“ xiū shì yī shēn dōu shì bǎo ， yǒu rén gēn wǒ dǎ yī yàng de zhǔ yì ， yě bú shì shén me qí guài de shì 。”
“修士一身都是宝，有人跟我打一样的主意，也不是什么奇怪的事。”
"Every cultivator is a treasure. It's not strange for someone to have the same idea as me."
“ bì jìng kuī tiān dì zhī fǎ ， nǎ lǐ yǒu zhí jiē lüè duó xiàn chéng de jīn dān lái de kuài 。”
“毕竟窥天地之法，哪里有直接掠夺现成的金丹来的快。”
"Still, after all, there's no quicker way to obtain a Golden Core than by directly plundering it from an existing one."
“ zhǐ shì ruò néng chēng de shàng shì dà shēng yì de ……”
“只是若能称得上是大生意的……”
"Just if it can be considered a big business..."
lǐ fán xīn zhōng shǎn guò yī sī yí huò ：“ dà liàng shōu gòu xiū shì shī hái ， zhè shì xiǎng gàn shén me ？”
李凡心中闪过一丝疑惑：“大量收购修士尸骸，这是想干什么？”
Li Fan's mind flashed with a hint of doubt: "Buying large quantities of cultivator corpses—what are they planning to do?"
duì fāng de dòng jī ， lǐ fán bìng méi yǒu shēn jiū de dǎ suàn 。
对方的动机，李凡并没有深究的打算。
He didn't intend to delve deeply into the other party's motives.
zhǐ shì xíng shì rú cǐ guǐ mì ， ér zhāng dé biāo yòu chí chí bù guī ， pà bú shì yǐ jīng xiōng duō jí shǎo le 。
只是行事如此诡秘，而张德彪又迟迟不归，怕不是已经凶多吉少了。
However, given their secretive actions and Zhang Debiao's prolonged absence, Li Fan feared the worst for his comrade.
suī shuō xuán huáng jiè yīn wèi yǔn luò yì xiàng de cún zài ， xiǎng yào qiāo wú shēng xī de shā diào yī wèi xiū shì ， huò xǔ yǒu xiē kùn nán 。
虽说玄黄界因为陨落异像的存在，想要悄无声息的杀掉一位修士，或许有些困难。
Although it might be somewhat difficult to quietly kill a cultivator in Xuanhuang World due to the presence of fallen anomalies, making someone vanish without a trace or disappear mysteriously required much less effort.
dàn jǐn jǐn shì shǐ qí rén jiān zhēng fā 、 mò míng shī zōng de huà ， nà shǒu duàn kě jiù bú yào tài duō le 。
但仅仅是使其人间蒸发、莫名失踪的话，那手段可就不要太多了。
Take Zhou Qingang as an example. He was still lying at the bottom of Cunyun Sea!
bǐ rú shuō zhōu qīng áng ， jiù shì yí gè huó shēng shēng de lì zi 。
比如说周青昂，就是一个活生生的例子。
Just as Li Fan hesitated over whether he should spend some contribution points to continue inquiring about Zhang Debiao's whereabouts, a stranger cultivator unexpectedly showed up uninvited.
tā dào xiàn zài dōu hái zài cóng yún hǎi dǐ tǎng zhe ne ！
他到现在都还在丛云海底躺着呢！
During his recent actions in Tianling State, Li Fan had used a new identity for cover—Yu Ji. Therefore, he immediately knew the purpose of this visitor: it was undoubtedly related to the missing Zhang Debiao.
zhèng dāng lǐ fán xīn zhōng yǒu xiē yóu yù ， yào bù yào huā fèi diǎn gòng xiàn dù ， tuō rén jì xù dǎ tàn zhāng dé biāo xiāo xī de shí hòu 。
正当李凡心中有些犹豫，要不要花费点贡献度，托人继续打探张德彪消息的时候。
"Interesting. Let me meet him."
yí gè mò shēng de xiū shì ， què shì bù qǐng zì lái 、 zhǔ dòng zhǎo shàng le mén 。
一个陌生的修士，却是不请自来、主动找上了门。
In the guest room of the Dao Hall, Li Fan met the visitor. It was a gray-robed cultivator.
