Something worth around 800,000 Crystal Coins... Is it even more precious than the one from last time? Could it be dragon blood again? As the black-robed girl walked, she thought about the energy radiating from the pillar of light she had just seen. She could feel her body yearning for that item. Only something containing an immense amount of life force could provoke such a reaction from her body.
And items like that, if they were not heavenly treasures or creations of the gods, would be medicines such as life potions. The most likely possibility was the blood of some exceptionally powerful living creature. Only something rich in life force could make her body crave it so desperately, because it could rapidly replenish the life force constantly draining away from her.
"Seriously..." When she reached Chu Lian's stall, what she saw was exactly what she had expected. Shaking her head with a wry smile, she wondered just what Chu Lian did for a living. Could she possibly be a professional dragon-slaying huntress? But she was far too young for that, wasn't she?
Although she did not know Chu Lian's exact appearance, age, or strength, she could still determine from her own judgment that Chu Lian was human. For a human of that age to slaughter a Heaven Rank dragon was the stuff of legends within legends. It was practically impossible.
Right. If she has an extraordinarily powerful team behind her, then that would explain how she can slay dragons. Dragons are still living creatures in the end. They're intelligent, they have desires, and they can be schemed against just like anyone else. Without knowing any of the actual circumstances, she had already invented a perfectly reasonable explanation for Chu Lian. What a good girl—unfortunately, Chu Lian had no idea. Otherwise, she would certainly have sat down for a long heart-to-heart with this girl who "understood" her so well.
After all, with someone like her around, Chu Lian would no longer have to exhaust herself fabricating excuses. This girl beside her could neatly explain everything away on her behalf. It would accomplish several things at once without Chu Lian having to waste any effort.
"All right. This is the blood of an Intermediate Heaven Rank Earth-Congealing Dragon, belonging to a seventh-grade bloodline. I think all of you already know what effects using it can have." Chu Lian introduced the item with only a single sentence, yet it immediately sent everyone into a frenzy.
"Eight hundred thousand Crystal Coins. She's broken her own previous record again. That should put her around ninth place in the outer region now, right? Terrifying." Those who knew Chu Lian had once sold a bottle of Heaven Rank dragon blood here for 770,000 Crystal Coins were even more shocked when they saw this new bottle.
Just who in the world was she? The items she sold were actually comparable to those offered by the people at the very center, casually reaching Heaven Rank as though it were nothing. Worse still, her goods were among the most precious kinds even within the Heaven Rank category—bloodlines capable of directly strengthening the user.
The overwhelming majority of people would never sell something like this even if they possessed it. They would rather use it to strengthen themselves or someone close to them, thereby making their own position safer, than trade it away.
Even if they did trade such a thing, they would only do so after finding an appropriately valuable item in exchange. People like Chu Lian, who brazenly displayed something like this for public sale, were not unheard of. But someone who had done it twice in a row? She was the only one.
Dragon blood... Dragon blood. Such dense life force. I really want it..." The black-robed girl looked at the 1.5 million Crystal Coins stored in the ring on her wrist, then sighed.
Chu Lian probably did not lack Crystal Coins, but instead wanted to exchange the blood for something she needed. In other words, unless none of the items offered by the people ahead of her met Chu Lian's requirements, the black-robed girl would not have a chance to trade with her until the very end.
Looks like it's time to find an opportunity to build a mecha with Heaven Rank combat power. The next time she comes here, I'll at least have enough confidence to trade with her instead of being completely helpless like I am now. She was, after all, a genius scientist. Across the greater universe, the products bearing her name were quite famous.
Although she knew her chances of actually securing the trade were nearly zero, the girl remained where she was. She wanted to see what Chu Lian needed and what she would ultimately trade for. Only then could she design something specifically suited for trading with her next time.
"Mm, dragon blood. As long as everyone knows what it does and what it can be used for, that's enough. So, what can all of you offer me in exchange? I'll make this clear beforehand. What I need most right now are defensive items effective against energy-based attacks, or items capable of damaging energy-based enemies. Those will receive priority. Everything else is only a secondary consideration."
Chu Lian did not bother being polite and immediately explained what she wanted. After all, her requirements were not particularly demanding. She simply wanted to see whether anyone present could satisfy them.
"Items effective against energy types?" The people around her froze. There were certainly plenty of such things, but anything as valuable as dragon blood was either something they did not possess or something they needed for themselves and would never trade away. Thus, hearing Chu Lian's request made many of them groan inwardly.
Something effective against energy types? I could try designing an AT Field, but that would be extremely troublesome. Who knows how long it would take me to make one? Hearing Chu Lian's words, the black-robed girl began calculating what she was capable of creating.
When it came to technology, as long as she had encountered something before and was given enough time, she could reproduce it almost perfectly. Of course, if something was simply too unscientific, there was nothing she could do. But an AT Field should still be possible.
"I wonder if this would satisfy you?" It was the same regular customer who had traded with her for dragon blood previously—the one Chu Lian suspected of being a crocodile.
