Chapter 152 - 11: List of Spiritual Objects (4/3, Thank you to Alliance Leader Wen Ye Chu!)

Chapter 152: Chapter 11: List of Spiritual Objects (4/3, Thank you to Alliance Leader Wen Ye Chu!)The value of the Treasure Mirror, evidently, was beyond that of a ’treasured item’ worth a thousand taels of silver. In theory, for such a big transaction, the shopkeeper wouldn’t be able to decide on his own—no matter the type of pawn, he would need to consult with the backers of the shop. However, the shopkeeper of Li Zhen Pawnshop had significant autonomy because he had powerful backers, and he caught the hint given by Steward Li. Thus, he offered An Jing a convenience, "However, three hundred taels of silver is indeed too heavy to carry in cash. I wonder if you accept our Da Chen’s silver notes . . ." "Is gold not acceptable?" An Jing frowned slightly, feigning dissatisfaction, while the shopkeeper shook his head with a bitter smile, "Ah, Xuan, you haven’t been in Da Chen for long and perhaps are unaware of our situation . . . here, gold is exceedingly precious!" The people of Dust Li generally do not accept silver notes; they only want cash or gold. But Da Chen has many rituals, especially the grand sacrifices of the government, which naturally do not involve offerings of grain or meat but rather the Nine Spirits and Five Metals, the numbers of eight lands and nine skies, the supreme full nine-five, the Eight Desolates and Nine Heavens. Within these, true gold, spiritual gold, pure gold, and sun gold each corresponds to ’one of the Five Metals,’ ’the chief among the Nine Spirits,’ ’the foundation of the Eight Lands,’ ’the lord of the Nine Skies,’—all four great sacrifices require gold. Since it is necessary for sacrifices, some Martial Arts elixirs also require true gold or spiritual gold as ingredients. Thus, this item is considered an extremely important strategic material and is not readily used as currency. In Da Chen, most trade is conducted with cash silver. If there is gold involved . . . it’s either a reward from the Da Chen officials or ill-gotten gains, and reporting it is sure to be correct! "Silver works too—I don’t care about the little bit of interest. As for silver notes, I don’t want those. You help me pay off my account; with the rest, loan me some extra silver, as I intend to buy some things." An Jing played the part of a young master perfectly, naturally not wanting the silver notes or the cash. Now, having awaited an opportunity, he smiled, saying to the two people who were showing difficulties, "The things I want to buy certainly won’t trouble you, and you don’t need to worry about me not having the money." "Aside from the Treasure Mirror, I have some valuable talismans on me . . . I came to Kanming City earlier with the intention of purchasing spiritual objects for cultivational breakthroughs, aiming to give my family a surprise." "However, after asking around everywhere and buying a pile of miscellaneous items, I nearly ran out of money without finding what I needed. When I asked those people, either they knew nothing, or they just brushed me off with sales talk. It was incredibly frustrating." "This time, I pawned the Treasure Mirror with the additional intention of asking around—surely, in such a vast city as Kanming, there must be shops that sell spiritual objects, right?" "That’s easy to do, easy to do . . ." Initially, the shopkeeper looked troubled when he heard An Jing didn’t want silver notes and made many requests. But upon hearing that An Jing just wanted to purchase spiritual objects, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief, "The only question is, what kind of spiritual objects would you like, young brother? Our pawnshop also supports bartering with objects." "As for the talismans, we need to see the patterns and effects, whether the quality is solid . . . Please don’t take offense at my bluntness, but if the craftsmanship of the talisman is poor, it really won’t sell for much." —Good! Finally, I’ve found it! Goal achieved! Having finally found a channel to purchase spiritual objects, An Jing also smiled, speaking softly, "You can rest assured about my family’s talismans." "My requirements are not high, just some Ferocious Beast Meat or Metal Attribute spiritual objects that can assist with cultivation will suffice." Although An Jing took quite the roundabout path, he managed to find a way to purchase spiritual objects at the fastest speed—certainly faster than slowly becoming acquainted and integrated into local circles. In this way, perhaps taking a longer route was also a shortcut. As An Jing made his request, the shopkeeper quickly went to check the inventory and seek commissions, preparing a list to arrange a trade of spiritual objects for An Jing. If we have to put a price on it, spiritual objects are not expensive. Not to mention other things, Ferocious Beast Meat, the most common spiritual object, can be quite costly, but the most ordinary Ferocious Beast Meat, such as ’Snow Rabbit Meat,’ is actually only ten taels of silver per jin. Compared to the meat of livestock that costs one tael of silver for a dozen or even twenty jin, it is only about a hundred times more expensive, and may even be cheaper than some particularly rare delicacies from the mountains and seas. Of course, Snow Rabbit Meat justifies its price: it truly can strengthen the body, sharpen the ears, and fortify the legs. It seems inexpensive merely because there is an abundance when caught—one can capture a whole nest at once, which keeps the price from rising much. However, what An Jing was seeking was not this ordinary kind of Ferocious Beast Meat that simply boosts Blood Qi. Following the Sword Spirit’s advice, what would serve him best was Ferocious Beast Meat rich in Blood Qi and related to the Gold Fiend—aligned with the Blood Fiend and Gold Fiend in his Fate Pattern. In doing so, his absorption rate would increase, and after breaking through to the Inner Breath like Tide, it would also enhance his ability to cultivate the Taibai Luminous Godly Ban at a faster pace, allowing him to condense the Second Prohibition more quickly. "I hope there are suitable spiritual objects . . . If not, some attributeless spiritual objects will do. If all