When a Fanfic Protagonist Transmigrated into the Original Novel

Xia Lin’s market was very lively. There were cultivators gathered here from all over the world, and spiritual materials from high to low quality could be seen everywhere. It took them several hours just to take a look at every stall.

Yi Xichen was interested in some spiritual materials, but he bought almost nothing. After all, buying Zhangsun Zijun a new sword was a much higher priority. And since they were going to spend the money anyway, they must get a good sword. The Realm of Void had many unknown dangers. If they got another cheap sword that would break easily, they wouldn’t make it to see the founder of Void Sect.

Although they didn’t find a sword they liked yet, they weren’t worried. They still had a few days, and since so many people came and went from this town, there would be different stalls almost every day. They still had time.

Yi Xichen gave Zhangsun Zijun the spirit stones for him to go look for a bit longer. Then he found a place and took out all their unnecessary spiritual materials and also the beast egg.

Since spiritual beast eggs were rare, many people came to ask. But since they couldn’t tell what beast was inside, and the price was quite expensive too, there weren’t many who even had the intention to buy.

After about fifteen or so minutes, a cultivator walked up to Yi Xichen’s stall.

He asked, “What kind of egg is this?”

Yi Xichen took a few looks at him, most of which went to the sword on his waist. It wasn’t premium, but definitely a good sword. He quickly replied, “It is a natural spiritual beast egg! Buddy, you up to get a pet?”

“I know it’s a spiritual beast, but which kind?” said the cultivator.

“Mister, which kind do you like?”

“……” the cultivator looked at him suspiciously, “Will you have the kind that I like?”

“Perhaps?”

Of course, Yi Xichen was just lying. He didn’t even know how this egg found them. Since spiritual beasts were so rare, it would be almost impossible to go find a second egg. So even if he couldn’t sell it immediately, it would be good to do some research on what the demand was nowadays.

“Alright then, I want a Rainbow Crane to ride it into the clouds. How cool that will be!”

Many cultivators kept pets. Other than because they liked them, it was also because they were very useful. Some spiritual pets could help their owner find spirit stones, some could help attack enemies with their owner, and some could enhance their owner’s cultivation. Last but not least, having powerful spiritual pets was a direct symbol of one’s status and power.

Yi Xichen touched his chin and said, “My egg here, maybe it is a Rainbow Crane.”

“……”

The cultivator had “stop the cap” written all over his face. He said, “Although I never raised a Rainbow Crane before, but I know their eggs are white as snow. How can this gray ugly egg be a Rainbow Crane!”

“I found this in the dirt,” said Yi Xichen, “Maybe it has been buried for too long, the color’s stained, that’s why the color looks a bit gray. If you don’t think this is a Rainbow Crane, then tell me, what could it be?”

The cultivator was speechless. How could an egg be tainted like a piece of jade? Was that even possible? But he couldn’t tell what egg it was either…

Yi Xichen kept going to further strengthen his argument, “If this is a perfectly flawless Rainbow Crane egg, that would be almost priceless, I’m afraid you can’t afford that? Although mine doesn’t look as good, and maybe the crane will be grayish when it hatched, but mine’s cheap!”

He wasn’t lying about this part. Due to the rarity of spiritual beasts, their prices were pretty high. But although this cultivator really wanted a Rainbow Crane, he still shook his head and left after a long struggle.

After the day ended, Yi Xichen only got to sell some spiritual materials, but no one wanted the egg. There were quite a few who were interested, but not many actually wanted to buy it. After all, a natural spirit beast was indeed rare. Those who could afford it would want a good one, and those who couldn’t were only there to watch.

Zhangsun Zijun shopped by himself for a day. He didn’t find a good sword, but he did buy a Golden Heart-Guard Armor – He asked around about the Realm of Void and learned that there were many thunderstorms there. Golden Armor happened to be resistant against lightning, so he bought it especially for Yi Xichen.

Yi Xichen looked at what he bought and sank his face, “What did you buy this for! How much did it cost?”

“Five high-grade spirit stones.”

“Five!! Did you bargain?”

“……” Bargaining was simply not in line with Zhangsun Zijun’s personality. If it wasn’t because he didn’t have enough money with him, he would of went, “I don’t want this one, and this one. Package the rest.”

Yi Xichen was heartbroken. Zhangsun Zijun legit just threw away five of his precious high-grade spirit stones!

“I heard that there are thunderstorms in the Void Sea…”

“Isn’t it just some lightning! You won’t die from a strike or two! And you can get a new hairstyle along the way too!”

Zhangsun Zijun: “……”

Neither of them had a spirit root of the wood element. And since they had cultivation, they wouldn’t be easily killed by lightning. Since Zhangsun Zijun’s cultivation was higher, those lightning wouldn’t be of a threat to him. But with Yi Xichen’s current cultivation, if he went without any protection, he would be injured quite heavily for sure. If they had enough money right now, Yi Xichen would naturally wear all the protection. But they were broke! They could only save money for the sword first.

