I have seen dragons

Chapter 28 Demon Emperor's Skin

"Hello sir, this is the No. 7 branch of 'Baozhilin' Immortal Goods Store. You recently inquired about the treasure Purple Jade Branch at our store. We have found that we do have one in stock in our store in the main city area. However, this item has been reserved as one of the items for the Baozhilin Auction in a week. We are sorry that we cannot directly transfer the item to you."

"Our annual grand event, the 'Double Eleven' auction, will be held at our No. 7 City branch this year. If you still wish to purchase this Purple Jade Branch, we look forward to your visit."

"I apologize that this may disappoint you. However, if you purchase the Purple Jade Branch, our firm will offer a 10% discount on the auction price."

"I wish you a pleasant life, thank you."

"..."

Early in the morning, a call from Baozhilin broke Yue Wen's peaceful mood.

He had previously inquired about the Purple Jade Branch at that magical item shop, and the shops in the main city area did indeed have some in stock. However, according to what they said on the phone, it couldn't be sold directly.

auctions?
Yue Wen scratched his head, looking somewhat worried.

Baozhilin holds auctions at its various branches in Jiangcheng City every year on Singles' Day, which is considered a regular celebratory event; he had heard of this. However, the word "auction" sounded rather high-end, and he, a commoner cultivator, had never been to one before.
It's said that the entrance fee alone is quite expensive.

The treasures that qualify to be displayed are all the best items that Baozhilin has collected throughout the year. After being auctioned, something that was originally worth 100,000 might have to be sold for hundreds of thousands of yuan.

The same is true for the Purple Jade Branch.

If you really put a price tag on him, he might be able to save up enough over time. But if you put it at an auction, the price is hard to say.

For most people, such a top-grade fire-starting spiritual item is unnecessary. However, for those who cultivate top-tier techniques, it is an indispensable material for breaking through to the Gang Realm.

It would be difficult if there were competitors at that time.

After all, there aren't many people like me who can cultivate top-tier techniques yet are penniless. Most top-tier technique inheritors have powerful backgrounds and resources; being wealthy and powerful is the norm.

I'm neither as big nor as rough as them...

Are you suggesting we stand up during the auction, flip the table, and say it's too difficult to proceed, so we shouldn't do it?

money.

The word kept swirling in Yue Wen's mind, and he felt the distress that poverty brought.

Not to mention that he had kept his prices very low in order to secure exorcism opportunities, leaving him with little savings. Even if he had accepted orders at the same high prices as other cultivators, the money he would have earned from suppressing evil spirits would have been much less, and the money he had saved would still be far from enough for refining materials.

The Blazing Flame Powder over there costs 500,000, which is already the cheapest among the materials used for refining internal energy. According to his previous research, the Purple Jade Branch would cost at least a million, and that's the normal market price, not the price at auction.

To gather all four materials for refining internal energy, you'd need at least several million, enough to buy a house in the main city. That's the lifelong dream of many.

And this is just one breakthrough; if it fails, we'll have to start all over again.

Ultimately, the materials required for the True Dragon Dao Technique are all top-grade and simply too expensive. Other independent cultivators outside use ordinary materials for breakthroughs, which may only cost one-tenth of the price.

Of course, the level of the refined Qi and the strength of the True Qi after a breakthrough are also different.

You can't have everything; there are gains and losses.

Gaining money means losing pain...

The auction is next week. In a week, Yue Wen can't think of any more realistic way to earn enough money for the Purple Jade Branch, except to get hit by a luxury car every day or donate sperm 500 times for 2,000 yuan each time.

Even if all the magical items he possessed were sold, they wouldn't be worth that much. The most valuable item might be the first three chapters of the True Dragon Dao Technique, but although the visualization diagrams were in his mind, he lacked the ability to copy them. He could only cultivate them himself and had no way to sell them.

After thinking about it, he decided to go back and ask Qi Dian for help. Qi Dian was a disciple of the immortal sect, and maybe he could get some lucrative missions. He wondered if Qi Dian could help him out.

However, the hope is very slim.

If we really can't raise enough money, we can only hope that this purple jade branch will not be sold at auction, or that we can look for another one later when we have enough money.

