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nThe Market Where Demand Exceeds Supply

n“Fellow Daoist, you must be joking. If you have the connections to buy brand-new spiritual artifacts from a refiner, our shop is willing to purchase them at market price.”

nInside another spiritual artifact shop in the itinerant cultivator market, the shopkeeper sneered.

nWhen Chen Daoxuan heard this, not only was he not angry, he even smiled and said, “Goodbye!”

n“Humph!”

nAfter watching Chen Daoxuan leave, the manager of this spiritual artifact shop had an unfriendly look on his face.

nWere it not for the fact that they were in Guang’an Prefecture, the manager might have taught this mere third-level Qi refinement realm cultivator a lesson because of his contemptuous attitude.

nAfter spending an entire morning, Chen Daoxuan had almost gone through all the spiritual artifact shops in the itinerant cultivator market.

nHe reached a single conclusion.

nThe market for spiritual artifacts in Guang’an Prefecture was in a state of severe shortage.

nNot to mention brand-new spiritual artifacts, even second-hand goods that were of slightly better quality would be snapped up by the itinerant cultivators very quickly, and at the normal market price of a spiritual artifact to boot.

nGenerally speaking, the price of a first-grade spiritual artifact ranged from dozens of spirit stones to hundreds of spirit stones.

nEven the best high-grade first-grade spiritual artifacts usually sold for less than a thousand spirit stones.

nIn short, according to Chen Daoxuan’s morning survey, opening a spiritual artifact shop in the itinerant cultivator market to sell new spiritual artifacts was very promising venture.

nMoreover, the problem of the difficulty of purchasing and renting shops in the central business district did not exist in the itinerant cultivator market at all.

nAlong the way, he even saw several shops that were waiting to be rented out and sold!

nThe reason behind this was that the itinerant cultivators who set up the stalls on the streets had seized a large amount of business from the shops.

nIf the goods in the shops were worth it, things would still be fine. However, the key point was that the goods sold in the shops were mostly second-hand items and inferior goods.

nTherefore, most itinerant cultivators felt that they might as well try their luck at the street stalls; at least the prices there were cheaper there.

nIf they were lucky, they might even be able to get their hands on some treasures at a low price from the itinerant cultivator sellers who were not aware of the quality of the goods they sold.

nAfter surveying the spiritual artifact shops in the itinerant cultivator market, it was already noon. Since there were still a few hours left before the appointed meeting time with Chen Xianhe, Chen Daoxuan decided to visit the street stall market in the itinerant cultivator market.

nHe then stepped into the area that housed the street stalls.

nChen Daoxuan almost felt like he was visiting the flea markets of his previous life.

nWere it not for the items displayed at the street stalls being all kinds of spirit talismans, array disks, spirit ores, and other items used by cultivators, he really would have believed that he had returned to Earth.

nShaking his head, Chen Daoxuan tossed out the unrealistic thoughts in his mind and walked over to one of the stalls.

n“Fellow Daoist!”

nChen Daoxuan cupped his hands toward the itinerant cultivator who was hawking his wares at the stall. “I wonder how much you are selling this array disk for?”

nThe itinerant cultivator manning the stall was a middle-aged man with a full beard. He looked quite honest and simple.

nSeeing that a guest had arrived, the bearded middle-aged man hurriedly got up from the mat on which he was meditating. He rubbed his hands and said, “Fellow Daoist, you have good eyesight. This array disk is called the wind and thunder array disk. It houses a small wind and thunder array inside. Once activated, it can set up a wind and thunder array within a radius of a hundred feet. It can trap and kill enemies, and has certain protective effects. It can be said to be a very comprehensive spiritual artifact!”

nHe pointed at an eight trigram array disk with cracks all over its surface and said with a smile, “It can be yours for one hundred spirit stones!”

nHearing that, Chen Daoxuan said without batting an eyelid, “Can I try it?”

n“Go ahead!”

nThe bearded middle-aged stall owner was rather magnanimous as he waved his hand and allowed it.

nChen Daoxuan nodded, picked up the wind and thunder array disk and injected a stream of true Qi into it.

nUnexpectedly, the wind and thunder array disk, which was spoken so highly of by the bearded stall owner, flickered a few times and then suddenly extinguished.

nNot only that, the entire array disk directly shattered along the crack lines, transforming it into a pile of debris that scattered all over the ground.

nChen Daoxuan, “…”

nBearded stall owner, “…”

nThe atmosphere was slightly awkward.

nChen Daoxuan wanted to buy this array disk purely because he was interested in this kind of array disk-type spiritual artifact that was not recorded in the clan’s refining inheritance.

