Chapter 52: Chapter 51 Flood Dragon Vine l
Translator: 549690339
Lu Xuan quickly lowered his gaze, avoiding eye contact with the black paper kites, and the sinister thought that skimmed his body soon disappeared.
“What the hell is that!”
He cursed silently to himself, becoming more cautious about the forces behind the black market.
The idea that around a dozen of such eerie paper kites could be patrolling the black market hinted at the terrifying power of the forces behind it.
As he slowly walked, he was vigilant about his surroundings.
“There are more cultivators in the black market than I imagined. Two hundred people, each paying an entrance fee of three spirit stones, that’s at least six hundred spirit stones. This is quite the moneymaker!”
“The spiritual energy inside the black market is denser than outside. I wonder how long I can stay with three spirit stones. If there is no time limit, I might as well remain in the black market and cultivate, taking advantage of this spiritual energy.”
He thought to himself, but he didn’t actually attempt it. After all, he didn’t know what the consequences would be.
The goal of those in control of the black market is to make spirit stones; there’s no way they’d allow the cultivators to take advantage of them.
The management of the entire black market was quite lax. Cultivators who came in could randomly set up stalls. As long as they didn’t invade others’ stalls or cause other conflicts, the black market’s managers would not intervene.
Lu Xuan carefully observed the items on the stalls.
His main purpose in coming this time was to find rare or unknown spiritual seeds, saplings, or young creatures of demon beasts, demon bird eggs, and so on.
Secondly, he was looking for a defensive array that is stronger. The defensive array in his courtyard was the one left behind by the Tooth Row, which he had only a limited time to use. With the number of spirit plants in the spirit field increasing and their ranks becoming higher and higher, the current array was proving to be somewhat insufficient.
Next, he was looking for a cultivation technique suitable for him. He had not yet come across any cultivation techniques in the light clusters rewarded by mature spirit plants. Although he hadn’t been cultivating for a long time, if he could find a profound technique, Lu Xuan thought it might be worth acquiring.
Lastly, he was looking for a defensive magic artifact. Whether it was the Slivered Silver Blade, the Fire Departing Sword, or the Thunder Fire Pearl, they were all offensive. Lu Xuan thought it necessary to compensate for his own shortcomings.
However, with the backing of the white light cluster and four Red Cloud Pine nuts about to mature, he was not in urgent need of a magic artifact.
The items he wanted to sell included the First Grade Flying Sword left by Qin Ming. Having been kept in his storage bag occupying space for so long, and now that he was in the black market, he had nothing to worry about.
If the price is right, he would consider selling the Red Cloud Pine nuts as well, along with the second-class Fire Departing Sword, which somewhat conflicts with the Slivered Silver Blade.
Although the latter is only a first-grade, because it can split into many fragments, it can have an unexpected effect. Lu Xuan finds it more handy.
The stalls were full of bizarre goods. Lu Xuan even saw several ominous paper dolls displayed on a stand.
Pale paper bodies, two vivid red circles on their cheeks, an eerie smile hanging in the corners of their mouths.
The owner of the stall looked peculiar, thin, and not much thicker than paper, appearing fragile in his loose red and green robe, which was horribly ominous at first glance.
There were also stalls displaying a variety of strange materials from monster beasts, parts of Demon Envoy’s bodies, and some items of unknown origin.
A large, self-mobile eyeball, a weird monster beast with a conjoined body, a hairy ball with countless slender tentacles swaying like seaweed in the wind…
“Huh?”
As he passed by a stall, Lu Xuan found himself involuntarily stopping.
On the stall sat several attractive female cultivators bound firmly by black ropes, each with a cultivation level of lower level Qi cultivation stage one or two. Their figures were all the more highlighted. An urge to torment them cruelly couldn’t help but arise in the hearts of some.
There was a black sign in front of them that read:
“Furnace for sale at a low price, Lower Level Qi Cultivation.”
“Friend, do you want to test the quality?”
Behind the stall, a masked, thin cultivator spoke roughly to Lu Xuan.
