Longevity starts with choosing Hextech enhancement

Chapter 239: Purchase of Intelligence and Market Transactions
"Tell me first, what is the difference between these two companies?"

Xiao Chen asked slowly while looking at the scenery on the island.

Guo Pan quickly introduced: "Cangming Tower is backed by the Cangming Immortal Sect. The information inside has been strictly vetted by the Immortal Sect and is true and reliable, without any fraud."

"But because of this, news will spread more slowly."

“Also, the price is a little bit higher.”

He paused slightly, then continued, "Lingtong Pavilion has a wide range of sources of information. No matter where there is any movement, we can know it immediately, and the price is relatively low."

"But there are a lot of rumors mixed in, some true and some false, so you need to spend extra time to distinguish them."

"These two stores are not far from each other, just two streets apart. Which one would you like to go to, senior?"

Does this work too?
Xiao Chen was a little surprised. Logically speaking, authenticity and reliability should be the most basic requirement for intelligence. Is there really anyone in Lingtong Pavilion willing to spend money?

Or, what is the actual meaning here?
"Go to the nearest one first."

Since they were not far away, he decided to buy intelligence on both sides.

First of all, he was indeed curious about the situation in Lingtong Pavilion.

Secondly, information from different sources corroborating each other may provide a more comprehensive picture.

"okay!"

Guo Pan responded and skillfully led him through the streets and alleys. Soon, they arrived in front of a unique attic.

It is made entirely of green jade and has only three floors, each of which is ten feet high.

In the middle of the attic hung an enormous plaque with characters as big as two wheels written on it - Cang Ming.

In the lower right corner of the plaque, there is a line of normal small words - carefully selected, carefully checked for authenticity, clearly marked prices, no refunds or exchanges.

"Senior, just select carefully and call me when you're done."

Before coming, Guo Pan introduced the situation. The rule of Cangming Tower is that if you want to enter, you need to pay ten spirit stones first.

Regardless of whether the deal is successful or not, this money cannot be reduced.

In addition, they also prohibited guides from standing at the door, and they had to wait for their employers in the alley diagonally opposite.

The gatekeeper was a middle-aged foundation-building cultivator.

Seeing Xiao Chen coming, he just reached out to take the spirit stone as a matter of routine, then took a step forward to make way.

His expression was calm and his eyes were numb, just like a puppet.

The manager inside also looked uninterested: "Are you here to buy intelligence, or to sell information?"

Perhaps it is because they have the support of the Immortal Sect, perhaps it is an almost exclusive business, or perhaps it is nothing new.

In short, they saw that the Jindan cultivator was also very calm.

However, Xiao Chen didn't care about their attitude and simply stated that he needed the latest and most detailed nautical chart.

Then there is a summary of all the important intelligence from the entire Mercy Sea over the past ten years.

Finally, a list of recent major events is needed.

"Guest, you are not joking, are you?"

The steward was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Are you sure you need a summary of the important intelligence from the entire Mercy Sea? I must warn you, it's not cheap."

"At least this number should be the starting point."

He stretched out five fingers and shook them, probably pointing to fifty thousand spirit stones.

Judging from the information alone, this price is indeed not low.

After all, what Xiao Chen wanted was just some public information.

It is the kind of thing that if a Jindan cultivator is willing to spend time to inquire about it, he can collect it in three to five years.

Guo Pan's previous statement that this place would be "slightly more expensive" was actually an understatement.

But it doesn’t matter. Xiao Chen made a fortune on Tianxing Island not long ago. This is just a small amount of money for him.

So he nodded calmly: "Just bring me the information I want."

It is worth mentioning that the efficiency of Cangming Tower is quite good.

In just less than two quarters of an hour, the steward counted and collected all the information, and placed it in three boxes on the counter.

"Sorry for the long wait. I will accept 55,000 spirit stones from you."

Due to the special nature of intelligence transactions, payment is usually made first and the goods are received later.

Xiao Chen waved his hand, put down the spirit stone, and checked the intelligence on the spot.

These things must be looked at carefully here.

