Taichu Yandao: Starting from the Villain

Hearing this, Zhao Rui came to his senses. The scholar wanted to buy his flying sword at first. After finding it difficult to negotiate, he turned the tables and planned to sell one of his magic spells.

In short, the bottom line is that they want to squeeze some money out of him.

Zhao Rui laughed in his heart, but he did not get angry. Instead, he said, "Oh! That's a coincidence. I wonder how many spirit stones this spell costs."

Wu Zhenhua was very happy and said, "Okay, one hundred spirits..."

Zhao Rui shook off the other person's arm, turned around and left.

Wu Zhenhua was filled with anxiety, thinking that his offer was too high, and hurriedly caught up with him and said, "Daoyou, don't leave. How about 80 yuan? I swore in front of the master that I would never pass on my skills to anyone else."

He tried his best to persuade her, but it was of no use. In a hurry, he shouted, "Forty pieces. Not a single spirit stone less."

Zhao Rui actually wanted this spell very much. Seeing the other party's anxious look, he knew that the chopping was almost done, so he said, "Okay, let's do as you say."

Wu Zhenhua was stunned, and thought he was cheated. He smiled bitterly and said, "Daoyou bargained for a good price. Then I won't waste any more words. How about our deal? You pay me the spirit stones, and I will teach you the secret formula."

The deal was done, but Zhao Rui didn't have a single spiritual stone on him, so he said, "Well... Daoist friend, today is a bad day, and I'm a little tight on money, how about you take a look for a while?"

"Why are you complaining when you have no money!" This time, it was Wu Zhenhua's turn to turn around and leave.

Zhao Rui grabbed the other person and said, "Daoyou, you see we have been grinding for a long time and it is not easy. How about we leave our auras with each other? Once we have spirit stones, I will inform you."

Wu Zhenhua was furious, and seeing that the other party was sincere, he said, "I will only stay in this town for a month, and I won't wait for you after that."

"Okay, I will definitely contact you within a month."

As they talked, the two left a trace of their auras with each other and agreed to communicate via talismans when the time came.

Before parting, Zhao Rui asked the other party where he could get information. Although Wu Zhenhua was impatient, he still told him frankly and directly pointed out two places.

The first place is a small white building which opens after the hour of Wei. It is a place of brothels and is the gateway to a powerful force in the State of Jin.

The second place is Shengxian Tower, which is an official property. Not only can you buy and sell information, but you can also entrust and accept tasks.

Zhao Rui decided to go to Shengxian Tower first without thinking, but as he walked, he arrived in front of a white building.

He was horrified and grabbed a passerby and asked, "Excuse me, how do I get to the tallest building in this market?"

“It’s right in front of us!” Passersby looked at Zhao Rui as if he were a fool.

Zhao Rui touched his nose and thought to himself, "Okay! Since we are here, we might as well make the best of it. Just treat it as a scout ahead of time."

At this moment, a window in the white building suddenly opened, and a plain-faced lady poked her head out. Perhaps she was surprised that someone came at this time, so she was stunned at first, and then she threw a coquettish look.

Zhao Rui was extremely embarrassed. He really wanted to explain that he was not that kind of person, but if he wanted to explain, it seemed like he had to go upstairs first.

Zhao Rui shook his head, covered his face with his sleeves, and ran away.

On the window pane, the pretty girl burst out laughing and shook with laughter. It turned out that her husband was still a virgin!

Zhao Rui was unaware that he was being laughed at. He hurried along the main street and soon arrived at the second place Wu Zhenhua mentioned, Shengxian Tower.

The building is slightly shorter than the Little White Building, with only about three floors, but its floor area is several times larger and is located at the intersection of two main streets.

At the front was a large square, crowded with monks of all kinds.

Among these monks, one type is the independent cultivators who wear a variety of clothes, while the other type wears uniform clothes, mostly indigo Taoist robes.

The place was bustling with people, as lively as a vegetable market. Every monk was very focused and no one knew what they were talking about.

Zhao Rui walked closer and gradually heard some clues. Most of them were related to the search for golden pearls, while some were about searching for spiritual herbs or capturing some kind of spiritual beast.

The further you go in, the more crowded the place becomes. By the time you reach the entrance of Shengxian Tower, there is a constant stream of people coming in and out.

Zhao Rui followed the flow of people and entered the hall without even taking a step.

The hall was divided into three areas. On the roof on the left, there was a plaque with the words "Qi Training" written on it. In front of it, there was a crowd of people, including countless Qi Training monks.

On the right, there is also a plaque hanging down with the words "Foundation Building" inscribed on it. In front of them, there are only three people sitting on the row of official hat chairs, exuding the aura of foundation building.

Zhao Rui's gaze lingered on the three Foundation Establishment cultivators for a moment, then he quickly retracted his gaze. Although he had already reached the realm of half a step to Foundation Establishment, there was still a qualitative gap between him and the three real Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Following Wu Zhenhua's instructions, he crossed two areas and headed straight for a plaque with the words "Know-it-all" written on it.

