Chapter 146: Shell Probably Come in Handy
Half an hour later, Yu Xian and Nora arrived at the Eastern District. They stood beneath an arched bridge, observing the people around them.
Under the bridge was a moderately sized platform. Many anglers fished along the riverbank, though quite a few of them were traders in disguise. Some of their transactions were legal, while others were not. All in all, it was a place where sharks and minnows mingled.
Yu Xian had already used Super Smell to identify their trading partner. The other party was standing on the riverbank not far away, secretly watching Nora and him.
Nora leaned in and whispered, "Yu Xian, do you think he might have stood us up?"
Quite a few people were around the two of them, and many kept sneaking glances at her as though they were appraising a piece of merchandise. It made her somewhat uncomfortable.
When people felt uneasy, they instinctively moved closer to whatever made them feel safe. Before Yu Xian and Nora realized it, the distance between them had narrowed considerably.
Yu Xian used countless tiny bubbles, invisible to the naked eye, to separate them from the surrounding crowd. Then he took Nora by the hand and walked toward their trading partner. "Follow me."
By the riverbank, a young man was fishing. When he noticed Yu Xian and Nora approaching from the corner of his eye, his hand that held the fishing rod trembled slightly.
Yu Xian took two chairs out of his spatial ring. After sitting down, he said to the young man, "All right. Let's begin the transaction."
The young man warily eyed him. "Who are you?"
Yu Xian did not like prying into other people's privacy. Spatial bubbles constantly delivered odorless air into his nostrils, preventing him from picking up any scent molecules. However, he had used Super Smell just now to identify the trader, so he already knew a great deal about the young man before him.
He glanced at the young man and said sternly, "Luo Bu, unless you want to take a trip to the Public Security Bureau with me, you'd best play by the rules. I'm willing to look the other way just like Brother Zhang does, but if you think you can play me for a fool and pull off a scam, you're all sleeping in a cell tonight. Do I make myself clear?"
Behind this young man was an organization known as the Ravens. It had roughly fifty members, and its leader, Gao Zhenshan, was a druid capable of transforming into a raven.
The organization specialized in all kinds of shady dealings. However, since all their supernatural materials came from overseas, the Public Security Bureau maintained a rather ambiguous attitude toward them. This was because regardless of the legality of their methods, bringing supernatural materials from abroad benefited Huaxia's supernatural beings.
Still, the organization was far from honest. At times, they resorted to fraud, passed off inferior goods as high-quality merchandise, or even tried to obtain payment without providing anything in return. As a result, they had a poor reputation among supernatural beings.
This time, they had planned to swindle Nora out of a large sum of money. However, since Yu Xian had come with her, he naturally would not let them succeed.
Luo Bu was startled by Yu Xian's words. He quickly realized that he had encountered someone from the authorities. Reeling in his fishing line, he stood up. "This isn't a suitable place to conduct the transaction. Please follow me."
His spatial ring was filled with large quantities of partially damaged equipment refurbished to look brand-new. Had Yu Xian not accompanied Nora, Luo Bu would have scammed Nora with this equipment. But that was clearly no longer possible.
Yu Xian and Nora stood up, put away their chairs, and immediately followed Luo Bu away from the arched bridge. They wound their way through the densely packed residential district in the eastern part of the city. Eventually, they arrived at a house near the district's outskirts.
Luo Bu stepped forward and knocked on the door. After he told the password at the door, two little brats who looked not older than ten opened the door.
Luo Bu stepped aside and gestured to Yu Xian and Nora. "Please, come in."
Nora peered into the dimly lit interior with some concern and turned to Yu Xian. He gave her a reassuring smile before taking her hand and leading her inside.
The room was filled with an assortment of blades, swords, firearms, suits of armor, and shields. A long-haired young man sat behind the counter. When he saw Yu Xian and Nora, he smiled. "Welcome. What are the two of you looking for?"
Yu Xian looked at Nora. Encouraged by his gaze, she spoke up. "Hello. I'm the person who posted online looking to purchase defensive equipment. Do you really have high-grade supernatural defensive gear here?"
The young man smiled as he rose to his feet. "Oh, hello, Miss Rex."
He stepped out from behind the counter, walked over to a nearby shelf, and took down a box. After returning to the counter, he placed the box on top and opened it. Inside was a silver ring.
He looked at her. "This is an upper Wolf-rank defensive equipment, the Thorned Ironwall Ring. Wearing it will grant you physical defense comparable to that of an Eagle-rank body refiner. It also comes with a special ability called Thorn Reflection. Once activated, the ability reflects ten percent of any energy-based attack at or below upper Wolf rank back at the attacker."
Nora was tempted. "How much is it?"
The young man glanced at Yu Xian and smiled. "Ten million will do."
Nora was taken aback. "That's quite cheap."
However, she was no fool. She immediately realized what was going on and turned to look at Yu Xian. The young man was willing to sell her the ring at such a low price only because of him.