yóu yú lǐ fán zhè jǐ rì zài tiān líng zhōu xíng dòng de shí hòu ， wèi le yǎn rén ěr mù ， yòng de shì yī jù quán xīn de shēn fèn ， huà míng yú jí 。
由于李凡这几日在天灵州行动的时候，为了掩人耳目，用的是一具全新的身份，化名于吉。
Short and thin, with deep wrinkles on his face, limping as he walked, looking frail enough to be blown away by a gentle breeze. At that moment, Li Fan could faintly smell a stench of decay and rot emanating from him.
suǒ yǐ cǐ kè lǐ fán lì mǎ jiù zhī dào le duì fāng zhǎo zì jǐ de mù dì ， dìng rán shì gēn shī zōng de zhāng dé biāo yǒu guān 。
所以此刻李凡立马就知道了对方找自己的目的，定然是跟失踪的张德彪有关。
"Jje-jje-jje..."
“ yǒu diǎn yì si ， qiě huì yī huì tā 。”
“有点意思，且会一会他。”
"Friend Dao Yu, have you been searching for Zhang Debiao? Does he have something you need?"
lùn dào lóu bié yuàn zhōng ， lǐ fán jiàn dào le lái zhě 。
论道楼别院中，李凡见到了来者。
The gray-robed cultivator spoke with an unusual voice, getting straight to the point.
shì wèi huī páo xiū shì 。
是位灰袍修士。
Li Fan narrowed his eyes, sizing up the other party. Although he appeared only at the Golden Core stage, Li Fan was almost certain it was a facade.
ǎi xiǎo 、 shòu ruò de shēn qū ， liǎn shàng mǎn shì shēn hè bān de zhòu wén ， zǒu lù yī qué yī guǎi ， kàn shàng qù xū ruò bù kān ， fǎng fú yī zhèn fēng jiù néng jiāng qí chuī dào 。
矮小、瘦弱的身躯，脸上满是深壑般的皱纹，走路一瘸一拐，看上去虚弱不堪，仿佛一阵风就能将其吹倒。
A recurring sense of danger reminded him that this gray-robed cultivator was no ordinary person.
duì fāng kào jìn de chà nà ， lǐ fán gèng shì yǐn yǐn cóng tā shēn shàng ， wén dào le yī gǔ fǔ bài 、 xīng chòu de qì xī 。
对方靠近的刹那，李凡更是隐隐从他身上，闻到了一股腐败、腥臭的气息。
"How should I address you?" Li Fan didn't answer directly but instead bowed and asked for his name.
“ jié jié jié ……”
“桀桀桀……”
"I am Ruo Mu Dao Ren," the gray-robed cultivator replied succinctly.
“ yú dào yǒu ， tīng shuō nǐ zài xún zhǎo zhāng dé biāo ？ shì bú shì tā shǒu lǐ ， yǒu nǐ xū yào de dōng xī ？”
“于道友，听说你在寻找张德彪？是不是他手里，有你需要的东西？”
Li Fan scanned his memory; he had never heard of this person before. After a moment's thought, he lowered his voice and admitted, "Indeed, I need some cultivators' Golden Cores."
huī páo xiū shì kāi mén jiàn shān ， yòng zhǒng guài yì de sǎng yīn wèn dào 。
灰袍修士开门见山，用种怪异的嗓音问道。
"The more complete, the better. The higher the cultivation method, the better."
lǐ fán mī qǐ yǎn ， dǎ liàng duì fāng 。
李凡眯起眼，打量对方。
"Price is not an issue." Li Fan added after.
suī rán duì fāng kàn shàng qù zhǐ yǒu jīn dān xiū wèi ， dàn lǐ fán jī hū kě yǐ kěn dìng ， zhè zhǐ shì yī zhǒng zhàng yǎn fǎ 。
虽然对方看上去只有金丹修为，但李凡几乎可以肯定，这只是一种障眼法。
A glint appeared in Ruo Mu Dao Ren’s eyes as he extended a hand, seemingly pulling out a golden core with alternating green and red hues from somewhere, offering it to Li Fan.
xīn zhōng bù shí yǒng xiàn de zhèn zhèn wēi xiǎn gǎn ， tí xǐng zhe lǐ fán yǎn qián zhè wèi huī páo xiū shì de bù jiǎn dān 。
心中不时涌现的阵阵危险感，提醒着李凡眼前这位灰袍修士的不简单。
"Friend Dao Yu, please examine this Golden Core's quality?"
