Chapter 320: How Many Demon Pellets Do You Really Have

Qiu Shengnan felt a bitter taste in her mouth. Sure enough, Grand Elder Zhou was truly difficult to deal with. Had she taken the wrong medicine? How dare she disturb her. Now, if her master, Grand Elder Sun, had to come, she would lose face throughout the entire sect.

Jiang Fan secretly clicked his tongue. This Grand Elder truly had a temper that was not to be trifled with! But having finally met her after such difficulty, he naturally couldn't back down. He cupped his hands and said, "Grand Elder Zhou, I am Jiang Fan of the Azure Cloud Sect. I have long heard of your esteemed reputation and have presumptuously come to pay my respects."

Zhou Qidan glanced askance with her peripheral vision, not bothering to respond at all. As a dignified Grand Elder, she naturally disdained acknowledging a junior disciple, especially one who had disturbed her seclusion. Not reprimanding him along with her was out of consideration for him being an outer sect disciple, as she didn't want to harm the harmony between the two sects. If he were a disciple of her own sect, he would have been thoroughly scolded long ago.

Jiang Fan wasn't too surprised. The difference in their statuses was immense; it would be strange if she were willing to easily acknowledge him. He continued to cup his hands and said, "I deeply apologize for disturbing your seclusion, Senior. I merely heard that you have recently been collecting demonic beast materials, and as I have made some acquisitions, I thought I might ask you to take a look." He did not mention anything about a transaction. The other party was a Grand Elder; how could she lower herself to conduct a transaction with a junior? Unless the value of the item was confirmed.

Zhou Qidan revealed a hint of surprise and scoffed, "I did underestimate you. The number of people in the entire Myriad Sword Sect who know I'm collecting demonic beast materials doesn't exceed a single hand. You truly have wide connections to have uncovered this inside information." She had only revealed this information to a few Grand Elders; no one else knew. It truly surprised her that this young man could obtain such information. However, could just any junior outer sect disciple simply disturb her seclusion to have her appraise demonic beast materials? She said with a cold face, refusing without hesitation, "But, I'm not interested..."

As she was speaking, she seemed to sense something and swept her gaze across Qiu Shengnan's chest. Her face registered surprise. "A White-headed Black Eagle's demon core? Boy, is this what you used to bribe Qiu Shengnan?"

Qiu Shengnan was shocked to her core. This was discovered? She took out the black wooden box and bitterly presented it, not daring to conceal anything. "This disciple knows her mistake; please punish me, Grand Elder."

Zhou Qidan took it, opened it, and a glimmer of light appeared in her eyes. "It's still fresh, killed not long ago. Its value will be higher; it could fetch at least sixty thousand spirit stones on the market. To meet me, you certainly paid a hefty price." As she spoke, she tossed the demon core into her bosom. It was considered confiscated.

Qiu Shengnan was speechless, unable to articulate her bitter feelings. She had been scolded, had her master summoned, and finally, the bribe she received was confiscated. Where could she go to reason?

Jiang Fan's mouth twitched. She just swallowed that demon core right in front of him, without even a hint of discretion? However, this was even better. Grand Elder Zhou Qidan was indeed collecting demonic beast materials. "I have even more valuable materials, Senior; please take a look," Jiang Fan said.

Zhou Qidan finally became interested. The first item he presented was already a priceless demon core from a beast king. Could this young man truly have some good demonic beast materials on him? After a brief thought, she changed her mind and nodded, "Alright, I, this Grand Elder, will make an exception and appraise them for you, little outer sect disciple. Bring them out!"

Jiang Fan unhurriedly took out a crimson demon core. Zhou Qidan remained expressionless, slowly nodding. "An adult Scarlet-scaled Flood Dragon's demon core, also fresh. This beast is not easy to kill." She gave Jiang Fan a meaningful look. She was somewhat surprised where Jiang Fan got the demon cores. It couldn't possibly be that he killed it himself, could it? But if he picked it up, that wasn't realistic either. Would a martial artist who killed an adult Scarlet-scaled Flood Dragon not extract its demon core, allowing this young man to pick up a bargain? "This demon core, you could probably sell it for forty or fifty thousand spirit stones; it's actually not as good as the one you used to bribe Qiu Shengnan." Zhou Qidan spoke with a hint of teasing. The implication was that Jiang Fan was "throwing away the watermelon to pick up sesame seeds."

