Chapter 23: Fascinating Shadow

  ……

  If it were before Laozu summoned Leidong to grant rewards, he would have dared to make such a fuss. Zhao Baiwan would have slapped him with a slap. But at this time, he didn't dare, and had to force out a smiling face, a businessman's amiable and wealthy appearance: "Lei Shidi, it's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding."

  "What a load of crap." Lei Dong's expression was extremely agitated, his face red with rage as he shouted at him: "Do you know how much time I spent to get those two Ling Gui? The crappy Soul Tower you sold me actually killed one of my Ling Gui!" His voice was so loud that several fellow disciples who happened to be passing by stopped and gathered around.

  "It's a misunderstanding, really just a misunderstanding." Zhao Baiwan hastily smiled and persuaded: "How could the things I sell be bad? It must be that my junior brother accidentally misoperated. Misoperation." As he spoke, he kept winking at Lei Dong, somewhat softly and humbly saying: "Lei Junior Brother, don't shout, everything can be negotiated, negotiated. Let's go inside to talk." But in his heart, he was bitterly smiling, this time it seemed that the plan to cheat him had really backfired. Originally, he thought that this junior brother without background, whose qualifications were only average, would be easy to fool and play around with. Unexpectedly, he actually gained the favor of Old Ancestor, and was rewarded with over a hundred spirit stones and a mid-grade magical artifact. These were honors that few people could enjoy, except for Old Ancestor's direct disciples.

  At this time, Zhao Baiwan really didn't dare to offend Lei Dong. He shouted everywhere that he had ruined his own business, but it was a small matter. What if he brought out the ghost slave or Lao Zu? His life wouldn't be enough to make up for it.

  Lei Dong also knew when to stop while he was ahead, and with a cold hum, his face turned iron-green. As if somewhat unwilling, he was half-pushed and half-pulled into the house by Zhao Baiwan.

  "Junior brother, this matter is senior brother's fault. Why don't you return the Soul Tower to senior brother and senior brother will give you ten times more spirit stones?" Zhao Baiwan said with a flattering tone after persuading Lei Dong to sit down, his face full of fat shaking as he spoke with a pained expression.

  "A tenfold increase in spirit stones?" Lei Dong's face turned red with rage, and he stood up, cursing: "Zhao Baiwan, do you think I'm a fool? My spirit ghost that was killed by Ke is worth far more than this price. Why don't I go find Master Gui Nu to have him evaluate the situation."

  "Stop being angry, Master Brother stop being angry." After exerting considerable effort, Zhao Baiwan finally managed to persuade Lei Dong to sit down. Gnashing his teeth and with a pained expression, he said: "I'll compensate, I'll compensate, isn't that enough? Master Brother Lei, you tell me, how much should I compensate?"

  Lei Dong's expression seemed to ease slightly, and he glanced at Zhao Baiwan, coldly saying: "Originally, I was going to make you pay ten times the compensation, but since you, Zhao Shixiong, have an attitude that is somewhat sincere, this matter will be settled with 30 spiritual energy."

  "Thirty thousand spirits!?" Zhao Baiwan jumped up violently, his face turned pale and indignant: "This is impossible, where do you want me to find thirty thousand spirits to compensate you?"

  "Stop crying here with me." Lei Dong said indifferently, "Brother has been doing business for so many years, and it's said that his family property has long exceeded ten thousand. How could thirty ling possibly be unaffordable? If Brother is unwilling, then..."

  "Alright, thirty spirit stones for thirty spirit stones." Zhao Baiwan's heart felt like it was being cut by a dull knife, the pain was unbearable. For the sake of gaining such a small advantage, for the sake of a merchant's so-called self-respect, who would have thought that in the end they would suffer an even greater loss. Having said that, he also feared that Lei Dong would become even more greedy, and quickly and painfully handed over thirty spirit stones.

  Lei Dong put away the Ling Stone, and his face returned to normal. He smiled and said: "Since that's the case, let's consider this matter settled. Zhao Shixiong, actually, I came here this time with another business proposition for you."

  "What business?" Zhao Baiwan, who was originally delighted to hear that there was a deal, now shuddered. His voice trembled: "What kind of business is it?"

  "Little brother wants to buy a low-grade flying artifact, I suppose senior brother should have some stock?" Lei Dong stretched his waist and added: "Of course, this is a fair trade, absolutely won't let senior brother suffer a loss."

  Zhao Baiwan heard this and his heart finally settled down a bit. He thought to himself that although his junior brother was ruthless with his knife, he also knew how to be a human being and leave some leeway. Otherwise, if it were really too excessive, even if there was a possibility of being punished by the old ancestor, he would still want to take a bite out of him. His spirit slightly lifted as he said: "Low-grade flying artifact, yes, I don't know what price range my junior brother wants?"

