Chapter 484: Taking the Hook

He put away the leaves of the Hundred Changes Wood he had picked, and then sent someone to invite the elder Ye Jiulong again.

Not long after, Ye Jiulong hurried over.

He saw that Ye Changsheng looked serious, and knew that there must be something important.

"Elder Jiulong, I have a secret mission for you."

Ye Changsheng said straight to the point, with a hint of solemnity in his tone.

Ye Jiulong's face was stern, and he quickly bowed and said, "Please give me your orders, head of the family."

Ye Changsheng took out a jade box from the storage bag, handed it to Ye Jiulong, and said, "There are 100 leaves of the fourth-level Hundred Changes Wood. You arrange for the elders in the family who have reached the Purple Mansion stage to carry more than a dozen leaves each."

Ye Jiulong took the jade box, felt the powerful spiritual power contained in it, and was shocked, knowing that these leaves were definitely not ordinary items.

Ye Changsheng continued, "Let them disguise themselves as strangers and disperse to the vicinity of the Tianling Sect's base to secretly gather intelligence. Remember, they must be concealed and must not attract the attention of the Tianling Sect."

"The focus of this intelligence gathering is a third-level alchemist named Xu Ruhui. You must pay close attention to his whereabouts, including when he goes out, where he goes, who he contacts, etc. The more detailed the better."

Ye Changsheng warned in a serious tone.

After listening to Ye Changsheng's instructions, Ye Jiulong immediately understood the importance of the matter.

The head of the family mobilized so many troops and even used the precious fourth-level Baibian Wood Leaves, obviously intending to take action against the Tianling Sect.

He said solemnly: "Don't worry, head of the family, I will definitely get this done."

Ye Changsheng nodded and reminded some details, such as how to use the Baibian Wood Leaves for disguise and how to pass on intelligence.

He believed that with the experience and ability of the Purple Mansion Elder of the Ye Family, it should not be a problem to complete this task.

After arranging all this, Ye Changsheng felt a little more at ease.

A month and a half passed in a flash. In a lively free market near the Tianling Sect, there were crowds of people and various hawking sounds.

The monks traded their respective items here, including spiritual medicines, minerals, talismans, and magic tools.

In an inconspicuous corner, a young man wearing coarse linen clothes and with a slightly immature face was setting up a small stall.

A piece of gray animal skin was spread on the stall, on which were sparsely placed a dozen spiritual medicines, which were not of high grade, mostly second-grade spiritual medicines, and only three or four were third-grade spiritual medicines, emitting a faint spiritual fluctuation.

This young man was Ye Changsheng after his disguise. He used the leaves of the fourth-grade Baibian Wood to perfectly change his appearance and aura. With the cover of the fifth-grade Tianji Jade, even people who were familiar with him would find it difficult to recognize him standing in front of him.

Ye Changsheng seemed to be taking care of the spiritual medicine on the stall carelessly, but his eyes kept sweeping over the bustling crowd and observing every approaching cultivator.

He knew in his heart that he had only one target today - Xu Ruhui.

According to the secret investigation of the elders of the Purple Mansion of the Ye Family during this period, Xu Ruhui would come to this free market every half a month or so to buy some spiritual medicines needed for refining pills.

And today happened to be the day when Xu Ruhui might appear.

As time passed, cultivators came to Ye Changsheng's stall to ask about the price, but they were all discouraged by his slightly raised prices.

Ye Changsheng didn't care, he was not waiting for these ordinary customers.

Suddenly, Ye Changsheng's eyes condensed slightly, and he saw a middle-aged cultivator wearing a sky-blue alchemist robe and a slightly gloomy face, slowly walking towards him.

This cultivator was Xu Ruhui, and his eyes were scanning the stalls, as if looking for something.

Ye Changsheng's heart moved, and he secretly adjusted his breathing to make himself look more natural.

Just as Xu Ruhui was about to walk to his stall, Ye Changsheng seemed to casually reach out and tidy up the spiritual medicines on the stall.

His fingertips quickly passed over a spiritual medicine that looked like the second-level spiritual medicine purple water chestnut, and quietly replaced it with a spiritual plant emitting a faint purple halo. This spiritual plant is called Purple Pagoda, which is a genuine fourth-level spiritual medicine. Its appearance is very similar to purple water chestnut. If it is not an experienced alchemist, it is difficult to tell the difference.

Xu Ruhui's eyes finally fell on Ye Changsheng's stall. When he saw several third-level spiritual medicines on the stall, a subtle light flashed in his eyes. He walked over and asked calmly, "How much are these third-level spiritual medicines?"

Ye Changsheng raised his head, showing a slightly shy smile, and replied, "This senior has a good eye. These are all high-quality third-level spiritual medicines, so the price is naturally a little higher. Linglu fruit, 100,000 spiritual stones each; blood spirit grass, 80,000 spiritual stones each; and this green jade vine, 150,000 spiritual stones."

Xu Ruhui's eyes were mainly focused on the Linglu fruit, which was one of his main goals in coming to the free market this time.

He picked up the Linglu fruit and examined it carefully, nodded, and said: "This Linglu fruit is of good quality, and 100,000 spiritual stones is reasonable. However, your price is too high, can you make it cheaper?"

Ye Changsheng pretended to be embarrassed, scratched his head, and said: "Senior, this is already the lowest price. These spiritual medicines are all collected by me with great effort. You know, spiritual medicines are becoming more and more difficult to find now."

Xu Ruhui did not give up easily and began to bargain with Ye Changsheng.

He said that he was a little short of money recently, and then he said that although the quality of the Linglu fruit was good, it was not the best, and he hoped it could be cheaper.

Ye Changsheng always insisted on his price, and he did not give in.

The two of them argued back and forth, seemingly fiercely, attracting the attention of many monks around.

Finally, Xu Ruhui seemed a little impatient. He pointed to the other second-level spiritual medicines on the stall and said, "How about this, I'll take your Linglu fruit, and add a few second-level spiritual medicines, just as a bonus, how about it?"

Ye Changsheng smiled in his heart, knowing that the real show was about to begin.

He deliberately showed a painful expression and said, "Senior, this won't do. I spent a lot of effort to find these second-level spiritual medicines. It would be a big loss if I gave them to you."

Xu Ruhui seemed to have expected Ye Changsheng to say this. He pointed to the fourth-level spiritual medicine purple pagoda that Ye Changsheng disguised as the second-level spiritual medicine purple water chestnut and said, "Just give it to the purple water chestnut. I think it looks pretty good."

Ye Changsheng was startled, but his face remained calm. He quickly shook his head and said, "Senior, this purple water chestnut won't do. It's one of the few good things on my stall. You can give it to any other one."