Fangxian Heretical Path

Chapter 68 Demon Market Qi Refining Blade Technique

The mountains and forests are vast and desolate.

Fang Shu slung his satchel over his shoulder and, following the directions given by his second uncle Yu Le, ventured even deeper into the wilderness.

After running for a hundred miles, he came to a strange mountain.

The mountains were shrouded in mist, and although it was evening, there were already flickering will-o'-the-wisps. The occasional cries of owls and the eerie howls of monkeys mingled together, creating an eerie atmosphere.

As Fang Shu approached, a small monkey saw him and hopped around in front of him with its hands hanging down, waving enthusiastically as if it were greeting him.

Upon seeing the small monkey, Fang Shu's heart stirred, and he immediately followed it.

Sure enough, after passing through the fog, he arrived at a secluded valley in the mountains. The scene in the fog resembled a mass grave, with broken walls and ruins everywhere, and things that looked like paper houses, thatched huts, and coffins standing on both sides of the road.

Although the environment here is eerie, it's surprisingly popular, or rather, it's quite eerie.

Monsters, large and small, tall and short, fat and thin, swayed their heads and moved about, as did immortals and mortals who covered their faces and wore straw hats. They were so numerous that it was as if they were rubbing shoulders with each other.

Come and see, come and look, don't miss it if you pass by.

"The finest beef heart, horse heart, tiger heart, monkey heart, and human heart. Both male and female are available!"

Fang Shu walked through the light mist, looking around at the bizarre and wonderful scene. He felt that this place was more like a so-called fairy market than the town.

He first wandered around and found that there were no shops here, only stalls selling things. The most impressive thing was a paper house, but the things displayed on the stalls were not commonly seen.

Fang Shu had initially thought he would have to secretly sell the immortal's remains in the demon market, but instead, there were immortal demons openly displaying various pretexts, with signs saying:
"We buy all kinds of materials at high prices, regardless of gender or age!"

"The old branch of the Kugu Guanluo Hundred Bones Shop is looking to buy complete skeletons. Price is negotiable."

Fang Shu, carrying a satchel and with his face covered, stepped forward and tentatively asked.

He didn't try to subtly hint at it, but the other party kept saying "yes, yes, yes," and didn't care about the origin of the remains at all, only about their completeness.

Because the skeleton in his hands was quite intact and of good quality, the other party did not try to lower the price; in fact, they even offered a price increase.

The purchasing agent laughed and said, "Welcome to come again next time, fellow Daoist. We really work for Master Luo. We'll take as many as you come, money is no problem!"

The money the shopkeeper finally gave him was not talisman coins or black market talisman coin notes, but spirit stones worth 18,000 coins.

The skeleton itself is worth 12,000, and the magical artifacts on the skeleton, although they do not correspond to any specific magic method, are also worth 6,000 because they are connected as a whole.

To be honest, Fang Shu really didn't expect that a complete immortal skeleton would be so valuable, more than a whole set of magic spells and artifacts.

He had thought that this thing could only be sold as junk, and that he could make a little money if he could.

When Fang Shu offered the human skin mask, the other party didn't even want it because it was so low-class and there was no way to sell it. They just smiled and pointed him in a direction, telling him to sell it somewhere else.

Fang Shu put away the spirit stones and walked over as instructed.

Finally, he found a leatherworker pig demon who was only willing to buy the painted skin mask from him for seven hundred coins.

Even so, the pig demon's face showed a strange expression as he grunted and snorted because the secret inscription on the mask in his hand was complete and made of women's leather.

Otherwise, the other party would probably just accept it as a tattered old coat.

As for the so-called fate of the tattered coat, Fang Shu stood aside curiously and watched.

The leatherworker pig demon would cut and trim the collected hides, or wipe off, dig out, or wash away the secret inscriptions, leaving only the tempered hides themselves, and then make them into talisman hides, book covers, or use them as repair materials to sew onto other leather goods.

Besides the leatherworker pig demon, the demon market also has all sorts of skilled immortals and demons who repair pots and pans, mend shoes and sharpen knives, mend porcelain and bowls, and so on.

They would use discarded ritual implements of similar material as raw materials to repair other ritual implements.

Among them are even immortals who can pick out and assemble a complete magical artifact from a pile of discarded artifacts, and boldly advertise "money-back guarantee if it doesn't work".

This really broadened Fang Shu's horizons.

He had always been curious about what would happen to these magical artifacts that had no method of creation and whose master could not be found.

It now appears that the immortals have their own set of procedures for disposing of old ritual implements.

It didn't take much effort for Fang Shu to clean up all the clutter on his body.

His satchel also became shriveled, leaving only hard spirit stones.

With his business settled and feeling much lighter, Fang Shu strolled around the demon market with even greater interest.

He looked around and found that there were still stall owners selling pills and precious medicines. Their prices were at least 10% lower than in town, but those pills and precious medicines all had a bloody smell on them, and their source and quality were not guaranteed.

