After returning to his room, Xu Luo immediately began circulating the Shadow Shaking Heart Method to dispel the killing intent that had built up inside him. Afterward, he dove straight into his cultivation.
After completing one Grand Circulation, Xu Luo slowly opened his eyes and let out a long breath. The uncomfortable feeling from before vanished along with it.
Xu Luo performed an Inner Vision of his Dantian and discovered that the Shaking Light Star Soul within was a bit brighter than before. The light it emitted also seemed much more lustrous.
'Does this mean the Shaking Light Star Soul needs to absorb large amounts of energy to grow brighter?'
Xu Luo muttered to himself, his gaze turning to the other six dim Beidou Star Souls. He wondered inwardly, 'If I can just find enough energy, can I light up all six of these dim Beidou Stars?'
To confirm his suspicion, Xu Luo immediately left the house. This time, he didn't bring Lianyi, instead slipping out quietly through the backyard by himself.
Otherwise, after what had just happened, his mother might not have let him go out.
After hitting the street, Xu Luo ducked into a random clothing store. When he came out, he was wearing a pitch-black cloak with a pointed hood that covered most of his face, leaving only his nose and mouth exposed.
At such a critical time, Xu Luo didn't want to stir up any trouble. Hiding his face was a good idea.
In the Imperial Capital, all sorts of Adventurers and Lone Rangers who wished to remain anonymous, as well as some young people who liked eccentric clothing, dressed this way. So, Xu Luo's outfit didn't look out of place.
Cyan Dragon Avenue was as bustling as ever, unaffected by the murder that had occurred in one of its shops.
Walking aimlessly down Cyan Dragon Avenue, Xu Luo suddenly realized he didn't know what he should buy.
In other words, Xu Luo didn't really know what kinds of things contained large amounts of energy!
For instance, the five-hundred-year-old Agarwood Brew and Hundred Ice Brew he drank at the Fengyue Building contained powerful energy. If he could consume them in large quantities, he was sure it would be of great benefit.
However, this kind of liquor was not only extremely expensive but, more importantly, effectively unavailable for purchase!
'Ask Phoenix for some, or buy it from her?' Xu Luo shook his head. He had never even considered asking others for handouts.
Besides, ever since he had seen Phoenix's true appearance, he'd had a feeling that this woman was far from simple. He didn't want to get too involved with her.
Xu Luo had been frail since childhood. To change his constitution, his family had tried everything, including having him consume many types of Spirit Medicine.
This was also how Xu Luo earned the nickname "Medicine Jar."
As the old saying goes, a long illness makes a good doctor. Although Xu Luo wasn't truly sick, he had taken a lot of medicine. As a result, his knowledge of various medicinal ingredients was beyond that of an ordinary person.
'That's right! Both the Agarwood Brew and the Hundred Ice Brew are made by fermenting various energy-rich grains with some precious medicinal herbs. Yes, that must be it!'
Xu Luo's eyes narrowed slightly as he murmured, "In that case, the medicinal herbs I've been taking since I was a child should contain energy, right?"
'And the energy in that Seven-Turn Foundation Establishment Pill was also drained by the Shaking Light Star Soul... Aren't Seven-Turn Foundation Establishment Pills also refined from medicinal herbs?'
As he thought, he recalled the reaction of his Shaking Light Star Soul when he drank the Agarwood Brew, and he finally determined the purpose of his trip.
The West Market's medicine market!
That was the place in the entire Imperial Capital with the most abundant supply of medicinal herbs.
The vast majority of small and medium-sized pharmacies in the Imperial Capital sourced their goods from there.
The larger pharmacies, however, had their own dedicated teams for gathering herbs.
Xu Luo had heard about these things from his big brother, Huangfu Chongzhi, a long time ago.
He felt the silver banknotes he had on him and walked toward the West Market with a sense of confidence.
One thousand taels of silver was a huge sum for many people, enough for a moderately wealthy family to live a comfortable and prosperous life!
So Xu Luo, who rarely spent his own money, never imagined that one thousand taels of silver couldn't even buy a single five-hundred-year-old ginseng in the medicine market...
"How is it so expensive?" Xu Luo stared at an old mountain ginseng in a wooden box, his face stiffening slightly under his hood.
'I used to eat thousand-year-old mountain ginseng...' Xu Luo thought. It suddenly hit him: 'If a five-hundred-year-old ginseng costs two thousand taels of silver, then all the Spirit Medicine I've eaten since I was a child...'
Xu Luo didn't dare to think about how much his family had spent on him.
"Expensive? I say, brother, you must be new here, right?"
A tall, burly man looked at Xu Luo indignantly. "You can ask around the West Market who I, Tang Yong, am! The goods I sell are the most reasonably priced, honest with young and old! This old mountain ginseng, you go try and buy one at a pharmacy! If they don't ask you for three thousand taels of silver, I'll write my name, Tang Yong, backward!"
"'Yong Tang'?" Xu Luo muttered reflexively. He looked up at the man's unfriendly expression and wisely shut his mouth.
"For this old mountain ginseng, me and my brothers faced life and death, went through countless hardships and dangers, and snatched it from a Saber-toothed Tiger in the Black Forest!" The burly man's face was full of sorrow, his voice grew deep and low as he pointed to a huge tiger pelt on the ground next to him.
