Starry Sky Professional

Fang Xing sighed and watched as the old man picked up the pair of gauntlets.

“A first-tier high-grade magical artifact, forged from 'Blazing Sun Spirit Iron'. Unfortunately, its use is quite limited, suitable only for body cultivators... There's slight damage on the gauntlets. The 'Mountain-Like' formation has a broken array pattern; worth seven hundred and fifty low-grade spirit stones.”

The old man, after a moment of contemplation, offered his price, then carefully picked up the Azure Sword:

“A first-tier high-grade flying sword, the blade is intact and well-maintained, engraved with the 'Sharp Gold' and 'Wind Control' formations... valued at nine hundred spirit stones!”

The more he examined, the more he fretted. These two high-grade artifacts seemed remarkably like those belonging to the infamous bandit cultivators.

Was his initial offer too low?

Fang Xing nodded slightly.

Although he remembered that at the auction, a set of high-grade artifacts like the Iron Feather Sword sold for several thousand spirit stones, the situation was clearly different.

The Iron Feather Sword was not only a set of magical artifacts, but also the best of the best, capable of forming a sword formation, rivaling top-tier artifacts.

Moreover, with the competitive bidding at the auction, a higher price was quite normal.

In ordinary circumstances, the price of a high-grade magical artifact ranges between five hundred to a thousand spirit stones.

This particular first-tier high-grade 'Azure Sword' was not only well-maintained, but as a flying sword, it was highly sought after by cultivators. Previously, it would sell on the market for at least a thousand spirit stones.

Given the current special circumstances, he had to accept the terms.

However, Fang Xing was sure that the other party would make a profit! Perhaps a substantial one!

Nevertheless, he lamented, magical artifacts were useless to him unless they were blood-forged artifacts!

He had tested the Azure Sword; without channeling magical power, its sharpness was only slightly better than the Black Vein Sword, a minor disappointment.

Upon hearing the assessment, he immediately understood.

“So, the power of a flying sword, apart from its inherent sharpness, relies on the formations and restrictions within the blade... I always feel that this world is working against me...”

At this moment, the old man finally finished counting slowly: “Honored guest, regarding the spiritual herbs, we only accept 'Fire Fiery Flower' and 'Ancient Green Vine'. Combined, I can offer two thousand one hundred and seventy-two low-grade spirit stones...”

"Alright."

Fang Xing nodded, his gaze sweeping over the elder's stall before he picked up a long knife with a tiger head hilt. "A fine blade..."

The knife was incredibly heavy, weighing about thirty to forty pounds, yet in Fang Xing's hand, it felt like a feather, easily swinging through the air. "What is this knife called?"

"You have a good eye, customer. This knife is named 'Tiger Fiend', crafted from the spine of a demon tiger and refined with Dark Fiend Iron into a blood-refined artifact. It's yours for just one hundred low-grade spirit stones," the elder introduced, his eyes glinting.

"I'll take it!"

Fang Xing, now flush with spirit stones, had no qualms about spending them.

To him, such a blood-refined artifact was far more practical than any high-grade magical item.

"Deal..."

The elder chuckled warmly, carefully handing over twenty strange multi-colored stones and seventy-two low-grade spirit stones to Fang Xing. "Please take them, dear customer..."

'They're actually medium-grade spirit stones...'

Fang Xing had only heard of such stones before, supposedly exchangeable for a hundred low-grade spirit stones each.

Now, accepting them, he could feel the potent and concentrated spiritual energy within, stirring something in his heart: 'Cultivators can use spirit stones to train... sadly, warriors cannot, but just because this world's warriors cannot, doesn't mean those from Blue Star cannot... I'll try tossing a few low-grade spirit stones into the black market next time and see the results...'

This was part of Fang Xing’s previous probing plan.

By chance, Guo Yun discovered peculiar talismans being sold in the black market, suspecting a connection to the evil gods...

Due to her father's influence, Guo Yun was extremely hostile towards anything related to evil gods. Hearing this information, she naturally went straight to investigate the black market, obtaining a low-grade Golden Light Talisman, which she sent to the Department of Faith and Belief Theories for analysis.

Fang Xing planned to nonchalantly ask about the results after winter break.

As the informant and someone in the know, being an insider, White Manager Bai from the Department of Faith and Belief Theories would surely inform Guo Yun of the findings.

Which meant it would reach Fang Xing as well!

'Though it seems a bit like using a friend, I am sure these cultivation items are not dangerous... I’ll be sure to repay her a bit more in the future.'

At this moment, he discreetly stashed the spirit stones away, feeling some malicious glances from around him, but inwardly he chuckled coldly: 'More are here to lose spirit stones...’

Fang Xing stood up, not leaving directly, instead casually strolling through the market.

After all, the vendors here were not permanent, they came and went, and in just a short while, several new stalls had appeared in the cave.

Fang Xing approached a stall, observing a puppet that resembled a lifelike, animated doll. "How much for this?" he asked.

The puppets varied, with some resembling beasts and birds, while others took a humanoid form—all small enough to fit in the palm of one's hand, shining with a vivid luster, quite impressive.

“Since you know these are puppets, you should also know they are difficult to control without the spiritual perception of a cultivator…”

The vendor, wearing a bamboo hat covering most of his face, replied somewhat irritably.

In the cultivation world, martial artists faced discrimination, even innate martial artists were no exception.

Among the myriad arts of cultivation, warriors primarily used talismans. Still, even with innate true energy, they could at most activate low-grade first-tier talismans. High-end talismans were mostly inaccessible to them.

As for second-tier talismans, they were even more out of reach. Even cultivators in the early to mid-stage of Qi Refinement might struggle to activate them, while those in the late stage could manage, but at a great cost to their mana and increased risk of backfire when controlling them. As for martial artists? They might as well dream.