else fails, my body, transformed by the Seven Fiend Heavenly Mandate, should also be able to absorb spiritual objects of any attribute for my foundation—I won’t be at a loss in any case." As An Jing was pondering, the shopkeeper returned beaming with a list in hand. "Would you take a look?" An Jing took the list without hesitation. The spiritual objects listed were mostly quite rare, certainly not the likes of Snow Rabbit Meat, Little Breath of Pure Grass, or Morning Mist Water Vapor—items that were technically considered spiritual objects but were in fact not very valuable. [Rootless Flower] A water attribute spiritual object, called rootless because it sustains itself on the Aura of Water Spirit, appearing to float in mid-air. Consuming it allows one to breathe underwater for several days and provides healing and a degree of protection from fire burns. [Moon Rainbow Stone] A water stone formed from the essence of night rain and moonbows, possessing both water and Supreme Yin attributes. As a rare Supreme Yin spiritual object, it should be very expensive, but because the two attributes are intermixed, making it difficult to separate and purify, the essence of Supreme Yin cannot be extracted. Thus, it can only serve as an echo of ’grabbing the moon from the bottom of the water,’ causing its price to plummet. However, it is still relatively pricey among water element spiritual objects. An Jing wondered if the Tianyuan Realm possessed the technology to purify and separate these attributes. If so, that would mean a huge profit. [Reflecting Glow Goosefoot] A relatively rare fire-wood dual elemental spiritual object typically found on mountain slopes with no obstructions. Its diamond-shaped leaves reflect the light of the great sun and stars above, shining brightly at night, making it easy for wild beasts in the mountains to consume it and enhance their Root Bone and Spiritual Wisdom; hence, it’s scarcely found. [Streamside Cold Dew] A yin elemental spirit dew that condenses in the deep, shadowy mountain streams of forests which haven’t seen daylight for a century. It is not only used for Alchemy but also serves as an auxiliary for cultivating Spiritual Pupils. An Jing silently took note of it in his heart, since he had obtained the True Pupil Technique from Nian Quan and had yet to master it, lacking the primer for cultivation. Although Streamside Cold Dew is yin elemental and not unattributed like Breath of Pure, it is still a form of Spirit Water, and thus, it could be used. The rest of the spiritual objects were unremarkable, and An Jing skimmed through them, not finding them useful. However, at the end of the list, An Jing spotted a spiritual object that perfectly met his criteria. [Golden-haired Bear’s Paw] "You actually managed to hunt a Golden-haired Bear?" An Jing lifted his head in surprise and looked towards the shopkeeper, who wore a proud expression, "No, not you... But that hunting team that caught the Golden-haired Bear was actually willing to let you sell the meat of such a Spirit Beast on their behalf!" "Young brother, this is the reputation of our Li Zhen Shop!" Speaking of his own shop’s reputation, even the pawnshop’s shopkeeper puffed out his chest with pride: "Let’s not talk about the Golden-haired Bear, even spiritual objects of higher grades are within our reach at Li Zhen Shop!" An Jing could tell that Li Zhen Pawnshop and Li Zhen Shop had an affiliation, with the former being an offshoot of the latter, and the latter likely being one of the large trading companies in Wild State. As for the Golden-haired Bear, it was different from an ordinary Ferocious Beast; it was a ’Spirit Beast.’ If one were to make a correspondence between humans and beasts, then ordinary people would be equivalent to ordinary wild beasts, Ferocious Beasts would be equivalent to Martial Artists at the Inner Breath realm, and they carry bloodlines of ancient ancestors, so without a full set of martial equipment and weapons, most Martial Artists wouldn’t stand a chance against them. Spirit Beasts, then, are creatures that, through various opportunities and coincidences, absorb the mysteries of heaven and earth, displaying unique Special Abilities or Divine Skills. In other words, these are beasts that have awakened their ’Fate Pattern.’ Such creatures, if their predecessors were Ferocious Beasts, are called ’Fierce Spirits’; if they were Auspicious Beasts friendly to humans, they are called ’Spirits’; if they possess wisdom, regardless of their origins, they are collectively known as ’Demon Spirits.’ Most of them possess some Special Abilities or even Divine Skills, such as having fur as tough as iron, the ability to breathe out frost, wind, thunder, and fire, or the capability to travel thousands of miles overnight with immense strength. The Golden-haired Bear is one such bear kind of Ferocious Beast that has awakened as a ’Fierce Spirit.’ Even the shortest one stands nearly two zhang high, and a single swipe of its paw in the river sends fish leaping ashore within a three to four zhang radius. Some have even seen this giant bear single-handedly break a pine as thick as three men can embrace, truly a chilling display of strength. The most terrifying aspect, though, is its hide, which is impervious to water and fire. Before the Frost Calamity struck, An Jing’s family had a set of inner armor made from Golden-haired Bear hide—it was impervious to blades and spears, and even powerful crossbows and sharp arrows couldn’t damage it. If it ever got damaged, one merely needed to apply Spiritual Gold to it, and it would naturally heal. This inner armor was a family heirloom, worn by Sir An, and had saved him from danger several times. It could even be said that Sir An was able to escape from the aftermath of the Hanhai demon disaster thanks to it. The Golden-haired Bear’s Paw, in particular, was pure essence, used in elixirs to nourish qi and blood, strengthen one’s foundation, enhance one’s origin, and fortify the bones of the arms—it was a spiritual object that could strengthen one’s skeleton! The price of this paw would be at least six hundred taels of silver; if it was from an Old Bear, exceeding a thousand taels wouldn’t be surprising. It was truly a valuable treasure!