Chapter 702: Exchange

"A half-step Mortal Transformation ninth level Purple-winged Celestial Bear?"

His eyelids twitching, Senior Brother Feng and the youth were both stunned.

Both were at Mortal Transformation fifth level; even if they had flying beast pets, they were at most at Bridge Heaven level. At that level, flying over the lake would still leave them vulnerable to sneak attacks from seventh- or eighth-level aquatic beasts, which would kill them.

But this Celestial Bear was different—half-step ninth level, with astonishing blood energy. If anyone dared to cause trouble, they would likely be killed before they could even harm it.

Sure enough, before this thought had even finished, they saw a huge eighth-level Mortal Transformation fish leap out from the water, opening its mouth to bite, trying to swallow Zhang Xuan and his companion. But before it could get close, it was detected in advance, and with a claw strike, it was killed on the spot, its inner core snatched into the palm.

"How... does he have such a powerful beast pet?"

Swallowing his saliva, Senior Brother Feng felt his voice hoarse.

Wasn't he only at Spirit Union realm?

Taming a half-step ninth-level spirit beast as a pet... how was that possible?

Earlier, when the other party was unwilling to spend a single mid-grade spirit stone and he had snatched the chance, he had felt somewhat smug, thinking he had gained the upper hand. Only now did he realize... how laughable that smugness was!

With such a formidable beast pet, one could simply fly across. Who would care about a slow ferry?

Not to mention paying—even if paid, they wouldn't take it!

"Senior Brother Feng, look... why aren't they moving forward?"

Just as he was in shock, he heard the youth's anxious voice. Looking up, he indeed saw Zhang Shi riding the Purple-winged Celestial Bear, stopping in midair, not in a hurry to move forward.

Wasn't riding a flying spirit beast meant to reach the trade fair faster? Why stop there?

Full of confusion, he saw the Celestial Bear flap its massive wings again, dive straight down to the water surface, and suddenly thrust its claws downward.

Whoosh!

Another seventh- or eighth-level Mortal Transformation fish spirit beast was caught in its claws, killed on the spot, and its inner core taken directly.

After doing this, the Celestial Bear hovered in the air again, waited a moment, then reached into the water on the other side...

"Are they... hunting?"

The two of them, along with the boatman, looked at each other and almost burst into tears.

For others, this lake was a killing ground, not to be set foot on lightly. But this guy treated it like a treasure trove, coming here to fish...

"How can a Purple-winged Celestial Bear catch aquatic spirit beasts?"

Along with shock, there was more disbelief.

The Purple-winged Celestial Bear's strength was undeniable, but no matter how strong, it was only the overlord of the sky. Aquatic spirit beasts had their own ways of survival; even if they couldn't win, escaping should be easy... How could it catch them every time?

It was as if it knew in advance where the aquatic beasts would swim, never missing when it struck...

How was that possible?

"Yeah... and even if this Celestial Bear is very powerful, killing an eighth-level Mortal Transformation spirit beast shouldn't be this easy..."

Half-step ninth level, even if stronger than eighth level, couldn't be too much stronger. Especially for spirit beasts, with strong defenses, they could still last a few moves. But this Purple-winged Celestial Bear, once it struck, could immediately find the weakness of the aquatic beast and kill it in one move...

That was just too formidable...

While they were stunned beyond belief, on the bear's back, Zhang Xuan looked at the inner cores in his hand and nodded with satisfaction.

To buy things at the trade fair, one needed capital. He was now penniless and clean-shaven. Since so many spirit beasts were rushing to die, he naturally wouldn't let them go.

Eighth-level Mortal Transformation spirit beast inner cores could be used as medicinal ingredients, for setting up formations, or even for practicing techniques—they were quite valuable.

As for how to find these spirit beasts, with the Library of Heaven's Path in hand, as long as they wanted to attack, finding their positions and weaknesses was extremely simple.

Guiding the Celestial Bear to hunt continuously, in less than half an hour, it had killed over a dozen eighth-level Mortal Transformation and more than twenty seventh-level ones, with inner cores piling up in the storage ring.

"The seventh- and eighth-level spirit beasts in the lake are almost all hunted. Let's go to the trade fair!"

After circling a few more times and finding no more spirit beasts surfacing, Zhang Xuan waved his hand with some regret.

Although there were many aquatic spirit beasts, within a certain range there was only a certain number, but they couldn't withstand such hunting.

The Celestial Bear had almost killed them all in this half-day. Even if there were a few left, they would hide rather than dare to surface.

With no spirit beasts causing trouble, knowing that staying longer was pointless, the Celestial Bear flapped its wings and flew straight toward the trade fair's ship.

Soon arriving, Zhang Xuan and Master Hong leaped onto the ship.

The ship was huge, several hundred meters long. Inside the spacious cabin, stalls were packed tightly together, with all kinds of goods available. People moved like a stream, very lively.

"See that? Those two are the ones who rode the Purple-winged Celestial Bear and hunted on the lake!"

"The lake that others fear like snakes and scorpions has become a hunting ground... Is this guy really a new student?"

"If not a new student, he couldn't live here!"

