Book 14, Fiend – Chapter 12, Instant Refining

After passing through the corridor, Linley’s group arrived at the main hall on the other side of the third floor of Redbud Castle, where a large number of wares were on display. On this hall, there were clearly far more people present, most in groups of three to five people who walked along each of the sales counters, carefully inspecting each item.

“Boss, look.” Bebe pointed at the stairway. “There’s nobody at the stairway standing guard. Anyone who wants to come here can. It isn’t like the other side, where those violet-robed men stand guard.”

Delia laughed. “Bebe, they have their goods on display here. Naturally, they have to show them off to people. But as I see it...although there are many people here looking at the goods, there probably aren’t many who are truly buying.”

There were signs with words hanging off the walls behind all of the sales counters throughout the third floor.

Linley was very surprised. “Offensive artifacts, defensive artifacts, medicines, materials, training support items, divine sparks...” Clearly, the many different sales counters here in the third floor all had different products for sale.

“Linley, look. That one over there is selling houses.” Delia pointed towards a corner of the main hall.

“I’ve always heard that establishing one’s self in Royalwing City is very expensive. Let’s take a look and see how expensive the houses here are.” Linley was curious. He led Bebe and Delia over.

There were many Deities over here, watching.

“Everyone, you are very lucky. In Royalwing City, there are currently three houses left which have no owners! Everyone, seize your chance. If you miss this opportunity, there won’t be another one.” Within the sales counter, a violet-robed youth spoke calmly.

“The entire Royalwing City only has three empty houses?” Linley didn’t dare believe it.

A nearby onlooker glanced at Linley. “My friend, the houses of Royalwing City were all snatched up and purchased hundreds of millions of years ago. The houses that can be bought now are all houses where the owners have died, resulting in Redbud Castle then selling the houses off again. That’s why we don’t need to be in a rush to buy. You must understand that Royalwing City has perhaps tens of millions of citizens. In a short period of time, perhaps others will die. Their houses would then be available for purchase, right? But alas, the prices are too expensive. I’ll wait for a cheaper house first.”

Hearing these words, Linley now understood.

The available houses in Royalwing City were only made available for sale after their original owner died. Houses without owners would return to the ownership of Redbud Castle, who would then continue to sell them!

“That makes sense. Royalwing City, despite banning fighting, has tens of millions of citizens who can’t always be within the city. For example, some Fiends...they have to go out to take missions. If they die, then the houses would return to Redbud City.” Linley only felt puzzled about one thing.

How did Redbud Castle know if a house’s owner was deceased?

“Perhaps they have some techniques akin to binding by blood.” Linley guessed to himself.

While considering this question, Linley, Delia, and Bebe drew near the sales counter to look at the price of these three houses. Upon seeing the listed price, the three of them were terrified!

“What a man-eating price!” Bebe breathed in shock. “Even the cheapest house requires sixty million inkstones!”

Linley was shocked as well. Of the three houses, the most expensive one was nearly three hundred million inkstones, while the second one was around 120 million inkstones. The cheapest one still cost sixty million inkstones.

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

“Indeed, it is too expensive. Why can’t some more of the original owners of the cheaper houses die?” A nearby Deity also grumbled angrily.

“The cheapest houses in Royalwing City can be bought for just eight million inkstones. However, as soon as those cheap houses appear, they will immediately be snatched up.” A nearby God sighed. “How long will it take before I am able to afford a sixty million inkstone house?”

Linley nodded to himself.

Not all houses were the same. Some were ridiculously expensive, but from the sound of it, the cheaper ones were only eight million or so. It was a matter of luck. After all, everyone wanted those cheap houses. As soon as one appeared, it might be instantly taken.

“Becoming a citizen of Royalwing City truly is difficult.” Linley let out a sigh.

He had thought that he was now fairly wealthy, but upon seeing the housing prices, he realized that the Highgod spark he had which was worth seven million inkstones really was nothing at all.

Linley’s group of three left the sales counter. After all, they didn’t actually want to buy houses. Linley was planning to travel to the distant Bloodridge Continent. How could he settle down in this city?

“Offensive artifacts!”

