Chapter 343: Picking Leaks

"Boss, how many spirit stones for this bottle?" Lu Yang squatted down and asked casually.

"You have good taste, honored guest. I obtained this Jade Pure Bottle from a secret realm opened by a Nascent Soul cultivator. It contains diluted Primal True Water, and it's eighty thousand spirit stones."

Lu Yang's eye twitched. He thought, *Are you trying to rob me? A Golden Core cultivator's entire net worth is only about a hundred thousand spirit stones.*

Moreover, Immortal Fairy had already told him that the Primal True Water inside was diluted ten thousand times. *The power contained in my pee is greater than this,* he mused.

In the market, if your mind isn't sharp, your knowledge is lacking, or your judgment is poor, you're easily scammed.

Luckily, he had Immortal Fairy.

"What's the effect of this bottle of pills?"

"Cultivators often struggle to form their Golden Core in one go. This bottle of pills can simulate the process of Golden Core formation, with sixty percent similarity to the real thing, greatly increasing the success rate. Thirty thousand spirit stones a bottle," the vendor enthusiastically promoted.

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou exchanged a glance, somewhat puzzled. *Don't cultivators always succeed in forming their Golden Core in one attempt?*

Lu Yang shook the pills and chuckled, "Boss, you're not being honest. Even sealed with an enchantment, the pills' efficacy is still dissipating. Thirty thousand for a bottle is the price for complete pills, not for this bottle of yours."

The vendor chuckled, complimenting Lu Yang on his sharp eyes, but secretly his heart trembled. He'd encountered someone who knew their stuff.

"What about this flying sword? Don't tell me this was used by the secret realm's master," Lu Yang said casually, his demeanor making the vendor feel uneasy.

The vendor, being in the thick of it, didn't realize, but Meng Jingzhou understood perfectly. Lu Yang had been building up to this, his target being this flying sword.

*Such a broken flying sword... could it be hiding some secret?*

"This flying sword is made of hard material, enduring for centuries without decay. While it might not be suitable for a Nascent Soul cultivator, it's certainly a close-combat magical artifact. It went through a major battle, and restoring it would have been a loss, which is why it was left in the secret realm!" the vendor asserted, as if he had personally witnessed a Nascent Soul cultivator using the sword to slay enemies.

Lu Yang didn't believe the vendor's nonsense, but he suddenly thought of another question: *How could an immortal sword be so broken? Even after hundreds of thousands of years, it shouldn't be like this.*

*Unless it truly went through a major battle and the immortal sword was damaged!*

*Who was the enemy?*

"Alright, save that talk for someone else. Don't think I can't tell that this flying sword's quality is questionable; it's barely usable for a Golden Core cultivator. It should be a Foundation Establishment cultivator's sword."

Although the vendor didn't know the flying sword's true origin, he couldn't let Lu Yang make such a definitive statement.

"This was absolutely the secret realm master's sword during their Golden Core stage! It couldn't have been used by a Foundation Establishment cultivator!"

Lu Yang showed a 'too-lazy-to-argue' expression: "Three thousand spirit stones. This flying sword is so broken, I'll have to repair it if I buy it."

"At least twenty thousand!"

"Let's go." Lu Yang stood up and walked away.

"Hey, wait! We can discuss the price further. Eighteen thousand spirit stones!"

Lu Yang said coldly, "Five thousand spirit stones."

The vendor gritted his teeth. When he set up his stall elsewhere, people always disdained the sword for being too broken, and no one bought it. Now, at the Azure Province Grand Ceremony, someone was finally interested. If he missed this chance, who knew when he'd find another buyer. "Five thousand it is! Consider it making a friend!"

Seeing Lu Yang get the flying sword as he wished, Meng Jingzhou curiously transmitted his voice, "What's the origin of this flying sword?"

"A flying sword used by an ancient immortal."

Meng Jingzhou gasped, looking at Lu Yang with envy. *He found a huge bargain!*

Originally, Lu Yang wanted to subtly probe the vendor about where he got the flying sword, but as soon as the vendor claimed it was from a secret realm opened by a Nascent Soul cultivator, Lu Yang knew he wouldn't get any useful information.

