Nameless District Chapter 103: Taking and Giving

The overall strength of Xiaoyao City is not particularly impressive—or rather, quite weak. However, its founder is the legendary Xiaoyao Ghost Immortal, a prominent figure from the Nameless Region a thousand years ago. While the Fierce Ghost Sect might be obscure—since he was merely one of its many ancestors—Xiaoyao City is different; it perfectly inherits his temperament, serving as a haven where all sorts of monsters and demons run wild.

Trading is carefree within the city walls, while burning, killing, and looting occur outside—that is the signature style of Xiaoyao City. Few people enter, but many make their living as bandits in the surrounding areas; it is a place where various unorthodox and demonic factions hold sway. Therefore, most of the cultivators on the floating raft have heard of the city, and many have even visited it, knowing its other great characteristic: haggling!

Entry fees vary; if you are dressed in finery, the price is hiked up, and if you look poor and shabby, they cannot be bothered to waste breath on you. This naturally tests a cultivator's discernment—whether they can spot those who are merely pretending to be destitute. As the people present are mostly disciples from major powers, they are naturally quite wealthy. Pretending to be poor is nearly impossible, as everyone knows each other; losing money is a small matter, but losing face is a big one.

"You can haggle?"

The handsome man nodded. "Of course you can haggle. There is an upper limit, but no lower limit. The final price depends entirely on your own skill. How about it, brother, are you not tempted?"

The Golden Core perfection cultivator is named Shang Simiao, the chief disciple of the Lingming Mountain Clear Sect, a major power in the Nameless Region. His cultivation level is among the best in the crowd. As the Lingming Mountain Clear Sect is a Dharma-cultivating sect with abundant resources, he has naturally lived a life of luxury and is completely clueless about haggling.

"Then, fellow Daoist, could you lower the price? I truly do not have many spirit stones on me. How about three thousand medium-grade spirit stones?"

The handsome man said with a troubled expression, "Fellow Daoist, you’ve slashed a quarter of the price right off the bat! This is a Grade 4 formation disk. Even at an auction, the price would not be lower than four thousand."

Whether it was his imagination or not, Shang Simiao felt the gazes behind him grow awkward. In truth, it was merely his own insecurity; the others were simply watching the show, and he was just embarrassed.

"Then... what do you think is a fair price, fellow Daoist?"

The handsome man thought for a moment and said, "How about this: you give me thirty-five hundred, and we settle the rest with artifacts or talismans—just two hundred worth. How does that sound?"

At this, a female cultivator from the same sect could no longer stand it. She hurried to Shang Simiao’s side and shook her head, signaling him not to be lured into the seller's trap.

The handsome man looked displeased. "What? Not buying? If you don't want it, forget it. I’m not even happy selling such a powerful Grade 4 formation disk for this price. You’ve already gotten such a bargain and you’re still unsatisfied? Next!"

Seeing the handsome man’s reaction, Shang Simiao shook his head at his junior sister, took out a storage bag, tossed it to the man, and cupped his hands. "I only have thirty-three hundred medium-grade spirit stones here; let me make up the rest with ten high-grade spirit stones. How is that, fellow Daoist?"

(1 supreme-grade spirit stone = 50 high-grade = 2,500 medium-grade = 125,000 low-grade)

The handsome man took the bag, scanned it with his divine sense, and immediately put on an eager smile. "That works, that works! You are too generous, fellow Daoist. I like generous friends like you. Here, I'll throw in a peak-Grade 3 formation disk as a gift."

After the transaction, the man shouted, "Next!"

But no one stepped forward. Everyone wanted to see the power of the formation disk Shang Simiao had purchased to see if it was worth more than its price, worth the price, or a waste of money. Shang Simiao, being a smart man, glanced at the crowd and, instead of bonding the disk to his soul, returned to his room.

After a while, the silent Shang Simiao emerged, said nothing, and went to the other side of the deck to look out at the magnificent space. The others followed to see what was going on. Just then, five other Golden Core cultivators from the Lingming Mountain Clear Sect rushed over and lined up, leaving the surrounding people dumbfounded.

"Fellow Daoist Shang, you’ve gone too far! You want to keep the benefits all to yourself!"

Another Golden Core perfection cultivator accused him, but his feet moved quickly, and he managed to snatch the ninth spot in line. Now everyone realized the disks were definitely worth it; otherwise, Shang Simiao wouldn't have acted so desperately to get his hands on them.

The handsome man was beaming. Looking at the dense crowd of cultivators, he held up a formation disk and shouted, "Line up, everyone! Don't crowd! One by one! Anyone who cuts in line will have their purchase eligibility canceled!"

