The white-haired elder halted his departure, his gaze turning icy cold. This group had actually concealed such crucial information.
What if the item he was looking for had been bought by that young lady?
He turned around and asked in a cold voice, “Who was the young lady who bought a painting earlier?”
“She was wearing a purple dress, with a graceful figure and skin as smooth and delicate as fine jade. Her looks were absolutely unmatched—peerless in this world. Her almond-shaped eyes were clear and bright, and she carried herself with an air of noble elegance. In short, she was breathtakingly beautiful,” a middle-aged woman said with a beaming smile, describing her in great detail.
At the same time, a hint of malice flickered deep within the woman’s eyes.
In the black market, everyone was in their spiritual form and couldn’t conceal their appearance.
By describing her so thoroughly, the woman hoped these two would be able to find Feng Qingran.
She secretly wished that these two would end up in a fight with Feng Qingran!
However, when Luo Xiyao heard the woman’s description, jealousy practically oozed from her eyes. How could someone like that possibly exist?
She had seen countless stunningly beautiful women in her life, but not one of them had possessed so many outstanding qualities all at once.
“Did she act strangely when she bought the painting? And besides her, has anyone else bought any of his paintings today?” the white-haired elder asked, paying no attention to the woman’s description of her looks.
He was more worried that the painting Feng Qingran had bought was the very one Luo Xiyao had seen earlier.
The old seller wouldn’t have swapped out his merchandise for no reason.
Upon hearing the elder’s question, the middle-aged woman put on an air of reluctance.
The white-haired elder directly produced a high-grade spirit stone and handed it to her.
The woman’s eyes immediately locked onto the spirit stone with greedy intent.
“This spirit stone is yours if you tell me the specific details,” the elder said, his cloudy eyes radiating authority.
“I can tell you more—more than she knows!” a man pushed his way in front of the woman, shouting excitedly.
“Me too! I can tell you the young lady’s token number!” another burly, menacing man rushed forward.
“And I can tell you which direction she left in!”
…
A crowd jostled and shoved to get to the front, all eager to claim the high-grade spirit stone.
Nobody noticed that the old painting seller behind them had rolled his eyes and collapsed to the ground.
The white-haired elder’s expression turned frosty, and he said in a cold voice, “One at a time. Anyone with useful information will receive a high-grade spirit stone.”
Hearing this, the crowd grew even more frenzied, each person trying to blurt out what they knew first.
“If you keep crowding, none of you will get a single spirit stone!” Luo Xiyao warned.
Only then did everyone stop and obediently step forward one by one to share what they knew.
Soon, all the useful information had been told.
But there were still over a dozen people who hadn’t received any spirit stones. Unwilling to accept this, they deliberately repeated what had already been said in different ways.
The white-haired elder shook his head—it seemed all the useful information had been given.
He then took Luo Xiyao and prepared to chase after Feng Qingran.
After all, searching for one person in this vast black market was extremely difficult.
What’s more, he and Luo Xiyao had at most half an hour left before they had to leave the black market.
Just then, a wiry, monkey-like man’s eyes darted around, and he chased after the two who had already walked away.
The man caught up to the white-haired elder and spoke up, “I just recalled a detail. Although that young lady glanced at the painting very casually, she looked at the scroll shaft several times in a row.”
The elder paused mid-step. “Are you sure?”
“I’m absolutely certain,” the man said with conviction.
The white-haired elder pulled out a high-grade spirit stone and handed it to the man.
“Xi Yao, let’s split up and search for that young lady. But remember: once your token starts flashing red, you must leave the black market immediately,” the elder said, his voice tinged with urgency.
The man’s comment had reminded the elder of something crucial.
With over two hundred identical paintings, if the Tai Chi aura was truly hidden within them, then every single painting should contain that aura. There was no reason for only one to be different.
Perhaps, from the very beginning, the Tai Chi aura that Luo Xiyao had sensed wasn’t hidden in the painting itself, but in the scroll shaft.
He had to retrieve the painting from that young lady before she discovered anything unusual about the scroll.
“Master, it’s just a painting scroll—why go through all this trouble?” Luo Xiyao asked, clearly puzzled.
“Perhaps the true mystery lies within the scroll shaft itself. Hurry and find that young lady—don’t ask so many questions,” the white-haired elder said in a stern, authoritative tone that brooked no argument.
Luo Xiyao dared not press further. She parted ways with the elder and set off to search for Feng Qingran.
At this moment, Feng Qingran was completely unaware of all this.
She had already left that street by the time those two had gone to buy the paintings from the old seller.
Judging by their demeanor, they definitely recognized something about the scroll shaft. If she had stayed there and waited for trouble to find her, she would have been an absolute fool.
After turning onto another street, Feng Qingran quietly changed the color of her clothes.
Once again, she marveled at how wonderful the Seven-Colored Mystic Garment was.
The street she was now on was called Xingbao Street.
Word had it that this street offered the highest chance of finding a treasure in the entire black market.
As a result, Xingbao Street was packed with cultivators jostling shoulder to shoulder, with every stall crowded with people.
Feng Qingran decided to steer clear of the crowd and stepped into one of the nearby shops to have a look.
Just as she turned and entered the shop, Luo Xiyao also arrived on Xingbao Street right behind her.
Luo Xiyao looked at the sea of people in the street, a flicker of impatience crossing her eyes. With so many people around, how on earth was she supposed to find anyone?
