Chapter 1197 - Blood of the Sea God
Chapter 1197: Blood of the Sea God
Just like how a Golden Behemoth could leverage on the power of the earth, Elder Zumar would be able to use the Divine Sea Pillar as a medium to communicate with the ocean and obtain its power while he was in the ocean. It was almost equal to having infinite mana.
However, for Lin Li, the Divine Sea Pillar was much less attractive because the debris of the stars, Polar Snow, that he owned contained the purest elemental laws of water, which were much more profound than the oceanic laws of the Divine Sea Pillar. As for the function of suppressing the wind and waves to ensure the safety of the ship, it was redundant because he felt that some ordeals and tribulations were necessary for personal growth. No matter how excellent a fleet might be, it would be useless if it hadn’t experienced any dangerous weather or other adverse conditions at sea.
Hence, although Lin Li was a little surprised to see the Divine Sea Pillar here, he didn’t intend to pocket it. However, he had no idea that Elder Zumar, who had received the tip-off, immediately went to the same store that he visited, and bought one of the Divine Sea Pillars without hesitation soon after Lin Li left.
Lin Li naturally wasn’t aware that the item that he hadn’t taken a liking to was treated as a treasure and bought by someone right after he left. Of course, to Elder Zumar, the Divine Sea Pillar was indeed a rare treasure. It was insignificant to Lin Li merely because he owned an incredible treasure like the debris of the stars.
However, the Divine Sea Pillar seemed to be just an appetizer. As Lin Li gradually explored further into the market, he also began to be dazzled. There was a plethora of ocean specialties like magical gemstones, rare magical metals, and deep-sea magical plants that were almost extinct. Those items were far more useful for Lin Li than the Divine Sea Pillar. Hence, he bought some along the way.
There were also some items that Lin Li chose not to buy, but it didn’t mean that they were inferior. He just didn’t need them. There were even some rare items that Lin Li hadn’t seen or heard of since he came to Anril. Instead, he identified them based on the legends of the Endless World before he transmigrated.
For example, he saw a few seemingly rusty bronze shields, which were actually the legendary ancient Black Turtle shells. It was said that the ancient turtle was born with a mageweath on its shell, which would increase in level together with the turtle’s growth. Legend had it that it might even grow to the Divine-Smith-level.
However, the mageweaths on the turtle shells in front of Lin Li had only reached the Master-level, and they would at most make a few good shields. If they were Guru-level mageweaths, Lin Li might be willing to buy them to study them. If there was a live turtle, he might be willing to buy it and let it continue growing too. Unfortunately, they were just a few shells, which he felt weren’t worth his money.
Of course, Lin Li was now a Guru of Inscription, and was studying a Divine-Smith-level mageweath. Thus, he was naturally indifferent towards the mageweath on the Black Turtle’s shell. However, even Masters of Inscription were few and far between in Anril. For others, the shells might be considered absolutely precious.
Hence, before the smug shopkeeper could come forward to show off anything to him, Lin Li shook his head slightly and left, leaving the shopkeeper to stare at his back.
However, during his exploration, Lin Li also really saw a lot of deep-sea specialties. Hence, he spent some time looking at them before arriving at a store that specially sold inscription materials slightly later than planned.
The store was named Calicoli, which didn’t have much of a significance as the store was just named after the owner who was from the Octopus Clan. He had also studied and researched inscription before. Hence, his store was well-stocked with the necessary items.
At the mention of the Octopus Clan, some people might think of a large octopus or squid, but their bodily shape was actually quite similar to that of humans. However, on the surface, they did look a little like octopuses as they were bald and hairless, with a pair of beady eyes and a few finger-thick tentacles on their chin and neck which would twist from time to time.
Although they seemed a bit disgusting, they were quite powerful among the Sea Clan. In particular, the Octopus Clan’s members were far more talented in inscription than other beings. They could be considered natural-born inscribers. According to the standards of Anril, the most ordinary member of the Octopus Clan had to at least be a mid-level inscriber.
A mid-level inscriber might sound mediocre, and if compared with the ranking levels of mages, he would probably be below the level of Archmages. However, in Anril, inscribers were even rarer than pharmacists. In the Supreme Council, inscribers like Moore, who had merely reached the edge of the Master-level, were already considered to be of a high level.
However, inscribers like Moore were a dime a dozen among the Octopus Clan where there was probably a countless number of them. That was also the reason that the Octopus Clan was a very powerful race even in Anril.
Lin Li didn’t casually chance upon this store. In fact, he had patronized it once during his last visit to the Gift of the Sea. However, at that time, the things in this store were still relatively ordinary, and none of them enticed Lin Li. He also heard the shopkeeper say that the shelves would be stocked with excellent goods during the several days leading up to the Sea Market. That was the reason he decided to head there directly.
As soon as Lin Li entered the store, he felt that there was really a great difference here compared to before. First of all, the mana fluctuations emanating from the various magical materials were much more complicated and intense than before. The type and quality of the magic materials in this store today were obviously far from what ordinary goods could compare to.
Of course, Lin Li could feel that because he was powerful enough. If others who were weaker were in his place, they might not be able to feel it so clearly. After all, those magic materials had been specially classified and preserved, and some of them could not come into contact with the outside world. The shopkeeper naturally could not expose all the magic materials like they were seasoning powder.
“Master Felic, you’ve come at the right time, it just so happens that a batch of superior magic materials has arrived in store yesterday.” When the owner of the store, Calicoli, saw Lin Li, he immediately walked forward to greet him. Regardless of race, all smart merchants would understand the principle that a good service attitude would drive sales. Therefore, even if the Octopus Clan had a high status among the Sea Clan, they couldn’t be arrogant before customers.
