Fangxian Heretical Path

Chapter 70 Finding a Bargain with Evil Dragon Qi
"A Taoist priest?" Fang Shu's heart skipped a beat.

At this moment, a horse-faced demon was loitering around Fang Shu, talking eloquently and showing off his insights to the others.

Upon hearing this, Fang Shu opportunely offered his support:

"May I ask, Brother Ma, why did the legendary Taoist priest seal the ancient treasure inside a spirit stone?"

Upon hearing this, the horse-faced monster glanced sideways at Fang Shu, blew on a tuft of mane on its forehead, and said:
"Brother, you're quite ignorant. It wasn't those Taoist priests who sealed the ancient treasure within the spirit stone; it was our ancestors who used the spirit stone to seal their artifacts."

The other party continued smugly:

"There is another theory that after the Taoist priests were wiped out, they caused endless harm. Even their so-called 'spiritual treasures' were a scourge, very evil."

Our ancestors sealed these things with medicinal liquids and buried them in the earth's energy. Over time, the spiritual energy within the 'spiritual treasures' was extracted, forming the spiritual stones that encased them, thus becoming what are known as 'ancient treasures.'

Fang Shu heard this and his expression suddenly changed.

He cupped his hands and said, "I see, Brother Ma is very knowledgeable."

Upon hearing this, the horse-faced monster's arrogance became even more pronounced, as it swung its horse head smugly.

Fang Shu continued exchanging pleasantries with the other party.

He also inquired about the specific rules of "stone gambling" in the Demon Market and found that apart from the high threshold, everything else was no different from that in the market.

Suddenly, Fang Shu muttered to himself, "If someone really finds a treasure, will they be able to take it back?"

Upon hearing this, the horse-faced monster looked at Fang Shu with the condescending expression one would give a country bumpkin.

But although this fellow's attitude was poor, he answered every question, saying firmly:
"Whose territory is this? This is the territory owned by the Mountain Lord!"
"What treasures haven't we seen before? Disciples from the immortal sects on the mountain often come to us for appraisals."

The other party said nonchalantly, "As long as you find something good, you don't need to worry about the way back. The Mountain Lord will naturally invite you to a gathering and help you with your return journey. You'll see."

Fang Shu followed the other person's gaze.

The immortal who had extracted the finest medicine from the pile of waste did not seem to mind flaunting his wealth. Instead, he calmly accepted the envy of the crowd and then walked into the depths of the demon market, surrounded by a throng of people.

And there were vendors from the demon market banging gongs and shouting:
"The mountain king has summoned us! Our distinguished guest has arrived!"

The horse-faced monster pointed at the departing immortal and said, "Brother, if you don't return safely to Guling Town, you can cut off my head and use it as a football."

The surrounding immortals and demons also heard Fang Shu's conversation with the horse-faced demon, and all cast mocking glances at Fang Shu.

Fang Shu showed a little fear and quickly bowed to the horse-faced monster again.

However, he didn't care at all, and thought to himself, "This demon market even offers delivery service. No wonder the business is so booming and has such a good reputation."

He pondered that he couldn't necessarily believe everything the people around him said.

However, it seems that as long as the treasures unearthed are not too rare or precious, the owner of this demon market would not covet them. Even if he did covet them, he would not take them by force; he could simply redeem them with a small amount of money.

On a whim, Fang Shu also entered the jade gambling area to join in the fun.

Because a precious medicine was just prescribed.

Many customers from the demon market were attracted, making the casino monster beam with delight, as it kept shouting:
"Feel free to touch and look around. If you find something valuable, it's yours!"

Fang Shu also touched them and found that the stones in the casino were all heavy when held in his hand.

Each stone has a different shape and weight. Generally speaking, the more spiritual energy on the surface and the heavier the density of the rough stone, the higher the price.

It is precisely because of the dense spiritual energy that even divine sense cannot penetrate it and learn the details inside.

Fang Shu is currently just a cultivator who refines essence. He doesn't even have divine sense, and being a newcomer, he is even more confused.

After taking a few quick glances, he decided to stop and go explore other places.

