About an hour later, more than a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators entered the stone chamber one after another. At this moment, there were nearly fifty Foundation Establishment cultivators here. "Greetings, fellow cultivators. It seems most of us have arrived. Let the trade fair commence. As for those who haven't arrived, they'll have to wait until next time." A hoarse voice echoed as a purple-robed figure wearing a tiger-face mask entered and stood before the giant round table, lightly clapping twice. Although this person didn't introduce himself, the cultivators present knew from his voice that he was the organizer of the trade fair. Everyone's attention immediately turned to him. Judging by his voice, he was an old man, but no one dared to underestimate him. He didn't conceal his cultivation, and it was clear he was in the late stage of Foundation Establishment! The purple-robed old man scanned the crowd and said in a muffled voice, "First, let me briefly explain the rules of the trade fair. This trade fair will proceed through bartering, but spirit stones are also acceptable. The highest bidder wins." "I must also add that we only provide the venue. We are not responsible for the authenticity of the items being traded. Please examine them carefully. Hehe... if anyone ends up with fake goods, they can only blame themselves. We bear no responsibility. If anyone causes trouble, don't blame me for being impolite." After the old man finished speaking, he sat down on the chair. With a wave of his sleeve, more than twenty boxes of various sizes appeared on the round table. With a series of soft '啪啪啪' sounds, the boxes opened, revealing various items inside. "The trade fair now begins. We, the hosts, have also prepared some treasures. Fellow cultivators, please take a look. If anyone is interested in these treasures, make an offer directly. Of course, we prefer to trade for other spiritual items."
As the old man spoke, a white jade slip appeared in his hand. "This contains the spiritual items I need. Please pass it around. If you have any of these, you'll have priority in trading." The white jade slip flashed with spiritual light in the old man's hand and flew towards the person closest to him on the left. That person immediately reached out and grabbed the jade slip. After a few breaths, the person finished reading the information on the jade slip and tossed it to the other cultivators. At this time, most people's attention was focused on the boxes in front of the purple-robed man. These twenty-odd boxes contained all sorts of items, from jade slip techniques to magical artifacts and pills; there were a few of each. Zhang Ling also scanned these items with his divine sense. He immediately noticed a strangely shaped, hook-like magical artifact, covered with a faint layer of dark light. This was a top-grade magical artifact. Moreover, inside this box were seven identical hooks, only much smaller, looking like throwing weapons used by mortals. After a moment of thought, he realized that this was a set of magical artifacts. Such artifacts were generally very powerful, but they placed certain demands on the cultivator's divine sense. Next, he looked at the other three or four magical artifacts, all of which were high-quality among top-grade artifacts. However, he already possessed several good top-grade artifacts, so these weren't his target. He glanced over them and looked at the other items. One jade box contained ten white porcelain bottles labeled 'Essence Cultivation Pill,' which were also quite valuable. Another box contained seven or eight spiritual talismans of various colors, shimmering with spiritual light; these were all Tier 2 spiritual talismans. "Eh?" Suddenly, he let out a soft exclamation in his heart. Inside one of the boxes, he saw a gray bottle labeled 'Tier 2 Demonic Beast Essence Soul.' Immediately, his heart filled with joy. The Soul Piercing Bead he had refined earlier had played a significant role in the battle against Wei Shen. He didn't expect to encounter another Tier 2 demonic beast essence soul here. He absolutely had to obtain this item. Such essence souls were very rare, not because they were hard to find, but because when cultivators killed other cultivators or demonic beasts, their souls and essence souls would instantly dissipate upon death. Even when he had instantly killed the giant serpent, the serpent's essence soul had dissipated into the world within a brief one or two breaths. Without prior preparation and the use of soul-extracting techniques, such souls would disappear quickly. When cultivators killed demonic beasts, they usually targeted vital points, killing them with a single blow, especially for lower-tier demonic beasts. Just like when he killed the giant serpent, he had pierced through the demonic beast's head with a single strike. The demonic beast's essence soul hadn't even left its body before it was shredded into pieces by the spiritual power on the flying sword and instantly dissipated.
As for cultivators of the same rank, battles were often more intense, and opponents often didn't even leave behind a complete corpse, making it naturally difficult to preserve their souls. Of course, some magical artifacts like the Soul Banner could accomplish this. Suddenly, a spiritual light flashed before his eyes, and the white jade slip floated in front of him. Zhang Ling, like the other cultivators, probed the information within the jade slip with his divine sense. After a few breaths, he finished reading the jade slip and tossed it to the next cultivator. "Good, this item is yours." Just as he finished reading the jade slip, the purple-robed old man's deep voice sounded. "You're too kind, fellow cultivator. We're simply exchanging what we need." The purple-robed man waved his hand, and something disappeared into his storage bag. At the same time, one of the boxes on the table snapped shut and flew automatically into the hands of a hooded figure. He didn't expect someone to complete a trade so quickly. Zhang Ling turned his head and looked at the other items the old man had taken out. These were all top-quality, but apart from the one containing the Tier 2 demonic beast essence soul, none of the other items were what he needed. Zhang Ling moved his divine sense and began to whisper. "This fellow cultivator is interested in the Tier 2 demonic beast essence soul? I wonder what treasure you're offering in exchange. I don't lack spirit stones..." "Yin-attribute spiritual wood." "Does the fellow cultivator really have such spiritual wood?" He was communicating with the purple-robed old man using voice transmission. The old man also looked in his direction a few times and nodded slightly. Without wasting any words, Zhang Ling raised his hand and tossed a red wooden box towards the old man. The old man didn't make any movements. The box moved to a few feet in front of him and was caught in his hand. He tapped the box with his finger and opened it. The old man looked closely and saw a grayish-black piece of wood about the thickness of an arm and four to six feet long, emitting faint gray energy. After only two glances, a gleam flashed in the old man's eyes. He immediately closed the box and put it directly into his storage bag. At the same time, he pointed at the box containing the Tier 2 demonic beast essence soul, and the item flew towards Zhang Ling. When the treasure flew before his eyes, Zhang Ling carefully scanned it several times with his divine sense, and only after seeing that there was nothing unusual did he put the item into his storage bag. The spiritual wood he had taken out was naturally a section of ghost wood, which was one of the spiritual woods the old man wanted to collect as listed on the jade slip. At this time, basically everyone had finished reading the old man's jade slip, and most people began to communicate directly using voice transmission. This made the people sitting around the table seem somewhat strange. There was no sound of speaking, only occasional sighs and the old man's shaking and nodding. After a quarter of an hour, most of the items the purple-robed old man had taken out had been exchanged, and some people had also exchanged for treasures using spirit stones. However, there were still seven or eight treasures that no one valued. The old man took a deep breath, waved his sleeve across the table, and took back these treasures. "Next, it's up to you fellow cultivators," the old man said calmly, then leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to rest.