Tianjue Demonic Lord commands the Nine Demon Sect. With his exquisite Demonic Technique and ruthless methods, his combat power is extremely strong. He is a renowned Soul Transformation Cultivator in the Southern Spirit Domain. Venerable Linhai is certain that even he would have little chance of victory against him.
However, such a powerful Demonic Lord was defeated by a Nascent Soul cultivator who had just undergone a Lightning Tribulation, and this person had only just passed their Nascent Soul Tribulation.
Now, several months later, the other party's Realm and cultivation should have stabilized, and their strength will inevitably rise another level. Furthermore, he obtained the Immortal Cave Spirit Treasure and various High Grade Spiritual Artifacts from Divine Lord Celestial Evolution, making this person even more difficult to deal with.
Alas!
Venerable Tianyun was truly unlucky to encounter such a Prodigy, leading to his demise!
What's more, this person is also proficient in Artifact Refining and is a renowned Artifact Refining Great Master.
Looking at the detailed intelligence in his hand, Venerable Linhai frowned, falling into deep thought for a moment, unsure how to deal with such an opponent. He decided to discuss it with Venerable Tianyin first before making a plan.
"Senior Lin, do you have any questions about this intelligence?" Shi Hongyao asked respectfully, looking at the gloomy-faced Venerable Linhai.
"No, this intelligence is quite detailed and good. However, there's no information on this person's whereabouts, or other aspects of information, such as relatives, friends, or clan information. Is there none?" Venerable Linhai asked probing, looking at Shi Hongyao.
Divine Lord Celestial Evolution's seventh-tier Immortal Cave Spirit Treasure, such a Dao-protecting Divine Artifact, Venerable Linhai was unwilling to miss it just like that.
This person only has Nascent Soul cultivation, and while his strength is indeed impressive, if they could obtain more detailed information, coupled with Venerable Tianyin, the two Soul Transformation Venerables acting together might not be without a chance of victory.
If information about this Human Race's relatives and friends could be obtained, using his kin for coercion, or setting up traps, the probability of success could increase by several layers.
This was also the reason why Venerable Linhai was slightly dissatisfied with this intelligence.
After hearing Venerable Linhai's question, Shi Hongyao frowned, probably understanding his intention for asking, and said apologetically, "Senior Lin, I am very sorry, this person is naturally cautious, skilled in disguise, and acts alone, so there is a slight lack of information in these two areas. If Senior Lin intends to continue tracking this person's intelligence, you can issue a celestial mystery bounty at Tianji Pavilion, and our Tianji Pavilion will continue to follow up on his intelligence and give you timely feedback."
"Oh! How much does this celestial mystery bounty cost?" Venerable Linhai's heart stirred, and he asked with concern.
"The celestial mystery bounty has two types: general bounty and secret bounty. The general bounty is issued to Tianji Pavilion's experienced secret explorers, allowing for quicker acquisition of detailed information and a lower price. For a bounty to continue tracking and investigating a Nascent Soul cultivator's intelligence, the reward is 100,000 to 500,000 medium spirit stones. As soon as there's news, we will immediately send someone to notify Senior. As for the secret bounty, it is only open internally within our Tianji Pavilion, with dedicated personnel continuing to follow up on the other party's intelligence. The price is higher, and the speed of obtaining information is slower, requiring an immediate payment of 1,000,000 medium spirit stones, and the time for information feedback cannot be determined." Shi Hongyao responded, looking at Venerable Linhai.
Venerable Linhai pondered for a moment, roughly understanding the pros and cons of the two modes. After weighing them for a while, he decided, "Help me issue a general bounty! If there's any news, remember to inform me immediately!"
"Alright, Senior Lin! How much of a bounty do you want to issue? You need to pay 50% of the deposit in advance." Shi Hongyao smiled brightly, indicating.
Venerable Linhai nodded, and with a wave of his hand, he scattered a small pile of Spirit Stones on the table, exactly 2,500 crystal-clear, spirit-filled High-Grade Spirit Stones.
"We are collecting 2,500 High-Grade Spirit Stones from you, Senior. You want to issue a 500,000 medium spirit stones intelligence bounty, right?" Shi Hongyao's eyes lit up. With a wave of her jade hand, she collected the High-Grade Spirit Stones from the table and asked respectfully.
"That's right!" A hint of pain flashed in Venerable Linhai's eyes as he nodded in confirmation.
For Divine Lord Celestial Evolution's seventh-tier Immortal Cave Spirit Treasure, Venerable Linhai had already paid 20,000 High-Grade Spirit Stones to purchase information. Now, issuing a bounty of another 5,000 High-Grade Spirit Stones was nothing.