nHe did not expect that a dignified artifact refiner like him would actually make such a mistake. This was not a slightly damaged spiritual artifact, but a spiritual artifact that was on the verge of being thrown away.

nThe bearded stall owner in front of him was clearly fishing for victims.

nAs expected, when the bearded stall owner saw that Chen Daoxuan had “damaged” his spiritual artifact, he immediately shouted righteously, “Fellow Daoist, what do you mean by this? Why did you destroy my spiritual artifact that is worth 100 spirit stones for no reason?”

n“I didn’t expect that this fellow Daoist would do such a thing given his young age and dignified appearance,”

nVery soon, the bearded stall owner’s loud voice attracted the attention of the pedestrians and stall owners around him. A crowd gradually gathered around him, pointing at and watching the show.

n“This son of a b*tch Zhang San is scamming people again!”

n“This little fellow Daoist does look rather unfamiliar. There will be a good show to watch.”

n“…”

nThere was also a cultivator with a slightly higher cultivation realm who jeered, “Zhang San, I’m afraid that your array disk doesn’t cost just one hundred spirit stones. It should at least cost 1,000 spirit stones, am I right?”

nWhen the bearded stall owner called Zhang San heard someone jeering at him, he was very angry. He looked toward the source of the voice and found that it was a nearby stall owner, Old Ghost Wei, who was a ninth-level Qi refinement realm cultivator, and immediately gave up on pursuing the matter.

nSlightly cowed, Zhang San’s words were no longer as firm as before. He waved his hand, putting on a magnanimous look, and said, “Forget it, forget it. Looking at how young you are, I’m afraid that you are also a junior who has just entered the immortal path. I won’t make things difficult for you.”

nPutting on a pretense, Zhang San continued, “Moreover, I agreed to let you try out the wind and thunder array disk, so I am also partly responsible for this matter. How about this, you compensate me fifty spirit stones and I’ll let this matter go? How about it?”

nAfter saying that, he put on an expression that looked as if he was being taken advantage of by Chen Daoxuan.

nChen Daoxuan was almost angered by the look on this scoundrel and laughed. He shook his head and said, “It’s not worth that much!”

n“Hey brat, don’t refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!”

nThe bearded man threatened, “Don’t think that I can’t teach you a lesson just because we’re inside Guang’an Prefecture!”

nAfter saying that, he rolled up his sleeves and pretended to go over to teach Chen Daoxuan a lesson.

nHowever, Chen Daoxuan looked at him quietly and did not move at all.

nSeeing him like this, the bearded man called Zhang San was in a difficult position.

nMaking a move in the immortal city of Guang’an Prefecture meant provoking the authority of the Zhou clan of Guang’an Prefecture; even if the bearded stall owner had 180 times more courage, he would still not dare to do so.

nNow, he could neither make a move nor not make a move; he was stuck in a dilemma.

nIn addition to the constant heckling from the people around him, Zhang San felt like he was riding a tiger.

nThe situation had entered a stalemate.

nSoon, the patrolling law enforcement disciples of the Zhou clan rushed over.

n“Make way! Make way!”

n“Make way! The law enforcement team is here!”

n“Make way!”

n“…”

nA moment later, two cultivators from the law enforcement team of the Zhou clan wearing green robes adorned with the fire spirit pearl design pushed through the crowd and squeezed in.

n“What’s going on? What are you two doing?”

nSeeing the cultivators of the law enforcement team, the bearded stall owner’s face suddenly changed. He quickly bowed and begged for mercy, “It’s nothing, it’s nothing. I’m just playing around with this little brother!”

n“Is that so?”

nThe cultivator of the law enforcement team looked at Chen Daoxuan and asked.

nChen Daoxuan glanced at the bearded stall owner and saw that he was begging for mercy. He nodded and said, “We had a little dispute over the price of a spiritual artifact. It’s nothing serious.”

nSeeing that the stall owner had calmed down, the cultivators of the law enforcement team did not want to pursue the matter any further.

nBefore leaving, the older cultivator of the law enforcement team warned the bearded stall owner, “Zhang San, don’t cause trouble here. Otherwise, your luck won’t be as good as last time!”

n“Yes, yes, yes! This Zhang San understands.”

nNodding and bowing, Zhang San sent the two cultivators of the law enforcement team away.

nSeeing that there was no more excitement to be had, the crowd gradually dispersed, and the surrounding stalls resumed hawking their wares.

n“Brother, thank you so much for earlier!”

nThe bearded stall owner solemnly cupped his hands toward Chen Daoxuan.

n“Don’t thank me just yet. Let me ask you, where did you get this wind and thunder array disk?”

nChen Daoxuan pointed at the scattered remains on the ground and asked.

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