“ dào yǒu rú hé chēng hū ？” lǐ fán méi yǒu zhí jiē huí dá ， ér shì gǒng le gǒng shǒu ， wèn le duì fāng míng hào 。
“道友如何称呼？”李凡没有直接回答，而是拱了拱手，问了对方名号。
Li Fan's mind stirred; he accepted the Golden Core and examined it closely. It seemed freshly extracted from a cultivator’s body, still bearing traces of bloodstains.
“ xiǔ mù dào rén 。” huī páo xiū shì yě shì shí fēn gān cuì ， yán jiǎn yì gāi dào 。
“朽木道人。”灰袍修士也是十分干脆，言简意赅道。
Upon sensing it, he found that the core contained insights into wood and fire cultivation methods.
nǎo hǎi zhōng sǎo le yī biàn ， yǐ qián bìng wèi tīng shuō guò cǐ rén 。
脑海中扫了一遍，以前并未听说过此人。
Using [Truly Real], he indeed received an absorption prompt.
lǐ fán chén yín piàn kè ， yā dī le shēng yīn ， diǎn tóu chéng rèn ：“ bù cuò ， wǒ xū yào yī xiē xiū shì de jīn dān 。”
李凡沉吟片刻，压低了声音，点头承认：“不错，我需要一些修士的金丹。”
"What's the price?" Li Fan asked.
“ yuè wán zhěng yuè hǎo 。 jīn dān yùn cáng zhī fǎ yuè gāo jiē yuè hǎo 。”
“越完整越好。金丹蕴藏之法越高阶越好。”
"Thirty thousand contribution points," Ruo Mu Dao Ren said solemnly.
“ jià gé bú shì wèn tí 。” lǐ fán shuō wán ， yòu bǔ chōng le yī jù 。
“价格不是问题。”李凡说完，又补充了一句。
Feeling that Li Fan might find it too expensive, he added: "I have some single-method Golden Cores for sale at a cheaper rate—just fifteen thousand contribution points. Of course, if you need more, we can negotiate the price."
xiǔ mù dào rén yǎn zhōng shǎn guò yī dào jīng guāng ， shēn chū shǒu ， bù zhī cóng nǎ qǔ chū yī méi qīng 、 chì xiāng jiāo de jīn dān ， dì le guò lái 。
朽木道人眼中闪过一道精光，伸出手，不知从哪取出一枚青、赤相交的金丹，递了过来。
"By the way, transactions should be made in equivalent spirit stones; no direct transfer of contribution points," Ruo Mu Dao Ren continued as Li Fan pondered.
“ yú dào yǒu ， qiě kàn zhè méi chéng sè rú hé ？”
“于道友，且看这枚成色如何？”
Li Fan was less concerned about the price than the suspicious appearance of this Ruo Mu Dao Ren. Selling cultivator Golden Cores openly without any concealment seemed too bold.
lǐ fán xīn zhōng yī dòng ， jiē guò jīn dān ， zǐ xì duān xiáng 。
李凡心中一动，接过金丹，仔细端详。
Moreover, he was currently using a completely unknown and identity-less cultivator. He knew nothing about Li Fan's background.
zhǐ jiàn tā hǎo sì gāng gāng cóng xiū shì tǐ nèi wā chū lái yì bān ， hái néng kàn jiàn shàng miàn cán liú de bān bān diǎn diǎn de xuè jì 。
只见它好似刚刚从修士体内挖出来一般，还能看见上面残留的斑斑点点的血迹。
Yet, Ruo Mu Dao Ren remained unafraid...