If he could know his whereabouts, or information about his kin, then, by capturing all his kin and refining them into 'Bloodline Soul-Chasing Pills', this person would surely not escape his grasp.
Soon, the intelligence transaction was completed, and under Shi Hongyao's respectful farewell, Venerable Linhai left with a gloomy expression.
Having obtained this 'astonishing' intelligence, Venerable Linhai decided to discuss countermeasures with Venerable Tianyin and find this person to set up a sure-kill strategy!
Just then, Li Mu, who was waiting in the side hall, received a notification from a maid and followed her into the Celestial Mystery Chamber.
Venerable Linhai happened to walk out of the Celestial Mystery Chamber and met Li Mu head-on as he was about to enter, passing each other.
Li Mu felt the powerful Spiritual Pressure of a Soul Transformation Cultivator from Venerable Linhai and immediately lowered his stance, voluntarily stepping aside and standing to the side, respectfully watching him leave.
At this moment, Venerable Linhai's face was full of gloom, and he was preoccupied with thoughts. He glanced at Li Mu and then ignored him, hurrying away.
Little did he know, the person he was desperately searching for was now right in front of him, merely disguised as an old man, making him difficult to recognize.
"Senior, please wait a moment. I'll see Senior Lin off and be right back." Shi Hongyao gestured to Li Mu and personally escorted Venerable Linhai out of Tianji Pavilion.
Compared to Soul Transformation Venerables, Nascent Soul cultivators are like the moon compared to a firefly. When both are present, the respect and courtesy shown to a low-level Nascent Soul cultivator are vastly different.
Li Mu didn't take this to heart, but he was very curious. Could this Soul Transformation Cultivator be one of the four Soul Transformation Great Masters in Luo Tian City?
Watching Venerable Linhai descend the stairs, Li Mu walked straight into the Celestial Mystery Chamber, sat down in the empty chair in front of the Celestial Mystery table, and patiently waited for Shi Hongyao to return.
Not long after, Shi Hongyao hurried back, bowed gracefully to Li Mu with an apologetic expression, and said, "Senior, I apologize for keeping you waiting. If Senior purchases any intelligence this time, I will give you some discounts as appropriate!"
At this time, Li Mu was dressed in a black robe, appearing as 'Zhang Laotou', exuding the Spiritual Pressure of a Nascent Soul True Lord. He immediately gained Shi Hongyao's respect, and compared to his previous Golden Core cultivator identity, he received much better service and treatment.
"Hmm!" Li Mu nodded deeply, not taking Shi Hongyao's 'acting according to status' to heart. After all, in this world, strength is respected, and high-level Cultivators would certainly receive better treatment.
"May I ask, Senior, what kind of intelligence do you need? If you wish to purchase or sell spiritual items, our pavilion can also provide!" Shi Hongyao asked respectfully.
"Hmm! I want to know about sixth-tier water-element Yao Beasts and wood-element Yao Beasts. Also, I want to purchase High Grade lightning-element and fire-element Yao Beast hides for making talisman skins, preferably fifth-tier or above, and the more the better. Does your pavilion have them?" Li Mu asked with a slight smile, looking at Shi Hongyao.
"Uh! Information on sixth-tier Great Yao, our pavilion naturally has it, but the price for such High Grade Yao King intelligence is not cheap, with each piece of related information ranging from 200,000 to 1,000,000 medium spirit stones." Shi Hongyao looked at Li Mu, quoted a price, and then reached for a warehouse ledger on the table and began to flip through it.
Shi Hongyao looked at Li Mu and introduced in detail, "Senior, our pavilion's warehouse has fourth-tier Heavenly Thunder Beast hides suitable for making talisman skins: five pieces, totaling 470 square feet; fifth-tier Thunder Roc hides: one piece, 32 square feet; fifth-tier Thunder Roar Beast hides: two pieces, 118 square feet; fourth-tier Blazing Flame Spirit Lion hides: 37 pieces, 1250 square feet; fourth-tier Scarlet Flame Spirit Python: 14 pieces, 557 square feet; ..., fifth-tier Fire Cloud Tapir Beast: two pieces, 55 square feet; and sixth-tier Blazing Sky Fire Beast: one piece, 45 square feet."
Hearing this, Li Mu's eyes lit up. He didn't expect Tianji Pavilion to have such a large inventory of fire-element and lightning-element High Grade Yao Beast hides. The strength of this organization truly cannot be underestimated!
"I'll take all the fourth-tier Thunder Roar Beast and fifth-tier Thunder Roc Beast hides. Additionally, I'll take 20 pieces of Blazing Flame Spirit Lion hides and two pieces of Fire Cloud Tapir Beast hides. Just these. Calculate the total." Li Mu said, looking at Shi Hongyao, confirming.