For example, are there any obvious missing words or sentences, or are there any suspected typos in some places?

You can get free answers if you ask on the spot, but if you have any further questions after you leave, you will be charged a different price.

The first thing is the pile of sea charts worth 20,000 spirit stones.

That’s right, because the Sea of ​​Compassion is so vast, it is necessary to use fourteen scrolls that are ten feet long and two feet wide to mark out the relatively detailed situation.

As it turned out, Xiao Chen's decision to purchase intelligence first was quite correct.

This latest news comes from a nautical chart at the end of last month, which shows more than 300 circled red areas.

These places are prone to disasters such as thunderstorms or frost and fog. If a monk accidentally enters one of them, his life or death may be in danger.

In particular, Xiao Chen noticed that there were forty-seven dark red areas marked.

They are all new dangerous areas that have been added in the past five years.

If a monk used an old sea chart or relied on past experience to travel, he would likely end up in danger.

“So many new disasters in five years?”

Xiao Chen sensed something unusual: "Have things changed so frequently in the past hundred years?"

The steward raised his right hand and waved his index finger towards the ceiling: "I'll charge you one hundred spirit stones for this information."

……

After taking the spirit stone, he shook his head and said, "Not counting the last five years, seven disasters have disappeared in the past hundred years, and nineteen new dangerous areas have appeared."

In other words, the changes in the last five years have been extremely dramatic.

Xiao Chen asked, "What's the reason for the change?"

The steward held up two fingers and said, "I'll give you two hundred spirit stones for this information."

It's very annoying, just like facing an emotionless puppet who collects money.

Xiao Chen took out two hundred spirit stones, and then he heard the other party's answer: "Regarding the frequent disasters, the major sects have not yet found the cause."

Ok?
Doesn’t this translate to the classic answer – I don’t know.

Xiao Chen glared at the other person: "How dare you accept my spirit stones?"

The steward's expression was calm: "No progress is also a form of intelligence."

After a pause, he added, "If we had found the reason, we wouldn't have charged only 200."

Ok?
What do you mean by adding this sentence?
Is there something hidden in your words? Who are you referring to?
Not wanting to bother with the junior whose cultivation was only at the foundation-building stage, Xiao Chen flipped through the summary of important intelligence and gained a general understanding of the changes in various aspects.

The situation at the Sea of ​​Compassion over the past decade can be described in eight words.

Heroes rise up and a hundred flowers bloom!
All forces, no matter whether they are large or small sects or immortal cultivation families, are extremely active, participating in various secret explorations and resource competitions.

At the same time, many descendants of the hidden Taoist tradition came into the world.

There are already relatively famous forces such as the Yuchen Sect and the Qianyuan Sect.

There are also several independent cultivators who have suddenly emerged, with superb skills and many hidden cards, and are suspected to be the successors of the new Taoist tradition.
.
The two most important pieces of news are:

The first one is that three years ago, two Yuanying Zhenjun suddenly appeared in the Sea of ​​Compassion, bringing with them eight Jindan disciples.

They called themselves the Zhaokong Sect, and right from the start they merged with three small local immortal cultivation families.

It has now become an emerging force that cannot be ignored.

The second one is that two years ago, the former chief disciple of Yuntao Sword Pavilion, located in Tingtao Sea in the southern part of Cibei Sea, successfully conceived a baby.

Because of his mastery of water magic, he was given the Dharma name - Dielang Zhenjun.

In addition, according to reliable intelligence, this newly promoted True Lord is only 58 years old, which is frighteningly young.

This speed has broken the fastest cultivation record in the Sea of ​​Compassion in the past two thousand years.

Therefore, Master Dielang is also called by many people as a super genius that appears once in a thousand years.

It is said that even though he already has a Taoist partner in the sect, there are still a large number of forces selecting young and beautiful female cultivators and trying to establish a relationship with him.

For several months at that time, monks could be seen coming to Tingtaohai to give gifts.

"It's quite fierce indeed."

Xiao Chen put away the information in his hand and silently memorized the name.

It seems that not only his cultivation has made great progress, but there are also many outstanding talents among the other cultivators.

