Naturally,Mo Fan didn't answer him.
He simply reached out calmly and pressed his palm over the snake molt.
"Not much."
Three short words,and then nothing more.
The proprietor gave Mo Fan a long,searching look,aware that he'd run into an exceedingly cautious customer.
He wasn't annoyed by it,either.
For people scraping a living in this black market,caution was the capital that kept you alive.
He stopped probing at Mo Fan's background and instead turned around,taking several strange instruments out of the cabinet behind him with exceeding care.
Tools made specifically for appraising high-tier demon beast materials.
Spiritual light flickered.
Formation patterns flowed.
A moment later,the proprietor set the instruments down and let out a long breath of stale air,his tone carrying an admiration he couldn't quite hide.
"Fellow Daoist,fine work indeed."
"This is genuinely an old molt from a high-tier serpentine demon beast.The residual pressure on it has been worn down considerably by the years and by some kind of force,but the quality of these scales absolutely can't be faked."
The proprietor paused,then examined it meticulously once more.
"When this molt was shed,that demon beast's cultivation had reached at least late*Golden Core*."
"Or even..."
"Very possibly close to Peak*Golden Core*!"
Hearing that appraisal,Mo Fan's expression beneath his hood didn't shift in the slightest.
Not so much as a ripple stirred inside him.
Obviously.
He'd picked the thing up with his own two hands.
How would he not know?
The only thing he actually cared about was the price.
The proprietor sat back down behind the counter,picked up his abacus out of habit,and began driving the price down.
"Fellow Daoist,this snake molt is fine,but we do have to be realistic about it."
The proprietor pointed at the palm-sized piece with a hint of disdain.
"First,this is only a molt after all,not a complete hide,so more than half the spiritual nature it once held has already leaked away."
"Second,what you've brought out is just an offcut.There's no way to use it to forge any large robe or defensive treasure..."
After rattling on at length,the proprietor held up two fingers.
"Two Mid-grade Spirit Stones."
"That's the highest price this old man can offer."
Mo Fan heard the quote and didn't even have the interest to haggle.
Without a word,he stuffed the snake molt straight back into his Storage Pouch and turned crisply on his heel.
"Fine."
With his back to the proprietor,Mo Fan tossed out a single flat line.
"I'll go try another shop,then."
The proprietor's eyelid gave a violent twitch.
In this black market,buyers and sellers haggling was the norm.
Who just walked out the moment a word didn't suit them?
"Wait,wait,wait!Hold on,Fellow Daoist!Hold on!"
The proprietor hurriedly called out to stop him,the pained look on his face half genuine and half performance.
"Everything's negotiable!Here,this old man will add a bit more...five!"
Mo Fan's steps didn't even pause.
"Eight!Eight Mid-grade Spirit Stones!"
Watching Mo Fan's foot already cross the shop's threshold,the proprietor finally gritted his teeth and named a figure that hurt him deeply.
"Ten!"
"For this one small piece,this old man offers ten Mid-grade Spirit Stones!That's genuinely the limit,Fellow Daoist!"
Mo Fan stopped.
He turned around and looked at the proprietor's old face,which seemed on the verge of bleeding.
After all that back-and-forth,Mo Fan had a rough sense of things now.
The prices the proprietor had quoted made him realize something.
Golden Core grade materials and those Tier-1 and Tier-2 demon beast materials from before weren't even in the same pricing system!
It was like comparing gold to scrap iron.
Mo Fan walked back to the counter,and naturally,he didn't bring out the whole damaged snake molt.
For one thing,the thing itself was incomparably tough.
He could absolutely use it to forge top-grade equipment for himself later.
For another,actually producing an entire Peak*Golden Core*snake molt in one go would be far too conspicuous.
He had no desire to walk into Cangqing City and immediately get marked as a fat sheep.
In the end,he only brought out a few palm-sized pieces.
The transaction concluded.
Clatter.
Several dozen Mid-grade Spirit Stones,glimmering with crystalline luster,were stowed securely into Mo Fan's Storage Pouch.
Stepping out of the shop,Mo Fan's mood took a sharp turn for the better.
He'd originally assumed this trip to Cangqing City would be one long hemorrhage of money.
Now,it seemed...
This snake molt was apparently worth far more than he'd imagined!
With the deal done,the proprietor's attitude had turned noticeably warmer.
Mo Fan took the opening to ask.
"Proprietor,one more thing I'd like to inquire about."
Mo Fan lowered his voice.
"Fellow Daoist is this old man's honored guest.Please,ask away!"
Having pocketed top-grade material,the proprietor was naturally happy to tell all he knew.
"In Cangqing City,is there any heavenly spirit liquid or spirit marrow of sufficiently high quality?"
Mo Fan sketched out a rough description according to Mo You's earlier requirements.
"It has to be naturally gestated,with an exceedingly pure origin."
"And ideally,it shouldn't have too strong an affinity toward any one of the Five Elements."
The proprietor's enthusiasm faltered slightly as he listened,and then a rather odd expression surfaced on his face.