But since Zhangsun Zijun bought it already, Yi Xichen could only accept it. He knocked Zhangsun Zijun’s head and cursed, “Idiot!” After which he laughed, as he wasn’t really angry at him.

When the two got back to their room, Zhangsun Zijun started to meditate and calm his mind, whereas Yi Xichen went to calculate how they should spend their money – he actually calculated it once yesterday already, but after Zhangsun Zijun spent the five high-grade spirit stones, his plan was messed up.

After counting their pathetically small amount of possessions, Yi Xichen carefully placed the beast egg back into his Qiankun Bag. For now, it seemed that this was their only hope of escaping poverty.

And so the next day, the two got up and started to set up their stall again.

Yi Xichen opened his Qiankun Bag to check, but the second he did, his eyes almost jumped out of his sockets. He screamed, “Where’s my egg!”

Zhangsun Zijun was getting dressed. Hearing him, he walked over while tying his cincture. Inside the Qiankun Bag, all the spiritual materials were there, but the egg seemed to have disappeared into thin air.

Yi Xichen immediately started to look all around the room, but Zhangsun Zijun didn’t seem to be worried. Instead, he was a little happy, “Welp, now that it’s gone, I don’t think we need to find it.”

“What!” Yi Xichen glared at him, “How do you not know the value of items! That’s not just an egg! That’s spirit stones! It’s your sword! It’s my artifacts! Come find it with me!”

Helpless, Zhangsun Zijun could only help look for it with him in the room.

After a long time, the two still failed to find it. Just as they were about to give up, the egg rolled out from the bottom of the bed itself. 

Yi Xichen immediately went forward to hug the egg in his arms. He was so excited, as if he laid this egg himself, and even kissed it, “My precious!”

Zhangsun Zijun stood on the side with a dark face.

The spiritual beast inside probably fell asleep yesterday, so it didn’t move at all. But now it woke up, and started to roll around in Yi Xichen’s arms. Yi Xichen carefully placed it back into the bag, and finally left for the market.

After setting up their stall, more people came than yesterday. After all, the lifeless egg now seemed full of energy, rolling around everywhere in the stall, and consistently rolling towards Yi Xichen. Yi Xichen pushed it back over and over again to the center so that interested cultivators could take a look. 

Unfortunately, still not many people were willing to buy it.

A cultivator stopped in front of the stall. Yi Xichen looked up, and found out that it was the same guy from yesterday who thought about buying for a long time. It seemed that he really was interested in spiritual beasts, but he probably wasn’t loaded, and must take careful considerations before buying.

“Hello again, have you made up your mind? Have you decided to buy it?”

The cultivator showed a face of hesitating, “This… could this really be a Rainbow Crane?”

“This is definitely a bird egg. Although I’m not certain if it’s a Rainbow Crane, it should still be able to bring you to the clouds regardless.”

“Um… how much are you selling it for? I don’t have many spirit stones…”

“That’s okay! You can use items to exchange for it!”

“What do you need?”

Zhangsun Zijun, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly spoke, “Blood of Qilin, Wind Stopping Pearl, Shell of the Dark Turtle, Scale of an Ancient Dragon, and Thunder Fruit. Do you have these?”

The cultivator couldn’t believe his ears. All of those were Treasures of Heaven and the Earth, almost impossible to obtain. If it was a real Rainbow Crane egg, then maybe it could be a fair trade with two or three of these items. But, sometimes, a fair trade didn’t mean a good trade. The Treasures of Heaven and the Earth were priceless, one might not be able to buy them even if he had an infinite amount of spirit stones.

Seeing his face, Zhangsun Zijun and Yi Xichen knew that he didn’t have them. Actually, Zhangsun Zijun knew how rare these items were, so he just mentioned them to try his luck.

Maybe it heard that it was about to get sold, the beast egg suddenly rolled towards Yi Xichen’s calf in anger, and did it several times. Yi Xichen quickly patted it, “Stop stop, I’m trying to find you a good owner.”

Who would have thought, with the pat, the shell suddenly cracked!

Everyone was stunned in place.

A small fragment of the shell fell off, showing a little hole, and a claw came out of it. Yi Xichen quickly went up and shoved the claw back in. 

Damn it! You can’t hatch right now. If people see your appearance, the price is going to go down by a lot!

But how would Fat Chirp listen to him? After the hole was blocked, with another crack, another hole appeared on the other side of the egg. Its gray and round head poked out of the shell.

Yi Xichen opened his eyes wide. This was his first time seeing a spiritual beast. He was still hoping that maybe Zhangsun Zijun had mistaken, perhaps it was a real Rainbow Crane or something like an eagle inside. But right now seeing its head, his heart sank.

