Chapter 34

Compared to Xie Ruolan, the woman before him lacked some of Xie Ruolan's confidence and wildness, but had more of the grace of a well-bred lady. It seemed that her background was probably not bad either.

However, Lin Haoming did not dare to do anything regardless of whether her background was good or not, because he soon realized that the woman before him had profound cultivation. Although he could not gauge her exact level, he could guess that she was at least in the late Foundation Establishment stage, far beyond his own level.

"Remove the restriction and wait at the door!" At this moment, the woman suddenly spoke, her voice like a delicate orchid in an empty valley, pleasant to hear but seemingly lacking in warmth.

"Yes!" The Linglong girl immediately responded, closed the door, and activated the array in the room.

Lin Haoming glanced at the activated array and then heard the beautiful woman continue in her pleasant yet indifferent voice, "This fellow Daoist, please come over. If you need anything, just speak up."

Facing a late Foundation Establishment cultivator, Lin Haoming still felt some pressure. He took a deep breath and approached the table where she was sitting, then sat down.

The woman habitually raised her hand to pick up the teapot on the table, poured a cup of spirit tea for Lin Haoming, and said expressionlessly, "My surname is Qin. Fellow Daoist, please state your needs quickly."

Faced with the woman's emotionless voice, Lin Haoming could tell that this beautiful woman was not speaking this way because of his low cultivation, but rather because she exuded a cold aura. In such a situation, Lin Haoming felt particularly nervous, especially since her cultivation was so much higher than his.

Looking at the fragrant spirit tea she offered, Lin Haoming took a sip and said, "Junior needs talismans, preferably very powerful ones!"

"You are only a Qi Condensation cultivator and cannot use mid-grade talismans. I do have a few treasure talismans. Do you want them?" the woman asked, still without any emotion.

Lin Haoming had been to this place with Grandfather Lin several times and had even met the Golden Core Elder of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion. But even the Golden Core Elder was not as cold as the woman before him when doing business. This didn't seem like a business transaction at all. If not for being in the Treasure Gathering Pavilion, Lin Haoming would have doubted that she was even in business.

However, the treasure talismans she mentioned were indeed good. They were special talismans made by decomposing artifacts that only Golden Core cultivators and above could use. The price was astonishing, and he wasn't sure if the spirit stones he had were enough.

Of course, he had never considered this before, but now that she mentioned it, he had some thoughts. He asked, "How many spirit stones do these treasure talismans cost?"

Hearing Lin Haoming's inquiry, Qin Aorou still replied indifferently, "Treasure talismans are made by decomposing artifacts of Golden Core cultivators and above. The price varies based on the power of the artifact and the number of talismans produced. For an attack type, I have a treasure talisman made from a Heaven-Shaking Hammer artifact divided into four parts. It only costs 25,000 spirit stones!"

Lin Haoming was taken aback by the price. He was just a Qi Condensation disciple, and she was asking for 25,000 spirit stones, and that was just the cost. Lin Haoming carefully looked at Senior Qin's eyes, which seemed to have no intention of teasing him. Could it be that she really didn't understand business and didn't know that he couldn't afford so many spirit stones?

Lin Haoming took another deep breath and said, "Senior Qin, the Heaven-Shaking Hammer is quite expensive. What is the cheapest attack-type treasure talisman you have?"

"The cheapest?" Hearing Lin Haoming's question, Qin Aorou seemed to be momentarily at a loss. She then patted her storage bag, and a jade slip appeared in her hand. She immediately immersed her divine sense into it.

Lin Haoming watched her, amazed that she didn't even know the prices of her own goods and had to look them up. He really felt that she was incredible.

After a while, Qin Aorou found the item and said, "There is a Mountain-Cleaving Axe artifact divided into ten parts to make treasure talismans. It only costs 7,000 spirit stones!"

Lin Haoming knew quite a bit about treasure talismans. Grandfather Lin had planned to decompose an unused artifact into a treasure talisman for him once his cultivation improved. He knew that an artifact could be divided into a minimum of three parts and a maximum of ten parts to form a treasure talisman. Any more or less would not work.

