Desolate era, p.724
Desolate Era, page 724
The [Novessence Void] required five million cubes.
The [Novessence Wind] and the [Novessence Light] each cost 1.5 million cubes.
The [Novessence Fire], [Novessence Earth], and the others were all fairly cheap, and the price was the same as it had been in the Brightshore Kingdom – a million cubes.
In total, the cost was twelve million cubes!
“Let’s see if there are any other techniques that are a good fit for me.” Ning continued his search. The nine novessence arts of Daolord Allgod weren’t weak, but they weren’t overpoweringly strong either. This was because, even trained to the absolute apex, the techniques were not able to kill an ordinary Eternal Emperor; at most, they would be able to suppress him! The secret arts which the Hegemon had given Ning, however, were able to slay Eternal Emperors. The problem was that it was too hard to train in them.
……
Ning picked up those seven scrolls, then spent another three days wandering through the Spellworld. This truly broadened his horizons and let him understand how many formidable techniques there truly were. It really was true that the Brightshore Kingdom could not come close to comparing to the Dao Alliance in terms of number of techniques. The countless generations of Dao Alliance experts had left behind plenty of techniques that were far more powerful than the nine novessence arts.
Still, for the present Ji Ning, the nine novessence arts were indeed still the most appropriate art for him to train in, and they would allow him to unleash the maximum level of power possible.
“Why didn’t you spend more time inside?” When Ning exited the Spellworld, he saw Su Youji and Pillsaint waiting for him at the entrance.
“There really weren’t many techniques or spells that we need. Two or three days was plenty,” Pillsaint said.
“The two of us already have our own techniques which we haven’t finished training in,” Su Youji said.
Pillsaint was focused in alchemy, and the first six chapters of the [Seven Leafpill Chapters] truly was more than enough for him to train in for a long period of time. The same was true for Su Youji. “Master, have you finished choosing your techniques?” Su Youji asked curiously.
“I have.” Ning walked to the guardian golem, then waved his hand and produced those seven jade scrolls. The golem turneds it flaming gaze towards those jade slips ,then said calmly, “These seven secret arts will cost a total of twelve million cubes of chaos nectar.”
“That much?” Su Youji and Pillsaint were both speechless.
“Take it.” Ning produced a jade bottle. The guardian golem accepted it, examined it, then nodded as it waved a finger towards the seven jade slips. Instantly, layers of light appeared on the surface of the seven jade slips; the restrictive spells over them had been temporarily removed.
Ning immediately sent his godsense into the jade slips. He first swore a lifeblood oath not to teach them to anyone else, then begain to memorize all seven of them.
“I’ve finished memorizing them.” Ning returned the seven jade slips back to the golem.
“Good.” The golem accepted the slips, then waved its hand and caused the restrictive spells to reappear. The golem then gave them a toss, returning them into the Spellworld.
“Let’s go.” Ning was in quite high spirits.
……
The World-level white-robed elder belonging to the Skywood Sect had been waiting for them this entire time, and he now continued to lead the way.
“How many places which sell magic treasures does Skywood City have?” Ning asked.
“The best one is naturally the Plumesoar Hall belonging to our Skywood Sect,” the white-robed elder said hurriedly. Engaging in the trade of magic treasures could result in significant profits. Daolords would often risk their lives for a few million cubes, but the auction halls of the eight Sacred Cities earned ridiculous profits every day with comparatively little risk. But of course, in the eight Sacred Cities ordinary organizations weren’t even qualified to enter this lucrative trade.
“My question was ‘how many’,” Ning repeated. The white-robed elder said resignedly, “Three in total. The first one is the Plumesoar Hall of our Skywood Sect. The other two places are the Blackwater Pavilion and the Universal Treasures Hall. However, this place is Skywood City; as a result, our Plumesoar Hall has far more treasures than the other two places.”
“Then let’s go to the Plumesoar Hall,” Ning said with a chuckle. Now that he had the secret arts, he needed to buy the treasures necessary to train in them. He was still lacking in Dao lightning and Dao water, for example!