But just then, a series of "rising, rising, rising" sounds rang out.

Immediately afterwards, another series of "Oh dear" sounds of regret came from inside the jade gambling site, attracting the attention of many transgender people.

Fang Shu squeezed through the crowd to join the fun and immediately spotted a leopard-headed monster with a deathly pale face. The monster stared wide-eyed at the rough stone that had been cut open.

The rough stone was shaped like a stone pillow, and in terms of both shape and appearance, it looked very much like a spiritual stone that contained an ancient treasure.

Fang Shu listened for a while and found that the immortals and monsters around him were also saying that this pillow stone was the little stone king that was highly regarded in the casino.

The leopard-headed monster was provoked when he saw someone had prescribed a precious medicine, and he spared no expense to have someone kill the Pillow Stone.

As it turned out, the leopard-headed monster actually managed to kill something inside; there really was an "ancient treasure" inside!
Unfortunately, as soon as the opening was made, an evil aura seeped out.

It represents the ancient evil energy within it, which has not yet been dissolved by heaven and earth.

Even if you acquire an ancient treasure like this, which still harbors evil spirits, you must still invite a highly skilled master to perform a blessing and exorcise the evil spirits. It may take several years, or even decades, to completely eliminate the evil spirits within it.

Such a process would naturally cost a considerable amount of money, and success is not guaranteed.

Furthermore, the ancient treasure inside a jade stone that has been oozing evil energy has a greater than 50% chance of being a worthless treasure, already damaged or even rotten into dust during the long sealing process.

From time to time, there were sounds of immortals or demons clicking their tongues all around.
"Chicken rib, chicken rib".

"What a pity."

At this moment, the gambling den master in charge of cutting the stone asked the leopard-headed man, "Sir, where should we cut this time?"

Upon hearing this, the leopard-headed monster trembled, pointing here and there.

Unable to make a decision in the end, it burst into tears, which aroused discussion among the surrounding immortals and monsters.

Seeing this, the gambling den's demon master had no choice but to get up, hand the partially cut pillow stone to the other demons present, and shout:
"But there are still brothers who want to take over. Maybe one of them will get lucky and snag a great deal!"

"Who knows, maybe there's a bit of evil energy on the outer layer of this stone, but not much inside at all."

Upon hearing this, many immortals and demons were truly tempted, and they all took the pillow stone and rubbed it hard with their claws or faces.

Some monsters even licked the stone with their tongues, trying to gauge the level of evil energy within it and whether it was worth taking the plate.

Fang Shu leaned closer, and after the stone was passed around, it naturally ended up in his hands. He took it without a second thought, intending only to broaden his horizons and see what this so-called evil energy was.

As soon as he got his hands on the stone, his body stiffened instantly, and even his pupils contracted slightly.

Fortunately, he managed to keep his composure in time. Although he appeared somewhat unusual, to others, it was merely due to a sudden encounter with evil energy.

Only Fang Shu himself knows.

At this moment, the Daoist talisman in his mind was buzzing and vibrating, and words were appearing:

[Contact with dragon energy has been made, connection possible... Dragon energy is corrupted, connection impossible... Analyzing... The contact object has been determined to be "rootless dragon energy," already corroded...]

Should the owner's vital energy be extracted, the dragon's energy cleansed, and refined into the talisman?

A storm raged in Fang Shu's heart.

Is what immortals and mortals consider "evil energy" the same as the "dragon energy" mentioned in his Taoist talisman?

Furthermore, the Taoist talisman he obtained, and the "Taoist priests" involved, were indeed the beings that others had mentioned as having become extinct 100,000 years ago.
A strong sense of wonder immediately arose in his heart, making him eager to buy this piece of jade and study the so-called "dragon energy".

Whether there are ancient treasures among them is secondary; the key is this "dragon energy," which may have a great effect on his Daoist talisman!
However, Fang Shu controlled his mind and subconsciously tightened his grip on the gambling stone.

After carefully stroking it, he secretly tried it out and found that the Taoist talisman seemed to be able to extract the "evil energy" from the jade stone from a distance.

