At the market.

Qin Lu arrived to meet with Cao Yunxi and his wife. The three of them paid the stall fee, found a good spot, and set up.

For the couple, setting up a stall to sell meat was already a familiar routine.

A long wooden board, a chopping block, a cleaver, a price sign, a scale… everything was arranged in no time.

Standing in front of the stall, Cao Yunxi began loudly hawking.

“Come take a look! Premium beast meat for sale cheap! Limited quantity, first come, first served!”

The market was crowded with cultivators. After just a few calls, many people gathered around, asking questions one after another.

“Fellow Daoist, what kind of demon beast meat are you selling?”

“Brother! Give me ten jin!”

“What are your prices for this demon beast meat?”

“C-can I buy just two jin separately?”

“…”

A cacophony of inquiries kept rising. Qin Lu and the couple answered them one by one.

When the crowd learned that all this beast meat was from late-stage First-Rank demon beasts, they quieted down considerably. The previously chaotic scene quickly became much more orderly.

It was well known that those capable of hunting late-stage First-Rank demon beasts were formidable fighters within Wuji Market.

Clearly, the three people running this stall belonged to that category.

After discussion, Qin Lu and the others didn’t set their prices too high—roughly five times the original price.

[Black Ape Beast] meat, which previously cost ten Spirit Stones for forty jin, was now priced at twelve Spirit Stones for ten jin.

The prices for other beast meats were raised by the same multiple.

Although several times higher than before, it was still much cheaper compared to the exorbitant prices elsewhere in the market, which could be ten times higher or more.

Therefore, as soon as the stall was set up, it attracted a large number of cultivators.

The three of them were busy non-stop, taking money and cutting meat without pause. Even Qin Lu took out his sword to help with the cutting and selling.

Given the cultivation levels and strength of the trio, no one dared to cause trouble.

The crowd of onlookers grew larger and larger, with many Loose Cultivators queuing up to buy.

The meat-selling business continued briskly.

One major reason for such good business was simply that Loose Cultivators couldn’t do without demon beast meat.

Although, given a cultivator’s physical constitution, hunting ordinary animals in the wild would be effortless, many Loose Cultivators were unwilling to eat that kind of meat unless absolutely desperate.

Because it tasted terrible!

After long-term consumption of spirit-imbued demon beast meat and Spirit Rice, suddenly eating ordinary animal meat would feel like chewing wax—nauseating and revolting, similar to eating edible white clay.

Only cultivators with no other options would choose to eat such food devoid of spiritual energy.

This was also why so many cultivators were reluctant to return to the mundane world.

Back in the mundane world, without spiritual energy, even eating delicacies and fine dishes every day would completely lack that essential flavor.

Generally speaking, cultivators who returned to the secular world to live out their remaining days were mocked and ridiculed by others.

…

Taking money, cutting meat, weighing it, handing it over.

The entire meat-selling process flowed smoothly and efficiently.

Whenever the beast meat on the wooden board was about to run out, Qin Lu would take more from his [Storage Bag], as if it were an endless supply.

As time passed, this made the surrounding Loose Cultivators running stalls secretly astonished.

Just how many demon beasts had these three killed…?

Selling from the afternoon until late at night, after more than four shichen (over eight hours), all two thousand-plus jin of demon beast meat was sold out.

After carefully counting their earnings, the three discovered they had made two thousand five hundred Spirit Stones today!

This amount of Spirit Stones left Cao Yunxi and his wife trembling with excitement, their faces flushed. After all, in their decades of life, they had never seen so many Spirit Stones before.

After some negotiation between them, the three finally divided the money.

Qin Lu had contributed the most and deserved the largest share—a full one thousand five hundred Spirit Stones. The couple together received one thousand Spirit Stones.

Then, each went their separate ways joyfully and returned home.

Inside his room.

Qin Lu took stock of his current savings.

His gains from this trip to East Head Ridge were truly astonishing!

Apart from the one thousand five hundred Spirit Stones from selling beast meat, there were also numerous magic tools, talismans, pills, books, and other items obtained from two separate instances of picking up discarded loot.

A detailed count revealed over twenty magic tools. Most were mid-grade First-Rank items, with a smaller portion being high-grade First-Rank items.

There were nearly a hundred talismans—all First-Rank—covering many types. Offensive and defensive types were predominant, followed by functional types.

There were even over ten pills. Most were healing pills, with a few being Qi-nourishing pills—all quite valuable.

Plus various miscellaneous items.

If calculated at purchase prices, Qin Lu estimated these things were worth at least six thousand-plus Spirit Stones!

This was a huge fortune!

“I’ll keep the talismans and pills for my own use. As for these magic tools… I can probably sell them…”

“Out of these twenty-plus magic tools, I’ll only keep the [Storage Bag]. Selling the rest at second-hand market prices might fetch around two thousand Spirit Stones…”

“Two thousand Spirit Stones from selling tools… plus eight hundred Spirit Stones from picking up loot… plus one thousand five hundred from selling meat… plus my original savings… I should have roughly…”

“Over five thousand Spirit Stones!”

A look of shock appeared in Qin Lu’s eyes. Only after careful calculation did he realize his current wealth had actually broken through the five-thousand mark.

What did this mean?

This single trip to East Head Ridge had earned him more than selling talismans for over half a year!

These Spirit Stone savings likely surpassed those of over ninety-five percent of cultivators in Wuji Market.

Qin Lu picked up his teacup and took a small sip. His heart filled with joy; he couldn’t help but smile slightly as he sighed leisurely.

“With so much money… how on earth should I spend it~”

After savoring his satisfaction for quite a while longer, Qin Lu finally put everything away properly and tucked both [Storage Bags] close against his chest inside his robe.

At this moment, he couldn’t help but recall Gu Yue, whom he had seen today.

That graceful figure in white…

Qin Lu had previously inquired about rumors concerning the Gu siblings next door from the housing manager.

According to the manager’s account: Gu Can had a fiery temper; his cultivation had reached the ninth level of Qi Refining; he wielded a spear with extreme ferocity and was nicknamed “Little Whip Spear.”

His older sister, Gu Yue, was said to have a quiet disposition. She usually didn’t go out, and her cultivation was only at the early Qi Refining stage.

“Seeing Gu Yue today… she indeed matches the rumors—a gentle and courteous beauty…”

“But… why do I always feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before? Those eyes and brows seem very familiar…”

“Could it be she resembles some female celebrity from my previous life?”

Thoughts swirled in Qin Lu’s mind as he kept recalling Gu Yue’s appearance.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind. He immediately got up and walked out of his room.

He quickly arrived at the western wall bordering only the Gu Manor on its other side. With focused intent, he activated his [Heavenly Eye Technique].

A wave of light spread out, covering an area within a hundred-meter radius.

From this position, the hundred-meter range could encompass almost all areas of both estates.

Qin Lu cautiously probed toward that side.

But before he could detect anything unusual, he suddenly frowned sharply, whirled around toward where the servants’ quarters lay, and surprise flickered in his eyes.

“This is… Feng Xi?”

“So you actually have spiritual roots…”