gǎn wù zhī xià ， fā xiàn jīn dān nèi níng jù zhe de ， shì shì yǔ mù 、 huǒ xiāng guān de fǎ zé gǎn wù 。
感悟之下，发现金丹内凝聚着的，似是与木、火相关的法则感悟。
Was he truly not afraid that Li Fan might be an undercover agent from the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance?
yòng 【 hái zhēn 】 shì tàn ， guǒ rán chuán lái kě yǐ xī shōu de tí shì 。
用【还真】试探，果然传来可以吸收的提示。
"Twenty-eight thousand is also acceptable," Ruo Mu Dao Ren suggested when Li Fan didn't respond for a while.
“ shén me jià ?” lǐ fán yú shì wèn dào 。
“什么价?”李凡于是问道。
Li Fan then pretended to hesitate and nodded: "Deal."
“ sān wàn gòng xiàn dù 。” xiǔ mù chén shēng dào 。
“三万贡献度。”朽木沉声道。
He acted as if he was putting it away in his storage ring, but actually used [Truly Real] to absorb it.
huò xǔ shì pà lǐ fán xián guì ， tā yòu jiē zhe shuō dào ：“ wǒ nà biān hái yǒu xiē dān fǎ jīn dān ， jià gé gèng pián yi ， zhǐ yào yī wàn wǔ gòng xiàn dù 。 dāng rán ， rú guǒ nǐ xū yào de shù liàng duō ， jià gé yě kě yǐ zài shāng liáng 。”
或许是怕李凡嫌贵，他又接着说道：“我那边还有些单法金丹，价格更便宜，只要一万五贡献度。当然，如果你需要的数量多，价格也可以再商量。”
On the [Truly Real] panel, the progress of unlocking an anchor point increased by 0.5%.
“ duì le ， yòng děng jià líng shí jiāo yì 。 bù jiē shòu gòng xiàn dù zhí jiē zhuǎn zhàng 。” lǐ fán sī kǎo 、 méi yǒu huí dá de gōng fu ， xiǔ mù dào rén yòu shuō le jù 。
“对了，用等价灵石交易。不接受贡献度直接转账。”李凡思考、没有回答的功夫，朽木道人又说了句。
"Based on this calculation, I need two hundred complete Golden Cores at least. This is still considering that the one we just absorbed was a dual-method core. If they were ordinary single-method cores, the number would be even higher."
lǐ fán zài yì de zì rán bú shì jià gé ， ér shì zhè wèi xiǔ mù dào rén ， chū xiàn de xíng shì yǒu xiē kě yí 。
李凡在意的自然不是价格，而是这位朽木道人，出现的形式有些可疑。
"Traditional methods are no longer feasible."
bìng qiě fàn mài xiū shì jīn dān zhè děng fàn jì huì de shì ， shuō qǐ lái jìng rán méi yǒu yì diǎn zhē yǎn ， dà dà fāng fāng 。
并且贩卖修士金丹这等犯忌讳的事，说起来竟然没有一点遮掩，大大方方。
"Unless I dare to defy heaven and earth, transform into a demon, and indiscriminately slaughter Golden Core cultivators..."
fǎng fú jiāo yì de bú shì shén me wéi jìn pǐn ， ér shì shí fēn cháng jiàn de huò wù yì bān 。
仿佛交易的不是什么违禁品，而是十分常见的货物一般。
This thought flashed through Li Fan's mind but was quickly discarded.
gèng guān jiàn de shì ， lǐ fán cǐ shí shǐ yòng de hái shì yī jù wán quán méi yǒu lái lì 、 shēn fèn bù míng de xiū shì 。
更关键的是，李凡此时使用的还是一具完全没有来历、身份不明的修士。
"Friend Dao Ruo Mu," Li Fan coughed lightly. Instead of requesting another transaction directly, he asked about his doubts.
tā jué duì bù zhī dào lǐ fán de dǐ xì 。
他绝对不知道李凡的底细。
To his surprise, Ruo Mu Dao Ren responded dismissively: "Don't worry, we are different from that low-level Zhang Debiao."
kě xiǔ mù dào rén yī rán rú cǐ sì wú jì dàn ……
可朽木道人依然如此肆无忌惮……
"Our Golden Cores come with guaranteed safety and no worries. Even if the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance investigates, there will be no issues!"
tā zhēn bù pà lǐ fán shì qián lái diào yú zhí fǎ 、 àn zhōng diào chá de wàn xiān méng xiāng guān rén yuán ？
他真不怕李凡是前来钓鱼执法、暗中调查的万仙盟相关人员？
He patted his chest confidently.
