Chapter 22: Buying Monster Beasts
The Yinwind Gorge was only a few hundred miles away from Xuanji City. Su Che and Lei Xiao, using their lightness spells, arrived at the destination in just two hours.
On the plain, the vast gorge stretched over two thousand miles from north to south. Within it lived countless burrowing monster beasts, such as the Yinwind Rats, Black Gold Pythons, and Red-Tailed Foxes.
Standing on a mound and looking out from above, Lei Xiao pointed to a small town at the eastern end of the gorge and said, “That’s the supply camp established by our Tianxuan Sect. It also allows external cultivators to enter the gorge to hunt monster beasts. Over time, it has turned into a small cultivation market. If we’re lucky, we might find some good stuff.”
Su Che nodded. He wasn’t interested in other treasures for now; he was eager to obtain a monster beast to uncover the secrets of the black tower in his mind as soon as possible.
“Then let’s go,” Su Che said, ready to descend from the mound.
“No rush, no rush!”
Lei Xiao chuckled, took out a wine gourd from his Qiankun Bag, removed the stopper, and said, “We’ve been walking for so long. Let’s rest for a bit and try the fruit wine I brewed myself.”
“Drink now?” Su Che was slightly surprised but still took the gourd and took a sip.
It had a delightful taste—truly good wine. But with his urgency, where was he to appreciate such fine liquor?
Lei Xiao noticed his eagerness and gently advised, “The people doing business in the cultivation market are all shrewd as foxes. If they see through your haste, it’ll be hard to bargain. Although we’re not short of spirit stones, being careless could easily attract attention.”
“Okay,” Su Che nodded humbly, willing to learn.
In fact, even without Lei Xiao’s advice, Su Che already understood these principles. But since Lei Xiao saw him as a novice just entering the path of cultivation, he paid such close attention to every detail.
Su Che was sure to appreciate his kindness. Honestly, he was quite lucky—having met two good people since joining the Tianxuan Sect: Lei Xiao and, of course, Senior Brother Yu Qing.
Of course, with hundreds of thousands of people in the Tianxuan Sect, there were both good and bad ones. People with ulterior motives like Jiang Chen and Fat Song were surely not rare either…
Fifteen minutes later, the two entered the supply camp, located on the widest street in the town’s center—what Lei Xiao called the cultivation market.
On both sides of the street, there were rows of stalls selling everything from medicinal pills and talismans to low-grade magic artifacts. Su Che noticed that most of those selling goods were independent cultivators from outside, with hardly any disciples of the Tianxuan Sect wearing their white robes.
Just then, Lei Xiao whispered an explanation, “Our sect disciples pride themselves on their status and prefer to bring back any supplies they don’t need to the sect in exchange for contribution points. If they were to set up stalls here with independent cultivators, they would be laughed at by their own sectmates.”
“I see,” Su Che nodded, though he somewhat disapproved of the so-called pride among sect disciples.
After walking back and forth, Lei Xiao bought some metal minerals for refining at two different stalls. He explained, “I don’t yet have the ability to refine artifacts, but I saw that these metals were reasonably priced. Buying them and exchanging them for contribution points at the sect is a good deal. Hehe, little by little…”
Su Che patiently followed him to the center of the town, where he indeed saw people selling low-grade monsters. Under a large tree by the street stood four square-three-foot iron cages, each containing a large rat. The sellers were two young independent cultivators who looked somewhat similar, likely brothers.
“Yinfeng Rats!” Lei Xiao explained in a low voice, “They’re the most common low-grade monsters in the Yinfeng Gorge. These four are all of the lowest level—first-grade. I wonder if they’ll meet your needs?”
“They will,” Su Che nodded. “Just one is enough.”
“Good,” Lei Xiao said. “The price should be no more than fifteen spirit stones. If it’s too expensive, I won’t buy it.”
“Okay,” Su Che agreed.
