"Half-Step Nascent Soul Stage?"

Lu Yang picked up the token, which looked older than both he and Meng Jingzhou combined.

Half-Step Nascent Soul Stage sounds intimidating, just like the Nascent Soul Stage, but, in the end, isn’t it just the Golden Core Stage?

With their combat power, except for not being at the Nascent Soul Stage in terms of realm, they met all the other indicators of the Nascent Soul Stage.

Any Nascent Soul Stage cultivators encountering them would have to address them politely as Daoist friends, and if someone were less principled, they might even call them seniors. If it was someone who knew their identities, beseeching for their lives wouldn’t be impossible.

A treasure trove from the Half-Step Nascent Soul Stage was frankly useless to them.

They wouldn’t even consider something of the Divinity Transformation Stage all that impressive.

Who was Lu Yang? The Young Sect Master of the Heavenly Court Sect, and once again the majority shareholder of a barbecue joint, holding the patent rights to the Flying Car. Saying he made a pot of gold every day wasn’t an exaggeration.

Meng Jingzhou, that lethargic heir of a wealthy family, didn’t even have the right to compare with him.

Meng Jingzhou also felt that the token wasn’t very useful.

As Meng Family’s Young Master, boasting that he was the number one profligate son under the heavens wasn’t an overstatement, and any trifle he dropped could incite a scramble among Divinity Transformation strongmen.

Compared with Lu Yang, whose luck got him favored by the Eldest Senior Sister and Fairy Eternity, Meng Jingzhou didn’t even have the right to compare.

"Then, thank you, Clan Leader."

It was best to accept the goodwill of the Clan Leader.

If outsiders knew that the weak Hydroxy Insect tribe had such an item, it would bring a cataclysm upon them.

"May I ask, how did you know this could open a treasure land of the Half-Step Nascent Soul Stage?"

"What was found with this token was a Demon Race corpse. The flesh and blood of the corpse had been eaten clean by demon beasts, leaving only a skeleton, a piece of paper, and this token — our tribe was established right above this skeleton."

"The paper was akin to a diary, clarifying the purpose of this token: to open the entrance to a treasure land. The owner of the treasure land was a mixed-blood white snake named White Sandalwood Ancestor. However, the location of the treasure land was not indicated."

"I see."

The two didn’t ask further; it seemed that the other party didn’t know much more about the token, either.

Demon Beasts were a particularly peculiar existence within the Demon Race; they had pure bloodlines but low intelligence or rather, lacked even basic spiritual awareness. And since the power of the Demon Race is founded on the purity of bloodlines, demon beasts are often very powerful.

The cause of their low intelligence, Lu Yang speculated, was a result of inbreeding.

In the Demon Race, marrying between close kin was very common. If in the Great Xia, they wouldn’t even be able to get a marriage certificate.

The two set out, heading in the predetermined direction to rendezvous with their Third Senior Sister.

They affixed Godspeed Talismans to their legs, a great item exchanged at the Task Hall, much beloved by the disciples of the Seek Dao Sect.

Since going abroad made it easy to attract trouble, the Godspeed Talisman helped them leave the place of trouble quickly and save their lives.

Using the Godspeed Talisman on the road was also unparalleled.

The Godspeed Talisman, affixed to the calf, generated a force that propelled its user forward, making travel both faster and less tiring.

They sprinted at extreme speeds for an entire day, passing many Foundation Establishment Stage Demon Race tribes along the way. Their presence made such a commotion that many of the elder demons came out to check, but upon seeing their speed, they hurriedly retreated back to their nests in fear.

Just one glance was enough to tell that their cultivation levels were even higher. The Demon Race had many defiant beings; a single look could be taken as an insult, likely to provoke thunderous rage and bring disaster.

This was not a good sign.

"Hm? There are a lot of demon races here, and it doesn’t look like a tribe. Is this the market Uncle Ba mentioned?"

The Demon Race didn’t have towns, but they often needed to exchange goods, hence the markets came into existence.

Those who could open a market among the Demon Race were often local overlords, possessing absolute crushing strength over the surrounding tribes. As for being good at socializing and networking, that was secondary.