There was no one under the plaque. There were clearly three rosewood six-drawer desks, but only one of them had someone behind it.

The man was wearing a standard grey Taoist robe and had an extremely thick beard. He was half lying on a throne with his legs on the desk.

Zhao Rui stepped forward and asked, "Fellow Daoist, is this the place to get information?"

The Taoist in gray remained in the same posture and said, "We are very expensive! What news do you want to buy?"

Zhao Rui clasped his fists and said, "I want to inquire about a sect called 'Tianqing Sect'."

The Taoist in gray was quite surprised and said with a smile: "You can go to the tower, spend a little money, and let the monks on duty check it out. You don't need to come here, we are very expensive!"

"To be honest, I have checked there, but they said they couldn't find anything."

The Taoist in gray sat up straight at this moment and said, "Oh! Are you sure this sect existed?"

"I have a token with me that can serve as evidence." Zhao Rui handed over the black token.

The moment he saw the token, the gray-robed Taoist's expression changed slightly. He snatched the token and said, "Wait a minute."

He took the token and examined it carefully, then pulled out a jade pendant from his waist and placed it on his forehead.

After a while, the Taoist in gray raised his eyebrows and said, "Sorry, I have to go up and help you check."

"What on earth happened to Master's sect? It seems to have disappeared completely?" Zhao Rui frowned deeply and bowed, saying, "Excuse me, fellow Daoist!"

About an incense stick of time later, the Taoist in gray came back, looking confident.

"Fellow Daoist, have you found out?" Zhao Rui stepped forward hurriedly.

The Taoist in gray did not answer. He walked to the desk and sat down before saying, "Let me be clear first. We are very expensive! We don't have exact information, but we know where to find it."

"Then where can I find the news?"

The Taoist in gray smiled and said, "This piece of information is worth four hundred spirit stones."

Zhao Rui was shocked and asked, "Does it cost so many spirit stones just to get a piece of news?"

"I told you before, we are very expensive! But fellow Daoist, no one except the official has any clues about what you want to find." After he finished speaking, he ordered him to leave: "Go away, I won't see you off."

The moment he finished speaking, the Taoist in gray was half lying down again, with his feet on the desk.

Zhao Rui looked at the soles of the other person's shoes and thought to himself, "It's really hard to move forward on this main continent without spirit stones. It seems I have to find a way to earn some spirit stones first."

Zhao Rui shook his head and was about to leave when a voice suddenly sounded behind him: "Are you buying information? The official one is too expensive. Come and have a look. Maybe I have it too. As for the price, everything can be negotiated."

"Another Wu Zhenhua!" Zhao Rui frowned slightly, but turned around and saw no one.

"Fellow Daoist, here, here." the voice said again.

Zhao Rui lowered his head and saw a dwarf who was only as tall as his waist.

The dwarf had two whiskers and a warm face. He said with a smile, "Daoyou, tell me the price. We can negotiate."

Zhao Rui hesitated for a moment, but finally said, "I want to find out..."

"I advise you not to believe what the mole says, otherwise you will be sold out and still help him count money!" The Taoist in gray suddenly blurted out.

"When it comes to suppressing others, you have to have a limit. When did I ever cheat you? Show me the evidence." The dwarf immediately retorted with a bitter face.

The Taoist priest in gray behind the table said nothing, as if he disdained the argument.

However, this little episode still aroused Zhao Rui's vigilance. He no longer paid attention to the dwarf and walked quickly towards the gate.

However, the dwarf did not give up. He followed behind him with his legs flying, saying, "Daoyou, how about this? I will provide you with information about the purple gold bead for free. If you really find it, we can talk about it later."

“Oh! There is such a good thing. Aren’t you afraid that I will just run away?” Zhao Rui slowed down his pace.

"No, business requires give and take, and building trust. Is your fellow Taoist worth only a purple gold bead?"

“Hmm…” Zhao Rui began to waver in his heart, and said, “Okay, then tell me, sir. If we really find the purple gold bead, we will definitely not leave out your share.”

"I am Quanzhen Yan. Now we are acquainted." The dwarf clasped his fists and bowed. He took out a talisman folded into a triangle from his sleeve and said, "The information about the purple gold bead is inside the talisman."

Zhao Rui took the talisman and clasped his fists, saying, "Zhao Rui, I hope we still have a chance to work together."

"No problem, Daoist friend, just ask around in the Ascension Tower and you can find me anytime."

Zhao Rui didn't say anything else, turned around and went straight to the door.

He squeezed out of the Shengxian Tower and found that it was almost noon, so he returned along the same route.

On the way, he passed by the Little White Building and accidentally saw a person who was dressed very similar to Shen Chenqing. He wanted to go up to her, but found out that they were a pair of sisters.

"She just arrived, how could she have the chance to meet other people!" Zhao Rui shook his head, thinking that he was dazzled.