Chapter 171: Elemental Level! Prodigy of the Sheji Chart
Chapter 171: Chapter 171: Elemental Level! Prodigy of the Sheji Chart
"A twenty percent discount? You mean I can pay with money?"
Zhu Ge raised an eyebrow.
"If I give you money, you can go find me a few identical inheritances," Li Hao snapped. "Spiritual Objects! Spiritual Objects! You can only trade with Spiritual Objects!"
"Alright," Zhu Ge said with a smile.
Indeed, whoever heard of trading for an inheritance with money?
To acquire an inheritance, as he already knew, one had to trade Spiritual Objects.
Generally speaking, a low-grade Spirit Level inheritance required a trade of ten Spiritual Objects of the same grade.
In fact, to a certain extent, the higher the grade of the inheritance, the more Spiritual Objects it required.
For a high-grade Spirit Level inheritance, even an Elemental Level weapon might not be enough to secure a trade.
Therefore, for Zhu Ge to be able to trade for inheritances with Spiritual Objects—especially a high-grade Spirit Level one like the *Bamboo Garden Cookbook*—was already a huge bargain.
Of course, the trade-off was that Zhu Ge would have to supply Li Hao’s Tongfu Restaurant with Demon Beast Flesh in the future.
Although it seemed like a normal, equivalent exchange, Zhu Ge was undoubtedly coming out ahead.
This could be considered a show of goodwill from Li Hao to Zhu Ge.
However, Zhu Ge also knew that it was just that—goodwill.
’Since there’s a Rubbing Copy here, it means I’m not the first one to come here to make a deal.’
"Alright, alright, take your Cultivation Technique." Li Hao placed the technique in Zhu Ge’s hand, then made a shooing gesture. "Now go on, get out of here."
"But I haven’t given you the Spiritual Objects yet!" Zhu Ge said, surprised.
Li Hao shot him a disdainful look. "I know you don’t have any Spiritual Objects. You can owe me. Just pay me back in installments when you get some. Pretty generous of me, huh?"
’The way she just referred to herself?’
’And I can owe her?’
Zhu Ge’s expression grew even stranger.
Li Hao realized she’d misspoken and quickly covered her mouth. Her eyes darted around for a moment before she chuckled. "What is it, Young Master Zhu? Surely you don’t think I would distrust you?"
"If you don’t return eight high-grade Spirit Level Spiritual Objects to me one day, Young Master Zhu, then I’ll just have to consider these four inheritances my dowry, you know~"
Now Zhu Ge understood.
"You, you..." Zhu Ge just laughed and shook his head, then glanced up at the ceiling.
There was nothing there, just cold air.
Zhu Ge cupped his hands toward the ceiling. "My thanks, Brother Langhao."
Then he turned back to Li Hao, cupped his hands again, and smiled. "Thank you, Shopkeeper. Once I’ve made some preparations, I’ll be back with Spiritual Objects and Demon Beast Flesh."
Seeing Zhu Ge address the ceiling, Li Hao looked momentarily embarrassed, but she maintained her courtesy and saw him out.
Watching Zhu Ge finally disappear into the night, Li Hao stood under the sign of the Tongfu Restaurant, lost in thought. She remained there for a while before finally leaving.
Zhu Ge had gained so much from this trip!
His original goal was simply to establish cooperative relationships with the various powers in the city.
Shihu Pavilion, Nine-Colored Hall, the Zhu Family Bookstore, and others were all major powers with a presence throughout Yunjiang.
And the local powers in Jianshui City, like the Tongfu Restaurant, were not weak either.
These factions were fundamentally different from organizations like Martial Arts Halls, Immortal Sects, or academies.
They were essentially neutral, commercially-oriented powers.
Zhu Ge had established contact with these powers in the hope of more communication and mutual trade in the future.
The Six Paths Palace was newly founded and lacked everything.
Fortunately, that would soon no longer be the case.
At this thought, Zhu Ge made a quick mental calculation and quickened his pace back home.
It was a good thing he had his Martial Dao cultivation.
