The items the Spirit Jade Master required were not difficult to procure.
Ginseng and lingzhi were commonplace in that regard—as long as a faction possessed sufficient power and kept a watchful eye, they could always amass some reserves.
Compared to the elusive Spirit Jades, these were mere “mundane goods.”
But what exchange ratio would apply?
The other party had not specified, merely adding an auction clause: “If the price for the first auction proves too low, we reserve the right to suspend the subsequent auctions.”
It sounded rather overbearing, yet given the Spirit Jade Master’s formidable background, no one dared voice objections.
At the outset, the bidders tested the waters cautiously, inching upward from ten stalks to twenty.
“You lot are really making a spectacle of us,” a towering Bald Man at least nine feet tall chuckled. “I’ll take it from here—one hundred stalks of millennium ginseng!”
One hundred stalks… While millennium ginseng paled in comparison to Spirit Jade, it remained a rarity. A hundred stalks would deplete even a major faction’s stockpiles.
Silence fell over the venue, and the first Spirit Jade fell to the Bald Man.
The Red Skirt Woman allotted time for the participants to deliberate on bidding for the remaining nine.
“These treasures are utterly tempting, and the prices are exorbitant,” Princess Huo Ling murmured in discussion. “Why not accept Innate Treasures in trade? Consumables like millennium ginseng are hard to retain long-term.”
“Hmm, it’s not the ginseng itself they want, but items ‘brimming with the essence of heaven and earth,'” the Little Snake Demon pondered. “The corpse of a demon with centuries or millennia of cultivation base might suffice…”
Was the Spirit Jade Master seeking to bolster their cultivation base, or to nourish their body?
“Those are far more valuable than millennium ginseng,” Princess Huo Ling teased with a smile. “Does Miss Yin have any?”
“I already ate them all…”
This girl had arrived late; had she come sooner, Yin Luan might have spared a roast goat leg or the like…
Fortunately, Yin Luan carried one item that qualified as a “spiritual treasure.”
The “bamboo shoot” gifted by Laisheng, the Millennium Bamboo Spirit.
She had kept it on her person, wrapped in the Preservation Talisman from Senior Sister Zou Lian, too reluctant to consume it all at once. She only nibbled when hunger struck.
Since devouring Earth Louse meat and Little Radish Spirit leaves, she had discovered that such fare outshone ordinary meals—their nourishing savor left her utterly invigorated.
Alas, who knew when she might restock? Best to savor it sparingly, like a thrifty Little Snake…
The bamboo shoot’s worth surely surpassed these pedestrian ginsengs and lingzhis; it might even secure a Spirit Jade.
Yet Yin Luan held little attachment to trading it away and loathed surrendering food. Her true interest lay in the Spirit Jade Master.
Following the intermission, the Spirit Jade auction resumed.
The second, third, fourth, and fifth sold in quick succession. Princess Huo Ling bid once, but fervor drove the prices beyond her reach.
By the sixth, bids cooled somewhat, matching its inferior quality.
Clearly, the Spirit Jade Master was no fool; they knew spiritual resources around the Great Zhou Kingdom were finite and could not sustain peak prices indefinitely.
Even lesser Spirit Jades were priceless treasures, and all nine found buyers.
“The final one,” the Red Skirt Woman called out. “This concludes the Spirit Jades! We’ve conferred with the seller—they have no more stock, and there will be no third batch!”
Unveiling so many was staggering enough; any surplus might suggest they littered the wilderness.
Ultimately, Princess Huo Ling claimed it for seventy-five stalks of millennium ginseng.
These ten Spirit Jades scarcely filled a chest, yet they commandeered hundreds of stalks of millennium ginseng and lingzhi, stripping the market bare.
Yin Luan’s curiosity deepened; she yearned to meet this enigmatic figure.
After the auction concluded, she bid Princess Huo Ling farewell, exchanged words with Su Paopao, who promptly accosted the Red Skirt Woman with a torrent of chatter.
The woman’s eyes gleamed; she hastened over and escorted them to a secluded chamber.
“Miss, is this true? You possess something that interests the Spirit Jade Master?”
“Just let her see it.”
Yin Luan withdrew a talisman-paper-wrapped bundle from her bosom.
“Good,” the Red Skirt Woman nodded. “But aren’t you afraid someone will snatch this away from you? To be frank, the Spirit Jade Master’s strength is quite formidable.”
“If I can bring it out into the open, then I have the power to take it back,” Yin Luan said flatly. “No matter whose hands it’s in.”
