Chapter 57: The Big Orange Cat in the Market

It doesn't matter. I was going to head inside later anyway. I'm just buying a little something at the entrance to snack on as fruit on the way back.

Qin Zhe spoke casually, maintaining an indifferent surface while mentally cursing up a storm.

If you hadn't suddenly popped out of nowhere like a crazy woman, would I have needed to waste a hundred medium-grade spirit stones just to slap the guy next to me across the face?

Unaware that someone was furiously greeting his ancestors in his heart, Nie Wenru glanced smugly at the bitter expression on the face of the neighboring vendor and said triumphantly, "Did you hear that? Qin Zhe only came to the entrance to buy some fruit to eat. Who was it just now claiming he couldn't afford it?"

Hearing this, the corner of Qin Zhe's mouth twitched. Truly, only villains and women are hard to deal with in this world. The man was practically crying tears of sourness, yet this girl was still keen on picking a fight?

Glancing sideways at the vendor who had already begun to autism-inducingly retreat into his own shell, Qin Zhe changed the subject and asked, "How come you're at the market? Are you here to buy things?"

"Yeah, I'm planning to go to the hospital to visit Tang Xiaoyou later, so I came to pick out some gifts."

As Nie Wenru spoke, mentioning Tang Xiaoyou, her expression dimmed.

"Tang Xiaoyou is truly pitiful. Not only is she hospitalized with severe injuries, but the entire academy is now filled with voices condemning her. Clearly, she was forced by the Eagle Nation, yet so many people are calling her a traitor."

"Don't pay so much attention to other people's gazes. Rumors won't last long, and the academy will have to handle this sort of thing sooner or later."

Qin Zhe offered words of comfort, just going through the motions.

He knew that Tang Xiaoyou had been sent to the hospital, but he hadn't paid much attention to it.

He wasn't sure if there was genuinely something wrong with Tang Xiaoyou, but since the academy had stated she was coerced, presumably she had already woken up and communicated with the academy authorities.

As for the gossip and whispers, Qin Zhe cared about them even less.

Compared to Tang Xiaoyou, Zhou Wentong was the truly tragic one.

Zhou Wu had betrayed the country and fled to Eagle Nation, leaving his son behind to suffer endless attacks from people within the academy these days.

Figuring they had shared a meal at least once, Qin Zhe said to the plump boss who was busy picking out spirit fruits, "Boss, help me pick some of the best ones and pack them separately."

With that, Qin Zhe looked at Nie Wenru.

"Since you happen to be visiting Tang Xiaoyou, help me bring some spirit fruits over as well. Consider it a small gesture from me personally."

"Shouldn't a gesture like that be delivered by you in person?" Nie Wenru asked, her expression turning odd.

"Didn't you two share a meal last time? I heard you got along quite well, and your relationship should have thawed quite a bit. With your current reputation in the academy, if you put in a little effort, who knows? Maybe she'd say yes to you?"

"Cough, let's not. She already rejected me, why bother tangling things further?" Qin Zhe choked on his breath, laughing ruefully.

"I only have some unearned fame in the academy anyway. I just won a tournament match, it's no big deal."

Although Nie Wenru had intended to play matchmaker, she could also tell that Qin Zhe no longer held that kind of romantic interest in Tang Xiaoyou.

Considering that Tang Xiaoyou had been the first to reject him, and that their reputations in the academy were now as different as heaven and earth, Nie Wenru sighed.

"Very well, I'll bring the spirit fruits for you. She is the one who missed out on you, she only has herself to blame."

...

Once the plump boss finished selecting the spirit fruits, Qin Zhe handed Nie Wenru a bag of the highest quality ones to take to the hospital to visit Tang Xiaoyou, and the two parted ways.

Originally, they had no real connection; they had merely bumped into each other by chance, and wandering the market together was out of the question.

Having wasted a hundred medium-grade spirit stones on "fruit," Qin Zhe did not linger in the outer ring of the market and headed straight for the depths.

As he ventured deeper, the items on the stalls improved considerably.

