Chapter 3

It's not surprising that Chen Taizhong asked this question. Although he wasn't very clear about what the high-level First Rank corresponded to, he knew that the purchase of other high-level First Rank herbs often cost dozens or even hundreds of spirit stones.

And this Sunfruit, ten of them for just three spirit stones, felt like selling cabbage on Earth, three yuan for ten pounds.

The staff member finally sensed something was off and turned to look at him, "You just ascended, didn't you?"

"Arrived today," Chen Taizhong spread his hands and answered naturally, not expecting to hide it from the other party.

"The Sunfruit is indeed a high-level First Rank. It can be used with Second Rank mid-level spirit materials. How could it not be a high-level First Rank?" The staff member's face darkened, "A pill effective for Sixth Rank wandering immortals, guarded by Ninth Rank wild beasts... The reason it doesn't sell for a high price is that it's an auxiliary spirit medicine."

Chen Taizhong wanted to ask more, but seeing the other party's displeased expression, he didn't press further. He raised a finger, "One last question... Where can I find the Sunfruit?"

Oh, are you kidding me? The staff member stumbled, almost falling, but then, thinking the other party had just ascended, he calmed down.

He slowly replied, "We can't provide the exact location, but the person who posted the task has the information. However... you need to pay a deposit to obtain it."

"Why?" Chen Taizhong was taken aback, "I'm helping him gather the Sunfruit."

"What if you say the task failed after you gather the Sunfruit?" The staff member rolled his eyes, "So you need to pay a deposit and prepare a recording stone as evidence... This way, even if you fail the task, the deposit can be refunded."

"This is really troublesome," Chen Taizhong grumbled, unable to say the other party was wrong, but now he had no money, "I don't have any spirit stones... How much is the deposit?"

"Two spirit stones will do. The Sunfruit can't sell for more, and we are just responsible to our customers," the staff member replied indifferently, "If you pay four spirit stones, I can lend you a recording stone."

"I'll go earn some spirit stones," Chen Taizhong sighed and turned to walk out of the yard.

The staff member watched his back and snorted disdainfully: Ascenders from the lower realm, the immortal world isn't so easy to navigate!

Chen Taizhong walked out of the yard and found a market. The market was bustling, with all sorts of goods for sale, and many people were selling things directly on the ground.

He wandered around the market but didn't find anyone selling spiders like the one he had killed, so he couldn't estimate the price. However, he had to sell the spider to get some spirit stones.

He looked around and found a corner with some empty space, walked over, and casually cast a wind spell to clean the ground, then sat down.

Just as he was about to take out some spider silk to lay on the ground, two immortals appeared in front of him, looking at him intently, "You're sitting here to set up a stall?"

Chen Taizhong instinctively looked at their arms, seeing no red armbands or "Urban Management" signs, but the aura was very familiar. He coldly snorted, "I'm just tired from walking. Can't I sit and meditate?"

"I hope you're just tired," the other party replied coldly, "Let me remind you, setting up a stall here requires a fee, at least one spirit stone per day, or your goods will be confiscated."

"I won't sit and meditate here, okay?" Chen Taizhong angrily stood up, not having sold anything yet and already needing to pay spirit stones—what a joke, he didn't have any spirit stones.

"Whether you meditate or not is your business, but why are you baring your teeth? What do you want to do?" The two immortals glared at him, and one of them sent out a divine sense.

However, Chen Taizhong's divine sense was far stronger than that of an ordinary First Rank wandering immortal. He was only slightly stunned and then held his ground.

"Do you really think you're the city management?" Chen Taizhong muttered and stood up to leave.

He was quite unfamiliar with the city he had ascended to. He wanted to buy a map, but since that also required spirit stones, he didn't even ask—his pocket was empty.

He wandered aimlessly on the street, not knowing for how long, until he saw the sun setting and suddenly noticed a pawnshop ahead.

The writing here was similar to Chinese on Earth, with many traditional characters and some variant characters. Looking at a single character might be confusing, but when read together, it wasn't a big problem.

But such a large "當" (pawn) character, swaying in the wind, he couldn't possibly miss it.

The pawnshop owner was a middle-aged man who didn't say a word when he entered. This was a matter of who was asking whom.

Chen Taizhong, with his rough and ready temperament, took out a ball of spider silk from his storage ring and threw it on the counter, "Pawn this."

The middle-aged man picked it up and looked at it, frowning, "What is this?"

"You 'pawn the world,' can't you tell what this is?" Chen Taizhong sneered.

"The world is just the Fenghuang Realm. Inside and outside the realm, there are many things I don't recognize," the owner replied expressionlessly, "Tell me what this is... Don't let me misestimate its value."

