The first thing Aster bought in the auction was that ore which the auctioneer claimed was black iron, with a price that was obviously ridiculous for such a low ranked material, but which Camila affirmed it to be star obsidian.
Star obsidian and black iron in their crude state do look similar, but the difference is that star obsidian when refined it becomes a pitch-black mineral, the price of an ore of a kilogram was of fifty thousand middle grade spirit jades.
But that is the price of the ore in its crude state, so far, the luckiest person that has gotten a hold of an ore of star obsidian, only managed to get around 50 grams from of the mineral after refining it, the rest were other minerals that gather around the star obsidian, which is the reason as to why it looks similar to black iron, as the same phenomenon applies to it.
To actually buy a kilogram of refined star obsidian, you'll need around ten million of middle grade spirit jades and that is if you ever find someone who has gathered that amount and is willing to sell, but such a person doesn't exist, it's not like it hasn't been done before, but the one who did it had to wander around finding collectors who were willing to sell, do favors and errands, for a couple of thousands of years to gather it, it was honestly doesn't worth it… for the guy from the high ranked Stellar System who did it.
The reason as to why the crude version of it only costed around 50,000 middle grade spirit jades, is because the regular was to end with around 1-5 grams of the refined mineral, after processing it.
Unless we are talking about absolute heavenly treasures, amounts do matter, for example to make a defensive spirit treasure or armor, at the very least one needed around a whole kilogram of star obsidian, that's why the price of this treasure wasn't as high as it could be, the other reason is that by nature it was a high Stellar grade material, but it needed to be refined by an insanely good alchemist or its grade would drop.
Aster grabbed the ore which he didn't even touch before and smiled, for starters the ore weighted around 2 kilograms, which was good, now what was left to confirm is if Camila was right and this was star obsidian, and how much of it they would get out of this ore.
Blue flames lit up on Aster's hand, he controlled the output of Rigel's flames, because even if his flames were probably on par with a spirit fire, Aster was not skilled enough to properly refine a high Stellar grade material, which would normally be used for a treasure used by Law Integration cultivators and above.
Camila saw the outer worthless minerals that were stuck around the ore slowly be purified by Rigel's flames, and she bit her lip, she was too unexperienced with her innate ability, so while she could bet her pride that what Aster was holding contained star obsidian, she had no idea of how much.
Aster's eyes glowed, the flames were absorbed back into his body and then the result was revealed, a black gem-like irregular sphere, the size of a tennis ball laid there in his hand.
"Star obsidian, 1.5 kilogram of it… after being properly refined by Mylene I think it would be exactly one kilogram", said Aster, making Camila's eyes sparkle, she then looked at Aster with a "praise me" expecting expression on her face, but there was also a tinge of challenge in her eyes, as she won't be getting punished, which Aster found rather cute.
"Oh, our Camila is getting pretty rebellious, how cute", jokingly said Aster, making Camila look away.
"Don't be like that, with this we got more than what we paid for everything, not to mention this is an amount of star obsidian that can't be bought with money alone, not even in a high ranked Stellar System, it beats me how this ended in the auction", added Aster, which immediately improved Camila's mood.
Aster left the mineral on the table next to him, Lilia might know something more about it, in any case this was going to be a really useful item, because the special property of star obsidian.
The next thing on the list was that bottle which supposedly contained water essence formed at the bottom of an old lake, which Aster could immediately tell was a blatant lie, but that didn't mean it was a scam.
With a snap of his fingers, Aster applied a layer of Rigel's flames around the whole room, including Camila, that wasn't all, Aster also covered his hand with the golden armor and only then, he opened the lid of the bottle.
Camila's little mouth widened a bit, as soon as the lid was removed the blue flames were annihilated, luckily Aster immediately placed his own hand on the bottle to seal it again, before he closed the lid, everything in less than five seconds.
"Damn it, now I'm genuinely worried of who is mom befriending", mumbled Aster, he actually had to use half of the invincibility period the paragon body granted him daily, why do you ask, easy because even though Rigel's flames are the bane of any poison, there is nothing absolute in this world.
