Chapter 71 - The Mysterious Stone Orb (III)
Chapter 71: The Mysterious Stone Orb (III)
Translator: GravityTales Editor: GravityTales
Long Hao Chen looked at him, completely astonished. Each pill had a value of at least 1800 gold coins. Three pills were worth more than 5000 gold coins. What kind of answer could be so expensive?
Li Xin said with a playful tone, “No need to act so surprised. This thing is quite expensive to purchase, but for me, the cost of production only amounts to a few dozen gold coins. Do you know how many of them I could make with a single Dark Green Dual Bladed Demon? So many that I wouldn’t dare announce it. Even making 180 of these pills is doable for me.”
In fear that Long Hao Chen might be getting swindled, Li Xin immediately said “Tell us first what your question is and even if we can answer it, we reserve the option to withhold our answer.”
Lin Xin gently laughed, “It’s a simple question. You will definitely be able to answer it. All I want to know is whether or not you were the ones to kill this Dark Green Dual Bladed Demon.”
Li Xin was speechless, “Such a simple question?”
Lin Xin unfolded his both arms and answered, “What if it is so simple?”
“What’s up with that, we are the ones who killed it.”
Lin Xin raised his hand and threw the crystal bottle into Long Hao Chen’s hand, as he said, “Alright, as promised.”
Long Hao Chen didn’t dare believe his own ears, “Lin Xin, this is too valuable, I cannot accept it.” It was worth 5000 gold coins! Up till now, he had never even seen so much money.
Lin Xin rubbed his own forehead with a look of helplessness, “Little brother Long, this is a mere deal. I didn’t give it to you and gain nothing in the exchange. In addition, I have another request for you.”
Long Hao Chen was a pure and kind-hearted boy, so when taking such precious items, although he was happy deep inside, he still couldn’t bring himself to accept it, “What?”
Lin Xin showed a humble smile and hardened his chest as he said: “If I am not guessing wrong, you must be heading to the Holy City to participate the Demon Hunt Selection Competition, right?”
Li Xin said, astonished, “How did you guess?”
Lin Xin explained, “It’s not too hard to guess. From the south, those heading to the Holy City must pass through Aimei City. Your youth combined with the reply to my previous question are both proof that you’re qualified to participate in the Selection. How could it be more clear? The main reason why I said I wasn’t afraid of you revealing that I am master Lin was simply that no one would believe that someone of my age can make pills of the third step. The other reason was that there was no way you would stay in Aimei City for long, since you will immediately be leaving for the Holy City to participate to the Selection. Am I right?”
Li Xin’s brows were raising, “What? Do you want us to fight in regard to the competition earlier than scheduled?”
Lin Xin hurried to shake his head and replied, “How can it be! I just want us to cooperate. Little brother Long, my request to you won’t harm you in any way. I only wish that if during the Demon Hunt Selection, the two of us enter the final stage and you ultimately enter the top-three, you choose me as a member of your squad.”
Hearing him say that, Lin Jia Lu could no longer control herself, “Why should he choose you? I am a mage as well!”
According to the rules of the demon squads, each team of six had to include six people from different great temples. In other words, a demon squad could only have a single mage.
Lin Xing said, “Older sister, I will only say the truth; from my point of view, considering your cultivation level, I am afraid that entering the final stage of the competition will be a little hard to you!”
Lin Jia Lu was startled, “Can you see my cultivation level?”
Lin Xin smiled faintly, and said, “This is my little secret. Little brother Long, how about it, will you make this promise? If you only accept my request, we will become a pair of good brothers in the future, and without hesitation, I will supply pills for you, free of charge. Honestly, I don’t have much for myself, beyond pills and money.”
He was quite handsome, but his current face looked more like that of a big bad wolf, eyeing a small, white rabbit with evil intent.
Long Hao Chen looked full of doubt, as he replied: “But how can you be so sure that I will enter the top 3?”
Lin Xin said, “I am betting on you. Even if you don’t, I won’t be harmed. Making this promise will be no trouble for you either, and in addition, you can receive my three energy pills with no qualms about them.”
