'Qi Laoshi's General Store' – the dim lettering was barely visible unless one looked closely.

An old man with a dirty, tangled beard was huddled in the corner of the store, hammering away at something. He glanced up as Mo Wuji entered, cracking a toothy grin that revealed a mouthful of black teeth.

Mo Wuji looked around. Various items that were hard to discern as either spiritual tools or magical artifacts hung haphazardly on the walls, even more obscure in the dim light.

Besides that, a dilapidated cabinet with numerous holes housed a few old porcelain bottles. It was impossible to tell if they contained pills or something else.

Even more absurd was the bottom shelf of the cabinet, where dozens of dried spiritual herbs lay covered in dust. Such storage was clearly a waste of valuable resources.

Mo Wuji rubbed his forehead, suspecting that the shop assistant had cheated him. He had taken six Di Yuan pills and brought him to this place, claiming that Qi Laoshi’s shop offered the most genuine goods.

The old man chuckled again, "Feel free to look around. I’ll give you a discount on anything you like."

Mo Wuji was speechless. He took a step back, but just as he was about to leave the store, he sensed something amiss. His gaze returned to the pile of dried spiritual herbs on the bottom shelf of the dilapidated cabinet. A section of dried grass resembling a stick caught his attention.

The item seemed familiar. Even dried, he recognized a hint of its original scent.

Soon, Mo Wuji remembered. It was the root of the Jade Toad Purple Lotus. He had many of these roots on him.

Jade Toad Purple Lotus – a Grade 7 spiritual herb, and a rare one at that! Mo Wuji knew that his ability to open up ninety-nine meridians was partly due to his meridian opening potion, but would he have been able to open so many at once with just the silk from the Precious Blood Lotus?

Mo Xue's records on land-based spiritual herbs stated that Jade Toad Purple Lotus was the best medicine for developing and repairing spiritual meridians. It was a treasure coveted by all cultivators, yet here it was, treated like garbage and relegated to the bottom shelf of the cabinet by this old man.

Mo Wuji forcibly suppressed the urge to scan the item with his spiritual sense. If it truly was a Jade Toad Purple Lotus root, then this Qi Laoshi was definitely not honest. It would be disastrous if the old man sensed his spiritual power.

He retracted his steps and began to survey the surroundings once more.

After a while, he said with feigned hesitation, "Shopkeeper Qi, I want to go to the Lost Heaven Ruins, but my strength is low. I'm looking to buy something to increase my chances of survival. But honestly, I don't see anything good here…"

Qi Laoshi gripped his knees, struggling to stand, and gave Mo Wuji another toothy grin. He casually pulled open a drawer from the middle of the dilapidated cabinet, sending dust billowing everywhere.

Unfazed, Qi Laoshi reached into the drawer and pulled out a bottle of pills, saying, "This is the most potent antidote! The Lost Heaven Ruins are full of poison, and only my antidote can cure it. The price is 260,000 Di Grade spiritual stones."

Mo Wuji gasped. He had plenty of antidotes himself. He wasn't crazy enough to spend 260,000 Di Grade spiritual stones on an antidote.

After speaking, Qi Laoshi pulled open another drawer and casually produced a torn piece of paper. "This is my shop's most powerful group attack talisman. No matter how strong the opponent, this talisman can lock onto them and take them down. This one's even cheaper – only 310,000 Di Grade spiritual stones…"

Was 310,000 Di Grade spiritual stones cheaper than 260,000?

Seeing that Qi Laoshi was about to open the next drawer, Mo Wuji quickly stopped him, saying, "Shopkeeper Qi, I already have antidotes, and I'm not used to using talismans. I'd like to see if you have a map of the Lost Heaven Ruins, or... perhaps the approximate locations of some valuable spiritual resources within the Lost Heaven Ruins…"

"I have those too. Just wait a moment…" Qi Laoshi continued to pull open the drawers of the dilapidated cabinet, searching.

If Qi Laoshi hadn't pulled open these drawers one by one, Mo Wuji wouldn't have known there were so many in this old cabinet.

After pulling open seven or eight drawers, Qi Laoshi finally grabbed a leather map and a thin booklet from amidst the dust. "This is the best map of the Lost Heaven Ruins. I guarantee there's no other map more complete than this one. This booklet records the locations where various treasures can be found in the Lost Heaven Ruins. And it's cheap, only…"

Everything Qi Laoshi offered was the "best". Mo Wuji was already immune to his sales tactics. He interrupted Qi Laoshi before he could finish, "Shopkeeper Qi, can I just flip through it?"

Mo Wuji gestured towards the booklet, wanting to see if it mentioned Heavenly Meridian Flower. His main goal in going to the Lost Heaven Ruins was to find Heavenly Meridian Flower.

Qi Laoshi chuckled, "Flipping through it is not a problem, but you must purchase one of the items I showed you earlier before you can flip through it."

Mo Wuji was speechless. This guy wasn't honest at all; he was incredibly cunning. He really wanted to see if the booklet mentioned Heavenly Meridian Flower, so he said, "Shopkeeper Qi, I still have some spiritual stones, but I need to use them for cultivation… Um, can I just buy one of your antidotes?"

