Qin Changsheng's heart skipped a beat, and he instantly understood Lin Hao's intentions.
Lin Hao was deliberately showing off, wanting to display his discerning eye in front of everyone while simultaneously belittling Hu Nan to satisfy his own vanity.
"I'm ashamed, Senior Brother Lin, I've been practicing that Vajra Body Refining Technique for a whole year, but I still haven't even scratched the surface."
Hearing this, Lin Hao's smile instantly deepened, a hint of undisguised smugness flashing in his eyes: "Oh? Is that so?"
"I think Junior Brother Hu, you should cultivate other body refining techniques!"
"That body refining technique requires extremely high talent!"
After saying this, Lin Hao couldn't suppress the smirk on his face.
At this moment, Lin Hao was extremely proud.
He felt that selling that body refining technique to Hu Nan last year was the right decision.
Because he not only swindled Hu Nan out of 15,000 spirit stones,
but also made Hu Nan waste a great deal of time.
With the introduction of the technique finished, everyone began to discuss important matters within the sect.
However, nothing major happened within the sect this year.
It was all just trivial matters.
The most discussed topic was the Heavenly Ladder within the Qingyun Sect.
They were all very curious about who had reached the 500th floor of the Heavenly Ladder.
Qin Changsheng remained silent.
Because Qin Changsheng knew very well that it was Chen Erniu who had reached the 500th floor.
Seeing that everyone had stopped discussing the sect's major events, Jiang Lijuan stood up and said, "Fellow disciples, since there's nothing major happening!"
"Why don't you bring out any unused treasures, spiritual materials, or cultivation techniques you have to trade?"
Upon hearing this, everyone brought out their unused treasures.
In an instant, a dazzling array of treasures appeared: broken cultivation techniques, low-grade magic weapons, rare spiritual materials, and some cultivation-aiding pills. The people examined each other, discussed in hushed tones, and the atmosphere in the room became lively again.
Qin Changsheng, controlling Hu Nan, remained seated in the corner, his expression calm, his gaze indifferently sweeping over the treasures the crowd had brought out.
However, Qin Changsheng quickly shook his head, realizing that these treasures were all low-grade and of little use to him.
"Gentlemen, last August I obtained a Azure Cloud Pendant within the ruins!"
"While not top-tier, it still has considerable uses. Today, it's idle and useless, so I'm offering it for 1,000 spirit stones. Those interested can simply name their price."
As soon as he finished speaking, the cultivators in the room turned to look at the Azure Cloud Pendant, and most of them slowly shook their heads, their faces showing indifference.
Someone couldn't help but mock, their tone laced with disdain: "Senior Brother Lin, you've gone too far with this joke. This is just an ordinary jade pendant. It looks shiny, but it can only block some low-level spells. It doesn't even have any decent defensive effect, and you dare ask for a thousand spirit stones?"
"Senior Brother Lin, the sect elders have already appraised this jade pendant!"
"At most a hundred spirit stones!"
Many cultivators chimed in.
Lin Hao's face was filled with embarrassment.
Last year, when he obtained the Azure Cloud Pendant, he was extremely happy.
He even took it to the market to have it appraised.
Who knew it was just an ordinary jade pendant, only capable of defending against some basic spells.
Qin Changsheng hadn't initially paid much attention to the jade pendant, but he still summoned his golden attribute information to search for it.
The next instant, the Qingyun Pendant's information appeared on his attribute panel.
[Qingyun Pendant: Special treasure, no offensive function, passively triggered, can resist 6% of oppressive force, suitable for all realms, requires no spiritual power consumption, can be worn close to the body, owner: Lin Hao]
Looking at the information on the attribute panel, Qin Changsheng's eyes were filled with joy.
He never expected that this Qingyun Pendant, which everyone ridiculed as an "ordinary jade pendant," would have such a wonderful use.
It could resist 6% of oppressive force, far exceeding everyone's understanding!
At this moment, Qin Changsheng also understood that the deacon who appraised the treasure probably hadn't used oppressive force, but only appraised some magical attacks.
That's why he thought the Qingyun Pendant was just an ordinary jade pendant.
Qin Changsheng possessed the golden attribute "oppressive force."
The golden aura reduces pressure by 90%, and if combined with the Azure Cloud Pendant's 6% resistance,
one can practically ignore most of the pressure while ascending the Heavenly Ladder.
Inside the private room, Lin Hao felt extremely embarrassed that no one was interested in his jade pendant.
"Four hundred spirit stones! Only four hundred spirit stones!" Lin Hao shouted through gritted teeth.
Upon hearing this, several cultivators in the room glanced at him indifferently, but no one paid him any attention.
Although four hundred spirit stones was less than a thousand, in their eyes, buying an ordinary jade pendant was still not worthwhile.
After all, a magic artifact that could only withstand basic spells was worth at most around one hundred spirit stones.
Just then, Qin Changsheng, controlling Hu Nan, slowly stood up. Without saying a word, he raised his hand and tossed a storage bag containing four hundred spirit stones directly to Lin Hao.
Lin Hao's eyes lit up instantly upon seeing this, and he quickly reached out and grabbed the storage bag.
Upon discovering four hundred spirit stones inside the storage bag, Lin Hao's face lit up with joy.
He had previously taken the Azure Cloud Pendant to a magic artifact shop for appraisal; it was just an ordinary decorative jade pendant.
At most, it could withstand a few low-level spells, not worth a hundred spirit stones at all. Now, selling it for four hundred spirit stones was a windfall!
Moreover, he was making money off his arch-rival Hu Nan, which made him even happier.
Seemingly afraid Hu Nan would change his mind, he quickly picked up the Azure Cloud Pendant from the table and strode over to Hu Nan: "Junior Brother Hu, this jade pendant is yours!"
Before Hu Nan could take the pendant, Lin Hao shoved the storage bag on the table into his own, securing it tightly as if Hu Nan would take it back if he hesitated even a moment longer.
Just as Lin Hao stuffed the storage bag containing four hundred spirit stones into his own, Li Hu, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly and slowly opened them.
His gaze didn't fall on Hu Nan, nor did it pay attention to the Azure Cloud Pendant; instead, it went straight to the storage pouch at Lin Hao's waist.
Just now, the instant Lin Hao received the storage pouch and probed it with his divine sense, a faint aura of spirit stones leaked out, which Li Hu happened to detect.
This aura made Li Hu's heart inexplicably sink.
That aura was too familiar; it was exactly the same as the aura of the spirit stones he mined from the Danxia Spirit Stone Mine, without the slightest difference.
As the young master of the Blood Demon Sect, he had been in charge of the Danxia Spirit Stone Mine for many years and was extremely familiar with this aura.
Then Li Hu recalled that Hu Nan had also taken out spirit stones at the Qingyun Tower gathering last year. At the time, he vaguely felt that the aura of those spirit stones was somewhat familiar, but he didn't think much of it, dismissing it as a coincidence.
But now, Hu Nan had taken out spirit stones again, and the aura was exactly the same as the spirit stones from the Danxia spirit stone mine. This made him suspicious.
Once might be an accident, but twice in a row, the spirit stones he took out carried the same aura. This was definitely not an accident.
Furthermore, the Danxia spirit stone mine had seen a significant decrease in production over the past two years.
This made him realize that things couldn't be that simple.
At the same time, Li Hu decided that after returning, he would thoroughly inspect the spirit stone mine.