“No, thank you. My cultivation technique requires my primal energy to remain intact before reaching Foundation Establishment.”
Lu Xuan casually made up an excuse and bypassed the stall.
His eyebrows creased, his mind filled with thoughts.
As far as he was aware, Wang Shan had bought a Qi Cultivation Second Layer female cultivator in the black market before being contaminated by the Demon Envoy. He had even shown off to Lu Xuan about it at the time.
After his purchase, Cultivator Wang Shan sang joyfully all the way, his cultivation level skyrocketing rapidly.
In retrospect, Lu Xuan had noticed something was off. Being able to rapidly increase one’s cultivation level through pleasurable experiences with others… what kind of good thing could that be in this world? Perhaps, the encounter with the demon envoy had a close connection with that Qi Cultivation Second Layer female cultivator.
Thinking about this, Lu Xuan unconsciously quickened his pace.
He arrived at a stall run by a female cultivator. Her aura was faintly discernible and she was clearly not weakly cultivated; she was at least a Middle-Stage Qi Practitioner, and she was possibly of high-level Qi cultivation.
The items displayed at her stall were mostly spiritual medicines and spirit plants, the lowest of them being First Grade Spirit Plant, and many varieties that Lu Xuan hadn’t even seen before.
Lu Xuan presumptuously selected a few things on the stall, eventually picking up a vine about half a foot long.
The vine was dark black in color, twisted and gnarled like the sinuous body of a black snake.
“Dao friend, can you tell me what kind of plant this vine comes from?”
He asked the female cultivator.
“This a Flood Dragon Vine, a third-grade Spiritual Plant, which can be used to forge whip-type or rope-type Magic Artifacts, or one could grind it into a powder and add it into the ingredients of some elixirs.”
The female cultivator responded neutrally.
“I recall vine type Spiritual Plants can be propagated by cuttings. Can this vine do so?”
Lu Xuan asked curiously.
“In theory, it can. However, I advise you not to entertain wild fantasies. Even the Spirit Plant Masters of the Great Sects can’t easily propagate it.”
“Only those Flood Dragon Vines that have undergone special treatment, along with an exclusive cultivation method, can possibly grow into a complete vine.” “Is that so? It seems I was indeed daydreaming.”
Lu Xuan sighed for a moment, failing to hide his disappointment.
“I am a little interested in this piece of Flood Dragon Vine and intend to take it back to forge into a rope-type Magic Artifact, Dao friend, you name the price!”
“A third-grade Spiritual Plant, good quality, only a little short. Dao friend, if you truly want it, you can have it for two hundred Spiritual Stones.”
Although the female cultivator recognized Lu Xuan’s cultivation level at a glance, she did not show any contempt at all. After all, in the black market, cultivation level was the least respectable thing.
“Two hundred Spiritual Stones, that’s too expensive.”
Lu Xuan immediately shook his head. His total fortune was just over two hundred spirit stones, so naturally, he found it hard to decide all at once.
He hesitated for a moment, glanced around, saw that no one was paying attention to them, took out a second-class Fire Separating Sword from his storage bag.
“Dao friend, what do you think about this second-grade Flying Sword? Can it be exchanged for your Flood Dragon Vine?”
The female cultivator took the flying sword from Lu Xuan’s hand, channeled some spiritual energy into it, and fiery flames burst out of the red blade immediately.
“The flying sword is not bad, how about this, if you add thirty spirit stones, you can take the Flood Dragon Vine.”
“Dao friend, the short length of your Flood Dragon Vine greatly restricts the artifacts that can be forged from it. It is somewhat unessential when refining elixirs.”
“Moreover, materials are usually the cheaper part of any item, my flying sword should be more than enough to trade for it.”
“Twenty Spiritual Stones.”
“Still too expensive, ten Spiritual Stones, and I’ll take the Flood Dragon Vine right away.”
The female cultivator hesitated.
The value of this piece of Flood Dragon Vine was indeed greatly affected due to its shortness, and it had been in her possession for quite some time.
She was very fond of Lu Xuan’s second-grade flying sword and directly nodded her head after considering it.
“Alright..”