“Plumesoar Hall of our Skywood Sect is over there.” The white-robed elder pointed towards the extremely beautiful, nine-storied tower which rose up into the clouds. An aura of light rose up thirty thousand meters aboe the tower, and it was protected by layers of protective spells. The Plumesoar Hall was the place where the Skywood Sect stored its countless treasures. It naturally was tightly protected.
“Plumesoar Hall often holds treasure auctions. There will be another one roughly a month from now,” the white-robed elder said. “You can go take a look when the time comes.”
“No need for the treasure auction.” Ning flew straight towards Plumesoar Hall.
Places like Waveshift City of the Badlandss Territory rarely held treasure auctions, but this was Skywood City, one of the eight Sacred Cities of the Dao Alliance. Plumesoar Hall, Blackwater Pavilion, and the Universal Treasures Hall would hold one every so often.
After Ning flew past the protective barriers, he could sense a flood of treasure auras sweep towards him like a tidal wave.
“There really is a mountain of treasures here.” Ning took a glance past the main gates of Plumesoar Hall. He saw an utterly amazing number of magic treasures inside the hall, far more than ten times as much as much as any of the Twelve Palaces of the Brightshore Kingdom. In terms of raw quality, the Dao Alliance had far more of everything than anyone else, be it cultivators, treasures, or techniques.
“Pillsaint, Youji. Now that you have broken through to become Daolords, you’ll need good treasures so that you can unleash your full potential,” Ning said. “Go buy whatever you need, but keep it under five million cubes.”
“Five million cubes?” Pillsaint and Su Youji were both rather shocked.
“Don’t be shy. Pillsaint, you are an alchemist; you not only need a good alchemy cauldron, you also need many valuable ingredients. Otherwise, how can you improve?” Ning continued, “Youji, you are now fairly powerful, but if you have suitable treasures you can become even more powerful.”
The two had sworn to follow him unto death itself; they would be his eternal retainers. There was no way Ning could be too stingy with him, now that he had sufficient resources. If it wasn’t for the fact that he needed a lot of resources in order to train in the nine novessence arts, he probably would’ve been even more generous with them.
“Go on in.” Ning immediately entered the Plumesoar Hall. The conversation between the three had been a silent mental discussion as they didn’t wish for the white-robed elder to overhear it.
“Seniors, I’m going to leave now. If there’s anything you need, you can seek out the attendants within the Plumesoar Hall,” the white-robed elder said loudly. His main mission had been to send these three to the Plumesoar Hall and ensure that they made a good amount of money off the three.
……
The Plumesoar Hall contained everything within it. Beautiful women were as common as the clouds, and although they weren’t as beautiful as Su Youji they were still dazzlingly and beguiling. Magic treasures and unique items were everywhere, the cheapest being a few hundred cubes and the most expensive ones being priceless!
“Senior, what do you wish to purchase? The Plumesoar Hall has accumulated countless treasures over endless chaos cycles. We have everything here.” A female attendant was standing next to Ning. She had some red fur on her face, but that just made her look even more bewitching.
“This is the list of treasures which I need.” Ning produce a jade slip, then handed it over. “Let me know what the price will be.”
The dazzling female attendant smiled as she accepted the jade slip, then sent her godsense into it. When she did, her face turned pale. She couldn’t help but raise her head to look at Ning. What an impressive fellow! He was apparently a Daolord of the Second Step, but he wished to purchase this many valuable treasures? All combined, this had to be tens of millions of cubes!
“I’ll go make some inquiries. Please wait for a while, senior,” the attendant said in a soft voice. She then departed to go make the report to her superiors.
As for Ning, he spent some time casually strolling through the Plumesoar Hall and admiring its many treasures. His list had included all of the precious treasures needed for training in all nine novessence arts. And of course, he already had seven types of Dao lightning and Dao water. The main issue was that the ones Ning had were the cheaper ones; in the Brightshore Kingdom, the most expensive type of Dao lightning, the Felworld lightning, needed 1.9 million cubes of chaos nectar! The two types of Dao lightning and Dao water which Ning needed were the most expensive ones. As for the other seven novessence arts, he needed everything!
