"Ten high-grade spirit stones, are you trying to rob me?"
Xu Yi's words instantly shattered the man's aloof demeanor.
A fierce glint flashed in his eyes as he shot Xu Yi a threatening look.
Xu Yi was displeased. "Fellow Daoist, my prices are clearly marked, fair to all. If you can't afford it, then so be it. I only sell to those destined for them."
Xu Yi loved wealth, and she acquired it by honest means.
These magic treasures and pills, though unassuming, were all personally refined by her. Each was of level five or higher, and ten high-grade spirit stones was hardly an exorbitant price.
"You're clearly ripping people off..."
"Wei Jiu," the woman said, her brow furrowing slightly as she interrupted the aloof man. "Ten high-grade spirit stones. I'm willing to pay. May I examine them first?"
Xu Yi smiled and sized up the woman. "You're my first customer. Feel free to look at and pick anything here."
As she spoke, Wei Jiu glared fiercely at Xu Yi from behind, as if convinced Xu Yi was a black-hearted merchant.
Xu Yi paid him no mind. While eating skewers, she watched the woman rummage through her stall.
She hadn't lied earlier. There were indeed several items of exceptional value among them, but it depended on who had the good fortune to find them.
She wondered if this woman would be so lucky.
Li Da Tong's cooking skills were excellent, and coupled with Xu Yi's complete disregard for her image while eating, Wei Jiu, who had initially intended to kill Xu Yi with his gaze, found himself getting hungry as he watched.
He swallowed hard, forcing his gaze away from Xu Yi, filled with resentment.
"Fellow Daoist, I'll take this one."
Just as Xu Yi was once again accepting a skewer from Li Da Tong, the woman who had been selecting items finally held a jade bottle and spoke.
Her expression towards Xu Yi was now much more solemn, and her words carried respect.
Xu Yi's eyes flickered over the jade bottle in the woman's hand, and she brightened slightly. "You have good luck. Ten high-grade spirit stones, it's yours."
"Miss..." Wei Jiu, seeing that the woman genuinely intended to pay, couldn't help but call out to her softly, his face full of disapproval.
The woman ignored him, directly taking ten high-grade spirit stones from her storage bag and handing them to Xu Yi. Then, with a reluctant Wei Jiu in tow, she stepped into the Giant's Realm.
"Good heavens, someone actually bought your wares."
Li Da Tong's eyes were glued to the stones.
The total value of the skewers he'd sold to Xu Yi that day was less than one high-grade spirit stone.
The thought of Xu Yi easily netting ten high-grade spirit stones made his eyes turn red.
"I don't like the sound of that. I sold her the items she took for ten high-grade spirit stones, and I'm still at a loss," Xu Yi said, taking out a high-grade spirit stone and tossing it to Li Da Tong, muttering to herself.
Li Da Tong took the spirit stone, shaking his head.
Xu Yi had no intention of explaining further. She had said that being able to buy anything depended on fate.
Clearly, very few people had that kind of fate.
Xu Yi set up her stall outside the Giant's Realm for seven days, yet only that one woman had stopped to buy her goods.
On the last day, Xu Yi put away the items she had displayed earlier and took out a new batch of spiritual pills and magic treasures. All were priced at one mid-grade spirit stone, with no restrictions.
This time, more cultivators came to patronize her stall. Even Li Da Tong bought many things from Xu Yi, effectively using the money Xu Yi had spent on him to buy from her.
The next day, Xu Yi packed up her stall and followed the increasing number of cultivators into the Giant's Realm.
To pass through the Giant's Realm, one had to first cross the Qu River.
The Qu River harbored some aquatic demon beasts, but their attack power was not strong, and they never attacked cultivators.
Therefore, crossing the Qu River was smooth sailing.
Upon reaching the shore, Xu Yi keenly sensed an indescribable aura filling the air.
She formed a hand seal and continued forward. In less than half an hour, a corner of the Giant's Realm finally revealed itself before her.
Towering trees pierced the clouds, casting a dense canopy, while worthless weeds grew to be as tall as two people. Even ordinary, unremarkable ant beasts, magnified in size, showed their ferocious nature.
In this place, cultivators could not help but feel a sense of insignificance.
Whoosh—
A black shadow streaked towards her.
Xu Yi dodged, casting a wary glance at her previous position, then wore a wry smile.
A two-foot-long leaf had fallen there.
"It seems I need to adapt to this environment quickly, lest I startle myself with every unexpected event."
Xu Yi shook her head with a bitter smile and plunged into the forest like an arrow released from a bowstring.
...
"Ah—"
The abruptly cut-off scream did not affect Xu Yi, who was ambushed in the trees.
She was holding her breath, hidden on a branch thick with foliage.
It was a branch, but it was as thick as two people could embrace. Xu Yi hid within it effortlessly.
She had been lurking there for a day and a night, motionless.
Finally, a colossal black shadow flew out from the enormous bird's nest in front of her. The wind generated by its flapping wings rustled the leaves.
Xu Yi confirmed the bird beast had left, pushed off with her feet, and leaped into the nest. She quickly collected a giant bird's egg and then fled madly.
"Screech!"
The enraged bird's cry exploded in the air like muffled thunder.
A black shadow, like lightning tearing through the sky, plummeted from the heights. The immense pressure caused the cultivators in the forest to stop their movements, their hearts filled with trepidation.
"What kind of demon beast is this? So terrifying!"
"Wings like blades, claws like mountains—it's an Iron Claw Mountain Eagle! An Integration stage Iron Claw Mountain Eagle!"
"Someone reckless must have angered it!"
The Iron Claw Mountain Eagle was exceptionally fierce but disliked human flesh, so it generally would not attack cultivators proactively.
Thus, although the onlookers were startled, they were not panicked.
Xu Yi's figure weaved rapidly through the dense canopy.
"A miscalculation. I didn't expect this Iron Claw Mountain Eagle's eyesight to be so sharp that it could see me from a thousand miles away."
Xu Yi had stumbled upon the Iron Claw Mountain Eagle's nest by chance. Seeing that it had just laid its eggs and was in a weakened state, she was tempted to steal an egg.
Fearing she might completely enrage the Iron Claw Mountain Eagle, she had only stolen one of the three eggs. If she had known this, she should have stolen the other two as well.
As Xu Yi fled, she couldn't help but reflect on her past mistake.
"Screech!"
The Iron Claw Mountain Eagle was incredibly fast. After rapidly closing the distance between them, it let out a sharp cry and swooped down.
Xu Yi did not dodge. She summoned her Discipline Ruler, which transformed into a streak of rainbow light and collided with the Iron Claw Mountain Eagle's sharp talons.
Boom!
A fierce collision erupted.
Xu Yi's figure plummeted from the sky, breaking through three giant trees in succession before she managed to stop herself.
"Cough, cough!"
Xu Yi felt as if her internal organs had shifted out of place, and blood seeped from the corner of her mouth.
What formidable strength.
At her current cultivation level, directly taking a blow from an Integration stage demon beast was still somewhat strenuous.
Fortunately, the demon beast was currently in a weakened state, otherwise, she would have lost at least half her life.
The Iron Claw Mountain Eagle in the air was not faring much better. The human cultivator's magic treasure was incredibly hard; its right claw's phalanges were shattered, rendering it unable to fight for a short period.
However, it was even more unwilling to let the human cultivator escape.
A violent glint flashed in its golden eyes, and it let out another piercing shriek, swooping down once more.
"Again?"
Xu Yi cried out in surprise and scrambled to her feet to run.