"It was because of this damned beast! We lost two brothers, and another was crippled. I'm just in a hurry to sell this stuff to provide for the families of my dead and injured brothers. Otherwise, do you think I'd be selling these treasures for such a pittance?"
Xu Luo's mouth twitched. He felt a bit of sympathy for the burly man's plight, but sympathy was sympathy; the fact remained that he couldn't afford this five-hundred-year-old mountain ginseng.
"So are you buying or not? If not, don't just stand there blocking my business, alright?" Seeing Xu Luo hesitate, the burly man looked at him impatiently.
"Brother, can we negotiate?" Xu Luo hesitated for a moment, then looked up at the burly man and said.
"Negotiate what?" The burly man looked down at Xu Luo. He was already tall, and from his vantage point, he couldn't see Xu Luo's face clearly. He didn't have a good feeling about this secretive guy.
"I'll take all of it, but I don't have that much money on me right now. Could you come with me? I'll go back and get the money for you. What do you think?" Xu Luo did feel some sympathy for the man's story, so he tried to negotiate.
Just then, a derisive laugh suddenly came from not far away, catching Xu Luo's attention.
"I say, Boss Tang, pulling the same old scam again, huh? Haha, a five-hundred-year-old mountain ginseng is indeed expensive, but it's not worth two thousand taels of silver, is it? How many times have you had to write your name backward? And you lose two brothers and have one crippled every single time. You sure have a lot of brothers, hahaha!"
A middle-aged man with a weaselly face and a mouth full of yellow teeth was looking over with a mocking expression.
"Li Xiaoyu, are you asking for death? You spout any more nonsense and I'll tear you apart!" The burly man flew into a rage, pointing at the weaselly middle-aged man and cursing.
"Hmph, I just can't stand watching you cheat people with the same story every time!" The weaselly middle-aged man gave a cold smile, unfazed by the burly man's threat.
Xu Luo's mouth twitched violently a couple of times. Only now did he realize he'd been tricked. He couldn't help but feel ashamed and a little angry. 'I'm so inexperienced!'
"Is what he said true?" Xu Luo asked.
"He's spouting nonsense! Haven't you ever heard that people in the same trade are rivals?" Tang Yong said with an annoyed look. "Buy it if you want, and if you don't, then scram! Dammit, what bad luck!"
His lie exposed, the burly man knew the deal was off. He dropped the pretense, his voice turning vicious. At the same time, his hatred for the weaselly Li Yu over there intensified.
"I'll buy it. Who said I wasn't buying?"
Xu Luo's words left not only Tang Yong stunned but also the nearby Li Yu.
"I say, little brother, how can you be so ungrateful? I, Li Yu, was kind enough to warn you, so why are you still so eager to get ripped off?" The weaselly middle-aged man had a look of disbelief on his face, unable to believe someone so foolish could exist in the world.
"Li Xiaoyu, if you dare interfere with my business again, this isn't over!" the burly man said, shooting him a cold glance. Then he added in a low voice, "Ruining someone's livelihood is like murdering their parents. Li Xiaoyu, don't take it too far!"
"Tch, it's not like you haven't done the same..." Li Yu grumbled. He turned his head away, annoyed at Xu Luo's ingratitude, and said no more.
The burly Tang Yong immediately put on a smiling face and looked at Xu Luo. "So, uh, this five-hundred-year-old mountain ginseng, plus this Saber-toothed Tiger pelt, and this whole pile of miscellaneous herbs... three thousand taels of silver and you can take the lot! Where do you live? I'll deliver it for you right now!"
Xu Luo gave a faint, almost shy smile. "Well, I only have one thousand taels of silver on me. What do you think about me buying everything for that price?"
"Aha... HAHAHAHA!"
Li Yu, who had been listening in from a short distance away, couldn't help but burst out laughing with schadenfreude. He pointed at Tang Yong, beside himself with glee. "Boss Tang, you treat everyone like a fool every day. How does it feel now? You've met an expert, haven't you? Hahaha!"
"Li Xiaoyu, get the hell away from me!" Tang Yong roared at Li Yu before turning to Xu Luo, grinding his teeth. "Little brother, you want to use one thousand taels... to buy all of my... treasures?"
Xu Luo nodded seriously. He then walked over, crouched in front of the tiger pelt, and stroked it lightly a couple of times. He looked at Tang Yong and said in earnest, "This is an ordinary tiger pelt. You can buy one for fifty taels of silver. A Saber-toothed Tiger's pelt, right here..."
He pointed to a spot along the pelt's spine. "It would have a grayish-white stripe. On an ordinary tiger pelt, this part is yellow."
Over on the side, Li Yu's eyes narrowed slightly as he sized up Xu Luo. He finally stopped heckling. He had only called Xu Luo an expert a moment ago to mock Tang Yong.
Despite the kid's black cloak and mysterious, Lone Ranger-like appearance, in Li Yu's eyes, he was clearly a greenhorn with zero Jianghu experience. The kind you could swindle however you pleased!
He had exposed Tang Yong simply because he couldn't stand how outrageously he was swindling the kid.
But he never, ever expected this kid to actually recognize a real Saber-toothed Tiger!
'Damn, I actually misjudged him...' Li Yu pursed his lips and muttered under his breath, then shot Tang Yong a gloating look.