"Spider silk," Chen Taizhong answered helplessly, knowing he had to bow to the situation.

"You should have said that earlier. I thought it was something with a law secret," the owner coldly snorted and stretched the white silk, "It's just raw material."

He stretched it a few times, paused, then stretched it again with more force, his eyes showing a hint of surprise.

He pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "Unknown spider silk, two spirit stones... If it's a dead pawn, two and a half spirit stones."

"Live pawn," Chen Taizhong felt this ball of silk was worth more than two and a half spirit stones. He had about ten times as much, but it was in one large ball, not separated. If he could complete the task, he wanted to redeem this ball as a sample.

After receiving the pawn ticket and two spirit stones, he turned to leave, almost bumping into two men at the door.

Chen Taizhong now knew that in the immortal world, it was all about strength. He quickly moved aside and hurried away.

The two men who entered were a young man and a middle-aged man. The young man slapped a piece of paper on the counter, "Redeem the high-level magic weapon, Spirit Binding Ring."

"Wait a moment," the middle-aged man saw the owner boxing the white spider silk and spoke in a deep voice, "Can I take a look at this?"

"It's a live pawn," the owner smiled, politely refusing—dead pawns could be shown to other customers, but live pawns were off-limits to prevent damage.

However, rules are rules, and people are flexible. The middle-aged man said expressionlessly, "I'm from the Northern Domain Zheng family. The Greenstone Branch of the World Business Alliance has a Second Elder, Wei Li, who has met me. Please consult him."

"The Northern Domain Zheng family of Blood Sand Marquis?" The owner was taken aback.

"Who else would dare call themselves Zheng family except the Blood Sand Marquis?" The middle-aged man replied proudly, then ordered, "Go consult him."

"Second Elder Wei Li is not in Greenstone recently," the owner broke into a sweat, thought for a moment, and then, gritting his teeth, handed the box over the counter, "Please take a look... but don't touch it with your hands."

Greenstone City was not in the Blood Sand Marquis's territory, but the Zheng family was known for being difficult and ruthless, with formidable combat strength. Most people didn't want to provoke them.

The middle-aged man didn't touch it, just observed silently, scanning it with his divine sense for a while before nodding, "Put it back... Was this pawned by the young man just now?"

"Yes," the owner nodded, "Does Mr. Zheng recognize what it is?"

"It feels like some kind of insect silk," the middle-aged man smiled slightly, then asked, "You don't recognize it?"

"I have some guesses," the owner didn't want to say more. Although the Blood Sand Marquis was powerful, the World Business Alliance, which did business across the realm, had its own strength.

But then he thought, this was likely an undervalued item. If it was truly valuable, he could negotiate with the young man to buy it at a high price, which would be a significant contribution to the alliance.

Since the item was in his hands, he slowly took it back and probed, "It looks like spider silk to me."

"Oh," the middle-aged man had already determined that the other party didn't know what it was, so he nodded indifferently, "Alright, I'm here to accompany my nephew to redeem the Spirit Binding Ring. Please fetch it."

The young man was a junior of the Zheng family, named Zheng Zitao. He had come to the Greenstone area with a friend for training. During a hunt for wild beasts, his friend was accidentally poisoned, and the detoxification pills they carried were ineffective. To obtain the spirit medicine, he reluctantly pawned his personal magic weapon, the Spirit Binding Ring.

After redeeming the Spirit Binding Ring, the two men left the pawnshop without a word. After walking for a while, Zheng Zitao asked, "Uncle, is that silk... very valuable?"

"It's not just about spirit stones," the middle-aged man sighed, then shook his head, "It can be exchanged for merit points, merit points."

"What is it, then?" The young man frowned. Merit points were hard to come by, except by exchanging large amounts of spirit stones or making outstanding contributions.

To obtain a large number of merit points, there was only one choice: large-scale battlefields.

The middle-aged man didn't answer directly but explained, "I was attracted to that item because I sensed a spatial isolation fluctuation. After careful examination, it was indeed so. The owner said it was spider silk... Do you understand now?"

The young man walked a few steps silently, then suddenly gasped, "Uncle, you mean... Clean...?"

"Exactly, the Clean Spider," the middle-aged man looked around and then whispered, "The Ascended Nightmare Spider. If Uncle hadn't participated in the territorial defense war, I wouldn't have been able to confirm it."

"How could such a strategic resource end up in an individual's hands?" Zheng Zitao gasped. The Ascended Nightmare Spider was well-known in the immortal world, but few had actually seen it.

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