Jiang Fan nodded understandingly, then took out a jade box affixed with talismans. "What about this one?" Inside the jade box lay a demon core the size of a baby's fist, shimmering all over with arcs of lightning. Zhou Qidan's expression shifted slightly. "A Silver-winged Thunder Bird's demon core? Also fresh? Where did you get it?" She finally couldn't resist asking the doubt in her heart. One after another, they were all freshly extracted. Moreover, the one before her was a demon core from a Silver-winged Thunder Bird at the Core Formation mid-stage. Its hunting difficulty was much higher than that of the black eagle! No matter what, it couldn't possibly be something a junior disciple like Jiang Fan could have killed, could it? How could Jiang Fan dare to reveal its origin? He countered, "An accidental acquisition." Sensing Jiang Fan's intention to conceal, Zhou Qidan, though curious, could only tolerate it. This time, she showed some approval, saying, "This is good stuff, an indispensable material for refining lightning-attribute magic treasures. Even some Grand Elders have a demand for this item. You should find a suitable buyer before selling it; don't be in a hurry to sell." She offered a fair suggestion. But evidently, she herself wasn't interested in this item.

Jiang Fan nodded and took out another jade box. Zhou Qidan perked up, asking in surprise, "How do you have more?" Where did this young man get so many demon cores? This was the fourth one! And each one was more valuable than the last. She fixed her gaze, seeing a demon core emitting purplish-black toxic gas inside the sealed jade box. She couldn't help but be startled. "A Copper-scaled Black Centipede's demon core? Also fresh!" She was stunned. Could it be that this young man had retreated from the Giant Sect's front lines? However, the current battles on the front line were all at the Foundation Establishment stage. There had been no large-scale appearances of beast kings. Where did he get so many demon cores of beast king level? Moreover, this fourth demon core was an extremely rare Copper-scaled Black Centipede demon core. This beast was incredibly dangerous, unusually cruel, and adept at burrowing and lurking. Among humans, only martial artists at the late Core Formation stage had the absolute certainty to kill it. "Where on earth did you get..." She couldn't help but ask again, but knowing Jiang Fan wouldn't honestly explain, she stopped herself mid-sentence. Staring at the demon core, her eyes filled with astonishment: "This should be the highest-grade demon core to appear since the beast tide began. It's worth at least three hundred thousand spirit stones. If there's a martial artist cultivating poison arts, the price would be even higher. You've struck it rich."

Qiu Shengnan, standing nearby, was dumbfounded. Three hundred thousand spirit stones? Adding the other few, wouldn't this young man be worth five hundred thousand spirit stones? Richer than her own family's assets as an elder!

Jiang Fan saw that Zhou Qidan showed no sign of being tempted and secretly sighed. Indeed, how difficult it was to impress a Grand Elder? Fortunately, he still had his final trump card. Zhou Qidan looked at Jiang Fan with a profound expression: "Young man, you have truly opened my eyes, Grand Elder. A mere junior disciple actually has so many fresh demon cores. I must warn you, do not show these to outsiders again. I, this Grand Elder, would certainly not snatch them from you. But others might not be so principled." "She's not bad after all," Jiang Fan thought. However, in essence, this was because Zhou Qidan didn't value these demon cores that highly yet. If there was something that truly tempted her, she might not snatch it, but she would certainly find a way to keep it.

He cupped his hands: "Thank you for your guidance, Senior." Zhou Qidan slowly nodded: "If there's nothing else, descend the mountain quickly." As she spoke, she was about to close the stone door. Jiang Fan paused, then said, "Senior, wait! You haven't finished looking at the demon cores yet."