Chapter 105
The maid took out a sheet of white paper.
“Look, this is the new Spirit Stone Loan product recently launched by Golden Abundance Pavilion. You can take the goods first and pay the spirit stones later, as long as you repay a portion every year.
“Of course, there is also a tiny, insignificant interest attached.”
Spirit Stone Loan?
Hearing this strange yet familiar term, Wang Yu almost blacked out.
“How much?”
“Twenty percent interest. For every overdue payment, an additional five percent is added on the total borrowed amount, with no upper limit.”
“Anyone can borrow?”
“Of course not.” The maid pointed at the disciple token on Wang Yu’s waist, making him suddenly understand.
“What if someone relies on strength and refuses to repay?” “Golden Abundance Pavilion’s Nascent Soul cultivators will personally come to collect the debt.”
Wang Yu awkwardly put down the jade flask.
“I’d better look at some lower-grade ones. Do you have first-rank?”
Seeing that he was unwilling to use Spirit Stone Loan, the maid still remained gentle, though her gaze became a little strange. If it were someone with a strong sense of pride, they might have borrowed already.
Unfortunately, this trick was useless on Wang Yu.
Laughable. His second brother was impotent. Seduction and pride stimulation had no effect.
“For first-rank, there are many choices. But first-rank demonic beasts are limited in size, so their blood essence output is low. Since the honored guest is asking for dragon-kind, the price will be thirty percent higher than blood essence of the same rank.”
“Bring them out for me to see.”
“Very well.”
As the jade flasks disappeared into the cabinet drawers, a batch of jade bottles filled with dragon-kind blood essence was brought over.
“First-rank dragon-kind demonic beast Ice Chi Python, one bottle with nine drops of blood essence, priced at three thousand spirit stones.”
“First-rank dragon-kind demonic beast Swamp Purple Dragon, one bottle with nine drops of blood essence, priced at two thousand eight hundred spirit stones.”
“First-rank dragon-kind demonic beast Tuo Dragon, one bottle with nine drops of blood essence, priced at two thousand five hundred spirit stones.”
“First-rank …”
The maid introduced many. Each bottle contained nine drops. According to the secret medicinal bath formula attached to Flood Dragon Strength, one drop could produce three portions of secret medicine.
Buying one bottle would be enough to last until late Body Refining. In fact, this expense was not costly. The further one went on the Body Refining path, the more resources were consumed. The cost at first-rank was only a drizzle.
“I will take this one. The Ice Chi Python blood essence.”
“Very well. Three thousand spirit stones, please.”
After completing the transaction, Wang Yu let out a long breath. He then went on to purchase other herbs for body refining secret medicine. With this, his number four Idle Slot could be freed up.
The Flood Dragon Force technique was already perfected, but he had only cultivated to the level of the “fourth tendon.” Using secret medicine to accelerate was appropriate, and freeing up an Idle Slot allowed him to assign a spell technique.
【Idle Slot 4: Invisibility Technique】
【Invisibility Technique (3/100): 24 sessions a day, can be mastered in 3 years.】
As a second-rank lower-grade spell, Wang Yu found it extremely difficult to study, yet the Idle Slot only required three years. This showed the difference between the two.
The Invisibility Technique, as its name implied, allowed one to become invisible.
It was divided into four realms: Light Concealment, Sound Concealment, Form Concealment, and Void Concealment.
When cultivated to perfection, even overlapping detection methods would find it hard to sense the presence of the invisible person.
Most spiders in Ghost Eye Cavern were only at the entry-level Light Concealment, unable to vanish their form completely, let alone conceal their sounds.
As a bone technique inherited from the Hidden Dragon Treasure Bone, second-rank lower-grade was only its most basic state. In the future, if he could slay a Hidden Dragon with stronger bloodline, perhaps there would be higher-level invisibility techniques to learn.
This was not a case of incompleteness.
Idle Slots could not complete it, but rather it was a lower-grade substitute, more appropriately described as an advancement path.
In this way, the sequence was already planned: Invisibility Technique, Mysterious Yin Hand, and then the Corpse Demon Secret Technique.
