Chapter 263: Chapter 258: Selling "Shao Guang
Song Ciwan was still in the midst of her Earth Escape, completely unaware of what had transpired in Pinglan City from the very moment she had escaped.
The entire city was in an uproar. Countless beams of light extended to the north. Every person with cultivation who saw the light became captivated, entranced, and eager to act.
People chased the light. Gradually, they formed streams, originating from every direction and ultimately converging toward the north of the city, surging forward like a mighty tide.
The scene was so grand that a Scholar immortalized it with his brush, writing: "A star born of deepest night, the divine will stirred; in all the city, who wouldn’t chase the light?"
The City God was startled. He raised his head in the inner hall of the City God Temple. A spectral image of a Jade Ruyi flew out from his body, instantly transforming into a miniature version of the City God.
This little City God slipped into the intricate dome of the inner hall, stood on the roof ridge to survey the four directions, and tugged his beard, clucking his tongue. "Pinglan City really has a Secret Realm? Damn it, this is going to be a hassle. This Secret Realm couldn’t have appeared at a worse time. I still haven’t properly dealt with that thing from the last Night Parade of Hundred Demons..."
The "thing" the City God was referring to was the Red Lantern he had taken during the last Night Parade of Hundred Demons.
This object was exceedingly malevolent. Although it had the potential to be a Spiritual Treasure, it wasn’t a true one. The City God had taken it away and was now applying a slow and steady effort, hoping to completely subdue it.
But an object that had accumulated a thousand years of Resentment was no simple thing to refine, not even for a being with the power of the Pinglan City God’s Golden Book Divine Being.
It was definitely impossible in a matter of weeks. There might be hope in a decade or so, but it could very well take even longer.
"A Secret Realm has appeared, and I don’t know if it’s for good or ill." The City God sighed. "That old coot Ye Lingguan is always saying ’you can’t do this’ and ’there’s nothing to be done about that.’ Now that a Secret Realm has appeared, I’d like to see how he handles it."
With that, the little City God flicked his robes and sat down on the roof ridge.
He was barely half a foot tall and pitch-black from head to toe. In the dim night, he looked like an inconspicuous wisp of smoke, gradually merging with the roof ridge.
Song Ciwan knew nothing of all this.
She was too busy marveling at the Earth Escape Technique. She had actually acquired the Water Escape Technique from the Heaven and Earth Scale before, but she rarely used it. Her go-to techniques were usually Escape into the Night or the Wind Manipulation Technique.
Escape into the Night belonged to the category of light and shadow arts, a type of Escape Technique.
The Water Escape Technique and Earth Escape Technique, on the other hand, belonged to the Five Elements Escape Techniques. It was hard to say which type was more powerful; in any case, when it came to Escape Techniques, the more types one knew, the better.
After all, the environments one faced were never monolithic. Who knew what kind of Escape Technique would be needed in a given situation?
’If possible, I hope I can learn all the Five Elements Escape Techniques and combine them into the Great Five Elements Escape Technique. With that, plus Fetal Transformation and Shape-shifting, where in the world could I not go?’
’Of course, it’s like they say: don’t bite off more than you can chew. I have no intention of learning anything new until I’ve cultivated all my current magic to a higher level.’
’Unless I have to impersonate someone and am forced to learn their signature Supreme Skill. That would be a different matter.’
Meanwhile, while still in her Earth Escape, Song Ciwan dropped her Lv Yun disguise and transformed into a completely unfamiliar young woman.
This time, she set her aura to that of Mid-Stage Qi Refining.
Song Ciwan then placed all the clothes she had been wearing into the Heaven and Earth Scale and changed into a completely new set of clothes, from the inside out.
After that, Song Ciwan prepared to sell the Shao Guang she had collected earlier.
She still had five trades remaining for the day. Once she used them up and Midnight passed, she would get another ten trading opportunities.
