Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Chapter 148: Treasure Talisman

After Chen Yuan left Baoguang Pavilion, he returned to the Dizi Cave he rented to meditate and practice.

Nie Ruyue informed him that the four foundation-building cultivator trade fairs would not be held in the next few days, and the nearest trade fair would require a wait of five days.

According to Nie Ruyue, these four trade fairs were all held privately and the identities of the participating monks had to be kept confidential.

This was done to prevent Lingyun Sect from investigating. After all, the trade fair was a mixed bag, with many things flowing out from the six major sects, as well as items from the magic path, which could not be traded openly.

Five days later, Chen Yuan followed Nie Ruyue's instructions and came to a remote shop in the market town. After paying thirty low-grade spirit stones, he passed through a secret passage and came to a hall.

There were a dozen chairs placed in the hall in a half-moon shape, with a square table in front.

At this time, there were already five people sitting on the chairs, some with black scarves wrapped around their faces, or wearing masks, covering their faces completely.

The spiritual energy of these five people is restrained, and it is hard to tell its depth. They are all foundation-building cultivators, which is also the threshold for participating in this trade fair.

Chen Yuan, like them, wore a black robe and covered his face with a Luo Yan gauze, which turned into a black gauze scarf, leaving only his eyes exposed. It not only covered his face but also concealed his breath.

He randomly chose a chair and sat down. After waiting for two quarters of an hour, more than a dozen chairs were filled.

At this time, a person in charge in a black robe came on stage, emitting a faint spiritual pressure. He was a cultivator in the middle stage of foundation building, and he announced the start of the trade fair.

Chen Yuan sat up straighter. This was his first time attending a Foundation Establishment Cultivator Trade Fair, and he couldn't help but feel a little excited.

A monk wearing a monkey mask came on stage. He touched his storage bag and two items appeared in front of him. He said in a hoarse voice: "Level 3 monster flying needle fish demon pill and two taels of medium-grade spiritual material Qinglin mud. I want to exchange them for ten medium-grade spiritual stones."

Hearing this, Chen Yuan leaned back on his chair, closed his eyes slightly, and ignored him.

However, these two items attracted bidding from three foundation-building cultivators, and were finally sold for fourteen medium-grade spirit stones.

Next, the foundation-building cultivators in the field came up on stage one after another, took out the treasures in their hands, and either exchanged them for spirit stones or bartered items.

In the past, when Chen Yuan participated in the trade fairs of Qi-refining cultivators, all the participants exchanged the items in their hands for spirit stones, and then purchased what they needed.

However, the external objects used by foundation-building monks are often quite rare.

Some rare items, such as the Silver Gang Stone and Huan Yin Stone that Chen Yuan needed, could not be bought even with spirit stones, so many foundation-building cultivators chose to barter for them.

There are also people who do not trade items. After coming on stage, they put out spiritual stones and offer a large sum of money to buy some kind of treasure.

Among them, the most sought-after item is elixir for cultivation.

Cultivation is the foundation of everything. Almost every foundation-building cultivator will ask to buy elixirs before stepping down, but no one sells them.

Chen Yuan sat in the audience, watching people trade with a cold eye, showing no interest.

The things these foundation-building cultivators brought out were not worth his attention. Among them, the mid-grade spiritual weapon that caused seven people to scramble for it was of mediocre power, and was even slightly inferior to the Spirit Bamboo Sword.

There was not even a single top-grade spiritual weapon that he wanted.

But Chen Yuan changed his mind and realized that the threshold of this trade fair was still a bit low. One only needed to spend thirty low-grade spirit stones to participate, so naturally there wouldn't be any good things.

Moreover, when one reaches the level of foundation-building cultivators, they can practice martial arts, and the gap between them becomes increasingly larger.

The foundation-building cultivators outside the six major sects have incomplete inheritance, low strength, and generally poor wealth.

