Chapter 56

The stall owner's eyes lit up at these words, and he began to complain, "Brother Qin, just the carefully selected spells I have here, fifteen spirit stones are absolutely not expensive... Forget it! How much are you willing to pay, Brother Qin?"

Qin Sang frowned, looking as if he was making a difficult decision. Finally, he gritted his teeth, "I can offer at most four spirit stones!"

The stall owner's face fell, "Brother, you might as well rob me! Absolutely not!"

It seemed he had offered too low.

Qin Sang hesitated, flipping through the book for a while. He then took out the Water Condensation Barrier Spirit Talisman and said, "All these spells are very common. The only thing of value to me is this cultivation technique. But... how about this, this spirit talisman is worth ten spirit stones. I won't make you give change. If you're willing to trade, we'll trade; if not, it's fine."

"Change? This Water Condensation Barrier is only worth six spirit stones..."

The stall owner rolled his eyes, grumbling unwillingly, but his actions were quick. He grabbed the Water Condensation Barrier Spirit Talisman and slapped the *Yinming Scripture* into Qin Sang's hand.

Finally getting what he wanted, Qin Sang couldn't wait to find a place to read it carefully. He managed to suppress his eagerness, wandering around the square for a while, and gathered some information.

The first thing he learned was about spirit roots.

No matter who Qin Sang asked, everyone was unanimous: without spirit roots, cultivation was impossible. Even a few suspected members of the demonic sects said the same.

This made Qin Sang even more puzzled about why he was so special.

The second thing was about Yinsha Qi.

It turned out that for cultivators, Yinsha Qi was a common concept. Qin Sang almost got laughed at for asking about it.

Yinsha Qi is a kind of extremely cold and malevolent energy born from the earth. The exact reason for its birth is hard to explain, but it is said that the most Yinsha Qi is found on ancient battlefields where many corpses piled up. Due to some special reasons, Yinsha Qi gradually forms in these places.

If one stays in Yinsha Qi for a long time without protection, it not only affects cultivation but can also lead to death even for a cultivator with a strong body, as the malevolent energy will eventually enter the body.

Apart from extremely rare secret techniques or magical artifacts that can utilize Yinsha Qi, ordinary cultivators should avoid it.

Of course, ordinary cultivators don't need to worry about this, as Yinsha Qi is very rare and mostly found in dark and hidden places, making it hard to encounter.

After learning about Yinsha Qi, Qin Sang was not happy but worried, his heart sinking to the bottom.

Yinsha Qi was so hard to find. Did he have to resort to his old methods, find a country at war, and delve into the mortal world to collect souls?

Knowing about the You Mountain Market, he now had a way to connect with the cultivation world, and delving into the mortal world was not impossible.

However, getting entangled in the mortal world would waste time, and as Qin Sang's realm increased, he could clearly feel that using ordinary human souls to create soul pills was too inefficient to support his cultivation.

Unless he could kill hundreds or thousands of people at once.

It would be better to stay in the You Mountain Market for a while longer and see if he could gather information about places where Yinsha Qi exists. He doubted anyone would compete with him for such a thing.

After wandering for so long, the sky was gradually darkening, and fewer people were on the square. Qin Sang decided to find an inn in the market and stay for a while longer.

However, before that, Qin Sang found a secluded place and quietly took out the jade plate.

Even the young man surnamed Han had misunderstood the jade plate, thinking it was a token of the You Mountain Market.

The misty light on the jade plate lingered, still pointing to the depths of the cobblestone street. Following the jade plate's guidance, Qin Sang walked and stopped, finally stopping in front of a three-story wooden building.

The sign on the wooden building read: Divine Artifact Pavilion.

The entire street was lined with various shops, but only the Divine Artifact Pavilion had its doors and windows tightly shut. Qin Sang watched for a while but saw no customers come out.

Such a grand name, could it have gone out of business?

Qin Sang thought maliciously.

A shop owner nearby noticed him and asked, "Little brother, did you hear about the Divine Artifact Pavilion and come to buy magical artifacts?"

Qin Sang's heart stirred, and he walked over. His gaze swept the shop, which displayed animal skins and bones, but these were not ordinary animal skins and bones; they were from demonic beasts.

"Qin Sang greets the senior," Qin Sang bowed, "Qin Sang indeed came here out of admiration, but I wonder why the Divine Artifact Pavilion has its doors tightly shut?"

Seeing Qin Sang's respectful demeanor, the shop owner found him likable and was happy to chat, "Little Brother Qin, you don't know. The Divine Artifact Pavilion only opens its doors for one day every three months, in the middle of the month. You came too early and will have to wait two more days."

Qin Sang was surprised, "Only opens for one day in the middle of the month?"

Is there such a way to do business?

"Little Brother Qin, you don't know," the shop owner's face showed deep envy, "The owner of the Divine Artifact Pavilion is likely from a major alchemy sect. The magical artifacts they sell are all top-quality, with extraordinary refinement techniques, so they don't worry about sales. Now, so many people in the market are here for the Divine Artifact Pavilion. Every time they display magical artifacts, they are sold out within a day, and some people even bid against each other. This skill is something we scattered cultivators can only envy. The rent for the shop is nothing compared to the profit from one magical artifact, so they don't care."

So, they have the skills.

Qin Sang understood. It seemed that in the cultivation world, having a special skill was highly valued. However, he couldn't focus on cultivation, let alone find the time or resources to learn alchemy or pill refinement. He bowed to the shop owner and asked, "May I ask, senior, do I need a token or something to enter and buy things?"

"I haven't heard of that," the shop owner hesitated, "I have a modest fortune and cultivate a fire-based technique. Most of the magical artifacts sold at the Divine Artifact Pavilion have a slight cold nature, which is unsuitable for me, so I've only been to the first floor. I've heard that the second and third floors sell high-quality and even top-quality magical artifacts, which might have requirements."

Thanking the shop owner, Qin Sang walked out of the cobblestone street, thinking that the jade plate was likely a token of the Divine Artifact Pavilion.

In his previous life, such things were not uncommon in small and medium-sized auctions. They would create a membership gimmick, claiming that only those with status and prestige could participate, instantly elevating their prestige.

The shop owner didn't dare to go up, and he, a poor man, had even less reason to.

He found an inn and spent a large sum to rent a small courtyard. After eating, he closed the courtyard gate and, suppressing his excitement, took out the two copies of the *Yinming Scripture*.

He compared the first six levels, finding no errors, and finally felt relieved. Holding the two copies of the *Yinming Scripture*, he fell into deep thought.

He had originally thought that the Yama Banner was a配套法器 (complementary magical artifact) for the *Yinming Scripture*, so he had always considered the *Yinming Scripture* an evil demonic technique.

It turned out that whether it was a demonic or righteous technique, the basic cultivation methods were the same: drawing the five elements' spiritual energy from the world into the body to refine oneself, with no distinction between good and evil. Qin Sang realized how ridiculous his previous thoughts were.

However, the fact that cultivation techniques themselves have no good or evil does not mean the same for those who practice them. Absorbing human souls to enhance one's cultivation, in Qin Sang's view, was undeniably a demonic path.