Chapter 169: Hidden Expert or a Scammer

'Honest Qi's Provision Shop' were the few words displayed. If one did not focus enough to see the words, he might not be able to see it.

An elder with a messy beard was at the corner of the shop hammering something. As Mo Wuji walked in, he lifted his head and grinned at Mo Wuji showing a mouth full of black teeth.

Mo Wuji lifted his head to scan the surroundings. He could not tell whether the things hanging all over the walls were spiritual or magic equipments. The dusky lighting was not helping the cause.

Other than these, there was a cabinet filled with holes which contained a few old porcelain vases of which Mo Wuji had no idea whether it was used to hold medicinal pills or anything other items.

The more ridiculous thing was that at the bottom shelf of this cabinet, there were over ten dried spiritual herbs which were all covered in dust. This method of preserving the spiritual herbs was evidently ruining it.

Mo Wuji rubbed his forehead a few times as he suspected that the shop assistant was being ungrateful after accepting his six Earth Yuan pills. Mo Wuji could not believe that he was brought here and to think the shop assistant still mentioned that the items here at Honest Qi's Provision Shop were the most authentic.

Elder suddenly spoke, "Feel free to look around. If you see anything you're interested in, I will give you a discount for it."

Mo Wuji was speechless as he took a step back. Just as he was preparing to leave this shop, he suddenly realised something at the corner of his eyes. His eyes fell once again on the dried spiritual herbs placed on the lowest shelf of the cabinet. A spiritual herb that looked like a stick attracted his attention.

Even though it was dried up, the aura emitted from the spiritual herb felt very familiar.

Mo Wiji recognised what it was in no time. It was the rhizome of the Purple Jade Toad Lotus which he had many of it with him.

The Purple Jade Toad Lotus was a Tier 7 spiritual herb and it was very rare. Mo Wuji knew very clearly why he was able to open 99 meridians. It was mainly because of the effectiveness of his channel opening solution. If he did not have the Purple Jade Toad Lotus strips and continued using the Treasured Blood Lotus strips, would he still have been able to open 99 meridians?

It was recorded in Mo Xue's that the Purple Jade Toad Lotus was the best spiritual ingredient for spirit channel opening and recovery purposes. This was a treasure every cultivator yearned for and yet it was treated like trash being thrown to the bottom of the cabinet by this elder.

Mo Wuji forcefully controlled himself from using his spiritual energy to look around. If that was truly the rhizome of the Purple Jade Toad Lotus, then this Honest Qi was definitely not honest. Things could go really wrong if he were to find out about Mo Wuji's spiritual will.

He withdrew his step backwards as he scanned through all four directions once again.

Only after a while did he feign hesitation to ask, "Shopkeeper Qi, I want to visit the Lost Sky Ruins but because of my low ability, I would like to purchase some items which could increase my chances of survival there. However, I really cannot see anything good here..."

Honest Qi supported his knee as he struggled to stand up before chuckling at Mo Wuji. He casually took out a locker from the cabinet filled with holes. The moment the locker was pulled out, the surrounding was suffused with dust.

Honest Qi had no reaction as he retrieved a vase of medicinal pills from the locker before saying, "This is the most powerful antidote pill. There are poisons everywhere in the Lost Sky Ruins and only my antidote pill would be able to detoxify the poison. The price is 260,000 Earth grade spirit stones."

Mo Wuji breathed in a mouthful of cold air as he was wondering why would he spend 260,000 Earth grade spirit stones to purchase an antidote pill when he had a lot of it with him? It was not as if he was crazy.

Honest Qi took out a piece of torn paper from yet another locker the moment he finished his sentence, "This is the most powerful Group Assault Talisman I have here and you can lock your target and finish any opponent with it, no matter how strong he is. This only costs 310,000 Earth grade spirit stones..."

310,000 Earth grade spirit stones is cheaper than 260,000 Earth grade spirit stones?

Just as Honest Qi was about to open yet another locker, Mo Wuji hurried to stop him before saying, "Shopkeeper Qi, I have my own antidote pills and I doubt I can get used to using a talisman. I was actually wondering if you have any map of the Lost Sky Ruins or rather... the general location of the place where they produce the treasured spiritual objects in the Lost Sky Ruins itself..."

"I have this too, hold on..." Honest Qi kept taking out lockers after lockers from the cabinet to check.

Mo Wuji would never have known that there were so many lockers in this old cabinet if Honest Qi did not take these out one after another.

After retrieving seven to eight lockers, Honest Qi then took out a piece of leather map as well as a booklet, "This is the best map of the entire Lost Sky Ruins as I am confident there will not be a more complete map than this. This booklet recorded down the location of the various treasured spiritual objects in the Lost Sky Ruins. They are both very cheap, only..."

Honest Qi described every item as the best or the most powerful that Mo Wuji was already immune to it. Before Honest Qi could finish speaking, he interrupted, "Shopkeeper Qi, may I flip through the book first?"

Mo Wuji said as he pointed to the booklet, he wanted to see if there was any mention of the Sky Channel Flower in the booklet itself. To him, the most important thing in the Lost Sky Ruins would be the Sky Channel Flower.

Honest Qi laughed cheekily, "It is not impossible for you to flip through the booklet. However, I will only allow you to flip through if you purchase one of the items I introduced earlier."