“Fellow Daoist.” A silver-robed Daolord walked over. When he saw Ning, he sent a mental message to him. “You really need a large number of magic treasures. However, Plumesoar Hall can provide everything you need.”
“Mm.” Ning nodded. These items existed in the Brightshore Kingdom as well. Ning wasn’t surprised that the Skywood Sect, the ruler of one of the eight Sacred Cities, was also able to procure them. “How much chaos nectar will it cost?” Ning asked.
“Some of the Chaos fire and Chaos wind, we can just give to you as gifts. The others, though… in total, it’ll cost roughly 38 million cubes of chaos nectar.” The silver-robed Daolord looked at Ning. He was actually quite curious; would a Daolord of the Second Step really be able to produce that much? It must be understood that even when Vastheaven Palace extorted Patriarch Clearwind for his treasures, it had only been able to gain roughly twenty million cubes.”
“That’s too expensive.” Ning shook his head. “I could purchase these things in the Brightshore Kingdom for less than that.”
“The Brightshore Kingdom?” The silver-robed Daolord was startled. He immediately said, “Then how about 36 million cubes? This is a very low price; I think you know, fellow Daoist, what the rough price for these things are.”
Ning was secretly speechless. If he had purchased these items in the Brightshore Kingdom, the price would have indeed been around 36 million cubes.
“I’ll go pay a visit to the Blackwater Pavilion and the Universal Treasure Hall first. I have to find the best price, of course,” Ning said.
The silver-robed Daolord’s face twitched slightly.
……
After haggling for a period of time, they ended up settling on the price of 34 million cubes! There was some competition amongst the three markets, after all; it was indeed possible to lower the price substantially.
“All your treasures are ready. Fellow Daoist, you can simply pay me in chaos nectar.” The silver-robed Daolord looked at Ning.
“Do you accept payment in precious minerals?” Ning suddenly asked.
“Minerals?” The silver-robed Daolord was startled.
Ning nodded. “Right. Minerals. For example, darkspace flamestone.” Ning didn’t really want to do this, but all of his chaos nectar and chaos jewels combined was not enough to reach the price of 34 million cubes.”
* * *
Book 29, Chapter 32 - What The Hell?
Although the deceased Sword Hegemon had left him fifty million cubes, he had left ten million of them back in the Three Realms! The Three Realms would need that money for its development. As for the money he had gained from Patriarch Clearwind, that was reserved for the creation of his avatar. The total amount of chaos nectar and chaos jewels Ji Ning had totaled roughly thirty million cubes or so… and he had already promised up to five million for Su Youji and Pillsaint for them to purchase what they needed. Thus, Ning was lacking quite a bit; he’d have to throw in his darkspace flamestone ore.
“Darkspace flamestone ore? Of course Plumesoar Hall would be willing to purchase it. Follow me. A different Daolord is designated as the purchaser for special items and valuable treasures,” the silver-robed Daolord.
“Alright.” Ning followed behind the silver-robed Daolord and began to move deeper into Plumesoar Hall. They travelled through a wide passageway, and a short while later a thin, gray-robed man emerged from another part of the passageway. He glanced sideways at the two of them, then walked past them.
……
When the gray-robed man exited Plumesoar Hall, a hint of avarice appeared in his eyes. “That Daolord of the Second Step was actually being invited into the important parts of Plumesoar Hall?” The gray-robed man pondered to himself, “That place is used for selling valuable treasures that are worth more than ten million cubes.” He had been to Plumesoar Hall on multiple occasions, and so he was quickly able to deduce what was happening.
“I never would’ve imagined that a puny little Daolord of the Second Step would have more than ten million cubes worth of treasure.” The skinny gray-robed man narrowed his eyes, both greed and violence filling his thoughts. “I’ve followed Master for countless years and gone into many dangerous locations, but I only have a few million cubes worth of treasure. If I can kill him, all of his treasures will be mine.”