While leading the pair over, Luo Bu had been stealthily flashing hand signs to the lookouts stationed along the road. By the time Yu Xian and Nora arrived at the house, the young man had already discovered that Yu Xian was affiliated with the Public Security Bureau.
Seeing Nora looking at him, Yu Xian smiled. "Go ahead and buy it."
Nora leaned closer to him and whispered, "Are you sure this is all right? Could it cause trouble for you?"
Yu Xian reassured her with a smile. "Don't worry. I'll be buying some supernatural materials from him anyway. Your ring is nothing more than a complimentary gift in the grand scheme of things."
Seeing that Yu Xian wasn't just putting on a brave face, Nora stepped forward and paid for the ring.
As she stepped away to browse other defensive gear, Yu Xian turned to Eternal Purity. "Auntie, are you sure you know how to craft supernatural equipment?"
He had originally intended to buy defensive equipment, but after entering the shop, he noticed quite a few supernatural materials on the shelves. That immediately sparked a question in his mind. Since Eternal Purity inherited all of Impermanence's memories, did she know how to craft equipment?
The answer was undoubtedly yes. Impermanence was the sort of extraordinary genius who could master anything with a glance. This was especially true of alchemy. Because it was required when cultivating the Indivisible Yin-Yang Sea of Tribulations Scripture to condense a Dao Fruit, Impermanence had also been one of the foremost alchemists across the myriad worlds.
The most important part of alchemy was knowledge, and Eternal Purity happened to possess all of that knowledge. It meant that she did possess the ability to craft supernatural equipment.
Eternal Purity looked back at him. "Crafting equipment isn't difficult. The truly difficult part is gathering enough materials. Most of the materials here are relatively low grade. Even if they were used to craft equipment, the result would be Dragon-rank equipment at best."
She had used the term "Dragon-rank" mainly to make it easier for Yu Xian to understand. What was known in Yu Xian's world as "Dragon-rank" equipment was merely the lowest-tier "Heaven-rank" equipment when compared to the rest of the myriad worlds.
Yu Xian immediately asked, "Then could I trouble you to craft some defensive equipment for me?"
"If it's only defensive equipment, then yes."
He caught the implication in her words. "Weapons are out of the question?"
She nodded. "I will not create anything meant to take life. Furthermore, the defensive equipment I craft can be used for only protection and will never be capable of harming anyone."
Yu Xian helplessly said, "All right. Sorry to trouble you."
It was a pity that she would not craft weapons, but being able to create Dragon-rank defensive equipment was more than good enough. He could ask her to make several defensive items for his aunt. Even when he was not by his aunt's side, he would not have to worry much about her safety.
Furthermore, if he could gather enough materials, he also wanted to have defensive equipment made for Nora. After all, Dragon-rank defensive equipment was extremely difficult to buy even if one had the money. Reliable sellers were hard to find, and scams were very common.
Once Nora was finished with her transaction, Yu Xian stepped forward to purchase supernatural materials from the young man.
The young man had originally planned to offer Yu Xian a discount to build a good relationship with him. However, he fell silent when Yu Xian began taking various supernatural materials off the shelves one after another and placing them into a spatial bubble. The young man worried that Yu Xian was the kind of corrupt officer seen in movies, someone who had come to clean the place out without any intention of paying.
According to the information he had received, Yu Xian was very close to Zhang Kai and had frequently accompanied him on operations some time ago. While Zhang Kai did not seem like an important figure from Yu Xian's perspective, to Silver City's supernatural beings, he was a highly intimidating presence.
The organization this young man belonged to was far from clean, so they couldn't risk provoking the Public Security Bureau. At the end of the day, the bureau had the entire weight of the government standing right behind it.
Ten minutes later, Yu Xian placed the final material he wanted into the bubble and asked, "How much is everything? Do you accept payment in gold?"
The young man had already fallen into despair, but the moment he heard the word "gold," his head snapped up, nodding like a chicken pecking at grain. "Gold? Yes! Yes, we do!"
Gold was a universally accepted hard currency and far more valuable than paper money. This was especially true in international trade, where gold carried much greater purchasing power. The Ravens also had alchemists who used gold in their work, so every amount of it was welcome.
Yu Xian took out three gold nuggets, each about the size of a teapot. "Is this enough?"
The young man had bought plenty of gold before and could tell at a glance that Yu Xian had paid more rather than less. He nodded happily. "More than enough. Definitely more than enough."
He understood that the excess was Yu Xian making up for the "discount" on Nora's ring. Yu Xian had never intended to accept the discount in the first place. Moreover, compared to the total value of the materials Yu Xian had purchased, Nora's ring truly amounted to little more than a complimentary gift.
Once the transaction was complete, Yu Xian and Nora left under the young man's courteous send-off. After stepping outside, the two of them slowly made their way toward Yu Xian's home. Although the transaction had gone smoothly, it had still been an exciting adventure for Nora.
Nora did not quite want them to part so soon, so she glanced at Yu Xian hesitantly. Yu Xian was not in any hurry to go home either. Their eyes met, and as though sharing the same thought, they spoke in unison. "Want to grab something to eat together?"
They both burst out laughing.