Chapter 156: A Discerning Eye Recognizes a Treasure

It seems I need to find a way to get on your good side! I'll have to ask for your help when I need pills in the future, Gu Yixiang said with a playful smile.

You just need to get on my big brother's good side! Lin Xiaobao said, suddenly stopping in his tracks and closely inspecting a stall right in front of him.

Noticing him stop, Gu Yixiang followed his gaze and asked, Hundred-Mile Buddha Flower?

The fairy truly has a discerning eye, able to identify the origin of this flower at a single glance. Seeing a potential customer, the vendor immediately offered some flattery.

Lin Xiaobao slowly withdrew his gaze, shook his head, and said with a sigh of regret, It's a pity it falls a bit short on age.

Young man, don't talk nonsense if you don't know what you're talking about. This is a thousand-year-old Hundred-Mile Buddha Flower, perfect for pill refinement. No vendor appreciated having their face slapped in public by someone like Lin Xiaobao, so a hint of anger naturally crept into his tone.

What he said isn't entirely untrue, though! Gu Yixiang seemed to have some knowledge of medicinal herbs. Although this Hundred-Mile Buddha Flower is indeed a thousand years old, perhaps due to its growing location and environment, its quality is slightly inferior. It would have been much better if it had been left to grow for another hundred years or so before harvesting!

Coming from Gu Yixiang, the face-slap sounded much more pleasant than when Lin Xiaobao said it.

The fairy is right! Of course, part of the reason was that the vendor dared not offend Gu Yixiang.

Seeing Lin Xiaobao hesitate, Gu Yixiang asked, Do you want it?

Lin Xiaobao nodded. Although the quality is a bit lacking, it's still useful. It's just that I only have this piece of Scarlet Flame Dream Glaze on me, and I feel like I'd be getting the short end of the stick if I trade it for this!

As he spoke, a piece of Scarlet Flame Dream Glaze the size of a fist appeared in Lin Xiaobao's palm. Not only did the vendor swallow hard at the sight, but even Gu Yixiang's eyes lit up.

Scarlet Flame Dream Glaze was a material of pure yang. Adding it during the forging of a magical treasure would inevitably greatly increase the treasure's offensive power. Forget trading it for this substandard Hundred-Mile Buddha Flower; even trading it for a fully matured Hundred-Mile Buddha Flower would mean Lin Xiaobao was taking a loss.

Gu Yixiang was just about to remind Lin Xiaobao, but then she remembered—was this guy ever someone who would let himself take a loss? Swallowing her curiosity, she played along and said, It really is a bit of a loss! Why don't you go find someone else to exchange the Scarlet Flame Dream Glaze for spirit stones first, and then come back to buy this Hundred-Mile Buddha Flower?

That's actually a pretty good idea! Lin Xiaobao hadn't expected Gu Yixiang to have such a cunning side. Just as he was about to turn away, he said with a hint of worry, Fairy, could you stand guard here for me? I wouldn't want someone else to trade for this Hundred-Mile Buddha Flower while I'm gone.

Watching Lin Xiaobao put the Scarlet Flame Dream Glaze away, the vendor felt a pang of regret. Although spirit stones were also attractive to him, they clearly couldn't compare to this piece of Scarlet Flame Dream Glaze. He quickly glanced back at his stall and said, How about I throw in these two items as well for your Scarlet Flame Dream Glaze? Otherwise, if someone else comes to trade later, I won't wait for you!

Lin Xiaobao looked at the Hundred-Mile Buddha Flower with a glint of temptation, then glanced at the two additional items the vendor had thrown in. His heartbeat sped up slightly. Struggling to control his emotions, he put on a reluctant expression, as if parting with a great treasure, and said, Fine, let's trade! Who made me need this Hundred-Mile Buddha Flower so urgently?

Once the exchange was complete, the vendor happily grabbed the Scarlet Flame Dream Glaze and bolted away in a flash, while Lin Xiaobao tucked the three acquired items into his storage ring.

What were those two extra things he added? If Gu Yixiang couldn't tell by now that Lin Xiaobao's true target wasn't the Hundred-Mile Buddha Flower, she would have wasted all these years.

You mean those two pitch-black things? Lin Xiaobao shook his head. I don't know either. I just figured they could serve as throw-ins. Once I refine the Hundred-Mile Buddha Flower into pills, I'll definitely make back my investment!

Seeing that Lin Xiaobao was unwilling to reveal what those two items were, Gu Yixiang didn't press further. After all, everyone had their own secrets.

Having scored a treasure, Lin Xiaobao shuttled through the treasure exchange convention even more frequently, hoping to encounter similar good fortune. However, his luck seemed to have run out here. Even when he spotted other treasures, the vendors knew their stuff, and their asking prices far exceeded the actual value of the items, forcing Lin Xiaobao to temporarily give up.

After wandering around for a whole day and concluding that there were no more discoveries to be made, Lin Xiaobao found a private chamber arranged by Chen Chong and took out the two pitch-black long rods.

The two pitch-black rods looked completely identical, as if they had been cast from the same mold. Lin Xiaobao carefully brought the two rods together while circulating the Taiyi True Fire Art within his body, steadily raising the temperature in his hands.

Gradually... a miraculous sight occurred. The two rods actually began to fuse. After about four hours, the two rods finally merged into one. Immediately afterward, Lin Xiaobao channeled his spiritual energy into it, and the pitch-black outer layer of the long rod began to peel off layer by layer.

Within moments, a gleaming golden long sword appeared in the palm of Lin Xiaobao's hand, with two striking characters inscribed on the blade: Splitting Heaven.

It really is Splitting Heaven! Joy surged in Lin Xiaobao's heart. He had stopped earlier precisely because his spiritual sense had sensed the aura of Splitting Heaven, and he owed it all to Elder Wu's guidance. Without it, he could never have detected the presence of Splitting Heaven from that almost negligible aura.

According to the weapon chapter of the Preliminary Wind and Snow, Splitting Heaven was once the natal magical sword of a notoriously fierce demon lord in the Dragon Soaring Continent, and it was a top-grade Dao artifact.

However, the smile on Lin Xiaobao's face did not last long before it froze.

Feeling a powerful suction force traveling up from his wrist, relentlessly pulling at Splitting Heaven, Lin Xiaobao's expression turned somewhat ugly. You've got to be kidding me, right?

No sooner had Lin Xiaobao finished speaking than Splitting Heaven rapidly shrank in his palm, plunged into his hand, followed his meridians straight to his dantian, and without even a moment's pause, was sucked into the Chaos Mirror fragment.

The Chaos Mirror fragment was instantly dyed with a layer of gold, but it quickly returned to normal. Wisps of Dao Origin power rapidly radiated from the Chaos Mirror once again, continuously nourishing Lin Xiaobao's entire body.

Unable to spare any grief at the moment, Lin Xiaobao immediately circulated both the Taiyi True Fire Art and the Mind Divine Wave simultaneously to absorb this surge of Dao Origin power.

Three days passed before Lin Xiaobao finally integrated this power into his body, and by this time, his cultivation had broken through into the ranks of the eighth stage of the Spirit Dao.

Feeling the advancement in his cultivation, Lin Xiaobao could only shake his head with a bitter smile. With this Chaos Mirror fragment inside his body, how was he supposed to use high-grade magical treasures in the future?

Actually, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Using some treasures to feed the Chaos Mirror fragment will accelerate the speed at which you refine it. Once you refine it to a certain degree, you'll be able to control it, and situations like this won't happen again, Elder Mo kindly reminded him.