He was the first to step forward. After rummaging through his personal storage space for a moment, he handed over a curved blade.
The instant Chu Lian saw the weapon, information about it already began surfacing in her mind. Sure enough, the moment she touched it, the system scanned the item and projected its details directly into her consciousness.
"Mercurial Scimitar: SS-rank item. This item possesses an innate Purification skill capable of removing all control effects currently affecting the user. For the following ten seconds, the user becomes immune to control effects and receives fifty percent less spell damage. Cooldown: thirty minutes."
"Note 1: Although the weapon itself may not possess especially high offensive power, against mages, it is effectively one of the deadliest weapons imaginable. Any mage who has not broken through to the Transcendence Realm, or who cannot instantly escape over a long distance, has only one possible fate when facing someone wielding the Mercurial Scimitar—death."
"Note 2: This item counts as equipment. Once a connection has been established with it, its skill can be activated even without wielding it as a weapon. It also increases all damage dealt by the user by ten percent, making it an exceptionally rare treasure."
"This..." Chu Lian stared in disbelief. Had this crocodile gone around robbing everyone in Valoran or something? Given his strength, doing so would not actually be difficult. He was a demigod, after all, a powerhouse at the Transcendence Realm. Even so, this was ridiculous. If she asked for a weapon that increased damage next time, was he going to pull out an Infinity Edge on the spot?
"I wonder if anyone from the Eternal Land will show up..." Chu Lian could not resist muttering the complaint. Before she could even finish speaking, however, a woman's voice rang out from the crowd. "Wait!"
Immediately afterward, an arrogant young woman with long purple hair floated out of the crowd. Her clothing was revealing, and several strange objects hovered around her. She stopped in front of Chu Lian and said, "I have things like that too."
So she really is from the Eternal Land? Is someone from Dota going to show up next? Just as that thought crossed her mind, another shout rang out from within the crowd. "Wait!"
"..." Silence. Utter silence. Chu Lian felt as though countless alpacas were stampeding through her heart. Were her words really that prophetic?
She focused her gaze on the newcomer and saw a man dressed in a tight black outfit with a mask covering his face. He did not appear to belong to some bizarre race, which meant he was probably not from Dota...
"Merely a mortal." The girl gave the newcomer an arrogant snort. Yet the man acted as though she did not exist. He walked directly to Chu Lian, held out an item, and said, "I believe this is what you truly need."
"Hm?" Chu Lian froze slightly. She glanced at the girl and saw that the latter had also furrowed her brows, clearly displeased at having someone cut in ahead of her.
So Chu Lian did not accept the man's item immediately. Instead, she turned toward the girl and asked, "What do you have?"
"A Nice Staff. After using it, you will become completely immune to all control effects and magical damage for twelve seconds, as well as part of the physical damage caused without directly contacting your body. The skill has a cooldown of thirty-six minutes. That's more than enough for you to turn a losing battle around." The girl raised her chin proudly as she looked at Chu Lian, introducing the staff she had taken out.
Chu Lian compared the two items mentally. Their cost-effectiveness was about the same, but in terms of pure value, the Nice Staff was somewhat higher. Unfortunately, she did not particularly need it. The main reason was that any enemy she currently faced would still be impossible for her to defeat even if she were allowed to unleash her full strength uninterrupted for twelve whole seconds.
The Nice Staff and Mercurial Scimitar were the same in that respect. Having either would certainly be beneficial, but she could just as easily do without them. Neither was something she absolutely needed.
Therefore, she did not agree to either offer. Instead, she turned her gaze toward the man who had been holding his item out the entire time and reached forward to accept the piece of black jade he offered.
She had originally assumed it was simply another item intended for trade. Unexpectedly, the moment she took it, the system displayed a baffling line of information. "Mysterious Jade Pendant. Rating: SSS. Origin unknown. Effects unknown. The only confirmed fact is that this item is extraordinarily precious. Perhaps one day in the future, you will discover its purpose."
After reading the description, an overwhelming desire to possess the item suddenly surged through Chu Lian's heart. Regardless of whether she actually needed it, she wanted it.
She took this inexplicable impulse extremely seriously. To her, it was as though something was telling her that she absolutely had to obtain this item, whatever the cost.
Thus, she raised her head, stared intently at the person before her, and asked, "What do you want for it?"
"One million Crystal Coins." The man was straightforward and immediately named his price. Chu Lian frowned and looked at the number displayed on her wristband...
After so many rounds of buying and selling, Chu Lian's Crystal Coins had accumulated to a little over one million. If she paid the full million, she would still have just under twenty thousand Crystal Coins remaining.
Since she would still have some left over, there was no reason to hesitate. She immediately raised her hand and connected her ring to the other party's through the air. In an instant, the vast majority of the Crystal Coins stored inside disappeared, leaving only 18,000 behind.
Although more than half her fortune had vanished, Chu Lian was still delighted to have obtained the item.
She solemnly placed it inside a sturdy box. Only after carefully storing the jade away did she turn her attention toward the others who had arrived.
It seemed more and more people were coming...