Crack!

With another crack, the shell shattered. A round and fluffy bird stood in the shattered shells. It raised its head and let out a long “chirp”!

Yi Xichen’s mouth twitched. Look at its appearance! Look at its sound! Fat Chirp was a perfect name! If he had to name it, he would have named it exactly the same!

The cultivator looked at Fat Chirp in a daze, “This…this… this isn’t a Rainbow Crane, right?”

Yi Xichen gave a few dry laughs, “At least it’s a spiritual bird right? It can fly too!” With that, he grabbed Fat Chirp’s meaty wings and waved them, “Do you still want this?”

Fat Chirp looked at Yi Xichen angrily and turned its head to peck him. But since its wings were being held and its neck wasn’t long enough, it could only chirp endlessly: Bastard, how dare you to sell me.

What Yi Xichen felt was fortunate was that the cultivator didn’t get scared away by Fat Chirp’s abnormal appearance. It seemed that although he loved Rainbow Cranes the best, he was interested in all birds.

He said, “So this… how do you plan to sell it? Such a little gray bird is definitely not worth the Treasures of Heaven and the Earth!”

Hearing that, Fat Chirp immediately turned its head and looked at the cultivator with eyes of killing intent. But that fierceness looked very cute in the cultivator’s eyes. He even couldn’t help and reached out his hand to pet it.

“Chirp!” Fat Chirp pecked that hand away.

“Stop being so mean, Fat Chirp,” Yi Xichen flicked Fat Chirp’s butt and said, “Sir, do you have fifty high-grade spirit stones?”

The cultivator thought about it for a moment. Although this gray bird’s appearance was rather ugly, but as a spiritual beast, fifty high-grade spirit stones were already an extremely cheap price. He quickly replied, “Yes.”

“Fifty high-grade spirit stones, and your sword,” said Yi Xichen, “How does that sound? I bet you can’t find a cheaper price out there.”

But with that, the cultivator’s face immediately changed. He blurted out without thinking, “No!”

“What? What makes you dissatisfied about such a cheap price?”

“It is indeed not expensive. If you want spiritual materials or spirit stones, we can negotiate it. But definitely not my sword!”

Yi Xichen asked, “Sir, your sword is indeed a good sword, but it shouldn’t be that precious? After you trade it for my spiritual beast, you can just go forge another one?”

In the market, there would be merchants selling swords, but those usually weren’t too good. Strong cultivators would usually go collect iron and forge their own swords. And in the forging process, they could add their desired amount of spirit stones and other materials to strengthen it to their requirements. But such a process would take at least a couple of months. Yi Xichen and Zhangsun Zijun didn’t have the time, so they must find one that was already made.

“I’ve carried this sword for more than ten years, it has long become one with me. Even if you give me ten Rainbow Cranes, I’ll still say no.”

Sword cultivation required unity with the sword and body, so cultivators would insert their spiritual energy onto their swords. After long periods of usage, the sword would almost become a part of their body. But of course, they could recall this spiritual energy, otherwise, all cultivators must use the same sword their entire lives. But since he said it this way, that meant it wasn’t because of the spiritual energy on it, it was the bond the sword had created with him.

Yi Xichen was a little frustrated. It took them a while to find someone who happened to have a pretty good sword and was also interested in Fat Chirp.

The cultivator looked at Yi Xichen, then at Zhangsun Zijun. Seeing that Zhangsun Zijun was a sword cultivator, but didn’t have a sword with him, he understood. He said, “You’re selling this beast just for a good sword? But cultivators all cherished their sword, no one would easily exchange it.”

As sword cultivators, Zhangsun Zijun and Yi Xichen naturally knew this. It was just that they didn’t have a better choice.

The cultivator continued, “Have you guys seen the bounty announcement? Zhenren You Yun happened to offer his own sword as a reward. If you guys are strong enough and accept the bounty, that sword is a truly valuable sword!” He stopped for a second, and sighed, “But it seems that with your cultivation, it might be a bit……”

Zhangsun Zijun and Yi Xichen looked at each other, then immediately cleaned up their stall and went for the Bounty Announcement.

“Wait!” The cultivator said anxiously, “Are you still selling your bird?”

“Yes!” “No!” Zhangsun Zijun and Yi Xichen spoke at the same time. The two looked at each other in surprise.

Of course it was Zhangsun Zijun who said yes. As long as he could get rid of Fat Chirp, he didn’t care about the money. It was Yi Xichen who said no. Seeing that Fat Chirp wouldn’t sell for a good price, he wanted to see what the bounty was about, then decide.

Fat Chirp flapped its wings and followed the two. Although it was rather round, it was surprisingly agile. Hearing the two were still planning to sell him, he went directly into Yi Xichen’s Qiankun Bag.