Linley and the other two walked past the long row of counters on this side. Business here clearly was very brisk, and there were many onlookers as well. But Linley himself was greatly shocked.

“This is considered an offensive artifact?” Linley didn’t pay attention to ordinary weapons.

But he had discovered a unique weapon; an arrow!

Linley wouldn’t be surprised at the sale of a godly bow, but a single ordinary arrow...this couldn’t help but cause Linley to be startled.

“And the price is set at fifty thousand inkstones. What? You have to buy them in units of ten?” Linley couldn’t help but shake his head.

The violet-robed salesman, seeing Linley stare at the arrow on the counter while shaking his head, couldn’t help but speak out. “This is a godslayer arrow. Generally speaking, if a full God is hit by this arrow, he will definitely die. Even a Highgod, upon being hit by ten arrows, will most likely have his soul dissipate and his spirit shatter!”

“How is that possible?” Bebe stared. “This arrow is just a material attack. How could it so easily kill someone?”

“Material attack?”

The violet-robed salesman snickered. “If it was just an ordinary arrow, how could it be sold here? This arrow has been dipped in a special soul poison developed by a Highgod of the Edicts of Death. Hmph, this is specially meant for dealing with souls.”

Hearing this, Linley couldn’t help but be intrigued.

Soul poison?

“When I was in the Yulan continent, when I encountered that Grand Warlock, didn’t he have Yale use soul poison to kill me?” Linley had drank that wine, then suffered the attack of the soulsilk poison.

Linley knew long ago that some of the experts who trained in the Edicts of Death were skilled in using soul poison to kill!

That Grand Warlock was only a Demigod.

But now, from the sound of it, this poison was made by a Highgod of the Edicts of Death. Then the power of this poison definitely couldn’t be underestimated. It most likely truly was capable of killing a God in a single strike, and ten for a Highgod was about right as well.

“But although it is powerful, you still have to be able to hit your enemy with it.” Linley understood this principle. Neither a God nor a Highgod would just stand there, letting you hit him at leisure.

However...

There were some people who were skilled in assassination.

In addition, when ten thousand people in an army shot out with bows, anyone, no matter how fast, would most likely be finished.

Linley, Delia, and Bebe continued to look at the various items. They discovered...that there truly were far too many ways to spend money. Many of the items here had effects that were simply terrifying.

They continued to walk forward.

“Medicines!” Linley walked to a nearby counter. He was shocked. “No matter how badly injured one’s soul is, as long as one’s soul hasn’t completely been shattered and dissipated, it will heal instantly and the spiritual energy will also be completely recovered. This was created with great care by a Highgod who was a master of the Edicts of Life.”

Linley stared at the explanation placed atop the crystalline medicine jar. He couldn’t help but be interested.

When executing soul attacks, the greatest cost was to one’s spiritual energy.

But as soon as he saw the price, Linley felt his heart ache in pain.

A single pill...cost a million inkstones!

“Let’s go. Stop looking at these.” Linley felt his heart clenching. Many items were good, but the prices were simply too terrifying.

After seeing many items, Linley’s group left the third floor’s main hall. The prices here were simply too terrifying. Linley’s group thus returned to the second floor.

The second floor had many people and many items. It even had Golden Soul-Pearls. However, in the Infernal Realm, Golden Soul-Pearls couldn’t be considered particularly valuable. Because...

In the Infernal Realm, although there were many Deities, there were even more Saints!

Many races in the Infernal Realm would naturally reach the Saint-level in adulthood. With so many Saints...quite a few of these Saints had their souls used for refining souls into Golden Soul-Pearls.

“A single Golden Soul-Pearl, roughly the same size as the one I previously acquired. The price...a hundred thousand inkstones. Whew. Still pretty expensive.” Linley said to himself.

At this time, the violet-robed salesman behind the counter laughed and said, “This Golden Soul-Pearl can be used for strengthening the soul, and it is easily absorbable. It doesn’t have to be refined.”

“There’s another type of gem here. That one over there. It is known as an ‘amethyst’! If you absorb all of the energy within it, in terms of the amount of benefit it provides to your soul, it is roughly on par with that of a Golden Soul-Pearl. The price, however, is only ten thousand inkstones.” The violet-robed salesman said.

