In a valley within the Cuihua Mountain Range, there was a bustling market.
This market was established specifically to facilitate transactions for the disciples of the Danxin Sect. While not as large as Star-Moon City, its quality was higher.
The people coming and going in the market were all cultivators, with a very small number of mortals who were family members of cultivators.
Foundation Establishment experts could also be seen frequenting the market.
As the caliber of the consumers increased, the quality of the spiritual items in the market naturally rose accordingly.
Xiao Fei descended from Chuandao Peak today and came to the market.
His last harvest in Dragonfall Abyss had yielded a large quantity of spiritual items. Among them, spiritual plants were planted in his space.
There were also many items that couldn't be planted or weren't needed, taking up a lot of space in his dimension.
His space was only three mu in size. Clearing even a small patch of land would allow him to plant one more Spirit Gathering Grass.
Every cultivator who entered Dragonfall Abyss would bring at least one magical artifact, and some who were well-off would even bring several.
Xiao Fei had poisoned many people in Dragonfall Abyss and collected dozens of corpses on the second level.
The magical artifacts he obtained totaled over 70 pieces, in various styles. Many of them were high-grade, with quality comparable to his Golden Silk Great Ring Saber.
Xiao Fei kept a high-grade wood-element flying sword for himself, a high-grade defensive magical artifact refined from a turtle shell, a golden brick, and a set of high-grade soft armor.
Additionally, among the pile of spoils was a feather-shaped flying magical artifact.
It was a white feather, ten feet long, light as nothing in his hand, and looked very beautiful and conspicuous.
He had obtained it by poisoning a family cultivator, but this artifact was too distinctive and easily recognizable, so he had never dared to use it.
Including many other magical artifacts in his possession, they could still be easily recognized by the families or acquaintances of those he had taken them from if he were to casually display them.
Before entering the market today, Xiao Fei had specifically put on a mask and worn a padded jacket under his robe, making him appear much fatter.
Upon entering the market, Xiao Fei first went to a refining workshop and took out the few magical artifacts he intended to keep for personal use.
"Shopkeeper, please help me reforge these magical artifacts and change their shapes."
Xiao Fei placed a sword, a turtle shell, a brick, and a feather before the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper's face showed an "I understand" expression. He skillfully took the magical artifacts to inspect them, indicating that he had done this sort of thing many times before.
"Fellow Daoist, these magical artifacts can all be modified. Only this flying magical artifact is a bit difficult.
This item is refined from an entire feather of a third-tier demonic beast, the Spirit Feather Crane. Its shape cannot be changed, only its color can be altered to make it resemble the feather of an Iron Wing Bird.
Do you find this method acceptable?"
"No problem!"
Afterward, the two discussed the modification plans for the several magical artifacts, agreed on a price, and Xiao Fei left with a receipt.
In this market, there was also a specialized pawn shop that dealt in stolen goods, exclusively purchasing items of unknown origin. Xiao Fei had only recently found out about it.
This pawn shop was located in an inconspicuous corner of the market. Its facade was dilapidated, with a sign hanging above that read "Xiao Hei's Sundries Shop," looking as if it might fall off at any moment.
This deterred many unaware cultivators from entering such a rundown establishment.
As Xiao Fei entered the dilapidated shop, he was immediately hit by the smell of old, decaying mold. An old man sat behind the counter, too lazy to even glance at Xiao Fei.
"Shopkeeper, do you buy local specialties?"
Upon hearing this, the old man's spirits immediately lifted, and his face was wreathed in a brilliant smile.
"Buy! Of course, we buy! Please, come in!"
The old man led Xiao Fei through a back door and down a corridor, emerging into a spacious and luxurious secret room, completely different from the dilapidated exterior.
Around the secret room were display shelves filled with various spiritual items.
"Fellow Daoist, you might be visiting Xiao Hei's shop for the first time. Our shop specializes in recycling old magical artifacts, old pills, and various damaged talismans, essentially used spiritual items."
The old man had changed his phrasing for the recycling of illicit goods, which sounded somewhat familiar to Xiao Fei.
"Xiao Hei's shop stands on integrity. It has been established for several hundred years and has earned the trust of many cultivators. Fellow Daoist can trade with confidence; Xiao Hei's shop guarantees customer confidentiality."
The old man's introduction was sincere, but Xiao Fei found it somewhat incongruous.
A shop that specialized in underworld dealings was now improving its service quality and emphasizing honest business practices. It truly was a case of "even thieves have their code."
"May I know what local specialties Fellow Daoist has? Please present them for inspection."
