Chapter 121: Buying Things

Chapter 121: Shopping

Shang Yunduo kicked up a little fuss for a bit, then knew when to stop.

Although it probably wouldn't happen, he was really afraid that if the other side got pushed too far, they might just grab some random human cultivators from the vendors and force-feed them to him.

Seeing that he was willing to settle for a discount, and wanted both spirit stones and items, even saying that his storage pouch wasn't enough and they could use storage pouches to make up the difference, the casino simply gave him a sack of storage pouches confiscated from those human cultivators.

They even called it a good deal, saying there were plenty of medicinal herbs and materials inside, possibly even human alchemy recipes, and that he definitely wouldn't lose out.

Shang Yunduo would be a fool to believe that. He was given over twenty storage pouches—jeez, not a single decent artifact among them. And they claimed he wouldn't lose out? They were taking him for a fool!

After another round of bargaining, the casino threw in some extra spirit stones to even things out.

The casino then invited him to compete again, but Shang Yunduo declined. He was injured! Anyway, if anyone asked, he'd say he was coughing up blood all night, and now everything hurt. He'd come back after he was better.

Shang Yunduo took the spirit stones and treated the Tiger cultivators to another meal. After two meals together, even those from different branches who had never met before got to know each other.

The Tiger clan branches were scattered across the demon territory, and their accents were slightly different. Seeing this, Shang Yunduo asked them about the several medicines and materials that Pei Jie had been looking for but couldn't find.

Most of the things he mentioned, none of them had heard of. It wasn't until one of them heard the term "Spirit Rhino Shell" and asked, "Spirit Rhino Shell? You mean the shell of a Spirit Rhino?"

"Spirit Rhino?"

"Spirit Rhinos have shells?"

"I think they have a ring around their neck."

"Don't you just eat Spirit Rhinos straight? What's the shell good for?"

"For refining pills, I heard. Over in the human world, they use Spirit Rhinos to make medicine."

"Brother Baiyun, you want to refine pills too?"

Shang Yunduo nodded.

He thought to himself, being an alchemist was really convenient.

Hearing them chat away, he sent a voice message to Pei Jie. "Senior, is the Spirit Rhino Shell you need the same as the one they're talking about?"

"Mm-hmm. Spirit Rhino horn is a sacred ingredient for alchemy, but it's been rare for a thousand years. Nowadays, Spirit Rhino shells are mostly used instead."

I see.

"Wait, you can really use it for alchemy?"

"I thought it was the horn that's used for alchemy."

"Spirit Rhinos have horns?"

"Yeah! They start growing them after a hundred years."

"So which is it, the shell or the horn?"

Shang Yunduo parroted what he'd just learned: "Horns are too rare, so shells are used instead."

"That works?"

"What can you do? Spirit Rhinos are just too rare."

"Is the Spirit Rhino Valley going to open again this year?"

"Looks that way."

"Did our clan win last time around?"

"Of course we did!"

"Last time, Hongkuo from the Deep Forest Tiger Clan led the team—the strongest we've had in nearly a hundred years!"

"Too bad you only get one shot. Hongkuo's done."

"I wonder who they're sending this year."

"Yeah, it's tough to pick this time."

Shang Yunduo was a bit confused, but since everyone knew about it, he was afraid he'd blow his cover if he asked directly. Fortunately, Pei Jie had some knowledge, and piecing together bits from the Tiger cultivators' chatter, he roughly understood what the Spirit Rhino Valley competition was all about.

Since ancient times, humans have captured Spirit Rhinos for their horns to make pills. To balance the medicinal properties, they had to process and refine the stuff. Demons, on the other hand, didn't mess with all that—they just swallowed them whole.

So humans mostly used Spirit Rhino pills to help with Core Formation or to boost cultivation at the Golden Core stage. Now that there were no Spirit Rhino horns, the pills refined from Spirit Rhino shells were less effective, mainly used by cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage to power up.

On the demon side, the Spirit Rhino was also sacred. Back when there were plenty, great demons would just eat them straight to boost their cultivation. Word was that swallowing a whole Spirit Rhino could even increase the odds of successful Transformation.

