"Since you're already here, why don't you stay in the city for a few more days? I still need to visit a few other Daoist friends. It could take as little as seven or eight days, or as many as ten or more. Once I'm done, I'll come find you."
After giving Qi Xiu a brief explanation, Wang Guan left on his own.
Perfect timing, Qi Xiu thought to himself. He had just received the massive sum of 15 3rd-grade spirit stones, so why not spend some of it in the city? Especially on some 2nd-grade talismans like the Construction Warrior to solve the disciples' housing issues back at the sect.
Moreover, he needed to buy a proper mountain protection formation. The old Yellow Sand Illusion Formation barely held up against late-stage Qi Condensation cultivators, making it only a temporary solution. The new formation needed to be able to withstand a full-force attack from at least an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.
He felt uneasy with the constant flow of people around Black River City and knew it wouldn't feel secure without a proper defense.The new formation had to be large enough to cover the entire Black River Peak.
He also thought about He Yu and the others—having to rely on a single Black Wind Banner magical item to go back and forth between the mountain and the river below, even hauling up water for daily use. It was a tough life for them.
Just like in the Soldier's Outpost Market, Qi Xiu wandered from shop to shop. Whenever he found a useful manual at a fair price, he'd buy it to study. Occasionally, he'd pick up some essential cultivation items.
Qi Nan City, being a city that never slept, allowed Qi Xiu to operate almost around the clock. He only rested two hours a day, spending the rest of his time studying market trends and researching the geography of South Xinjiang.
….
Three days later, in a small, half-open shop tucked away in a quiet part of Qi Nan City, an ordinary-looking man dressed in a somewhat worn-out red robe walked in. He appeared to be about thirty years old and was clearly a bottom-stage Qi Condensation cultivator.
The moment he stepped through the door, the shopkeeper, sitting behind the counter, noticed him."You again?" He spoke up with a face full of impatience. "You've been coming here these past few days like this is your home. Let me tell you, it doesn't matter how many times you come, you won't get it. 1st grade robes with talisman formations, and you want it for less than ten 2nd-grade spirit stones? Don't even think about it! You don't look like you can afford it anyway, so don't go trying to take advantage of my shop just because we're closing soon."
Despite the shopkeeper's rude tone, the cultivator didn't seem bothered. He chuckled and stepped closer to strike up a conversation. "Boss Zou, that's not quite right. I really do want to buy them. If you're willing to lower the price a bit, I'll take more—twenty robes! How does that sound?"
"Oh?" The shopkeeper squinted suspiciously, looking at the cultivator up and down. This cultivator had been coming by ever since he learned the shop was closing down, constantly asking about the same robes, haggling endlessly without buying a thing. It was downright annoying. But now, he was suddenly talking about buying twenty robes? If that were true, even at a lower price, it might still be worth it.
"So, how much are you offering?" the shopkeeper asked.
The cultivator raised one hand, spreading his fingers wide to show the number five.
Half the price again! The shopkeeper's temper flared up, and he snapped. "You're messing with me again! Get out! We're not doing business with people like you!" He came out from behind the counter, ready to chase the man out.
"Wait, wait, hear me out first!" The red-robed cultivator stood his ground, pointing to a specific robe behind the counter. "This robe, if I'm not mistaken, has a flaw, right?"
"I've already told you before, this Daoist robe just has a color issue. It was made from a batch of black fabric that got poorly dyed, resulting in this grayish color. It doesn't look great, but the two talisman formations on it are meticulously embroidered. One of them is even a wind attribute formation, a genuine piece by a master craftsman. 10 2nd-grade spirit stones each is already a loss for us," the shopkeeper explained while pushing the red-robed cultivator toward the door.
The cultivator, appearing nonchalant, leaned against the shopkeeper and refused to budge "Haha, is that really all there is to it?" he said with a continued smile. "I happened to read a travelogue yesterday, and it mentioned that the dark embroidery on this gray robe is the family crest of a prominent cultivation family from the northwest of Qi Yun Kingdom. Isn't that right?"
"Eh? How did you…"
The shopkeeper was stunned. He hadn't expected the man to know about that. Back in the day, he had bought this batch of robes at a low price because he was greedy for a bargain. Little had he known that these robes were rejected goods from that cultivation family because the color was flawed.
1st-grade robes were similar to 1st-grade magical items in terms of production, but they were mostly decorative. Smaller sects and casual cultivators at the Qi Condensation stage wouldn't generally spend on them, and larger sects would just take one look at the patterns embroidered on the robes and walk away.
The shopkeeper had only discovered the real issue later on, realizing it was a losing deal. He had been upset and not willing to take a loss, so he'd kept them on display, hoping to find a sucker. He didn't expect this seemingly poor cultivator to call him out on it.
Seeing the shopkeeper's hesitant face, the cultivator pressed on: "Since you're closing down, you've got no use for these robes. Big sects wouldn't want something with another family's crest on it, so you won't be able to sell them anyway. How about this—if you sell them to me for 5 2nd-grade spirit stones each, I'll take the whole batch. What do you say?"
The shopkeeper pondered for a moment, sighed deeply, and said nothing more.
Seeing the shopkeeper wavering, the red-robed cultivator seized the opportunity, haggling persistently and wearing down the shopkeeper with his relentless chatter.
After a full half-hour, the red-robed cultivator left the shop with a satisfied smile, carrying a storage bag filled with twenty or so of those gray robes.
Two days later, at a regular auction held by a large auction house:
"Up for bid is a 1st-grade top-tier formation, the Wide Opening Virtuous Golden Light Formation. This formation covers a vast area and can rival the mountain-protecting formation of the same tier. However, unlike mountain-protecting formation, it can't rely on spiritual veins for power.
"It has gold and virtue attributes for defense. When fully activated, it can withstand attacks from ten late-stage Qi Condensation cultivators simultaneously and can be quite challenging for low-level Foundation Establishment cultivators to break through.
"During an attack, as long as there are enough spirit stones, the formation can shoot streams of golden light. Each stream of light has the power of a 1st grade mid-tier gold attribute magical item attack. Additionally, the golden light carries the suppressive power of the virtue attribute, which is especially effective against negative attributes such as demons, filth, evil, shadows, and death."
The auctioneer on stage was really pushing hard to sell the formation, but the buyers below weren't very excited. And in truth, this formation had some issues. The main problem was that it couldn't use spiritual veins like mountain-protecting formations did, which meant it would use up a lot more spirit stones.
Large sects buy these kinds of formations to protect their homes, and most of them have spiritual veins at their mountain gates. Not being able to use that was a big letdown, and the formation's attack power isn't great either.
Moreover, in this cultivation realm, which prides itself on being the true path of righteousness under the control of the (Great) Da Zhou Academy, cultivators who specialize in negative attributes have been mostly wiped out. So, the virtue attribute of this formation wasn't very useful either.
The auctioneer, his throat dry from all the talking, noticed the buyers in the audience were as still as a pond, with no sign of interest. He decided to cut to the chase, "Alright, last thing—while this array can't use spiritual veins, its spirit stone consumption isn't too high. Starting price is 400 2-grade spirit stones! Each raise is 10 spirit stones. Any takers?!"
Compared to mountain-protection formations at the same tier and with the same defensive strength, the price was pretty reasonable, but still, very few were interested. The bids trickled in slowly, with only occasional increases of 10 spirit stones at a time.
Finally, the auctioneer wiped the sweat off his forehead, relieved to be done with this troublesome item. He concluded, pointing to a red-robed cultivator in the crowd, he announced, "Congratulations to this friend here! For 450 second-tier spirit stones, the Wide Opening Virtuous Golden Light Formation is yours!"