Chapter 160: The Divine Bird’s Tail Feather, the Fiery Bifang

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He asked Xing, “A hundred-year-old demon like that, are you confident you could defeat one?”

“No!” Xing replied with great conviction. “And even if I could, we probably wouldn’t find one in the Great Islet Mountain range. And since we can’t leave this place, if I could, I would have run away long ago.” He made no effort to hide the fact that he was always thinking of escaping.

Ye Yiming also sighed. “I saw the claws of a demon wolf once at Yixiantian. The price was several thousand second-grade spirit stones, far beyond what we can afford now… Isn’t there one more talisman? What is it?”

Qin Haoxuan replied, “The Thousand-Mile Talisman. It’s a type of Godspeed Talisman, but much faster.”

Ye Yiming said, “Oh, the materials for that kind of support-type talisman are usually a bit cheaper than those for attack or defense. Quickly, see what it requires.”

Qin Haoxuan sent his spiritual sense into the slip and read through the long list of materials. The more he read, the more his heart pounded. When he withdrew his consciousness, he took a deep breath to calm his agitated heart.

“It requires the feather or leg bone of a spirit beast-level bird as the talisman catalyst, Azure Light Jade as the talisman body, and then some other materials like Spirit Transformation Stone Powder and Black Gold Ore. And no matter which of these three talismans it is, they all require an infusion of ten thousand low-grade spirit stones. The Thousand-Mile Talisman is no exception.”

After he finished speaking, Ye Yiming was left completely stunned. Xing also smacked his lips and muttered, “If I still had my fortune from back in the Netherworld, this would be no problem. But now, ten thousand low-grade spirit stones…”

Never mind the other materials; the ten thousand spirit stones alone were a massive headache. Where was he going to get that many? He had earned four thousand from selling Qi-Circulating Powder, but after spending seven hundred on the mirror, he only had three thousand three hundred left.

The Thousand-Mile Talisman, I must refine it, Qin Haoxuan encouraged himself silently. He had no other choice.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Let’s not worry about the spirit stones for now. We’ll focus on preparing the other materials first,” he said, standing up with determination. “Tomorrow, we’ll go to Yixiantian and see!”

Seeing his resolve, Ye Yiming thought about his junior brother’s many tricks. Perhaps he really could find a way to get the spirit stones. He nodded. “It’s late, and you’re tired. Get a good night’s rest. We’ll go to Yixiantian tomorrow.”

The next morning, the three of them met at Qin Haoxuan’s place and went straight to the market. This time, they did not go to the stall area but went directly to the shop district. The goods sold in the shops were of a much higher and more consistent quality, and the sellers were far more professional, with their wares neatly categorized.

After browsing for a while, they walked out of one shop under the disdainful gaze of the shopkeeper. Just then, Qin Haoxuan’s sharp eyes spotted a giant brown tortoise shell in a display case in the shop opposite. “Is that a Black Tortoise shell?” he asked, nudging Xing.

Xing looked from a distance and said with great certainty, “It is!”

The three of them went straight over. In front of the millstone-sized shell, Xing remarked, “The color is a bit light. It’s probably only around one hundred and twenty years old, but it’s good enough for your use.”

Seeing their interest, a clerk came over. “A few senior brothers, are you interested in this Black Tortoise shell?”

Qin Haoxuan nodded silently. “How much does it cost?” In his mind, he was calculating that if the price was around two thousand low-grade spirit stones, he could grit his teeth and buy it.

The clerk was taken aback. Many people came to look at the shell, but they all said they didn’t need it or couldn’t afford it when asked. Now, this new disciple was brazenly asking the price. If he could sell this, his commission would be a handsome sum. So, the clerk replied enthusiastically, “Twelve thousand low-grade spirit stones. If you’re sure you want it, Senior Brother, I can give you a discount. Ten thousand, and it’s yours.”

Hearing the price, the three of them exchanged a look. Qin Haoxuan let out a soft sigh. “Never mind,” he said with a tone of great regret, and they left the shop.

The moment they stepped out, ugly jeers followed them. “I thought the Nature Hall people had suddenly gotten rich, daring to come and buy a Black Tortoise shell. Turns out they were just window shopping.”

“They’re from the Nature Hall. They should stick to the street stalls!”

Qin Haoxuan paid them no mind. He was busy calculating the total cost of the materials for the Black Tortoise Talisman. “Including the shell, it would take thirty thousand low-grade spirit stones, plus another ten thousand for the infusion… a total of forty thousand.” After finishing his calculation, he was secretly dumbfounded and immediately abandoned the idea. He would focus all his efforts on the Thousand-Mile Talisman.

After visiting a few more shops, the high prices made them retreat. They decided to go to the street stall area to try their luck, hoping to find an ignorant seller.

The moment they arrived, they were surrounded by a crowd of vendors. The news of the “sucker” who had bought a worthless book for five stones had spread, and now the vendors all recognized him. “The fool from yesterday is back!” the word spread.

“Senior Brother, Senior Brother… that immortal scripture I told you about yesterday, why don’t you reconsider? I’ll give you a twenty percent discount!”

“Senior Brother, come and look at my stall! What you need might be right here!”

Because of his new fame, his status had been elevated from “junior brother” to “senior brother.” The three of them were taken aback by the vendors’ enthusiasm, but Qin Haoxuan could see the disdain in their eyes and understood what was happening. He ignored them.

They wandered through the stalls for a long time. After seeing the high-quality goods in the shops, they were unimpressed by the junk here. Just as they were about to give up, they spotted a bundle of feathers at a small stall.

The feathers were a pure red color, without a single speck of any other color, and each was seven or eight inches long.

Seeing Qin Haoxuan stop at his stall, the owner’s spirits lifted. “Hey, Junior Brother, have you taken a liking to something?”

“Just looking,” Qin Haoxuan replied. He felt no spiritual energy from the feathers; they seemed to be from an ordinary bird. But just then, Xing secretly poked him from behind and said with an unquestionable tone, “Buy it.”

Qin Haoxuan shot him a look, then picked up the bundle of feathers. They felt smooth and comfortable in his hand, but still held no spiritual power.

“Junior Brother, you have a good eye!” the vendor boasted. “You’ve picked out the best thing on my stall! The origin of these feathers is incredible. I was out training not long ago and happened to run into a spirit bird called a Bifang. After a great and arduous battle, I killed it and took this bundle of feathers.”

As the vendor was boasting, the people nearby all smiled. A Bifang was an extremely high-level spirit bird. Never mind this gray-robed disciple; not even a Spirit Tree Realm expert could necessarily kill one.

Seeing Qin Haoxuan hesitate, Xing seemed to get anxious and poked him again, this time whispering so only he could hear, “Buy it!”

Although Xing was unreliable, his eye for treasures was better than his own. And looking at the feathers, Qin Haoxuan also felt there was something different about them, though he couldn’t say what.

Why not test it with my spiritual sense? he thought. He condensed his spiritual sense and sent it into one of the feathers.

The moment he entered, he was stunned. An extremely shocking scene appeared before his eyes.