The difficult path of cultivation for a grassroots female practitioner

After Xiao Han accepted the broken knife for a hundred spirit stones, he hurried home.

Dongxing Market was too far from the cave where she lived, so she had to hurry back.

The next day, at the Wild Market, a scene unfolded: a female cultivator sat on a small stool, a broken knife placed on a cloth bag spread out on the ground before her. A wooden board nearby read: "High Price for Damaged Magical Instruments."

Honestly, if it was a fragment of a magical weapon, perhaps a cultivator would be reluctant to throw it away. However, a magical weapon, especially a low-level one, would only cost a few hundred spirit stones to buy a new one. Once it was scrapped, it would become garbage.

Some artifact fragments can be refined and separated into useful substances. However, some artifact materials, once scrapped, are completely useless. For this reason, basically no artifact refiner is interested in recycling discarded artifacts.

As for those monks whose magic weapons were useless, they either threw them into the corner of their storage bag and ignored them, or simply threw them away.

Now, there are people who set up stalls to buy this stuff and offer high prices for it, which immediately attracted some monks.

Then, after rummaging through the storage bag, a customer came.

A short and fat cultivator at the eighth level of Qi training came over, holding up a ring devoid of spiritual energy and said, "Can you recycle this?"

Xiao Han took it and looked at it. He saw that the ring was covered with fine cracks. The internal structure of the entire ring was severely damaged. And because it had been there for too long, the spiritual energy contained in the material itself had all dissipated.

Oh my god, this is my first business deal and I got a real piece of junk. My luck is so bad.

She laughed wryly and said, "Fellow Daoist, your ring has been sitting there for too long after it was damaged, and it's completely worthless. But since you're my first customer, I'll buy it back for ten spirit stones."

Although the ring's main material was completely wasted, some useful auxiliary materials could still be extracted. After deducting the time and energy wasted on smelting and separation, this magical instrument could be said to have little profit at all.

The short and fat monk glared at him. "Didn't you say you'd pay a high price to buy back the damaged artifact? Ten spirit stones is a high price? Ten spirit stones wouldn't even be enough for a cup of tea for me."

Xiao Han patiently explained, "When I recycle damaged magical instruments, I also consider their quality. Yours has been sitting for too long after being damaged, and it's completely ruined. Once you put it in the furnace and calcine it, it'll just be a pile of dust. If it's been damaged for less than six months, I'm sure you can sell it for seventy or eighty spirit stones."

The short and fat monk snorted, then took out another three-edged water-dividing spear from his storage bag. "What about this one?"

Xiao Han: This guy has scrapped quite a few magical weapons.

She took it and looked at it carefully. This three-edged water-dividing spear was a mid-grade magic weapon. Not only was it a magic weapon with strong attack power, but when it was injected with spiritual power and used in water, it could automatically break the water waves without being disturbed by the water flow.

It is a very good magic weapon for attacking aquatic monsters or fish.

Although this magical weapon was damaged, the recyclable materials on it were still very valuable. Therefore, Xiao Han said, "This magical weapon was damaged not long ago and is still somewhat useful. How about this? 120 spirit stones, will you sell it to me?"

Someone among the onlookers exclaimed, "Wow, this price is really high! It's already become scrap, but it can still be sold for more than a hundred spirit stones. It's worth it."

Someone nearby who knew the real thing retorted, "Why don't you take a look at this? This is a three-edged water-dividing thorn. A new one would cost one or two thousand spirit stones."

Sure enough, the short and fat monk also said: "When I bought this magic weapon, I spent 1,900 spirit stones, and now you only give me 120 spirit stones?"

Xiao Han smiled and said, "You bought this magic weapon for 1,900 spirit stones, which is actually a bargain. Normally, it would cost at least 2,000 spirit stones. But you also know that's the price of an intact magic weapon. Now, what use is there for you with this thing? If you use it to kill a monster, I'm afraid the monster will just stand there and you won't be able to kill it. You can't use it, and it will just take up space in your storage bag. If you sell it, you can still get 120 spirit stones back."

At this time, a monk who was watching asked, "If you take this thing back, can you repair it? Once it's repaired, can you sell it at a high price?"

Xiao Han immediately laughed, "Oh, you really think too highly of me. A magical weapon that's damaged to this extent cannot be repaired. Why don't you ask this fellow Taoist? I believe he must have consulted the weapon refiner."

After saying that, she pointed at the short and fat monk.

The short and fat monk said with a sullen face, "I asked two weapon refiners, and they both said it couldn't be repaired."

Xiao Han smiled but said nothing.

The man asked again, "Then why did you take it back?"

Xiao Han said, "I'm an apprentice refiner. My master said I'm having trouble learning how to smelt and remove impurities, so I thought I'd buy some damaged magical instruments to practice with and learn the smelting technique. If anyone has damaged magical instruments to sell, please bring them to me immediately. By the time I've mastered the craft, I doubt they'll be used anymore."

After hearing this, the short and fat monk stopped arguing and asked, "Can you add some more?"

Xiao Han shook his head. "This price is already very high. If you don't believe me, go ask someone else and see who can match my price."

The short and fat monk stopped talking. He said, "Others, what others? Except for the female monk today, he had never seen anyone recycling these wastes."

He gave the ring and the three-edged water-dividing spear to Xiao Han, took 130 spirit stones and left.

Xiao Han threw both of the recycled items on the stall and waited for the next customer to come.

This business is actually about earning some hard-earned money, so weapon refiners who can make a lot of money will not do this kind of thing. If the weapon refiner apprentice does not have good eyesight and does not have a comprehensive understanding of the refining materials after smelting, it is easy to fail even if he wants to do it.

During the three years Xiao Han had been with Hu Xi, Hu Xi rarely refined the same magical instrument twice. He refined a wide variety of items, and Xiao Han, who assisted him, naturally gained a lot of insight.

As for Xiao Han, she is very patient with the hard work of smelting, separation and forging as long as she can make money.

As long as she can recover a magical weapon like the Three-edged Water-Splitting Thorn in a day, she can earn more than a hundred spirit stones. Isn't that better than working for a fixed salary of several hundred or a thousand?

After the short and fat monk left, although some monks came to ask how to recycle, no one sold it anymore.

It was not until another half hour passed that he recovered a low-level magic weapon worth dozens of spirit stones.

Then, after a while, the short and fat monk came over with a male cultivator who was also at the eighth level of Qi training.

"Hey, that female cultivator hasn't left yet. Brother Duan, this is it."