Anyone daring to steal food from the Little Snake Demon had no chance of leaving Fire Valley Kingdom alive. Whether they’d even keep their corpse intact would depend entirely on how tasty they were…
The Red Skirt Woman said no more and left temporarily with the bamboo shoot.
Not long after, she hurried back, lowering her voice as she spoke.
“The other side agreed. Please follow me—the Spirit Jade Master is waiting in the chamber of commerce’s secret room.”
She led Yin Luan and Su Paopao on a winding path, delving underground to what appeared to be a hidden outpost.
They hadn’t even laid eyes on the person yet when that “fragrance” assaulted them once more, making the Little Snake Demon salivate, her heart pound, and her emotions surge with excitement.
“Senior, your drool is dripping out!”
Su Paopao quickly reminded her.
She couldn’t understand why her senior was so fond of drooling… Could it be that she was interested in that red-skirted beauty?
So Senior liked the mature type? Then she was safe. The reason Senior had forcibly kept her around definitely wasn’t to covet her looks… Though she did have some beauty to speak of—Su Paopao was quite certain of that.
Following the scent, Yin Luan turned toward the mysterious figure from “other places.”
The person wore a metal mask and stood tall and slender. Judging from her attire and the slight swell at her chest, she was a woman.
She was gazing at the bamboo shoot in her hand, riddled with bite marks, her eyes openly filled with longing.
“This is a product condensed from a thousand years of cultivation base,” the Iron Mask Woman said. “So, what will it take to trade for it?”
“Sorry, but I lack for nothing,” Yin Luan replied. “I’m just curious about you and wanted to meet in person. Oh, right—you didn’t sneak a bite, did you?”
“…No.”
The woman carefully wrapped the bamboo shoot and handed it back.
The Little Snake Demon reached out to take it, deliberately brushing against the woman’s palm. An icy chill, laced with a profound sense of danger, instantly coursed through her entire body.
An expert—a truly formidable expert!
She had never felt such acute danger even when staying with Senior Sister Zou Lian!
“Care to reconsider?” the Iron Mask Woman said. “Besides the Spirit Jade, I have other items that are exceedingly rare and precious to people like you. I guarantee they’ll be worth far more than you expect.”
As she spoke, a hint of arrogance crept into the woman’s tone, as if she were utterly convinced that her possessions would leave these backwater folk stunned—like someone from the Royal Capital strutting into a remote village.
Unfortunately for her, she had encountered the Little Snake Demon, a creature who truly wanted for nothing except food.
“I want to know,” Yin Luan said, sidestepping the offer, “where exactly you’re from.”
“Don’t you already know?” the Iron Mask Woman replied. “From the other side of the Barbaric Wastes.”
“The other side of the Barbaric Wastes is a big place,” the Little Snake Demon shot back, making it up as she went. “When doing business, it’s important to declare your origins. Otherwise, how are we supposed to know if you’re from a proper sect or some crooked demon or devil path?”
Though her face was masked, a flicker of hesitation appeared in the woman’s eyes.
After a moment of thought, she slowly spoke.
“I’m from the Heavenly Immortal Pavilion on the other side of the Barbaric Wastes. You can call me Xian Yuan. The fact that I can conduct trades peacefully here should prove I’m no evil outsider.”
Heavenly Immortal Pavilion?
Yin Luan glanced at Su Paopao, who shrugged to indicate she’d never heard of it.
It sounded like some impressive faction, but this woman crossing the Barbaric Wastelands alone, without a single attendant, made her seem highly suspicious.
“Oh, so you’re from Heavenly Immortal Pavilion,” the Little Snake Demon said, putting on an air of impressed surprise as she nodded. “I’ve heard the name. But what brings you all the way here? This side of the Barbaric Wastes is resource-poor—nothing worth such a long journey, is there?”
“That’s my private business.”
Xian Yuan replied coolly.
Seeing that the woman wouldn’t elaborate, the Little Snake Demon asked no further. She simply stared at her in silence with her eyes.
Xian Yuan stared back. The two locked eyes for the time it took half an incense stick to burn until, finally, the former broke and spoke.
“Is there a problem?”
“You smell so good,” the Little Snake Demon said honestly. “Can I have a lick?”
“……”
Su Paopao, standing nearby, pulled out her little notebook and jotted down: “Likes tall women, long legs, mature style”……
“Miss,” Xian Yuan steadied her emotions and spoke again. “I believe you sought me out for something serious… Feel free to speak your mind. Transactions are built on mutual needs, after all.”
“No lick…?”
Yin Luan pouted and pulled out the jade pendant. “I’ve got this jade pendant here. It doesn’t seem like anything local. Could you take a look at it…? I can’t share the bamboo shoot for you to eat, but I might let you have a lick.”
