Chapter 220: Clear Void Poison King

Song Yu and Manager You began to compete for the batch of Purple Lightning Talismans. After a heated exchange of words, Song Yu managed to secure a quarter of them for himself, while Manager You claimed the rest.

Although the Purple Lightning Talismans had a high selling price, them being lightning-attribute talismans with powerful destructive capabilities that could restrain yin energy and demonic creatures meant that every cultivator was willing to buy them. Moreover, even with business purely in mind, the Purple Lightning Talismans were a sound investment. Both Song Yu and Manager You had Dragon Ridge as a channel. Even if they couldn't use them all, they could still sell them at a higher price. This deal was a win-win for them.

In such a short period, Fang Chen gained a little over 1,700 low-grade spirit stones. Combined with the remaining 1,000 low-grade spirit stones he already had, his net worth soared to an impressive 2,700 low-grade spirit stones.

Fang Chen smiled. "Manager You, calculate the total price for all these treasures."

Manager You didn't waste words and quickly calculated the price of everything. After a short time, he turned to Fang Chen and said, "Friend, there are a total of 103 treasures here. The price for each is...," he listed a series of prices and finally gave a total, "2,486. I'll round it down, so let's call it 2,480."

"I'll round it down as well, 2,400," said Fang Chen.

After some consideration, Manager You sighed. "Alright, alright. Today is a fateful encounter with a friend, so be it."

Fang Chen nodded with a smile. "You are a straightforward man, Manager You."

Fang Chen handed over the spirit stones, and then directly collected the more than one hundred treasures. Now, he needed to find a place to feed Little Sword.

With that, Fang Chen stood up. "It's getting late. I'll take my leave."

Song Yu was surprised and tried to persuade him to stay over. "Young friend, why leave in such a hurry? Why not stay here for a few more days?"

"Yes, there's an auction tomorrow. Why don’t you stay and take a look? Perhaps there will be something you need in the auction," suggested Manager You.

Fang Chen's eyes lit up. "An auction?"

"Young brother, Manager You has been preparing for this auction for three whole years. Many powerful rogue cultivators will come, and even some disciples from major sects. As you know, it’s often hard for people to safely sell the real good stuff, as trustworthy sellers are few and far between. So, everyone attaches great importance to this auction. The items they’ll bring out will definitely be top-notch," explained Song Yu with a smile. "Why not stay for an extra day? You might pick up some good items."

So that’s it.

No wonder he felt that there were more cultivators in Dragon Ridge this time around. The anticipation people had for the upcoming auction was clear to see.

Since Fang Chen was not very familiar with the local independent cultivators, staying an extra day to learn more about them would be beneficial.

"Alright, I'll stay for an extra day. I wouldn't want to disappoint you both," agreed Fang Chen.

That night, Song Yu and Manager You treated Fang Chen to a meal. Afterward, when Fang Chen returned to his room, he took out the treasures he had bought one by one.

Seeing the huge pile of treasures, Little Sword couldn't wait to start devouring them.

As it consumed each treasure, Little Sword's aura became more profound. By the time Little Sword had devoured over a hundred treasures, its length had directly increased by two inches.

It was then that a voice belonging to a child sounded directly into Fang Chen’s ears. "Delicious! I'm so full!" said Little Sword, as it circled and twirled around happily in the air.

It seemed to have grown quite a bit, and its emotions were becoming clearer.

Fang Chen chuckled and waved his hand. "Are you finally full, little one? I don’t want to hear you saying you’re hungry again."

Xiao Jian immediately flew to Fang Chen's palm, saying, "Eat, eat, grow the body!"

Fang Chen laughed. "You can't keep eating and growing all the time, can you?"

Xiao Jian seemed somewhat excited. "Grow the body, unseal, become a sword cultivator!"

"Huh?" Fang Chen was startled. "What did you just say? Sword cultivator?"

"Unseal! Sword cultivator!"

"Unseal! Sword cultivator!"

Little Sword left Fang Chen’s hand and flew around, its child-like voice filled with expectation and excitement.

"This is incredible.” Fang Chen's face turned serious. “Does it carry a sword cultivator inheritance?" It seemed he needed to find more treasures for Little Sword to eat. The attitude of the two from the Blood Corpse Sect showed how extraordinary sword cultivators were.

The next day, Fang Chen and Song Yu arrived at the Dragon Ridge Trading Company together. However, Manager You didn't have time to greet them this time; he was busy welcoming the powerful independent cultivators arriving from various places.

"There are indeed many cultivators above the sixth level of the Qi Refining Realm," remarked Fang Chen with a smile.

Song Yu sighed. "Any wandering cultivator who has been able to reach the sixth level of Qi Refining and above is undoubtedly a genius. Young brother, you should understand how difficult the way of wandering cultivators is. Even the cultivation techniques at our disposal are usually incomplete."

Fang Chen smiled. He didn’t fail to notice what Song Yu was driving at, but he turned a deaf ear.

Song Yu felt a bit disappointed when he saw Fang Chen’s lack of reaction, but he didn't show it. Instead, he led Fang Chen to greet the various wandering cultivators.

The cultivators were curious about Fang Chen's background, but since Song Yu hadn’t brought it up, they didn't dare to ask too much.

Suddenly, a faint unpleasant smell wafted through the air. Many cultivators covered their noses in disgust.

"What's that awful smell?"

"Who just farted?"

"It stinks!"

However, shortly after, these voices died down as they saw a hunchbacked figure appear at the entrance of the shop. This figure seemed to be around eight or nine years old.

On the figure’s back grew an enormous and hideous tumor. Some parts of the tumor had already burst, oozing foul-smelling green liquid. In addition, the exposed skin on its body had no healthy patches, covered in various small lumps, with foul-smelling fluids occasionally seeping out.

Song Yu's face showed a trace of solemnity. "Clear Void Poison King."

Fang Chen frowned. "I sense no cultivation from him."

"This is not him. This is just a test subject of his, that he uses to test out his poisons. Clear Void Poison King usually resides on Clear Void Mountain, which is three thousand miles away from here. I didn't expect him to come," explained Song Yu. He looked vigilant. "Remember, absolutely do not offend him. He is ruthless, and he has incredibly vicious methods at his disposal. He’s at the tenth level of Qi Refining. Even the disciples from some sects wouldn't easily provoke him."

By the time Song Yu finished speaking, another figure had appeared behind the hunchbacked person. The figure belonged to a big, bare-armed man who appeared to be in his forties or fifties. His beard and hair were braided into whips of different colors—red, yellow, green, and blue. There even seemed to be a faint shimmer to his hair.

Many cultivators took a sharp breath, recognizing the newcomer. Their expressions changed from initial disgust to fear, and they hurriedly made way for him.

Clear Void Poison King swept his gaze over everyone, then let out a strange laugh. "What's with the faces? Am I very smelly? "

No one dared to speak.

It was then that Manager You rushed over and warmly greeted him. "Brother Clear Void, it's a bit inappropriate to welcome you outside the door. Please come inside; I've prepared a VIP room for you."

Clear Void Poison King let out a weird laugh. Glancing at Song Yu for a brief moment, he swaggered behind Manager You, his hunchback follower in tow.

"Does he usually use ordinary people to experiment with poisons?" asked Fang Chen as he watched Clear Void Poison King's back.

Song Yu's expression changed slightly, and he whispered, "Not really. Most of the time, he uses his enemies, people who offended him, for his experiments. Occasionally, he uses ordinary people. Just let it be, young brother. You don’t want to offend such a ruthless character for the sake of ordinary people. I heard that he was even able to severely injure a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator who was seeking revenge against him!"