Immediately, several people began communicating with the portly cultivator via voice transmission. Some even took out jade boxes and bottles to trade with him.
It was obvious that anything worth the same as a demon core was no ordinary item.
However, quite some time passed, and the portly cultivator still hadn't made a decision, seemingly dissatisfied with what the other cultivators were offering.
The portly cultivator asked again,
"This demon core took me considerable effort. I spent several years staking out that Crimson Fire Python before finally killing it. If you don't have a water-attribute demon core of equal value, other water-attribute materials of the same value will suffice."
"But if the difference is too great and you're trying to take advantage, don't waste my time."
The portly cultivator seemed eager to sell the demon core, showing some anxiety.
Another short while passed, and several more cultivators presented different items.
This time, a hunchbacked cultivator took out a blue jade bottle, its contents unknown, but it seemed to please the portly cultivator. After a careful inspection, he finally nodded in agreement to the trade.
"Although your item is a bit lacking in value, it's still decent enough. This demon core is yours," the portly cultivator said, and with a flick of his hand, the jade box containing the demon core flew to the hunchbacked cultivator.
The hunchbacked cultivator unceremoniously pocketed the jade box.
After the trade, the portly cultivator calmly returned to his seat.
"Congratulations, fellow Daoist, on acquiring your desired item. Now, let's proceed with the presentations from left to right," Floating Cloud Master announced, standing up to offer the suggestion.
As the host of the trade fair, Floating Cloud Master's proposal met with no objections.
"Then, I shall make a fool of myself."
As soon as Floating Cloud Master finished speaking, a curvaceous figure on his left stood up. It was a woman.
"I don't have such good fortune to possess any rare treasures, but I recently explored an ancient cultivator's cave and obtained a special item. I wonder if anyone here is interested."
As she spoke, the woman waved her sleeve, and a two-inch-tall doll appeared in her hand. She pointed at the doll, and a few strands of spiritual energy entered it.
The doll flashed with spiritual light, revealing some mysterious runes.
Then, the doll suddenly grew several times larger, transforming into a half-person-sized boy.
"Oh, a puppet."
Seeing this, someone immediately recognized it and exclaimed.
The boy seemed to be made of ironwood, with a crystalline jade sword in one hand and a purple bell in the other.
"This fellow Daoist has sharp eyes. This is indeed a Tier 2 puppet, with strength comparable to a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator."
The appearance of the puppet drew more discussion from the cultivators, who seemed quite interested.
Zhang Ling also carefully examined the wooden boy puppet. It was exquisitely crafted, almost lifelike, with all the facial features present.
Apart from its dark green skin and wooden expression, it looked no different from a regular person.
Puppet dolls were uncommon in the cultivation world. Regardless of their strength, one of their greatest features was that they would never betray their master because they lacked spiritual awareness.
They could be considered a special type of magical artifact.
Speaking of which, his Corpse Bear could also be considered a type of puppet. However, this type of zombie puppet differed from wooden puppets and belonged to the category of spiritual puppets.
"Spiritual puppets" were puppets with the potential to develop intelligence.
If his Corpse Bear stayed in a Yin-rich environment for too long, it might actually develop consciousness.
Legend has it that the Five Elements Spirit Corpse, Yin Yang Corpse Demon, and Drought Demon were all intelligent corpse monsters.
It was said that zombies of this level could even cultivate into Corpse Immortals.
Spiritual puppets were naturally stronger, but mechanical wooden puppets would never betray their master, which made them useful in certain situations.
"A Foundation Establishment Intermediate Stage wooden puppet. What treasures does the fairy intend to exchange it for?"
Someone asked with interest.
"It seems many fellow Daoists are interested in this item. Then, I won't keep you in suspense. I plan to exchange it for several types of refining materials."
As she spoke, the female cultivator flipped her hand and produced a jade slip. It flashed with spiritual light, and over a dozen lines of text floated above it.
At the same time, she gently stroked the table with her slender hand, and seven or eight identical wooden puppets appeared. They all seemed to be Tier 2 puppets.
"These are the materials I need. Having two of them will be enough to exchange for a puppet."
Fire-Patterned Wood, Auspicious Wind Stone, Purple Yang Soil, Mysterious Lightning Stone... These texts were all names of materials.
Zhang Ling glanced at them and was shocked. He had studied the art of refining before, and he could roughly estimate the value of these materials.
These were all rare refining materials, each worth at least ten thousand spirit stones.
Seeing what the woman wanted to exchange for, the cultivators present gasped, and their confidence in negotiating with her vanished.
It wasn't that they didn't have these materials, but most felt it wasn't worth it.
The cultivators present were all Golden Core cultivators. This intermediate puppet with the strength of a Foundation Establishment cultivator wasn't much to them.
They could easily kill it.
Buying one would mostly be used to manage their cave's spiritual fields and other chores, but Tier 1 puppets could do that.
A Tier 1 puppet could be bought for two or three thousand spirit stones. Of course, Foundation Establishment Stage puppets could also be bought for younger generations to use.
However, not many cultivators had this intention, especially in the Flowing Cloud Sea, where solitary cultivators were the majority.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have come to this trade fair. Their initial goal was to exchange cultivation experiences. Trading items was just a side benefit.
Compared to that, the value of this puppet was naturally a loss for the cultivators present.
The woman required two materials for an exchange, which was twenty thousand spirit stones. The Golden Core cultivators present were all old foxes, and naturally, no one was willing to suffer such a loss.
Seeing the unenthusiastic expressions, the woman shook her head inwardly.
She wasn't proficient in puppetry. She had happened to find many damaged parts of these wooden puppets in an ancient ruin. Although most of them were damaged, she still managed to piece together twenty or thirty of these wooden puppets.
She was a solitary cultivator, and these puppets weren't of much use to her, so she put them up for exchange at this trade fair, hoping to exchange them for something useful to her.
However, after a moment of silence, a few people took out items and traded with her. In the end, the woman exchanged five wooden boy puppets.
After that, without waiting for Floating Cloud Master to call on him, another cultivator stood up and presented the treasure he wanted to exchange.
In this way, more than an hour passed, and most of the cultivators exchanging items had already traded. Few had succeeded, with only a handful of people finding a treasure they liked. Most cultivators ultimately didn't find a treasure they were interested in.
As one person sat down in disappointment, another person stood up.
"Wang greets everyone. What I have brought this time is a magical treasure."