"Fellow Daoist wants that sort of thing?"
"Is there a problem?"
Mo Fan raised an eyebrow.
"No problem as such."
The proprietor shook his head and gave a wry smile.
"It's just...heavenly essence at that tier isn't something you can buy by wandering into any random shop on the street."
The proprietor explained:
"Treasures of heaven and earth that genuinely reach the level of pure origin and natural gestation are resources many late*Foundation Establishmentand evenGolden Core*cultivators have need of."
"Even if an ordinary shop gets lucky and takes in a little of that sort of thing now and then,they'll rarely hang it out front waiting for buyers."
"Either it gets swallowed whole by a regular client or a major power behind the scenes the instant it surfaces...or it goes straight into the headquarters of one of those major trading guilds."
The proprietor gestured toward the eastern district.
"Beyond that,you'll only see them at high-level auctions,or at privately held exchange gatherings."
Mo Fan's brows shifted slightly as he listened.
"Is there an auction like that coming up?"
The proprietor stroked his goatee,thought for a while,and actually did give him a useful piece of information.
"Fellow Daoist's luck isn't bad.In a few days,here in Cangqing City,there just happens to be a high-level auction jointly hosted by several large trading guilds."
"This old man hears there are indeed several rare high-tier heavenly spirit objects among this batch of lots."
"As for whether the specific spirit liquid Fellow Daoist wants is in there,this old man wouldn't dare guarantee it."
"However..."
The proprietor's tone shifted,taking on a note of warning.
"There's one problem.An auction at that level isn't something just anyone can walk into."
"It requires exceedingly strict proof of assets."
"Or else you must hold an exclusive invitation token issued by one of those major trading guilds or a high-tier cultivator to get in."
Hearing that,Mo Fan's enthusiasm promptly deflated.
After all,where was a small fry like him supposed to get an invitation token of that caliber?
"Where does one get an invitation token?"
The proprietor smiled,those shrewd eyes sizing Mo Fan up from head to toe.
"That depends on Fellow Daoist's own connections."
The proprietor glanced,seemingly at random,toward Mo Fan's waist and hinted:
"Of course,if Fellow Daoist were willing to bring out more little trinkets of the tier you just showed me,this old man could try to arrange an introduction or two..."
Mo Fan laughed coldly inside and didn't agree immediately.
He'd only come here to ask for directions.
There was naturally no need to lay out his entire net worth in front of a merchant he'd met minutes ago and knew nothing about.
"My thanks for the information,Proprietor."
Mo Fan put away his spirit stones,planning to head out first and look for other channels to obtain an invitation token.
Before he left,seeing that he'd failed to hook the big fish,the proprietor didn't press.
He simply handed Mo Fan a small contact jade talisman with great enthusiasm.
"No matter,no matter!Business may fail,but goodwill remains."
"If Fellow Daoist ever has similar materials to move in future,come find this old man by all means!"
Mo Fan took the talisman offhandedly,gave it no further thought,and tossed it straight into his Storage Pouch.
He hadn't gotten far from the shop when Mo Fan noticed that the already somewhat crowded black market street ahead had suddenly grown lively.
Quite a few cultivators who'd been running stalls along both sides abandoned their stalls entirely and pushed their way over...
Forming a decent-sized ring of onlookers.
From inside the wall of people,one could faintly make out a girl's crisp shouting.
Furious,and even cracking a little.
"Let go!"
"What right do you have to grab me?!Let go!"
Mo Fan had no real interest in black market squabbles,but just as he was about to take a detour,his steps hitched slightly.
That voice...
Why did it sound a little familiar?
Driven by curiosity,Mo Fan peered in through a gap in the crowd.
One look,and he was immediately amused.
It really was someone he"knew."
None other than that spendthrift young mistress from the inn yesterday,the one who'd flung out a Mid-grade Spirit Stone without so much as blinking!
Except right now,the girl clearly lacked yesterday's inn-counter composure,back when she'd been surveying the world like a general.
That oversized,coarse gray robe she'd used to hide her identity had already been torn more than halfway off in the scuffle...
Exposing the light-colored flowing-cloud dress underneath.
She was hemmed in tight at the center of a group of ill-tempered black market cultivators.
And in the innermost ring of the crowd,the two burly men she'd been skulking after yesterday were,sure enough,present as well.
One of the big men had a Storage Pouch clenched tight in his hand,his face so grim it looked ready to drip.
The murmuring of the surrounding crowd quickly let Mo Fan piece the whole story together.
As it turned out,after tailing those two big men,the girl had,by god knew what method,actually managed to lift one of their Storage Pouches!
The problem was,this was probably her first time in the petty thievery business,and she was exceedingly unpracticed at it.
She hadn't made it three streets before the victim cornered her dead to rights!
Mo Fan stood outside the crowd.
Looking at that small face that had already begun to show some guilt...
The corners of his mouth slowly lifted.
Well now.
Looked like there was entertainment to be had.