Chapter 573 Astral Origin Beast
Hearing Li Mu’s words, Ding Yi put on a look of pure contempt.
“You’re too naive. Such a small market is like the food market of Mount Shu. What good stuff can come out of it? What gold can you pick up from a pile of rotten carrots and vegetables? Besides, these vendors are as shrewd as monkeys. If there was really something good, they would have put it away for themselves long ago. How could you ever have a chance to pick it up? How naive and childish your hope is! Let me tell you, those who have such that thought will be gypped by a swindle bigtime in the end.”
Li Mu didn’t take his remark seriously and muttered, “We’ll be fine to walk around. It’s always good to broaden my horizon.”
What mattered most when trying to find gold in c.r.a.ps was one’s mentality.
“Never expect to spot a treasure at your first try. You should keep looking around. It’s still possible for you to find something you like. But don’t think you get to take all the bargains in the world alone.”
For example, in Li Mu’s opinion, it was already a bargain for him to buy a thing priced at 2 pennies with just 1.5 pennies. For a thing priced at 100 bucks, if you bought it with a penny, it was also a great bargain. But if you expected to get such a bargain every time you went to the market, you would practically be daydreaming.
So, Li Mu was the kind of buyer who kept an eye open for good bargains but didn’t get his hopes high.
All he needed to do was walk around. As soon as the right time came, there would naturally be a good bargain the others hadn’t spotted.
When the two arrived outside the market, they were stopped by some disciples of the Gold Sun Sect. After paying the business tax in resignation, they were allowed to go in.
“d.a.m.n it! The Gold Sun Sect is crazy for money. We are buyers, not sellers. Why should we pay the business tax?” Ding Yi mumbled, extremely dissatisfied. He felt that entering the market alone cost him an arm and a leg.
However, Li Mu was very calm. He said, “Don’t you always say that in the universe, the law of the jungle is more obvious? Since you have already known it, you should be mentally prepared. Cultivators are human beings after all. So they are also greedy. It’s normal for them to want more money.”
“You’re really open-minded.” Ding Yi cast him a doubtful look.
“This doesn’t sound right.”
“Sect Master always seeks revenge for the smallest grievance. When has he ever been so easy-going?”
“There must be something behind this.”
He followed Li Mu and started wandering about the market.
There were no fixed shops on this kind of fair. The stalls were movable and had great mobility. Therefore, the sale area was not divided into parts according to what they sold. It was a mess, just like an old and messy library that had not been sorted out, and all types of books were just piled up in one place.
After checking out a few herb stalls, Li Mu soon lost interest.
Although there were some kinds of herbs on some stalls that he had never seen before, they did not contain any special property of Spiritual Qi. Compared with the magic herbs he once picked in the Everlasting Heaven, they were a little inferior.
As for whether these herbs had special functions or not, he didn’t care.
Anyway, he didn’t need any at the present.
Li Mu roamed along the street at ease as if he was just shopping out of boredom.
By contrast, Ding Yi, who had said that he was not interested, was given away by his act.
As soon as they entered the market, Ding Yi acted like a little white rabbit that just went into a carrot garden. After borrowing 10 silver fairy crystals from Li Mu, he grabbed this “huge sum” and began to dart from one stall to another.
A while later, Ding Yi shouted like a country b.u.mpkin who had never seen the world. Soon, the rasping, croaky voice of him bargaining with others at the top of his lungs rang out in the market.
Li Mu cast only a pa.s.sing glance at the stalls he went by and kept strolling down the road.
After a while, unconsciously, he arrived at a stall selling spirit beasts.
The vendor was a 14 or 15-year-old boy with black hair and big eyes. His strength was not high, as he was only in the Great Sage Realm. There was a jade pendant on his neck, in which waves of deployment energy were swirling. It was that jade pendant that helped him to walk around normally in such an environment.
Li Mu couldn’t help but be amazed.
The overall strength of the cultivators in the universe was really intimidating. A little boy in his teens could already be in the Great Sage Realm, which was almost unimaginable on the Divine Land and the Bitter Star.
In front of the stall, there were more than a dozen people, and their eyes were all focused on a little beast in the arms of the little boy.
This little beast was black all over, as though it had been dyed with ink. But its head was white. At first glance, Li Mu found that it looked like a leech, but its eyes were much bigger, which were as bright as a pair of colorful black gems glowing in the sunlight. Its limbs were thick. Its claws were like those of cats, which looked very cute. Its tail was flat, like the deck of a boat. Its body was round and fat but very flexible. The little beast scuttled in and out of the little boy’s arms, occasionally making a rustling sound, licking the little boy’s palm and cheeks. They appeared to be very close to each other.
Li Mu couldn’t tell what kind of species this little beast was, but he felt that it was very smart.
In front of the little boy’s stall owner erected a sign, which said in the common language of the Brilliance Immortal Star Region that “One Spiritual Beast in Exchange for One Reset Elixir and Do Not Accept Fairy Crystals “.
So the vendor was looking for barters.
“It’s the White-haired Tiger’s cub!” someone yelled.
Immediately, another man sneered and retorted, “Don’t jump to a conclusion if you’re not sure. Have you ever seen a White-haired Tiger has a flat tail? If you ask me, this is a mutated baby Star-piercing Pangolin. It’s amazing. The adult Star-piercing Pangolin is a notorious fierce beast in s.p.a.ce. It is one of the top ten fierce beasts in the universe. It feeds on the core of stars, and its strength can be comparable to that of a dominating expert. Tut, tut, never thought I’d spot one here.”
