Li Ling returned to the outskirts of the number 9 marketplace, not even entering the house of the farmer to kill anyone else. He felt that his slaughter of animals was weird but forgivable in the eyes of those who could truly harm him.
Even the death of that oaf who guarded the farm could be attributed to being present at the crime scene and being silenced, marking him as a plain murderer rather than a psychopath who needed to be put down.
He hadn't yet allocated the 2 remaining slaughter points even though he could have raised his cultivation again, solely because he wasn't sure how effective the Qi Restraining Control technique was in hiding cultivation.
It was fine if it worked perfectly but if, through some fluke, it failed to work, walking out of the market with Qi Refinement level 1 and coming back at Qi Refinement level 3 within one day was definitely not normal.
It was much more believable if he came back with Qi Refinement level 2 cultivation, as most would believe he went out to breakthrough in a hidden place, fearing interruption. Of course, this was unnecessary in the marketplace, but it fit Li Ling's previous persona of over-caution.
Returning the charger to the stablehand, the fellow noticed Li Ling's increased cultivation and youth, his face changing significantly. As such, he greeted Li Ling warmly and even gifted him with 7 Spirit Shards, which when deducted from the initial amount that he paid, was actually back to the normal rental price.
Li Ling silently received the money and returned to the marketplace after bidding farewell to the fellow, crossing the encounter out of his mind. Since reparations were made, there was no need for active revenge later on, but if he happened to see the fellow in his path later on, he could still be freely harvested.
Entering the marketplace, Li Ling finally had some capital to look around without being hurried. Of course, he could only realistically move through the outer areas of the market where Ivy Lane was located, because heading inward would be putting his safety at risk for no reason.
The outer areas had fewer buildings and many more streets lined with kiosks. It was like a grand bazaar with many streets dedicated to different products or services, which was surrounded on all four sides by various districts meant for housing those who rented in the marketplace and worked here.
Li Ling did not curiously browse the market. He had already done that when he first came, so he went straight to the section for the sale of spirit and demon beasts, tamed or otherwise.
Right at the entrance, he could smell the scent of wild fur, which made him purse his lips. If it wasn't for the fact that cultivators liked cleanliness for the sake of their practice and had many spells which could clean an area, it was likely that the place might even retain the smell of manure.
Li Ling saw different kinds of beasts being sold, from land types to even sea and river types. Fishes, frogs, snakes, birds, members of the cat family, members of the dog family, and so on. They even had typical livestock animals like those he just slaughtered, but demonized due to the infusion of spiritual energy.
For Li Ling, his goal was not to buy what cost the most, but what cost the least. When killing livestock, he had already confirmed that it did not matter whether it was a healthy one or one that was malnourished or sick, they gave the same slaughter points.
Unfortunately, due to the nature of spirit energy and demonization, even the smallest possible demon beast was about the size of a human child, so he couldn't buy a bunch of tiny Qi Refinement level fish and then harvest them, though he would love to.
Li Ling came to a stall selling canine demon beasts, noting that they mostly dealt with adult wolves that seemed to be partly injured. Their wounds had been lightly treated, but not so much that they had energy to bark and jump around, leaving them to lie in their cages while breathing heavily with their tongues out.
The stall owner was a cloaked woman with a modest figure and a cold expression. When Li Ling approached, she scanned his cultivation and scoffed, as she herself was at the fourth level of Qi Refinement. However, a customer was a customer, and her business model was not very lucrative since most of those who came here preferred to buy pups that could be trained from a young age, or if they were adults, preferred to buy livestock animals that could be butchered and eaten for their flesh.
Only those who were either very confident or very poor would come to buy adult wolves like these to try and tame. Realistically, she would face better business in the field of harvesting materials from these adult wolves as many occupations needed things like beast blood and whatnot, but that market was very lucrative and heavily controlled privately.
If she dared to barge in with her cultivation, she wouldn't even know how she died.
"I am looking to buy an adult wolf, regardless of gender or age. Give me your cheapest one at the first level of Qi Refinement." Li Ling was direct because experience made him aware that such cold-faced persons hated time-wasters the most.
Case in point, the woman's eyebrows raised as she nodded and flicked a finger, bringing a particular cage forward with a rather raggedy old wolf with a cautious demeanor. It immediately assessed Li Ling, seemingly understanding that he might be its new owner soon enough.
"7 Spirit Stones, no bargaining." The woman said simply.
Li Ling did the calculation in his head and felt it was a good price, about 5% higher than what would be the standard price. For Li Ling, it was plain that this extra markup was the price of being weaker, so the seller could raise the price, and one did not dare talk back.
If Li Ling was at the same or higher cultivation level, would this woman truly dare to say 'no bargaining'?
Heh.