This made Fang Shu temporarily suppress his desire to buy it; there was no rush.

After wandering around for a while, Fang Shu suddenly had an idea and began to search for various spells on the stalls.

Furthermore, the spells he sought were rather strange and unusual; he only looked for those with complete ciphertexts but incomplete spell texts, or spells whose authenticity was difficult to discern.

As it turned out, he had indeed come to the right place.

These kinds of spells have no legitimate origins; they are all mixed together, making it difficult to distinguish between the real and the fake. In Guling Town, few people would sell them, and they are even prohibited from setting up stalls in the market.

However, things are completely different in this demon market. Here, humans and demons come and go, and no one knows whether the other is human or ghost. Buying things depends entirely on one's own eyesight and skills.

Their prices are also extremely low, only one-half or one-third of ordinary spells.

Fang Shu visited several more vendors, and he was even able to find something to his liking for a thousand talismans.

However, having considered the matter beforehand, he suppressed his impulse and refrained from indiscriminately acquiring spells, lest he waste the precious analysis time of the Daoist talismans.

At this moment, Fang Shu arrived at the stall of a masked immortal. The stall owner had a sharp aura and was clearly not a good person. Moreover, his cultivation level was obviously not just that of a first-stage immortal.

On the other party's stall, there were actually Four Tribulations Techniques, which are the techniques used by Qi Refining Immortals!

This immediately caught Fang Shu's attention, and he squatted down in front of the stall.

The stall owner saw him, squinted at him for a moment, and didn't say anything to drive him away, but his eyes clearly showed a look of indifference.

"Can I take a look?" Fang Shu asked.

The stall owner didn't say anything, but simply nodded indifferently.

Suddenly, he looked at a jade slip with the words "Secretly Transmitted Liver Demon Soul Devouring Technique" written on it. It was clearly different from the essence refining techniques on the market and seemed even more bizarre. In particular, one corner of the jade slip also had the words "Sun Liangyuan of the Five Organs Temple" written on it.

This was the second time Fang Shu had encountered anything related to his internal organs, aside from what his senior sister Fang Lu had told him.

He reached out, wanting to pick up the jade slip and examine it closely.

But then the stall owner spoke up, his voice low: "Stop. This technique involves the soul. You haven't even passed the third tribulation yet. If you look at it carelessly and your soul is injured, don't blame me for not warning you."

Upon hearing this warning, Fang Shu recalled the rumors circulating about certain evil spells. He believed that if one's cultivation level was insufficient, one could not even learn the spells, and sometimes just a glance at them would cause mental confusion and damage.

"It seems this spell is similar," he thought to himself.

Fang Shu was not stubborn and readily gave up.

However, he paused, then lowered his voice and asked, "May I ask, stall owner, do you have any sword techniques? Preferably those that can be learned at the Refining Essence stage and do not require a specific sword."

Upon hearing this, the stall owner glanced at Fang Shu a few more times.

Swordsmen are also a type of magic, and they are fierce, sharp, and extremely skilled in killing!
To perform swordsmanship, one often needs a sword to work with. Sometimes, a suitable sword needs to be forged from scratch, while other times it can be added on top of an existing sword.

Fang Shu possesses a long-tongued sword, which he has refined all the way to the third tribulation. Choosing swordsmanship as his cultivation method is undoubtedly more convenient and less troublesome than other spells.

However, its drawbacks are that crude swordsmanship lacks power, powerful swordsmanship is difficult to learn, and some swordsmanship techniques can not only injure others but also injure the user.

"I don't have swordsmanship, but I do have some skill with the knife," the stall owner replied casually.

Immediately, the other party took out a thin book from the stall, which read "Red Serpent Bloodline Fire Blade Technique" and placed it in front of Fang Shu.

Fang Shu squinted and examined it. At first, he didn't notice anything amiss, but upon closer inspection, he discovered the words "Four Tribulations" written on the book, and his gaze immediately turned puzzled.

To his surprise, the stall owner looked at him calmly, showing no sign of realizing he had taken the wrong item.

Hesitantly, Fang Shu reached out and placed his hand on the booklet, turning the pages to examine it.

After a quick glance, his eyes lit up.

Although this sword technique is labeled as a Fourth Tribulation technique, its cultivation requirements can be met at the Refining Essence stage, making it a "quasi-Fourth Tribulation" technique rather than a true Fourth Tribulation technique.

Fang Shu had heard of this kind of magic before. Ordinary Qi Refining Immortals looked down on it, thinking it lacked power. However, ordinary Essence Refining Immortals could not cultivate it, thinking it was difficult to learn and hard to get started.

After all, it only means that the threshold for cultivation is low, but it does not mean that the difficulty of comprehension or refining is low.

But this is exactly what the Chinese wanted!

(End of this chapter)