Xian Yuan’s hand shook twice as she accepted the jade pendant. She clearly hadn’t expected this woman to deliver such… colorful words without missing a beat.
You bit into it like a dog gnawing on a bone, and I didn’t complain. Now it’s just a lick and no eating? Can you even act like a person…?
She cradled the jade pendant in her palm and studied it for a moment. Her expression shifted noticeably.
“Where did you get this jade?”
“My parents left it to me,” Yin Luan lied without hesitation. “See anything special?”
“You’d better not let just anyone catch sight of this jade,” Xian Yuan said gravely as she handed it back. “This is an ‘Inheritance Spirit Jade’—something that only a specific bloodline can activate. It’s extraordinarily rare; even on the far side of the Barbaric Wastes, you’d be hard-pressed to find one. Inheritance Spirit Jades typically show up in great clans or major powers, but…”
She paused, as if running through her knowledge in her mind, then shook her head. “I’ve never heard of any family or faction starting with ‘Yin’ that possesses something of this caliber…”
“Inheritance Spirit Jade…”
Yin Luan examined the pendant closely.
Its value just kept climbing.
“But you’re right about one thing,” Xian Yuan added. “This jade has no business being in the Eastern Wastelands… That’s what the outside world calls your Great Zhou Kingdom region. The Eastern Wastelands do have their share of local specialties, but spirit jades aren’t one of them.”
It was almost certain now. She wasn’t a local snake…
“Thanks for the heads-up,” Yin Luan said. “Per our deal, you get one lick of the bamboo shoot… Just one, no more.”
“…”
Xian Yuan gave her a long, measuring look, then let out a sigh. “Forget it. I can’t just seize what someone treasures. Consider the information a free gift.”
“How could I let you do that?” The Little Snake Demon cheerfully tucked the item away and grinned. “I wouldn’t want to take advantage… Mind if I ask what you need all these heavenly treasures for? Maybe I can lend a hand.”
“Lend a hand…?”
Xian Yuan’s lips twitched in disbelief, but after a moment—perhaps recalling the Inheritance Spirit Jade—she pursed them and waved for the attendants to withdraw.
“The reason is simple.” She loosened her belt, lifted her inner garments, and unwound the bandages to reveal her waist. “Healing an injury.”
A ghastly wound marred the beauty’s slender waist, resembling deep claw marks.
It wasn’t the usual bloody red. Instead, a layer of black, writhing matter coated it—eerie and repulsive. The substance burrowed relentlessly into the wound, only to be repelled by an invisible barrier. They tangled and clashed in a grim stalemate.
Su Paopao took one look at the sight and fainted dead away, her twin ponytails shooting straight up in terror.
Even Little Snake, who’d witnessed her share of gruesome scenes, nearly lost her breakfast.
“What… what caused that?”
She fought down her nausea and asked.
“Picked it up crossing the Barbaric Wastes,” Xian Yuan replied evenly as she rebound the wound. “Its dangers were beyond what I’d anticipated. I made preparations ahead of time, but they weren’t enough to avoid it entirely.”
“That’s terrifying,” Yin Luan said, gazing up at the iron mask with a heavy expression. “Your face isn’t…?”
“Oh, my face is fine. The mask is for other reasons.”
“That’s a relief. I couldn’t bear it if a beauty like you had her looks ruined… But can ginseng and lingzhi actually heal something like that?”
“No,” Xian Yuan said. “They only slow the deterioration. For a real cure, I’ll need to get back to the Heavenly Immortal Pavilion.”
“This…”
She’d arrived already injured. Heading back in this state—she’d be lucky to survive the journey with half her life intact.
After agonizing over it, the Little Snake Demon finally fished the bamboo shoot from her bosom. She bit her lip in extreme reluctance. “I’ll split the bamboo shoots with you—half and half. If you’d come sooner, I might’ve saved you some of the tender bits.”
Yin Luan smacked her lips thoughtfully. Then inspiration struck.
Wait, hold on—I’m a Great Demon too, so logically speaking, my blood and flesh should be pretty nourishing… No, no way! I’m not a gecko that can regrow its tail after it’s chopped off. And I’m certainly not like Xiao Luo and Lily, who can sprout fresh new leaves after shedding their old ones!
“Are you sure?”
Xian Yuan eyed the bamboo shoot bristling with bite marks, then glanced over at the Little Snake Demon.
Just moments ago, when she’d offered to buy it at a price, the other girl had refused. Now she was proactively offering it up for free… What kind of logic was this?
In all her time out in the world, Xian Yuan had never encountered anything like it.
“I’m sure… Helping others brings its own joy!”