Mo Wuji became speechless momentarily. How is this guy honest at all? He is scarily scheming. However, he was really interested in seeing if there was the Sky Flower Channel in the booklet hence, he replied, "Shopkeeper Qi, I have some spirit stones with me now but these are for my cultivation...Is it possible for me to purchase just one of your antidote pill?"

Of all the items Honest Qi introduced, the antidote pill was the cheapest.

Honest Qi frowned and contemplated for a while before showing a stern face saying, "Since this is the case, I shall let you flip through the book if you purchase just one antidote pill. Seeing how poor you are, I will give you a discount on the price of the pill too so it will only cost 30,000 Earth grade spirit stones."

The fella could flip his face faster than he flip a book.

Mo Wuji was secretly scolding this old fella in his heart because he originally charged him a vase of 12 pills for 260,000 spirit stones and now he charged 1 pill for 30,000 spirit stones. Even though his intention was to ultimately flip the booklet, Mo Wuji was still feeling very unhappy with the old fella.

If he did not see the rhizome of the Purple Jade Toad Lotus and believed that this Honest Qi might really have good things, Mo Wuji would have turned around and left long ago.

"Alright, 30,000 Earth grade spirit stones then. However, I have to say this first. I would not really be just flipping through the booklet, I have to at least look through every page of the booklet briefly," having experienced Honest Qi's cunningness, Mo Wuji had to say this before he paid. He had seen so many of such traps within sentences.

Honest Qi was surprised at Mo Wuji's ability to detect the trap he set up within his sentence before saying, "No, I will at most let you flip through thrice."

Mo Wuji could not believe it. If he did not mention this trap, he would have suffered losses once again.

"Since this is the case, the deal is off and I will patronise the other shops," Mo Wuji turned and left after saying that. He started to suspect that the rhizome of the Purple Jade Toad Lotus could have been placed there as a trap by the old fella. Also, the house covered with dust could have been on purpose too to make it seem like it was hidden from the world to attract people who knew their business.

This was unlikely too because if it was not for the fact that he had obtained a Purple Jade Lotus before, he would have not been able to recognise that as its rhizome.

"Alright, I will let you flip through five times. If you are still not agreeable, please leave," Honest Qi halted Mo Wuji by shouting.

Maybe this fella was really a hidden expert. Mo Wuji took out the 30,000 spirit stones with a little reluctance as he used it to purchase a jet black pill from Honest Qi who refused to even provide him a vase to store the pill.

Fortunately, Mo Wuji did not mind as he casually threw the pill into his storage bag. He was simply too excited to grab that booklet.

"Remember, five flips only and you're not allowed to stop at any page..." Honest Qi exhorted Mo Wuji before using both eyes to stare at Mo Wuji's hand just in case he refused to listen to him and flipped one extra time.

Mo Wuji looked at the booklet and realised that it had at most six to seven pages only. By flipping five pages, he would have covered most of the content in the booklet.

Mo Wuji did not bother looking at the first two pages because for something as unique as the Sky Channel Flower, it would definitely not appear in the front few pages.

Mo Wuji opened the third page straightaway and saw Pneumatic Falling Bamboo, Purple Plum Fruit, Deep Soul Crystal...

So many different kinds of weird shaped treasure appeared in the two pages which Mo Wuji had never heard of before. However, as long as the treasure was written down, the booklet would pinpoint out the general location of it in the Lost Sky Ruins without any exception. In actual fact, Mo Wuji needed something like this. This gave Mo Wuji a confidence boost as he was starting to believe that this old fella was actually acting like a pig to eat a tiger. [1]

Flipping through the fourth and fifth page... Mo Wuji still did not see the Sky Channel Flower.

As Mo Wuju flipped to the next page, he was wondering if he should put a question mark on this booklet if he still did not see the Sky Channel Flower. This was because even without asking, Mo Wuji knew that Honest Qi's items would definitely not be cheap.

However, just as he opened the sixth page, Mo Wuji spotted the Sky Channel Flower. If not for his vast experience, Mo Wuji would not have been able to contain his excitement.

Mo Wuji had experienced more shocking incidents in the past for example, being reborn into a new world, the opening of his first meridian, the Immeasurable Soul-prolonging Flower, etc. For a small incident like this, Mo Wuji was still able to control his emotions.

The scheming Honest Qi would notice even his slightest signs of excitement. If Honest Qi was to find out about his purpose, he would definitely increase the price of the booklet. Even if he did not raise the price, Mo Wuji did not wish to let Honest Qi know what he wanted. Whether or not Honest Qi was acting like a pig to eat a tiger, his thirst for spirit stones was definitely real.

It was a real pity because the location of the Sky Channel Flower was too complicated, coupled with the fact that his hand was not allowed to stop at this page. Moreover, Mo Wuji did not wish to use his spiritual will in front of Honest Qi which was why he could only glance through it.

Carrying an undetectable disappointment, Mo Wuji flipped to the page 7...

Mo Wuji was confident that Honest Qi would be able to tell his disappointment even if other people was unable to tell.

Just as he flipped open the page 7, the shop assistant who previously brought Mo Wuji over to this shop came rushing back into the shop. When he stood at the entrance of the shop and noticed that Mo Wuji had not left, he gave Mo Wuji a worried look.

[1] : Acting like a pig to eat a tiger is the direct translation for a chinese idiom to say that one is pretending to be weak in order for his opponents to lower their defence against him before defeating them easily.