Moreover, the last time Lin Li came over, Calicoli also discussed with Lin Li some inscription questions. Although Lin Li didn’t say much, Calicoli himself was an advanced inscriber. Even though he couldn’t tell what Lin Li’s attainments in inscription were, he knew that Lin Li was better than him.
After greeting Calicoli, Lin Li directly handed over a list of items to him without saying anything more. “I need these magic materials, see if you have them. Of course, I want those that are of the best quality.”
Calicoli took the list, glanced at it, and then nodded before saying, “No problem, I’ll get them for you. Rest assured, the items in my store are definitely of the best quality.”
Calicoli took the list and proceeded to fetch the magic materials for inscriptions for Lin Li. While waiting, Lin Li casually browsed through the store to see if there was anything worthy of his money.
While browsing, Lin Li suddenly stopped in front of a transparent crystal box which contained glittering black-golden sand. The sand seemed to have some metallic characteristics mixed with a subtle crystalline characteristic. The magical waves it emitted as well as the vitality it exuded made it seem like it was alive.
While using his mental strength to sense the nature of the sand, he carefully searched his memory for information that might match the characteristics of the sand. When his mental strength permeated through the closed crystal box and touched the black sand, something even more bizarre happened. The black sand in the box immediately converged and huddled up into a ball like a frightened creature.
The change gave Lin Li a flash of inspiration as he suddenly recalled something that he had heard in the in-game Endless World that he was in before he transmigrated. The setting of the Endless World game was ancient mythology that began with the creation of the world and the various intelligent races. In the myth, after the creator created the world by extracting the particles from chaos to first create the various intelligent and sentient races, he proceeded to create the other living beings in the world with the remaining materials.
The particles extracted from chaos were called Sand of Origin, a substance that was neither metal nor stone, but had infinite activity. It was said that a tiny amount of Sand of Origin was all that was needed to give forged weapons or equipment the magical ability to repair themselves automatically.
Although the myth was magical, the Sand of Origin was not extremely rare. It was said that it could be found in large quantities in a corner of the vast ocean. Before Lin Li transmigrated to Anril, he had thought about going to that ocean to search for the so-called Sand of Origin. Unfortunately, before he could do so, he had already been sent to Anril.
At this point, Calicoli had also prepared all the materials on Lin Li’s list. As soon as he came out, he saw Lin Li staring at the box of black sand; hence, he walked towards him, and asked, “Master Felic, are you interested in the Blood of the Sea God too?”
“The Blood of the Sea God?” Lin Li didn’t expect it to have a name, and he was also surprised to find that it wasn’t the Sand of Origin that he knew about.
“Yes, the Blood of the Sea God is a divine object of the Sea Clan. As you can see, it has an extremely high activity, and can be considered to be an immortal existence. If you add some when you’re drawing mageweaths, the mageweaths drawn will be able to be preserved for longer. If they are added to forged weapons and equipment, it will allow them to have an auto-repair function,” Calicoli explained enthusiastically as he introduced it to Lin Li.
After learning about its properties from Calicoli, Lin Li was more and more certain of his conjectures, and thus couldn’t help but ask, “Why is it called the Blood of the Sea God, then?”
“Haha, this goes all the way back to a legend passed down by our Sea Clan. Legend has it that millions of years ago, evil ancient gods from several worlds away suddenly descended on the Endless Ocean, and tried to use the power of the Endless Ocean to drown the entire world. In order to protect the Sea Clan and other races on land, the great Sea God got into an intense battle with the evil ancient gods, and eventually suppressed them. However, during that intense battle, the Sea God had also suffered some injuries, and his blood flowed into the Endless Ocean. Hence, it resulted in the Blood of the Sea God.” Calicoli couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride that was unique to the Sea Clan at this point. Clearly, according to this legend, if it weren’t for the Sea God they believed in, Anril would have probably sunk to the bottom of the ocean by now.
Lin Li wasn’t very interested in those iffy legends. After Calicoli finished speaking, he pointed his finger at the crystal box, and asked, “So, how much are you charging for this box of Blood of the Sea God?”
“500,000 coins a gram.” Calicoli did not stand on ceremony at all. He explained the myth to Lin Li all for the sake of setting the mood to fetch a high price for the sand. In particular, when he saw that Lin Li didn’t seem to recognize the Blood of the Sea God at first, he felt that Lin Li certainly wouldn’t know the true value of the item. Of course he had to grasp the opportunity to rip Lin Li off.
Although Lin Li was not short on money, he wasn’t willing to let others take advantage of him, so he slightly shook his head and declined. “Apart from the material, one of the more important factors that determine the duration of existence of a mageweath is the stability of the source and supply of mana. If the source of mana is no longer abundant in mana, there would be no point in the existence of the mageweath. As for the automatic repair function of the weapons and equipment, the sturdiness of weapons and equipment will also drop by at least a notch with the addition of the Blood of the Sea God, right?”
Nothing in this world was perfect, and there were downsides to everything. If a weapon was solid, strong, and sturdy, and had the ability to automatically repair itself, it would be worthy of being called a divine artifact. However, it was impossible for divine artifacts to be formed just by simply adding a morsel of the Blood of the Sea God. Besides, Lin Li knew that although the Blood of the Sea God and the Sand of Origin were relatively rare, it didn’t necessarily mean that they were minute in amounts. It was said that in the game of Endless World, the Sand of Origin was commonly found in the seabed of a certain area in the ocean.
“In this case, Master Felic, how much do you think the Blood of the Sea God should be worth?” asked Calicoli, who did not expect Lin Li to immediately turn down his offer even after hearing all the benefits he had listed. Hence, he had no choice but to find out how much the Blood of the Sea God was worth in Lin Li’s opinion.