Chapter 1021: Breaking the Illusion Talisman (Not Available Today)

After Zhao Wenbin successfully exchanged several materials and returned to his seat, others successively came forward to make exchanges. While the items they offered were good, the items they sought in return were often unusual, leading to most exchanges being unsuccessful. This was quite normal, as an exchange meeting is, by nature, a matter of mutual consent.

After observing many items, very few truly piqued Wang Qingshan's interest, and he often lacked what others sought in exchange, resulting in no successful trades for him.

After a short while, a tall, handsome scholar in a green robe, carrying a green flying sword on his back, approached the round table with an air of confidence.

This was Liu Yunyang, the senior disciple of Chongyang Academy, an eighth-layer Core Formation cultivator.

With a flick of his sleeve, a pile of items appeared on the table.

"I'm looking for high-grade spiritual bamboo," he announced. "Please don't offer any less than six hundred years old, and ordinary spiritual bamboo is not needed."

Liu Yunyang's tone was calm and indifferent.

"Fellow Daoist Liu, are you only exchanging for spiritual bamboo?" someone asked. "What about talismans or pills?"

"A sword is enough," he replied. "I don't need anything else."

From his words, he seemed to be a sword fanatic, focused solely on flying swords.

Wang Qingshan was also a sword cultivator, but his philosophy differed from Liu Yunyang's. He believed that while sword cultivators' attacks were sharp, defense was equally essential, as everything has its advantages and disadvantages.

Wang Qingshan stood up and approached Liu Yunyang. His gaze fell upon a blue porcelain bottle, and he inquired, "Fellow Daoist Liu, what kind of elixir is in this bottle?"

"It's a Dragon Transformation Pill," Liu Yunyang replied. "There are three of them. This pill is refined from the inner core of a third-tier high-grade Azure Flood Dragon. When consumed by python-type spirit beasts, it increases their chances of transforming into flood dragons, and flood dragons themselves also gain considerable benefits from consuming it."

As soon as he finished speaking, several Core Formation cultivators stepped forward and communicated with Liu Yunyang via sound transmission.

"Fellow Daoist Liu, this is an eight-hundred-year-old Snow Cloud Bamboo," Wang Qingshan offered. "What do you think?"

Wang Qingshan took out a blue brocade box and handed it to Liu Yunyang.

Wang Changsheng had entrusted Meng Tianzheng to deliver a batch of cultivation resources to Wang Qingshan. Among these was an eight-hundred-year-old ice-attribute spiritual bamboo, which Wang Qingshan didn't need, making it an ideal item for exchange.

He had no use for the Dragon Transformation Pills himself, but Wang Qingling could benefit from them.

Liu Yunyang opened the brocade box, quickly scanned its contents, then picked up the blue porcelain bottle and tossed it to Wang Qingshan. "It's yours, Fellow Daoist Wang," he said. "When you have time, let's go outside and have a sparring match."

"No problem," Wang Qingshan replied. "I'd also like to experience Fellow Daoist Liu's abilities."

Wang Qingshan accepted the Dragon Transformation Pills and agreed to the match.

After returning to his seat, Liu Meimei curiously asked via sound transmission, "Brother Qingshan, do you raise python-type spirit beasts?"

"I bought it for my clan sister," Wang Qingshan explained via sound transmission, his tone calm.

Liu Meimei simply said "Oh" and didn't ask further questions. She then stepped forward and took out several items.

"These materials are for seeds of rare flowers and exotic plants," she announced. "High-grade spiritual wood is also acceptable, but nothing less than six hundred years old, please."

Huang Fugui stepped forward, took out an exquisite jade box, and handed it to Liu Meimei. "Fairy Liu," he said via sound transmission, "these are the seeds of the Golden Moon Thundervine. I would like to exchange for that earth-attribute beast hide. Please see if it's suitable."

Liu Meimei opened the jade box and saw three seeds emitting faint silver electric arcs. She nodded and agreed to the exchange.

Liu Meimei successfully exchanged for two types of materials, but the offerings from others didn't meet her expectations, so no further exchanges were made.

After she returned to her seat, Huang Fugui walked to the front of the round table and took out dozens of materials. These included magic treasures, elixirs, talismans, and refining materials. Naturally, there were also several damaged formation plates, tattered formation flags, and worn magic robes.

