After the two of them finished eating and drinking their fill, Li Yang looked at Lu Feng with a slight frown. "Brother Lu, how is it that I can no longer see through your cultivation realm?"
The last time they met, Lu Feng's cultivation had been at Qi Condensation Layer 2, yet merely a week had passed, and now Li Yang couldn't read his cultivation level at all.
Lu Feng smiled faintly, casually making up an excuse. "Hehe, I've been practicing a secret technique that conceals one's cultivation realm, so you can't see through it."
"I see. For a moment I thought Brother Lu's cultivation had surpassed mine."
After chatting for a little while longer, Li Yang took his leave and departed.
Looking at the remaining twenty-four Silver-thread Flying Fish, Lu Feng hatched an idea.
He planned to take these spirit fish to the marketplace to sell them. Even at a conservative price of two low-grade spirit stones per fish, he could still make forty-eight spirit stones.
With that, Lu Feng packed all the Silver-thread Flying Fish into a cloth bag and set off for the marketplace.
Ten-odd minutes later, Lu Feng arrived at the marketplace.
Gazing at the bustling crowds coming and going, he felt a sense of returning to human society.
The southern marketplace of the Tianling Sect was quite large, divided into four main areas: east, west, south, and north, each focusing on different types of business.
Specifically, the east district was primarily the trading zone for demonic beasts and spirit beasts, the north district was for pills and spiritual herbs, the west district handled magical treasures and rare heavenly treasures, while the south district sold a bit of everything and was rather eclectic—establishments like the Chen Clan Rice Shop were located there.
Since Lu Feng's Silver-thread Flying Fish belonged to the category of spirit beasts, he needed to go to the east district to sell them.
Upon arriving at the east district, he discovered that the shops here sold everything from demonic beast hides and meat to demonic beast cubs and rare spirit beasts.
There was an immense variety of goods on offer.
Lu Feng entered a shop that bought and sold demonic beasts, walked up to the manager inside, and asked, "Greetings, Fellow Daoist. Do you happen to have any Silver-thread Flying Fish for sale here?"
The manager behind the counter was a middle-aged man with a fat head and big ears, sporting a somewhat fierce-looking countenance.
The manager sized Lu Feng up before replying, "We are currently out of stock, but if Fellow Daoist wants any, you can place a pre-order with us."
"May I ask what the price for these Silver-thread Flying Fish is?"
Although Lu Feng had come to sell the fish, he wasn't very familiar with the market price for them, so he wanted to inquire first to avoid getting cheated.
"If Fellow Daoist truly wants them, we charge three and a half low-grade spirit stones per Silver-thread Flying Fish."
Lu Feng raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised by the manager's quote.
Earlier, Li Yang had mentioned that dead Silver-thread Flying Fish could fetch two low-grade spirit stones, yet the price here had jumped to three and a half—a full difference of one and a half spirit stones.
Seeing Lu Feng frown, the manager slowly explained, "Fellow Daoist, my price is more than fair. You must realize that although Silver-thread Flying Fish are merely Tier 1 spirit fish, they are extremely rare and very difficult to catch. Demand for this kind of spirit fish in the marketplace far exceeds supply."
"Very well. Still, your price is a bit too steep; I'll look around some more."
Putting on a look of regret, Lu Feng left the shop.
Afterward, he wandered through several other shops and found that the price of Silver-thread Flying Fish was consistently high.
Some shops were even selling them for four and a half low-grade spirit stones.
Having familiarized himself with the prices, Lu Feng entered a new shop and observed for a while. Seeing him looking around, the store manager stepped forward and asked, "Is there some demonic beast meat Fellow Daoist is looking to buy?"
"Manager, do you buy Silver-thread Flying Fish?" Lu Feng cut straight to the point.
A trace of curiosity flashed in the manager's eyes as he replied, "We do, of course we do."
Lu Feng pulled a Silver-thread Flying Fish from his cloth bag and asked, "How many spirit stones will you give me for this kind of Silver-thread Flying Fish?"
Taking a closer look, the manager saw that the spirit fish in Lu Feng's hand was indeed a Silver-thread Flying Fish, except that it was already dead.
"Aah, what a pity! If Fellow Daoist's Silver-thread Flying Fish were alive, I could buy them at three low-grade spirit stones each. But since yours are already dead—and have even been gutted and cleaned—the price drops to just two low-grade spirit stones."
