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    Starry Sky Professional Directory 67

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    “Deal. You continue!”

    Fang Xing sighed, watching the old man pick up the pair of gauntlets.

    “A first-grade superior magical artifact, forged from ‘Fiery Sun Spirit Iron.’ Unfortunately, its range of use is quite narrow, only suitable for body cultivation martial artists… The gauntlets are slightly damaged; one array inscription of the ‘Mountain-like’ array is broken. It’s worth seven hundred and fifty low-grade spirit stones.”

    The old man picked up the gauntlets, pondered for a moment, and gave his appraisal. Then, he carefully picked up the Qing Que Sword:

    “A first-grade superior flying sword. The blade is intact and well-maintained, engraved with the ‘Sharp Gold’ and ‘Wind Control’ arrays… Worth nine hundred spirit stones!”

    The more he looked, the more he muttered to himself. These two superior magical artifacts looked suspiciously like those belonging to two infamous robbing cultivators.

    Had he underestimated their value?

    Fang Xing nodded slightly.

    Although he remembered that at the auction, the superior artifact Iron Feather Sword had sold for several thousand spirit stones, the circumstances were obviously different.

    The Iron Feather Sword was not only a complete set of artifacts but also the finest of the fine, capable of forming a sword array, comparable to a top-tier artifact.

    Plus, with everyone bidding at the auction, a higher price was normal.

    Ordinarily, a superior artifact would cost between five hundred and one thousand spirit stones.

    This first-grade superior ‘Qing Que Sword,’ not only well-maintained, was also a flying sword, a type highly sought after by cultivators. Before the market closure, it would have sold for at least one thousand spirit stones or more.

    Given the current situation, he could only accept the old man’s valuation.

    However, Fang Xing was certain the old man was still making a profit! Perhaps a substantial one!

    But, as always, artifacts were useless to him, unless they were blood-refined artifacts!

    He had tried the Qing Que Sword; without infusing it with spiritual energy, relying only on the sword’s sharpness, it was only slightly better than the Ink Pattern Sword—still essentially junk!

    Upon hearing the appraisal, he immediately understood.

    ‘So, a flying sword’s power relies not only on its inherent sharpness but also on the arrays and restrictions within the blade… I have a feeling this world is working against me…’

    At this time, the old man finally finished his leisurely counting: “Sir, for the spiritual herbs, we only accept ‘Fiery Flame Flower’ and ‘Ancient Green Vine.’ Together, I can offer two thousand one hundred and seventy-two low-grade spirit stones…”

    “Fine.”

    Fang Xing nodded, his gaze glancing over the old man’s stall, settling on a tiger-headed broadsword: “A fine blade…”

    The blade was very heavy, perhaps thirty or forty pounds, but in Fang Xing’s hand, it felt like a feather, easily wielded. “What is this blade called?”

    “Excellent eye, sir. This blade is called ‘Tiger Slaughter,’ forged from the spine of a demonic tiger and Hundred Fiends Iron. It’s a blood-refined artifact, only one hundred low-grade spirit stones.” The old man’s eyes flashed as he introduced it.

    “I’ll take it!”

    Fang Xing now had plenty of spirit stones and didn’t hesitate to spend.

    For him, a blood-refined artifact like this was far more useful than any superior artifact.

    “Excellent…”

    The old man chuckled, producing twenty unusual multicolored crystals and handing them to Fang Xing with seventy-two low-grade spirit stones: “Please accept these, sir…”

    ‘Mid-grade spirit stones…’

    Fang Xing had only heard of these spirit stones before. It was said that one could be exchanged for one hundred low-grade spirit stones.

    Upon receiving them, he felt the extremely intense and rich spiritual energy within the mid-grade spirit stones, and a thought stirred in his mind: ‘Cultivators can cultivate using spirit stones… unfortunately, martial artists can’t. But if martial artists in this world can’t, perhaps Blue Star martial artists could… I should drop a few low-grade spirit stones into the black market next time and see the effect…’

    This was part of Fang Xing’s earlier exploratory plan.