Even annihilation can be put out by countering it with a lot of spirit energy, naturally we are talking of a situation, in which Aster is weaker than his opponent, if not the spirit energy or anything would just be vanished into nothingness.
"Aster, are you okay, I-I'm sorry I didn't know it was poisonous!", Camila approached Aster in a hurry and grabbed his hand, she took out the emergency medicine she had in the ring, Aster gave to each one of them, the one made with his own refined blood.
Looking at Camila's teary eyes, Aster softly smiled, as he showed her, his hand which was perfectly fine.
"I'm okay, don't worry, I wouldn't have opened if it was beyond my capacities, so don't cry, please", he said.
Only after making sure, Aster was fine, Camila let go of his hand, she calmed down and then cleaned her face with a small handkerchief, Aster handed her, now that she knew Aster was fine, she felt a bit angry.
"You could have told me it was poisonous before opening it… more importantly you could have told me you would be fine!", she exclaimed.
Aster bitterly smiled in response.
"I wasn't completely sure of what it was so I had to open it, as for the second you are right, I should have told you I could handle even the worst case scenario".
Camila sighed, it was too much agitation for a day, but she still asked.
"So what is that drop of water, did they actually sell such a dangerous poison, like it was nothing?", she curiously asked.
Aster shook his head in response.
"It's not water, nor poisonous, but it is indeed a troublesome material to deal with, Prison Mercury, one of the few materials found in the Heavenly Quadrants which has the ability to dispel spirit energy by innate, though the lowest ranked among the ones known, it is still a… low Immortal grade material".
Camila was in awe, now she knew why she had no idea of what it was, as it is an Immortal grade material, Lilia had some in her ring, that's why she suggested Aster to buy it, also unlike normal mercury which is hell poisonous for humans, this material which shares the property of being liquid in its natural state, isn't.
With the small amount in the bottle, it wouldn't cause that much trouble, the problem is that the aura encapsulated in the bottle who knows how much time, and that was released all at once in a strong blast when Aster opened the bottle, that's why Rigel's flames were extinguished, but Aster was never in any lethal danger, since these things were provided by the Alchemy Peak Ancestor.
It was more like a really harsh prank, the aura that was released would have made any cultivator below the Law Integration realm, unable to circulate spirit energy for a certain period of time, but that was it, that being said, the mercury would have evaporated, after more than five seconds if the lid wasn't put in its place, due to the formation engraved inside the bottle, the same would have happened if a Law Integration cultivator or above opened the bottle, meaning they would get nothing but an empty bottle, but Aster's invincibility allowed him to keep such a good material.
At this point, Camila wasn't sure if she wanted to check the last thing she was curious about anymore, but Aster's next words convinced her.
"The last thing is something me and you can get, if we leave or if anyone else interferes it would disappear, though I have no idea of what it is, the runes engraved on the ring are conditions, I can protect us, so don't worry, also something tells me this last item was meant for you".
"Mm~", Camila sweetly smiled, truth to be told, she was genuinely excited to see what was inside of the ring, it should be beneficial for her, as her constitution reacted after some time inspecting it, though it wasn't the biggest reaction she has felt, it was probably the third if she were to rank them.
And so, Aster proceeded to check the last thing he was interested in, he took out the black ring and then slowly started reading the runes, it took him nearly an hour to finish them, and the result was, that he wasn't sure of anything.
"I could only discern that to start the formation engraved in the ring, the ones who bough it, must let a drop of blood fall onto it, which is the regular to tie a treasure to a cultivator, but there are extra conditions, it has to be done in the same day in which the ring leaves the auction house, you need the contents of all the monoliths, the trash included, and only the people who bought the vase must be present".
If any of the previous was missing then the ring would self-destruct, Camila probably could only discern the "easiest" rune, which was the one that stated all the monoliths were needed, as she is an amateur rune master, that's why she asked Aster to buy everything, but the other runes required someone who could directly use soul energy instead of spirit sense, which under normal circumstances would be…a Soul King.