Suddenly, Long Hao Chen’s body violently shook, and all of a sudden, a purple golden colored symbol appeared and shone on his forehead. The symbol was quite unusual, as it initially appeared with purple golden-color but quickly spread out, forming nine purple-colored shining symbols. Each was a third of a meter long, and faint traces of spiritual energy fluctuation could be seen above.
The purple-colored faint light scattered, and with a flash, a figure appeared in front of Long Hao Chen. It was Hao Yue.
At this moment, Hao Yue was in a clearly abnormal state, as he continuously stuck to Long Hao Chen’s body while letting out some _Wuu Wuu_ sounds, as though he was trying to convey something.
Besides Long Hao Chen who could communicate with him via telepathy, other people couldn’t understand Hao Yue’s words, “Hao Yue, calm down, I will try my best for you.” As he spoke, he raised his head and looked at the auction platform.
At this moment, another cart replaced the previous one on the auction platform. An enormous stone orb lay atop the golden cart. He could vaguely see that this stone orb was covered with several dark green-colored ‘veins’. The host, Xing Xuan, still standing on the platform, was introducing the item.
“The following auctioned article is somewhat… special: even our best appraiser was unable to identify it. But the seller wanted us to sell it at the starting price of 10,000 gold coins. Our auction house’s doctrine is to be impartial and not let our guests be extorted the single gold coins, so our chief appraiser is going evaluate this article.”
“Looking at it, it seems that this article has nothing special, it just looks like an ordinary stone orb. No traces of magic can be discerned inside. In addition, the interior of this orb is completely isolated. No one, not even a powerhouse at the ninth step could know what is hidden inside unless he splits open the surface of this orb. The only thing we can be sure about is that there are some fluctuations of spiritual energy inside. The patterns appearing on the surface are due to this fluctuating spiritual energy. However, this chief appraiser can predict that an unusual metal is very likely to be present inside. That said, it may be something completely different. Everyone, let the auction start, you may rise the price from ten thousand gold coins, but each of you, think carefully, because after the product is sold, we won’t take it back. ”
Without a doubt, because this item didn’t really stand out, and because the starting price was so high, this auctioneer Xing Xuan was trying to make it seem better than it actually was. In reality, it was obvious that they did not look favorably on this item.
Ten thousand gold coins. It was really ten thousand gold coins! At this moment, Long Hao Chen was internally struggling.
When Hao Yue appeared, it was not because Long Hao Chen summoned him, but rather Hao Yue who launched the summon. This kind of instance already far exceeded the limits of their contract of equals, and was evidently the effect of the blood contract. Hao Yue appeared right when the stone orb was being pushed onto the auctioneering platform and sent signals of urgency towards Hao Chen. It seemed that this stone orb was quite important to him.
Because their bloodstreams were interlinked, what Long Hao Chen saw, Hao Yue could sense it as well, even if he was not beside him. Thus, as soon as he came to the booth, he immediately started jumping up and down, obviously desiring that stone orb.
Exorbitant! Too exorbitant. Looking at Little Light and Little Flame’s eyes and their unyielding, dogged expression, Long Hao Chen couldn’t help but feel a sense of helplessness. He had just received 2000 gold coins but he had to split them up evenly with the others. Where would he have 10,000 gold coins to buy this item!
Long Hao Chen stared at the stone orb on the platform, but Lin Xin was instead focused on Hao Yue. When Hao Yue had appeared, Lin Xin’s face had expressed astonishment. He had seen so many species of magical beasts, even rare ones, but he had never before seen one like Hao Yue.
Previously, Lin Xin had paid a high price to purchase the magic skill, [Identification Method]. Relying on this magic, he could detect the circumstances of any one, regardless of his vocation, and even if it was a magical beast. The only prerequisite was that the level of the target investigated could not exceed his own.
*[Long Taos]: side characters in Chinese operas who perform acrobatics and fight scenes
*[12.47 to 13.07]: don’t ask me about the tree sap