  Roughly estimating the Ling Stones on his body, he had spent a small fortune buying the Concentrated Spirit Pills initially, but basically all of it was earned back during this period. Occasionally picking some miscellaneous herbs and mushrooms also earned him a tidy sum. Adding the thirty pieces Zhao Baiwan compensated him with, the total number was as high as one hundred and seventy pieces or so.

  "After some deliberation, Lei Dong spoke up: 'I want a flying artifact worth around 300 spiritual energy.'"

  "Three hundred taels?" Zhao Baiwan's spirits lifted, it had been some time since he'd encountered a deal of this magnitude. Looking at Lei Dong again, his gaze was much more favorable. Three hundred taels, what a vast fortune! With a smile that made his eyes narrow, Zhao Baiwan hastily stood up: "Young Master, please wait for a moment, I'll be right back."

  In an instant, Zhao Baiwan carefully walked out with a box in his hands and placed it on the table. He said with some pride: "This Shadow Flight Sword is indeed a good thing. Although its quality is only that of a lower-grade artifact, its speed is not inferior to that of an ordinary mid-grade flying artifact. At full speed, it can travel a thousand miles in one hour. I have always been reluctant to sell it, and if it weren't for my friendship with my junior brother and the favor I owe him, I wouldn't have taken it out." He was indeed proud, but in fact, this flying sword was not something he had purchased. Instead, he had snatched it from a severely injured high-level Qi Refining cultivator many years ago, spending a large sum of money to erase the previous owner's mental imprint. However, compared to the value of the flying sword, that cost was well worth it.

  He slowly picked up the Dark Phantom Flying Sword, its entire body was ink black in color, with a skull-shaped hilt that looked extremely realistic and ferocious. The overall shape had a slight arc, showing off an excellent streamlined design. When touched by hand, one could feel the material's coolness and heaviness. After infusing it with a bit of Profound Yin True Energy, the entire flying sword emitted a deep green, almost black, dark glow.

  The flying sword emitted a faint, dark green glow as it flew. Zhao Baiwan chuckled and said, "I suppose you've already noticed, Brother. When this flying sword is activated, the color of its aura is a deep, dark green. This isn't particularly noticeable during the day, but at night, it makes it much harder for people to detect. It indirectly has the effect of concealing one's tracks."

  Lei Dong nodded slightly and didn't respond, instead asking: "Since you've said so many good things about it, why not discuss its shortcomings?" In fact, Lei Dong had already understood that if this flying sword was really as good as he said, it wouldn't have been appraised as a low-grade flying artifact, but rather a mid-grade one.

  Zhao Baiwan's smile faltered for a moment, and if it were in the past, he could have easily fooled his junior brother. However, now, even giving him a few more chances wouldn't dare to deceive him again. The corners of his mouth twitched with a dry laugh: "Junior brother indeed has good eyesight, good eyesight indeed. This flying sword's only weakness is that it consumes too much energy. An ordinary mid-grade flying artifact like this would only need one spirit stone to fly a thousand miles. However, this flying sword requires two spirit stones. Even if you don't use spirit stones and drive it with true energy instead, it still consumes twice as much as other flying swords under the same conditions. At junior brother's current level of cultivation, after flying about a hundred miles, your body's true energy would be depleted by about 70-80%." Knowing that his junior brother was not easy to fool and also being somewhat afraid to deceive him again, Zhao Baiwan could only honestly reveal the shortcomings.

  Indeed, it has a fatal flaw. Lei Dong sighed faintly in his heart. Ling stones are precious resources that everyone needs desperately, and for some ordinary Qi-refining disciples, every single ling stone is cherished like gold. Who would be willing to use a flying sword that consumes a huge amount of ling stones? However, it's precisely because of this that Lei Dong has the opportunity to get his hands on it. Otherwise, it would have been snatched up by someone else long ago.

  However, even if Leidong held the Soul-Devouring Tower in his hand, he couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache when thinking about the massive consumption of spirit stones. From here to the market, it's about 8,000 miles away. If he were to use this Shadow Flight Sword to make a round trip, he would need to consume around 32 spirit stones. But Leidong didn't want to miss out on this rare speed and stealth flying sword. If there was a normal consumption flying device that could reach these two indicators, it's probably not something that can be bought with the little money he has on him. Even if he had spirit stones to spare, a small merchant like Zhao Baiwan wouldn't have access to such a high-level flying device.

  "Lei Dong took a deep breath and said, 'Flying consumes twice as much spiritual stone! Zhao Shixiong, do you think I'm a fat sheep?' But in his heart, he was thinking that he must bring it down. Flying fast proves that there are more chances to escape, which means safety is guaranteed. As for the night hiding, it's an additional layer of insurance on top of speed. As for consuming twice as much spiritual stone, so be it! After all, I have the Soul-Devouring Tower in my hands. Safety is the most important thing."