"One is too few; it has to be two, otherwise I am not trading with you."
Xu Feng put on a greedy expression as he spoke.
The vendor was secretly thrilled inside. As it turned out, these so-called "spiritual medicines" were nothing more than wild flowers and weeds that grew near actual spiritual herbs. Over time, they had been subtly affected, and combined with some spiritual medicine juice he smeared on them, it was very difficult for anyone who wasn't a genuine alchemist to tell the difference. Seeing that Xu Feng looked like someone who had seen very little of the world, he had planned to fool him with these fakes. He never expected the other party to play along so willingly, and by now, he was overjoyed.
Still, he forced a distressed look and said, "Two is too many. I'll lose money that way."
"Then I don't care. Either you let me take two spiritual medicines, or you return my talisman and I'll go look somewhere else." Xu Feng acted as though he had him cornered and refused to budge.
"Alright, fine, fine. I'll take it as my bad luck. I'll measure out ten catties of spiritual rice for you right now, and you can pick out two spiritual medicines to take with you. But remember to come support my business often in the future!"
With that, the vendor took out a small bag, grabbed a small bowl, and began measuring the rice for him right in front of him from the large sack of spiritual rice—ten bowls in total.
"I certainly will. Since Fellow Daoist is so generous, I will definitely patronize your stall often in the future."
After taking the rice bag, Xu Feng casually tucked it into his storage bag.
Next came choosing the two spiritual medicines. Just as his hand was about to touch a genuine spiritual medicine, he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye and noticed the vendor watching his hand.
Thus, his hand naturally drifted away from the real spiritual medicine and casually picked up another one instead.
Just as he was about to put it into his storage bag, the vendor suddenly spoke up: "Fellow Daoist, would you let me take a look at the spiritual medicine you chose? Many of the spiritual medicines on my stall are rarely seen things from the mountain ranges. Let me introduce their uses to you."
Lifting his head to glance at the vendor, Xu Feng thought to himself that this fellow truly lived up to being a veteran of the marketplace—he was far too craftily cunning. Trying to pick up a bargain under their noses was indeed no easy task.
Of course, he could have chosen to refuse the inspection, but that would have stirred up unnecessary trouble. Anyone setting up a stall here was bound to have some connections. Who knew, someone might even be sent to tail him after he left.
After a moment's thought, he handed over the spiritual medicine. To ensure they stayed alive, these so-called spiritual medicines all had dirt clinging to their roots—a hefty clump of it.
As he handed it over, he deliberately pretended to be clumsy, spilling a good deal of the root dirt onto the stall, nearly dropping some right into the bag of spiritual rice.
"Fellow Daoist, be careful! Don't dirty my spiritual rice, or who will want to buy it?"
Cautiously taking the spiritual medicine, the vendor first inspected it thoroughly from all angles. Only when he was certain that this spiritual medicine had nothing special about it did he casually spout nonsense: "Fellow Daoist is quite lucky. This is a stalk of 'Essence-Generating Grass', which can be used to refine Rank 1 Low-Grade Bigu Pills or Qi-Nourishing Pills. Its value is definitely no less than three low-grade spirit stones."
With that, he took a step and handed the spiritual medicine back from the left side of the stall, terrified that any more dirt from the roots might fall onto his merchandise.
Seeing this, Xu Feng took the spiritual medicine, muttered a word of thanks for the lesson, and then began scanning the area for his next target.
He could sense that although the vendor's suspicions had eased considerably after checking the first fake spiritual medicine, the man's eyes still occasionally drifted over while he was making his second selection.
"Screw it, I'll risk it. Wealth is sought through peril. Master once said that a Rank 1 Mid-Grade spiritual medicine is generally worth around thirty spirit stones. This is no small sum for me right now; I must find a way to get my hands on it."
With that thought, his hand closed directly over the lump of dirt concealing the true spiritual herb. At the same time, his heart leapt into his throat, terrified that the vendor might see through the secret hidden inside.
"This..."
Hearing those two syllables from the vendor's mouth, Xu Feng's palms broke out in a light sweat. But for some reason, there was no continuation. When he raised his head to look, he realized that another customer had stopped in front of the stall, and the vendor was already busy soliciting business, leaving him with no energy to pay attention to Xu Feng.
Keeping his composure, Xu Feng slipped the spiritual medicine into his storage bag, greeted the busy vendor, and continued strolling through the market as if nothing had happened.
After wandering around like this for half the day, he had practically covered the entire market. Just as he was about to leave, a stall selling dharma tools caught his eye.
It wasn't that any particular dharma tool had caught his eye, but rather that a person-sized giant glazed mirror was displayed in front of the stall, reflecting his face with absolute clarity.
He wore a simple, unadorned grey Daoist robe with patches sewn onto it, making him look somewhat unkempt. Yet all these flaws were utterly eclipsed by an peerless face of epoch-making beauty.
What kind of face was that!
It looked like exquisite features carved by a master sculptor, with an extraordinarily elegant visage. A pair of eyes resembled black gems, and his skin was white with a rosy flush—delicate yet handsome, dashing yet full of vitality, moving one to marvel at the miraculous craftsmanship of the Creator.
Just as he stopped in his tracks to admire his own beauty, a head suddenly popped out from behind the glazed mirror, flashed him a wide grin, and gave him a terrible start.
"Fellow Daoist, I've watched you linger in front of my stall for nearly half an hour. Have you taken a fancy to any dharma tool? Do you need me to introduce them to you?"
"Sure, go ahead and tell me about a few of them," Xu Feng asked casually, though his gaze never shifted away from the mirror.
Seeing him like this, the vendor addressed him directly: "Then let me introduce this glazed mirror to you, Fellow Daoist. This item is forged from Rank 1 Mid-Grade spiritual material, flawless glazed glass, and its entire body is smooth. When deployed in battle, it can expand abruptly to block enemy attacks, with an effect comparable to a defensive shield."
Hearing this, Xu Feng finally snapped out of it. He reluctantly tore his gaze away from the mirror and asked the vendor, "How much does this cost?"
"Fifty spirit stones."
"Too expensive, can't afford it."
He gave a blunt reply and walked away immediately, leaving the vendor standing there in complete disarray.
It took a good while for the vendor to recover, and he shouted angrily at Xu Feng's retreating back: "Then what were you standing in front of my stall for over half an hour? I thought you were a wealthy cultivator, but it turns out you're just a pauper."
Xu Feng paid no attention to the curses behind him. Such occurrences were far too common here; verbal disputes between buyers and sellers that escalated into brawls were hardly rare, and his little incident was nothing at all.