Upon hearing Li Mu's words, Shi Hongyao's spirits lifted. This was a big business! If the transaction was successful, she would earn a considerable commission.
Shi Hongyao quickly calculated the total price of this batch of hides and reported, "Senior, the total price for this batch of hides is 3,720,000 medium spirit stones. After applying the discount, it will be 3,500,000 medium spirit stones for you."
"Alright! I'll take them!" Li Mu nodded, accepting the quote.
After purchasing these hides, with his ninth-level Perfection talisman skin stripping technique, he could strip tens of thousands of fourth and fifth-tier fire-element and lightning-element spiritual talisman skins.
A fourth-tier talisman paper costs four to five hundred medium spirit stones, a fifth-tier fire attribute talisman paper costs one to two thousand medium spirit stones, and a fifth-tier lightning attribute talisman paper would be slightly more expensive, probably over two thousand medium spirit stones per sheet. If he were to buy finished spiritual talisman skins, Li Mu wouldn't be able to buy them even with tens of millions of medium spirit stones. Buying hides is incredibly cost-effective!
"Senior, what about the sixth-tier Yao Beast intelligence? Which Yao Beast intelligence do you want? There are sixth-tier Water-Avoiding Crystal-Eyed Beasts, Twin-Horned Azure Moon Flood Dragon, True Water Illusionary Spirit Beasts, ..., wood-element sixth-tier Mixed Wood Yao, sixth-tier Green-Scaled Eight-Horned Deer, sixth-tier Wood Nightmare Yao King, ..." Shi Hongyao asked, looking at Li Mu with concern.
"Hmm! Of course, I want them. Provide me with information on the two water-element and wood-element Yao Beasts with the best Aptitude and strongest combat power among them." Li Mu nodded cheerfully, looking at Shi Hongyao and commanding.
Hearing this, Shi Hongyao was slightly startled. She had thought the other party wanted to hunt sixth-tier Yao Beasts and needed information on sixth-tier Yao Beasts that were easier to hunt and deal with. She didn't expect him to want those with good Aptitude and high potential.
"Senior, please wait a moment!" Shi Hongyao closed her eyes slightly and began to search through the intelligence data.
After a while, Shi Hongyao finished checking the intelligence data and began to introduce two types of sixth-tier Yao Beast intelligence to Li Mu: "The ones with the best Aptitude and strongest combat power, the sixth-tier Twin-Horned Azure Moon Flood Dragon and the sixth-tier Wood Nightmare Yao King, are the most likely to advance to seventh-tier Yao Beasts. Their combat power is also quite formidable, ..."
Li Mu listened, nodding repeatedly. This trip to Tianji Pavilion was indeed not in vain.
After the intelligence transaction was completed, Shi Hongyao had Lin Wanping bring down the hides to conduct the transaction with Li Mu.
Lin Wanping arrived in a hurry, greeting him with a smile, and asked respectfully, "Senior, all the hides are here. You purchased so many High Grade hides, presumably for stripping talisman skins. Are you a Talisman Great Master?"
"Hmm! Do you have any questions?" Li Mu smiled slightly, accepted the Storage Pouch handed over by Lin Wanping, and immersed his Divine Sense into it to confirm the quality and quantity of the hides.
These hides had all been professionally treated, were of superior quality, and the quantity was correct.
Lin Wanping's eyes lit up. The sales of fifth-tier talisman paper were very good, however, High Grade hide stripping Great Masters were a rare talent and always difficult to come across. Even Tianji Pavilion couldn't find a stable source of High Grade talisman paper.
Selling so many fourth and fifth-tier hides at once was not a common occurrence. Today, he finally met a Talisman Skin Great Master!
"To be frank, our pavilion needs to purchase a batch of fourth and fifth-tier talisman paper. Senior, would you be willing to provide it to our pavilion? Our pavilion is willing to order from you at a price 20% higher than the market price!" Lin Wanping said, looking at Li Mu, getting straight to the point.
Hearing this, Li Mu frowned, pondering seriously with hesitation.
Li Mu had never thought of selling High Grade talisman paper directly. If he drew them into High Grade spiritual talismans and then sold them, the premium could increase several times, even more than ten times. Only a fool would directly sell High Grade talisman paper, especially the High Grade talisman skins that were so difficult to strip!
"We'll see about that later! If I have time, I will make some High Grade talisman paper to sell at your esteemed pavilion!" Li Mu didn't say anything definitive, casually responding.
"Alright, alright!" Lin Wanping also sensed the Senior's perfunctory tone and could only regretfully agree repeatedly.
"Hmm! Let's settle the bill! Can I exchange with other spiritual items?" Li Mu asked, gesturing to Lin Wanping.
