A month passed in the blink of an eye.
Yan Lei arrived as scheduled.
"Fellow Daoist Yan, the twenty Low Grade second-tier Puppets are all here."
Su Bai placed the Storage Pouch containing the Puppets on the table.
Yan Lei glanced into the Storage Pouch.
They were mostly beast-shaped Puppets.
There were lion-shaped, tiger-shaped, and ape-monkey Puppets for offense.
There were turtle-shaped, pangolin, and wild boar Puppets for defense.
There were also flying Puppets, which could be used for both offense and escape.
"Not bad, not bad."
Yan Lei nodded in satisfaction.
Then he took out a hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones and handed them to Su Bai.
"Hehehe, Senior, these are the remaining Spirit Stones, they're all here. The few extra ones are for your trouble."
After getting the Puppets, Yan Lei was clearly much happier.
He could finally begin his journey to the Secret Realm.
As far as Yan Lei knew, that Secret Realm had already been discovered by several Gangs.
However, they were troubled by the second-tier Yao Beasts guarding outside and had been unable to explore it.
They were still secretly recruiting Loose Cultivators.
With Su Bai's Puppets, Yan Lei could at least get a head start of a year and a half.
"Senior Su, then I shall take my leave."
Putting the Storage Pouch containing the Puppets into his bosom, Yan Lei left in a hurry.
He still needed to go back and find someone to refine and control these Puppets.
Seeing Yan Lei's appearance, Su Bai also knew that this guy wanted to get ahead.
Unfortunately, that was unlikely.
Even if Yan Lei could pass through the territory of the second-tier sea Yao Beasts and successfully reach the Secret Realm.
He still wouldn't be able to enter.
The Restriction left by a Nascent Soul Cultivator, even after three thousand years and some damage,
would still require at least a famous third-tier Formation Master to break it, which would take time.
All that wasted time...
would be enough for the news of the Secret Realm to spread throughout the entire Xingluo Market, and even to other places.
"Hmm, it's estimated that there are many Cultivators like Yan Lei; this is also a good opportunity to earn Spirit Stones."
Su Bai's Danfu Pavilion was different from before.
Previously, she only sold second-tier Medicinal Pills and first-tier Talismans.
Now, second-tier Talismans were also being sold.
Otherwise, the Danfu Pavilion would be somewhat misnamed.
Once the Secret Realm was discovered by Loose Cultivators,
and the news spread completely,
it was estimated that consumables like Medicinal Pills and Talismans would increase in price and sell well.
Now Su Bai could store some in advance.
As for when the news would spread, that depended on how long Yan Lei and Gao Fei and others could keep this matter a secret and prevent those Loose Cultivators from discovering the Secret Realm.
But the Southwest Sea was so vast.
How many people could these Loose Cultivator organizations and Gangs blockade?
There would always be a day when the news leaked.
Moreover, Yan Lei and his group wouldn't dare to blockade it too tightly.
Otherwise, it would be easily discovered that they were intentionally hiding something, which would naturally draw more attention.
Currently, many mineral deposits and places suitable for cultivating underwater Spirit Medicine had been discovered in the Southwest Sea.
And these places were basically divided among Families and Sects.
In Xingluo Market, there were naturally people who made maps.
The maps clearly marked the territories of various organizations.
General Loose Cultivators, upon seeing the markings on the map, would not go to those owned lands.
Now that Nascent Soul Secret Realm was in the Outer Sea.
Qi Refining Cultivators generally wouldn't go that far.
Foundation Establishment Cultivators, after discovering the second-tier sea Yao Beast's lair, would also not easily go there.
So the matter of the Secret Realm could still be kept secret for some time.
In the days that followed,
Yan Lei basically came to Su Bai once every three months.
Either to buy Puppets or to replenish Medicinal Pills and Talismans.
Su Bai also always had him use Mid-Grade Spirit Stones for transactions.
And she would also ask Yan Lei how his exploration was going.
And each time she asked, Yan Lei's expression was not very good.
It seemed he had gained nothing.
He had already invested a lot of Spirit Stones.
Each trip was like filling a pit with Spirit Stones.
Although he could bring back some Materials from second-tier sea Yao Beasts and collect some Spirit Medicine and Spirit Fish he encountered along the way when he returned,
the consumption was still very high.
Two years later.
Yan Lei sat in front of Su Bai, looking dejected.
Two years!
He had spent at least four thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stones!
And still had nothing to show for it!
He hadn't even touched the edge of that Secret Realm.
He couldn't hold on anymore!
"Alas!"
Compared to Yan Lei's shaking his head and sighing, Su Bai calmly drank her tea.
She even had the leisure to comment on the tea.
"Hmm, my craftsmanship has improved a lot. I estimate that in another hundred years, the Spirit Tea I cultivate will be as fragrant as the signature tea of the Baixiang Pavilion across the street."
Seeing Su Bai's leisurely appearance, Yan Lei sighed heavily again.
"Alas!!!"
In these two years, Su Bai had earned a lot of Spirit Stones from him.
Thinking about those Spirit Stones...
Even if he threw them into water, he should at least see a splash!
Now, he couldn't even see a splash.
"Senior Su, tell me what I should do. Spirit Stones are flowing like water, and now there's no return. Some of my subordinates are advising me to stop, but if I stop now, those Spirit Stones I spent before…"
Yan Lei was unwilling.
No matter what, he had to go and see what was inside that Secret Realm!
Yan Lei complained to Su Bai at this time.
In fact, he was also feigning misery.
He wanted to ask Su Bai to buy High Grade second-tier Puppets.
Those sea Yao Beasts were too strong.
Although there were no third-tier Yao Beasts, there were Late Stage second-tier Yao Beasts!
Even a Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator would have to expend some effort to deal with them.
Although Yan Lei's Gang was a large Gang in the outer city of Xingluo Market,
the strongest Cultivator in it was himself.
Middle Stage Foundation Establishment.
This was clearly not enough to defeat a Late Stage second-tier sea Yao Beast.
So he came to Su Bai to buy more powerful Puppets.
But Su Bai directly said that one High Grade second-tier Puppet, even at a cheap price, would cost him five thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
But Su Bai only wanted Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.
So one High Grade second-tier Puppet would cost fifty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.
To pass through the sea Yao Beast's lair, one Puppet was clearly not enough.
At least ten were needed.
That would be five hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones!
Now, how could Yan Lei still produce so many Mid-Grade Spirit Stones?
"Senior…"
This burly man, with a broad back and strong shoulders, was now feigning pity in front of Su Bai.
Yan Lei forcibly squeezed a tear from the corner of his eye.
He looked utterly pitiful.
Seeing this, Su Bai barely managed to keep the tea she had drunk from spitting out.
She quickly raised her hand to block her eyes.
It was a bit too much to bear.
"No, no, no, don't look at me like that, I can't help you much."
"Alas!!!"
Seeing that his persistent efforts were useless, Yan Lei sighed even more heavily.
He sighed so much that Su Bai was afraid he would sigh out his own lungs the next moment.
Su Bai also didn't want to be pestered, so she tapped her finger on the teacup.
"Haven't your organizations considered cooperating with some merchant associations?"
"For example, Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, I remember they have specialized sea vessels, right?"
"Going out to sea on their sea vessel, with more people at once, and with Formations protecting the ship, is much stronger than you Loose Cultivators working alone."
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