Chapter 10

Chen Taijun didn't dawdle with the staff after leaving the mission compound; he found an inn and checked into a standard room that cost five spirit stones per day. Previously, he had only stayed in a room that cost two spirit stones per day, and he was very curious to find out the difference between a five-spirit-stone room and a two-spirit-stone room.

In reality, the difference was quite significant. The spirit energy in a five-spirit-stone standard room was much more concentrated than in a daily rental room. Cultivating for one day in the standard room was equivalent to cultivating for one and a half days in the daily rental room.

In other words, cultivating for three days in the daily rental room was equivalent to cultivating for two days in the standard room, but it would cost ten spirit stones.

Which was more cost-effective? Of course, cultivating in the standard room was more cost-effective. Although it cost four more spirit stones, it saved a day of time.

For cultivators, time was the most useless thing—sitting in meditation for a few hundred years could pass by in a flash. However, time was also the most useful thing. A Ninth Rank Immortal could live for two hundred years, while a Spirit Immortal could live for at least three hundred years with no major issues in their cultivation method.

If one could reach a higher level in as short a time as possible, spirit stones were really not a problem.

So after trying it for a day, he directly handed the inn an orange spirit stone, which was a mid-grade spirit stone, and said, "Register me for twenty days first, I need to break through a bottleneck."

The inn didn't take it seriously; many people came here to break through their cultivation levels, all they wanted was to be undisturbed.

This guest in room 9303 seemed to have plenty of money. Since entering the room, he never left, even having meals delivered by the waiter.

During this period, the inn experienced a relatively intense fluctuation of spirit energy, which seemed to be a Fourth Rank Immortal breaking through to the Fifth Rank. However, the spirit-gathering array used by the inn covered all the rooms, so it didn't attract too much attention.

On the twentieth day, Chen Taijun finally ended his seclusion. He had successfully broken through to the peak of the Third Rank, which was relatively easier compared to the Fourth Rank, the middle stage of an Immortal.

He settled his bill, which included 100 spirit stones for the room and over 30 spirit stones for the meals. This was without taking any pills to enhance his cultivation, showing that the resources required for focused cultivation were enormous.

After leaving the inn, he first went to the pawnshop, as the 30 days were almost up.

The shopkeeper had long forgotten who this person was, but when he saw the pawn ticket, a strange look appeared on his face. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, "May I ask, do you have more of this spider silk?"

"What's it to you if I do?" Chen Taijun glared at him, still annoyed by the previous lowball offer. Now that he had the money to redeem his item, he wasn't going to bother with this guy. "I'm here to redeem it."

The shopkeeper pursed his lips in frustration. After the people from the Blood Sand Marquis's family asked about the spider silk, he had it appraised and discovered that this unremarkable white thread was actually the famous Clean Spider's silk.

The Clean Spider, also known as the Nightmare Spider, not only devoured ascending cultivators but also effectively cleared spatial debris, hence its nickname.

As mentioned earlier, this spider silk possessed spatial power, making it a strategic resource in medium to large-scale battles. A single strand of spider silk wasn't very useful, but it was quite valuable.

A strand like the one in the shopkeeper's hand would typically be worth around 100 spirit stones in the market, but it was so rare that it could fetch up to 500 spirit stones if someone was really interested.

A single Nightmare Spider could produce at least ten times as much spider silk as this strand, and twenty times as much was also normal.

At the time, the shopkeeper regretted not setting the price at 50 spirit stones. If the other party redeemed it, the pawnshop would make more profit. If they didn't, this item could be sold at a high price.

Now that the owner had come to redeem it, and the tone was not good, he could only blame his lack of discernment and the unfriendly attitude he had shown at the time.

Of course, he still had to try, "If you have more of this spider silk, our pawnshop is willing to buy it at a high price."

"How much is a high price?" Chen Taijun frowned and asked.

"Thirty spirit stones for this strand," the shopkeeper's offer was not very sincere, but it was normal. The other party had been so poor that they had to pawn their items, and now was the perfect time to take advantage of them.

Chen Taijun didn't respond, handed over three spirit stones, and took the small strand of spider silk before turning to leave.

The shopkeeper was waiting for him to haggle, but seeing him turn and leave, he became a bit anxious, "If you really want to sell, we can negotiate the price."

"I have no intention of selling," Chen Taijun replied without turning back, "I was just asking the price."

"Damn..." The shopkeeper muttered in frustration, but to him, this was just an unsuccessful deal, even though the other party's response was really annoying.

Then more people came in and out of the pawnshop. The next morning, a young Second Rank Immortal entered, followed by two middle-aged Eighth Rank Immortals.