"Ugh."

Yue Wen sighed deeply, lamenting his inability to become rich overnight.

……

Whether rich or poor, life goes on. After pondering for a while, Yue Wen closed his eyes again and began to comprehend the visualization in his mind.

His consciousness sank, and he found himself in a purple ocean filled with demonic shadows. All around him was a viscous, foul-smelling liquid. He sensed the eerie purple ocean, where dark and evil forces were churning and surging.

Yue Wen has never come into contact with a demon, which is said to be even more difficult to deal with than monsters and nightmares.

The demon race is stupid and clumsy. Even after cultivating for thousands of years, they still find it difficult to comprehend the profound methods. The cunning and treacherous demon beasts in the mountains and forests are somewhat simple and honest in front of humans. Nightmare creatures are incomplete and often follow some kind of residual rules. Once you find the pattern, they are easy to deal with.

However, monsters possess exceptional intelligence, and their methods of disguising themselves as humans are far more sophisticated. It is said that pure-blooded monsters have snow-white skin and can change it to human skin tone at any time, making them completely indistinguishable from humans in appearance.

They also cultivate followers in the human realm, infusing humans with demonic blood and turning them into minions of the demon race. After their large-scale invasions of other realms failed, these demons and their followers turned to spreading plagues, instigating internal strife, and bewitching people in secret, ensuring that the human realm would never be at peace.

Nowadays, countless demons have infiltrated the major cities of the human realm, including many high-ranking ones.

It is no exaggeration to say that they are the most terrifying enemy of the human race.

This skin alone contains many mysteries, which gives us a glimpse into its complexity.

After two days of contemplation, Yue Wen has gradually come to understand the Daoist essence hidden within the purple sea—a kind of madness concealed beneath order.

Simply put, a visualization diagram is a world constructed based on the Daoist principle; it is a representation.

The process of enlightenment involves working backward from appearances to find the underlying code that constructs this world and mastering it; this signifies successful cultivation.

The difficulty in making a rubbing of a visualization diagram lies in the fact that simply mastering it is not enough; one must also possess the ability to replicate this world using its Daoist principles. This requires not only mastering the underlying code but also having a sufficient foundation of true essence.

As Yue Wen gradually became immersed in the Daoist charm of the visualization diagram, the thoughts in his mind became increasingly violent and evil.

He wanted to rob banks, eighteen in a row, and throw all the money into the slums for people to scavenge; he wanted to kill people, hanging all the unscrupulous capitalists from streetlights; he wanted to vent his desires, finding twenty beautiful female cultivators and forcing them to eat seafood buffets with him…

so bad.

He was shocked by his own bad thoughts.

These were thoughts he wouldn't normally have; perhaps they would have been suppressed by morality before they even sprouted into something evil. But immersed in this ocean of demonic forces, these sprouts erupted violently.

As he grew more and more evil, the demonic shadows before him became clearer and clearer. Finally, one after another, purple-gold bridges rose from the sea.

"found it."

Yue Wen murmured to himself, finally discovering the profound mystery of the Dao that constructed this world.

Everything suddenly becomes clear!
……

When he opened his eyes, his mind had returned to peace, he was no longer affected by the visualization, and his emotions had stabilized again.

I felt a slight thrill inside.

It became.

He had mastered the method to break the curse given to him by the Great Dragon, and the information on the demonic skin was no longer a secret. Although it took him two extra days, he still managed to do it.

He took out the purple leather, unfolded it in his hand again, and then used his newly acquired spell to draw several obscure runes in the air with his right hand.

shhhhh--

Just like unlocking, the runes landed on the blank purple skin, and suddenly golden characters appeared above them. The characters were not written, but rather flickered with flames and floated on the purple skin, as if they were alive.

[The Purple Throne, this Demon Emperor's skin, and the Serpent Mountain Bronze Cauldron represent our sincerity; please accept them.]

[The Demon Emperor's Skin can be used to contact us, and the bronze cauldron contains the greatest gift we can offer, as well as the key to leading you into the Tiger's Tomb.]

I know it's difficult to do all this, but you can trust us that we will not let you down.

　Good morning.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)