But it doesn't matter. If everything goes well, he will be able to get the evil spirit right away.

It won't be long before he breaks this practice record again.

These are all things that have already happened, but what is more important to Xiao Chen is the last list of major events.

It only recorded four things in four lines of words, but it was worth a full 20,000 spirit stones.

The reason why it is sold at such a high price is that the four things given on it are all things that are certain to happen but have not happened yet.

First of all, three months later, the Gold-Drilling Secret Realm will be opened ahead of schedule.

Every time this secret realm is opened, it can produce a large amount of rare spiritual ores.

Its importance to weapon refiners is almost equivalent to the significance of the Hundred Herbs Secret Realm to alchemists.

However, this doesn't mean much to Xiao Chen, as he has almost no experience in refining equipment.

At the same time, he didn't have much hope of trying his luck in digging for the fourth-level spiritual ore.

The main reason was that he had to look for magical weapons and then rush back to Ji'e Island as soon as possible, so he had no time to go mining.

Then, five months later, a large auction will be held in Tingtaohai.

The news of the auction itself is not a secret. The key point is that the talisman promoted in it can be confirmed to be a fifth-grade defensive talisman.

If you are interested in bidding, you can start preparing spirit stones in advance.

"Fifth-grade talisman?"

Xiao Chen has never seen a talisman before, so he is quite interested in it.

If he has time then, he might also consider trying to bid. After all, there is no such thing as too much protective equipment.

Then there is a special piece of information.

There has been continuous heavy rain in the southeast of the Mercy Sea, and it has been falling for two years without stopping.

According to the Cangming Immortal Sect's speculation, one of the reasons is most likely that some special spiritual creature is about to be born in the sea.

However, the specific situation is still unclear at the moment and may last for a long time.

"In the southeast."

Xiao Chen is now going to the northwest to find Wu Ling, which is equivalent to completely going to the other side.

However, the spiritual creatures born in the sea are basically related to water.

So he thought about it and decided to just let it go.

Finally, there is a bounty order from the far west, plus a portrait.

The Yinshi Sect, a Nascent Soul sect from the Storm Sea, is tracking down a half-step Nascent Soul cultivator named 'Jin Guang San Ren'.

There was a lot of nonsense afterwards, describing how cruel and unscrupulous Jin Guang San Ren was. Xiao Chen laughed at it. He was really good at confusing right and wrong.

Just looking at the description of the Yinshi Sect, people who don't know the truth might think that they are the evil cultivators who kill innocent people indiscriminately.

It doesn’t matter, let them be arrogant for a few more days, they will cry in the future.

At the bottom is a super high reward, not only spirit stones, but also enlightenment crystals and fourth-level spiritual objects.

Up to now, this news has only been circulated among Yuanying Zhenjun and a few cultivators who purchased the information.

The reason why it did not spread widely was because people were afraid of alerting the enemy.

The Cangming Immortal Sect specifically noted that Jin Guang San Ren was extremely dangerous and did not recommend any Jindan cultivator to fight him.

So if you encounter them accidentally, you can secretly report their whereabouts to the nearest major forces and receive the bounty.

Speaking of which, the portrait is really amazing and lifelike.

But the problem is that Xiao Chen has now lifted his disguise.

In other words, he is now using his true appearance, so he doesn't have to worry about being discovered.

The Yinshi Sect is now trying to capture someone with a fake portrait, but it is doomed to fail from the start.

Coming out of Cangming Tower, Xiao Chen called out, "Shitou!"

I immediately saw Guo Pan trotting towards me from the alley. "Senior, where are we going next?"

"Let's go to Lingtong Pavilion again."

Xiao Chen thought for a moment and added, "In addition, I also need to buy some spiritual honey and sell a batch of third-level talismans."

"You figure out where you should go, and then lead the way."

Since we are already in the market, let’s arrange for the spiritual honey.

Next time a foolish bird dares to eat me, I will roast it with honey.

After hearing this, Guo Pan thought carefully for two breaths before replying, "Senior, please come this way. The Li family shop has been selling spiritual honey for over three hundred years, and everyone who has tasted it says it's delicious."