In terms of medicinal pills, the situation was similarly dire. Should a warrior forcefully consume high-grade elixirs, it would only result in a tragic end. The connection to second-tier pills was equally non-existent.

Magical artifacts were even worse off; apart from blood-refined artifacts, they were out of the question.

Formations stood as the pinnacle among cultivation arts. Whether in the crafting of formation flags and disks or the art of array placement, they had no relevance to martial artists. An innate martial artist's only contribution was injecting true qi into low-grade formation flags, perhaps saving a spirit stone or two.

As for puppets, without a cultivator's mana to activate them or spiritual senses to maneuver them, they were nothing but toys once bought.

“Even though I'm not a cultivator, I have disciples and friends...”

“A low-grade first-tier puppet, if you like it, I'll give you a discount... take it for one hundred and fifty spirit stones!”

The vendor glanced at Fang Xing, his tone earnest.

“Deal!”

Fang Xing extravagantly took out a heap of low-quality spirit stones, holding the toy bird in his hand.

The mechanical bird was crafted from wood, its surface adorned with colorful feathers and intricate array patterns.

As he walked, he tried to channel his innate true energy into it. Unsurprisingly, it was like a mud ox entering the sea, with the risk of even damaging the puppet...

‘It's no use after all...’ Fang Xing thought to himself. However, buying this puppet still had other intentions.

‘The Jade Realm equates to an innate martial artist, reaching the peak of the current world... but I still have a path!’

‘If I break through to the Courageous Realm and unlock the Palace of Spirits, gaining spiritual power... maybe I can try controlling it; it might work?’

At that time, this puppet would serve as an excellent experimental subject.

“Hmm?”

After strolling around for a few circuits, Fang Xing was about to leave when he spotted a petite and adorable female cultivator setting up a stall. His eyes couldn't help but gleam.

Upon noticing the little flag with the Qing Dan Workshop's green leaf emblem marked on her stall, his confidence was bolstered further. He hurried forward, saying, “Miss Xiaorui...”

“Who are you?”

Xiaorui looked up, evidently not recognizing the disguised Fang Xing.

“Haha, I bought a few bottles of elixirs from Miss Xiaorui back in the day. It's normal if you don’t remember... Are these you're selling genuine products from the Qing Dan Workshop?”

Fang Xing glanced at the array of bottles and jars.

“Of course, the seals on the jade bottles and the spirit locking talismans are intact. Fellow Daoist is welcome to inspect them...”

Xiaorui gestured for him to feel free to check.

“No need, I trust you...”

A glint flashed in Fang Xing's eyes as he scrutinized the elixirs, then asked seriously, “Would you be willing to purchase spiritual herbs?”

“Naturally, we buy them. Ever since the beast tide, our original gathering team from Qing Dan Workshop dispersed, making it difficult to even fire up the furnace again...”

Xiaorui sighed, but Fang Xing's expression shifted upon hearing this.

It seemed Qing Dan Workshop was quite unlucky this time, not even escaping with their precious alchemists...

He calmed himself and searched for the elixirs he needed, “Tiger Marrow Pill... and the 'Qi Replenishing Pill' suitable for innate martial artists... give me ten bottles of each!”

Xiaorui's face immediately brightened with joy upon hearing this.

This was indeed a big client.

Not only were there abundant spirit stones, but there were also so many spiritual herbs, indicating that this must be a highly skilled herbalist, possibly even backed by a group of herbalists.

‘Could it be the Herbal King Gang?’

Xiaorui mused silently, picking up a stalk of spiritual herb brought by Fang Xing and gave her valuation: "Corroding Immortal Grass, originally three spirit stones per stalk, but since it's hard to come by nowadays, you could get five spirit stones worth of sand for it...."

In the end, the majority of Fang Xing's package of spiritual herbs was given to Xiaorui, even costing him a significant number of spirit stones as well, leading him to privately lament on the profiteering of alchemists.

‘After all this wheeling and dealing, it feels like the air is thick with greed....’

Fang Xing seated himself cross-legged in a corner of the marketplace, setting the newly purchased 'Tiger Fiend Blade' on his knees, and sneered inwardly.

Resting his hand on the blade, he cautiously infused it with his innate true energy, the crude jade internal breath.

Under the infusion of his innate true energy, he gradually refined this blood-refined artifact, understanding its usage.

‘The Tiger Fiend Blade, once filled with innate true energy, can fly through the air, but cannot exceed a hundred steps from its master. In terms of strength, it's akin to an ordinary inferior spiritual artifact....’

‘Besides, it also has an inscribed 'Wind Blade' formation on the blade. When filled with innate true energy, it can unleash a 'Wind Blade', comparable in power to the Wind Blade Technique....’

‘Is that all?’

Having genuinely refined a blood-refined artifact, Fang Xing suddenly felt that his previous choice of not refining the Ink Pattern Sword with essence blood was indeed correct.

‘For a master of innate qi, wielding a blood-refined artifact is actually similar to a cultivator at the early stage of Qi Refinement using an inferior spiritual artifact.... Such a thing, I could kill ten with a single strike!’

Currently, if Fang Xing were to wield the Tiger Fiend Blade and perform the Ghost-God Sword Technique, his speed and power would far surpass those associated with blood-refined artifacts.

A martial artist is still a martial artist, and attempting the methods of cultivators is merely an imitation.

Unless... a blood-refined artifact is comparable to a first-grade superior artifact or possesses special functions, only then would it catch his interest.

‘It seems, indeed, I am suited to charging forward, brandishing a blade to engage in battle.’

Fang Xing suddenly found himself overwhelmed with a sense of melancholy!

Then, he saw a group of people approaching, their target clearly him!

]

(End of Chapter)