Chapter 659: Star Essence

From the beginning of the trade fair, Shang Xia had never entered the outskirts of the Cloud Sea.

It was where the members of the outer ring were fishing and most of them were wandering experts. They were leaders of small factions at best, and there were even some who were random cultivators who risked their lives to travel through space in order to locate the Three Unity Island.

They might be a random bunch, but it would be wrong for anyone to underestimate them. Any wandering cultivator who had the qualifications to receive an invitation from the 3 super factions had to possess frightening strength! It was either that or they stood out in other aspects.

Of course, the treasures they were trading were also all over the place. Those people were unlike cultivators and disciples of large factions. Large factions had a clear purpose in what they were doing, and they knew what resources they needed.

The bunch of wandering cultivators were like walking convenience stores. They had everything and anything. Sometimes, one would be able to find something amazing. However, they would need to look through everything carefully and rely on a little bit of luck.

Shang Xia clearly understood that and that was why he would try to get everything he could before going around the outer region.

That was what most of the experts from larger factions thought too. Of course, that usually applied to disciples from the larger factions who came to the fair with a purpose. There were also some of them who were like Chu Jia who came to mess around and try their luck.

The 1000 essence crystals in his Talisman Fish still remained and he had been to more than a dozen jade coins. He had seen several rare resources, but he failed to spend a single essence crystal.

The others on the Tongyou Platform pulled their fishing poles up several times and received a good harvest. According to the timeframe given by the Martial Dipper Realm Ancestors of the 3 super factions, the trade fair should be coming to an end soon.

When Shang Xia was thinking about whether he should call his Talisman Fish back and use the rest of his essence crystals to buy some low-level resources, it once again slammed into a white colored jade coin.

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

“Treasures, treasures, all sorts of treasures! Regardless of quality, everything costs 100 essence crystals! Take whatever you want but there’s no refund!”

A strange tag could be seen on the jade coin and Shang Xia’s curiosity was piqued. He decided to take a closer look before calling his fish back.

Biting the jade coin, Shang Xia was brought up onto the platform and a voice that sounded like a broken gong rang in his mind. “You should have seen what was on the coin. I won’t say any more. These are all I have left and you can only rely on yourself to find any valuables among them.”

Shang Xia noticed 20 odd treasures laid out in front of him after he was pulled onto the platform.

In no rush to pick out his treasures, Shang Xia first asked, “Fellow cultivator, where did you get these treasures? Aren’t you afraid that you might need them in the future?”

The fisherman’s voice came once again. “You can call me the Ancient Lover and I found these treasures myself. The Divine Martial Calendar goes back 850 years, but that doesn’t mean that our Azure Origin World only started its existence 850 years ago. We know next to nothing before the start of our Divine Martial Calendar, but those holy lands should know a thing or two. Regardless, they refuse to say anything about it. I was only able to look for inheritances of the ancient people alone in order to uncover our history. These items were retrieved from ruins and their remains. I won’t hide anything from you. Even I have no idea what some of these things are. I learned about some of them and their uses, but that’s about it. I don’t know what the others are used for.”

Shang Xia didn’t think that he would meet an eccentric fellow like that out of nowhere.

However, he wasn’t the only one who was curious about the time before the Divine Martial Calendar. Shang Xia was equally curious, but he was either in seclusion or dealing with matters one after the other. He didn’t have time to dig deeper into it.

Even though he was really interested in having a nice chat with this ‘archeologist’, time wasn’t on his side. He could only focus on the treasures before him.

With his attention on a rusted metal case, Shang Xia asked, “Can’t you open the case?”

“I would open it if I had the ability to. The restriction on it might not be extremely special, and the case seems to be of an ordinary quality. However, both of them look to be fused together and I’m afraid the things within would be damaged if I messed up. I never thought of opening it. If you like it, you can have it for a low price of 100 essence crystals.”

Shang Xia could guess that the other party didn’t bother opening the case because he felt that the items within were too ordinary. He might even be afraid that the treasure contained within had already been destroyed by the passage of time.

However, when Shang Xia’s divine perception swept across the restriction on the box again, he spoke decisively, “Alright, 100 essence crystals. I’ll take it.”

Sniggering softly, the fisherman seemed elated that someone would be interested in the case and he placed it in front of Shang Xia’s Talisman Fish. After swallowing the case, Shang Xia’s fish spat out 100 essence crystals.

“Alright! Feel free to keep looking to see if anything catches your eye.” Seeing as Shang Xia had already bought something, the fisherman became a lot more friendly. He even sounded like he was trying to curry Shang Xia’s favor in hopes that he would buy more. His appearance greatly resembled a store’s attendant and the prestige of a Martial Extermination Realm expert was nowhere to be seen.

Obviously, Shang Xia wouldn’t look down on him just because he was acting that way. If what the other party said was real and he truly went around finding lost inheritances, his knowledge would be top-class. No matter how strong the other party was, Shang Xia knew he shouldn’t underestimate the other fellow.

Shang Xia chose the strange sealed case not because of any other reason, but because his Four Constellation Qi could most probably destroy the restriction on the case without damaging anything within. He wanted to try his luck to see if there was anything special within.

With the urgings of the fisherman, Shang Xia’s divine perception swept across the treasures laid out. However, everything was a blur and he couldn’t help but ask, “I can’t see anything clearly this way. Would it be possible for you to place the treasures into my fish so I can inspect them?”

“No problem! As long as you don’t damage anything, it’s fine!” the fisherman agreed readily.

Thinking for a second, Shang Xia chose one of the treasures that he couldn’t tell what it was made from. “Let me take a closer look at this.”

Shang Xia could tell that the treasure was a semi-finished product and he hoped that it would contain some sort of precious resource.

With the help of the fisherman, the item that resembled a giant ball of candle wax was placed in Shang Xia’s Talisman Fish. He enveloped it with his extermination origin but realized that the Crimson Soul Tablet didn’t bother evaluating it.

From what Shang Xia thought, only treasures in the fourth rank and above would be appraised by the Crimson Soul Tablet.

It was either something outside was stopping the Crimson Soul Tablet from giving it a proper evaluation, or it was completely useless altogether. Whatever it was, Shang Xia’s fish spat the treasure out.

Not surprised at all, the fisherman laughed, “Do you wish to take a look at anything else?”

Shang Xia continued to look through the items laid out and laid his eyes on a treasure that had multiple points. There was sparkling sand stuck on it and it flashed under the illumination of the lights in the Three Unity Pagoda. It looked pretty impressive.

It took some effort for Shang Xia to swallow the treasure but the moment he did, his expression changed. On the Tongyou Platform, Shang Xia’s eyes widened in shock. He stared at the words on the Crimson Soul Tablet in disbelief.

“Celestial Metal wrapped in specks of Star Essence mixed with sand.”