With that, Xu Feng stayed in his room for another five days.
He spent his time quite productively, churning out ten more wooden shield talisman units, which translated to an extra twenty-five spirit stones in his possession.
However, he needed to make a trip out now.
His supply of spiritual rice and monster meat at home was completely exhausted.
No sooner said than done, he tidied up, packed everything into his storage bag, and stepped out of the room.
As luck would have it, the moment he stepped outside, he saw Wang Kou from next door emerging as well.
Enemies are bound to cross paths.
Yet Xu Feng had no intention of engaging with the man and simply ignored him.
Wang Kou glared at him malevolently, looking as though he wanted to pounce and take a bite out of him. Only when Xu Feng's figure vanished down the alley did he vent his fury with a harsh parting shot:
"Surname Xu, don't be so arrogant! Just wait until I become an alchemist, and you'll see how I get people to deal with you!"
Xu Feng, of course, knew nothing of this, and even if he did, he wouldn't have given it a second thought. To him, Wang Kou's behavior was no different from that of a naive and childish brat.
His destination this time was a trading area specifically designated for cultivators living in the outer district. Not only was it chaotic and disorganized, but the variety of spiritual items was also quite limited—a far cry from the inner district he had visited before.
Another reason he chose this place was its proximity. A mere walk out of the alley and across another residential area brought him straight to his destination.
It resembled a market, complete with front and back gates and guarded by dedicated cultivators.
Xu Feng glanced over and noticed that the cultivation levels of both guards were higher than his own: one was at the Qi Refining 5th Layer, and the other at the Qi Refining 6th Layer.
After presenting his identity token for a rigorous inspection by the two guards, he followed the stream of people into the market.
Instantly, it felt as though he had stepped into a bustling vegetable market, assaulted by a cacophony of mingled noises and various pungent odors.
The stench of urine, the reek of blood, and the sour smell of sweat blended together to induce a near-dizziness, making him want to turn right back around and leave.
Yet, remembering the purpose of his trip and the distant market in the inner district, he forced down his discomfort and slowly pushed forward.
Observing his surroundings as he walked, and drawing upon the memories of his predecessor, he realized that while this place was somewhat smaller, it still offered all the necessities for daily life.
For instance, all sorts of monster meat, spiritual rice, low-grade dharma tools, and basic cultivation techniques of the Qi Refining Stage could be purchased right here.
"Fellow Daoist, top-quality spiritual rice, freshly arrived today. Come take a look!"
As he paused in front of a spiritual rice stall, the vendor immediately hailed him.
Eyeing the five plump, tightly packed small bags of different colors before him, Xu Feng asked directly:
"May I ask, Fellow Daoist, is there any difference among these spiritual rice varieties in the different bags?"
Hearing his question, the vendor hurriedly replied:
"These contain different types of spiritual rice. Some have a soft and glutinous texture, some a refreshing fragrance, while others contain a higher concentration of spiritual Qi. However, the price for the spiritual rice rich in spiritual Qi is about twenty percent higher than the rest."
"And what might be the price for the spiritual rice containing more spiritual Qi?"
"Calculated by weight, ten jin for twelve spirit stones. How many jin would you like, Fellow Daoist?"
"Does the fellow Daoist accept barter?"
Barter was a very common form of transaction within the outer district market, which was why he had dared to come out and procure supplies without a single spirit stone to his name.
He glanced at the various odds and ends displayed on the vendor's stall alongside the spiritual rice before asking.
"I can accept trade, but I need to inspect the goods first. If you're bringing out some worthless trash, don't bother—I don't deal in junk here."
Faced with the vendor's blunt words, Xu Feng remained completely unruffled and pulled out his wooden shield talisman units directly.
These talismans had already been endorsed by the manager of the Talisman Assembly Pavilion, so he had no fear that this petty vendor could find any flaws in them.
"Oh, the quality is quite good! Fellow Daoist, forgive me for prying, but did you craft these talismans yourself?"
Xu Feng glared at the vendor with a hint of displeasure, as if blaming him for failing to observe proper etiquette. Then, adopting the demeanor of a greenhorn venturing out into the world for the first time, he leaned close to the vendor's ear and whispered:
"Strictly speaking, I shouldn't be telling you this. Before I left, my Master repeatedly instructed me not to show off. But since you're asking so sincerely, elder brother, I'll let you know—these were all drawn by my Master, though I'm not doing too badly myself and can already successfully produce talismans."
He was deliberately playing the pig to eat the tiger, putting on an entirely harmless and innocent facade.
Sure enough, upon seeing this display, a sense of contempt inevitably arose in the vendor's heart, and he was already plotting how to fleece him mercilessly.
"Alright, don't you worry. What happens here stays between the two of us; I guarantee a third person will never know. Now, let's get down to business and discuss the price. How about two spirit stones apiece for these talismans of yours?"
"Hehe, that won't do! Before setting off, my Master told me that when he sells this kind of talisman at inner district shops, people readily offer a high price of two and a half spirit stones. Why are you only offering me two?"
"This..."
Seeing that the boy was well aware of the going rate for such talismans, the vendor choked for a moment. But letting his eyes roll around, he quickly cooked up an excuse and continued to coax him:
"Those shops in the inner district cater specifically to wealthy cultivators who buy resources. They might take your talismans in at two and a half spirit stones each, only to flip them and sell them for four spirit stones in the blink of an eye. But we are different here. Just look at everyone in this market—including you and me—we're all paupers. We'd love to split a single spirit stone in half to spend it. If I take in your talismans at two and a half spirit stones each, who on earth am I supposed to turn around and sell them to?"
Listening to the vendor's solemn nonsense, Xu Feng remained completely unmoved, his fingers simply playing idly with the various spiritual items on the stall. He had already made up his mind and was determined not to budge on the price.
However, as his hand brushed across a plant that resembled a wild weed, the system in his mind suddenly sounded another synthetic chime.
[Hidden Opportunity: A rare Rank 1 Mid-Grade spiritual medicine discovered]
Hm? Spiritual medicine!
This prompt caught him completely off guard, and a subtle flicker crossed his face. Fortunately, he was keeping his head down, so the vendor noticed nothing amiss.
"Hey now, Fellow Daoist, could you stop messing with my spiritual medicines? Those are extremely precious. If you damage one, you'll have to compensate me at full value."
Hearing this, Xu Feng raised an eyebrow, a plan forming in his mind as he continued to play dumb:
"Are these all spiritual medicines? That's wonderful! My Master always talked about taking me deep into the mountains to gather spiritual medicines, but he never actually got around to it. Now that I've run into them today, I must examine them properly."
With that, without even discussing the price of the talismans with the vendor, he picked up a stalk of spiritual medicine and began studying it on his own.
Seeing him so captivated, the vendor was secretly overjoyed and proposed a deal:
"Well then, since the fellow Daoist is so fond of these spiritual medicines, how about we strike a bargain? You just gave me six talismans. According to your math, they should be worth fifteen spirit stones, while by my math they're only worth twelve—which happens to be exactly ten jin of spiritual rice. How about we both take a step back: besides giving you the ten jin of spiritual rice, I'll throw in a stalk of spiritual medicine as a bonus. This spiritual medicine of mine is worth a pretty penny; it was harvested by a friend who risked his life, and he asked me to sell it on his behalf."
Although he was already ecstatic on the inside, Xu Feng still put on a aggrieved expression and held up two fingers to the vendor.