Aster made a slight cut in his finger and then turned to see Camila, the decision was ultimately hers, but to be honest he wanted to see what was inside the ring, unlike back then when he was sucked by the book in which the twins were imprisoned, he was now a soul cultivator, and believe it or not he could "foresee" dangers, maybe it was because his eyes were what he could change due to his dragon lineage, so a situation like that will never repeat again.
Also this ring came from his godmother, and as one of the ancestors of the sect she wouldn't kill a disciple on a whim, that was a certainty, though her sense of humor was rather twist, if she even had one, it's more probable that she treated the auction house as a experiment, with the finality of discovering abnormalities among the disciples, not because of the sake of the sect… but because she was interested on it, or at least that's what Aster concluded, based on what Lilia had told him about her.
Ultimately Camila also agreed, she walked towards Aster, but then was taken by surprise, by him wrapping his arm around her waist.
"Hyaa!", she let out a startled sound due to the surprise, but she saw the golden light enveloping both hers and Aster's body and she realized it was him protecting her.
"You really enjoy teasing me, right?", she mumbled as she cut her finger and then, while Aster put all his attention on the ring, they both let a drop of their blood fall on the ring, he wasn't using the invincibility seconds he had left yet, they would be automatically used if their lives were in danger, but for non-harming situations he had to activate them manually.
Once the drops of blood fell on the ring, Aster jumped backwards, with Camilla in his arms, they then watched the runes on the ring illuminating once after another.
Under Camila's surprised eyes, the ring absorbed all the things that were contained in the monoliths, then the ring cracked and broke apart, but it didn't case any sound nor an explosion, instead what happened is that revealed its contents.
"T-That is, the root of a Steel Lightning Tree!", shouted Camila, what appeared in front of them, was a silver-colored tree trunk of about two meters long, and at the same time, the best material to make the shaft of a flexible spear in the four Heavenly Quadrants, as it was the lightest, sturdiest and the most malleable wood that was known, though the regular trees can be found here and there, for the root to form, a hundred thousand years need to pass, and the tree must survive all that time, it's worth mentioning that this tree every ten thousand years will be struck by lightning, since it attracts them, due to its properties.
So normally the wood of the tree is used after the it has lived fifty thousand years, when it's a middle Stellar grade material, that is because normally the next lightning rain that strikes it, ends up killing the tree, and even if it doesn't the tree withers, because the root is starting to form, but it's useless unless it survives to the mark of one hundred thousand years, when it becomes a middle Immortal grade material, like the one they have in front of them!
Probably because all the previous owners of Camila's manual were spear users, but the best materials to make them were listed, regardless of rank, this one was among the few Immortal grade materials that were listed in the pages she could read right now.
Aster could see the happy expression in Camila's face and he smiled, he moved the trunk with his soul energy and to Camila's surprise, he handed it to her.
"Aster this…", before she could finish, Aster placed his finger on her lips.
"This is for you, also don't think too much about it, none of us can give it a better use than you, it's in your manual isn't it, the best materials that you can absorb their properties off, to strengthen your natal treasure".
Camila's heart skipped a beat, she read her manual and made some casual conversation with Aster from time to time about it, so she was surprised that he remembered such a thing, not to mention he was gifting her such a precious material.
Seeing Camila's expression, Aster patted her head.
"We wouldn't have gotten this, if it wasn't for your ability anyway, the mercury and the star obsidian will be for the others, so it's not like I'm not getting anything, I told you, there is no such a thing as "mine" for material stuff in my family, things belong to the one who can give the best use to them".
Camila's eyes trembled a bit, she kept the trunk un her spatial ring to absorb its properties later on, and then, she smiled from the bottom of her heart, as she raised her head and, to Aster's surprise, she kissed his cheek.
It was just a quick peck and Camila's face was red as an apple, she was clearly as nervous as possible but she still did it.
