This Sword Cultivator is Somewhat Dependable

"Master Mo, do you really trust these two people so readily? To hand over such a massive amount of spirit stones to them just like that? Aren’t you afraid they might be tempted by the wealth, take off in hiding, or even betray us?" asked Fa Shui inside the courtyard, puzzled.

The other two also harbored similar doubts.

Master Mo’s expression remained calm, and he spoke in an even tone, "These two appear young, yet possess such cultivation and carry themselves with an extraordinary demeanor, clearly they are the outstanding disciples of some prestigious sects.

You must have noticed their attitude that they are not lacking in spirit stones. The huge amount of spirit stones you are thinking of, in their eyes, might not be insignificant, but it definitely isn’t to the extent that they would commit acts of treachery for it. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Moreover, they have expressed their intention to seek our help to find someone. They haven’t found the person yet, so how could they possibly take off? As for betraying us, we haven’t revealed too much information. If he wanted to betray us, he could have done so when he discovered you three, rather than waiting until now."

A glint of firmness flashed in Mo Yan’s eyes as he spoke in a deep voice, "What’s most important is, obtaining this Cold Spirit Fire Seed is akin to a gamble.

Having members of the Dragon Slaying Saber go out to shop might mean gambling with our brothers’ lives. As compared to that, entrusting them to help with the purchase is merely risking a batch of spirit stones at most. What’s there to hesitate about? For me, earning spirit stones is no difficult task!"

...

In the marketplace of Jiaolong City, inside Myriad Treasures Tower.

Myriad Treasures Tower is a shop set up by the Sea God Sect and is also the most prestigious shop in this market.

However.

"That’s it?" Western Rat King looked somewhat disinterested at the two-story wooden building in front of him and complained, "This is way too inferior compared to the Great Xia Commercial Firm."

"The Great Xia Commercial Firm is the largest commercial firm within the territories of the Human Race. This is just a small sect’s shop; how could it compare?" Lu Qingshan wasn’t surprised and stepped into the building.

But Zang Xiaojian, standing next to a human and a mouse, contrasted notably with their calm and disdain; as soon as she entered Myriad Treasures Tower, she began to look around at the items and decorations inside the shop, her eyes sparkling with curiosity and wonder.

Was this young lady confined in some deep mountain or dense forest before this?

Lu Qingshan recalled when they first entered Jiaolong City, Zang Xiaojian also had the same first-time-in-the-city look, her gaze sweeping everywhere, and he couldn’t help but speculate.

Compared to the Great Xia Commercial Firm, Myriad Treasures Tower wasn’t just less imposing in stature, but also far behind in terms of hospitality.

It was a long while after Lu Qingshan entered before an attendant belatedly came to greet him.

"I heard that there is a Cold Spirit Fire Seed available in your store. I wonder if it’s still here, and if it is, may I take a look?" Lu Qingshan asked straightforwardly.

The attendant, upon hearing this, instantly turned serious from a somewhat slack expression, "Esteemed guest, the Cold Spirit Fire Seed is still in our shop and has not been sold.

However, the Cold Spirit Fire Seed is one of our shop’s treasures. If you want to purchase it, I can’t make that decision myself—I need to ask the manager, so please wait a moment."

Lu Qingshan smiled and said, "Understood."

The attendant hurriedly walked into the back of the shop.

"Could there be a trick?" Zang Xiaojian tugged at Lu Qingshan’s sleeve, somewhat doubtful.

"Let’s see how it goes," Lu Qingshan said gravely.

Seeing Lu Qingshan’s confident demeanor, Zang Xiaojian, unconsciously, also felt a sense of security.

It took a long while.

The manager of Myriad Treasures Tower finally appeared leisurely, holding a jade box made of mysterious ice, with a talisman attached to it.

"Is it this young master who wishes to see the Cold Spirit Fire Seed?" asked the manager.

"Yes," Lu Qingshan smiled.

The manager of Myriad Treasures Tower approached Lu Qingshan and Zang Xiaojian, removed the talisman from the jade box, and opened it before them to show the contents.

A faint blue light flashed.

Inside the jade box lay a deep blue seed that looked profoundly mystical, its surface rippling with ripples like clear sea water. The aura was immensely gentle—who could imagine that this seed could provoke a wildly violent Netherfire?

Lu Qingshan was not unfamiliar with the Cold Spirit Fire Seed. In the game, Netherfire Seeds had always been a major cost center for "Fire Attribute" Dharma Cultivation, and he had seen many different kinds of Netherfire Seeds.

Because Cold Spirit Fire belonged to the lower end of Netherfires, there were many players who owned this fire seed.

Lu Qingshan released his Divine Sense, probing towards the Cold Spirit Fire Seed.

Just a yard away from the seed, he felt an extremely suffocating heat, as if it could turn his Divine Sense to ashes.

Lu Qingshan quickly withdrew his Divine Sense and, after verifying the authenticity of the Cold Spirit Fire Seed, inquired, "How is this Cold Spirit Fire Seed priced?"

The eyes of the manager flashed oddly as he explained, "As the young master surely knows, Netherfire Seeds are precious. So, even though the Cold Spirit Netherfire doesn’t appear on the list of Netherfires, the price, as a Netherfire, will certainly not be low."

Lu Qingshan nodded slightly, "Naturally."

"Fifty fifth-grade Spirit Stones, and I will not accept low-grade Spirit Stones for payment. You can only pay with fifth-grade Spirit Stones," said the manager of Myriad Treasures Tower, stating a startling amount.

