Song Yu and Boss You began fighting over the Purple Lightning Talismans’ buying rights.
In the end, Song Yu claimed a fourth of it, whereas the remaining three-fourths were taken up by Boss You.
It was not to say that the Purple Lightning Talismans were cheap, but it was a lightning element talisman, after all. It boasted tremendous destructive prowess, and it could curb yin entities and demons too. Most cultivators would be more than happy to pay for such a protective means.
Besides, they could profit from sales of the Purple Lightning Talismans too, and they wouldn’t have a problem selling them out through the Dragonback Lane.
In gist, they wouldn’t be disadvantaged by this deal!
It didn’t take long for an additional 1700 low-grade ki stones to drop into Fang Chen’s pockets. Factoring in the 1000 low-grade ki stones he already had, he now boasted a massive fortune of 2700 low-grade ki stones!
“Boss You, do help me tally the prices of these artifacts,” Fang Chen said.
Boss You began tallying the prices.
Five minutes later, he turned to Fang Chen and said, “Daoist Fang, I have a total of 103 artifacts here. Each of their prices is…”
He proceeded to list a series of prices. In the end, he revealed the total price, “All in all, the artifacts are worth 2486 low-grade ki stones. I’ll round down the cost to 2480.”
“Let’s further round it down to 2400 low-grade ki stones,” Fang Chen suggested.
Boss You heaved a sigh and said, “All right, let’s go with that price then.”
Fang Chen nodded in satisfaction. He quickly calculated his ki stones and handed them over. Then, he stowed away the hundred artifacts. I have to find a place to feed my little sword now.
He stood up and smiled. “It’s getting late now. I’ll be taking my leave.”
Song Yu was taken aback. “Young friend, where are you in a rush to? Why don’t you stay a few more days?”
“Indeed. It just so happens there’s an auction tomorrow. Why don’t you stay behind to take a look? There might be something you need there,” Boss You added.
“An auction?” Fang Chen murmured.
“Young friend, Boss You spent three years preparing this auction. Many powerful unaffiliated cultivators and orthodox cultivators will be joining too. They’ll likely bring decent goods along,” Song Yu said. “Why don’t you stay another day? You might be lucky to find some good steals.”
It was no wonder Fang Chen thought there were more people in Dragonback Lane than usual.
He wasn’t familiar with the unaffiliated cultivators in this region, so he thought it would be good to learn more about them.
“All right, I’ll stay another day since the two of you insist,” Fang Chen replied with a smile.
Song Yu and Boss You treated Fang Chen to a scrumptious dinner for the night.
Following that, Fang Chen then settled into a room they prepared for him. He took out the artifacts, and the little sword dove into the pile and devoured them.
The little sword’s aura intensified with the devouring of each artifact. By the time it devoured all hundred artifacts, its length had grown by 6 centimeters.
“Delicious! Satisfied!” the little sword danced around as it spoke with a childlike voice.
The little fellow’s ability to express itself has improved with its growth.
“Little fellow, are you full now? This means I don’t have to feed you as much anymore, right?” Fang Chen waved his hands with a smile.
The little sword flew toward Fang Chen’s hands and exclaimed, “Eat eat eat! Grow!”
“You’re going to become massive at this rate.” Fang Chen chuckled.
“Eat! Unseal! Sword cultivator!” the little sword said excitedly.
“Hm?” Fang Chen was stunned. “What did you say? Sword cultivator?”
“Unseal! Sword cultivator! Unseal! Sword cultivator!” the little sword pounced around while exclaiming in an expectant voice.
“This is more than I expected. Does it have a sword cultivator legacy?” Fang Chen turned grim. It looks like I have to find more artifacts to feed the little sword. Sword cultivators should be quite formidable, judging from the attitudes of those two from the Blood Corpse Sect.
The following day, Fang Chen and Song Yu made their way to the Dragonback Merchant Guild together. This time, Boss You didn’t have the energy to host them as he was busy welcoming the unaffiliated cultivators who had rushed here from many places.
“There are quite a number of cultivators above sixth stage Ki Refinement,” Fang Chen remarked with a smile.
Song Yu nodded. “Those who are able to reach sixth stage Ki Refinement are talented ones among us unaffiliated cultivators. It’s not easy for unaffiliated cultivators for us to come this far, since even the cultivation methods we have are often incomplete.”
Fang Chen chuckled, feigning ignorance about what Song Yu was getting at. The latter was disappointed to see that, but he didn’t say anything about it. He brought Fang Chen around to greet the unaffiliated cultivators.
The unaffiliated cultivators were curious about Fang Chen’s background, but since Song Yu didn’t say a word about it, they dared not ask about it either.
Just then, a faint stench wafted over.
Many cultivators scrunched up their noses in disgust.
“Did someone take a dump in their pants?”
Those voices vanished shortly after, for they saw a little hunched figure at the entrance.
It was hard to tell this person’s age, but his physique was roughly that of an 8-year-old child. There was a huge tumor growing from his back. It had burst at some parts, so pungent green pus occasionally flowed from it. There were also many smaller tumors growing from the other parts of his body, and pus would seep from them every now and then.
“The Immaculate Poison King.” Song Yu’s face stiffened up.
“I can’t sense any hint of cultivation from him.” Fang Chen frowned.
“That’s not him. That man over there is just a test subject. The Immaculate Poison King dwells on the Immaculate Mountain, which is over 1500 kilometers away from here. I didn’t expect him to make a presence here.” Song Yu looked wary.
“Remember, you must never offend the Immaculate Poison King. He’s a vicious person with many underhanded means. On top of that, he’s a tenth stage Ki Refinement cultivator. Even orthodox cultivators will think twice before getting on his bad side.”
Just then, a fatty who looked to be in his fifties suddenly appeared behind the hunched figure. He bared his upper body, and his hair and beard were braided in all sorts of colors—red, yellow, green, blue, and some even emitted a faint glow.
Many cultivators gasped when they recognized the fatty. The disgust they showed on their faces swiftly morphed into terror as they retreated to the side.
“Hehe!” The Immaculate Poison King looked at the crowd and snickered. “Am I very smelly? Why do I see such expressions on your faces?”
No one dared to answer. Boss You rushed forward just then and warmly welcomed him, “Brother Immaculate, do pardon my lack of hospitality. Please, come in! I have prepared a distinguished compartment room just for you!”
The Immaculate Poison King snickered once more. His gaze lingered on Song Yu for a few seconds before he entered the Dragonback Merchant Guild with Boss You.
Looking at the Immaculate Poison King’s departing silhouette, Fang Chen asked, “Does he often test his medicine on mortals?”
Song Yu replied with a hushed voice, “Not entirely so. He usually uses enemies who offended him as test subjects, though he does use mortals too. Young friend, just ignore it. It’d be foolish to offend the Immaculate Poison King over a mere mortal. I heard he even severely poisoned a Foundation Establishment cultivator who came after him a while back!”