Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
In Cantory’s opinion, even if the Tower of Dusk had great power in the Breezy Plains, they were still just a local force, and he thought that it would be impossible for Lin Li to get that much money at once. Of course, Cantory knew that Lin Li had another identity, and that was the fourth arbitrator of the Supreme Council. However, the Supreme Council did not belong to him alone, so how could they possibly pay such a huge sum of money for him?
The secret merchant also swallowed his saliva with great difficulty, and stammered, “Sir, are you taking everything?”
“Yes.” Lin Li smiled and looked at the secret merchant. “However, you have to reduce the price by 90% of whatever you quoted just now.”
What?! Reduce the price by 90%!? Damn it, that won’t be enough to cover my cost price. Is he playing a prank on me?! The secret merchant almost vomited blood after hearing Lin Li’s request.
“Sir, you’re going a little too far with your joke. Are you sure you know where you are now?” the secret merchant questioned in a hostile tone. In fact, anyone would react the same way. Although the buyer would tend to bargain for the lowest price possible, asking for a 90% discount was a very insincere offer.
However, Lin Li was not anxious at all. He glanced at the box filled with Nether Pearls, and said, “It seems that you are not too satisfied with this price. How about I give you a method to safely enter and exit the Nether Sea in exchange?”
“What?!” The secret merchant instinctively felt that it was impossible. He had paid a huge price to enter the Nether Pearl, and he merely managed to painstakingly harvest these Nether Pearls at the periphery of the Nether Sea.
Since the Nether Sea had been formed, countless people had brainstormed for ways to enter the Nether Sea and comb it for the treasures that had gone missing there during the great war of the ocean. However, they usually ended up becoming the Undead creatures of the Nether Sea. Not to mention the average person, even Sanctuary powerhouses would not be able to resist the erosion of the death aura in the Nether Sea. How could anyone be able to safely enter and leave the Nether Sea?
Cantory, who was at the side, couldn’t help but burst into laughter as he said, “President Felic, are you joking? I bet you’ve never even seen the Nether Sea before, have you? Trust you to have the cheek to deceive others with that. If you have that ability, why would you have to come here to buy Nether Pearls? You can jolly well go pick some yourself!”
Being a native of the Gilded Kingdom, Cantory naturally was no stranger to the situation in the Nether Sea. Even his teacher, the lord of the Illuminati, couldn’t delve deep into the Nether Sea. Hence, he didn’t believe Lin Li knew of a method that would allow people to enter and leave the Nether Sea safely at will. Besides, just as he said, if Lin Li could really enter and leave the Nether Sea freely, he didn’t have to tell anyone about it, as he could have free access to the resources in the Nether Sea.
However, in the face of the questioning, Lin Li seemed to be unaffected as he nonchalantly asked the secret merchant, “So? Are you going to accept this deal or not?”
Seeing how confident Lin Li was, the secret merchant couldn’t help but waver, especially since he knew that he was facing a Sanctuary powerhouse. Besides, he had also heard of Lin Li’s glorious deeds in the Gilded Kingdom, which left him with no choice but to consider the possibility of Lin Li having a feasible method. If he could really enter and exit the Nether Sea freely, he would be able to obtain massive benefits from it. Nether Pearls were not the only thing that existed in the Sea of Abundance.
“A-are you serious?” the secret merchant asked, feeling like he was being silly too. However, his nature as a merchant compelled him to avoid missing such an opportunity, regardless of how absurd it seemed.
Lin Li nodded, and casually said, “The method is very simple, and there is no harm for me to tell it to you now. You just need some Nether Servant’s Blessing Potions, and you’ll be able to prevent erosion by the death aura in the sea. Although the Nether Servant’s Blessing Potion is a less commonly known potion, there are pharmacists who can concoct it.”
“Nether Servant’s Blessing Potion? I’ve only heard of Light Blessing Potion, Darkness Blessing Potion, and Elemental Blessing Potion. I’ve never heard of a Nether Servant’s Blessing Potion. Even if it exists, it’s probably a curse that turns living beings into Undead creatures, isn’t it?” Cantory couldn’t help but mock with a disdainful expression when he heard that Lin Li’s so-called method was actually to use such a bizarre potion.
