The middle-aged man subconsciously hid but did not move away. His brows furrowed. In a blink of an eye, he thought that he was not as strong as others. He quickly let go, but still said with a little sullenness:
"Fellow Taoist, what are you doing? I kindly tell you the news..."
Before he could finish speaking, he was stunned.
I saw Zhang Xiaosheng holding a middle-grade spiritual stone in his hand and saying with a smile:
"I would like to express my gratitude to my fellow Taoist for being so generous. As long as my fellow Taoist is willing to answer a small question truthfully, I would like to give you a medium-grade spiritual stone as a gift to express my gratitude. Don't worry, it's a very simple question!"
The middle-aged man's eyes lit up subconsciously, and he quickly suppressed the greed in his eyes, and said with some trepidation and caution:
"Thank you so much...fellow Taoist, if I knew about it and it wasn't involved in any major matter, I would naturally tell you everything."
Zhang Xiaosheng smiled in his heart and was quite cautious, so he said:
"I wonder how fellow Taoists will gain from here?"
The middle-aged man looked overjoyed. It turned out to be a small problem. He seemed a little unconvinced that he could earn a middle-grade spiritual stone for such a simple question. You must know that this is almost what he, a casual cultivator on the second floor of the Foundation, spends in a year. , asked timidly:
"Fellow Taoist, are you sure this is the problem?"
Seeing Zhang Xiaosheng nodding in affirmation, the middle-aged man was obviously a little happy. He had not gained much here, so he was ready to leave. He didn't expect that he could make a big fortune, so he hurriedly said:
"To be honest, fellow Taoist, I came too late. I wandered here for seven days before I found more than a dozen low-grade spiritual stones."
After saying that, he stared blankly at the middle-grade spiritual stone in Zhang Xiaosheng's hand.
Zhang Xiaosheng was shocked and asked again:
"Then, fellow Taoist, can you take out the spirit stone conveniently so that you can take a look first?"
"This..." The middle-aged man hesitated a little, stared at the middle-grade spiritual stone in Zhang Xiaosheng's hand, and said:
"This is already the second question..."
Zhang Xiaosheng paused for a moment, then quickly put the middle-grade spirit stone in his hand into the middle-aged man's hand and said:
"Are you relieved now?"
The middle-aged man hurriedly put away the middle-grade spirit stone. He looked up and saw that Zhang Xiaosheng seemed to have a serious expression on his face. He felt in his heart that he was in a higher realm than himself and he was still bargaining here. He hurriedly smiled and said:
"Don't mind, fellow Taoist, I was just joking."
Zhang Xiaosheng was a little impatient, waved his hands and said:
"It doesn't matter, it's what we agreed on."
Seeing this, the middle-aged man directly took out a low-grade spiritual stone from the bag on his waist. After thinking about it, he took out two more pieces and said:
"Fellow Taoist is very open-minded, and we can't be too stingy. I'll give these three yuan to you. If I have something else to do, I'll take my leave now!"
After saying that, regardless of Zhang Xiaosheng's reaction, he forced the spirit stone into Zhang Xiaosheng's hand and hurriedly turned around and left.
After walking a long way, I looked back slightly, then looked around again. Seeing that no one noticed me, I quickly put my hand into the bag and touched the middle-grade spiritual stone, but I didn't dare to take it out. , walked away with a smile on his face.
Here, Zhang Xiaosheng got three low-grade spiritual stones and didn't pay attention to the middle-aged man who was leaving. He slightly sensed the spiritual energy in the spiritual stones and frowned tightly.
This seems to be the spiritual stone from the Five Elements Sect’s spiritual mine!
Although the spirit stones in each spirit mine are generally similar, they cannot be exactly the same. It's either the content of the aura, the quality of the aura, or both. There will always be some small differences in the subtleties, but most people won't care, and that difference is completely negligible.
However, Zhang Xiaosheng had cultivated all the way up with low-grade spiritual stones. Naturally, he was very familiar with the spiritual stones produced in the Five Elements Sect's spiritual mines. After some induction, he did not dare to vouch that these low-grade spiritual stones must be produced from the Five Elements Sect's spiritual mines. , but at least 98% similar.
If the spirit stones had been scattered around for a long time, Mu Yihu and the others would not have missed it, and they would not have missed such important news when reporting. So what happened to the spirit stones?
Zhang Xiaosheng put aside his hesitation slightly and continued to look at the people around him.
Finding another monk on the third floor of the foundation building, Zhang Xiaosheng walked up in a few steps.
…
After most of the day, Zhang Xiaosheng walked around the area about ten miles away from the spirit mine, and found a total of eleven people who had exchanged some low-grade spirit stones for each person, ranging from three to five yuan, and they all exchanged them for a medium-grade spirit stone. .
He had something on his mind and didn't want to waste any words, so he paid a sky-high price and the other party had no reason to refuse.
Zhang Xiaosheng is not worried that these people will brag to others and leak their own information after taking such a huge advantage. Who would publicize such a good thing? Wouldn't that be a fool!