Linley was somewhat startled.

The nearby Bebe spoke out. “Oh? You said the amount of benefit is about the same for nourishing the soul. So why is the difference in price nearly ten times? It’s too much.”

The violet-robed salesman laughed, “That’s because this refining and purifying this amethyst is extremely difficult. A person who isn’t an expert in refining will most likely lose 80% of the power the amethyst holds while refining it, leaving only 20% remaining...and the speed is very slow as well. It takes a lot of time. Thus, the price is only ten thousand inkstones.”

“Refining and purifying?” Linley had a thought.

Actually, Deities of the Edicts of Death had to spend a great amount of spiritual energy in refining souls or in refining these ‘amethysts’.

But Linley was different. He had the Coiling Dragon ring!

“I’ll buy one and give it a try. Let’s see if the Coiling Dragon ring is capable of refining an amethyst just like how it refines souls.” Linley said to himself.

Linley immediately spend ten thousand inkstones to buy an amethyst.

The amethyst was semi-translucent, and it contained a blurry, violet fog within it. It seemed very beautiful. With a flip of his hand, Linley stored the amethyst into his Coiling Dragon ring.

“Crackle...”

In almost the blink of an eye, that amethyst was transformed into a pile of rubble, while at the same time, an enormous amount of golden fog began to swirl about within the Coiling Dragon ring.

The refining had already completed!

Linley’s eyes lit up. “Doesn’t that mean I can buy amethysts and refine them into Golden Soul-Pearls?” This meant that he could buy an amethyst for ten thousand inkstones, and then sell them for seventy thousand inkstones.

This was a profit of 700% to 800%!

He currently had roughly a million inkstones. In but a few cycles, he would then have tens of millions of inkstones.

“Wait. The Coiling Dragon ring only refines it to a golden fog. How would I crystallize them into a golden pearl?” Linley didn’t have any idea as to how to cause the golden fog to crystallize.

The golden fog was soul essence. Linley didn’t have any means to compress it. There was no way his divine power could interact with this sort of soul essence. His spiritual energy could, but upon the spiritual energy drawing near, it would begin to absorb the golden fog and strengthen his soul.

“Unfortunately, although I have a good method of making money, I don’t have any way of condensing the golden fog into a golden pearl.” Linley sighed to himself.

The refining, purifying, and condensing of soul essences belonged to a technique of the Edicts of Death.

Linley also wanted to be able to fill the golden fog into a crystal ball.

He trusted that the golden fog stored within a crystal ball could be sold to someone. At worst, the price would be a bit lower than for the Golden Soul-Pearl. He would still be able to make a killing.

But...

“This golden aura...although I control it through the Coiling Dragon ring and I can make it leave the ring, as soon as it does so, it will begin to dissipate. After it leaves the Coiling Dragon ring, I don’t have any way of controlling it. Naturally, I won’t be able to make it enter a crystal ball.” Linley felt very discouraged.

Linley was completely incapable of controlling this golden fog.

He didn’t understand the Edicts of Death. Thus, his spiritual energy naturally devoured the soul essences as soon as they touched. Perhaps others might understand the Edicts of Death, but they couldn’t possibly control something like the Coiling Dragon ring.

“Forget it. It is already good to be able to strengthen my own soul.” Linley didn’t care too much.

The purpose of him coming to the Infernal Realm was to grow and to break through.

As for money? He just needed enough to use.

“These amethysts, give me ten of them.” Linley said. The more powerful the soul, the faster one would train, and the stronger one’s spiritual attacks would be.

Linley naturally wouldn’t be too stingy.

“Amethysts?” The violet-robed salesman was very puzzled. It was very hard to refine amethysts. One was enough. Why ten more?

But the violet-robed salesman didn’t really care. “Perhaps he’s too poor. He’d rather spend time to slowly absorb amethysts rather than buy a Golden Soul-Pearl.” But how could he have known that Linley had a Sovereign artifact that was able to instantly refine amethysts and purify the soul essences within?