Chapter 182: Wind-Flame Dao Robe

At this moment, Shopkeeper San smiled gently and said, “This is a good friend of mine. Although his apparent cultivation level is slightly lower, in reality…”
Su Che didn’t need Shopkeeper San to explain for him in such a way. He immediately adjusted his spiritual energy to match the fluctuations expected at the later stage of the Foundation Establishment phase.
In the Immortal Prison, there was already a practitioner at the later stage of Foundation Establishment from the Taiyi Sect, so it was possible for him to make such changes. Moreover, such a level of spiritual energy manipulation could be considered a special skill in the cultivation world, though it wasn’t entirely unheard of—it wouldn’t reveal his true techniques for concealing his spiritual energy.
Su Che explained coldly, “Deliberately suppressing my cultivation level is to lure those reckless fools to come looking for trouble on their own, so I can easily deal with them…”
He then sneered twice, deliberately showing a hint of evilness.
In the cultivation world, those who are kind are often bullied. No one likes to associate with evil people, but they also don’t want to provoke them. Often, pretending to be evil is a means of self-protection.
The monk with the hooked nose was speechless and didn’t want to create an enemy of the same level just because of his rash tongue.
At that moment, the oldest-looking monk in the group stepped forward to ease the tension, laughing and saying, “Young man, you indeed are a stranger to us. But since you’re Hua Ye’s friend, you’re also our friend. Since this is your first time here, tell us what you need. If it’s something we can do, we’ll definitely help you out.”
Su Che bowed and thanked them before getting straight to the point: “I’m here to exchange for a few Aurora Escape Talismans, preferably of higher grades.”
The monks nodded in agreement, and then several pairs of eyes turned toward a middle-aged monk with a plump face and a prosperous appearance.
Su Che understood that this was a signal that this man must have Aurora Talismans.
Hua Ye also introduced him with a smile, “This is ‘Jufu,’ the boss of the three major shops in our city. At every auction, he bids on one or two Aurora Talismans for his collection.”
“Sorry, sorry,” said the cheerful boss, nodding at Su Che. “My surname is Jin. ‘Jufu’ is just a nickname among friends.”
He said sorry because “Jufu” was a very famous Dao artifact in the cultivation world. However, thousands of years ago, for some reason, it went missing, becoming one of the greatest mysteries in cultivation history.

Su Che bowed politely and asked, “Then, is it possible for Boss Jin to transfer one or two Aurora Talismans?”
“Of course,” Boss Jin replied with a smile. “I have five high-grade ones and two top-grade ones. As a businessman, I believe in making profits through harmony rather than conflict. I certainly don’t need that many of these talismans myself. To be honest, my intention in acquiring them is to resell them for a profit.”
Su Che nodded. He knew well that although the Aurora Talismans had significant side effects, they were still life-saving treasures. If sold in the inland trading markets, they would fetch even higher prices, making it a surefire way to make money.
“Then please give me a price, Boss Jin.”
Among these independent cultivators, Su Che could certainly be considered wealthy, but of course, he wouldn’t recklessly spend his money.
“Young man, do you have anything good you can show me? If it catches my interest, then we can discuss further,” Boss Jin said, still wearing a kind smile, true to his belief that harmony brings wealth.
Su Che saw that his defensive dao robe was merely a mid-grade spiritual artifact, worth roughly as much as a high-grade one. For a big boss, this was quite modest, which clearly showed how difficult life was for independent cultivators—often, even with money, they couldn’t buy good items.
This was because the truly rare resources in the cultivation world were all in the hands of the super sects. The resources that the super sects dismissed were controlled by larger sects, and below them were countless smaller sects…
As for those without any backing, all that remained were scraps. Only those lucky enough could scrape together some benefits from the gaps between the sects.
So, Su Che took out the high-grade spiritual artifact he no longer needed, the “Wind-Fire Dao Robe,” along with six other high-grade spiritual artifacts.
There were still plenty of such items in the Immortal Prison. During the incident with the Soul-Shaking Bell, he had acquired dozens of them. Add to that the contributions from the prisoners in the Immortal Prison and the numerous relics left by the Golden Core cultivators…
Thus, among the people present, it was more appropriate to call Su Che a “millionaire.”
As soon as these high-grade spiritual artifacts were shown, the independent cultivators present immediately widened their eyes. Even Hua Ye, who stood beside Su Che and was the third manager of the Independent Cultivators’ Alliance, stared at him in astonishment, her beautiful eyes filled with shock.

I had indeed heard him say before that he could produce top-grade spiritual artifacts. I thought there would be just one or two, but to my surprise, he brought out seven at once. Moreover, the value of that spiritual robe was clearly equivalent to that of a supreme-grade spiritual artifact…

Looking at Boss Jin, the kind smile on his face vanished completely as he stared intently at the Wind-Fire Dao Robe, almost unable to control himself from rushing over.

It’s no wonder they were so shocked—they had truly never seen so many top-grade spiritual artifacts appear before their eyes all at once.

You see, even Zhen Zhen, a true disciple of Tianxuan Sect with a cultivation level of mid-stage Foundation Building, only had a supreme-grade spiritual artifact, a jade ring, along with a top-grade spiritual sword as his main weapons.