Song Ciwan was very much looking forward to what Shao Guang would bring her—but just as she was about to make the trade, a sudden impulse struck her. She removed Shao Guang from the trading Balance Plate and replaced it with a handful of Array Flags.
This was a sudden whim on Song Ciwan’s part. She wanted to test something: what would she get if she didn’t just sell the Shao Guang alone, but sold it together with various other materials?
’For example, before, when I sold a plate of stir-fried pork intestines, the Heaven and Earth Scale gave me one Strengthening Pill. But when I sold a plate of pork stomach stuffed with chicken, the Scale gave me two Strengthening Pills.’
’And mind you, the chicken in the pork stomach stuffed with chicken was just an ordinary chicken, not some kind of Demon Beast Material.’
’The only true Demon Beast Material was the Pork Demon stomach. A set of Pork Demon intestines could be traded for one Strengthening Pill, yet a Pork Demon stomach could be traded for two. On what grounds?’
’It must be because the recipe for pork stomach stuffed with chicken is more complex and uses richer ingredients than stir-fried intestines.’
’Even if its secondary ingredient—the chicken—was just a normal chicken.’
Mulling this over, Song Ciwan suddenly wanted to test what she could get by combining various artifacts and materials.
[You have sold twelve tattered Array Flags and obtained the materials: five taels of Beichen Golden Essence, one pound of Celestial Silkworm Demon Silk, and five feet of Illusory Cloud Bamboo.]
Selling these Array Flags yielded various Refining Materials.
This wasn’t surprising. Song Ciwan took out one hundred Primordial Pearls, added the twelve tattered Array Flags, and sold them.
[You have sold one hundred Primordial Pearls and twelve tattered Array Flags, obtaining the Middle Grade Magical Artifact: Soul-Nourishing Banner.]
’Huh? This time I got a Magical Artifact directly!’
This was the first time Song Ciwan had ever obtained a Middle Grade Magical Artifact!
It was rather pathetic, really. Song Ciwan had possessed the Heaven and Earth Scale for so long and had obtained many Marvels, including some high-grade treasures. But when it came to Magical Artifacts, she had only ever had Lower Grade ones.
It had gotten to the point where Song Ciwan rarely used Magical Artifacts.
It wasn’t that she didn’t like using them; it was simply that Lower Grade Magical Artifacts were no longer a match for her level of Cultivation.
Using them had become more of a hindrance than a help; her own magic was more powerful.
Song Ciwan suddenly felt that her entire previous approach to using the Heaven and Earth Scale had been wrong!
She immediately began a new test. This time, Song Ciwan took out two hundred Primordial Pearls, along with two broken Magical Artifacts from Lv Yun.
One was the bowl-shaped Magical Artifact Lv Yun had originally used to block sound, and the other was the umbrella-shaped Magical Artifact Lv Yun carried.
The bowl-shaped Magical Artifact had been broken by Chengxin, so the damage was obvious. The umbrella-shaped one might have been crushed by Song Ciwan herself; she hadn’t paid much attention at the time. After all, in the heat of a tense battle, Song Ciwan had no intention of diverting her focus to check if these artifacts were damaged or not.
[You have sold two hundred Primordial Pearls, along with one broken Cangying Bell and one broken Profound Bone Umbrella. You have obtained the Middle Grade Magical Artifact: Red Bone Sword.]
’Still a Middle Grade Magical Artifact. Two hundred Primordial Pearls plus two broken Magical Artifacts weren’t enough to cause a qualitative leap in the Heaven and Earth Scale’s trade, not enough to reach the Upper Grade Magical Artifact level.’
Song Ciwan immediately changed her plan again.
This time, she used a Magical Artifact from Zi Shan. This artifact was intact, and its original rank was already Upper Grade.
[You have sold one thousand Primordial Pearls and the Upper Grade Magical Artifact, Star-Breaking Cone, obtaining the Top Grade Magical Artifact: Nebula Shuttle.]
’A Top Grade Magical Artifact!’
Comments