Li Mu’s heart skipped a beat when he heard that.
“Is there such a powerful creature?”
He was a little intrigued.
Among the crowd, there was an old Taoist with a white face with a sticking-plaster on it and a black beard. He was holding a banner in his hand. The front of the banner said, “I can tell you everything that will happen in the future.” And the back of the banner said, “I can point you the way to any success you yearn for.” That sounded impressive. But the old Taoist acted like a vulgar. He squatted beside the stall and contradicted with a sneer, “Don’t talk nonsense, okay? The Star-piercing Pangolin should be covered with star armor. Have you ever seen a baby Star-piercing Pangolin covered by black fur?”
“Didn’t I tell you? It might have mutated,” the previous speaker added, but his voice was obviously much lower.
Li Mu couldn’t help laughing.
It turned out that this man was just talking nonsense, too.
So that was what it was. If it was really that a cub of the Star-piercing Pangolin or something, perhaps even the Brilliance Immortal Star Region would go crazy for it. And since it was in the Gold Sun Sect’s territory, they would have long pocketed it before anyone could get near to it. Then, how could a boy in the Great Sage Realm ever get a chance to sell it here?
If it was a real baby Star-piercing Pangolin, all the experts in the Soldier Realm would kill for it.
“This is an Astral Origin Beast. Its skin is rough and its flesh is thick. It can withstand heavy blows and falls. It’s basically just a pet to be admired and played with. It doesn’t have much combat ability. Oh, by the way, the Astral Origin Beast has a strong sense of smell and can be used for tracking…”
The old Taoist stopped short and did not continue.
But everyone understood what he meant.
The ability to track things was of little value.
In the universe, generally, people used Taoist magic arts and their special powers to track targets. No matter how accurate the beast could keep track of a smell, it was useless. Because it was impossible to track a smell from one planet to another.
How could smells spread in the vacuum anyway?
Quickly, the onlookers left in twos and threes.
The stall was about to become deserted.
The boy got a little anxious and hurriedly shouted, “Flattop is not an ordinary Astral Origin Beast. It is the descendant of the King Astral Origin Beast. It has royal blood running in its veins. Flattop is powerful. Not only can it track things, but it can also find herbs. It can also be used as a s.h.i.+eld. It can even block a strike from an expert at the peak of the Worm Realm.”
The boy spoke a little incoherently, clarifying the values of the baby beast in his arms.
After hearing what he said, some people turned around and came back to continue to observe.
“This little fella’s Spiritual Qi fluctuations are pitifully weak, yet you’re telling me it can block a strike from a Worm Realm expert?” someone doubted.
The boy said loudly, “You can try it out if you don’t believe me.”
He held the beast in his arms and comforted it affectionately. As he murmured something to its ears, the beast seemed to be able to understand the boy’s words. In the end, it climbed to the ground in front of the stall and curled into a ball.
A cultivator in the Void-breaking Realm happened to be among the crowd. He directly raised his hand, then a streak of sword light hit the little beast, smas.h.i.+ng it on the ground and almost cutting it into two pieces.
“Whee, whee, whee…” The little beast let out miserable cries of pain.
But the strange thing was that when its body was. .h.i.t by the sword light, it seemed to become a chunk of rubber without bones. Although it was cleaved by the sword light, in fact, the two parts of its body were still connected with a thin layer of skin.
By the time the sword light began to fade, it had once again become a chubby beast. When the sword light completely disappeared, there was no trace of the strike on the ground.
The little beast cried out in pain. Like a child who had been wronged, it scrambled to its feet, rushed into the little boy’s arms, and howled in sorrow. It rubbed the little boy’s palm with its head and sobbed.
The little boy comforted it with a distressed look.
Cries of surprise could be heard from all around.
No matter what, this little thing was indeed able to withstand the full blow of an expert in the Void-breaking Realm.
Some of the people around who were about to leave also showed interest on their faces.
Li Mu also revealed a hint of surprise.
The creatures in the universe were really amazing.
The cultivator who attacked the beast just now was absolutely in the Void-breaking Realm, but his blow was actually withstood by this strange little beast with its flesh. Apart from feeling the pain, it was as good as new.
Some people began to bid.
“Since I have no Reset Elixir, how about I give you a Foundation-nouris.h.i.+ng Elixir? Boy, you’ll need some when you cultivate later. So, you give me this little beast, and I’ll give you this elixir. What do you think?”
“Hee-hee, how about this? I’ll give you a silver fairy crystal, which is more than enough for you to buy a Reset Elixir.”
“If you buy it, you’ll have to feed it, which is tantamount to buying yourself more trouble. Besides, what’s the use of it even though it can block a strike from a Worm Realm cultivator? It’s not like an attack from a Mortal Realm or Soldier Realm expert. Hehe, in my opinion, it’s at most ten copper-colored fairy crystals. That’s my final offer.”
“Just to be fair, I’d like to remind you that the Reset Elixir is a seventh-grade healing medicine. This Astral Origin Beast is not worth the price. Little guy, I have a Heavenly Star Gra.s.s here. It can also heal wounds. Its effect is not inferior to that of the Reset Elixir. I’m willing to suffer a loss and trade it for your beast. This is a huge bargain for you. What do you say?”
It was a common haggling method in the market.
“These b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are so cruel when it comes to bargaining.” Ding Yi’s voice suddenly rang behind Li Mu’s back.
Volume 4 The Storm in the Universe