Chapter 92

Chapter 92: Choosing Treasure Artifacts

Seeing Yun Xi’s scrunched little face, the attendant’s mouth twitched before he said, “Then how about this Red Cloud Cauldron?”

“How many spirit stones?” Yun Xi asked again.

“Two thousand five hundred mid-grade spirit stones.”

Yun Xi still looked pained. She pointed at the Violet-Gold Coiling Dragon Cauldron she liked and asked, “What about this one?”

“That one needs two thousand mid-grade spirit stones, but it’s the lowest grade among these three mid-tier furnaces. It counts as a low-tier spirit treasure.”

The attendant wanted to sell Yun Xi the most expensive furnace, but he also saw she had her own opinions. After naming the price, he waited patiently for Yun Xi to decide.

Yun Xi examined all three furnaces again. Then she gritted her teeth and said, “I don’t have enough spirit stones. Can the cheapest furnace be discounted a bit?”

“Well…” the attendant hesitated.

“How about you ask the shopkeeper?” Yun Xi said. “I’m even buying your slow-selling item. At least give me a discount, or I can only give up one of them. I just advanced to Foundation Establishment, so my storage pouch is empty.”

“Alright, Daoist friend, please sit for a moment. I’ll go ask the shopkeeper,” the attendant said.

“Okay, I’ll wait,” Yun Xi replied, smiling as soon as she heard there was hope.

The attendant left for a moment, then returned to the booth. “Little Daoist friend, the shopkeeper said you’re a disciple of the Hao Ran Sect, and it’s your first time buying here. If you take both the Violet-Gold Coiling Dragon Cauldron and Seven-Star Doom Staff, we’ll count it as two thousand eight hundred mid-grade spirit stones total. We can’t go lower.”

“The shopkeeper is generous. Deal!” Yun Xi agreed at once. The shop had to earn spirit stones, after all, and this number was already within what she could accept.

She paid cleanly, put both items into her storage pouch, and left the booth with ease.

When she returned to the first floor, she only saw Du Yu Ling. The other companions still had not finished their transactions.

“Senior Sister Du,” Yun Xi greeted.

“Junior Sister Wei, you finished so quickly?” Du Yu Ling asked.

“Yes. I didn’t spend long in the Bao Hua Mountain range, so my gains were limited. Of course I finished quickly,” Yun Xi replied smoothly.

Du Yu Ling smiled and continued, “I can tell your bone age is young, yet you reached Foundation Establishment so fast. Your talent must be excellent.”

Yun Xi immediately waved her hands. “Senior Sister Du overpraises me. I have three spiritual roots. Reaching Foundation Establishment was pure luck. If I hadn’t come to Bao Hua Mountain to look for a friend this time, it would’ve taken me at least five more years to reach Foundation Establishment.”

Then Yun Xi talked about the chance encounter of falling into a bird’s nest. Whether Du Yu Ling believed it or not had nothing to do with her.

After hearing Yun Xi’s explanation, Du Yu Ling smiled. “Junior Sister Wei, luck is also part of strength. You don’t need to belittle yourself. When I was your age, I was still stuck in late Qi Refining!”

Yun Xi only chuckled and did not respond.

Du Yu Ling’s tone shifted. “Junior Sister Wei, are you familiar with Senior Brother Sheng?”

“When I cultivated in the Outer Sect, I already heard Senior Brother Sheng’s name long ago. This is my first real meeting with him.” Yun Xi quickly drew a clear line between herself and Sheng Yu Hong. “Senior Brother Sheng truly is a role model for our generation. I was able to keep my life this time thanks to Senior Brother Sheng and all the Senior Sisters. Otherwise, I would’ve already become food for that three-headed snake.”

That made Du Yu Ling’s smile look more genuine, and she could see the little girl in front of her only admired Senior Brother Sheng and had no other feelings.

Then Yun Xi changed the subject. “Senior Sister Du, did you find out anything? What exactly is the anomaly deep in Bao Hua Mountain? Did some rare treasure mature, or did a great demon come into the world?”

“It seems like a newly emerged secret realm,” Du Yu Ling said, not entirely certain.