Xiao Fei waved his hand, and a large pile of magical artifacts immediately appeared on the ground.
The old man's face showed extreme shock. He had never purchased so many magical artifacts at once.
He hadn't expected that this young man, who looked so honest with his thick eyebrows and kind eyes and amiable demeanor, was actually a mad killer.
This pile of over 70 magical artifacts meant he must have killed at least fifty to sixty people to accumulate so many.
Facing this youth, whose hands were stained with blood, an outstanding talent in the realm of killing and plundering, the old man couldn't help but feel a sense of awe.
In any of the 360 professions, there were outstanding talents, and all such individuals would receive respect from others.
In the cultivation world, a place where morality had collapsed, law was absent, and sages were scarce, killing and plundering had naturally become a more promising profession among the 360.
Every year, cultivators flocking to this profession were like a river of fish, but those who could achieve the same level of success as the youth before him, killing like flies, were few and far between.
Xiao Fei naturally knew the old man had misunderstood, but he saw no need to explain. He quietly waited for the old man to inspect the goods one by one and appraise their prices.
The prices for selling stolen goods here were indeed much lower than through normal channels, but the convenience and safety were paramount. Moreover, this pawn shop had a very good reputation.
After an appraisal, Xiao Fei's batch of magical artifacts was valued at thirty thousand spirit stones.
All of these magical artifacts were of mid-grade or above, with many being high-grade. If sold individually, they should fetch fifty to sixty thousand spirit stones.
However, the buyer also needed to make a profit, so they couldn't purchase them at retail prices. Furthermore, these were stolen goods, so the price would naturally be discounted.
The old man filled a large wooden chest with spirit stones. Xiao Fei counted them twice with his divine sense, and the amount was exact.
This was the first time he had handled so many spirit stones, and Xiao Fei couldn't suppress his excitement.
As he took the chest of spirit stones into his space, he accidentally knocked over the wooden box, and the spirit stones spilled all over the ground in his dimension.
He didn't have time to tidy them up now and could only deal with it later when he returned.
However, he didn't notice that as the spirit stones touched the ground, they began to dissolve, and the spiritual energy within them was absorbed by the soil.
"Our shop not only buys various used items but also sells exquisite used spiritual items at affordable prices.
Sometimes, if we're lucky, we can acquire extremely rare items at very low prices."
After completing a large transaction, the old man, wanting to earn back some of the spirit stones he had just paid out, gestured for Xiao Fei to examine the spiritual items on the display shelves around the secret room.
Needless to say, these were all stolen goods obtained through killing and plundering.
Xiao Fei took a look and indeed, the prices were about ten to twenty percent cheaper than the market price.
Among them were several rare spiritual items that were usually difficult to find.
He even saw a Dragon Breath Grass on a shelf, something he had never encountered in other shops.
Xiao Fei picked up the Dragon Breath Grass and examined it. It appeared to be about 20 years old in terms of medicinal age.
"You actually have Dragon Breath Grass for sale here? Doesn't this only originate from Dragonfall Abyss?"
"It does only originate from Dragonfall Abyss, but there are always some fellow Daoists with great divine abilities who can obtain it through special means."
It made sense. As far as he knew, Zhu Yu had managed to hide a storage artifact by some unknown means this time and secretly smuggled out quite a few spiritual items.
"Dragon Breath Grass is used in many rare pill recipes and is one of the main ingredients in the Foundation Establishment Pill formula. Its yield is scarce, and it is a coveted item by all factions."
Xiao Fei glanced at the price of the Dragon Breath Grass and couldn't help but gasp inwardly. This Dragon Breath Grass, with only 20 years of medicinal age, was being sold for 800 spirit stones. This was even the discounted price from Xiao Hei's shop; it would be even more expensive elsewhere.
Considering the dozens of Dragon Breath Grass growing in his space, their value was at least fifty to sixty thousand spirit stones.
Moreover, he only learned today that Dragon Breath Grass was one of the main ingredients in the Foundation Establishment Pill formula.
Xiao Fei looked through all the spiritual items but found nothing he needed, so he took his leave.
The old man very eagerly saw Xiao Fei to the shop entrance, hoping he would bring more local specialties next time.
Even if he didn't have local specialties, he could still visit Xiao Hei's shop, as they sometimes had other rare spiritual items for sale.
After leaving Xiao Hei's shop, Xiao Fei found a secluded, unpopulated spot, removed his mask, and took off the padded jacket from under his robe.
He resumed his original appearance before leaving the market and started his journey back.