These two were from the Blood Sand Marquis's family, the Zheng family. They didn't say anything when they saw the young man pawning an item. After the young man left, they also planned to leave. For the past few days, they had been following anyone who entered the pawnshop, especially First or Second Rank Immortals.

The Zheng family was determined to obtain the Nightmare Spider.

The shopkeeper was not surprised. He couldn't afford to offend the Blood Sand Marquis, and since they were just observing, he didn't want to get involved. However, thinking about the young man's annoying behavior, he couldn't help but say, "It's over, no need to wait. The person has already redeemed it."

"What did you say?" A middle-aged man with a black face and a long beard turned around, his eyes widening as his aura involuntarily flared.

"This is the Tianxia Pawnshop, please be respectful," the shopkeeper's face darkened. The Tianxia Business Alliance was not a pushover.

"Alright, Thirty-Seven," the other man patted the black-faced man's shoulder and then looked at the shopkeeper with a stern expression, "You mean the spider silk has been redeemed?"

"Yes," the shopkeeper nodded indifferently, "It was redeemed yesterday."

"Damn," the black-faced man was furious, stepping forward to grab the shopkeeper's collar. They had been watching for almost a month, and now they were told that the spider silk had been redeemed yesterday. He was extremely angry—were you playing with me?

However, he stopped himself halfway, gritting his teeth, "Why didn't you say it earlier?"

The shopkeeper smiled but said nothing. Did he need to explain? The Tianxia Pawnshop was a place for pawning items, not for selling information.

"Thirty-Seven," the other middle-aged man stopped his companion again, then looked at the shopkeeper and asked calmly, "I assume you remember what the person looked like?"

"What difference does it make if I remember or not?" the shopkeeper's face was expressionless.

"If you remember, and are willing to tell us, the Zheng family will be grateful," the man bowed slightly.

"Unfortunately, I really don't remember," the shopkeeper sighed, but his eyes darted around.

"You," the black-faced man could see that the shopkeeper was intentionally toying with him, and his anger flared.

The shopkeeper didn't back down, "The Tianxia Business Alliance does business with integrity and will not leak any information about our partners."

"Do you think I won't beat you up, and the Tianxia Business Alliance won't protect you?" the black-faced man finally lost his patience.

"Shut up!" his companion finally lost his patience, shouting before asking, "A poor and destitute Immortal wouldn't be a partner of the Tianxia Business Alliance, right, shopkeeper?"

The shopkeeper just smiled and didn't respond.

"Ten spirit stones for the information about the owner," the man was straightforward, slapping a storage bag on the counter and placing ten spirit stones—since you won't act without a reward, I'll give you the reward directly.

Seeing this, the shopkeeper didn't pretend anymore and smiled, "A clue about the Nightmare Spider... ten spirit stones is a bit low, isn't it?"

"How much do you want?" the man's face darkened. It was expected that the Nightmare Spider would be recognized, but the other party pointing it out so clearly made the situation a bit tricky.

"Twenty spirit stones," the shopkeeper wasn't being unreasonable. The Zheng family was not to be trifled with—the Tianxia Business Alliance wasn't afraid of the Blood Sand Marquis, but he, a small shopkeeper, didn't have the courage. Earning ten more spirit stones was enough for him.

"Deal," the man nodded and took out ten more spirit stones, "Tell me, what does the person look like..."

After hearing the description, the black-faced man narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "We've been observing people entering and leaving the pawnshop, and we haven't seen the person you described... Twenty spirit stones isn't much, but if you deceive the Zheng family, you'll need to be careful."

"Making someone disappear is actually quite simple," his companion chimed in.

They had worked together for a long time, always playing the good cop and the bad cop.

"This person is already a Third Rank Immortal, and he went from First Rank to Third Rank in a month," the shopkeeper replied lazily, "You were only watching First and Second Rank Immortals, so you wouldn't have noticed him... If I were you, I'd pay more attention to the owner."

A month to go from First Rank to Third Rank? The two men exchanged glances, both seeing the disbelief in each other's eyes.

In fact, they had assumed that the person might break through, so they were watching not only First Rank Immortals but also Second Rank ones. However, to advance two ranks in a month... what a joke?

"Did you kill the person and try to keep the item for yourself?" the black-faced man asked suspiciously, eyeing the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper smiled but didn't say more.

"Let's go," the other man pulled the black-faced man—focusing on such a small matter now would only embarrass the Blood Sand Marquis.

(Update complete, thank you all for your support. Kuang Xian has successfully made it to the homepage, but it's about to drop off the charts. I'm loudly calling for recommendation votes.)