My ancestors were spiritual plant growers, so it's not surprising that I hunt demons every day,

Iron crystal is a natural mineral produced in the cultivation world. It is often used by cultivators to refine or upgrade the grade of various magical artifacts.

Although iron crystals are not exactly rare, they are definitely a top-quality treasure that one can present to a Qi Refining stage cultivator.

However, looking at the gestures the burly man was making, Cui Ying couldn't help but frown:

"One hundred and eighty spirit stones? How can it be so expensive? I remember that the Gongsun family's shop up ahead only sells it for one hundred spirit stones."

"Ah."

The burly man sneered and said indifferently, "I can't comment on the Gongsun family's business, but I'm selling for 180 spirit stones and giving away two iron crystals."

Cui Ying peeked out and saw that the big man had pulled out a piece of iron crystal the size of a large bowl.

Seeing Cui Ying looking down at him, he quickly covered the bag, leaving only a flash of the unique blue fluorescence of the iron crystal in front of Cui Ying.

Cui Ying frowned slightly, but she didn't say anything. She had bought two pieces of iron crystal, one of which she would keep to fuse into the Azure Scythe Blade to upgrade its grade, and the other to give to the Gu family to solve her immediate problem.

She thought for a moment and then asked, "Fellow Daoist, could you give me a discount and let me take another look at this iron crystal?"

"Let's go."

The burly man waved his hand dismissively, as if swatting away a mosquito, and grumbled, "I risked offending the Gongsun family, and I didn't even make a few spirit stones off you. If you can't afford it, then get out of here."

Cui Ying thought about it and agreed. Songlin Market was originally the territory of the Gongsun family, and anyone who opened a shop or set up a stall in the market had to pay a management fee.

This underground trading market is, frankly speaking, a place that cannot be brought to light. If it is discovered by the guards of the Gongsun family, they will be in deep trouble.

Although iron crystals aren't exactly rare, there aren't many people selling them either. Thinking this, Cui Ying directly took out a spirit stone and said:

"Fellow Daoist, don't be impatient. I want this iron crystal."

The burly man took the spirit stone, weighed it in his hand, and then smiled with satisfaction, "Alright, let's exchange money for goods."

Just as Cui Ying received the two pieces of iron crystal, she heard the burly man opposite her ask with a smile:

"Judging from your generosity, you must be someone who isn't short of spirit stones. I have a few pounds of red crystal sugar here, would you like some?"

Red crystal sugar?

Cui Ying nodded quickly and said, "Yes."

"Okay, then you wait for me here."

"and many more."

With a slight thought, Cui Ying grabbed the burly man and asked, "Do you have any wildflower honey?"

Although it is late summer now, it has not been long since the wildflower honey harvest, and there should still be a lot of stock on the market.

This big man has iron crystals and red crystal sugar; he might even be able to get his hands on wildflower honey.

"Have."

The burly man hadn't expected to encounter such a big customer, and his large face broke into a wide smile: "How many jars would you like, fairy?"

"How many spirit stones are in one jar?"

"Forty spirit stones per jar, one jin per jar."

"I want two cans."

"no problem."

The burly man waved to Cui Ying with a broad smile and quickly disappeared into the crowd.

Cui Ying stood there, holding the bag containing the iron crystal, looking somewhat dazed.

Just then, another elderly rogue cultivator with a full head of white hair stepped forward, his eyes lighting up as he looked at the iron crystal in her hand and asked:

"Young friend, how much is your iron crystal? May I have a look at it?"

Cui Ying squeezed the cloth bag tightly and shook her head, saying, "Not for sale. Senior, you should ask somewhere else."

The old cultivator pouted regretfully and muttered resentfully, "Coming to the underground trading market and not trading? Are you stupid?"

"Uh."

Cui Ying was too lazy to explain, and since she was in front of others, she couldn't put the things into her storage bag. So she carried the bag to a corner, intending to avoid the stares of the other rogue cultivators.

Before she could get close, someone suddenly shouted in alarm at the end of the alley:

"The Gongsun family has arrested someone! Run!"

The moment the words left his mouth, countless gray shadows erupted throughout the underground trading market.

"Run!"

"If we get caught by the Gongsun family, we're doomed."

Cui Ying frowned slightly as she scanned her surroundings, but could not find the burly man who had returned earlier.

She never expected to encounter such a distressing situation on her first visit to Songlin Market.

Although the Gongsun family is not as powerful as the Lei family, it is still a well-known Qi Refining family within a radius of dozens of miles.

The clan has five cultivators at the late stage of Qi Refining. Although the clan is not a monolithic entity, it is still far superior to other small clans.

If we were to clash head-on with the Gongsun family, we would be in for a lot of trouble.

