Chapter 574 Stone Gambling

Li Mu looked back.

Ding Yi, the erratic pal, had already finished shopping in the market and hurried back, carrying various sized shopping bags on his back.

Seeing this, Li Mu was rather speechless.

“He refuses to put those in the storage space and just carries them to show off. What’s wrong with him?”

Sensing Li Mu’s gaze, Ding Yi smiled smugly and said, “What’s wrong? I’m not allowed to carry those on my back? Hehe, I like the feeling of returning fully loaded.”

Li Mu didn’t say anything.

Ding Yi shook his head again and said, “These b*stards are just evil-hearted. They are so cruel in bargaining.”

He made full use of his talent in nosing around and already learned everything about the fair. As soon as he heard these people bid, he knew that the price they offered was way lower than the real value of this little beast.

Li Mu still did not speak.

Because he could guess it even if Ding Yi didn’t point it out.

The people who came to the Star Posthouse were all shrewd, experienced cultivators. They were cruel and merciless. When they opened their mouths to speak, each of them made shockingly low offers as if their words could really slash the price.

It was obvious that those buyers had noticed that this little boy was on his own and so they maliciously drove a hard bargain.

But the little boy was stubborn. He had his heart set on that Reset Elixir and rejected fairy crystals, barter, or anything else.

Some people were getting impatient, and they began to threaten the little boy.

The old Taoist who had called out the correct name of the little beast before chuckled and said, “Guys, this is not right. This little boy’s grandma is seriously ill, and only the Reset Elixir can cure her. That’s why he insisted on this condition. Show your compassion and stop forcing the deal on him. His grandma is lying in a cave outside the market…”

When the little boy heard this, he immediately showed a trace of vigilance in his eyes and turned to look at the old Taoist.

The old Taoist remarked, “Hey hey, kid, don’t worry. I didn’t investigate you.” He shook the banner in his hand and said, “There’s nothing in the world that I can’t figure out. Don’t worry. I mean you no harm.”

Having heard that explanation, the vigilance in the boy’s eyes did not dim at all.

He seemed to be on guard against everyone.

The old Taoist ignored the little boy. He turned back to the crowd and said, “We are all in Jianghu, so we should understand that there are rules in Jianghu. The little boy raised this Astral Origin Beast with his own blood and essence. He played with it since he was a child. So, the beast is family and a friend to him. Today, he had no choice but to take it to the market for sale to treat his grandmother. Everyone, please show some sympathy and stop tricking the kid into giving you a bargain.”

Hearing the old Taoist’s remark, some people shook their heads, chose to give up, and then left.

In the past few months, the old Taoist had been in Gold Town and making a living as a fortune-teller. Since his divination was quite accurate, he was somewhat famous in the town. Therefore, some of his acquaintances decided to give him face.

But not everyone wanted to give up for the sake of the old Taoist.

“A whole Reset Elixir is a little expensive, but I can consider giving you half of it,” A merchant-like fat man wearing a leather hat touched his triple chin and said with a smile. There were also two bodyguards beside him.

The little boy appeared to be a little hesitant.

He had been here for almost half a day. Finally, someone offered him the Reset Elixir. He was a little tempted, but soon he thought of something and shook his head very firmly. Then, he said, “No, a whole one.”

The merchant only smiled faintly and no longer offered a price.

“Let’s kill this little beast. Its fur can make a suit of brilliant armor,” someone murmured, his eyes glinting with excitement. He already guessed that the reason that the little beast fended off the sword light of the expert in the Void-breaking Realm was its strange black fur.

The little boy, who was holding the little beast and comforting it, immediately changed his expression when he heard these words. He tightly held this young beast called Flattop in his arms.

As for the little beast, it seemed to be able to understand human language. It looked at the man who made that remark and growled, baring its sharp white teeth, which were as sharp as daggers. Its eyes were full of anger and hostility.

The little boy and the little beast were like two souls that depended on each other in desperation. They hugged each other tightly and held on to their stubbornness.

Li Mu took a close look at that Astral Origin Beast called Flattop from the side. He was a little tempted to buy it. But for one thing, he didn’t have any elixir called the Reset Elixir. For another, the little beast and the little boy were really close. As the old Taoist said, they were like family. So, Li Mu couldn’t bring himself to take the beloved beast away from the little boy.

“I can only wish the boy good luck.”

Then, Li Mu turned around, ready to leave.

Ding Yi shook his head.

The royal bloodline of the Astral Origin Beast made it quite valuable. But the little boy had anxiously revealed the rareness of this little beast by himself. Ding Yi was worried that that would likely cause some unexpected trouble.

The two of them visited other stalls in the market.

Li Mu also bought a few things, which were all Taoist alchemy products. Those items looked exquisite and had some interesting functions, though not very valuable. Li Mu prepared to give them as gifts to others, including Hua Xiangrong, Wang Shiyu, Daji, and Qing Feng and Ming Yue…

It could be regarded as a little token of his kindness.

Ding Yi, on the other hand, revealed his shopping maniac nature. He binged shopping for all kinds of herbs, ores, and broken ancient weapons and armors.

“Who knows, there might be great treasures in those items. Haha, I’m just looking for the missed treasure.” He was extremely excited.

Li Mu was speechless.

“Who at the beginning described this market as a vegetable market and the goods in it as rotten vegetables?”