Otherwise, this lifestyle would have killed a normal person long ago. He spent his days drinking and feasting late into the night, then had a secret rendezvous with a mature woman in a back room, only to follow it up with a run of dozens, even a hundred, li to get home. A normal person would have collapsed and died.
’I should have brought Mazhu,’ Zhu Ge thought, having nearly forgotten about his mount.
But Mazhu was busy helping out at Six Paths Valley, and it wasn’t as if Zhu Ge couldn’t run on his own, so there had been no need to bring him along.
Just then, however, Zhu Ge’s heart skipped a beat, and he looked to the west.
In the far distance, faint, strange flashes of light and fluctuations of energy reached him.
If he listened carefully, he could even hear some sounds, but they were indistinct.
’Is someone fighting?’
Zhu Ge narrowed his eyes and stealthily headed in that direction.
As the border region between Yunjiang and Nanyue Mianhuang, it was only natural that countless people from all over were currently passing through Red River Prefecture on their way to Nanyue Mianhuang.
This was bound to cause a great deal of friction and conflict.
Regardless of whether they were from the Human Race or some other group, when it came to matters concerning their own interests, the strong would not yield a single inch.
In the past, Zhu Ge would have never bothered with such meddlesome affairs.
But now?
Since it was the perfect time to temper his Martial Dao, and he was now in debt with the entire Six Paths Palace to support...
’Why not watch how things unfold and reap the rewards?’
’Auxiliary, equip Trait!’
With a thought, Zhu Ge immediately equipped the Trait.
[Name: Zhu Ge]
[Lifespan: 305 Years]
[Trait: Secret]
[Inventory: Kunpeng, Spider]
Equipping the Secret Trait only cost him less than a month of his lifespan, which was an excellent bargain.
After equipping this Trait, Zhu Ge’s aura completely vanished.
Moreover, other living beings who saw him would likely ignore him subconsciously.
He could be standing right there, but it was as if he were in a crowd of ten thousand identical people, causing others to subconsciously overlook him, to not see him at all.
By equipping [Secret], he could better hide himself and observe the situation.
RUSTLE... RUSTLE...
The leaves of bushes and grass whipped past Zhu Ge.
He moved quickly, staying low to the ground, but he sensed the distant clash was getting farther away.
’Third Realm experts...’
Zhu Ge instantly confirmed it in his mind. The beings fighting were definitely at the Third Realm.
’Now this is interesting!’
If they were only at the Second Realm, Zhu Ge might not have been interested.
So, Zhu Ge picked up his pace.
However, he didn’t even need to speed up. After he had been running for only a short while, the Third Realm experts who were fighting had gone from far to near, battling their way back in his direction.
"Damn you, Su Feibai! If you’re so damn tough, go take down Mingxing! Why do you keep pestering me all day?!"
"Hahaha, my dear Guan Julan, you stole my Elemental Level Spring Eye. Shouldn’t I be allowed to steal it back?"
"I saw that thing first!"
"Correct. Which makes me a robber."
"Shameless! You people from the Great Bright Jade Divine Teachings are all a bunch of robbers!"
"I’m flattered. And all of you from the Cloud Dream Immortal Sect are a bunch of thieves."
The two Third Realm experts battled back and forth in the sky, their passing causing the earth to tremble and shockwaves of sound to ripple out.
Hiding off to the side, Zhu Ge naturally overheard their conversation, and he couldn’t help but feel a jolt.
’Su Feibai? Guan Julan?’
The Spring Rain List of the Sheji Chart, seventy-third place: Guan Julan, the Eldest Senior Sister of the Cloud Dream Immortal Sect, who once fought a Grand General to a standstill.
The Spring Rain List of the Sheji Chart, sixty-fifth place: Su Feibai, the Holy Son of the Great Bright Jade Divine Teachings, who once fought a Great Immortal to a standstill.
One had to understand that the rankings of the prodigies on the Sheji Chart rarely changed.
There were minor adjustments each quarter, but never anything significant.
People like Su Feibai and Guan Julan were clearly mainstays on the list, the type of individuals who probably wouldn’t fall off the rankings before they turned thirty.
But Zhu Ge didn’t care about that. His attention was on what the two were fighting over.
’A Spring Eye? And an Elemental Level one at that?’