    He even coincidentally had Gu Yun discover the sale of strange talismans in the black market, suspected to be related to the Evil God Sect.

    Due to her father’s position, Gu Yun vehemently opposed anything related to the Evil God Sect. Upon hearing this information, she immediately went to investigate the black market and even obtained a low-grade golden light talisman, sending it to the Faith Theory Department for examination.

    Fang Xing planned to casually ask about the test results after the winter break ended.

    As the informant and insider, and also someone she knew, the manager of the Faith Theory Department, Bai Ziling, would certainly tell Gu Yun.

    That would be the same as telling Fang Xing!

    ‘It seems a little like using a friend, but I’m sure these cultivation items are not dangerous… I’ll compensate her more later.’

    At this moment, he calmly put away the spirit stones, sensing some malicious glances around him, but a cold smile played on his lips: ‘More spirit stones coming my way…’

    Fang Xing stood up, but didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he strolled around the market.

    After all, the stall owners weren’t static; there was a constant turnover. In the short time he’d been there, several new stalls had appeared in the cave.

    Fang Xing came to a stall displaying puppets that looked like lifelike toys: “How much for this…?”

    Some of the puppets were bird and beast mechanisms, while others were humanoid, all only palm-sized, shining brightly, and looking quite exquisite.

    “Since you know these are puppets, you should know that without a cultivator’s spiritual sense, they are impossible to control…”

    The stall owner selling the puppets wore a wide-brimmed hat, covering most of his face, and answered gruffly.

    Martial artists in the cultivation world were severely discriminated against, even innate martial artists.

    Of the hundred arts of cultivation, martial artists mostly used talismans, but even with innate true energy, they could at most activate first-grade mid-tier talismans. At the first-grade superior level, they were essentially unusable by martial artists.

    Higher-tier, second-grade talismans were even more so. Even mid-stage Qi Condensation cultivators might not be able to successfully activate them. Late-stage Qi Condensation cultivators could activate them, but it would consume most of their spiritual energy, and it would be difficult to control after activation, with a high chance of backfiring. As for martial artists? Forget about it.

    The situation was similar with pills. If a martial artist forcibly consumed high-grade spirit pills, they would only suffer intestinal perforation and die, similarly excluded from second-grade pills.

    Magical artifacts were even worse. Except for blood-refined artifacts, forget about it!

    Arrays were arguably the most important of the hundred arts of cultivation. Whether it was the creation of array flags and arrays or the art of array deployment, they had nothing to do with martial artists. The only use of innate martial artists was to inject true energy into some low-grade array flags… saving half a spirit sand at most.

    Puppets were even more so. Without a cultivator’s spiritual energy to activate the puppet and a spiritual sense to control it, it could only be a toy.

    “I may not be a cultivator, but I have disciples and relatives…”

    Fang Xing picked up a mechanical bird: “How much for this puppet?”

    “First-grade low-tier puppet. If you like it, I’ll give you a discount… one hundred and fifty spirit stones!”

    The stall owner looked at Fang Xing and said seriously.

    “I’ll take it!”

    Fang Xing generously took out a pile of low-grade spirit stones and held the toy bird in his palm.

    The mechanical bird was made of wood, with colorful feathers on its surface and delicate array patterns.

    As he walked, he tried inputting innate true energy, and as expected, it was like throwing it into the sea, possibly even breaking the puppet…

    ‘It doesn’t work…’

    Fang Xing thought to himself. But he bought the puppet for another reason.

    ‘Jadeite level is equivalent to innate martial artists, already the pinnacle of this world… but I still have a path!’

    ‘If I break through to the Brave Warrior Realm, open the Niwan Palace, and gain psychic power… perhaps I can try to control it. Maybe it will work?’

    At that time, this puppet would be an excellent test subject.