Even in the world of cultivation, two hundred years is a long time.

Such an old brand often means that the family has produced at least three generations of foundation-building cultivators, otherwise the business would have been taken away long ago.

But what Xiao Chen didn't expect was that the person in charge of selling the spiritual honey was actually a Jindan cultivator who looked somewhat honest.

"Which one do you want?"

He smiled and held out two large bowls: "We have both second-level spiritual honey and third-level spiritual honey."

"Fellow Daoist, you can try each one and then make a decision."

Oh, and there’s also a food tasting session.

Xiao Chen was not afraid that there was something wrong with the food, so he took a bite directly.

The third-level spiritual honey is soft, delicate and smooth in the mouth, with a hint of the fragrance of spiritual medicine.

It should be that during the processing, some elixirs that help restore true essence were deliberately added.

"How is it? Our spiritual honey tastes good, right?"

The other party introduced with a smile: "I'm not bragging, but at the beginning of next month, the five major sects will hold a joint competition."

"A few days ago, the steward of the Cangming Immortal Sect came to me to purchase a large jar of spiritual honey."

"It is used to restore the true essence of the elite disciples participating in the competition."

Xiao Chen asked curiously, "Is there such a thing? Why haven't I heard about the competition?"

The other party quickly explained: "How can this be false? It's absolutely true."

"Our Cangming Immortal Sect, the Tiangang Sect and Mozhang Sect to the north, the Yuntao Sword House to the east, and the Qianji Valley."

"Also, almost all the true disciples from the major sects will be going this time. The news has already spread everywhere."
.
"Oh I got it."

Xiao Chen nodded, waved his hand and put down ten thousand spirit stones: "Give me one hundred kilograms of third-level spirit honey."

Quite interesting, this competition is very targeted.

According to the information he had obtained from Su Li before, there were actually not many Taoist sects in the Sea of ​​Compassion, and they were all concentrated in the southwest and northwest directions.

Several Buddhist temples occupy the best locations in the southeast, northeast and middle areas.

Putting aside those small sects that only had Jindan cultivators, there were only five major forces in Taoism before.

We can't say that we are incompatible with each other, because we can't pee in the same pot anyway.

Even Qianji Valley may not be considered a Taoist sect, after all, they specialize in the study of mechanical mechanisms and puppets.

But this time, the five major sects joined forces and sent out the younger generation of true disciples to compete with each other.

The only thing he didn’t bring along was the newly emerging Zhaokong faction.

It seems that the relationship between the sects in the present world and the sects in the hidden world seems to be a little disharmonious.

Several thoughts flashed through Xiao Chen's mind, and he didn't know if it was because they didn't get along or if there was some other reason.

Previous intelligence said that several other hidden sects seemed to be active as well.

There are only a few fourth-level spiritual veins, which cannot accommodate so many forces.

Of course, this is not something Xiao Chen needs to worry about.

He just needs to keep his distance so that if a fight breaks out in the future, he won't be implicated.

"Senior, this is Lingtong Pavilion."

After crossing an alley, Guo Pan pointed to a square courtyard opposite and said.

The compound is square, with eight identical gates built on all four sides, all of which are open at this time.

Many cultivators were walking among them, and Xiao Chen also saw quite a few in the Qi Refining stage.

After a brief understanding, he finally understood that intelligence was only one of the characteristics of Lingtong Pavilion.

He also has another more important function, which is to provide a place for everyone to chat and brag.

Unlike Chaohui Pavilion or Cangming Tower, which are strictly divided, transactions are conducted in small compartments that have been divided in advance and are also equipped with soundproofing formations.

Lingtong Pavilion is more like a combination of a restaurant and a teahouse.

Except for a few areas separated by screens for trading information, the rest of the area was built into a bustling hall.

In the middle of the hall, there is a high platform where monks sit and tell various stories.

The monks around him either listened to him, or went up to speak on their own, or chatted with fellow monks they met by chance. In short, the place was lively and exciting.

