Chapter 1358: Small-Scale Exchange (Part Three)

The very first transaction had nearly doubled in price. The items that Nascent Soul cultivators could produce were truly extraordinary. However, Li Yan could also see that Shentu Tianduan was by no means a crude person. The reason he had brought out an ice-attribute treasure was because he saw that there were water and ice-attribute experts present, making it very easy to sell.

Li Yan could see this, and of course, the other cultivators were also aware of Shentu Tianduan’s intentions. But they all tacitly understood it. As long as there were treasures they needed, it was fine, and the more, the better.

After that, one by one, the cultivators began to bring out their own treasures. For the vast majority of the time, Li Yan just watched quietly, only occasionally adding a price once. Each of those treasures was a rare sight for Nascent Soul cultivators. There were also some things that even the person who brought them out didn’t know what they were, which would arouse everyone’s investigation and contemplation.

After seeing them, Li Yan wanted all of them, but his family’s foundation was just that. And those treasures had not yet reached the level he greatly desired, so he had been watching all along.

Twice, Shangguan Tianque had also made a bid, but Liu Huaigu would always, seemingly inadvertently, press the price once. This made Shangguan Tianque finally close his mouth, but the expression on his face did not change. But some people had already guessed that Shangguan Tianque must be very displeased in his heart. It was just that they were all old foxes and would not easily reveal their thoughts.

After his conversation with Shangguan Tianque earlier, Li Yan could roughly guess that the Spirit Stones on Shangguan Tianque were being saved for the purchase of the “Void Silver Grass” later. If there were no treasures here that could help him break through, he probably wouldn’t buy anything. Coming here today was just to try his luck and for an opportunity. The two times Shangguan Tianque had bid earlier were probably to test Liu Huaigu, and Liu Huaigu might not necessarily have believed Shangguan Tianque’s appearance.

One was testing whether the other would secretly trip him up, and the other was probing the other’s wealth, wanting to ruin his good fortune in one fell swoop. They were both crafty old foxes. And during this period, some items were traded away, and some items were taken back after being brought out.

After that, Shangguan Tianque also took out a leaf, which was the main material for refining a sixth-rank wood-attribute medicinal pill. In the end, it was also sold for a price of three hundred and seventy thousand mid-grade Spirit Stones. This also brought a rather satisfied look to his eyes.

More than an hour later, only Liu Huaigu, Li Yan, and Donglin Tingyue were left who had not taken out their treasures. When the gazes of the others here swept over the three of them, Donglin Tingyue stood up first. She raised her jade-like hand, and a transparent jade bottle appeared in front of her. The jade bottle was only as thick as a thumb, and it was more than half full of silver sand. She gently formed a hand seal, and the stopper of the jade bottle opened. A few grains of silver sand flew out, and then she immediately closed the stopper.

The few grains of silver sand that appeared in the air were not conspicuous. If not for the excellent eyesight of a cultivator, they would be completely invisible from a slightly farther distance. But the moment they appeared, faint wisps of cool water vapor actually appeared in the entire room, as if a small patch of water mist had risen.

“I obtained this sand by chance. Its specific function is unknown. But I have tried to refine it with various methods, and the results have all been ineffective. Even calcining it with Nascent Fire is useless, as if it is indestructible. But it can conjure a patch of water vapor and clouds. From this point of view, it should at least not be a purely earth-attribute material, and it also contains water attributes, but its function is unknown. I will not put a price on this item for sale. It can only be traded for one condition.”

Donglin Tingyue looked at the jade bottle in front of her, and a wave of reluctance also rose in her heart. She had also obtained this silver sand by chance. Although she had not yet researched its effects, just from its hardness, if it could be refined into a defensive magical treasure, then cultivators below the Spirit Transformation realm would find it extremely difficult to break through. Even though she had rented different types of earth fire at a high price to try, she had ultimately been unable to refine this silver sand. This made her even more certain of the extraordinariness of this item.

If not for the fact that this matter could no longer be delayed, she would definitely be unwilling to take it out for trade.

As everyone listened to Donglin Tingyue’s account, their Divine Senses continuously swept over the few grains of silver sand. Soon, they discovered some differences. The moment Li Yan’s Divine Sense touched it, he felt as if a sharp needle of extreme cold was rushing towards his Sea of Consciousness along his Divine Sense. Li Yan was shocked and quickly cut off his Divine Sense.

‘This is something that can attack the Sea of Consciousness!’