"Beast pets need personal communication to cooperate well. Even if tamed with the help of elders, they must grow up together to be so seamless. This Celestial Bear has a lifespan over two hundred years, while he is under thirty—it must have been tamed by himself..."

"Yeah, with cultivation below Mortal Transformation sixth level, yet taming a half-step ninth-level spirit beast... When did spirit beasts become so easy to tame?"

...

The Purple-winged Celestial Bear's wanton hunting on the lake had spread among the trade fair crowd. Now seeing the two appear, everyone stared wide-eyed, as if looking at monsters.

Those who came to trade were all genius masters from major powers, with sharp eyes. They could naturally tell that this Celestial Bear was Zhang Xuan's tamed beast pet.

But... a kid at Spirit Union realm taming a half-step ninth-level spirit beast—no matter how hard they thought, they couldn't figure out how.

The gap was too big!

It was like an ant taming a divine dragon—unbelievable.

"Probably... this Purple-winged Celestial Bear was severely injured, and he saved it by chance, earning its gratitude..."

"Possible!"

After a moment of shock, a theory emerged.

Low cultivation taming high-level spirit beasts wasn't unheard of, but it required great luck.

"Hmph, just a lucky little brat!"

Understanding this, their astonishment gradually faded.

A master ultimately relied on strength. Good luck might make one or two things go smoothly, but at the academy, strength was what mattered.

"Master Zhang, what should we do..."

Unexpectedly causing such a stir, being stared at by so many as soon as they arrived at the trade fair, Master Hong couldn't help feeling nervous.

"It's fine."

Smiling, Zhang Xuan flipped his wrist, and a spirit beast inner core appeared in his palm. Looking around, he spoke: "Seventh-level Mortal Transformation spirit beast inner core, exchange for Spirit Union realm cultivation techniques. If suitable, one technique for one core!"

"One technique for one core? Master Zhang..."

Master Hong swayed, almost fainting.

Wasn't that too cheap?

Although the Purple-winged Celestial Bear had been mighty, it had only obtained a few dozen inner cores. If he exchanged one technique for one core, he wouldn't get many techniques before running out—wouldn't he be losing heavily?

"Are you serious?"

"As long as it's a Spirit Union or Bridge Heaven realm cultivation technique, it can be exchanged?"

Sure enough, hearing this, the surrounding onlookers all brightened, each one incredulous.

In this world, master halls stood everywhere, and various techniques emerged endlessly. Many were not exclusive secrets; as long as one collected, it was easy to find thousands or tens of thousands of cultivation methods for the same realm.

Many masters had compiled and collected many techniques, drawing on others' strengths.

Thus, while these techniques were precious to some, they weren't very valuable to masters. Exchanging one for a seventh-level Mortal Transformation inner core was definitely a huge gain!

"I guarantee by the reputation of a master, fair and honest! As for Bridge Heaven realm technique manuals, one eighth-level Mortal Transformation inner core per manual!"

Zhang Xuan smiled lightly: "But the prerequisite is suitability. Unsuitable ones, I won't take. Rest assured, whether suitable or not, I only need to touch them to determine, without looking at the title or content. Unsuitable ones, I will never open. Therefore, you need not worry about your techniques leaking! Even if suitable, I will read it once and return it, not asking for your original, nor even copying it!"

"Unsuitable ones not opened? Not looked at?"

"Suitable ones not taken away, just read once, and exchanged for seventh- and eighth-level Mortal Transformation inner cores?"

"What a deal!"

...

Hearing Zhang Xuan's words, everyone's eyes lit up.

If the manual wasn't opened, it couldn't be read. Those who were initially worried about their techniques leaking were now full of excitement.

"I have twenty-two Spirit Union realm techniques here. See if any are suitable!"

Amid the discussion, a master stepped forward, flipped his wrist, and produced a pile of books.

Zhang Xuan smiled faintly, ran his finger over them, and shook his head: "Sorry, none of your books are suitable for me..."

"None suitable?"

Hearing there was no exchange, the master was somewhat disappointed, shook his head, and stepped back.

As he withdrew, the surrounding crowd saw this and nodded.

The other party was right—he had only touched them, not opened them.

Touching... no matter how skilled, one couldn't know the content!

The techniques wouldn't leak... nothing to worry about!

"Let me..."

Wealth moves hearts. The seventh- and eighth-level Mortal Transformation inner cores were too tempting. Soon, everyone couldn't resist, taking out their manuals and stepping forward.

Before long, the manuals in front of Zhang Xuan piled up like a mountain.

However, after his touch... he only found two suitable ones...

Of course, these two were also said casually. If none were suitable, the difficulty would be too great, people would lose interest, and he couldn't continue.

"Sorry, that's all for today. Everyone, why not go back and look again? Starting tomorrow, I'll exchange Bridge Heaven realm technique manuals for two eighth-level Mortal Transformation spirit beast inner cores!"

After an hour, Zhang Xuan stopped and looked around apologetically.

He had already collected quite a few Spirit Union realm techniques in his mind, but only a handful of Bridge Heaven realm ones. He would see if he could collect more tomorrow.