Boss Jin pointed at the Wind-Fire Dao Robe excitedly, “Could I take a look at this robe?”

Su Che generously handed it over, not worried at all that these people might do something harmful to him.

At this point, below the Golden Core stage, he should be completely invincible. Facing these weaker cultivators, Su Che was fully confident. With his Soul-Seizing ability, they would be nothing but easy prey for the Immortal Prison Team.

If these people dared to steal from him, then he would simply steal everything from them and lock them all up in Immortal Prison…

Su Che had his own set of principles: If no one bothers me, I won’t bother them; if they bother me, Immortal Prison awaits!

A single Wind-Fire Dao Robe made everyone present eager for it. Immediately, a bearded cultivator said loudly, “Boss Jin, you specialize in fire-based techniques. This robe isn’t suitable for you.”

“Who said that? Who said that?” Boss Jin’s expression darkened instantly. Completely forgetting the principle of “harmony brings wealth,” he retorted loudly, “Just embed a few fire-type spiritual stones in it, and it will still exert its full power.”

Su Che sneered inwardly: “It’s just a spiritual artifact. Calling it ‘power’ is okay, but is it really worthy of the term ‘might’?”

“Exchange it! Exchange it!”

Fearing that someone else might snatch this treasure from him, Boss Jin hurriedly said to Su Che, “Young man, let’s exchange! I’ll suffer a loss—using two supreme-grade items and two high-grade Aurora Talismans to exchange for this robe. What do you say?”

Su Che shook his head with a smile, “Boss Jin already said that harmony brings wealth and we shouldn’t make enemies. Then, it’s enough for you to keep one high-grade Aurora Talisman with you, right?”

Before Boss Jin could respond, a few others gathered around and said to Su Che, “Young man, take a look. Are you interested in my treasures…?”

“What are you doing?”

Boss Jin rushed over quickly, used all his strength to push everyone aside, and shouted loudly, “Is there any sense of order? I’m in the middle of doing business with this young man, and we haven’t reached an agreement yet. Why do you people interfere? You should know that what this young man wants is Aurora Talismans—do you have any?”
The others fell silent, staring at Su Che in hopes that he would say something like, “It doesn’t have to be an Aurora Talisman.”
Su Che neither denied nor confirmed it, only smiled and urged, “Boss Jin, please make your decision quickly.”
As befits a man of great wealth, Boss Jin was quite generous in the face of such a rare opportunity. He shouted, “I’ll exchange it!”
The others all sighed deeply, regretting that if they had thought more carefully earlier, they might have bought a few Aurora Talismans, and perhaps that Dao robe would belong to them now.
Thus, the owner of the Wind and Fire Dao robe became Boss Jin, while Su Che obtained two top-quality and three high-grade Aurora Talismans.
It couldn’t be said that one party gained an advantage or suffered a loss; it seemed everyone got what they wanted, resulting in a win-win situation.
For Boss Jin, if he wanted more Aurora Talismans in the future, he could simply attend the auction held every six months and bid again. However, defensive magic artifacts of top quality like these were so rare that one might not encounter one in ten or eight years, and even if found, they couldn’t be bought with spirit stones.
For Su Che, since he already had the top-quality spirit artifact robe that could seal fire, the Wind and Fire Dao robe was useless. Things like Aurora Talismans, which could save lives, were truly priceless treasures.
So, no one was a fool, and no one suffered a loss.
The remaining six high-quality spirit artifacts were also rare items in the Aurora Island market that couldn’t be purchased with spirit stones. But compared to the Wind and Fire Dao robe earlier, their appeal to everyone diminished significantly.
With the Aurora Talismans in hand, Su Che wasn’t in a hurry to sell them. He said to everyone, “Dear fellow Daoists, please continue trading according to the old rules. If I become interested in any item during this time, I’ll discuss it with you slowly.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. The monk with the hooked nose even went out of his way to say a few flattering words to avoid damaging the poor impression he had left on Su Che earlier, which could affect future transactions.
Among the six spirit artifacts Su Che brought out, he was actually interested in one in particular—the Silver Moon Dharma Wheel.

So, the monk with the hooked nose rushed to show his trading items, pouring out over a dozen items from his universe bag one by one and introducing them: “This is deep-sea agate, this is a thousand-year-old rainbow coral, this is the demon pill of a second-tier demon shark, purple-fire golden sand…” As he described these items, his gaze was fixed on Su Che, hoping that there might be something among them that Su Che would be interested in, so he could exchange it for a spiritual artifact, the Dharma Wheel. However, Su Che showed no interest in any of these so-called treasures. In the end, he simply shook his head indifferently. The monk with the hooked nose was greatly disappointed, but he gritted his teeth and took out a dull, dirty, and utterly unremarkable object from his universe bag. “What trash? How dare you bring this out to embarrass yourself?” After examining it carefully, the others present shook their heads in disdain, seeing no value in it at all. Only Su Che, though appearing indifferent on the surface, could not help but have his eyes twitch a few times. It seemed to be…