Lu Feng cast a sideways glance at the manager, not expecting this fellow to be quite so ruthless.
"Two and a half low-grade spirit stones per Silver-thread Flying Fish. Any lower than that, and I'll take them to another shop."
With that, Lu Feng made a motion to leave.
The manager's facial muscles twitched, and he quickly called out, "Fellow Daoist, wait a moment! Your asking price isn't entirely out of the question, but how many Silver-thread Flying Fish do you actually have?"
Lu Feng opened his cloth bag and showed it to the manager. "They're all right here. Twenty-four in total."
Joy appeared in the manager's eyes as he smiled and said, "Good! Then we'll go with Fellow Daoist's terms—two and a half low-grade spirit stones each. I'll take all of them."
Lu Feng nodded, and the two of them proceeded to exchange the goods and payment on the spot.
The twenty-four Silver-thread Flying Fish sold for a total of sixty low-grade spirit stones.
Once the transaction was concluded, the manager cupped his fists toward Lu Feng and asked, "May I ask your esteemed surname, Fellow Daoist? If you happen to procure more Silver-thread Flying Fish in the future, please give our shop priority."
"My humble surname is Lu. Might I ask the manager's surname?"
"Ah, so it is Fellow Daoist Lu. My humble surname is Fang."
Lu Feng nodded. "By the way, Manager Fang, how many spirit stones do you pay for live Silver-thread Flying Fish?"
Manager Fang pondered for a moment, then extended three fingers. "If they're alive, I'll buy them at three low-grade spirit stones each. How does that sound to Fellow Daoist Lu?"
Without answering, Lu Feng simply nodded and walked out of the shop.
Now he had sixty-five low-grade spirit stones in his possession. It seemed that doing anything was more lucrative than farming spirit rice!
Leaving the east district, Lu Feng strolled over to the north district to check out the prices of alchemy materials and alchemy furnaces in the pill district.
He randomly picked a pill shop and walked inside. Finished pills of all descriptions were displayed on the counter.
Beneath them were labels indicating the prices of the pills.
For instance, Tier 1 Qi Replenishing Pills were marked at a price of two low-grade spirit stones.
After browsing for a while, Lu Feng discovered that pill prices were truly exorbitant; with his current financial resources, he simply couldn't afford them.
At that moment, a female clerk walked over and asked with a smile, "Fellow Daoist, what kind of pills are you looking to buy? This humble servant can introduce them to you."
"Ahem, do you happen to sell alchemy furnaces here?"
The female clerk smiled faintly. "Of course we do. What grade of alchemy furnace does Fellow Daoist require? And what are your specific needs for it?"
How was Lu Feng supposed to know any of that? He had never practiced alchemy before, let alone understood the nuances of alchemy furnaces.
Seeing him remain silent, the clerk offered, "Judging by Fellow Daoist's youth, you must be looking to buy a Tier 1 alchemy furnace, am I right?"
"Yes. May I ask what the price of such a Tier 1 furnace is?"
"We carry Tier 1 alchemy furnaces in two tiers: low-grade and middle-grade. The low-grade alchemy furnace sells for two hundred low-grade spirit stones, while the middle-grade sells for one thousand low-grade spirit stones. Which one does Fellow Daoist need?"
Hearing this, Lu Feng was startled inwardly. The price was simply too outrageous.
Even a low-grade Tier 1 alchemy furnace cost two hundred spirit stones; how could he ever afford that?
"Ahem, the price is too high. I think I'll look around some more."
Leaving the pill shop, Lu Feng wandered over to the west district for a while and found that the prices of magical treasures were equally absurd.
A single low-grade Tier 1 spirit sword actually cost one hundred low-grade spirit stones! Back when he was in the Tianling Sect, the weapon he carried had been a high-grade Tier 2 magical sword.
There was no suffering without comparison. The mere thought of his storage bag being looted by those two Law Enforcement Hall disciples made his teeth itch with hatred.
After touring the marketplace, Lu Feng had gained a solid understanding of the market prices.
Returning to his thatched cottage, Lu Feng decided to go back to that lake tomorrow and blow up some more fish. Once he earned enough spirit stones, he would set about learning alchemy and weapon crafting.