Xiao Shou wandered around, browsing everywhere.
Whenever he saw something strange or unfamiliar that was cheap, he would buy it.
For him, it did not matter if he failed to find any hidden treasures.
These items could still be used as raw materials for testing his Absolute Fusion ability.
Perhaps he might even create something interesting.
However, ninety-nine percent of random fusion results turned out to be useless junk.
After buying a small item, Xiao Shou moved on to the next stall.
He noticed that the stall owner was an unfamiliar face.
The goods on display were a messy assortment, including more than a dozen jade slips, strange branches, withered grass, stones, several dark red round spheres, and a few broken weapons.
None of them looked particularly remarkable, yet a vague intuition caused him to stop in front of the stall.
He looked over the items and realized he did not recognize any of them.
The jade slips were all sealed with restriction spells, allowing only a brief summary of their contents to be seen.
He picked them up one by one and examined them, discovering that they were all incomplete cultivation techniques.
Since he already possessed a complete cultivation method, he had no need to reference others, so he was not interested.
Moreover, holding the jade slips did not give him that same feeling as before.
He then turned his attention to the other miscellaneous items.
Yes, it was one of those round spheres.
He felt a strong urge to obtain it.
After scanning the stall, he glanced at the owner.
The man's aura was stronger than his own, similar to the Foundation Establishment cultivators he had seen before, so he was likely at the early stage of Foundation Establishment.
Xiao Shou spoke to him, "Senior, could you introduce your goods and their prices? I do not recognize any of them."
"Which ones?" The stall owner appeared rather indifferent as he casually glanced at Xiao Shou and asked.
Xiao Shou smiled awkwardly. "Everything except the jade slips."
"Everything? Are you sure you can afford that much?" The stall owner frowned as he asked.
Xiao Shou scratched his cheek and said, "I might not buy everything, but if the price is reasonable, I could take most of them. But you have to tell me what they are used for."
The stall owner curled his lips slightly and said, "These all come from the outer region of the The Great Forest of Ancient Demon. There are demonic beast cores, withered branches of Moonlit Flower, dried remains left after harvesting Vermilion Fruit, and peculiar ores that grow alongside Vermilion Fruit. As for these weapons, they were collected from the forest, likely broken weapons left behind by fallen cultivators. As for their uses, you can figure that out yourself. The price is one mid-grade spirit stone for each item. Pick whatever you like."
"Demonic beast cores? What rank are they?" Without asking, Xiao Shou already knew that the six dark red spheres, each the size of a bull's eye and emitting a heavy bloody scent, were likely the cores.
"Second rank," the stall owner replied, raising an eyebrow. "So, do you want them?"
"Yes. I will take all the demonic beast cores and the ores that grow with the Vermilion Fruit. I do not want the rest." After speaking, Xiao Shou took out nine mid-grade spirit stones and handed them to the stall owner.
Just as the stall owner was about to accept them, a soft and gentle voice suddenly called out, "Wait."
As soon as the voice fell, a woman walked over.
She had a slender figure like a willow swaying in the wind, a gentle and delicate face, fair and tender skin, and she wore the light blue robes of an inner sect disciple of the Heavenly Void Sect.
She spoke to the stall owner, "Fellow Daoist, my friend has recently been experimenting with a new pill formula and is in need of demonic beast cores of various grades. Would you be willing to sell these cores to me? Yu Lin is willing to pay double the price."
"I am truly sorry. This fellow Daoist has already paid the spirit stones, so these cores no longer belong to me." The stall owner glanced at her and replied with a faint smile.
From the moment Xiao Shou heard the name Yu Lin, his head buzzed and his heart began to race.
A few beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
This person was Yu Lin, the one suspected of having transmigrated from another world.
She wanted to take these cores.
Were these demonic beast cores special? Was this a hidden treasure opportunity? Or was this originally a golden finger belonging to the original owner?
Countless questions filled his mind, but based on the feeling he had just experienced, the opportunity connected to these cores should belong to the original owner. Yet Yu Lin knew about it, while Xiao Ran did not? Or perhaps Xiao Ran knew but did not care? Then what exactly was this opportunity?
His thoughts raced as he carefully recalled the original text he had read.
Suddenly, inspiration struck, and he remembered an important detail he had previously overlooked.
In the original story, it was mentioned that when Xiao Ran and Xiao Yi entered the sect, Yu Lin was already at the early stage of Foundation Establishment.
Therefore, in Xiao Ran's previous life, even though Yu Lin knew about the Soul Tempering Flower that Xiao Shou had obtained during the Qi Refining stage, she had no way to take it.
After Xiao Ran was reborn, Yu Lin tried to obtain the Heavenly Orb from her but failed.
Xiao Ran lied, claiming that she had already given it to an important person, when in reality she had already refined it and stored it within her sea of consciousness.
However, in order to obtain the Soul Tempering Flower, Xiao Ran had suppressed her cultivation, preventing it from advancing.
From that point on, Yu Lin overlooked the possibility that Xiao Ran might still be hiding something.