Lin Wanping, who had been smiling, froze for a moment, then a more brilliant smile appeared on his face, and he quickly responded, "Senior, that is naturally permissible. Our pavilion also accepts various spiritual items. May I ask which spiritual items you wish to exchange with?"
Li Mu didn't waste words and waved his hand, and immediately a Storage Bracelet emerged from his chest pocket: "Hmm, the spiritual items to be exchanged are all in this Storage Bracelet. Please take a look and estimate the total price."
Lin Wanping nodded cheerfully, took the Storage Bracelet, and immersed his Divine Sense into it to inspect it.
"Two hundred seventy-eight third-tier High Grade Magic Spiritual Artifacts, ninety-six fourth-tier Medium Grade Spiritual Artifacts, thirty-two fourth-tier High Grade Spiritual Artifacts, ..."
Lin Wanping was invigorated. His Divine Sense swept over the various Spiritual Artifacts stored in the Storage Bracelet one by one: spiritual swords, spiritual shields, spiritual umbrellas, spiritual banners, ... Among them, Spiritual Artifacts used by Demonic Cultivators were the most numerous, totaling over four hundred.
Lin Wanping's heart was shaken.
"Senior, are all these Spiritual Artifacts for exchange?"
Lin Wanping's Divine Sense retreated from the Storage Bracelet, and he asked nervously, looking at Li Mu.
"Hmm! Is it enough?" Li Mu smiled slightly, confirming.
These Spiritual Artifacts were the spoils of war from helping the Qingxuan Sect twice, killing more than a dozen Nascent Soul Demon Lords and dozens of Golden Core Demonic Cultivators. They accumulated little by little, and after careful selection, they were the spiritual items Li Mu didn't want.
"Enough, enough! There will definitely be a surplus. Senior, please wait a moment. I need some time to estimate the value of these Spiritual Artifacts." Lin Wanping could not maintain his composure, a blush appearing on his face as he nodded excitedly again and again.
"Junior Sister, please attend to Senior first. I need time to help Senior calculate the value of these Spiritual Artifacts." After speaking, Lin Wanping looked at Shi Hongyao beside him and indicated.
As soon as Lin Wanping finished speaking, Shi Hongyao immediately knew what to do. She immediately brought out good spiritual tea, spiritual fruits, and various pastries to entertain Li Mu, chatting about interesting anecdotes and sharing secret news.
Li Mu smiled, lightly sipping the tea, waiting for the result.
Lin Wanping brought two Spirit Appraisal Guest Elders, who evaluated the Spiritual Artifacts one by one in front of Li Mu, estimating them on the spot, and from time to time, asking Li Mu if he was satisfied with the estimate.
Li Mu was quite satisfied with Tianji Pavilion's Spirit Appraisers' valuation. Their valuation of these second-hand Spiritual Artifacts was not much different from Wanbao Pavilion's.
...
"Senior, we at Tianji Pavilion have some external bounties issued. Would you like to know about them? If you pay attention normally, you might get an unexpected harvest!" Shi Hongyao said, looking at Li Mu, introducing with a smile.
"Oh! What kind of bounties are there?" Li Mu casually responded, not very interested in Tianji Pavilion's bounties. Normally, Li Mu stayed in his Immortal Cave to Cultivate, rarely running around.
Once the High Grade resources and Five Elements Spirit Plant seeds near Luo Tian City were gathered, and various harvests were nearly complete, Li Mu planned to find a Spiritual Mountain with a High Grade Spiritual Vein to settle down, Cultivate spiritual plants, and continue to break through to the next Great Realm.
However, the next second, when he heard Shi Hongyao mention Huanlang Spiritual Mountain and the bounty issued by the Loose Cultivator Alliance - Soul Transformation Venerable, Li Mu, who was drinking spiritual tea, suddenly stopped his movements.
Li Mu turned back in surprise, looking at Shi Hongyao in astonishment.
He saw the other party smiling, speaking smoothly and incessantly introducing: "Senior, this Venerable Linhai of the Loose Cultivator Alliance is one of the three Soul Transformation Cultivators of the Loose Cultivator Alliance. Another Soul Transformation Cultivator died at the hands of a Nascent Soul cultivator. Now, he has issued a bounty order in Tianji Pavilion, seeking a Nascent Soul cultivator who has gathered all Five Elements, reached the Nascent Soul Realm with a hundred years of bone age. This person is a Sword Cultivator, skilled in using the Five Elements Sword Formation, and possesses a Magic Treasure like a great mountain seal, ..."
"If you can provide this person's whereabouts and kin information, and the information is accurate and flawless, you can obtain 5,000 High-Grade Spirit Stones."
...
Shi Hongyao incessantly introduced the bounty situation, not even noticing the strange look on Li Mu's face.