To inflate prices, vendors would fabricate origins for items as much as possible. This meant the flying sword was, at most, acquired from a Nascent Soul secret realm.

It was likely picked up by some Nascent Soul cultivator by chance, and its true origin was untraceable.

Lu Yang examined it for a moment. The flying sword was broken, but there were no bloodstains or chips. Its cross-section was rough, as if it had been forcefully snapped.

His Sword Spiritual Root's intuition told him that this had definitely once been an unparalleled good sword.

"Is the Qilin Immortal a sword cultivator?"

Immortal Fairy shook her head: "No, the Qilin Immortal doesn't use a sword. Come on, let's go see what other good stuff there is."

"Wait a minute, if the Qilin Immortal doesn't use a sword, what was this flying sword used for?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you? When the Qilin Immortal made a mistake, those two girls, Dragon and Phoenix, would stand all the flying swords upright to form a square, making the Qilin Immortal kneel on the sword tips."

"So, the Qilin Immortal asked Immortal Yingtian to forge a batch of flying swords that looked dazzling and extraordinary, but had no power when used, like kneeling on foam."

"Later, those two girls, Dragon and Phoenix, discovered this. In a fit of rage, they broke all the flying swords. The one in your hand is one of them."

Lu Yang: "..."

*So, I spent five thousand spirit stones just to buy this thing?*

Lu Yang had originally thought of asking the elderly Immortal Fairy to help him find a bargain, and to let Meng Jingzhou find one too, so they could both experience the joy of a good find.

Now, it seemed better to forget it. He shouldn't let Immortal Fairy waste Meng Jingzhou's spirit stones.

"My Lord, disciples from the Moon Laurel Immortal Palace, Five Elements Sect, and Prison Suppression Sect have arrived and are waiting at the entrance," a subordinate respectfully reported.

Upon hearing this, the Provincial Governor nodded slightly, attaching great importance to the representatives from the Five Great Immortal Sects: "Only three sects? The Dao Seeking Sect and Hanging Temple haven't arrived? Then please invite them all over."

The Azure Province Grand Ceremony was jointly organized by the Azure Province government and several local first-grade sects. If people from the Five Great Immortal Sects attended, it would elevate the prestige of the Grand Ceremony.

"That Dao Seeking Sect Ancestor, who once served as Provincial Governor here, truly set a good precedent," the Provincial Governor remarked. Regardless of whether the Dao Seeking Sect members were reliable, their wild and imaginative ideas were certainly unmatched by anyone else.

Indeed, the Azure Province Grand Ceremony itself was conceived by someone from the Dao Seeking Sect.

A successful Azure Province Grand Ceremony would count towards their political achievements.

The most attractive aspect of the Azure Province Grand Ceremony was the exchange among cultivators. However, the Five Great Immortal Sects could simply exchange among themselves, their members all being geniuses, so they didn't particularly care for this ceremony.

Sending representatives was simply giving face to the Azure Province government.

"What are you standing around for? Go quickly!" The Provincial Governor looked suspiciously at his subordinate, who remained rooted to the spot.

"My Lord, it's like this: it seems the immortal sect disciples have no place to stay."

"What about the relay station?"

"According to your instructions, My Lord, to make the high-level cultivators feel the government's hospitality, they are all staying at the relay station."

"What about the inns at the foot of the mountain?"

"They're all full."

"Then build some temporary rooms."

"There's no space. During the initial planning, to accommodate more people, all available areas were occupied."

The Provincial Governor felt a pang of difficulty. It was good that the Five Great Immortal Sects sent people, but if they failed to host them properly, it would become a talking point, making it difficult to invite them in the future.

"Are there truly no government-built rooms left?" The Provincial Governor, unwilling to give up, urged his subordinate to think again.

The subordinate actually thought of a place: "There is indeed a place where people can stay, and it occupies a huge area with many empty rooms. We built it ourselves, and they can move in with just a word from you, no spirit stones required."

The Provincial Governor's eyes lit up: "Where is it?"

"The jail."