mat placed in the center.

On the prayer mat, a figure shrouded in a Black-Robed Person was sitting there.

"What is the customer selling?"

The Black-Robed Person spoke indifferently, their voice raspy.

"A Third-Grade Precious Medicine, a thousand spirit blood origin grass seedling."

Lin Yi replied, then directly took out the jade box containing the thousand spirit blood origin grass from his bosom and handed it to the Black-Robed Person.

"A thousand spirit blood origin grass seedling?"

Upon hearing this, the Black-Robed Person was startled, quickly taking the jade box and opening it.

When they saw the plant inside, which looked similar to blood origin grass but had mysterious, noble golden patterns covering its roots and leaves, they smiled immediately.

"Not bad! It really is a thousand spirit blood origin grass seedling. I never expected such a treasure to appear in Guangling Prefecture city. This is truly a pleasant surprise."

"Five thousand two hundred taels of silver!"

"Five thousand two hundred taels?"

Hearing this number, Lin Yi felt a pang of heartache.

He had taken the time to check the Library Pavilion of the martial academy this evening; a seedling of the thousand spirit blood origin grass should normally be priced around seventeen thousand taels of silver.

Yet now, this Black-Robed Person offered only five thousand two hundred taels, slashing the price by seventy percent right off the bat. This price gouging was far too ruthless!

However, not asking about origins and not bargaining was the rule of the "Clean Room" at the Mangshan Black Market. They were honest with young and old alike, and no one dared to cheat.

Therefore, even though it pained him, Lin Yi had no choice but to swallow his pride and accept it.

"Agreed."

Lin Yi nodded slightly, but then added:

"However, I only need four thousand two hundred taels in Silver Notes. Please exchange the remaining one thousand taels for five tiger tendon leopard blood pills. This shouldn't be a problem, right?"

The tiger tendon leopard blood pill is a type of Medicinal Pill in the Jiuzhou World specifically used to improve Qi and blood and enhance cultivation. Its function is similar to the qi and blood pill, but its effect and medicinal potency are more than ten or twenty times stronger than an ordinary qi and blood pill. Among the common Medicinal Pills used by a Seventh Grade Martial Artist, it is considered one of the best.

If he had the assistance of one thousand taels worth of tiger tendon leopard blood pills, Lin Yi reckoned that even if he couldn't reach the Seventh-Rank Late Stage, he could still significantly increase his strength and advance a considerable distance within the Seventh Grade Mid-stage.

Of course, because this Medicinal Pill was so effective, its price was naturally expensive, with one pill costing two hundred taels of silver.

In the Mangshan Black Market, and outside, it was the same price!

After all, this type of Medicinal Pill was common and not some rare commodity; others could buy it outside just the same. The only reason they bought it at the Mangshan Black Market was for convenience, so the Mangshan Black Market would not arbitrarily inflate the price.

"No problem, please wait a moment, customer."

The Black-Robed Person nodded, then took out writing materials to write a note, before gently tapping the wall behind the small room three times.

"Click, click!"

As the sound rang out, a hole about four inches square suddenly appeared on the wall the next moment.

Seeing this, the Black-Robed Person passed the note and the jade box containing the thousand spirit blood origin grass seedling inside simultaneously.

Just over ten breaths later, a stack of Silver Notes and a black pill bottle appeared in their hand.

"These are the Silver Notes for four thousand two hundred taels and the five tiger tendon leopard blood pills. Please check them, customer!"

"Good!"

Lin Yi nodded and accepted them. After carefully checking to ensure the Silver Notes and Medicinal Pills were in order, he cupped his fists at the Black-Robed Person and left.

Just over a dozen breaths after Lin Yi left the small room, a voice suddenly rang out within it again:

"Great Master Gu, since this person came to our Mangshan Black Market 'Clean Room' to trade, there is a high probability that they are an ordinary Martial Artist below the Sixth Grade. Yet they were able to produce a treasure like a thousand spirit blood origin grass seedling. Do you think we should send someone to inquire about their background?"

"No need!"

Upon hearing this, the Black-Robed Person shook their head indifferently and said:

"When this person handed me the jade box just now, they intentionally revealed their Qi and blood in secret. Although I observed the intensity of that Qi and blood to be only at the Seventh Grade Mid-stage, it was full of endless vitality. I concluded that they are at most fourteen or fifteen years old."

"Furthermore, the method they used when handing me the jade box appeared ordinary, but it actually contained an extremely profound level of Martial Arts Techniques. The level of that technique was so high that it is not much different from yours."

"Such a person, even within the top-tier Families in Guangling Prefecture city, would be a top-level Genius or Prodigy. They must have obtained this thousand spirit blood origin grass seedling through some Opportunity. It is just that for some reason they could not sell it easily, which is why they had to come to our Mangshan Black Market to trade."

"Since they are unwilling to reveal their identity, it is best that we in the Black Market do not try to expose them. Otherwise, if we truly offend them, it would be more trouble than it's worth."

"Yes! Great Master Gu is wise!"

The voice replied respectfully, then quickly faded away, as if it had never appeared at all.

On the other side, after obtaining the four thousand two hundred taels of Silver Notes and the five tiger tendon leopard blood pills, Lin Yi first confirmed that no one was following him, then carefully returned to the Guangling Martial Academy.

A moment later, in a martial arts cultivation room at the Guangling Martial Academy.

Lin Yi was seen sitting cross-legged on the ground, eyes closed in contemplation, but in his mind, he commanded the attribute panel:

"attribute panel, recharge with four thousand taels of Silver Notes!"

"Whoosh!"

As soon as Lin Yi's command fell, the four thousand taels of Silver Notes in his bosom vanished into thin air instantly, without even leaving a trace of ash.

The attribute panel did not absorb the silver itself, but rather a certain quality within the silver. Therefore, whether it was solid silver ingots or paper Silver Notes, the attribute panel could absorb them, and the effect was the same.

And at the very moment the Silver Notes disappeared, the recharge number on Lin Yi's attribute panel began to jump rapidly.

1%

10%

20%

...

50%

...

80%

...

On the attribute panel, the numbers jumped rapidly, rushing to 100% in the blink of an eye.

Subsequently, a line of text instantly appeared before Lin Yi's eyes:

"Congratulations, Dao Master, the recharge progress has reached 100%. You may use an Immortal Skill to perform Talent Evolution. Do you wish to evolve?"

"Evolve!"

Lin Yi did not hesitate in the slightest.

Immediately...

"Whoosh!"

The originally transparent attribute panel changed, turning into a vast starry sky.

In the starry sky, stars of six colors—white, red, yellow, cyan, purple, and gold—were twinkling.

Among them, the number of white stars was still the largest, occupying a large part of the starry sky, followed by red stars, and then decreasing in order according to rarity.

However, compared to last time, the number of white stars was somewhat fewer.

Conversely, the number of red stars, yellow stars... all the way to gold stars, had increased somewhat.

"It seems that as I consume more silver, the probability of the attribute panel evolving a powerful talent increases!"

"This is a good thing for me! I just wonder if I can evolve a Crimson Grade talent this time?"

Lin Yi's eyes lit up.

Crimson Grade—this is already a one-in-a-hundred-thousand talent, and even in the Guangling Martial Academy, it would belong to a well-deserved Genius.

He only spent four thousand taels of silver; if he could evolve such a talent, it would definitely not be a loss.

With anticipation in his heart, at this moment, in the vast starry sky, a star suddenly fell.

The color was exactly—bright yellow!