Chapter 200: Chapter 115: Black Market, Ancient Bamboo Slips, Acquiring the 5-Line Glazed Heart Lamp (Part 2)

Zhou Changwang glanced at the person and noticed that it was the purple-clothed female cultivator he had seen earlier; he decided not to pay excessive attention.

Because at this moment, another person stepped forward, surprisingly, it was the late-stage Qi Cultivation Practitioner dressed in a loose Daoist robe, looking somewhat frail.

Once he got on stage, he tossed his storage bag, and then took out a massive humanoid puppet from it.

Seeing this, Zhou Changwang’s eyes flashed, unexpectedly finding that this humanoid puppet was the same middle-grade puppet, the swordsman puppet, he had seen when he first entered Bai’s Trading House.

Immediately after, the person spoke, saying: "This puppet is a first-grade middle-tier puppet, its exterior forged from Wujin steel, and the long sword in the puppet’s hand is also a large middle-grade magical artifact, extremely hard.

The entire puppet has powerful combat capabilities, not inferior to a practitioner at the Sixth-Layer Qi Cultivation, and it’s easy to control; just need to refine it, and it can be controlled by spiritual sense, as easily as using one’s own arm.

It’s an essential item for fellow Daoists embarking on adventures.

I am offering it at the price of twenty thousand pieces of Lower-Grade Spirit Stone, though I’m also willing to exchange it for magical artifacts or materials.

Furthermore, I am actually a puppet master. If fellow Daoists have any needs, you can contact me privately, order puppets from me. As long as the price is right, I will surely not disappoint any Daoist friends."

"So it really is him, the first-grade middle-tier puppet master, Cao Youde."

Zhou Changwang squinted his eyes slightly, finally confirming the person’s identity; it was indeed the puppet master Cao Youde, who had previously tried to sell him puppets in Bai’s Trading House.

He hadn’t expected that this puppet hadn’t been sold, and now it was being offered for sale again in this black market.

Some were tempted by a humanoid puppet priced at twenty thousand pieces of Lower-Grade Spirit Stones, but there were few who were genuinely willing to spend that much spirit stone to make a purchase.

Thus, after waiting for a while, this puppet ultimately couldn’t be sold.

However, two cultivators later approached him, evidently planning to order some puppets.

Soon after, another cultivator went forward, presenting their treasures for introduction.

Among them were magical artifacts, array flags, and exotic fruits, and there were jade scrolls as well.

Especially some ’Ancient Bamboo Slips’.

They were jade slips left from ancient times, brought back by cultivators exploring certain ancient places.

On them were special restrictions; only by unlocking these restrictions could the contents within the jade slips be probed, which varied greatly, possibly ancient heritages, secret techniques, cultivation experiences, a cultivator’s memoir, or simply a letter, some environmental introductions, a bundle of meaningless dialogues, low-tier technique’s cultivation methods of little value, or even blank jade slips...

As long as the restrictions remained locked.

No one could tell what content lay within.

For example, Zhou Changwang’s cultivation technique "Pure Yang Five Elements Technique" belonged to a type found within ancient slips.

At this moment, a cultivator expressed that they possessed three ancient slips, offering them at a price of one thousand pieces of Lower-Grade Spirit Stone per slip, available for trade if needed.

It’s worth mentioning that even obtaining ancient slips, and should they truly hide some precious heritage or secret techniques, doesn’t necessarily ensure a successful acquisition of the treasures within.

Because the premise is — unlocking the restriction.

But restrictions belonged to array applications.

If the restriction’s power was exceedingly strong, or if the one unlocking it was overly rough, it could even trigger backlash from the restriction, thereby destroying the ancient slip itself, annihilating it in the process.

Therefore, unlocking an ancient slip’s restriction is indeed a risky endeavor.

With one misstep, it could end up as a futile draining of efforts.

Spirit Stones gone, and the jade slip too.

Nonetheless, it seemed that there was no shortage of people with adventurous spirits on-site.

Although one thousand pieces of Lower-Grade Spirit Stone was a significant sum, many cultivators, even the weakest being in the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining, were relatively well-off.

Thus, the three ancient slips were soon purchased.

Soon after, another person stepped forward; it was one of the performance troupe members who came along with Wu Yuntian, Zhuge Hongyu.

She, appearing as a middle-aged female cultivator, had a noticeable scar on her face, though not unattractive, yet quite conspicuous.

Once on stage, she directly spoke, saying: "I don’t have any treasures for exchange, but I wish to purchase a bottle of Second Grade Spirit Pill Illusion God Pill, or any Second Grade Spirit Pill that can recover divine sense and mental state."

Regrettably.

The Second Grade Spirit Pill is of limited use to most Qi Cultivation cultivators, so there would naturally be few stored, not to mention that spiritual spirit pills of this kind are even more precious and rare.

A cultivator suddenly spoke up to remind her.

"Fellow Daoist might as well attend the Bai Family’s upcoming auction.

Currently, only there within the marketplace might such spirit pills be available for sale."

"Alright, thank you for the reminder, fellow Daoist."

Zhuge Hongyu responded, but in the end, didn’t say much more.

Zhou Changwang had some guesses; evidently, she was seeking it for healing some cultivator, and the reason their troupe could settle in the marketplace was thanks to the Chen Family.

The auction hosted by the Bai Family certainly would not invite those labeled as ’Chen Family’.

Following that, one after another, several people displayed various treasures for sale.

Among them were one or two items that Zhou Changwang found quite intriguing, especially a Third-Grade Spirit Fruit, the Seven-Colored Lotus Seeds.

The Seven-Colored Lotus Seeds are said to be spirit fruits capable of enhancing a cultivator’s spiritual root talent to some extent. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

But such treasures intrigued Zhou Changwang, as they did others as well.

Thus, as soon as the cultivator presented it, four to five other cultivators began bidding, and Zhou Changwang bid as well.

However, Zhou Changwang called out a price of three thousand pieces of Lower-Grade Spirit Stone, and didn’t make another bid.