Palm Lightning

Lei Tianyu gazed tenderly at Kou Chang.

"Junior Sister Kou, do you still want to buy anything else?" Lei Tianyu asked softly, as if afraid that speaking any louder might leave a bad impression in Kou Chang's heart.

Kou Chang replied in a crisp voice.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Lei, but there is no need. I have already spent over a thousand of your Spirit Stones today, and I truly feel uneasy about it. Once I have Spirit Stones, I will certainly repay you without delay. I will also return the thirteen thousand two hundred and twenty-one Spirit Stones I owed you previously."

Lei Tianyu waved his hands repeatedly and hurriedly said, "Junior Sister Kou, speaking like this makes me sound like a stranger. Given the friendship between us, a mere ten thousand or so Spirit Stones are not worth mentioning."

The two chatted for a few more words before Kou Chang mounted her Azure Ox, preparing to depart.

Lei Tianyu suddenly called out loudly, "Junior Sister Kou, six months from now, the market auction will feature three Foundation Establishment Pills. I will definitely win one for you to help you reach Foundation Establishment sooner."

The Azure Ox had already risen several meters off the ground. Upon hearing Lei Tianyu's words, Kou Chang forcibly halted the Azure Ox's ascent, turning her head with a smile as beautiful as a flower.

A single backward glance birthed a hundred charms!

"Really? Thank you, Senior Brother Lei. Senior Brother Lei treats me so well, it truly leaves me not knowing how to repay you."

As if suddenly thinking of something, Kou Chang's face flushed red with shyness.

Her white teeth lightly bit her red lips, and her voice became as faint as a mosquito's hum. She shyly lowered her head, looking as if she wanted to bury her beautiful face into her full bosom.

"If Senior Brother Lei can truly buy a Foundation Establishment Pill, I will agree to anything Senior Brother Lei asks."

Her words falling, Kou Chang rode her ox up into the sky like a flying celestial maiden, quickly vanishing into the azure horizon.

Gazing at the horizon where Kou Chang had disappeared, it was a long time before Lei Tianyu reluctantly withdrew his gaze.

He then departed by Sword Riding, heading to parts unknown.

......

Song Wen walked deeper into the market. Finding a secluded corner, he altered his appearance before stepping into a technique shop.

A massive plaque hung above the technique shop's doors, inscribed with five large characters: 'Lei Family Precious Technique Pavilion'.

The technique shop spanned over a mu of land. Inside, more than a dozen pretty maidservants waited for customers. These maidservants did not have high cultivation bases, all being in the early stages of Qi Refining.

"Senior, what would you like to buy?" A maidservant came forward, flashing a Proficient smile.

Song Wen's current disguise was that of a Rogue Cultivator at the fourth layer of Qi Refining, since Palm Lightning required a cultivator to be at least at the fourth layer of Qi Refining to practice.

"Do you have Palm Lightning?"

The maidservant smiled. "The Lei Family is renowned for its lightning arts. Our shop naturally has Palm Lightning for sale."

"How many Spirit Stones?"

"Fifty Low Grade Spirit Stones."

Song Wen looked up at the maidservant, somewhat unable to believe it.

To think Palm Lightning would sell so cheaply!

Because the number of people who could cultivate lightning arts was small, the circulation of various lightning arts was also low. They were not like common goods such as the Flight Technique or Fireball Spell, which could be found everywhere.

That the Lei Family sold Palm Lightning so cheaply was greatly beyond Song Wen's expectations.

After making sure the other party had not misspoken, Song Wen handed over fifty Spirit Stones and said.

"I want one copy."

"Very well, please wait a moment, Senior." The maidservant took the Spirit Stones and replied charmingly, then turned and walked toward the counter in the middle of the shop.

A moment later, the maidservant walked over holding a jade slip and a soul contract.

"Senior, this is the soul contract. Please take a look. If there are no issues, you may establish the soul contract, and the transaction will be complete."

Song Wen took the soul contract and examined it carefully. He determined that the soul contract had no problems and was a standard template commonly used by cultivation shops.

He then took the jade slip and sent his spiritual sense inside, confirming that the cultivation method was also fine.

Song Wen established the soul contract and walked out of the shop amidst the maidservant's respectful farewells.

Not long after walking out, Song Wen's expression gradually darkened.

Upon the jade slip he had just bought, there was actually a spiritual sense imprint belonging to a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

This made Song Wen's impression of the Lei Family and these shops run by so-called orthodox cultivators even worse.

