Chapter 66: Discovery In Temple Market
Su Yan neatly handed over 270 silver taels to the steward, immediately taking the Tiger Demon Soft Armor and putting it on.
Tian Feng Weapon Shop’s forging craftsmanship was indeed impressive; it was soft armor that could resist blades and spears.
But when worn on the body, it was not much heavier than an ordinary piece of clothing.
It fit extremely well, not only not restricting his movements, but on the contrary, during battle, the special cut could better enhance his combat power, without needing to worry about general attacks.
Su Yan didn’t buy anything else, but instead Gao Zheng exchanged for a first-order high-grade Water-Cutting Blade, hiding it at his waist as a backup.
“Junior Brother, do you want to go take a look around the Temple Market?”
Just after coming out of Tian Feng Weapon Shop, Gao Zheng asked Su Yan.
“Temple Market?”
“Yes, you could also call it the Black Market, no problem.”
Gao Zheng said: “The chaotic stalls near the Old Temple, many people sell things there, and at night it’s even more a mix of fish and dragons.”
“Isn’t that pretty much the same as Mountain Market?”
Gao Zheng shook his head: “It’s different; how could Mountain Villagers resist the martial artists from various families? Here it’s mostly martial artists; if one is not careful, conflict will arise. In Tiger God Temple City there might still be some restraint, but once outside, who knows how they might target you.”
Gao Zheng’s implication, Su Yan already understood; Mountain Villagers couldn’t resist, so even trades were just exploitation.
The price high or low was always up to the martial artists to decide.
And here, if conflict really arose, it would be a clash of naked blades.
While talking, the two had already arrived around the Old Temple; sure enough, it was different from the streets just now.
Piles of chaotic stone like graves, weeds about knee-high, several original bluestone paths of the Old Temple leading left and right, various places with remaining stone tablets and red walls from back then, a scene of desolation.
No one repaired the Old Temple, people hiding their figures in various places, spreading out a beast hide and sitting or standing there, like an old monk in meditation.
Quietly no one spoke loudly, eyes gloomily sizing up any passing pedestrians, as if looking at fat sheep.
Su Yan slightly frowned; this kind of environment and atmosphere indeed made one uncomfortable, especially those people’s gazes.
Gao Zheng noticed Su Yan’s expression and said: “During the day it’s still fairly normal, but if coming at night, then one must be careful and cover one’s face.”
The things in the Temple Market were truly bizarre and varied, everything imaginable.
Just ordinary medicinal herbs and feral beast materials were plentiful here, many things even Su Yan had never seen in books, needing careful identification.
Besides these, there were actually people selling weapons, armor, poisons, hidden weapons.
Some armor still had blood on it, truly unknown from which fellow Daoist it was stripped.
It was precisely these things that made one realize this place also devoured people.
‘Hm?’
Su Yan’s expression paused, his peripheral vision suddenly catching sight of a person, whose stall had quite a few things, all feral beast materials, except some white jade stones that caught Su Yan’s attention.
‘This doesn’t feel like stones, more like insects.’
He grew suspicious in his heart; Gao Zheng noticed his pause and asked: “Fancy something?”
Su Yan walked straight to the nearby stall, his gaze landing on a bag of powder.
The stall owner saw Su Yan come over, eyes lighting up: “Blood-Strengthening Powder, half a silver tael per bottle, can strengthen qi and blood. Brother, want some? This is cheaper than Hundred Herbs Hall’s Blood-Strengthening Pills.”
“Your stuff dares to compare with Hundred Herbs Hall’s pills?”
Before Su Yan could speak, Gao Zheng had already retorted.
The gaunt stall owner still wanted to retort back, but seeing Gao Zheng tall and sturdy with full muscles, he knew he wasn’t easy to mess with.
He swallowed his words, only arguing discontentedly: “My Blood-Strengthening Powder ground from ordinary beast blood mixed with treasure plants is different.”
Hundred Herbs Hall had their researched prescriptions; ordinary martial artists who knew some medical and pharmaceutical skills could naturally mix some simple non-ranked or ordinary first-order medicines.
Blood-Strengthening Powder was one of them, boiled from beast blood, mixed with medicinal herbs for strengthening the body and supplementing blood, finally ground into powder to enhance efficacy.
Each had formulas of high and low quality, which could be said to be the minefield of rip-offs.
Couldn’t say it had no effect, but how effective it was really depended on conscience.
Su Yan sniffed, suddenly raising his eyes to look at the stall owner, saying: “It does have some interest; give me a bottle.”
In a muddle, he bought a bottle, and the two no longer continued browsing.
Su Yan found an excuse, telling Gao Zheng to handle his own matters, while he would wander a bit more and then go back.
Gao Zheng didn’t refuse; he was at a key moment of progress, entering the Desolate Mountains once, he needed to make ample preparations, inevitably contacting one or two and seeking some methods for advancement.
Once Gao Zheng left, Su Yan indeed wandered a few circles, then left the range of this Tiger God Temple Market.
He acted as if nothing was wrong, found an unmanned corner, and took out a pitch-black robe from the Insect Realm Space, putting it on.
A hardwood mask painted with insect-pattern oil colors, quite eerie.
“Just right to make a fake identity; what to call it?”
Su Yan adjusted his clothes, his voice line under control becoming somewhat gloomy and suppressed, with a cold icy feeling.
As the insect tamer grew stronger, the number would continuously increase; to maximize benefits, he needed to create a fake identity.
“Crashing into Li Feiyu in the end wouldn’t be good; simply call it Feng Ruohan.”
Su Yan strode out of the alley, heading straight to that previous stall.
An old man hunched behind the stall, hair gray-white, eyes slightly cloudy.
“Customer, what do you want?”
The old man saw Su Yan come over, full of surprise in his eyes, but without probing intent, instead asking about business.
A gloomy voice rang out: “How much for this thing?”
Su Yan’s gaze glanced at the ‘jade stones’ on the stall; the old man pondered slightly, then said: “This is the shedding of a Jade Beetle. Jade Beetles live year-round in mineral caves, swallowing minerals and absorbing moonlight essence. Though just shedding, it still has three-tenths medicinal potency, can strengthen bones, needs 10 silver taels each.”
“Hmph”
Su Yan coldly snorted; the old man jumped in his heart, hurriedly saying: “Customer, don’t be hasty. If you really want it, I’ll do 8 silver taels for you.”
“How about throwing in this Primordial Snake Poison Stem?”
Su Yan pointed to half a vine in the wooden box beside it; the old man shook his head like a rattle drum.
“That won’t do!”
The old man hurriedly said: “This section of Primordial Snake Poison Stem is a spirit herb; though toxic, bundling it like this would be a loss. If the customer wants it, this section of Primordial Snake Poison Stem for 10 taels, Jade Beetle shedding I’ll count you 6 for one… no, 7 taels.”
Primordial Snake Poison Stem’s toxin was not weak, not every prescription could use it.
The old man wanted to bundle it for sale.
“Deal”
This time Su Yan didn’t bargain further, paid the silver taels clear, took the things, and turned to leave.
Some saw his strange appearance and wanted to follow.
But in broad daylight, no one dared to follow openly.
He turned into an alley, changed clothes, and slipped out from the other side; Feng Ruohan had already disappeared.
Coming to the martial arts school branch hall’s temporary rest room, Su Yan’s eyes were already full of joy.
After searching far and wide, to find it without effort; unexpectedly encountering an exotic insect here.
This insect molt, only two were real, the remaining one was a genuine Jade Beetle.