After all, she only wore a simple disguise today. She wouldn't be afraid of low-level cultivators, but she probably wouldn't be able to stop late-stage Qi Refining cultivators.

"Ugh!"

Cui Ying sighed softly and patted Ta Xue's soft head.

"Let's wait a bit longer. Things should get better once we break through to the late stage of Qi Refining."

Although the late stage of Qi Refining cannot be called a strong person, it is more than enough for him to roam freely in Shuangling Village.

She glanced at the rogue cultivators around her who were using all their skills to escape, and had no choice but to use her lightness technique to prepare to leap over the wall and leave.

The underground trading market was located in extremely secluded places. The surrounding walls were made of some unknown material, not only were they two zhang high, but they were also slippery and impossible to climb.

Fortunately, none of these challenges were difficult for Cui Ying. As she chanted the incantation, she nimbly stood on the wall, leaped, and gently landed on the wall.

Once she regained her footing, she realized she had left Ta Xue behind. Just as she was about to go back to retrieve Ta Xue, she turned around and saw a familiar black figure jumping onto the wall.

"Stay close to me, through the snow."

A hint of surprise flashed in Cui Ying's eyes, but it was quickly interrupted by a series of unfamiliar auras rising from not far away.

Without time to think, he whispered a word of advice and then used his magic to climb over the other wall.

Beyond this courtyard lies another dark alley.

With just a quick glance, Cui Ying saw that there were also many cultivators frantically fleeing in this dark alley.

Most of these cultivators were isolated and weak, and naturally they were unwilling to offend a powerful force like the Gongsun family.

Cui Ying glanced at the crowded group of independent cultivators and decided to climb over the wall again.

"Who goes there, Tai?"

As soon as Cui Ying landed, she saw a young man in blue practicing water polo in the courtyard. Seeing her climb over the wall, he panicked and mispronounced the incantation, ending up soaking himself.

"Fellow Daoist, do not be alarmed, I am just asking to pass by."

Cui Ying hadn't expected things to turn out this way, and felt a little apologetic.

She quickly made her stance clear and prepared to repeat the same trick again.

Hearing the commotion, the boy roughly knew what was happening outside, and thus relaxed his guard.

Just then, the boy suddenly called out to her, "Don't turn over, that's a dead end, and there's an attack formation behind it."

Cui Ying turned around and saw that the young man had already tiptoed open the left-hand courtyard gate:

"Go this way."

"Thank you, fellow Taoist."

Cui Ying glanced at the boy, then slipped away through the courtyard gate with Ta Xue.

After you leave from here, there are far fewer people outside.

"call."

But Cui Ying did not let her guard down and quickly disappeared from the spot.

When Cui Ying arrived at a sparsely populated grove, she realized she was on the outskirts of Songlin Market. She slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, found a clean spot, and prepared to meditate and regulate her breathing to recover her magical power.

"wrong."

Just as Cui Ying was about to put the iron crystal from the cloth bag into her storage bag, she suddenly realized that something was wrong.

There have been cases of the Gongsun family cracking down on the underground market before, but this is the first time that there has been so much noise but so little action.

Thinking of this, Cui Ying picked up a piece of iron crystal and examined it closely. Sure enough, she found a barely noticeable crack in the middle of the iron crystal.

Cui Ying sensed something was wrong and immediately channeled her magic power into her palm to carefully probe the area.

Sure enough, as this magical power invaded, the crack grew larger and larger. Before long, Cui Ying watched helplessly as the indestructible iron crystal shattered in two.

Cui Ying's eyes darkened, and she quickly took out the second piece to check, only to find it was the same again. She immediately realized that she had been deceived.

"They've dared to try and fool me, they're really courting death."

Just as he was about to go back to settle accounts with someone, he suddenly heard some rustling noises about seven or eight zhang away.

Cui Ying didn't want to cause trouble, but she didn't dare to be careless either. She subconsciously held her breath and suppressed her aura.

Just as she was about to leave quietly, she heard: "Fellow Daoist Gu, we've really made a big fuss this time. The entire underground trading market has been wiped out."

"Haha, what's this? It's just that those idiots are too scared to admit their guilt. They're terrified by the slightest sound."

"Hehe, Fellow Daoist Gu is truly skilled and daring; I'm no match for him. Aside from the cost of synthesizing those two iron crystals, I only earned a little over forty spirit stones this trip. That silly girl is definitely still waiting for me to go back and find her."

"Ha ha ha ha."

It is said that a tiger fallen into the plains is bullied by dogs. Cui Ying, who was given a second chance at life, was actually pecked in the eye by two local ruffians.

Upon hearing this, Cui Ying gave a cold smile.