Chapter 1448: A Top-Tier Evasion Technique

A faint glow rose in the darkness, and one could just make out the bamboo lodges hidden within it, each standing apart from the rest. At the very center was a raised platform, and Venerable Zhongtai stood upon it.

He finished the customary speech and briskly announced the start of the trade fair.

Qin Sang sat up a little straighter.

The treasures listed earlier would be presented first.

I wonder what the owner of the Seven-Master Buddha Seal wants in exchange. I asked Sage Yinquan about it before, and there isn't a single body cultivator of any renown in Crescent Moon Realm. With a price but no market, he shouldn't set his terms too high...

Qin Sang weighed it in his mind while sorting through what he needed and what he could put up for trade.

First was the Seven-Master Buddha Seal.

Then the last spiritual material required to refine the Golden Sinking Sword, which he would most likely be able to buy here.

And the three main spiritual objects for the Spirit Elevation Rite: Primordial Yin Water, the fruit of the Seven-Colored Herb, and Yin Nether Soil.

The things the Spirit Elevation Rite called for were strange, spiritual waters and spiritual herbs and everything in between. The third in particular, Yin Nether Soil, was something Qin Sang had never even heard of.

Would four spiritual herbs alone be enough?

He had no shortage of precious treasures on him, but with no time to prepare, very little of it was anything he could actually put on the table.

Just then, a bamboo lodge shifted to the very center without anyone noticing, coming to rest beside Venerable Zhongtai. Darkness shrouded its interior, and no figure could be seen inside.

A mass of white light kindled within it, and a mechanical voice issued forth, its tone utterly flat. "Three Star Feathers of the Star-Controlling Bird. True Blood of the Star-Controlling Bird still remains in the quills..."

As the voice made its introduction, three feathers surfaced within the white light.

Even sitting in his own room, Qin Sang could see them clearly. The three feathers gave off a faint blue luminescence, their substance like illusory stars, flowing without pause.

At the base of each, inside the transparent quill, lay a drop of blue blood that seemed not yet to have dried.

At this point the others were free to send out strands of spiritual consciousness and enter the white light to examine the goods.

Qin Sang had barely extended one strand when he felt a spiritual consciousness sweep across the three feathers, making no attempt to disguise its overbearing force. Every other spiritual consciousness faltered for a moment.

The Great Heavenly Peng Saint? The thought flashed through his mind as his own spiritual consciousness passed over the feathers.

The Star Feathers were damaged and their spiritual essence had drained away, which would make them very difficult to refine into an astra. Clearly they were being offered to draw the demon race to the assembly.

Still, Qin Sang swept over them several times and found nothing unusual about the so-called True Blood.

"The three Star Feathers must be sold together, in exchange for a wood-based astra of high grade or better, and it must have healing properties. If the healing effect is exceptional, I can lower the requirement on grade."

Before the words had faded, a voice came from one of the lodges in the darkness. "I'll take the Star Feathers. This is a high-grade wooden flute refined from the taproot of a Drunken Cloud Tree."

White light kindled in that pavilion at the same time, revealing a wooden flute with a mottled surface. No one but the owner of the Star Feathers could examine it.

"Does any other Daoist wish to bid?" The owner of the Star Feathers stayed silent for a while, then asked once more. When no one answered, he said, "Done!"

Two orbs of white light wrapped around their respective treasures and flew into the opposite lodge.

A trade did not have to be concluded on the spot. Anyone unsatisfied could leave their treasure hanging outside and wait for later exchanges, since a better opportunity might yet come along. Once the trade meet ended, the commission owed to the Myriad Devil Assembly would be settled all at once.

Through it all Venerable Zhongtai said nothing. Seeing the first exchange go so smoothly, a smile appeared on his face, his ears twitched slightly, and he said, "Next, please!"

That pavilion withdrew into the shadows, and another shifted forward.

"Heavenly Meteor Iron, suitable for refining cold-attribute astras..."

"The Cold Bone Devil Hand, a devilish artifact of the ancient Cold Bone Dao, high grade, driven by blood and essence, with the might of a top-grade artifact..."

One after another, treasures rarely glimpsed in ordinary times took their turn.

Some found a buyer. Others were set out before their pavilions, left on offer while their owners waited for a better price.

"The Seven-Master Buddha Seal, a Buddhist body cultivator's martial technique..."

At last the item Qin Sang had been waiting for appeared. He gripped his jade token and saw a jade slip floating before the central pavilion.

A body cultivator's martial technique at the Spiritual Infant Realm was a rarity even across all the past Myriad Devil Assemblies. Qin Sang keenly caught the ripples of spiritual consciousness rising from a good many pavilions, and it was obvious that many were curious about this supernatural ability.

I hope the Great Heavenly Peng Saint stays out of this. Qin Sang thought.

Qin Sang took stock of his holdings and had no confidence at all about contending with a great saint of the demon race.

Then the owner of the Seven-Master Buddha Seal, having given a brief introduction, hesitated a moment and said, "In exchange for a top-tier earth-based evasion technique."

The words set off a stir.

"You're not joking, are you, Daoist? A body cultivator's supernatural ability for a top-tier evasion technique?" Someone could not help speaking up, and even through the flattened tone the doubt came through.

If the owner of the Seven-Master Buddha Seal had not exaggerated, the two were indeed of comparable value. But the reality was that body cultivators had all but died out.

Then the voice from the pavilion that had bought the Star Feathers spoke again. "Why not open up your spiritual consciousness, Daoist, and let us view a portion of the contents? Only then can we judge its worth. We can hardly take your word for it alone."

Qin Sang tensed. The demon race does have plans for it after all.

The owner of the Seven-Master Buddha Seal did not respond to the doubts, and simply said, "Very well!"

Strands of spiritual consciousness probed into the jade slip one after another, everyone curious about a body cultivator's supernatural ability.

The slip had only been opened to part of the general outline. Qin Sang skimmed the whole of it quickly.

The Seven-Master Buddha Seal was in fact seven Buddhist hand seals. By the outline's account, every one of them was supremely rigid and fierce, and their power was far from ordinary.

By the same measure, casting the ability placed an enormous burden on the cultivator's physical body, and only a pure body cultivator could withstand it.

A body cultivator below the Spiritual Infant Realm could barely manage the first seal, and one at the early stage of the Spiritual Infant Realm only the first four. That alone was enough to show how remarkable the technique was.

As these thoughts passed through his mind, Qin Sang also let out a quiet breath of relief.

According to the outline, the ability had been created specifically around the traits of the human race. Even if a member of the demon race forced it into use, the power of the Buddha seals would clash with their own bloodline, injuring themselves before their enemy, and its might would be greatly diminished.

The Great Heavenly Peng Saint likely would not throw himself into the contest. Otherwise the owner of the Seven-Master Buddha Seal would not have hesitated so much when naming his terms.

The problem now was that Qin Sang had no top-tier earth-based evasion technique on hand. What could he offer to win the man over?

Silence settled over the island at the center of the lake.

Then a voice suddenly spoke. "I heard that the ruins of an ancient Buddhist sect surfaced two years ago. That must be where you obtained the Seven-Master Buddha Seal?"

There was a pause, and when the owner of the Seven-Master Buddha Seal did not answer, the speaker went on, "May I ask whether you hold any other Buddhist arts or supernatural abilities? Other than the ones related to body cultivation."

Someone from a Buddhist sect had come? Everyone turned toward the voice and saw nothing but darkness.

No Buddhist sect was known to have produced an eminent monk of the Spiritual Infant Realm, so it was likely one of them had commissioned a Spiritual Infant cultivator to make the purchase on their behalf.

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