This was a sum that not even a medium or small Cultivation family could afford without exhausting all their resources.

Yet, Lu Qingshan’s expression remained unchanged; he casually handed over a storage bag containing the Spirit Stones given by Master Mo, "Please verify these, manager."

The Myriad Treasures Tower manager took the storage bag, confirmed the number of Spirit Stones, nodded slightly, and handed Lu Qingshan the jade box and the talisman that had been removed, "This is a Fire Suppression Talisman.

The Cold Spirit Fire Seed appears gentle, but it is extremely unstable; therefore, it needs to be kept in a jade box made of glacial ice and suppressed with a Spirit Talisman to contain its violent strength. Both of these are given as extras, at no additional cost to you for the Spirit Stones."

Lu Qingshan took the jade box and Fire Suppression Talisman, "Thank you, manager."

...

After Lu Qingshan left the Myriad Treasures Tower with the Cold Spirit Fire Seed, the manager, who had been composed, immediately straightened up, hurriedly pulled out a paper kite from his storage ring, attached a message to it, and threw it out.

The paper kite came to life in the air, turning into a stream of light that faintly flickered and quickly flew away, heading straight for the Sea God Sect.

...

Three Cultivators turned into streaks of blue light flashing across the sky. Suddenly, one of the blazes of blue light seemed to sense something and let out a voice of astonishment, "What is this?"

The blue light paused and came to a stop, revealing the figures within.

It was none other than the Golden Core Cultivator Han Lang, who had just finished presiding over a sacrificial ceremony and was on his way back to the sect. He used his Spiritual Power to form a large hand and reached out into the void, capturing a streak of radiance.

It was a paper kite.

"It’s an urgent Spirit Message from the Myriad Treasures Tower to the sect. Could something have happened?" a flicker of doubt crossed Han Lang’s mind as he received the message from the paper kite.

"The Cold Spirit Fire Seed has been sold; the buyers were two foreign cultivators who arrived on the island just five days ago." A single sentence, succinct yet alarming, made a dangerous glint flash through Han Lang’s eyes. Continue reading on empire

He recalled the day he was promoted to Golden Core, the moment when the Sect Master had shared some of the sect’s secrets with him.

...

"Do you know that, for the past few decades, there have been cultivators on the island secretly organizing a force against our sect, known as ’Dragon Slaying Saber’?" the Sect Master said with a chilling expression.

"I’ve heard of it." It wasn’t a big secret; even ordinary people had heard of it, and it was impossible for Han Lang not to know, "Why hasn’t the sect found them and eliminated them?"

"Their actions are very secretive. Although we are trying hard to investigate their identities, we haven’t had much success yet. However, we have discovered some news," said the Sect Master grimly. "Within Dragon Slaying Saber, there is a top Artifact Refiner known as ’Master Mo,’ who provides a tremendous amount of Spirit Stones for Dragon Slaying Saber."

"A top Artifact Refiner?" Han Lang exclaimed softly.

A top Artifact Refiner was always greatly respected and welcomed by Cultivators, holding a prestigious status and being amongst the wealthiest.

"Yes," the Sect Master nodded, "Eliminating this Master Mo would undoubtedly be cutting off one of Dragon Slaying Saber’s arms.

Therefore, we specifically placed the Cold Spirit Fire Seed, considered a treasure for Artifact Refiners, for sale in the Myriad Treasures Tower to lure Master Mo into buying it."

"Are you planning to capture him when Master Mo buys the Fire Seed?" Han Lang asked.

"No," the Sect Master shook his head, "Dragon Slaying Saber acts cautiously and would not be so rash.

Given Master Mo’s esteemed status, it is highly unlikely he would personally appear to buy the Fire Seed. It is too presumptuous to try capturing him this way; acting rashly could either alert our target or catch only small fish.

That’s why, during the sale of the Cold Spirit Fire Seed, we did not set any traps."

"Then?" Han Lang seemed to guess something.

"However, I can assert that given an Artifact Refiner’s interest in unusual Fire Seeds, Master Mo will, by all means, attempt to secure this Cold Spirit Fire Seed.

As for the process, I’m not concerned about the specifics, as long as the Cold Spirit Fire Seed ultimately ends up in Master Mo’s hands, because the real deadly strike is concealed within this very Cold Spirit Fire Seed!" the Sect Master’s intent to kill was palpable.

...

"It went smoother than expected," Zang Xiaojian wrinkled his nose, raising a doubt, "Isn’t it a bit too smooth?"

"Indeed," Lu Qingshan agreed, "Even if the Myriad Treasures Tower verified our backgrounds as foreign Cultivators without suspecting our identities, logically, the Cold Spirit Fire Seed should have been bait left by the Sea God Sect for ’Master Mo’; how could they have let other small fry get it so easily?"

"Unless my guess is wrong and the Cold Spirit Fire Seed is not intended as bait for Master Mo, or perhaps...."

"Or perhaps the measures set by the Sea God Sect aren’t located within the Myriad Treasures Tower, but somewhere else!" Zang Xiaojian hit the nail on the head, instantly grasping Lu Qingshan’s meaning.

"Where would that be?" West Rat King indicated that he understood but was still very puzzled.

Lu Qingshan and Zang Xiaojian looked at each other and simultaneously said, "The Cold Spirit Fire Seed."