After leaving the Black Fire Pavilion, Yuan Ming took a stroll around and indeed found the Hundred Poison Cave, Beast King Sect, and Qingyan Association’s shops all concentrated in this district. He had a preliminary understanding of the situation here.

The Qingyan Association, as a sect based on a business association, had the largest scale among the five sects. The items they sold were quite miscellaneous, attracting passing cultivators with various levels of spiritual materials.

The Hundred Poison Cave’s shop sold all kinds of highly toxic items, as well as precious poisonous insects.

As for the Beast King Sect, a body refining sect, they sold body tempering spiritual liquids, elixirs, and so on, with the smallest scale.

Yuan Ming was quite interested in the highly toxic items of the Hundred Poison Cave and the body tempering elixirs of the Beast King Sect. However, his purse was thin. Since he came here to find ice attribute spiritual materials, he naturally had to find this item as much as possible first. The rest could only be discussed later.

“I’ve been busy studying the incense burner recently. After these matters are settled, I need to find a way to earn more spirit stones.”

Before he came to this market, he hadn’t realized how important spirit stones were. Now that he was here, he found that everything was priced in spirit stones. Spirit stones could not only buy all kinds of spiritual materials and treasures, but also hire other cultivators to do things.

It seemed that in the world of cultivation, having spirit stones really allowed one to do whatever they wanted.

With these thoughts in mind, Yuan Ming stepped into the three-story building where the Qingyan shop was located.

The first floor of the shop was very spacious, with many counters neatly stacked with various types of spiritual materials, giving people a dazzling feeling.

Customers in the shop were either wandering alone or in small groups, shuttling between the counters.

Yuan Ming glanced around and went straight to a counter.

The spiritual materials in the Qingyan shop were arranged according to their attributes. The counter he came to was filled with water attribute materials.

A black-bearded man stood behind the counter, fiercely bargaining with a short, fat, and friendly-looking young man over two blue spiritual grasses.

In such a large shop, it was first come, first served. Yuan Ming stood aside and waited without interrupting.

The short, fat young man was a master at bidding. He had excellent eloquence and sharp eyes. After a round of rapid-fire pressing and refuting, the black-bearded man had no choice but to agree to the young man’s price.

Yuan Ming watched in amazement. He always thought he was good at talking, but he was nowhere near as good as this short, fat young man. The gap was too wide.

This short, fat young man was only at the third or fourth level of Qi Refining. With such good eloquence, Yuan Ming wondered how he had trained. The world of cultivation really had all sorts of people.

The young man happily packed up his materials and left.

“Sir, are you here to buy some spiritual materials?” The black-bearded man noticed that Yuan Ming had been waiting and asked somewhat awkwardly.

“Do you have any ice attribute spiritual materials in your shop?” Yuan Ming didn’t beat around the bush and went straight to the point.

“Oh, sir, you know your stuff. You’ve come to the right place! When it comes to ice materials, they are quite rare. Other shops might not have them, but our Qingyan shop certainly does.” The black-bearded man said with a light laugh, his tone filled with undisguised pride.

“Do you have any of medium grade?” Yuan Ming was also very happy to hear this, his eyes filled with anticipation.

According to what the Three Cave Master had said, the higher the grade of the ice attribute spiritual material that could meet the requirements for the advancement of the Blue Fish Sword, the better.

“We’ve spent a lot of effort to acquire just a few ice attribute spiritual materials. We don’t have any of medium grade at the moment.” The black-bearded man’s smile froze, then he showed a bit of embarrassment and shook his head.

Yuan Ming was quite disappointed, but he didn’t care too much. He didn’t expect to find it in the first shop he visited. He had other purposes for coming here.

“Do you buy spiritual materials here?” He didn’t leave, but asked again.

“Yes! We offer fair prices and don’t cheat anyone, young or old. If you have any good items, you can sit in the private room inside and we can discuss in detail.” The black-bearded man said.

A quarter of an hour later, Yuan Ming walked out of the Qingyan shop, a smile appearing on his face under his bamboo hat.

The spiritual materials he had obtained from Hu Huo and Kuntu, as well as the materials he had accumulated before, were all sold, except for a few that he could use. In exchange, he got more than thirty spirit stones.

Including his original savings, Yuan Ming now had seventy spirit stones.

For a Qi Refining cultivator who had just entered the world of cultivation for less than two years, this was a huge fortune.

According to his previous understanding, the value of ordinary medium-grade spiritual materials was around forty to fifty spirit stones. Even if ice attribute spiritual materials were more precious, seventy spirit stones should be enough.

Yuan Ming moved forward and soon found another spiritual material shop that looked good. He stepped in.

In less than half an hour, he came out and moved on.

An hour passed quickly.

In a tavern in the market, Yuan Ming sat at a window seat on the second floor, quietly eating his food and drink, looking not in a good mood.

In this hour, he had asked seven or eight small shops selling spiritual materials in succession, but still had no harvest.

Black Rock City was already one of the top markets in the southern and northern regions. If he couldn’t buy the ice attribute spiritual materials he needed here, going elsewhere would probably be in vain.

Yuan Ming was secretly anxious, planning his actions for the afternoon.

Footsteps came from the staircase. Two figures walked in.

Yuan Ming was taken aback. These two were acquaintances. One was Zhao Tong, and the other was the short, fat young man he had met in the Qingyan Pavilion earlier, the master of bargaining.

