Chapter 18: The Trade
In truth, Song Yan hadn’t acted on a whim. It was just that this trip, besides getting rid of those less-than-reputable items, he also wanted to search for something else.
For example, information about sword cultivators from the ancient era, or information about spirit beasts like Xiao He.
He had been drawn by the reputation of “Complete Records of Immortal Dao Curiosities” and was trying his luck.
He hadn’t expected that within the trial-read content, there were actually a few scattered mentions related to sword cultivators.
“Wait until I get back to the cave dwelling. There’s no rush.”
Song Yan suppressed the urge to find a tea house and read the jade slip, and instead began mentally weighing how to get rid of those items.
“Find a general store and go door to door?”
“Oh, right. Granny Qin mentioned before that there’s an auction house in the night market. I could go ask if they’ll take these things…”
But he didn’t know where the auction house was. He’d have to find someone to ask.
“Fellow Daoist! Fellow Daoist in the white wolf mask!”
Someone behind him seemed to be calling out.
Song Yan turned around. It was a young cultivator in a blue robe.
He asked in confusion, “Is something the matter?”
At an alley entrance not far away, three or five cultivators—men and women—were all looking his way.
From the looks of it, this blue-robed cultivator was one of them.
“I noticed you walking alone, with no particular destination. Is this your first time at the Lingyuan Marsh night market?”
“…”
Song Yan furrowed his brow slightly but, after a moment’s thought, nodded.
Before coming to the night market, Granny Qin hadn’t told him there would be outside cultivators here. He’d assumed everyone would be sect disciples, so he hadn’t changed out of his outer sect disciple robes.
These people had likely recognized his identity as an outer sect disciple. But this way, at least he didn’t need to worry too much about his personal safety.
After all, this was, at the end of the day, Dongyuan Sect’s territory.
“If this is your first time at the night market, Fellow Daoist, you must surely be looking to purchase some… special spirit materials, or perhaps you have some items of questionable provenance you wish to offload, correct?”
“Don’t misunderstand, Fellow Daoist. In truth, every cultivator from all over Feng’an Prefecture who comes to the Lingyuan Marsh night market is here for exactly that.”
Song Yan nodded.
He hadn’t detected these people using any probing techniques like the Spirit-Sensing Art on his cultivation level.
The blue-robed cultivator was skilled at reading people. Seeing Song Yan nod in agreement, he immediately introduced himself.
“My name is Ke Huai, disciple of the Ziyang Sect. May I ask your name, Fellow Daoist?”
The Ziyang Sect. Song Yan had heard of it. It was a mid-sized sect within Feng’an Prefecture with a long history. Legend had it that one of its founding ancestors had been a Nascent Soul stage powerhouse.
Though its current strength couldn’t compare to Dongyuan Sect, the sect’s foundation was solid, and it held a respectable name throughout Feng’an Prefecture.
“My name is Tong Chuping.”
Using the dead man’s alias, Song Yan was now quite practiced.
Though in the night market, few people would take any name too seriously.
“Brother Tong, the few of us have gathered here to trade barter for barter. Might you be interested?”
“…”
Song Yan considered for a moment. Given that he was a newcomer with little experience, even though he was in Dongyuan Sect’s territory and there was no danger to his life, being swindled out of his belongings would still be troublesome.
“No, thank you.”
He turned to leave, but Ke Huai urgently tried to keep him.
“Is Fellow Daoist Tong perhaps wanting to go to the auction house?”
Song Yan paused. “What? Can I not…?”
He noticed the smirks on the faces of the wandering cultivators behind Ke Huai.
One female cultivator pressed a finger to her red lips and smiled. “This little brother is actually quite adorably naive.”
Ke Huai, however, showed no trace of mockery. He simply explained, “As a newcomer, you may not know. The auction house only accepts valuable spirit materials. If it’s just loose elixirs, magical artifacts, and the like, you’d likely be turned away…”
“Besides, it’s already the Hour of the Pig. Tonight’s auction has already begun. If you insist on offloading your items this way, you’ll have to wait for the next night market.”
Tch.
Song Yan silently cursed. That Granny Qin really hadn’t told him anything…
Standing here like this made him look rather foolish.