“A secret realm? Then do we have a chance to enter?” Yun Xi asked.

“Hard to say.” Du Yu Ling spoke honestly. “A secret realm appearing for the first time is always dangerous, and nobody knows what’s inside. Also, entering a secret realm definitely has a cultivation restriction. A secret realm that appears deep in the Bao Hua Mountain range would require at least Nascent Soul Stage cultivation to enter. We probably won’t have a chance.”

“So that’s how it is.” Yun Xi nodded. “It’s my first time seeing a secret realm appear. This mission was still a pretty big gain for me.”

It seemed they small Foundation Establishment shrimps had no chance this time.

As the topic ended, fellow disciples from the Hao Ran Sect appeared one after another in the main hall. They had clearly finished their transactions.

Seeing everyone had arrived, Sheng Yu Hong said, “Let’s go sit at a tea house.”

No one objected. They knew he wanted to gather information, so they followed behind Sheng Yu Hong and left Lin Tai Pavilion.

The attendant warmly escorted the group of five to the door, because their purchases completed his sales goal for the day.

Looking at the three-story tea house that looked no different from a mortal tea house, Yun Xi immediately lost interest. After following everyone to the second floor, she went with the flow and ordered a cup of spiritual tea, then held it and sipped quietly, focusing on being obedient and well-behaved.

Sheng Yu Hong was already using divine-sense transmission with the waiter to ask about news. Mu Ning Zhu spoke quietly with Yun Xi.

“Junior Sister Wei, your task in Bao Hua Mountain is already completed. What are your plans next?” Mu Ning Zhu asked.

“I plan to return to the sect,” Yun Xi said seriously. “After coming out once, I realized I’m lacking too much. I’m weak, and I still needed fellow disciples to save me. I’d better stop coming out to embarrass myself.”

“By a twist of fate, I managed to reach Foundation Establishment this time. When I return, I plan to go into seclusion for a while. Once my cultivation stabilizes, I’ll come out again before the sect competition.”

Mu Ning Zhu nodded. “It’s good that you think that way. But you’re Foundation Establishment now. You can go home to visit your parents. Do you not plan to go back once? I remember Kun Yu City isn’t far from the Bao Hua Mountain range.”

Yun Xi shook her head. “Not this time. I advanced outside, and my identity jade token hasn’t been changed yet. If I went from here to Kun Yu City, it wouldn’t follow the rules.”

“Besides, my clan brothers and sisters will worry about me. I want to wait until they reach Foundation Establishment too, and then we’ll return to the clan together.”

“As long as you’ve thought it through,” Mu Ning Zhu said.

Mu Ning Zhu had a good impression of everyone in the Wei Family except Wei Yun Qing. At the very least, the Wei Family had principles.

While they were talking, another group also went up to the second floor. There were four of them, two men and two women. They were dressed very flamboyantly, and all were at the Foundation Establishment Stage. Their looks were all different, but each one stood out as a rare beauty.

Yun Xi looked at them for a moment, then turned to Mu Ning Zhu, the question plain in her eyes.

Mu Ning Zhu transmitted to her, “Those four are cultivators from Hundred Flowers Pavilion. In Hundred Flowers Pavilion, some cultivate orthodox Dao methods, and some cultivate demonic methods. They claim to ‘embrace all rivers,’ but really, they accept anyone who looks good.”

“Oh, I get it. They recruit based on looks,” Yun Xi replied at once.

“Everyone loves beauty,” Mu Ning Zhu said. “When they go out, they’re usually chased after. But Hundred Flowers Pavilion people act rather arrogantly and do whatever they want. They’re also very hard to deal with. If you run into them, stay far away, or they might set their eyes on you.”

Yun Xi touched her now-slim egg-shaped face. “Hehe, don’t worry, Senior Sister. I know I’m pretty, so I’ll definitely protect myself.”

Mu Ning Zhu’s mouth twitched. This little girl was pretty confident.

Du Yu Ling, who was nearby, could not hold back and laughed. To be fair, Yun Xi did not quite count as “beautiful” yet.

“Yo, little girl, you’re that confident? Then how about coming to our Hundred Flowers Pavilion?”