Of all the items Qi Laoshi had quoted a price for, the antidote seemed to be the cheapest.

Qi Laoshi frowned and thought for a long time before coldly saying, "Since that's the case, then buy one antidote. I'll let you flip through the booklet. Since you're so poor, I'll give you a discount on the antidote. It'll only cost you 30,000 Di Grade spiritual stones."

His face changed faster than flipping a book.

Mo Wuji cursed the old man inwardly. A bottle of antidote usually contained twelve pills, and this guy had quoted 260,000 spiritual stones for a bottle. Now, he wanted 30,000 Di Grade spiritual stones for a single pill. Even though his main purpose in buying the antidote was to see the booklet, he still felt annoyed.

If he hadn't seen a Jade Toad Purple Lotus root here, making him think that Qi Laoshi might actually have good stuff, he would have turned around and left long ago.

"Alright, 30,000 Di Grade spiritual stones it is. But I need to make one thing clear: I don't just want to flip through it; I want to at least glance at every page." Mo Wuji had learned from Qi Laoshi's craftiness and spoke in advance. He had seen plenty of such verbal traps.

Qi Laoshi looked at Mo Wuji in surprise. This kid was sharp; he had actually seen through his trap. "No, I'll only let you flip through it three times."

Mo Wuji thought to himself, "Sure enough." If he hadn't mentioned this trap, he would have been taken advantage of again.

"If that's the case, then there's no deal. I'll go check out another shop." Mo Wuji turned to leave. He began to wonder if the Jade Toad Purple Lotus root was just a trap set by this guy. And was this dusty, dirty room just a show, meant to make him look like a reclusive expert, attracting knowledgeable customers?

But that didn't seem right. If he hadn't obtained the Jade Toad Purple Lotus, he wouldn't have been able to recognize it at all.

"Okay, I'll let you flip through it five times. If you still don't agree, then be on your way." Qi Laoshi stopped Mo Wuji.

Maybe this guy really was an expert. Some senior cultivators liked to do things this way. With a hint of hope, Mo Wuji reluctantly took out his spiritual stone card and paid 30,000 Di Grade spiritual stones for a dark, unattractive pill, without even a bottle.

Fortunately, Mo Wuji didn't care. He casually tossed the antidote into his storage bag and eagerly reached for the booklet.

"Remember, five flips, and you can't pause at all…" Qi Laoshi instructed Mo Wuji, then stared intently at Mo Wuji's hand, afraid that Mo Wuji would disobey him and flip through it one too many times.

Mo Wuji looked at the booklet. It had at most six or seven pages. Flipping through it five times would allow him to see most of the contents.

He skipped the first and second pages. The Heavenly Meridian Flower he was looking for was definitely not an ordinary item, and if it wasn't ordinary, it wouldn't be in the beginning.

Mo Wuji directly opened the third page: Windfall Bamboo, Crimson Tang Fruit, Nether Soul Crystal…

The two pages were filled with all sorts of strangely shaped treasures. Mo Wuji had never even heard of many of these treasures. But every item listed had detailed information about its approximate location in the Lost Heaven Ruins. In fact, this was exactly what Mo Wuji wanted. This boosted Mo Wuji's confidence, making him believe even more that this old man was actually a wolf in sheep's clothing.

He flipped to the fourth page, the fifth page… Mo Wuji still didn't see Heavenly Meridian Flower.

Mo Wuji opened the sixth page. If he still didn't see Heavenly Meridian Flower on this page and the next, he would have to question whether this booklet was even worth it. Because without asking, he knew that Qi Laoshi's goods wouldn't be cheap.

But the moment the sixth page was opened, Mo Wuji saw Heavenly Meridian Flower. If Mo Wuji hadn't experienced so much already, he would have been unable to contain his excitement.

He had already experienced even more surprising things like rebirth, opening his meridians, and discovering the Boundless Soul Continuation Flower. He could definitely control this small amount of excitement.

If he got excited, even the slightest fluctuation would let the cunning Qi Laoshi know. As long as Qi Laoshi knew his intentions, he would definitely raise the price. Even if he didn't raise the price, he didn't want Qi Laoshi to know what he wanted. Whether Qi Laoshi was pretending or not, his desire for spiritual stones was definitely real and potent.

Unfortunately, the location of the Heavenly Meridian Flower was too complicated, and he couldn't keep his hand on that page. Plus, he didn't want to use his spiritual sense in front of Qi Laoshi, so he could only glance at it quickly.

With an expression of disappointment that was almost imperceptible to others, Mo Wuji turned to the seventh page…

Mo Wuji was sure that others couldn't see his disappointment, but Qi Laoshi definitely could.

Just as the seventh page was opened, the shop assistant who had brought Mo Wuji to Qi Laoshi's shop ran over again in a hurry. He stood at the entrance of Qi Laoshi's shop and, seeing that Mo Wuji hadn't left, quickly gave Mo Wuji a slightly anxious look.

(Three updates are here, asking for monthly ticket support! Today's update ends here, good night friends!)