ALL NOVEL Chapter 5 – Found a bargain
Not long after, Li Xunran quietly returned to Lin Hao's cave dwelling. After carefully observing and finding nothing unusual, she finally sat down on the ground to meditate.
When Lin Hao returned, he kept an ear out for any sounds outside. Seeing the woman come back, he merely snorted coldly in his heart.
***
The next day, after the woman left, Lin Hao also stepped out of the cave dwelling, planning to visit the market.
He had intended to sell talismans yesterday, but after overhearing Li Xunran and Mu Xuan's plot, he decided against it.
Lingyun Market was a hundred miles from the Xuan Yin Sect.
Lin Hao often set up a stall there to sell talismans. Of course, he also browsed the stalls, hoping to find treasures, but unfortunately, his luck was too shallow, and he never found any bargains.
This time, as usual, after selling the talismans he wanted to sell, he wandered around the stall area.
When he reached a stall selling magical artifacts, he suddenly stopped.
The stall owner was a middle-aged cultivator who looked honest, but Lin Hao, having run a stall himself, knew that stall owners often feigned honesty to gain customers' trust.
Three magical artifacts were laid out on a piece of beast hide, all in poor condition and not very appealing, with few customers stopping by.
Seeing Lin Hao's interest, the stall owner quickly greeted him, "Young man, these three magical artifacts I'm selling are all of middle grade.
You should know that middle-grade magical artifacts usually start at a hundred spirit stones, but I'm selling these three for just a hundred. Buying them is a profit!"
Lin Hao merely smiled indifferently at the stall owner's boastful talk.
The formations on these three artifacts were damaged, their power even less than that of lower-grade artifacts, only the material was slightly better, definitely not worth a hundred spirit stones.
However, as he passed by this stall, he noticed that the beast hide on which the stall owner placed the weapons was a rare find.
He hadn't expected to see the hide of a Cloud Thunder Beast at a stall!
This beast was active in ancient times and is now extinct. Lin Hao had only recognized it from an ancient book.
This was a second-tier high-grade demon beast, its strength comparable to the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment!
He had to acquire it; it could be used to draw second-tier talismans.
To prevent the stall owner from raising the price, Lin Hao didn't directly purchase the hide but instead said casually, "These three magical artifacts are too damaged. I'll buy them for fifty spirit stones."
"Young man, that's not possible. These are heirloom treasures..."
"Forty-five spirit stones. If you want to sell, I'll take them. If not, forget it!" Lin Hao said impatiently.
"This..."
Seeing Lin Hao about to leave, the stall owner hurriedly called out.
"Alright, young man, we hit it off at first sight. Let's call it making a friend, I'll sell them!" The stall owner said with a pained expression.
Lin Hao wasn't swayed by this act and said directly, "You bought these damaged artifacts at a low price; you'll still profit at forty-five spirit stones.
These artifacts are so dirty, I really don't want to put them in my storage bag. Wrap them up with the beast hide. There's no extra charge for that, right?"
The stall owner chuckled dryly, "No extra charge, I'll wrap them up for you right away."
Fearing Lin Hao would change his mind, the stall owner quickly wrapped up the artifacts.
Lin Hao handed over forty-five spirit stones, put the items into his storage bag, and left, feeling triumphant!
The beast hide was large enough to cut into at least fifty sheets of talisman material. With his current talisman-making skills, his success rate for crafting second-tier lower-grade talismans was between twenty to thirty percent, and each talisman could sell for fifty spirit stones!
He could earn at least five hundred spirit stones, not to mention he got the hide for free.
For the first time in his life, he found a bargain, and he was in an exceptionally good mood, humming a tune as he returned to his cave dwelling.
On the way back, he paid special attention to the conversations of the surrounding cultivators, mainly to see if anyone mentioned Mu Xuan, but no one did.
Thinking it over, he understood why no one noticed a living person had disappeared.
In the Xuan Yin Sect, the status of outer disciples was low, and they didn't even have Life Tokens. Unless they died on the spot, it was hard to notice their absence in time.
Moreover, Mu Xuan was a playboy who often went down the mountain to fool around, so disappearing for ten days or half a month was quite normal.
As long as he and Li Xunran didn't say anything, news of Mu Xuan's death might not spread for half a month!
Back at the cave dwelling, Lin Hao immediately took out the beast hide, casually tossing the three damaged artifacts aside, planning to find an artifact dealer later to sell them for forty spirit stones without a problem!
He placed the Cloud Thunder Beast hide on the table and began cutting and preparing it.
***
Two hours later, he had harvested fifty sheets of talisman material, but he didn't plan to draw talismans now. He intended to wait until he became a second-tier talisman master, when his success rate would double!
After tidying up and putting everything into his storage bag, Li Xunran returned.
"Master!"
Li Xunran entered and called softly.
Lin Hao looked over, and his eyes immediately lit up.
She was wearing a somewhat sheer white long dress, embroidered with exquisite flowers. Her graceful figure was faintly visible under the dress...
A standard oval face, long hair reaching her waist, a delicate nose, eyes as blue as the ocean, and seductive red lips.
Clearly, she had dressed up deliberately.
Feeling a stir in his heart, Lin Hao said, "Come in."
With that, he turned and walked towards the bedroom.
"Okay."
Li Xunran's face showed a hint of shy joy.
She had dressed like this to attract Lin Hao... hoping to ease and draw closer their relationship, facilitating her subsequent actions.