After completing the circle, Zhang Xiaosheng found an uninhabited area and took out dozens of low-grade spiritual stones at once, practicing to absorb the spiritual energy. With his current state and the speed of the cultivation technique, the Great Zhou Dynasty was completed in a matter of seconds. It can be completed in a matter of seconds, and dozens of low-grade spiritual stones will turn into powder in an instant.
Zhang Xiaosheng's heart suddenly felt extremely heavy!
There is no such thing as 98%, this 100% is produced by the Five Elements Sect Spiritual Mine!
This must be someone who deliberately threw the spirit stones here after Mu Yihu and the others investigated.
But why?
According to what the middle-aged man just said, he got less because he came late. So how much did the person who came early get? Someone even picked up a middle-grade spirit stone. They just walked around the ten-mile area. There were hundreds of people in the outer circle alone. How many people were there in the inner circle?
If you include those who have left, even if everyone calculates the income of a middle-aged man from a dozen low-grade spiritual stones, this amount of spiritual stones is not a small amount.
Not to mention that middle-aged men are only a group with relatively small profits, and it is said that there are people in the inner circle who have picked up middle-grade spiritual stones!
The total amount cannot be underestimated!
The only ones who could collect so many Five Elements Sect spirit stones and have the motive to put them in this area were the group of people who attacked the spirit mine that day.
But why are they going to such trouble to attract the attention of a large number of casual cultivators?
Such a large amount of spiritual stones is not a small figure for any sect, and if it can be spread out without hesitation, the plan is very big!
There was too little information, and no matter how Zhang Xiaosheng thought about it, there was no reasonable explanation.
While he was thinking hard, Zhang Xiaosheng suddenly thought of something. He seemed to have missed a very important point!
The middle-aged man came so late and still picked up a dozen low-grade spiritual stones. So why did those who picked it up and those who didn't pick it up leave?
Do you think you have picked up enough?
How can it be!
Who would think that there are too many spiritual stones, they are just picked up for nothing!
So if someone leaves, they will definitely no longer find spiritual stones, but people who come can continue to pick them up, which means... someone is burying spiritual stones regularly!
Come, let go, pick up!
Is this... delaying time? Are they waiting for something, waiting for the influence of the matter to expand, or are they preparing for something. It's just that the preparations are not sufficient now, or there is some discrepancy in time, so they continue to fill in the spiritual stones.
What on earth is the other party planning!
How many of the other party's people are here? How did they hide the spirit stones quietly without being discovered by the people around them?
Problems are like tangled threads, growing more and more.
Zhang Xiaosheng was thinking while pretending to search for spiritual stones.
…
It is getting dark, although for people in the foundation-building realm, darkness has no obvious impact on vision, and even if you can't see, you can still use spiritual energy to detect and sense with mental power.
But night is a natural barrier for evil to breed.
On a small slope about a few hundred meters away from Zhang Xiaosheng, four people crouched down and looked at the slightly weird Zhang Xiaosheng in the distance.
He seemed to be rummaging around for spiritual stones like others, but he seemed a little absent-minded. In many places that others had just rummaged through, he had to wait for them to leave before rummaging through them again.
Most of the day was fruitless, but he seemed to enjoy it.
"Brother, what is this silly boy doing?" A rugged man in his forties asked in a muffled voice.
If Zhang Xiaosheng saw it, he would definitely be shocked. This person was the fourth honest man he had just exchanged for the spirit stone.
"Keep your voice down!" The man who was called Big Brother turned around and glared at the rugged man, and scolded softly:
"Hide your arrogant voice. If you scare the fat sheep, let's see how I deal with you!"
The rugged man scratched his head, smiled silly, and didn't care.
"Fourth, are you sure you saw clearly just now?" The eldest brother asked in a low voice to a small man next to him.
"After the second brother came back, as soon as the eldest brother made arrangements, I followed him. There were absolutely no omissions. There were seven people. As for what was exchanged, the younger brother didn't dare to get too close, so he couldn't see clearly."
The elder brother seemed to be deep in thought and said immediately:
"Second brother, take out the spirit stone just now and take a look."
The rugged man took it out in response and muttered:
"Brother, I did this myself!"
The man who was called eldest brother sneered and said:
"It's yours, it's yours. If it really comes to pass, who would care less about your broken spirit stone?"
"Brother, I see that this man is well-dressed and spends a lot of money. Could he be a descendant of a cultivating family?" the little man asked worriedly.
"The children of the Immortal Cultivation Family are good. They are stupid, have a lot of money, and are extremely arrogant. It's best to take action!"
The rugged man said disdainfully.
"Nonsense." The boss frowned and said:
"What you are talking about are just idiots. The real geniuses of the Immortal Cultivation Family are not necessarily any worse than the disciples of the sect. Even because the number of geniuses in the family is not large, they are more valued. There are usually people to protect the way. If you act recklessly, you will die. I don’t even know how he died.”
The second child smiled sarcastically again and stopped talking.
The boss continued:
"And this person is not very old. He looks to be in his thirties. He is already at the fourth level of foundation building. His qualifications must not be simple. You must know that breaking through the fourth level is the first big hurdle. As long as you reach the fourth or sixth level, It’s just a matter of time.”
The little man suddenly turned his eyes and said:
"Brother, I think this person is really a fool."
"oh?"