“But the problem is… if he has that much treasure, he definitely must have experienced extraordinary events. Should I attack him or not?” The gray-robed man pondered for a while, then made up his mind. “The path of cultivation is a dangerous path by nature. I am a Daolord of the Third Step, while he’s merely a Daolord of the Second Step. How strong could he possibly be? I’ll attack him. If I win, his treasures will be mine. If I lose, I should still be able to escape.”
After having pondered for aw hile, the gray-robed man decided to give it a try. As he saw it, even if this Daolord of the Second Step was a freakishly talented genius, he should be able to retreat unscathed. The gray-robed man immediately flew towards a nearby cloud-shrouded palace, preparing to keep watch from there. He didn’t plan on asking anyone else for assistance. Asking someone weaker to help out was pointless, while someone stronger than him would probably demand the lion’s share of the loot. He certainly didn’t wish to let that happen.
This was the nature of cultivation. Some cultivators focused on the Dao, tempering themselves through dangerous experiences. Others, however, preferred to plunder the possessions of their fellows. This was the fastest way of accumulating treasures, after all! But this path was a very dangerous path, because you never knew what secret killing techniques or trump cards your target might be holding. There are tradeoffs in all things. Plundering offered great rewards, and so there were still many Daolords willing to engage in such activities. A single successful kill might result in astonishing rewards, after all.
There were a few who were able to keep true to their own hearts and not engage in murder or robbery, with Ning being one of them. If other Daolords didn’t cause him problems, he wouldn’t antagonize them either.
……
Ning had no idea that he had just become a target. He was happily selling off his stockpile of darkspace flamestone for the princely sum of 9.2 million cubes of chaos nectar, and he then purchased a number of things for Pillsaint and Su Youji.
“Now that I have this ‘Heartspiral’, I am much stronger than I was before.” Su Youji happily held the white shell-shaped treasure in her hands, then looked at Ning. “Thank you, Master.”
“Whee hee hee!” Pillsaint was celebrating his new treasures as well. As for Ning, he felt both happy and resigned. The Heartspiral was extremely powerful, and it was a perfect fit someone who walked the path of charm like Su Youji. However, it had cost him 5.8 million cubes of chaos nectar! Su Youji had lingered over the Heartspiral for quite some time, wanting to buy it but knowing that it cost more than the five million cube limit. In the end, after Ning had finished buying the materials he needed for his nine novessence arts, he saw her staring at the Heartspiral and agreed to buy it for her. As for Pillsaint, he had purchased a good furnace and various alchemical materials, which cost a total of around two million cubes.
“Ugh. I only have a few hundred thousand left.” Ning couldn’t help but sigh to himself. It really did seem as though he never had enough money on him.
For example, he really wanted to study the full copy of Emperor Heartsword’s [Heartsword] technique, but it was far too expensive. The cost of that technique was many times higher than the nine novessence arts; there was no way he could afford it. In addition, Ning had already acquired the first ten stances of the [Heartsword] stance long ago. The truly valuable aspect of [Heartsword] lay in teaching its wielders the mysteries of how to truly merge one’s heartforce with one’s sword-arts. The first ten stances would already be plenty for Ning to research, especially given that Ning still wasn’t a full Heartforce Cultivator yet. There was no rush.
In the future, as he continued to grow more powerful in his path of cultivation, he would definitely need to perfectly merge his heartforce techniques with his Dao of the Sword. Only then would he grow more powerful. Sooner or later, he would have to acquire the full [Heartsword] manual.
“Time to leave,” Ning said with a smile.
“Right.” Su Youji held the Heartspiral in her hands very happily.
“Where are we going, Master?” Pillsaint asked.
“First, let’s go rent out an estate within the Skywood Sect,” Ning said. Skywood City had more than a hundred thousand estates for rent that were made available to local cultivators; all one needed to do was spent a bit of chaos nectar for them. This really didn’t amount to much; the several hundred thousand cubes of chaos nectar which Ning had on hand was enough for him to stay here for more than ten chaos cycles. All Ning really wanted to do was to just reside within the estates, giving him a safe place to master all nine novessence arts.