However, this discovery made him even more cautious, and he did not act on it immediately.

Instead, he sighed and handed the exposed gemstone to the next onlooker.

In the end, the jade gambling went around in circles, and not a single immortal or demon dared to take on the task.

The leopard-headed monster was on the verge of tears.

The monster in the gambling den kept urging, "Nobody dares to take over, brother, why don't you just make another cut and be done with it?"

However, the leopard-headed demon couldn't make a decision. It wanted to sell the jade stone and redeem some spirit stones. After all, once it was completely opened, only a pile of rubble would remain inside, making it utterly worthless.

The man looked ingratiatingly at the onlookers, his voice trembling as he said:
"Eight taels, only eight taels of spirit stones!"

This remark drew a burst of laughter from the onlookers: "Eight taels? I'd rather have five taels than eight taels."

"Given the weight and spiritual energy of this stone, it would be wonderful if it could yield an antique treasure for collection."

Everyone was talking.

Fang Shu listened in for a while and discovered that most of the so-called "ancient treasures" were actually used by the current immortals as collectibles and raw materials for refining artifacts.

Only a small number of ancient treasures will be re-refined and transformed into "magical artifacts" and other objects known as "magical treasures".

Fang Shu didn't delve into the details; he remained calm and continued to observe the scene from the sidelines.

When the leopard-headed monster couldn't help but shout out "five taels of spirit stones," he finally made his move:

"Okay, I'll take it."

These words drew surprise from the surrounding immortals and demons, and all eyes immediately fell on Fang Shu.

The leopard-headed monster looked at Fang Shu with relief, quickly handed him the stone, and said, "You can't go back on your word." Then he took five taels of spirit stones from Fang Shu's hand.

"Brother, open it!"

Seeing that someone was actually willing to take the bait, the surrounding immortals and demons got even more excited and immediately started jeering.

However, Fang Shu had no intention of showing off. On the contrary, he found the stares of the people around him too annoying, which made him frown slightly.

At this moment, the gambling den's employee walked up with a smile and immediately pointed to the shack next to him, offering a good option.

It turns out that in the Demon Market, jade gambling is not only offered in full view of the public, but also in shacks.

This will prevent others from being envious and causing unnecessary trouble.

Especially for someone like Fang Shu, who took over someone else's business halfway through, it is most appropriate for him to cut it up privately, so that Fang Shu can do it himself without relying on others.

With a slight stirring in his heart, Fang Shu readily complied, carrying the stone pillow alone, and entered the shack.

Once inside the shack, the noise from the outside world is immediately shut out, and the shack also provides smoke for concealment free of charge. Just pour a ladle of liquid medicine on it, and the shack will be filled with thick blue smoke, which can prevent people from peeping inside and outside.

After Fang Shu became familiar with the environment, he immediately poured several large ladles of smoke-filled water, filling the shed with thick blue smoke so that he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face.

Holding the rough stone, he didn't even need a cutting knife or saw; he simply picked up an iron hammer and smashed it down hard.

boom!
The moment the hammer fell, he quickly activated the Dao talisman, swiftly drawing most of the dragon energy from the jade into the talisman, leaving only a small portion.

This small portion of evil energy, acting as a cover, rose and dissipated into the world.

Buzz!
The Dao talisman in Fang Shu's mind immediately trembled violently, his vital energy was being drained and consumed, and lines of characters appeared and moved:

[The impure dragon energy has been absorbed and is being cleansed... The dragon energy has been obtained and the Daoist talisman is being replaced...]

A deep sense of joy filled Fang Shu's heart.

Excellent! This dragon energy is indeed of great use to Daoist talismans.

Its effect is surprisingly similar to the precious blood of Cheng Guanzi, which can cause the Daoist talisman to undergo self-renewal!

I am overjoyed.

Fang Shu belatedly came to his senses.

With a strange look in his eyes, he groped around and picked up something from among the rubble.

With one blow of the hammer, it seemed as if a decent antique treasure had indeed been unearthed from the rough stone, rather than a worthless piece of trash.

(End of this chapter)