Black Market, Qiyun Street.
There were very few customers on the street, and the stall owners all wore lazy, lackadaisical expressions.
But Tang Chonglou spotted someone here he knew from his past life.
Su Yanran had stopped at a stall and was browsing through some jade slips.
Tang Chonglou’s icy eyes turned deep and dark as he stared intently at Su Yanran.
As if sensing his gaze, Su Yanran glanced sideways and met a pair of bone-chilling eyes.
A wave of cold swept through her entire body—Tang Chonglou’s stare made her extremely uncomfortable.
The stall owner noticed that Su Yanran’s attention was no longer on the jade slips and said with a smile:
“Miss, the cultivation techniques recorded on these jade slips are all top-notch, and I guarantee every single one is authentic. If you buy from me, you’ll never get ripped off or cheated!”
Su Yanran snapped out of it, a flicker of darkness passing through the depths of her eyes. “How many spirit stones for this Nine Heavens Celestial Sword?”
The stall owner beamed. “Miss, you’ve got a good eye! This is a half-immortal-tier technique. For anyone else, I’d charge at least a billion premium spirit stones, but since you genuinely seem interested, I’ll let it go for ten million low-grade spirit stones.”
“How do I know this is genuine?” Su Yanran narrowed her eyes. If she hadn’t attended that auction a few years ago, she might have actually believed him.
“Miss, what a thing to say! Everything on my stall is authentic—no proof needed. If you don’t want this book, plenty of others will.” The stall owner lifted his chin, looking immensely proud.
Su Yanran set down Nine Heavens Celestial Sword and picked up another jade slip, Nine Heavens Mysterious Fire. The moment she opened it, her expression shifted slightly—the aura emanating from this jade slip was very strange.
“Miss, you really have an eye for quality! Both of the only two half-immortal-tier techniques on my stall have caught your attention.” The stall owner kept up his sales pitch, figuring he’d fleece whoever he could.
Su Yanran had been hesitating, but the stall owner’s words made her wary instead. Could the strange aura on the jade slip be something he deliberately added to lure her into buying it?
Expressionless, Su Yanran put down Nine Heavens Mysterious Fire and reached for another jade slip.
But the moment she set it down, another delicate hand reached over and took it.
Su Yanran’s heart tightened—that uncomfortable feeling was back.
She knew all too well: whenever that sensation arose, it meant she was about to lose something incredibly important.
A voice cold as frost cut through the air: “Stall owner, how many spirit stones for this Nine Heavens Mysterious Fire?”
“Miss, you’ve got great taste! What you’re holding is a half-immortal-tier technique. For anyone else, I’d charge at least a billion premium spirit stones, but since you look like a celestial beauty, I’ll give you a discount—just fifty million low-grade spirit stones will do.”
The stall owner repeated the same spiel he’d given Su Yanran, showing not a trace of embarrassment.
Su Yanran turned to study the woman beside her.
Qin Hanyan didn’t respond. She opened Nine Heavens Mysterious Fire, her misty, beautiful eyes shimmering as she carefully read through the jade slip’s contents.
In just a few breaths, she had memorized everything on the jade slip.
The stall owner probably never imagined that someone could not only have a photographic memory but also grasp the jade slip’s contents so quickly, so he didn’t stop her from examining it closely.
After all, reading a jade slip was different from having a technique directly transmitted into one’s sea of consciousness.
To learn a technique from a jade slip, one had to fully comprehend and internalize its contents before memorizing it.
“One hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones—will you sell it?” Qin Hanyan closed the jade slip with a graceful turn of her wrist. Her beautiful eyes sparkled, lovely but not coquettish, her demeanor calm and composed like a celestial maiden untouched by mortal affairs.
“Miss, that’s no way to bargain! A hundred thousand won’t even cover my costs.” The stall owner looked helpless.
Baili Wenyue, who had been silently standing by, spoke up: “Stall owner, is this really a half-immortal-tier technique?”
“Young master, everything on my stall is genuine—honest dealings with old and young alike.” The stall owner swore solemnly, though inwardly he was thinking he might have run into tough customers.
He hesitated over whether to lower the price.
“How about this—a flat price of one hundred thousand premium spirit stones!” The words slipped out of Baili Wenyue’s mouth, stunning all three people present!
What he’d actually meant to say was one hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones, but he was so used to using premium spirit stones for his purchases that the wrong term came out automatically.
Even the usually frosty Qin Hanyan couldn’t help but twitch at the corner of her mouth. She really shouldn’t have brought her sixth junior brother shopping.
Jealousy and envy flickered in Su Yanran’s eyes. Qin Hanyan was truly fortunate to have found such a wealthy dao companion.
Even her own master, Luo Wuji, couldn’t casually throw out that many spirit stones without batting an eye.
Just as Baili Wenyue was about to correct himself, the stall owner snapped back to his senses and exclaimed, “Deal!”
“Fifth senior sister, I’m sorry.” Baili Wenyue looked deeply apologetic.
“Wait—you can’t sell that jade slip to her. I saw it first, and I never said I wouldn’t buy it.” Su Yanran raised her hand, blocking the transaction.
The stall owner’s face darkened a few shades. “Miss, don’t cause trouble here. You never said you wanted to buy it earlier, and now that someone else wants it, you step in—are you trying to stop me from doing business?”
“I’ll offer a thousand low-grade spirit stones more than them.” Su Yanran ground out the words.
Ever since she’d become Luo Wuji’s disciple, her monthly allowance had increased, and with a few fellow disciples currying favor with her, she’d saved over a hundred thousand premium spirit stones over the years.
She could certainly afford this Nine Heavens Mysterious Fire.
It stung to part with so many spirit stones, but the value of Nine Heavens Mysterious Fire surely far exceeded a hundred thousand.
The stall owner’s face instantly broke into a beaming smile. Turning to Baili Wenyue and Qin Hanyan, he said, “You two, when it comes to buying and selling, the highest bidder wins. I’m afraid I’ll have to sell it to this young lady in white.”