Later, as Spirit Rhinos became rarer, even great demons had to fight over them. The Spirit Rhino became a must-have for demon cultivators about to undergo Transformation, and sometimes even Transformation stage cultivators would compete for them to hoard for their juniors.

All this fighting made the already rare Spirit Rhino even rarer. When they were on the verge of extinction, even the pushy demons had to call a truce and sit down to figure things out.

After much discussion, they finally decided to enclose the last valley where Spirit Rhinos lived and raise them there. Every ten years, a selection would be held, with fair competition among the clans. Only the younger generation could compete, and the top ten would enter the valley to hunt Spirit Rhinos on their own.

To reduce damage in the Spirit Rhino Valley and control the scale of battles, Transformation stage cultivators were not allowed to participate, not even Core Formation stage. Only juniors at the Spirit Gathering stage could compete, and each clan was limited to three participants.

Shang Yunduo mentally matched the grades—the demon Core Formation stage roughly corresponded to the human Golden Core stage, and Spirit Gathering stage was roughly equivalent to Foundation Establishment stage. The destructiveness was indeed limited.

Last time, the Tiger clan sent Hongkuo, supposedly a once-in-a-century genius. Back then, he had just broken into Spirit Gathering and his cultivation was unsteady. The Deep Forest Tiger Clan was very reluctant to let him participate so early. Since each demon could only join once in a lifetime, why not wait another ten years until his cultivation was more solid?

But although the Tiger clan's overall strength wasn't bad, they hadn't produced any standout talents in recent years. For several consecutive competitions, they had lingered outside the top ten, always just a little short of entering the valley. Now that they finally had a standout talent, they couldn't afford to wait.

Hongkuo himself wanted to give it a shot, so he held a little competition within the clan. Only then did the Deep Forest Tiger Clan's elders reluctantly let him go.

Afraid he might die in the valley, they loaded him up with all the pills and artifacts he could carry.

That time, catching a Spirit Rhino was secondary; Hongkuo's safety came first.

But Hongkuo lived up to expectations. At a young age, he took second place and even hunted an adult Spirit Rhino, making a big name for himself in the demon realm. The Tiger clan basked in his glory.

Another ten years passed, and it was time for the competition again. It was said that the Tiger clan branches were scratching their heads once more. The event was starting next month, and they still hadn't decided on the participants.

As they talked, everyone's gaze involuntarily fell on Shang Yunduo.

"...Brother Baiyun, you've never participated in the Spirit Rhino Valley competition, have you?"

Shang Yunduo was stunned and shook his head. He'd only just become a demon. Ten years ago, he was still in middle school. "No, I haven't."

The Tiger cultivators urged him: "Then go give it a try!"

"Yeah, yeah!"

Shang Yunduo: "Me?!"

"Don't you all want the Spirit Rhino Shell? If you can catch a Spirit Rhino, the elders might be happy enough that they'll give you the shell."

"As long as you get a rank, the elders will definitely give it."

"Our Tiger Clan is not like those stingy small clans; we are very generous."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

But he was a fake!

Wouldn't they find out?

Shang Yunduo sent a voice transmission to Pei Jie. Pei Jie was calm: "No, as long as you don't parade around in front of Transformation stage cultivators, Core Formation stage won't see through your disguise."

Shang Yunduo immediately felt much more at ease. To be safe, he also asked if there would be any Transformation stage cultivators watching. When he heard it was only Core Formation stage elders, he was even more relieved.

Shang Yunduo still had to be modest: "Am I really up to it? I can't beat Tie Hou."

But in his heart, he thought: Who cares if I'm good enough or not? I'll go first. Once there, it's easier to get the Spirit Rhino Shell than here.

When the Tiger cultivators heard this, they chimed in with reassurances: "How can you compare with the Iron Marquis Clan?"

"Exactly, their clan has few members and rarely competes. If they go, they're definitely in the top three."

"I heard that Tie Hou was beaten by you until he vomited blood and is still recovering today. With your strength, being selected for the team is definitely no problem!"