"Let’s go take a look."

A Demon Race market, this was also something new to them.

The market was full of shapeshifting demon beasts. According to Immortal Fairy Eternity, this was one of the measures the Five Ancient Immortals used to standardize exchanges—using human forms for communication.

The Demon Race had various types, ranging from the large kind like the Kun Peng, which could grow hundreds of miles in length, to smaller creatures such as the Golden Crow and Jade Rabbit. Not to mention their lack of hands and feet, their habits in eating, clothing, living, and transportation were all different. When the Demon Race mixed together, these problems became even greater.

During the ancient times, numerous disputes arose due to differences in physique and form.

Latter on, the Five Immortals governed the world and established the principle that humans were the standard. When different demon races gathered together, they all transformed into human forms.

The Five Immortals subsequently vanished, but their influence has persisted to this day.

Shapeshifting did not completely mean taking on human forms; taking the Qilin Immortal as an example, many demon races preserved a part of their species characteristics when they transformed, like the Rabbit Race retaining their ears and the Cat Race keeping their tails.

There were also demon beasts that completely transformed into humans, so Lu Yang and his companion didn’t stand out in the market area.

"Take a look, take a look, the Dry Qi Elixirs refined by Master Golden Monkey, five hundred Spirit Stones each!"

"What, it’s Master Golden Monkey’s Elixir! Master Golden Monkey is a master refiner at the Foundation Establishment level with a one-third success rate!"

"Quality guaranteed swords and clubs forged by the Bronze Rhino Tribe, the more you buy, the greater the discount! There’s also a magic artifact personally refined by the Clan Leader of the Bronze Rhino Tribe. With it, it’s not impossible to defeat a ninth layer Early Stage Qi Cultivation with an eighth layer Early Stage Qi Cultivation!"

"What, such an increase, enough to skip a whole level!"

Lu Yang: "..."

Meng Jingzhou: "..."

Is this some junk food market? What nonsense are they selling, a one-third success rate, if this were Elixir Cauldron Peak, the Seventh Elder would have beaten someone to death.

And that magic artifact refined by the Clan Leader of the Bronze Rhino Tribe, riddled with impurities and rife with flaws—Lu Yang, who doesn’t even know how to refine, could make better ones.

"There aren’t many powerful individuals in this market, just a bunch of those in the Qi Cultivation Stage, with the occasional few at the Foundation Establishment Stage."

Both had rich combat experience. With just a glance, they could roughly judge the cultivation levels of the demon races by their walking and breathing methods.

"Forget it, there should be a pawn shop here. Let’s just sell the token."

The two found a pawnshop in the busiest part of the market.

Pawnshops seldom opened, but when they did, they could make enough to last half a year. A young lad was dozing off boredly, antlers like those of a water buffalo on his head.

In these past two months, he hadn’t received any good items, just worthless trinkets, and the boss had gone to sleep inside the house.

"Guy, help us take a look at how much this token can be sold for."

Lu Yang took out a token from his bosom and handed it to the lad.

The lad wasn’t paying much attention at first and gave it a casual glance, but then his eyes were glued to the token and he couldn’t look away.

"This... this..."

Seeing the token, the lad’s heart skipped a beat.

If this was truly the legendary treasure token, they would strike it rich!

Seeing that Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou’s expressions were calm, he thought they probably didn’t know the value.

He hurried to call the boss, who was sleeping like the dead.

When the boss heard the lad’s description, he bolted upright from bed.

If it was the real deal, they wouldn’t need to open the pawnshop for another ten years!

The boss’s origins were unknown; he had a pristine white horn on his head and snake scales on his neck, possibly a mixed breed of the Demon Race.

The moment the boss saw the token, his hands trembled, and he nearly dropped it.

This was the notorious treasure token of the White Sandalwood Ancestor!

This was said to belong to the legendary White Sandalwood Ancestor who was only half step away from the Nascent Soul Stage!

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou’s eyes twitched slightly. Why, from their reactions, did it seem like the White Sandalwood Ancestor wasn’t at half step Nascent Soul Stage, but rather at half step transcending tribulation?