When Chu Xingchen returned to his sect's small courtyard, his disciples had not yet returned from shopping.
He had no idea where his eldest disciple had gone to stock up on goods, as it had been quite a while since she left.
However, the most pressing matter at the moment—the issue of spirit stones—had been entrusted to his old acquaintance, Yaoqin.
This was the primary purpose of his visit to Yuzhou City, and he felt confident that it would be resolved smoothly.
After all, based on Chu Xingchen's speculation, the Bamboo Jade Pavilion was likely connected to a cultivation sect.
When he first met Yaoqin, she was already at the Golden Core stage.
In such a remote place, a Golden Core cultivator could be revered as an elder or even a patriarch.
Yet, at the Bamboo Jade Pavilion, she was still playing the zither.
This kind of setup... suggested that it was probably a sect from the Central Continent.
Thus, Chu Xingchen had considerable faith in Yaoqin's ability to handle the matter.
After all, the spirit stones in his spatial ring were all blood-tainted spirit stones.
If he tried to spend them as currency, he would undoubtedly be executed on the spot by righteous cultivators.
Moreover, apart from demonic cultivators, no one would accept such blood-tainted spirit stones.
At the moment, Chu Xingchen appeared to be extremely wealthy, but in reality, he couldn't even produce a single usable spirit stone.
He had money, but it was unusable.
Chu Xingchen retrieved the small formation he had set up before leaving.
He entered the main room, which his disciple had thoughtfully left for him.
As he scanned the room, he noted that it was relatively clean, with furniture such as chairs and tables. Sitting down, Chu Xingchen took out a blood-tainted spirit stone to study it.
Now that he had achieved the Flawless Golden Core stage, he felt qualified to examine such a thing.
However, the more he studied it, the more he realized how sinister this spirit stone truly was.
The blood energy within it seemed to be merging with the spiritual energy inside the stone.
This... in a way, was quite remarkable.
Spirit stones were formed when dense spiritual energy, moving along spiritual veins, accumulated over time and solidified.
During this process, the spiritual energy stabilized and no longer accommodated anything other than itself.
Once a spirit stone was fully formed, this characteristic became even more pronounced.
Thus, tampering with a spirit stone in such a way was no small feat.
It wasn't impossible, but it was extremely difficult.
The level of skill required to create such a blood-tainted spirit stone... didn't seem like something that could come from such a remote place.
Just as Chu Xingchen was frowning over his research, the voice of his eldest disciple called out to him.
"Master!"
Chu Xingchen put away the spirit stone and stood up, heading outside. When he opened the door, he was momentarily stunned.
Li Yingling walked through the gate, carrying a large bag and beaming with joy.
Behind her, Li Xingtian was hauling an enormous bundle that was two or three times larger than himself... to be honest, Chu Xingchen felt it could no longer be called a bundle.
It was so large that it couldn't even fit through the gate.
Li Xingtian glanced around, and seeing that no one was paying attention, he hurled the massive bundle over the courtyard wall.
Then, with a flash, he darted into the courtyard to catch the bundle as it fell.
Chu Xingchen raised his hand slightly, using his power to control the bundle's descent and gently lower it to the ground.
Looking at the enormous bundle, Chu Xingchen asked Li Yingling with a puzzled expression,
"Are prices in Yuzhou City so low now? How did you manage to buy so much with so little silver?"
Li Yingling proudly lifted her chin, placed her bag down, and gave her junior brother a meaningful glance—signaling him to tell their master about her glorious achievement.
"This wasn't bought by Senior Sister," Li Xingtian said with a somewhat bemused expression. "There was a new vendor on the street, running a ring-toss game. If you got a ring on a target, you could draw a random prize. Senior Sister spent all her money there."
Chu Xingchen was taken aback. Had his disciple's incredible luck kicked in again?
Li Yingling proudly pulled out a set of luxurious white men's clothing from her bag and said,
"Master, I got this specially for you. Your current outfit is too worn out."
As she spoke, she unfolded the garment. The cuffs were adorned with gold thread, and the collar was edged with light blue, embroidered with intricate and elegant patterns.
"This is the vendor's top-tier product! They said it can adjust to fit any size, and it was crafted by an artificer. It repels dust and stains automatically."
Li Yingling smiled as she neatly folded the clothes, along with the matching pants, and handed them to Chu Xingchen.
Taking the set, Chu Xingchen felt the fabric and found it incredibly smooth.
"Good..." Chu Xingchen nodded with a gentle smile. "Thank you, my eldest disciple."
Meanwhile, Li Xingtian opened his massive bundle.
Inside was a chaotic assortment of items... with very few practical things.
Fortunately, there were at least three sets of bedding, so Li Yingling hadn't forgotten the most essential items.
At least they wouldn't have to sleep on bare wooden boards tonight.
Chu Xingchen walked forward, his expression puzzled as he examined the pile.
Among the items were some pots, pans, bowls, and utensils, but their designs were rather peculiar. There were also oddly shaped ancient coins, talismans, and a shattered sword.
A rattle drum, a large drum, a sword woven from copper coins, and even a set of wooden fish used by monks for chanting.
Chu Xingchen picked up the wooden fish mallet and inspected it for a moment, but found nothing special about it.
Was this a consolation prize?
"Master! This wooden fish is special!"
Li Yingling hurried over and explained, "According to the vendor, this wooden fish was made by a highly virtuous monk before his passing. He infused all his accumulated merit into it. It's an extraordinary treasure!"
Chu Xingchen held the mallet, turned around, and lightly tapped Li Yingling's head with it, saying with a sigh,
"What's so extraordinary about it? It doesn't even sound as good as when I tap your head."
This was clearly just a vendor's ploy to swindle people!
How could his usually sharp eldest disciple fall for such nonsense?
Li Yingling, having been lightly hit on the head with the mallet, pouted in frustration. Though it didn't hurt, the insult was real.
"If you don't believe me, ask Junior Brother!"
"...It's true. This wooden fish was indeed infused with the merit of a highly virtuous monk at the moment of his passing," Li Xingtian confirmed, though his expression was hesitant, as if he wanted to explain further but decided against it.
Chu Xingchen looked at his second disciple with a strange expression. Had his junior brother lived his previous life in vain? How could he be as naive as his eldest disciple?
"How do you know the vendor was telling the truth?" Chu Xingchen questioned them both.
"We saw the monk pass away right in front of us..." Li Xingtian replied, his tone steady, though his expression showed he was still shaken by the experience.
Li Xingtian never expected such a bizarre turn of events.
Chu Xingchen was stunned. "He passed away on the spot?!"
"Yes... He was a Qi Refinement stage monk who practiced asceticism. After Senior Sister won the wooden fish, he insisted on fulfilling his karmic destiny and passed away on the spot, infusing all his merit into the wooden fish. Before he died, he entrusted Senior Sister to make good use of it... and even said that she had a great destiny and would one day dominate the cultivation world."
"What kind of vendor operates like this?! Take me to see them!"
"There's no need, Master... After Senior Sister won the prize, they packed up all their things, cursing their bad luck, and fled Yuzhou City."
"By now, they're probably already outside the city."