"Even if you don't get selected this time, there's always next time!"

"You'll definitely make it!"

Amid the praise of the tiger cultivators, Shang Yunduo grew more and more confident and cheerful; his injuries didn't hurt anymore.

He wanted to head straight to the Spirit Rhino Valley, but the location of the Spirit Rhino Valley was common knowledge among high-level demon cultivators, but kept secret from those at our level. He had no idea where it was.

He still had to go to the gathering and selection site of the various Tiger Clan branches to compete within the clan. Fortunately, there was plenty of time; he could still make it if he left now.

Where the selection location was, ordinary tiger cultivators didn't know. Fortunately, among the many Spirit Accumulation stage tiger cultivators present, three had participated before. They told him to go to the Four Corners Tower.

Shang Yunduo was baffled. Where was the Four Corners Tower? He didn't know either!

He asked Pei Jie, but even Pei Jie didn't know.

Fortunately, there was also a tiger cultivator named Fenger who wanted to go. His younger brother had gone to the selection this year, and he wanted to go watch, but he was troubled because he had no travel expenses and couldn't go.

Shang Yunduo immediately said he would cover the travel expenses. Fenger would lead the way, and along with Lie Qi who also wanted to join the fun, they agreed on a departure time and then dispersed to purchase supplies for the journey.

It was still quite far from here to the Tiger Clan territory. They first had to take a beast carriage to a place called Triple Mountain, switch to a teleportation array, and after teleporting, take another beast carriage to the Four Corners Tower.

Only then did Shang Yunduo learn that the demon race also had teleportation arrays, and they even had two types of beast carriages: those that ran on land and those that flew in the sky.

The drivers were naturally demon beasts. You just had to pay spirit stones based on the distance and number of people. No need to run on foot!

Shang Yunduo snorted: "What do you mean 'use your feet'? Senior, you've been lying to me all along."

Pei Jie: "How did I lie to you? Can't you run there on your own?"

Shang Yunduo: "..."

He could just walk in human territory too!

By the time he ran there, the opportunity would be long gone.

After a few verbal jabs, they arrived at the inn. Shang Yunduo took out all of the storage bags to inspect them.

These were all the spoils of his beatings!

He poured them out and looked carefully. Magical artifacts, spirit stones, elixirs, spirit herbs — indeed, none of those were present.

There were quite a few talismans and some books. He suspected it was because demon cultivators generally couldn't read, didn't understand human scribbles, didn't know what these things were, couldn't be bothered to learn or use them, so they were left behind.

Among these books, there were indeed a few on alchemy, some cultivation technique manuals, and even a formation book. Opening the table of contents, it was all about Soul-Snatching Formation, Five Ghosts Heart-Stealing Formation, Earth Fiend Soul-Slashing Formation, and the like.

It seemed that those who dared to come to demon territory were not all virtuous people.

But what was more numerous were ancient books and handwritten notes, piles of them.

Shang Yunduo guessed that most likely they were left by the two Ou brothers' group. He even found quite a few rubbings in one person's storage bag.

Shang Yunduo exclaimed in surprise: "They really made the rubbings!"

Speaking of which, this group had really bad luck.

The civet cat host of the casino said that they were sold by the new ape king of the Flying Ape Clan. It was said that when the new king ascended the throne and was inspecting his territory, he caught them.

Shang Yunduo simply didn't know what to say.

If he said they had bad luck, they succeeded in breaking in.

If he said they had good luck, they got caught.

According to their own account, the Flying Ape Clan had been fighting for quite a while, at least a year or two. It just so happened that when they went, the new king was selected and caught them during his first patrol.

But they still had a bit of luck — at least the Flying Ape Clan didn't like eating humans. After several years of chaos, they happened to be poor. So they neither ate nor killed them, but instead bound them and sold them all the way here to the casino. And as luck would have it, they were discovered by the two of them.

"Which one is the stele inscription of the Xiaoyao Sect..." He spread out the sheets of paper one by one. They didn't look like they were from the same period. "Hmm..."