That secret merchant also looked at Lin Li in disbelief, but he didn’t question Lin Li right away like Cantory did. Instead, he waited to hear Lin Li explain further.
“The Nether Servant’s Blessing Potion temporarily transforms the user into an Undead form so that he or she wouldn’t be eroded by the death aura anymore. Once the user is exposed to the sunlight or is in an environment with insufficient death aura, the power of the Nether Servant’s Blessing Potion will be dissolved quickly by the sunlight, thus allowing the user to revert back to being a living being,” Lin Li explained briefly the function of the Nether Servant’s Blessing Potion without looking at Cantory.
If it was used on pure Undead creatures, it would at best result in a small increase in their strength, which would be rather insignificant. When used on living beings, it would allow them to temporarily have the Undead aura of Undead creatures without truly turning into one. For example, Undead creatures would not die as long as their soul fire was not extinguished, but living beings would die once they were attacked in their vital points, even if they had the Undead aura. After all, only their aura changed.
Hence, even though the Nether Servant’s Blessing Potion was not an advanced potion, nor did it require many precious herbs, it wasn’t very well-received. Things that did not have a market demand were bound to be eliminated. Thus, soon after the Nether Servant’s Blessing Potion was invented, it was completely forgotten by people.
“Is there really such a potion?” That secret merchant was somewhat apprehensive because he had indeed never heard of such a potion, and also because the method seemed too simple to be true.
Of course, if it could really allow him to enter and leave the Nether Sea safely, the benefits he could obtain from it would be far from what these Nether Pearls could compare to. Hence, despite being doubtful, the secret merchant had some hopes, and was waiting for Lin Li to come up with some solid evidence.
“You can give it a try,” Lin Li said as he turned his hand over, and a vial of transparent potion appeared in his palm. It was the Nether Servant’s Blessing Potion, which was consumed by new Death Knights of the Tower of Dusk.
The Death Knights that had been consecutively summoned by the Retribution Knights were usually too weak to play any significant role at the beginning. Hence, their strength had to be improved as soon as possible. Apart from the functions that Lin Li mentioned just now, the Nether Servant’s Blessing Potion could also speed up the absorption of power of death for Undead creatures. It was just like a nutritional solution for the Undead creatures.
However, most Necromancers could not obtain the allegiance of the Death Knights, while other low-level Undead creatures were consumables. It would be too extravagant to nurture them with the Nether Servant’s Blessing Potion. Only the Tower of Dusk would have sufficient Death Knights and could afford to use such a method.
“Are you kidding? How can there be that kind of potion?!” Cantory exclaimed when he saw that Lin Li had really taken out a potion. He suddenly remembered his investigation on the Tower of Dusk when he was in the Breezy Plains, which gave him an ominous feeling because he learned that the pharmaceutical business seemed to be exactly one of the mainstays of the Tower of Dusk.
Is it true? The secret merchant wondered as he took the potion from Lin Li’s hand apprehensively. However, when he saw how certain Lin Li was, he decided to give it a try so that he wouldn’t really miss the opportunity to make a fortune. Of course, there was no need to really go to the Nether Sea to test it out. He simply beckoned a slave over, and then ordered him to down the Nether Servant’s Blessing Potion.
A slave belonged entirely to his master, so even if his master wanted him to kill himself, he would have no other choice, not to mention drinking a potion. Hence, although the slave was trembling, he nevertheless brought the potion bottle close to his mouth, and chugged it in one go before closing his eyes tightly to wait for his death.
However, at this juncture, something that shocked the secret merchant and Cantory, as well as the surrounding crowd of people, happened. As the slave drank the Nether Servant’s Blessing Potion, his vitality soon vanished, and was replaced by a death aura that was similar to that of Undead creatures. However, the slave’s appearance remained unchanged, except that there was now a faint layer of black mist around his body.
“Take this!” The secret merchant tried to contain his excitement as he took out a Nether Pearl and gave it to his slave. Nether Pearls contained a pure and powerful death aura that would erode an ordinary person, and turn them into an Undead creature once they touched it. Hence, if that slave did not get eroded by the death aura of the Nether Pearl, it would mean that there was a great possibility that the potion would allow him to resist the death aura in the Nether Sea.