While Wang Yu was at the spirit herb counter purchasing supplementary medicine Snake Saliva Fruit, he suddenly turned his head toward a figure walking toward the door, seemingly just descending from the stairway.
The man’s appearance was middle-aged, his eyes extremely vigilant.
Wang Yu instinctively activated Taiyin Nether Eyes. Under the moon-gazing perspective, he could see the “yin” aspect. At the center of this person’s soul flame, there was a golden core-shaped object emitting hazy spiritual light.
Within it, the aura of a flood dragon was exceptionally strong.
It was as if a cultivation method was automatically circulating and refining. Endless strands of golden-red silk were being drawn out and dispersed into that person’s limbs and bones.
“Flood Dragon Inner Core?”
Wang Yu’s heart trembled with shock. He quickly settled his bill, grabbed the Snake Saliva Fruit, and his body instinctively followed after.
Flood Dragons… within the dragon bloodline they were already on the second tier. Their bloodline was so rich that their aptitude was comparable to the Human Race’s Heavenly Spiritual Roots. They were guaranteed to form a Core, and with sufficient fortune, advancing to Nascent Soul would not be a problem.
As for the inner core of the dragon race, also called the Dragon Pearl, it was an extremely rare treasure. It could even serve as a substitute for Foundation Establishment spiritual items or Core Formation spiritual items.
Even the slightly inferior Flood Dragon Pearl carried nearly the same effect.
Having researched Foundation Establishment spiritual items for some time, he was deeply familiar with the intricacies of this field.
What he did not know was the exact grade of this person’s Flood Dragon Inner Core. That uncertainty stirred Wang Yu’s heart without end, since he had come to Heart Erosion City merely on the lure of a baseless rumor.
And now such an opportunity had appeared right in front of him, and he was the one to discover it.
Should he take it? Could he take it? That was the question.
After leaving the Golden Abundance Pavilion, that person moved straight toward the city outskirts with swift steps. Wang Yu activated the Night Concealment and followed closely, torn by an internal struggle between reason and desire.
After the time of one cup of tea, they had already left Heart Erosion City.
That person immediately produced a spirit boat a zhang in length. He leapt onto it and directly urged it to full power, transforming into a streak of blue light that shot away at great speed.
Seeing this, Wang Yu could only sigh with regret.
The speed was too fast. He could not catch up.
Perhaps that was for the best. This way, his inner greed would also be severed, preventing him from falling into the path of a ruthless villain with no bottom line.
Suddenly.
Two more streaks of light shot up into the sky, chasing in the same direction. They flew without the aid of any flying artifacts, which meant they were absolutely Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Their faces were unfamiliar, so they were likely not from the Heart Erosion City region. Such an obvious pursuit made Wang Yu’s heart itch unbearably.
If he had to kill an innocent stranger for the sake of a treasure, he truthfully did not wish to do so.
But if two groups fought against each other, and he only swooped in afterward to seize the spoils, playing the fisherman reaping the profit, then he would feel no hesitation.
This mentality seemed contradictory, yet in truth it was simply a justification that many people used when pushing themselves beyond their bottom line. Whether it remained a brief indulgence or spiraled into an unstoppable descent depended entirely on one’s self-restraint.
Stepping on his flying sword, Wang Yu had already shot forward.
Although he was only at the eighth layer of Qi Refining, he had seen the strength of Foundation Establishment cultivators several times back at Blackbone Mountain, and those were even Foundation Establishment disciples nurtured by a Nascent Soul sect.
These two could not possibly be stronger than Deacon Xu.
And he himself had grown stronger. While he could not guarantee victory in battle, he was confident he could at least escape unscathed.
Otherwise, what was the point of cultivating so many perfected techniques, each one claiming to rival Foundation Establishment once mastered? Would all that effort be for nothing? Impossible.
Still, greed was greed. He told himself that this time he would act with flexibility. If an opportunity arose, he would take it. If not, he would leave it be.
There was no real loss to him either way.
“Accelerate.”
It seemed some method had been applied to that cultivator holding the Flood Dragon Inner Core, for the two early-stage Foundation Establishment pursuers were tracking him with uncanny precision.
Their unabashed aura also served as a clear marker for Wang Yu, allowing him to trail behind at a safe distance.