“ liǎng wàn bā yě xíng 。” xiǔ mù dào yǒu jiàn lǐ fán chí chí bù dá ， yú shì zhǔ dòng tí chū de jiàng jià 。
“两万八也行。”朽木道友见李凡迟迟不答，于是主动提出的降价。
The force was so great that Li Fan suspected he might have broken him into pieces.
lǐ fán zhè cái shùn shì zhuāng zuò yóu yù de yàng zi ， diǎn le diǎn tóu ：“ chéng jiāo 。”
李凡这才顺势装作犹豫的样子，点了点头：“成交。”
"Impossible?"
zhuāng zuò yòng chǔ wù jiè shōu qǐ ， shí zé zhí jiē yòng 【 hái zhēn 】 xī shōu 。
装作用储物戒收起，实则直接用【还真】吸收。
However, Ruo Mu Dao Ren's answer far exceeded what Li Fan expected. He looked incredulous: "This Golden Core you just received is clearly from a cultivator’s body not long ago..."
【 hái zhēn 】 miàn bǎn shàng ， máo diǎn jiě suǒ de jìn dù ， zēng jiā le 0.5%。
【还真】面板上，锚点解锁的进度，增加了0.5%。
"Such inhumane behavior—neither the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance nor the Five Elders Association would ignore it."
“ zhè me suàn xià lái ， zú zú yào liǎng bǎi méi wán zhěng de jīn dān 。 zhè hái shì zài kǎo lǜ dào gāng gāng xī shōu de shì shuāng fǎ jīn dān de qíng kuàng xià 。 rú guǒ zhǐ shì xún cháng dān fǎ jīn dān ， pà bú shì yào de shù liàng gèng duō 。”
“这么算下来，足足要两百枚完整的金丹。这还是在考虑到刚刚吸收的是双法金丹的情况下。如果只是寻常单法金丹，怕不是要的数量更多。”
"If I didn't have special reasons and urgently needed them, I wouldn’t do such things!"
“ cháng guī shǒu duàn ， shì wú fǎ sōu jí le de 。”
“常规手段，是无法搜集了的。”
Li Fan stated with righteousness.
“ chú fēi wǒ gǎn mào tiān xià dà bù wěi ， huà shēn xié mó ， sì yì tú lù jīn dān xiū shì ……”
“除非我敢冒天下大不韪，化身邪魔，肆意屠戮金丹修士……”
Ruo Mu Dao Ren sneered but did not refute Li Fan's nonsense. Instead, he suddenly asked: "What if these Golden Core cultivators are all willing?"
zhè ge niàn tou jǐn jǐn zài nǎo hǎi zhōng shùn jiān shǎn guò ， jiù bèi lǐ fán pāo qì 。
这个念头仅仅在脑海中瞬间闪过，就被李凡抛弃。
"Even voluntary...?"
“ xiǔ mù dào yǒu 。” lǐ fán qīng ké le shēng ， bìng méi yǒu tí chū zhí jiē zài cì jiāo yì de qǐng qiú ， ér shì xiàng tā xún wèn le zì jǐ xīn zhōng de yí huò 。
“朽木道友。”李凡轻咳了声，并没有提出直接再次交易的请求，而是向他询问了自己心中的疑惑。
Li Fan was suddenly stunned.
shuí zhī xiǔ mù dào rén jìng rán bù yǐ wéi rán dào ：“ dào yǒu fàng xīn ， wǒ men kě gēn zhāng dé biāo nà bù rù liú de xiǎo zi bù yí yàng 。”
谁知朽木道人竟然不以为然道：“道友放心，我们可跟张德彪那不入流的小子不一样。”
"Willing! How is that possible?"