The others also reacted at this time, their expressions changing several times in succession. Such a treasure was quite rare. But then, they also heard Donglin Tingyue’s later description, and their speculation about this silver sand grew even more.

“Oh, but I wonder what kind of condition Fairy Tingyue has? Let’s hear it.”

Shentu Tianduan was the first to ask.

“My younger brother was injured and poisoned by an unknown sea demon while passing through a sea area last year. After returning to the clan, although he took many sacred healing pills and had some fellow daoists look at him, he could not be cured. Therefore, I came to the market this time to see if there are any suitable medicinal pills. Today, I also want to take this opportunity to ask you fellow daoists for your advice. If you can help my younger brother get rid of the poison successfully, then this bottle of silver sand will be the reward. If that’s not possible, even if you can provide relevant clues for detoxification and healing, once it is confirmed to be effective, I will also give half of the silver sand here to that fellow daoist as a reward!”

As Donglin Tingyue spoke, her beautiful eyes swept over the crowd. Her face, half-exposed outside the mask, also had a solemn look.

“And your younger brother? Did he also come to the market?” someone asked.

“No, he did not. But I have a piece of his flesh that was contaminated by the poisonous gas. It’s safe to probe with Divine Sense, and you can even pick out a little to try to detoxify it!”

As Donglin Tingyue spoke, she first raised her hand and put away the few grains of silver sand. With another wave of her jade hand, another black jade box appeared in the air. When she came to the market this time, she went out every day, apart from communicating with Shangguan Tianque and the others. The rest of the time, she had visited many medicinal pill shops and had taken out this piece of flesh for them to examine one by one to see if they could prescribe the right medicine. Unfortunately, she had returned empty-handed each time.

After studying it, many merchants felt that to detoxify it, one would need at least an eighth-rank or above sacred healing pill to have a chance of saving him. Otherwise, one could find a cultivator at the Spirit Transformation realm or above and see if they could use a special divine ability to drive out the poison and heal him. But eighth-rank and above healing pills were basically things that appeared in transactions between Void Refining realm and above cultivators. Even if they appeared in most markets, they would be bought immediately as soon as they appeared.

As for Spirit Transformation cultivators, the family had actually found one. They had spent a lot of money, but in the end, it was still unable to be removed. As for cultivators above the Spirit Transformation realm, their family couldn’t even find one even if they asked someone. These days, Donglin Tingyue was also very tired. This illness could no longer be delayed. Otherwise, in another year, he would probably perish.

And at this time, many people here had already guessed who the poisoned person was. As far as they knew, Donglin Tingyue had no biological younger brother, but she did have many cousins. And among the Nascent Soul cultivators in her clan, only one was Donglin Tingyue’s cousin, and that person was at the early-stage Nascent Soul realm. If it was indeed her Nascent Soul realm cousin who was injured, and not some other cousin, then the meaning would be different. This would mean that the Donglin family was currently short of one person in terms of combat power among their Nascent Soul cultivators. If someone with other intentions knew this, then their thoughts could be many.

As for this, Donglin Tingyue had no choice. She had to find someone to treat the illness, and it was impossible for this situation not to be known to outsiders. All she could do was to temporarily prevent the other party from knowing specifically who it was.

Donglin Tingyue waved her jade hand again, and the black jade box opened. The moment it opened, everyone held their breath. Knowing that it was flesh corroded by a deadly poison, no one would be willing to smell the stench. Of course, the biggest reason was still to be careful.

“This seems to be an injury from some kind of fire poison. Huh? No, the flesh is so hard, and the color doesn’t look like it’s been burned…” After the cold young man from the “Netherworld Ghost Snake” clan probed with his Divine Sense, he first muttered to himself, but then he immediately felt that something was wrong. His original form was a poisonous demonic beast, so he of course had a great understanding of poison. But he still felt that the flesh in front of him was a bit strange.

“It should have been corroded by a yin poison, but there is no yin-cold qi inside. The color is bright red, without a trace of black qi…” Another cultivator, with a sweep of his Divine Sense, was already quickly comparing it with the various deadly poisons he knew in his mind, but then he also felt that his judgment might be wrong.