If it weren't for the huge amount of good deeds required to exchange for a top-grade spiritual weapon from the Lingyun Sect's Weapon Refining Pavilion, and Chen Yuan only had spirit stones in his hands, he would never come to the Lingyun Market to buy a spiritual weapon.

The trade fair was gradually coming to an end, and Chen Yuan had not participated in the bidding.

It was not until a foundation-building cultivator took out two hundred-year-old spiritual herbs, which turned out to be one of the four spiritual herbs used to refine Nanguan Dan, that Chen Yuan's eyes lit up and he spent four medium-grade spiritual stones to buy them.

The market price of the hundred-year-old spiritual herb is more than one hundred spiritual stones. Chen Yuan bought it at this price, with a considerable premium.

But spiritual herbs are rare and just what Chen Yuan needs, so he will buy them even if it costs more spiritual stones.

Finally, it was Chen Yuan's turn to go on stage. He put out sixty medium-grade spirit stones and tried to buy a high-grade spirit weapon, but naturally he returned empty-handed.

This result was also within Chen Yuan's expectations. Although the people present did not reveal their cultivation level, judging from the items they took out, none of them should be a cultivator in the late Foundation Establishment stage.

Maybe someone owns a top-grade spiritual weapon, but they keep it as a trump card and will not sell it easily.

Chen Yuan changed his target and sought to purchase spiritual herbs.

He had many elixir recipes in his hands, and just for practicing elixirs, there were six kinds of elixirs, namely Zengyuan Dan, Nanguang Dan, Qingning Dan, Yuliang Dan, Heqi Dan, and Qinglu Dan.

Among them, Nanguan Dan, Heqi Dan and Qinglu Dan are the pill recipes recorded in the jade slip that Jin Luoheng gave to Chen Yuan.

Heqi Dan, like Nanguang Dan, is a pill for the middle stage of foundation building. Qinglu Dan, like Yuliang Dan, is a pill for the late stage of foundation building.

When the foundation-building cultivators present saw Chen Yuan listing more than a dozen hundred-year-old spiritual herbs and several three-hundred-year-old spiritual herbs, they were all shocked and began to guess Chen Yuan's identity.

This person is either a master of alchemy or comes from a family of immortal cultivators, otherwise he would not have so many spirit stones on him. He first sought to buy top-grade spiritual tools, and then collected so many spiritual herbs.

A foundation-building cultivator took out three hundred-year-old spiritual herbs, which were auxiliary medicines for refining Qinglu Pill and Yuliang Pill, and asked for five medium-grade spiritual stones, which were bought by Chen Yuan. But apart from him, no one else took out spiritual herbs. Chen Yuan waited for a moment, put away the spiritual stones on the table, and returned to his seat.

After Chen Yuan, two more foundation-building cultivators came on stage to trade items, but the items they brought out were all mediocre, and Chen Yuan did not participate in the bidding.

At this point, the trade fair was over and Chen Yuan only harvested five hundred-year-old spiritual herbs.

In the following month, he participated in two more trade fairs, but also gained little. He only bought five hundred-year-old spiritual herbs, but failed to collect a full furnace of pills.

The only unexpected surprise was that he met a cultivator who was selling a three hundred year old spiritual herb, which was one of the main ingredients for refining Qinglu Pill. Chen Yuan bought it for ten medium-grade spiritual stones.

These two trade fairs, like the first one Chen Yuan attended, had very low entry barriers, and the quality of the participants was mixed, and they could not bring anything good to the table.

However, this fourth trade fair was completely different.

According to Nie Ruyue, the person behind this underground trade fair is rumored to be a Jindan elder of the Lingyun Sect. Rare treasures often appear at the trade fair, and it is said that even magic weapons have appeared.

Moreover, the entry threshold for this trade fair is extremely high. It is held once in March, and one needs to pay five medium-grade spirit stones to participate.

Even for a cultivator who has established his foundation, five mid-grade spirit stones are not a small number. It is enough to keep most people with meager wealth out of the trade fair. Those who participate are all wealthy.