After about twenty minutes, Qin Zhe had spent all his remaining medium-grade spirit stones, and even parted with a few top-grade ones.

True treasures were hard to come by in the open market.

To find those, one had to visit the spirit artifact auction house.

However, given Qin Zhe's current financial situation, the auction house was far beyond his consideration.

In the spirit material market, a hundred top-grade spirit stones could easily buy a decent pile of impressive spirit fruits.

At an auction house, however, that amount of spirit stones probably wouldn't even cause a single ripple.

Strolling idly through the depths of the market, Qin Zhe was suddenly drawn to a spirit beast stall.

There were all sorts of spirit beasts in the market, and he had seen plenty of bizarre-looking ones along the way.

Yet, seeing a huge, orange tabby cat locked inside a cage at that particular stall genuinely piqued his curiosity.

The appearance of the Cold Moon Divine Hound was identical to a Husky, but its essence was unique to the Cold Moon Secret Realm, making it extraordinary.

The orange cat Qin Zhe was looking at right now, however, looked exactly like a common domestic feline. He could confirm it was a creature of the outside world, as many girls in the academy kept them as pets.

The spirit material market did not sell mundane pets; for it to be displayed and sold at a stall, the orange cat had to be a spirit beast!

Has this cat mutated?

Puzzled, Qin Zhe walked closer and immediately sensed a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy.

Noticing that he was clearly drawn to the orange cat on the stall, the vendor cheerfully spoke up, "Young man, are you interested in this cat?"

"Is this... a mutated domestic cat?" Qin Zhe asked, reaching out to give it a stroke.

"Don't touch it!"

The vendor yelled out decisively, stopping him before his hand could make contact, and said, "This is an Illusion Cat, not a domestic cat, and it cannot be touched. What you see is not its true appearance; it has altered its outward form."

"An Illusion Cat?" Qin Zhe was startled, couldn't help but take a couple of extra looks at the caged orange cat.

Because the Husky-like creature in his understanding had transformed into the Cold Moon Divine Hound, he had spent his spare time researching spirit beasts to avoid running into unfamiliar ones and suffering a covert loss in the future.

The Illusion Cat was a remarkably famous species native to the extreme northern snow plains of the Dragon Country.

This species did not originate from a secret realm, but its preciousness was hardly inferior to the Cold Moon Divine Hound.

As an individual spirit beast, the Illusion Cat's physical combat power was not particularly high, and the room for growth through feeding was very limited, but it possessed a unique, innate skill.

Whether it was a kitten or an adult, anyone below the fifth tier who touched the Illusion Cat would instantly fall into an inescapable illusion, unless they gained its recognition.

Consequently, people who kept Illusion Cats often experienced hallucinations just from petting them.

Yet, for this very reason, Illusion Cats had become immensely popular.

Unlike ordinary illusion arrays that projected targeted illusory effects, Illusion Cats could freely manipulate the illusions they created.

Once an owner gained the recognition of an Illusion Cat, under the premise of mutual understanding, the owner could see whatever they desired within the illusion.

This ability was nothing short of a bug.

With an Illusion Cat, you could practically roll around in illusions with your dream goddess...

Bah!

In short, the functionality of the Illusion Cat was overwhelmingly powerful, easily reducing the boasted cultivation-assisting Cold Moon Divine Hound to dust!

In fact, many senior cultivators throughout history had relied on the illusions created by Illusion Cats to deduce and invent brand-new cultivation techniques while immersed within them.

"Boss, you aren't pulling my leg, are you?"

Qin Zhe rubbed his hands together, developing a profound interest in the big orange cat before him.

"Illusion Cats are so rare, how come you're selling one in the market?"

"Can't help it, this thing doesn't sell easily and has been stuck in my hands for a long time."

The vendor shrugged, raised a hand, and cast a spell. The Illusion Cat trapped in the cage let out a miserable squeal, its fur bristling as it leaped up, its form shifting from orange to snowy white.

"See? This is its true appearance. This creature is hard to tame, and the one I have is particularly fierce. Many customers have tried before, only to return empty-handed."