An item worth a mere fifty Spirit Stones was actually tampered with. This Lei Family was simply too unrestrained.

Did they intend to mark every single cultivator who bought techniques in their shop?

Song Wen circled around the market, spending nearly an hour to ensure no one was trailing him, before quietly erasing the spiritual sense imprint on the jade slip.

Finding a secluded spot, he removed a portion of his disguise, reverting to the appearance of a man in his thirties, and headed toward home.

Reaching the courtyard gate, just as he was about to push the door open and enter, a burly figure appeared in the corner of Song Wen's eye.

"Talisman Master Zhang, I have some fresh Demon Beast meat. Would you like a little?" the burly man said.

This burly man was Song Wen's next-door neighbor, named Sun Daxiong.

True to his name, this man was tall and sturdy, with powerful limbs. He was a body-refining cultivator at the seventh layer of Qi Refining, relying on hunting Demon Beasts for a living.

Sun Daxiong also had a daughter. It was unknown if his deceased Dao companion had been exceptionally beautiful, but his daughter completely failed to inherit his burly physique and rugged features. Instead, she possessed a delicate appearance. Now only seventeen, she had grown into a graceful and moving young woman, acting as a minor beauty on this street.

"What Demon Beast meat?" Song Wen asked.

Song Wen was not interested in Demon Beast meat. He had already reached Inedia; occasionally buying a bit of Demon Beast meat from Sun Daxiong was merely a front to avoid suspicion.

The blood vitality within a Demon Beast was extremely robust, generally stronger than that of cultivators in the same realm. Yet for some reason, after being devoured by Song Wen's physical body, the refined blood vitality amounted to less than half of what a cultivator of the same realm yielded. This left Song Wen perpetually lacking interest in Demon Beasts.

Seeing that Song Wen, although appearing disinterested, had not outright refused, Sun Daxiong immediately spoke.

"A Spirit Fox, a Spirit Fox comparable to the mid Qi Refining stage. A catty of meat only costs one Spirit Stone. Talisman Master Zhang, you will absolutely never buy mid Qi Refining stage Demon Beast meat cheaper than this anywhere else."

Hearing this, Song Wen couldn't help but complain inwardly. As expected, whenever Sun Daxiong actively peddled Demon Beast meat, it was never anything good.

The premium Demon Beast meat was always sold at a high price to the market's restaurants.

The only valuable part of a Spirit Fox was its pelt. Spirit Fox meat was rank and sour, extremely unpalatable. Only those who truly could not afford Demon Beast meat and, for some reason, needed to consume large quantities of it, would ever buy it, such as body-refining cultivators.

"I am not buying. My pockets are empty lately, and I can barely afford rent."

Song Wen refused crisply, then pushed open his door, stepped inside, and closed the courtyard gate without giving Sun Daxiong any face.

He did not lack Spirit Stones, nor was he willing to easily form grudges, but he could not stand Sun Daxiong repeatedly treating him like a fool by trying to sell him garbage Demon Beast meat.

Rejected by Song Wen, Sun Daxiong was not angry. He turned to knock on the courtyard gate of another neighbor.

A single Spirit Fox yielded over twenty catties of meat. His daughter couldn't stand the rank smell of the Spirit Fox meat, and he himself was truly tired of eating it. With no one in the market willing to buy it, he was trying everything to peddle it to his neighbors. Even if he only sold it for half a Spirit Stone per catty, it would still amount to ten-odd Spirit Stones, enough to pay a month's rent with some leftover.

His daughter's cultivation talent was not bad. Two months ago, she had just broken through to the fourth layer of Qi Refining, and her need for cultivation resources was growing.

Furthermore, his daughter had mentioned a few days ago that she wanted to try cultivating lightning arts, but his pockets had been empty at the time, leaving him unable to buy Palm Lightning for her.

However, on this trip outside, he had hunted a snow-white Spirit Fox, and its pelt was perfectly intact. He had finally gathered enough Spirit Stones to buy Palm Lightning for his daughter.

Behind Sun Daxiong, his courtyard gate suddenly opened, and a youthful, delicate face peeked out.

Watching her father trying to peddle Spirit Fox meat to the neighbors everywhere, Sun Ru shook her head helplessly.

Spirit Fox meat was famously terrible and not cheap, who would buy it?

Only Talisman Master Zhang next door, who didn't understand the situation when he first arrived, had been scammed by her father twice.

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