Die, die, die, he must die! Cantory secretly prayed in his heart while looking at the slave nervously too. He had come over to make Lin Li make a fool out of himself, not to watch Lin Li get his way. However, it seemed that he was the only one who was unlucky because he had spent 4,000,000 gold coins on something that was of no use to him while failing to stop Lin Li from reaching his goals. The thought of the smug and complacent look Lin Li would have on his face after completing the deal with the secret merchant made him feel terrible.
Apart from Cantory, that secret merchant and the other secret merchants from the several stores nearby, as well as the curious onlookers who had come over to take a look, all seemed a little nervous as they waited with bated breaths as every one of them knew that if there was really a method to get in and out of the Nether Sea without being eroded by the death aura, they could treat the entire Nether Sea like it was their backyard.
Everyone watched as the slave picked up the Nether Pearl from his master’s hand. After Nether Pearl was taken out of the crystal box, everyone could see a dense black gas coalescing on its surface, as well as what seemed to be countless resentful spirits howling and struggling within. If an ordinary living being were to touch it, the black gas will immediately spread out towards their body, while the countless resentful spirits would also emerge to rip apart the soul of the living being.
However, they were now presented with a scene that was simply unbelievable to them. The slave was holding the Nether Pearl in hand, but they didn’t see what they had expected. Instead, the black gas on the Nether Pearl seemed to have been fixed in place as it didn’t spread towards the slave at all. At the same time, the countless vengeful spirits in the black gas were also merely roaring silently when they detected the breath of living beings, not in the slightest bit interested in the slave.
Now that the effect of the Nether Servant’s Blessing Potion had been proven, everyone’s breathing began to quicken as they all came forward to ask Lin Li about the Nether Servant’s Blessing Potion. Some even planned to cooperate with Lin Li.
Although the erosion by death aura was just one of the dangers that came with the exploration of the Nether Sea, and they also had to face the risk of being threatened by the Undead Sea Clan of the Nether Sea, the threat of the Undead creatures of the Sea Clan took on physical form, and could be dealt with using other means. For example, they could fight the Undead creatures or avoid them if they were unable to retaliate.
However, the erosion of the death aura was pervasive, and one wouldn’t be able to hide from it at all, thus making it the hardest to deal with. It might be an exaggeration to say that one could access the Nether Sea freely once they had the potion, but as long as the erosion by the death aura was no longer a factor to consider, the difficulty of exploring the Nether Sea would be reduced by more than half.
Under such a huge temptation, the surrounding crowd couldn’t help but cave in to their desires, and all crowded around Lin Li in a bid to discuss a cooperation with him, regardless of how rich they were and how high their status was.
Seeing this scene, the secret merchant began to panic as he hurriedly held up the box of Nether Pearls with both hands, and handed it to Lin Li while saying to everyone else, “Okay, everyone, stop arguing, this is a deal between President Felic and me, please don’t affect us.”
“What a joke, you’re offering only some Nether Pearls! President Felic, as long as you cooperate with the Seven Seas Trade Union, we will provide you with as many Nether Pearls as you need!” said a smiling pot-bellied merchant who had squeezed through the crowd.
“Badelo, you’ve thought of such a good plan, haven’t you? Everyone knows the enormous value of the things hidden in the Nether Sea, and the Nether Pearls are insignificant compared to that. Yet, you actually have the nerve to cooperate with President Felic on such terms.” Another tall and lanky man squeezed in, and rebuked Badelo disdainfully. He then put on a deferential smile, and said to Lin Li, “President Felic, I’m from the Sahediron Trade Union, and I’m very sincere about cooperating with you. How about we go elsewhere to discuss the cooperation?”
On the other hand, Cantory, who was waiting to see Lin Li embarrass himself, had already been pushed away by the excited crowd that was squeezing in to get closer to Lin Li. He was filled with a strong frustration and dejection. 4,000,000 gold coins were not a big deal to him, but what irked him the most was that he had been tricked by his enemy whom he absolutely hated. That was simply unacceptable to him, but there was nothing he could do while hearing the compliments that the crowd was showering Lin Li with.