He couldn't recognize a single character!

Pei Jie wasn't much better, but he could confirm that these stele inscriptions were not cultivation techniques of any kind.

"That is to say, these stele inscriptions are indeed more than a thousand years old!" If they were from around a thousand years ago, how could Pei Jie not recognize them?

Pei Jie nodded.

Just from the rubbing marks, they really looked like things from before the Great Separation.

But at that time, whether human or demon, they were all various small tribes with different languages and scripts. He couldn't recognize all of them.

"Forget it," Knowing when to back off is a virtue. Why trouble oneself? Shang Yunduo packed everything away. Anyway, there was no way to deal with it for now; he would deal with it later. If it really belonged to the Xiaoyao Sect, he would give it to his senior sister when he saw her later. "Let's just go shopping!"

After sorting and packing everything, Shang Yunduo emptied several storage bags to hold the items he needed to buy.

He had to buy plenty of herbs needed for elixirs — who knew if it would be easy to get everything in the heart of demon territory. Besides what they needed, he bought anything hard to find in human territory as he saw them. Spirit stones could be earned again, but if these things were needed in the future, it wouldn't be easy to return here.

After spending seventy to eighty percent of his spirit stones and filling the storage bags, just as he was about to head back, Shang Yunduo turned around and saw that book merchant who had cheated him yet again.

What a coincidence!

The casino had just lost a large group of people, so the first suspects were the human cultivators in the city. Today, the number of human cultivators setting up stalls had decreased, but he still dared to hang around here.

Shang Yunduo said excitedly, "Senior, it's that bookseller again. I'm going to have a word with him!"

Pei Jie found it amusing too. "You're still thinking about those books?"

Shang Yunduo: "Mm-hmm."

He remembered the guy, but the guy didn't remember him. As soon as he saw Shang Yunduo, the bookseller immediately started packing up to move his stall.

Shang Yunduo: "Hey! Why are you running? Don't run! You, right there!"

Nearby demon cultivators gathered to watch the commotion. To avoid being mistaken for some escaped convict, the bookseller could only stop and give a bitter smile, forcing an apologetic smile at Shang Yunduo, wondering what exactly he had done to offend this tiger demon.

Tsk, look at this one—all covered in injuries, clearly a tough customer. Even after being beaten like this, he still goes out looking for trouble with others.

"What would you like, sir?"

Shang Yunduo: "Don't you just sell pills and books?"

The previous incident was settled, and Shang Yunduo had no intention of tricking him again. He sniffed each pill on the stall one by one. He left the ones he could refine and set aside the ones he couldn't yet.

As for the books, he also skipped the ones he wasn't interested in. Everything else he took—complete collections of Sacred Clan languages, human cultivator translations of Sacred Clan languages, Sacred Clan legends, Strange Tales of the Ten Sacred Clans, introductions to the Sacred Clan for newly arrived human cultivators, and customs of various Sacred Clans, and so on.

Shang Yunduo had actually seen the latter before in Wuyou City, but back then the book was probably titled something like "A Collection of Common Knowledge on Demons"; just because he was in a different city, it was now called "Sacred Clan."

Pei Jie also picked out two books, mostly light reading like strange tales and legends.

Their selections made the bookseller nervous, afraid they would just take the items without paying spirit stones.

When Shang Yunduo started asking about prices and taking out spirit stones to pay, the bookseller even felt relieved and grateful—so this tiger demon wasn't an outright robber after all!

This time, he didn't dare to overcharge: thin books were fifty spirit stones, thicker ones a hundred, and the pills were only marked up by ten percent above cost.

After hauling them all the way from Wuyou City, he had taken quite a risk, so the price was actually quite fair.

So fair that Shang Yunduo felt like hitting him.

Why hadn't he been this honest back in Wuyou City?

After paying the spirit stones, Shang Yunduo glared at him fiercely a couple of times before leaving, leaving the bookseller utterly baffled. Well, maybe he should find a more secluded spot to set up his stall!

Author's note:

Shang Yunduo: The kind get pushed around, and the fierce tiger pushes others around (glare).