While wandering, Li Mu was suddenly attracted by a wave of faint energy fluctuation coming from the front.

It was a wave of very strange energy somewhere between life and death. He had never seen anything like this before.

The most important thing was that there seemed to be a subtle connection between this energy and the Xiantian Skill.

Li Mu’s heart gave a jolt.

Following the direction of this strange energy fluctuation, he went more than 20 meters forward and came to a small stall.

A piece of black cloth was spread on the ground.

There were dozens of irregular stones of different sizes on the cloth. The bigger ones were half the height of a human, while the smaller ones were only the size of a baby’s fist. The colors of the stones varied. Most of them were black and dark green, and they were scattered on the cloth haphazardly.

The vendor was a mysterious person wrapped in a black cloak, who was wearing a black mask, only revealing the eyes and nose. It was impossible to tell whether the vendor was a man or a woman. However, from the looks of the eyes, the vendor should be quite old, for the eyes were full of vicissitudes as if they had seen all kinds of things in the world.

The strange energy fluctuation echoing with the Xiantian Skill that Li Mu had sensed from a distance was exactly issued from this pile of stones.

There were a lot of people around the stall as well.

“This Primordial Stone isn’t bad. There is an eighty percent chance that it will produce a fairy crystal. Moreover, it should be a silver-grade…” A business-looking middle-aged man was weighing an ink-green rock that was the size of an adult’s palm in his hand as he muttered to himself. He then asked the vendor, “How much is this?”

The vendor didn’t even raise his head. “A silver-colored fairy crystal.” His voice was hoarse, as if two pieces of rusted iron were rubbing against each other.

“It’s too expensive.” The middle-aged man threw the Primordial Stone back into the pile and said, “Even if there’s a 100% chance of finding a silver-grade fairy crystal in it, it’s only the size of a silver-colored fairy crystal. It’s not worth it.”

The vendor didn’t say anything, as though he did not care to promote the goods.

Only then did Li Mu realize that these stones of varying sizes turned out to be the raw ore of fairy crystals.

It sounded like the raw jade gemstones on Earth.

So this was the gambling on stones.

When these raw stones were cut open, there was a certain probability that they contained fairy crystals. For cultivators, their value was much more important than the jade on Earth. Once they bet the right one, they could make big profits with just a small investment. But if they misjudged, they could only admit defeat.

This vendor, who was covered in a black cloak, ought to be an independent interstellar miner.

During the period of Li Mu’s observation, more and more people began to choose stones one after another.

Li Mu could tell that the selection of the Primordial Stones was also a profound branch of learning. These people observed the appearance of the stones, weighed them, examined their patterns and other characteristics before picking the stones. Then, they set a price.

But in the end, the price offered by the vendor was much higher than what the buyers expected. Therefore, after half an hour, though a lot of people came to examine the Primordial Stones, none of them made a deal in the end.

Even so, the vendor was still very calm. He stuck to the original price and never budged, which kind of upset the potential buyers around the stall, but there was nothing they could do about it.

“You can’t make deals like this,” someone warned.

The vendor said, “Buy it or leave it.”

A faint energy fluctuation came out from him but instantly disappeared. From that powerful and terrifying energy fluctuation, Li Mu found out that he was actually a cultivator in the Mortal Realm.

The one who gave the warning immediately backed off.

Some buyers who had other agendas also gave up.

A Mortal Realm cultivator was already considered one of the best in Gold Town. They were all ruthless characters, and one should not mess with them if not necessary.

Li Mu was also intrigued.

He bent down and pretended to be picking the stones.

In fact, he did not know the first thing about choosing Primordial Stone. The main reason he was doing this was to find the stone emitting that strange energy fluctuation.

But for some unknown reason, when he got closer, the strange energy fluctuation became much fainter. He could only tell that it was among this pile of stones, but he couldn’t tell which one it was right away.

Li Mu felt that the efficiency was too slow, so he quietly activated his Third Eye.

Since there were many people around, Li Mu was very cautious about using that power. He only let the Third Eye open a little so that it looked like a vertical slit as thin as a hair, and he also restrained the brilliance it issued. Adding that he lowered his head, no one else could see the change.

He picked up a Primordial Stone and observed it quietly.

“Eh?”

Li Mu was surprised.

The power of the Third Eye could not penetrate the surface of the Primordial Stone in his hands, so he could not see what was inside.

Interesting.

But on second thought, that seemed to be only fair.

There were many cultivators in the universe who practiced various kinds of Magic Eyes. If they could see through the Primordial Stone like this, then the stone gambling would become a joke. With the Magic Eyes open, the inside of all the Primordial Stones could be seen at a glance. Then, there would be no need to gamble at all.

So, it made sense that no Magic Eyes could see through the Primordial Stone.

Li Mu thought for a moment and was not willing to give up. He continued to try with a glimmer of luck. He quietly ran the Xiantian Skill and injected the primitive natural qi into the Third Eye. A wisp of strange mist gradually appeared in the Third Eye between his eyebrows.

Something amazing happened.

The crust of the Primordial Stones seemed to have disappeared all of a sudden.

He saw that in the middle of this raw stone, which was the size of an adult’s palm, there was a ball of golden light, like the golden light of the morning sun. It was extremely dazzling, occupying about one-third of the whole Primordial Stone.

“What’s this?”

Li Mu was very surprised and curious.

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