When they reached the stall, Lei Xiao asked one of the cultivators, “Fellow cultivator, how much do you charge for these Yinfeng Rats?”
“Twenty spirit stones,” replied the cultivator, who had a dark red birthmark on his right temple and seemed slightly older—probably the elder brother of the two.
“That’s too expensive!” Lei Xiao shook his head. “The lowest-grade monsters in the Yinfeng Gorge aren’t worth that much. A few days ago, one of my sectmates bought one for just ten spirit stones.”
“Ten spirit stones?” The cultivator shook his head repeatedly. “That’s impossible!”
“These kinds of monsters are everywhere in the Yinfeng Gorge. If we had time, we’d catch them ourselves…”
Next, Lei Xiao used his excellent bargaining skills to negotiate patiently, and eventually secured the deal for Su Che at twelve spirit stones.
Su Che paid with spirit stones and casually picked up an iron cage. The cage was worthless, purely a gift; the Wind Rat inside was motionless, but its breath was steady, clearly having taken some kind of hallucinogenic drug and remained in a dormant state. After successfully purchasing the demon beast, Su Che and Lei Xiao left the stall.
Normally, this should have been just an ordinary transaction that wouldn’t draw anyone’s attention. Lei Xiao had haggled endlessly, seeming quite fussy about prices, so there was no need to show off wealth, let alone arouse envy… Unexpectedly, the two brothers running the stall stared at Su Che and Lei Xiao’s backs with clearly hostile expressions.
The cultivator with the birthmark gave a signal, and the other person nodded slightly, quickly wiping his face to instantly transform into another appearance. It was actually a skillful disguise technique! Soon after, the disguised person left the stall and followed Su Che and Lei Xiao all the way…
Unaware that they were being watched, Su Che and Lei Xiao walked for a while before Lei Xiao asked, “Younger brother Su, you’ve already bought the demon beast you needed. What are your plans next?”
“What suggestions do you have, elder brother?”
Lei Xiao replied, “A few days ago, I received a mission from our sect that requires me to enter the Wind Valley to collect the roots of ten ‘Underground Poison Vines.’ I originally planned to take you into the valley to help you catch a demon beast, which would save us at least a dozen spirit stones. But since you seem so anxious, there must be a reason, so…”
Su Che understood what he meant and immediately said, “It’s like this—I need the flesh and soul of a demon beast to refine a magic weapon. Once refined, my self-protection ability will improve greatly. Then, I can go into the valley with you to gain experience and not become a burden to you… I think half a day should be enough.”
Lei Xiao nodded in agreement. “It’s getting late anyway. Let’s find an inn to rest for the night and enter the valley again tomorrow morning. What do you think?”
“Okay,” Su Che agreed.
Lei Xiao wasn’t surprised by Su Che’s need to use the flesh and soul of a demon beast to refine a magic weapon—this was quite common in the cultivation world, as many types of magic weapons required special rituals to unleash their full power. However, neither of them noticed that not far behind them, there was an ordinary-looking follower who appeared to be casually browsing the goods at a stall. In reality, his large ears were trembling slightly, allowing him to hear Su Che and Lei Xiao’s conversation clearly.
It wasn’t that Su Che and Lei Xiao were careless; they truly hadn’t expected it. They had already tried to keep a low profile, yet they were still noticed. Moreover, the other party possessed some special eavesdropping ability, allowing them to overhear whispered conversations from several yards away even in noisy environments.
In a certain inn, Su Che was in a separate room, while Lei Xiao stayed next door.
It was basic common knowledge that only cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage could develop spiritual awareness to penetrate walls and spy on others’ rooms. So, Su Che wasn’t worried that Lei Xiao would discover his secrets.
“For now, Senior Lei seems like a good person, but one must always be cautious. Especially when faced with the temptation of high-grade magical artifacts—no one in the cultivation world can be trusted! Only what one knows alone can truly be considered a secret,” Su Che reminded himself once again in secret.