Chapter 8: Scales

Making money isn’t shameful at all. When Hua Jian was broke, she could still sing tunes at teahouses and taverns, so what’s wrong with being a companion for Saintess Daren now?

Saintess Daren has money, she needs money— wasn’t this a perfect match made in heaven!

“From the very first moment I saw you, I knew, Saintess Daren, that you are the best thing that’s ever happened to me in this life…”

Before Hua Jian could finish her flattery, Linglong reached out and pressed her hand over Hua Jian’s mouth, not letting her continue.

“No need for that. Just do what you’re used to.” Linglong wanted to see the real Hua Jian, not a greedy girl who only knew how to flatter her after being bribed with Spirit Stones.

“You mean it?”

Linglong nodded seriously.

With her expressionless, almost stoic face, the Saintess was quite convincing.

Hua Jian nodded, then pointed at a big tree not far away. “Let’s go sit over there first. I’ll take inventory of the loot we just got.”

She had used enough drug just now, and those two unlucky fellows wouldn’t wake up so soon.

Plus, they were far enough from the scene that they didn’t need to worry about anyone coming after them for revenge.

Arriving under the big tree, Hua Jian spread out the clothes she’d stripped from the two and examined them closely, deciding that these Spiritual Garments should be worth about ten Spirit Stones.

“Self-cleansing, breath-concealing— the most basic functions of a Spiritual Garment. But the maker’s craftsmanship is lacking; these two garments aren’t real Spiritual Garments.” Linglong also leaned over to look at the two Spiritual Garments, giving her own appraisal while Hua Jian was still estimating their value in her mind.

Compared to Hua Jian, who was used to scraping by at the bottom, Linglong had a higher perspective. She didn’t know how much these things were actually worth, just that they were trash.

“Ordinary Spirit Masters can’t afford proper Spiritual Garments anyway. Having these is already good enough.” Hua Jian curled her lip.

Real Spiritual Garments could cost hundreds or even thousands of Spirit Stones— far beyond what a Spirit Master could ever hope to wear.

Even Spirit Kings above Spirit Masters might not have Spiritual Garments to wear.

Only when you reached the level of Ling Emperor did Spiritual Garments become standard for everyone.

After folding the two Pseudo-Spirit Robes and setting them aside, Hua Jian started going through the three Storage Pouches she’d gotten.

Two of them were well-made, but both had Divine Sense Seals she couldn’t break.

She could only sell them to the recycling counter at Linglong Pavilion for ten Spirit Stones each.

But the remaining Storage Pouch was different— it had a weak Divine Sense Seal. After some effort, Hua Jian managed to break it.

“Is this a Storage Pouch found in the Secret Realm? They didn’t get a chance to take it out, so I got lucky?”

In this Secret Realm, there were quite a few Storage Pouches filled with treasures.

If you could get a Storage Pouch out, all the treasures inside would belong to whoever brought them out.

Sounds simple, right? But the catch was that after a Space Stone shattered, the teleportation wouldn’t transfer these Storage Pouches.

Only items the cultivator had on them when entering the Secret Realm would be teleported out.

Any treasures acquired inside, unless placed in your own Storage Pouch, couldn’t be taken out.

The only way to bring these items out was through those few Spatial Gates within the Secret Realm.

Hua Jian opened the Storage Pouch and probed inside with her still-weak divine sense.

The next instant, her expression changed drastically.

“Mirage Incense?!”

There was only one thing in the Storage Pouch— a swirling, shifting mist, neither shell nor not, neither dragon nor not.

Just looking at it with her divine sense made Hua Jian feel drowsy.

This was a real treasure!

A true treasure, half a level higher than even genuine Jinfenghua or Qianzhang Mushroom!

“Let me see.” Hearing the name Hua Jian cried out, Linglong’s eyes flashed with a strange light.

It wasn’t that she was shocked by this treasure— Mirage Incense was indeed rare, but the Yaoci Holy Sect was rich and powerful, and such rare materials weren’t that uncommon in the sect.

Besides, the arts she cultivated weren’t very compatible with Mirage Incense.

In plain terms, she didn’t need this kind of thing.

She just wanted to see the quality— whether it was real Mirage Incense or not.

As Linglong leaned over, Hua Jian hesitated. If she managed to take this Mirage Incense out and sell it, it’d fetch four or five hundred Spirit Stones!

But surely the Saintess wouldn’t just steal her stuff, right? This Linglong Saintess was a renowned figure— she wouldn’t do something so shameless, would she?

Hua Jian instinctively hugged the Storage Pouch to her chest, her gaze toward Linglong tinged with a hint of wariness.

“You… you’re not going to snatch it and run, are you?”

Linglong hugged her well-developed chest and tilted her head slightly, unable to understand Hua Jian’s wariness.

She pointed at her own clothes and the sword at her waist. “These are worth more than the Mirage Incense in your hand.”

That Mirage Incense, at best, was worth five hundred Spirit Stones, while the Spiritual Garment and sword she wore were both crafted by Masters of the Yaoci Holy Sect— any single piece was priceless.

Would a billionaire covet your five hundred bucks?

Realizing that what she regarded as a priceless treasure was nothing but dirt to Linglong, Hua Jian suddenly felt deflated.

She was just afraid of being tricked!

Five hundred Spirit Stones— that could buy several bottles of auxiliary cultivation pills!

Besides, Mirage Incense would be useful for her own cultivation too…

“Then I’ll give you this to hold.” Seeing that Hua Jian was still a bit conflicted, Linglong thought for a moment, then took off the hairpin that bound her hair.

The hairpin was entirely silver, emitting a faint pressure. Just looking at it made Hua Jian’s heart race.

“No, no, that’s not necessary.”

Seeing Linglong willing to use her hairpin as a token in exchange for a look at her Mirage Incense, Hua Jian’s last bit of wariness finally vanished.

One look told her this hairpin was worth way more than her Mirage Incense.

If Linglong ran off with the Mirage Incense, she’d actually be the one profiting.

“Here you go.” Reluctantly handing over her five-hundred-Spirit-Stone treasure to Linglong, Hua Jian watched her nervously, like a child afraid her precious toy would be broken.

Linglong stuck the hairpin back into her hair. Seeing how nervous Hua Jian looked, she figured she should put her at ease a bit.

Since she didn’t want the hairpin, Linglong decided to give her something less valuable.

After rummaging through her own Storage Pouch, Linglong pulled out a pure white scale and handed it to Hua Jian.

“What’s this?” This scale also had a faint aura of majesty, but it was much weaker than the hairpin’s. Hua Jian turned it over in her hand, unable to figure out what kind of treasure it was.

It looked like white jade, delicate and translucent, cool to the touch, and felt excellent in her hand.

If she sold it, it’d probably fetch at least a few dozen Spirit Stones, right? Hua Jian thought.

“Dragon Scale. Mine.” Linglong explained while examining the Mirage Incense in the Storage Pouch.

“Oh, your Dragon Scale… Wait, what?! Your Dragon Scale?!”