My Scales Can Make Equivalent Exchange
Chapter 261: High-End Transactions at Street Stall Level?

Chapter 261: Chapter 261: High-End Transactions at Street Stall Level?

As soon as Ma Haoran entered the hall, he received a warm welcome. Apparently, these Wine Monks were quite familiar with each other in this small circle in Tianhong.

Everyone was about to continue their pleasantries when they suddenly saw Wang Zijia following behind and froze in unison.

"Fellow Daoists greet Daozi Wang!"

"Greetings to Daozi!"

"······"

After a brief silence, each of them began to pay respectful greetings to Wang Zijia.

"Please, everyone, relax. I am simply here to broaden my horizons and participate in the trade meeting," Wang Zijia responded with a smile.

At these words, everyone fell silent, and the lively atmosphere strangely cooled for a moment.

"Why haven’t you all started yet at this hour? Old Taoist thought he could only catch the second half!" Seeing this, Ma Haoran intervened to break the ice.

"Everyone was waiting because we heard that Inspector General, you were coming. Now that Daozi is also interested in trading, I’ll make the first move!" Said a burly man with a robust build, dressed in a short robe, his muscles bulging.

In the midst of speaking, he retrieved a bead and a jade box from his pocket, he held up the bead and said, "A late-stage Spirit Tiger’s Demon Pill of Wine Monk, undamaged and full of spirit. It is the top choice for alchemy and artifact making. If you find a mortician, there is a chance to extract a few top-grade Magic Doors."

"Tsk..." In the crowd, a still-attractive woman dressed slightly shabbily chuckled. "Brother Wen really knows how to boast. Why don’t you say that if you find a Heritage Master, you could even produce a Third Grade Heritage Spiritual Tool? And a few Magic Doors at that!"

"I said there is a chance, not that Magic Doors could definitely be extracted," the burly man wasn’t angry and circled back with a smile. Looking at the crowd, he opened up the jade box, exposing a green fruit within.

"I believe everyone is familiar with Qingling Jade Serpent Fruit, so I won’t go into details. I want to trade these two items for a pill that has a Dao cultivation of twenty years, to be used by a late-stage Wine Monk!"

Wine Monks needed to cultivate 150 years worth of Dao to make a breakthrough in the middle stage, 200 years for making a breakthrough in the late stage, and 300 years for achieving the Perfected stage. Similar to the Inner Child stage, the further one advanced, the more refined their mana became, and every year of Dao cultivation became harder to cultivate. Moreover, there were slight differences in the power of the mana between different monks.

Having said this, he specifically glanced at Wang Zijia. In his view, what someone of Wang Zijia’s stature was least lacking in was precisely this kind of elixir that would boost cultivation.

Not to mention that Wang Zijia didn’t have any, even if he did, he wasn’t interested at all.

Moreover, a Demon Pill of a Spirit Tiger at the Wine Monk stage and a second-grade Spirit Fruit were nothing more than items found at the roadside stall in the Sect, just the quality goods among the roadside ones, slightly better than the bones of a Spirit Tiger at the Wine Monk stage. This kind of junk, could indeed, be exchanged for late-stage elixir. This was nothing more than an ordinary trade and couldn’t even make a profit.

Here, it was being treated like a high-end gathering and everything was being bartered...

At this moment, Wang Zijia felt a little confused and gained a new appreciation for the remoteness and poverty of Tianhong Marketplace.

Amidst his cluttered thoughts, trade after trade kept popping up. After describing their items, each person would subconsciously glance at Wang Zijia, hoping to gain Daozi’s attention or even express their willingness for an exchange. According to experience, any involvement from Wang Zijia represented a hard-to-get treasure.

Wang Zijia seemed oblivious and lost in his thoughts.

"I am proposing a deal for some Ancient Secret Manuscripts containing the true marks from the ancient ruins and records of the secrets of ancient times."

Just as Wang Zijia was feeling bored, he suddenly heard a transaction like this and instantly perked up, looking over in interest.

The proposer was a scruffy Taoist Priest with mid-stage Wine Monk cultivation, who was currently presenting three very old paper books.

Being the center of attention throughout, Wang Ziji’s every move naturally attracted everyone’s attention. Seeing Wang Zijia’s interest, the scruffy Taoist Priest was eager to elaborate further.

However, just like Wang Zijia, Ma Haoran, who had been hanging back all this while, suddenly interjected, laughing and scolding, "Old Ghost of the Mountain, you are here again with your deceptions. Your broken books have been copied no less than a hundred times by now. What are you going to boast about this time? The Secret Storage of Ancient Taoism? Or the Immortal’s True Traces, or some Hidden Heritage?"

"The copies that were made before can’t be compared to what I am presenting this time. It’s the original script," he argued with conviction, smiling at Wang Zijia, "If Daozi Wang is interested, Old Taoist is willing to make a big sacrifice, exchanging it for a lower grade defensive magic weapon."

Before Wang Zijia could speak, Ma Haoran interjected again, "If Junior Brother Wang is interested in these secret histories, I’ll bring you a couple of boxes when I go back. He has sold countless copies of these three books, and they are not worth anything anymore. As for the so-called original script, it has been checked by fellow Daoists from various places."

"How could our methods be compared to Daozi? Maybe Daozi will make a startling discovery. After all, the speciality of this paper which doesn’t rot for ten thousand years is intriguing," the scruffy Taoist Priest argued optimistically, then addressed Wang Zijia with a smile, "Or how about Old Taoist adds another thousand Magic money to exchange for a lower grade magic tool?"

"I haven’t even finished reading the Fu Building Collection yet, so I won’t buy Daoist Friend’s expensive oddities. The secrets of these three books worth two thousand Magic money do have some power in the Sect, but my cultivation isn’t at that level yet, reading them would be in vain," Wang Zijia replied with a smile.

The scruffy Taoist Priest felt awkward and said, "The price can be negotiable, I didn’t say it’s a fixed price."

Wang Zijia shook his head and stopped paying attention. Seeing this, the scruffy Taoist Priest did not dare to pester him further.

······

The trading meeting continued for another seven minutes, and then it ended. Neither Wang Zijia nor Ma Haoran participated, one because he didn’t find anything that piqued his interest and the other probably because he didn’t need anything.

After the event, Wang Zijia and Ma Haoran got up and left.

The departure of the two of them actually made the hall more lively, and everyone’s casual conversation became much bolder.

"What do you think, quite disappointing, right?" After leaving the small courtyard quite a distance, Ma Haoran finally spoke.

"Yes!" Wang Zijia nodded, saying, "I was hoping for something interesting, but it turned out to be plain."

"Junior Brother Wang is quite tactful in his speech; they were nothing but common goods. They all treated them like treasures," Ma Haoran laughingly commented, "When I first came here, I was totally uncomfortable. But after a while, I got used to it."

Despite his casual and free-spirited tone throughout, Wang Zijia sensed a hint of loneliness.

"Why not try taking on some Sect tasks, Senior Brother Ma?" Wang Zijia changed the subject.

Wine Monks and Inner Child were entirely different. When Inner Children are of age and fail to meet certain requirements, they will be assigned to the Foreign Assignment. But when Wine Monks are of age and fail to meet certain conditions, they can choose to take on slightly more dangerous tasks and take a chance.

"Haha!" Ma Haoran smiled and shook his head, "I’m thankful enough to have cultivated to this stage with my Eighth-grade Dao Foundation. Since becoming a Perfected being is out of reach, what else can I be demanding? Besides, when I left the Sect, I was already over 240 years old."

Upon hearing this, Wang Zijia stared at Ma Haoran in surprise.