    “Hmm?”

    After wandering around for a while, Fang Xing was about to leave when he saw a petite and cute female cultivator setting up a stall, his eyes lighting up.

    Seeing the small banner she had put out, with the Qing Danfang’s green leaf mark clearly displayed, he felt even more certain and quickly approached her: “Little Rui girl…”

    “Who are you?”

    Little Rui looked up, clearly not recognizing Fang Xing in disguise.

    “Hehe, I bought several bottles of pills from Little Rui girl some time ago. It’s understandable if you don’t remember… Are these you’re selling genuine Qing Danfang products?”

    Fang Xing looked at the various bottles and jars.

    “Of course. The jade bottles are sealed, and the sealing talismans are intact. You can check as you wish…”

    Little Rui gestured for him to go ahead.

    “No need, I trust you…”

    Fang Xing’s eyes flashed, having already taken in all the pills. He asked seriously: “I wonder if you accept spiritual herbs?”

    “Of course. Sigh… since the beast tide, our Qing Danfang’s original team of herb gatherers has dispersed. It’s difficult to start the furnace again…”

    Little Rui sighed, causing Fang Xing to stir slightly.

    It seemed Qing Danfang had suffered a major blow, even losing their precious alchemists…

    He settled down and searched for the pills he needed: “Tiger Marrow Pill… and the ‘Qi Replenishing Pill’ suitable for innate martial artists… ten bottles of each!”

    Little Rui’s eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this.

    This was a big customer.

    Not only were they rich in spirit stones, but they also had so many spiritual herbs, clearly a very powerful herb gatherer, or even backed by a group of herb gatherers.

    ‘Could it be the Medicine King Gang?’

    Little Rui thought secretly, picking up a spiritual herb Fang Xing had brought, and gave an appraisal: “Erosion Immortal Grass, originally three spirit stones a stalk, but now that harvesting is difficult, I can give you five spirit sands more…”

    In the end, Fang Xing gave most of his batch of spiritual herbs to Little Rui, and even had to add quite a few spirit stones, making him secretly marvel at the exorbitant profits of alchemists.

    ‘After walking around like this, it feels like the greed in the air is about to solidify…’

    Fang Xing found a corner in the market, sat cross-legged, the ‘Tiger Slaughter’ blade he had just bought resting on his knees, a cold smile on his face.

    At this time, he pressed his hand on the blade, and strands of Jadeite Breath, that is, innate true energy, flowed into it.

    With the infusion of innate true energy, he gradually refined the blood-refined artifact, learning how to use it.

    ‘The Tiger Slaughter Blade, when filled with innate true energy, can fly, but the maximum distance the owner can be from it is no more than a hundred paces. In terms of power, it’s comparable to an ordinary low-grade magical artifact…’

    ‘Besides that, a ‘Wind Blade Technique’ array is inscribed within the blade. When filled with innate true energy, it can unleash a wind blade, the power of which is about the same as the Wind Blade Technique…’

    ‘That’s it?’

    After truly refining a blood-refined artifact, Fang Xing suddenly realized that his previous decision not to refine the Ink Pattern Sword with his blood was correct.

    ‘Innate masters wielding blood-refined artifacts are basically the same as early-stage Qi Condensation cultivators using low-grade artifacts… I can kill ten of those with one blow!’

    If Fang Xing were to wield the Tiger Slaughter Blade and use the Ghost God Sword Technique, his speed and strength would far surpass those using blood-refined artifacts.

    Martial artists were martial artists. Learning cultivators’ techniques was simply imitation.

    Unless…the power of the blood-refined artifact was comparable to that of a first-grade superior artifact, or it had special functions, he wouldn’t bother.

    ‘Sure enough, I’m only suitable for rushing forward and hacking people with a blade, huh?’

    Fang Xing suddenly felt rather melancholy!

    Then, he saw a group of people approaching, their target clearly being himself!

    (End of Chapter)

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