Chapter 150: Inscription Scroll

The old man's family had long since reached the point of destitution, but they truly had nothing left to sell. This Wind Snow Spirit Pearl, he didn't even know what it was for, and it had sat here for dozens of days with no buyer. Two grandchildren back home were crying from hunger, and the old man had no idea what to do.

He had originally thought that selling the pearl for two or three bags of grain would be an incredible blessing, but he never expected Nie Li to give him so much.

"Old man, by taking all this in exchange for your item, I'm getting the better end of the deal. If you have any requests at all, you can make them," Nie Li said. He wanted to give some more valuable items, but he understood that giving something too precious might actually bring disaster upon the old man.

"I don't know what this thing is, but being able to exchange it for this much grain is already a gift from the heavens. We have no further requests." The old man kowtowed several more times.

Two gaunt youths walked up to the old man's side.

"Da Niu, Er Niu, hurry and kowtow to our benefactor!" the old man urgently said to the two youths behind him.

Without a word, the two youths immediately kowtowed several times with heavy thuds.

Nie Li sighed to himself. He took out five more bags of grain and a few chunks of meat from his Space Ring, placed them on the stall, then put the Wind Snow Spirit Pearl into his ring before leaving.

Seeing the grain piled high on his stall, the old man's tears streamed down his face. Trembling, he said, "May the heavens bless this benefactor with peace and health!"

Other stall owners nearby who witnessed the scene looked on with envy. Although they were covetous of the grain the old man had received, they dared not cause trouble, for this town was managed by the Sacred Fire Family. They didn't dare make a scene here.

After wandering around the town for a few circles, Duan Jian quickly returned, having exchanged for many Crimson Blood Crystals and Dragon Soul Stones.

"Here are some Dragon Soul Stones for you." Nie Li picked up a portion of the Dragon Soul Stones and handed them to Duan Jian. "Dragon Soul Stones are extremely beneficial for someone with a Dragon Blood Body. They can greatly temper your Soul Power. Later, I'll help you find a dragon-type Demon Spirit, and then you can become a Demon Spirit Master."

Dragon-type Demon Spirits were very hard to find, but there was no alternative, as Duan Jian's physical body meant he could only adapt to dragon spirits.

"Thank you, Master," Duan Jian said respectfully.

Nie Li scavenged many good things along the way, and soon arrived in front of a massive shop. The two large characters "Sacred Fire" above the entrance were quite imposing, and a constant stream of customers passed through the doors.

A thought struck Nie Li. "Let's go in and take a look."

He felt a slight curiosity about the Sacred Fire Family. If what Duan Jian said about them was true, perhaps he could establish some kind of connection with them.

The shop had seven floors. The first floor sold all manner of ordinary herbs, ores, weapons, and miscellaneous goods. Nie Li had zero interest in these and led Duan Jian towards the second floor, which sold various martial arts techniques and books.

Moving upwards, the items on the first five floors were, in Nie Li's view, nothing special. While he managed to pick up a few things, they weren't particularly important to him.

On the sixth floor, Nie Li stopped before a large sword. The sword was entirely pitch-black, occasionally emitting flickers of black flame. A scorching heat radiated from it.

Seeing Nie Li pause before the sword, a somewhat portly middle-aged man walked over, a genial smile on his face. "Forged from Black Flame Gold, it's incredibly sharp, slicing through iron like mud. It's also inlaid with a Flame Crystal, containing fire-attributed power. A single slash carries a blazing effect that can scorch the opponent. A customer with excellent taste!"

"How much for this sword?"

"We only accept barter. It depends on what you're willing to offer in exchange," the chubby middle-aged man said with a slight smile.

Nie Li pondered for a moment. The most plentiful item he had were pills, so he took out a Soul Condensing Pill and tossed it to the chubby man. "How about this?" The pills Nie Li had been casually giving away earlier were only Soul Nurturing Pills, but to exchange for this large sword, he produced a Soul Condensing Pill, which was a tier higher.

The middle-aged man took the pill, sniffed it, and his eyes lit up. "Excellent! A genuine Soul Condensing Pill. In the Dark Age, alchemists suffered heavy casualties, and very few remain. An alchemist capable of refining a Soul Condensing Pill is as rare as a phoenix feather or a dragon scale."

The middle-aged man had identified it as a Soul Condensing Pill just from a sniff—clearly an expert.

He was silent for a moment before saying, "To trade for this Black Flame Sword, this alone isn't enough. It will take at least two hundred Soul Condensing Pills to match its value!"

Nie Li didn't think a single Soul Condensing Pill could secure the sword, and even two hundred was below his own estimate; in his mind, it was worth closer to a thousand.

"Here are two hundred Soul Condensing Pills!" Nie Li took two bottles of Soul Condensing Pills from his Space Ring and tossed them to the chubby middle-aged man.