Cultivators have strong execution, but there were only thirty-two disks in total. Including the two Shang Simiao bought, only thirty people could make a purchase. Those behind were naturally unhappy.

"Fellow Daoist, do you have spirit stones? How about this: give me your spot, and I’ll give you one hundred medium-grade spirit stones."

"Fellow Daoist, your cultivation is only at the mid-Golden Core stage, while I am at the perfection stage. You surely don't want to offend me!"

"Fellow Daoist, please wait..."

The cultivators chattered, using both threats and bribes to try to snatch the remaining disks. The handsome man laughed from ear to ear, though his high prices discouraged many who were not well-off from staying in line.

"Because that fellow Daoist just now was the first buyer, he got a discount. The subsequent prices will be a bit higher. And you, miss—weren't you just holding back your senior brother from buying? Why are you lining up now?"

Ignoring the taunt, the female cultivator picked up a peak-Grade 3 "Wood-Origin Water-Surge" formation and asked for the price.

"Good eye, miss! This disk is among the best of the Grade 3s. But the price might be a bit steep—let’s say twenty-five hundred!"

The woman shook her head. "A Grade 4 disk is over three thousand, so twenty-five hundred for a Grade 3 is too expensive. Besides, I am only at the eighth level of Golden Core, and I've only been cultivating for a hundred and fifty years. My savings are limited. How about eleven hundred?"

The handsome man waved his hands. "Miss, you know the value of these disks. Twenty-five hundred is not high at all! Go ask your senior brother; he got a bargain. You should raise your offer!"

The woman sighed. "I want to support your business, but I am truly strapped for cash. My status in the sect is neither high nor low, and you know that at my age and cultivation level, the sect doesn't value me as much as the senior brother. My resources are limited, and running these formations requires spirit stones as energy. Let’s meet halfway—you don't ask for so much, and I won't press so low. I offer thirteen hundred!"

The handsome man showed no impatience; instead, he grew more animated, his eyes sparkling as he counter-offered. "That’s still a bit difficult. Add a little more. These disks didn't just fall from the sky; the sect gave me a quota, and I’m counting on this for my coffin money. I'll name a number: nineteen hundred. How does that suit you?"

The woman frowned. "If this were—"

Before she could finish, a Golden Core perfection cultivator interrupted: "Are you buying or not? Fellow Daoist, how about this: I offer two thousand! I'll take it!"

Before the woman or Shang Simiao could speak, the handsome man looked annoyed, as if he had been interrupted while enjoying something pleasant. "No! You’re dressed so well, you’ll pay at least five thousand!"

The man tried to argue, but the handsome man silenced him with a glare. He told the crowd, "If you want my disks, you play by my rules." Turning back to the woman with a troubled face, he said, "I can see you aren't that wealthy. Fine, I'll drop another hundred—eighteen hundred. Take it and go!"

The woman finally understood: the man didn't care about the spirit stones; he simply loved the process. The higher the price, the happier he was, but the longer the haggling, the more excited he became.

"Fellow Daoist, I'll be honest with you. I'm actually a formation master myself. I just wanted to study the techniques of the genius who created these. I'm not short on Grade 3 disks. If you go any lower, I'll buy it, and we won't waste any more time."

When the price was pressed down to sixteen hundred, the woman played her trump card and turned to leave. Only when she had walked some distance did the handsome man jog over to hand her the disk.

"Sigh, miss, I give up. If it weren't for the fact that this disk has a karmic connection with you, I wouldn't sell it for anything!"

The woman smiled slightly and put the disk away. She knew exactly what the man's quirk was—he just loved the process. What a strange cultivator.

As time passed, the disks were sold off one by one. A Golden Core perfection cultivator from the Taiyin Extreme Corpse Sect bought a Grade 4 disk and, upon activating it in public, a terrifying aura suppressed everyone present. It was a Grade 4 killing formation. Fortunately, it was only a simple activation; had it truly been unleashed, half the people there might have died.

This was largely because they were trapped on the floating raft with nowhere to run. If they could have fled, even a powerful killing formation wouldn't have been able to hit them. However, since the controller was also at the Golden Core perfection stage, he could use this formation to rival even early Nascent Soul cultivators. Even if he couldn't win, he could at least inflict injury, which was already quite formidable.

For a moment, the crowd became frenzied, all eager to buy a disk, readily accepting the high prices. Later on, a clueless rich kid tried to press the price from four thousand down to two thousand and used the ultimate move: walking away. But he walked quite a distance without the handsome man following him; instead, the man simply started trading with the next person in line, and the kid became a laughingstock.