"Thanks~", she said and then, without a second of delay, she escaped to the roof of the room they rented, since it was a private spot only for them, leaving a surprised Aster behind.
"Now that is something I didn't expect", mumbled Aster.
…
At the rooftop, Camila whose face was flushed, was now realizing what she did and she wanted to dig a hole to hide.
'What the hell is wrong with me!', she screamed in her heart, she then touched her lips and remembered the sensation, which made her cover her face with her hands.
Without noticing, the sun had disappeared from the sky, the night came earlier at the Treasure Planet than at the Battle Planet, and it was also way colder, enough for Camila to feel cold.
"Mm?", Camila whose eyes were closed, suddenly opened feeling a warm sensation around her, she saw Aster who placed a white coat with golden "fur" decorating the neck and the wrists of it, covering her.
"It's not that much compared to that tree, but I told you I would give you a reward if you did it right, this coat has a relatively high amount of my blood mixed on it, it's my gift to you… next time if you are troubled by me, mention it, Mylene was the one who realized what was going on", mumbled Aster.
Camila nearly fainted due to embarrassment on the spot, the reason as to why she has kept a distance with Aster is not that hard to guess, she is attracted to treasures, Aster's body is a living treasure.
But it's not as simple as that, he is also the only one who has the other part of the Wolfstein lineage, and also the treasures created with his blood are the only ones she can absorb the properties of, that comes from an "animal".
Her ability, can normally only absorb the properties from minerals, herbs, plants or metals, when she absorbs treasures, she only gets those parts, the materials such as bones, blood and similar things are rejected.
The only exception being, the blood of Aster, which is mixed with the broken swords he gave her, those metals are also the only ones that directly combined with her spear as well, the others only turn into the drops of either copper or silver colored liquid that resides in her dantian.
Normally by the time Aster and the girls go out of their room, Camila is already in the dining room, but Mylene and Eris took the initiative to get closer to her, and so they started accompanying Camila by waking up earlier, and with time they noticed some days she looked as if she had zero sleep, but they didn't ask thinking she was training or something like that, until they visited the secret realm.
Mylene saw Camila soundly sleeping, for the first time, and then she realized what was happening, the nights she had near to zero sleep were… those in which Aster had some fun with Lilia and the others.
She confirmed it not too long ago, by staying up until late with Eris, the poor girl wasn't able to rest, because Aster's lineage gets stimulated due to the yin of the others, when they have sex, naturally she couldn't ask Aster to stop, she was too embarrassed to even mention it, so she kept it to herself, and endured it in silence.
When Eris and Mylene told Aster about it, he came with this solution, ultimately this was caused because of his lineage being a treasure her lineage to go crazy, since Aster saw the nervous state in which Camila was the first time her ability manifested, when her room ended up being a mess due to it.
And so, she only needed to have a part of that treasure to calm down, that's why Aster made this coat with the help of Mylene and Eris, it wasn't a defensive type treasure or anything, its only effect was to calm the mind and amplify the aura radiated by Aster's lineage, also only the one who wore it could feel it, courtesy of Eris's rune mastering.
Basically, it was something Camila was only going to use to sleep, considering how much of his blood was used to paint the fur of a golden tone, this should be enough to give her the time she needed to control her lineage.
Camila felt a warm wave filling her heart, Aster smiled and then sat next to her, this was the last event of their date, night came at this planet earlier, so they could stargaze a bit before returning.
Camila leaned her head against, Aster's shoulder, while she stole a gaze at the tall black haired youth, who was sitting at her right.
'You called me your lucky charm, but to be honest, I think it's the other way around, since it was you the one who changed my life~' she thought, as she closed her eyes and focused on enjoying the peace that this moment brought to her.
Aster noticed that Camila's breath slowed down a bit, she fell asleep without realizing it, which is fair considering how many sleepless nights she has had.
"I guess it's time to return, it was quite a long day for her after all", mumbled Aster, he carried Camila in his arms and then they disappeared from the rooftop.
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