"Huang Fugui, are you really offering these scraps for exchange?" Sun Yulang scoffed. "Who are you trying to embarrass?"

Huang Fugui gave an awkward smile and replied, "Whether they are scraps or not, fellow Daoists can see for yourselves. I'm not forcing anyone to buy or sell. If you like them, we exchange; if not, we don't."

Sun Yulang snorted softly, then pointed to a yellowish talisman and asked, "What kind of talisman is this? I've never seen it before."

The yellowish talisman's surface was peculiar; patterns of flowers, demonic beasts, and humanoid figures would appear and disappear intermittently.

Huang Fugui smiled proudly. "Good question," he said. "This is the Illusion-Breaking Talisman, a unique secret talisman from the Sacred Talisman Sect, a major sect in the Northern Territory. It counters most illusion techniques. I heard there's a demoness named Bai Ling'er who is proficient in illusion arts and has killed many of our Core Formation cultivators. I went through a lot of trouble to acquire this Illusion-Breaking Talisman. It's a third-tier high-grade spirit talisman and should be able to counter Bai Ling'er's illusion arts. Don't miss out, fellow Daoists! I'm looking for third-tier elixirs that boost spiritual power."

"As far as I know, the Sacred Talisman Palace is one of the ten great sects in the Northern Territory," Zhao Wenbin said, "and the Illusion-Breaking Talisman is their unique secret talisman, rarely sold. How did Fellow Daoist Huang manage to get one?"

Zhao Wenbin asked curiously. Bai Ling'er had gained considerable notoriety during the war, with several Core Formation cultivators from the Great Zhou Dynasty dying by her hand. Core Formation cultivators on the front lines utterly detested Bai Ling'er, yet few could defend against her illusion arts.

"Ahem," Huang Fugui coughed. "This Illusion-Breaking Talisman was acquired by me from an ancient cultivator's cave dwelling. I also obtained a sword diagram back then, but I sold it. Only this Illusion-Breaking Talisman remains."

Wang Qingshan felt somewhat interested and stepped forward. Several other Core Formation cultivators also approached, communicating with Huang Fugui via sound transmission.

Wang Qingshan didn't have third-tier elixirs to boost spiritual power, but he offered a defensive magic treasure in exchange. Huang Fugui made a significant profit and agreed to the trade.

Of course, Huang Fugui agreed to the exchange not only for the profit but also with the intention of befriending Wang Qingshan; otherwise, he might not have agreed to the trade.

Huang Fugui had brought out an exceptionally large number of items, successfully exchanging over a dozen of them, which made many people envious. They finally understood why Sun Yulang had said that if Huang Fugui was poor, he'd write his name backward.

Huang Fugui had been feigning poverty; in reality, he was rolling in wealth.

Wang Qingshan stepped forward and took out over a dozen items, including third-tier demonic cores, refining materials, and elixirs. He was looking to exchange for items beneficial to sword cultivators, such as sword diagrams or offensive sword-style spiritual arts. It was unlikely others would have such rare items, let alone offer them for exchange.

With no one coming forward to exchange, Wang Qingshan pondered for a moment, then announced, "I'm looking for refining materials or talisman-making materials of third-tier or higher."

Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan had formed their Nascent Souls, and Wang Qingshan had always wanted to find something special as a congratulatory gift for them.

"Fellow Daoist Wang, do you think this piece of Fire Glaze Stone is suitable?" Huang Fugui communicated via sound transmission. "I would like that earth-attribute demonic core."

Huang Fugui handed Wang Qingshan a red jade box. Wang Qingshan opened the box and quickly scanned its contents: a fist-sized crimson crystal, transparent and lustrous, like glazed glass.

Wang Qingshan readily agreed, as Fire Glaze Stone was an excellent material for refining fire-attribute magic treasures.

After Wang Qingshan returned to his seat, others successively came forward to make exchanges.

Half an hour later, the exchange meeting concluded, and everyone began discussing their cultivation insights and exchanging ideas.

Zhao Wenbin was the first to speak. He cultivated Confucian Dao techniques, which advocated engaging with the mundane world, offering little for the other cultivators present to directly apply to their own practices.