“ wǒ men tí gōng de jīn dān ， lái yuán ān quán yǒu bǎo zhàng ， jué duì méi yǒu hòu gù zhī yōu 。”
“我们提供的金丹，来源安全有保障，绝对没有后顾之忧。”
The words shocked him enough to make his eyes widen in mock horror as he stared at Ruo Mu Dao Ren.
“ jiù suàn xiān méng shàng miàn zhuī chá xià lái ， yě bú huì yǒu rèn hé wèn tí ， dào yǒu jǐn guǎn fàng xīn ！”
“就算仙盟上面追查下来，也不会有任何问题，道友尽管放心！”
"There’s always a market for demand."
tā pāi zhe xiōng pú ， mǎn kǒu bǎo zhèng dào 。
他拍着胸脯，满口保证道。
"Since the order was restored in Xuanhuang World, this isn’t something new. People like us have existed for years."
lì dào zhī dà ， lǐ fán shèn zhì huái yí tā yǒu kě néng zhí jiē bǎ zì jǐ pāi sǎn jià le 。
力道之大，李凡甚至怀疑他有可能直接把自己拍散架了。
Ruo Mu Dao Ren shook his head and explained to Li Fan.
“ bù néng ba ？”
“不能吧？”
"Someone like Zhang Debiao, extracting Golden Cores from corpses is too inefficient."
bù guò duì fāng gěi chū de dá àn yě shì yuǎn chū le lǐ fán de yù liào zhī wài ， tā liǎn shàng dàng jí lù chū bù xìn de shén qíng ：“ gāng gāng zhè méi jīn dān ， fēn míng jiù shì cóng xiū shì tǐ nèi wā chū lái bù jiǔ ……”
不过对方给出的答案也是远出了李凡的预料之外，他脸上当即露出不信的神情：“刚刚这枚金丹，分明就是从修士体内挖出来不久……”
(End of Chapter)
"Every cultivator is a treasure. It's not strange for someone to have the same idea as me."
"Still, after all, there's no quicker way to obtain a Golden Core than by directly plundering it from an existing one."
"Just if it can be considered a big business..."
Li Fan's mind flashed with a hint of doubt: "Buying large quantities of cultivator corpses—what are they planning to do?"
He didn't intend to delve deeply into the other party's motives.
However, given their secretive actions and Zhang Debiao's prolonged absence, Li Fan feared the worst for his comrade.
Although it might be somewhat difficult to quietly kill a cultivator in Xuanhuang World due to the presence of fallen anomalies, making someone vanish without a trace or disappear mysteriously required much less effort.
Take Zhou Qingang as an example. He was still lying at the bottom of Cunyun Sea!
Just as Li Fan hesitated over whether he should spend some contribution points to continue inquiring about Zhang Debiao's whereabouts, a stranger cultivator unexpectedly showed up uninvited.
During his recent actions in Tianling State, Li Fan had used a new identity for cover—Yu Ji. Therefore, he immediately knew the purpose of this visitor: it was undoubtedly related to the missing Zhang Debiao.
"Interesting. Let me meet him."
In the guest room of the Dao Hall, Li Fan met the visitor. It was a gray-robed cultivator.
Short and thin, with deep wrinkles on his face, limping as he walked, looking frail enough to be blown away by a gentle breeze. At that moment, Li Fan could faintly smell a stench of decay and rot emanating from him.
"Jje-jje-jje..."
"Friend Dao Yu, have you been searching for Zhang Debiao? Does he have something you need?"
The gray-robed cultivator spoke with an unusual voice, getting straight to the point.
Li Fan narrowed his eyes, sizing up the other party. Although he appeared only at the Golden Core stage, Li Fan was almost certain it was a facade.
A recurring sense of danger reminded him that this gray-robed cultivator was no ordinary person.
"How should I address you?" Li Fan didn't answer directly but instead bowed and asked for his name.