“See? This Fat Chirp… it’s quite extraordinary!” exclaimed Yi Xichen.

The mouth of Qiankun Bag was tied, and of course, infused with spells as well. Since Fat Chirp could enter and exit as if the spell didn’t exist, that meant it had quite some abilities already. It must’ve done the same when it was still in the egg. It was just that at that time, Yi Xichen just thought he forgot to cast the spell or didn’t tie it well enough, rather than that the egg entered and left freely.

Seeing this, Yi Xichen was even more determined to keep it. If he had to sell it, it must be for a high price!

Yi Xichen has always had the final say on businesses. Although Zhangsun Zijun didn’t like Fat Chirp, he didn’t argue with Yi Xichen. In addition, they were in a hurry to go check out the bounty, so they temporarily decided not to sell it.

The Bounty Announcement was in the center of Xia Lin. After Yi Xichen and Zhangsun Zijun got there, the place was even more lively than the market. There were many people constantly taking posts off the announcement board, and more people putting others on.

The Bounty Announcement was something that almost every cultivation town had. Cultivators could write what they want on there. Some wanted spiritual materials, some wanted techniques of cultivation, and others wanted to find a cultivation partner. And of course, there were plenty who wanted to use others to kill someone they had a grudge against. In short, any request can be posted on the announcement board. Cultivators that like the reward could take their post off and go complete it. It was just a simple trade, except it wasn’t always objects that were being traded.

Yi Xichen and Zhangsun Zijun squeezed into the crowd, worried that the post the other cultivator had said was gone already. But when they got to the giant board, they found that Zhenren You Yun’s post was in the most eye-catching spot.

Zhangsun Zijun didn’t even read what it said and went to take it down.

“Hey, mister, please slow down!” a cultivator grabbed Zhangsun Zijun’s hand, “You must not accept this post!”

Every bounty announcement board had someone guarding it to maintain order. Those who went to post would also give a small tip to these guards. The person who stopped them was the guard of this board.

Zhangsun Zijun frowned. 

“Why not? Is this post here only for people to read?” Yi Xichen asked.

“It’s not that,” said that cultivator, “It’s just that Zhenren You Yun has posted this for three years already, yet still no one managed to complete it. In the beginning, there were many people who took it down to do it, but after failing, they could only return the post to where it is. By now, there’s a rule here. You don’t even need to go take that down. After you complete it, just come find me, and You Yun will still give you the rewards.”

Yi Xichen and Zhangsun Zijun gave each other a look.

Due to competitiveness, many cultivators might want to take the same post. According to the rules, if someone took a post but failed to complete it, they would be punished. If this happened many times, then they would go on the black list of Bounty Announcements, unable to accept any more posts. So most of the time, people would only take a post down if they were confident they could do it. Only if the reward was particularly high would one try to risk it.

Since it was a precious sword, many people definitely fought for it in the beginning. But high rewards came with high costs. This task must be incredibly hard. Due to many people failing, that was why the new rule was implemented.

Only after knowing this did Yi Xichen and Zhangsun Zijun calm themselves down and went to actually take a look at the contents of the post.

You Yun made himself very simple and clear: Kill the head of the Underworld Cave. Anyone who can get its demon pill, I’m willing to give away my White Cloud Sword!

After reading, Yi Xichen touched his chin and sank into thoughts.

He heard about You Yun before. He was quite a famous sword cultivator in the cultivation world. And he’s a wandering cultivator that wasn’t part of a sect.

Unless a wandering cultivator had extreme talents, their cultivation wouldn’t go very high. After all, with the help of sect members, cultivation could be made much easier. This meant that You Yun definitely had insane talent and abilities. Like Lu Ziyao, he had the Body of Three Yang. In the cultivation world, he was famous not only for his talent, but also because of a less glorious reputation – he often interacted with Demon Cultivators.

Cultivators, especially Sword cultivators and Devil cultivators, were two extreme ends. Although Demon Cultivators weren’t as bad, they were definitely not known for their kindness. This was because many Demon Cultivators sucked other cultivators’ blood to strengthen their own cultivation. Although not all of them did, Demon Cultivators were still seen as bad in others’ eyes. Even if some Sword Cultivators were friends with Demon Cultivators, they would try to keep a low profile and not tell others. But You Yun didn’t seem to worry about ruining his reputation.

But that was probably a long time ago. Now, he was offering his own sword to kill the head of Underworld Cave, which was a Demon Cultivator whose original form was a Snow Tiger!

“You Yun’s cultivation is already very high, but is still willing to pay such a high price. This Snow Tiger Demon’s cultivation is probably higher than his, it’s not easy to deal with.”

Zhangsun Zijun thought for a moment, “Snow Tiger Demon… I think I rode on him before.”

Yi Xichen: “……”