“Why are they here together?” Yuan Ming was puzzled. Suddenly, he remembered that he had taken off his bamboo hat for convenience while eating. He picked up the hat and was about to put it on.

“Yo, Brother Yuan! What are you doing here?” Zhao Tong had sharp eyes and immediately spotted Yuan Ming. He greeted him from afar and walked over with the short, fat young man.

“I heard this place has been bustling recently, so I came to take a look and see if I could find some treasures. What about you, Brother Zhao?” Yuan Ming, seeing that he couldn’t hide, quietly put away his bamboo hat and stood up to greet them.

“Ah, don’t mention it. I made a mistake a while ago and was demoted by the sect to this place, responsible for managing the business of the Bi Luo shop for half a year,” Zhao Tong sighed.

“I’ve always thought that Brother Zhao excels in business. Now the business of Bi Luo shop will surely flourish even more. By the way, who is this?” Yuan Ming blinked and looked at the short and chubby young man.

“I forgot to introduce him. This is my old friend Gu Yue from Heiyan City. Old Gu, this is Yuan Ming, my fellow disciple. I’ve mentioned him to you before, the master of saving money. You two should get to know each other.” Zhao Tong briefly introduced the two and sat down unceremoniously, enjoying Yuan Ming’s food and wine.

“So you are Yuan Ming. It seems we have met before at Qingyan Pavilion,” Gu Yue looked at Yuan Ming and said with a smile.

“Brother Gu Yue has a good eye. Even with my bamboo hat on, you recognized me immediately. I’m impressed. Please, have a seat,” Yuan Ming also smiled slightly.

“What? You two have met before?” Zhao Tong swallowed a mouthful of food and wine, puffing out his cheeks.

“We met at Qingyan Pavilion. Brother Gu Yue’s bargaining skills are impressive. I admire him a lot,” Yuan Ming didn’t hide it.

“It’s just a small skill, not worth mentioning,” Gu Yue waved his hand.

“Old Gu is an information dealer in Heiyan City. He makes a living entirely by his eloquence. Of course, his skills are impressive. I’m not as good as him,” Zhao Tong laughed. It seemed that he had a good relationship with Gu Yue.

“Information dealer?” Yuan Ming was taken aback.

“It seems that this is Brother Yuan’s first time in Heiyan City. There are many shops in the market here, and customers come from all over the world. It may take a newcomer three to five days to figure out the situation. Old Gu and other information dealers have been in Heiyan City for many years. They are hired by people who come to Heiyan City for the first time to gather information and find items for them,” Zhao Tong explained.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming couldn’t help but be moved.

“Brother Yuan, have you found what you need? If not, you can ask Old Gu to help you find it,” Zhao Tong said.

“I haven’t found it yet. I wonder if Brother Gu Yue is free?” Yuan Ming took the opportunity to look at Gu Yue. He was completely unfamiliar with the market in Heiyan City. The chance of finding the Ice Spirit Material by blindly searching in the afternoon was slim. It would be better to hire Gu Yue.

Since Zhao Tong and Gu Yue knew each other, Gu Yue should be trustworthy.

“If Brother Yuan needs me, I will certainly make time,” Gu Yue readily agreed.

“Since the two of you have business to discuss, I won’t stay here any longer,” Zhao Tong stood up and wiped his mouth.

“My matter is not urgent. If you have something to do, you can go ahead,” Yuan Ming said.

“We don’t have anything to do. We just came here to have a drink and catch up. You two take your time,” Zhao Tong laughed and said goodbye.

“Brother Yuan, just tell me what you need. I can’t guarantee anything else, but I do have some connections for sourcing various goods in this city,” Gu Yue said.

“I need a piece of Ice Spirit Material. The higher the quality, the better. It would be best if it’s of medium quality,” Yuan Ming tentatively said.

“Ice Spirit Material is not common, and it’s even harder to find one of medium quality or above. However, since you’re in Heiyan City and you’ve found me, it’s not entirely impossible,” Gu Yue’s eyes narrowed slightly, then he smiled.

“Great, I’ll leave this matter to you then. How much do you charge for your services?” Yuan Ming asked.

“One spirit stone per day,” Gu Yue said.

“Then you can help me look for one day,” Yuan Ming took out a spirit stone with a bit of pain and prepared to throw it over.

“If you can’t find it, this spirit stone has to be returned to me,” Yuan Ming thought for a moment, retracted his hand holding the spirit stone, and said.

He had quite a few spirit stones on him, but the things he wanted to buy were expensive. He had to be careful with every spirit stone.

“Deal. Please follow me, Brother Yuan,” Gu Yue took the spirit stone and left the tavern.

“Where are we going?” Yuan Ming followed.

“If you’re looking for medium-quality Ice Spirit Material, it’s almost impossible to find it in the West Market here. We need to go to the East Market and check a few large shops,” Gu Yue said.

“East Market, West Market?” Yuan Ming was taken aback.

“Heiyan City is quite large, but its layout is very simple. It’s divided into four parts: east, west, south, and north. We are currently in the West Market, where the shops of the major forces in the southern and northern regions of Nanjiang are located. The East Market is where the shops of the southern region of Nanjiang, the Eastern Region, and the Central Jin Country are located,” Gu Yue explained.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming nodded thoughtfully.

He had heard of the southern region of Nanjiang, the Eastern Region, and other places, but he had never had the opportunity to visit them. He didn’t expect that there would be shops from those places in this city. He could broaden his horizons later.

Coming to Heiyan City this time was indeed a good decision.