Xiao Chen had only taken a few steps inside when he heard a lot of shocking gossip.

A certain Jindan elder of the Cangming Immortal Sect was secretly practicing the art of collecting and replenishing energy, but something went wrong and he became possessed.

It is said that someone witnessed the true form of Kunpeng with his own eyes at the edge of Kunpeng Sea.

Some people also saw the sea water gathered into a giant thousands of feet tall in the northwest of the Mercy Sea, fighting with a fourth-level monster.

……

Hiss~, is there any need to sell information?

But Xiao Chen finally bought a piece of intelligence, for no other reason - it was too cheap!
Excluding the sea charts that he didn't need to purchase again, he only spent three hundred spirit stones to obtain a large stack of booklets containing various rumors.

In other words, these are more like scripts that record some information.

The content inside is almost the same as the previous shocking rumors.

The only difference is that the number is large enough and comprehensive enough, even including two completely different rumors about the same thing.

Xiao Chen himself certainly can’t use it much.

But you can bring it back to show Su Li, after all, she hasn't heard any news from the outside world for a long time.

After leaving Lingtong Pavilion, he sold the talismans he had at a shop at a 50% discount.

Mainly because we stayed on Ji'e Island for another month, plus the time spent on the journey, the shelf life of these talismans was less than eight months.

If Xiao Chen is willing to set up a stall himself, he should be able to sell it slowly at a 30% discount.

But he didn't have the time now. It would take several months to find the magic weapon after he came back. It would be better to just get rid of it.

"Shi Tou, this is my first time here!"

After completing the three main objectives, Xiao Chen turned around and asked, "Are there any other places in the market that are worth visiting?"

If not, he would have continued on his way.

Upon hearing this, Guo Pan replied without hesitation: "If this is your first time here, you can go to the 'Wall of Fortune' in the center of the island and take a look."

"I heard that many seniors came to the market just for this."

"There are all high-priced bounties there guaranteed by the Cangming Immortal Sect. Many cultivators have made a fortune."

Xiao Chen nodded: "Lead the way!"

Now that you are here, since it is a place worth seeing, you might as well take a look.

In the center of the island, there is a red wall that is a thousand feet long.

On the wall, wooden signs with different rewards written on them were arranged from east to west according to price.

The bounty here is not only for people, but also for different items.

For example, the three-bead star-fixing plate that is currently ranked first.

It was a magic weapon that was accidentally lost when the Mozhang Sect was in internal strife a few years ago.

In order to retrieve this treasure, anyone who can provide effective clues can receive a reward of up to one million spirit stones.

If you can return the items, you can exchange them for a lot of good things.

Including but not limited to heavenly-level inheritance that cannot be passed on to outsiders, fourth-level elixirs, enlightenment crystals, etc.

Xiao Chen was looking back one by one when he suddenly heard the voices of the monks around him talking.

"Ouch, someone's missing again, come here and put up a reward."

"There have been six Golden Core True Immortals this year, right?"

"You missed it. This should be the seventh one."

……

Xiao Chen glanced over there and saw that there were indeed quite a few similar bounties in the back half of the red wall.

Most of them are cultivators who disappeared for no reason. Their friends or clansmen had no other choice but to gather together spirit stones and come here to seek a glimmer of hope.

"Give in, give in."

A foundation-building cultivator wearing the robe of the Cangming Immortal Sect walked over and went straight to the front.

He took down the wooden sign originally ranked nineteenth, then took out the new bounty and moved it to the twelfth place.

The monks around immediately formed a circle.

"Look, the Yi family has raised the price again, this time directly to one million spirit stones!"

"As expected of a Yuanying clan, they are rich."

"I heard before that the Yi family member's life span is almost over. It seems to be true."

"It must be true, otherwise a fourth-level life-extending elixir would never sell for this price."

"Huh, you're in the early stages of foundation building, and you know the price of a fourth-tier spiritual medicine?"

The cultivator turned around and saw that the one mocking him was in the late Foundation Establishment stage.

So he suddenly became dispirited, turned around and left muttering to himself.

(End of this chapter)