“The meridians in the flesh are like long, thin stones. Although the flesh is hard, its color is very bright, but it doesn’t look petrified… What kind of poison, after invading the body, would only affect the meridians but not have the same effect on the flesh…”

After watching for a while, many people began to ask Donglin Tingyue about the appearance of the sea demon. Donglin Tingyue’s answer, however, disappointed many. She could only say that it was a demonic beast of the fish clan. The other party had launched a sneak attack. After one blow, it had immediately sunk to the bottom of the sea, and she had not seen its appearance clearly…

Shangguan Tianque was also observing. He was also very interested in that bottle of silver sand. High-level cultivators were like this. The more they couldn’t understand something, the more attractive it was to them. For a time, the entire main hall fell silent. Occasionally, one person would act, truly taking a trace of the flesh to himself and then carefully examining it with various methods.

Some people were truly interested in the silver sand after seeing those few grains before, but the other party was unwilling to exchange it, so they could only think about how to solve this poison. And some others, due to the attributes of their cultivation methods, did not necessarily have to obtain the silver sand, but were interested in the deadly poison that Donglin Tingyue had brought out. Even if they couldn’t solve it in the end, it would allow them to have a certain understanding of the unknown. If they encountered it in the future, they wouldn’t be at a loss. If they could solve this poison, it would of course be even better.

As these people had their own thoughts, time passed quickly. As time went on, disappointment slowly appeared in Donglin Tingyue’s eyes. The people in the main hall were either frowning in thought or narrowing their eyes. No one spoke again. This situation already indicated one thing: no one should have seen the origin of this poison. Otherwise, even if they couldn’t remove the element, after such a long time, someone should have spoken up or sent a private voice transmission to her, expressing their views and suggestions, instead of still observing continuously, or simply closing their eyes and pondering for a long time.

Li Yan stared at the fingernail-sized piece of flesh in front of him. He had also been observing all along. He had already seen some things.

‘This is a poison that corrodes magical power. It has the ability to solidify and assimilate magical power, but the more magical power there is in a place, the greater the damage it causes in the end. That’s why the meridians have petrified. It’s not that the flesh is not damaged, but because the spiritual power stored in it is not as abundant, so it only caused ‘hardness’ but has not yet affected its original color…’

Li Yan’s Divine Sense shuttled through that small piece of flesh. Although his observation method was not much different from others, his way of thinking was to analyze it in combination with the performance of his own various fragmented poisons. When Li Yan was in the Malevolent Spirit Sect, he had been in contact with various deadly poisons for a considerable period of time. But the poison in front of him, Li Yan was sure he had not seen it before. He also fell into thought for a moment.

Seeing this, Donglin Tingyue once again felt a sense of disappointment. The unknown silver sand she had taken out was to attract the attention of everyone here, so that they would all take it seriously. But it seemed that this was all it could be. She then reached out her hand and immediately pulled the jade box containing the flesh in front of her. Her action immediately awakened everyone.

“How about it? Fellow Daoists.”

Donglin Tingyue still held out hope. Her cherry lips parted slightly as she asked the crowd. Then her gaze once again slowly swept over everyone’s faces. In the end, what disappointed her was that Shentu Tianduan was the first to shake his head and then sat back down. He had also taken some flesh just now and had even poured several kinds of medicinal liquids and powders on it, but after observing, he had not removed those poisons.

And then there was the cold young man from the “Netherworld Ghost Snake” clan. He was still frowning in thought. He had also not seen this kind of poison before. He had tried just now, and the result was the same as Shentu Tianduan’s. But he also followed the path of a poison cultivator, so he was still thinking about other detoxification methods and did not immediately speak up. The others either shook their heads or remained silent. Liu Huaigu hesitated for a moment, and he was finally the first to speak.

“Although Fairy Tingyue has brought the poisoned flesh, these can only be tested by directly applying medicinal powder and liquid. But it cannot be resolved by swallowing a medicinal pill and then assisting with magical power to activate it. This has undoubtedly increased the difficulty of detoxification, and it makes it impossible to truly determine if this poison can be removed!”

Although Liu Huaigu was not a poison cultivator, he was skilled in refining various medicinal pills, and his words did have a point. But Donglin Tingyue of course had her own concerns. After a brief moment of thought, she finally spoke.

“Then Fellow Daoist Liu, after observing this poison, you should have a certain opinion. I wonder if you can share it with me?”

“I think this poison is likely a deadly poison that corrodes spiritual power. Because of the uneven distribution of spiritual power in a cultivator’s body, it causes the meridians and flesh to have different manifestations!”

Liu Huaigu thought for a moment and still expressed his opinion. Hearing this, Donglin Tingyue’s beautiful eyes, outside the silver mask, blinked, and a strange light immediately appeared.

“Since you say so, Fellow Daoist, do you have any basis for it?”