"I am Ruo Mu Dao Ren," the gray-robed cultivator replied succinctly.
Li Fan scanned his memory; he had never heard of this person before. After a moment's thought, he lowered his voice and admitted, "Indeed, I need some cultivators' Golden Cores."
"The more complete, the better. The higher the cultivation method, the better."
"Price is not an issue." Li Fan added after.
A glint appeared in Ruo Mu Dao Ren’s eyes as he extended a hand, seemingly pulling out a golden core with alternating green and red hues from somewhere, offering it to Li Fan.
"Friend Dao Yu, please examine this Golden Core's quality?"
Li Fan's mind stirred; he accepted the Golden Core and examined it closely. It seemed freshly extracted from a cultivator’s body, still bearing traces of bloodstains.
Upon sensing it, he found that the core contained insights into wood and fire cultivation methods.
Using [Truly Real], he indeed received an absorption prompt.
"What's the price?" Li Fan asked.
"Thirty thousand contribution points," Ruo Mu Dao Ren said solemnly.
Feeling that Li Fan might find it too expensive, he added: "I have some single-method Golden Cores for sale at a cheaper rate—just fifteen thousand contribution points. Of course, if you need more, we can negotiate the price."
"By the way, transactions should be made in equivalent spirit stones; no direct transfer of contribution points," Ruo Mu Dao Ren continued as Li Fan pondered.
Li Fan was less concerned about the price than the suspicious appearance of this Ruo Mu Dao Ren. Selling cultivator Golden Cores openly without any concealment seemed too bold.
Moreover, he was currently using a completely unknown and identity-less cultivator. He knew nothing about Li Fan's background.
Yet, Ruo Mu Dao Ren remained unafraid...
Was he truly not afraid that Li Fan might be an undercover agent from the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance?
"Twenty-eight thousand is also acceptable," Ruo Mu Dao Ren suggested when Li Fan didn't respond for a while.
Li Fan then pretended to hesitate and nodded: "Deal."
He acted as if he was putting it away in his storage ring, but actually used [Truly Real] to absorb it.
On the [Truly Real] panel, the progress of unlocking an anchor point increased by 0.5%.
"Based on this calculation, I need two hundred complete Golden Cores at least. This is still considering that the one we just absorbed was a dual-method core. If they were ordinary single-method cores, the number would be even higher."
"Traditional methods are no longer feasible."
"Unless I dare to defy heaven and earth, transform into a demon, and indiscriminately slaughter Golden Core cultivators..."
This thought flashed through Li Fan's mind but was quickly discarded.
"Friend Dao Ruo Mu," Li Fan coughed lightly. Instead of requesting another transaction directly, he asked about his doubts.
To his surprise, Ruo Mu Dao Ren responded dismissively: "Don't worry, we are different from that low-level Zhang Debiao."
"Our Golden Cores come with guaranteed safety and no worries. Even if the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance investigates, there will be no issues!"
He patted his chest confidently.
The force was so great that Li Fan suspected he might have broken him into pieces.
"Impossible?"
However, Ruo Mu Dao Ren's answer far exceeded what Li Fan expected. He looked incredulous: "This Golden Core you just received is clearly from a cultivator’s body not long ago..."
"Such inhumane behavior—neither the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance nor the Five Elders Association would ignore it."
"If I didn't have special reasons and urgently needed them, I wouldn’t do such things!"
Li Fan stated with righteousness.
Ruo Mu Dao Ren sneered but did not refute Li Fan's nonsense. Instead, he suddenly asked: "What if these Golden Core cultivators are all willing?"
"Even voluntary...?"
Li Fan was suddenly stunned.
"Willing! How is that possible?"
The words shocked him enough to make his eyes widen in mock horror as he stared at Ruo Mu Dao Ren.
"There’s always a market for demand."
"Since the order was restored in Xuanhuang World, this isn’t something new. People like us have existed for years."
Ruo Mu Dao Ren shook his head and explained to Li Fan.
"Someone like Zhang Debiao, extracting Golden Cores from corpses is too inefficient."
(End of Chapter)