Looking at the spirit stones in his storage bag, he had a total of 5,600, still 1,400 short. However, he really wanted the treasure talisman. He had many defensive methods, but his offensive methods were limited to the Five Elements Sword, which seemed insufficient, especially if he encountered someone from the Heavenly Sword Mountain. As a disciple of the Demon Sect, using the Five Elements Sword would draw attention.

After some thought, he looked at the items Xie Ruolan had left him to sell and a mischievous smile appeared on his face. "Senior Qin, I don't have enough spirit stones. I wonder if you accept magical artifacts. I can trade them for a discount."

"Treasure Gathering Pavilion does not accept credit. If you don't have enough spirit stones, please leave," Qin Aorou interrupted Lin Haoming before he could finish, making a gesture to dismiss him.

Lin Haoming was taken aback by her actions. If the Treasure Gathering Pavilion did business like this, it would not last long.

Lin Haoming sighed inwardly and quickly explained, "Junior did not mean that. Junior means, do you accept magical artifacts? I can trade them for a discount."

"This is acceptable, but the price for magical artifacts will be 70% of the selling price," Qin Aorou said expressionlessly.

Lin Haoming felt that this was unfair. No wonder Xie Ruolan had to sell magical artifacts outside; here, they were only worth 70%.

However, Lin Haoming needed spirit stones urgently and didn't care about the details. He took out seven or eight magical artifacts.

But after taking out the magical artifacts, the next thing that happened left Lin Haoming speechless. Senior Qin didn't even know the prices and had to check them with the jade slip. It took her a full quarter of an hour to finish.

After that, Qin Aorou wrote a receipt and stuck it on the table. The table then emitted a spiritual light, and the receipt disappeared.

Less than half a quarter of an hour later, the table emitted another spiritual light, and a purple talisman with a small axe appeared on it.

"Fellow Daoist, this is the Mountain-Cleaving Axe treasure talisman you need. Please take good care of it. Do you need anything else?" Qin Aorou handed the treasure talisman to him.

Lin Haoming smiled bitterly and took the treasure talisman, saying, "Thank you, Senior. Junior doesn't need anything else for now. I will come back if I need anything in the future."

"Fine, since that's the case, I won't see you out," Qin Aorou said, waving her hand to open the restriction and the door.

Lin Haoming, in a daze, followed the Linglong girl downstairs.

Since he had used up all his spirit stones, he had no intention of staying.

When he left the Treasure Gathering Pavilion, or more accurately, when he came down from the second floor, an old man with white hair flashed into the room where Qin Aorou was, excitedly saying, "Miss, you've been here for almost a month, and you've finally made a sale. Father will be very happy to know."

Qin Aorou, facing the old man who had reached the Great Perfection stage of the Golden Core, still replied coldly, "Thank you, Elder Lu. Since I've made a sale, I want to cultivate for a while. I'll talk to you next month."

The old man, seeing Qin Aorou's expressionless face, felt helpless and sighed, "Miss, there's no need to be so formal with me. If you want to cultivate, just do it."

Leaving Qin Aorou's room, the old man sighed again. As the head of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion, she didn't understand business and was so cold, which was indeed frustrating. Although this was largely due to her cultivation method, how could the Treasure Gathering Pavilion be entrusted to her in the future? If it couldn't be helped, he would have to find a husband who understood business for her. After all, as long as she had the strength, everyone would give her some face.

However, since she couldn't do business for nearly a month, today he had a sudden idea and found a Qi Condensation disciple for her, and the sale was successful. It seemed that next time he should find more Qi Condensation disciples to help her get more familiar with business. As for Lin Haoming, who had just left, although he bought a treasure talisman, he was not significant in Elder Lu's eyes. After all, Lin Haoming had not used any cultivation techniques to change his appearance; he had just made himself look shabby and haggard. Sometimes, the most primitive disguise was the most effective in the cultivation world.