The threshold for the trade fair is so high, and the spirit stones are not collected for nothing.

The person in charge guarantees that there will be no counterfeits or fakes in all the items at the trade fair, and he personally auctions off some rare items every time to ensure that people who attend the trade fair do not make a wasted trip.

It was more like an underground auction than a trade fair.

If Nie Ruyue was not the person in charge of Baoguang Pavilion, had a high status in the Nie clan, and had abundant spirit stones in his hands, he would not even know about the existence of this trade fair.

If Chen Yuan wants to purchase a top-grade spiritual weapon, this transaction will be the best opportunity.

However, a trade fair had just been held a month and a half before Chen Yuan came to Lingyun Market, so he waited in the market for a month and a half before he had the opportunity to participate.

One day, Chen Yuan came to a shop called "Cai Fu Zhai" in the market town and walked in.

The store is spacious and crowded with customers. Various talismans are displayed, ranging from low-level talismans to top-grade talismans, and there are even five low-grade talismans.

Several Qi-refining monks were greeting guests when a young monk came up to them. He sensed that Chen Yuan was a cultivator of foundation building, and he immediately bowed and saluted: "Senior, are you here to buy a talisman?"

Chen Yuan had a veil covering his face, hiding his features and his aura, and said in a rough voice, "I heard that your store has a treasure-gathering talisman for sale that can create something out of nothing and gather spiritual stones. I wonder if it's true or not?"

Upon hearing this, the young monk's eyes flashed and he smiled, raising his hand and saying, "This abbreviation does have a treasure-gathering talisman. Senior, please follow me."

Chen Yuan followed the young monk to a quiet room on the second floor.

The young monk bowed and said, "Please wait a moment, Senior. I will go and invite the shopkeeper to come."

Chen Yuan nodded, sat down in the quiet room, and waited quietly.

After a while, a middle-aged monk with a beard walked into the quiet room and said with a bow, "Fellow Daoist, are you here to buy the treasure-gathering talisman?"

Chen Yuan stood up, bowed in return, and said in a rough voice, "That's right."

The middle-aged cultivator said calmly, "This treasure-gathering talisman has extraordinary effects. It costs five medium-grade spirit stones for one. After it is sold, it cannot be returned or exchanged. Can you accept it, fellow Taoist?"

Chen Yuan didn't say much. He touched his storage bag, took out five medium-grade spirit stones, and handed them over.

The middle-aged cultivator took the spirit stone, then took out a blank talisman paper and handed it to Chen Yuan: "This is the treasure-gathering talisman, please keep it."

Chen Yuan took the talisman paper, put it into his storage bag without even looking at it.

The middle-aged monk smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist, please follow me. The treasure gathering will begin soon."

Chen Yuan nodded, followed the middle-aged monk, walked out of the meditation room and went to the first floor.

Unlike the previous time when he went upstairs, this time Chen Yuan went downstairs and took another staircase, arriving at a narrow room.

The middle-aged cultivator took out a formation plate, made some hand gestures, and injected a trace of true energy into it.

The ground glowed with a faint light, and silently opened to both sides, revealing a stone staircase.

The middle-aged monk walked in first, and Chen Yuan followed.

The stone steps meander downwards and then become flat, turning into a passage paved with bluestone bricks.

The passage was extremely long. The two walked for a quarter of an hour before a sloping stone staircase appeared in front of them.

The two walked up the stone steps, and a heavy stone door appeared at the end. In front of the door stood two monks wearing oil-painted masks used in secular dramas, emitting a faint spiritual pressure. They were both monks in the early stage of foundation building.

When the two men saw the middle-aged monk, they nodded, made way for him, and at the same time cast spells to open the stone door.

The middle-aged cultivator turned around, looked at Chen Yuan, raised his hand and invited him in: "Fellow Daoist, please come in."

(End of this chapter)