“…” Ke Huai seemed to sense Song Yan’s wavering resolve and pressed his advantage. “We are all wandering cultivators. Fellow Daoist Rong and Fellow Daoist Wu are a cultivator couple from Wuye Mountain.”
“I am Wu Huaguo.”
“I am Rong Xiaofeng. My husband and I are from Wuye in Feng’an Prefecture. Wandering cultivators.”
Fig…
Song Yan raised an eyebrow. Now that was a convincing alias.
“This is Fellow Daoist Zhou. A wandering cultivator from Hangping Daomi Mountain.”
The Zhou-surnamed cultivator gave an honest, simple smile and clasped his fists in a martial greeting. “Zhou Jiasheng. Pleasure to meet you.”
Perhaps because it reminded him of Sheng Nian and Constable Ling from Shiliang Town, this Zhou Jiasheng gave Song Yan a, so he nodded.
“This is Fairy Lin of the Tianyu Palace.”
The alluring female cultivator with eyes like silk and a captivating figure gave a graceful smile and curtsied. “This humble one is Lin Xiaoyu.”
Seeing that the five of them seemed quite sincere, Song Yan didn’t refuse again. These things did need to be offloaded eventually.
“Very well. If I decline such a sincere invitation, it would seem I don’t know what’s good for me.”
Song Yan nodded. “However, I must be honest with you all. What I want to trade probably isn’t worth many spirit stones.”
“No matter. Fairy Lin and I come from small sects, and the other three are wandering cultivators. Where would we ever find precious spirit materials?”
That was fair enough.
A short while later, Song Yan followed the five to a secluded tower.
“The Leisurely Heart Tower.”
Ke Huai exchanged a nod with the tower’s guard, and the entire group walked inside. Arrangements must have been made in advance.
Stepping into the tower, whether it was his imagination or not, Song Yan felt the interior space was slightly more spacious than it appeared from outside.
“A spatial… formation?”
In the main hall of the tower, many cultivators were resting and conversing. Song Yan even spotted the bearded cultivator he had seen earlier in the market, the one who had argued over the price of a cultivation technique.
But it was clearly not as noisy out here as the night market outside. There was only the normal sound of conversation.
“Senior Ke. Room B-13. Upper floor.”
“Lead the way.”
“This way, please.”
After entering the room, there was a moderately sized round table in the center. The five of them each chose a seat, and Song Yan sat down around the table as well.
The cultivator couple sat to Song Yan’s left, and Lin Xiaoyu sat to his right.
The attendant set out some fruits and snacks in the center. Song Yan was quietly surprised—these were all spirit fruits. Though their grade wasn’t high, they were still enough to show that this teahouse called the “Leisurely Heart Tower” was quite well-funded.
The attendant withdrew, the sound-isolation formation activated, and Ke Huai wasted no more time.
“Thank you all for coming. Except for Fellow Daoist Tong, you’re all old acquaintances, so I won’t beat around the bush. I’ll briefly explain the rules for Fellow Daoist Tong’s benefit, and then we’ll begin the exchange meeting.”
“Fellow Daoist Tong, there really aren’t many rules. It’s just about the order.”
“Starting with myself, the second will be Fellow Daoist Zhou. We’ll go in order of seating, each stating what we want to trade away and what we’re looking for. If any Fellow Daoist present has a matching spirit material or enough spirit stones, you can make an offer.”
“If the trader is satisfied, the deal is done.”
“This isn’t an auction house, so there aren’t so many formalities. If Fellow Daoist Tong has no questions, shall we begin?”
After listening, Song Yan nodded.
This was simple. There was nothing to ask about. He began to calculate what he wanted to trade these items for…
Granny Qin had said that the bottle of Spirit Transforming Blood Pills and the pill recipe had a special nature. If there were a particular buyer, they could fetch a high price of dozens of spirit stones. But at market value, they were only worth about ten spirit stones.
As for those Yin Puppet Rebirth Spikes, they should be worth around fourteen or fifteen spirit stones.
If trading barter for barter, what should he get…
Inexplicably, fragments from the general outline of the Spirit Transforming Chapter and certain descriptions within the “Seed Sword Technique” flashed through his mind.
Song Yan froze, as if something had occurred to him.