"If you are willing to trade your secrets for mine, I will pay the corresponding value and make sure you are satisfied,"
"If you are unwilling, then let’s just be friends,"
"I am more than happy to make friends with a future Infinite Realm Master, and to make some investments along the way. Of course, all this must be with your subjective consent, and not because you feel compelled or manipulated by me,"
Having said this, he waited for Ji Xinghuo’s reply.
Ji Xinghuo sensed the frankness and sincerity in the other party’s words and quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He also guessed some reasons; this Shepherd Star Saint seemed to adhere to certain rules, whether due to personal faith or racial tradition was unclear, but it was fortunate regardless.
At this time, even a fool would know how to choose.
"To become friends with a senior like you is something I could only hope for," Ji Xinghuo said gladly before introducing himself, "My name is Ji Xinghuo."
"My real name cannot be revealed, but I have a nickname called the Void Spirit Guest," the other party replied, "You can call me Void Spirit Senior."
"Greetings, Void Spirit Senior,"
Ji Xinghuo greeted respectfully, and curiously asked, "Is Void Spirit Senior just passing through Sky Falling Cliff?"
The Void Spirit Guest laughed, "For hundreds of years, I’ve spent most of my time at Sky Falling Cliff. On the plateau, I have another identity, the master of Sky Falling Cliff."
"Ah!" Ji Xinghuo was taken aback.
He looked up at the stone palace built on the mountainside of Sky Falling Cliff. It was too far away, beyond the radius of electromagnetic induction, but he vaguely sensed that at this moment, a gaze from within the grand palace was falling upon him, and it was indeed the Void Spirit Guest.
"So it turns out that Void Spirit Senior is the master of Sky Falling Cliff, my apologies for any disrespect," Ji Xinghuo realized in his heart.
"It’s just some empty titles,"
The Void Spirit Guest said indifferently, "Sky Falling Cliff is just one of my temporary residences, and also serves as a trading point where I collect some resources from the Bloody Plateau."
Ji Xinghuo asked, "What kind of resources?"
"Weapon equipment, precious raw materials, knowledge, space-expanding oddities, alien species, ether crystals..." The Void Spirit Guest listed many items, "Anything of value, uniquely, that can be traded in the Star Realm and Galaxy, I’m interested in."
"Of course, my standards are very high, I don’t just take anything,"
"At the same time, I have channels to sell many treasures that can’t be found in the True Dragon Star Domain, such as armor from the Eternal Empire, Star Glands of the Star Alliance, alien species, Star Realm Shuttles from the Infinite Trade Consortium, treasures from the Void Empire, or the secret arts of the Spiritual Ability Sect and the Ether Sword Sect..."
"As long as you can pay the price, I will try my best to help you acquire them,"
"Everything has a price!"
Towards the end, the Void Spirit Guest said the words "Everything has a price" very solemnly, with the devotion of a believer reciting a religious creed.
Ji Xinghuo remembered that this was the second time Void Spirit Guest had mentioned this phrase.
He understood something in his heart.
This Shepherd Star Saint seemed to be a kind of "merchant," also understood as a "dealer," using their extraordinary ability to travel the Star Realm, collecting goods throughout the Galaxy and Star Realms to trade elsewhere, profiting from the price differentials.
At the same time, the Void Spirit Guest strictly followed certain rules, seeking fair trade.
Sky Falling Cliff was one of the markets established by the Void Spirit Guest for resource collection and trading. There must be similar markets elsewhere.
"I will remember that, senior," Ji Xinghuo replied.
A token appeared out of thin air and accurately fell into Ji Xinghuo’s hand, unnoticed by others.
Ji Xinghuo was inwardly astonished.
The mere act of transferring an object through the air was beyond his imagination.
If the Void Spirit Guest could transfer a token, he could certainly send weapons or other lethal objects as well, something Ji Xinghuo couldn’t possibly defend against.
"This is a Sky Fall Order token I made, and also a token of trust," the Void Spirit Guest said, "With it, go to the chieftain of the Snow Ape Giant Tribe, ’Han Qiu,’ and you can get the trade information I’ve posted. For some routine transactions, Han Qiu can complete them, or you can also make an appointment with him to meet me."
Ji Xinghuo carefully examined the token in his hand.
It was made of a kind of black crystal, several times denser than iron, with a cool touch, and shaped like a five-centimeter-long diamond.
The token had one side engraved with the symbol of Sky Falling Cliff, and the other side was adorned with a blurry, strange human face, devoid of facial features, with tentacle-like appendages stretching out in all directions, gnashing and clawing. Although it was just a carving, it exuded a sense of horror.
Ji Xinghuo slipped the Sky Fall Order into his pocket, "Thank you, senior."
However, the Void Spirit Guest did not respond again.
Ji Xinghuo called out a few more times, but the voice of the Void Spirit Guest never appeared in his mind again; the mind-link must have been severed.
He quietly breathed a sigh of relief, only to find that, at some point, his back was drenched in a cold sweat.
The pressure from the Shepherd Star Saint had been too great.
He made his way back to Xia Qingyu’s home, where neither Xia Qingyu nor Misha noticed anything unusual about Ji Xinghuo. As soon as the two entered the house, they quickly wrapped their arms around each other and went up to the second-floor bedroom, from which intense thumping sounds emerged, shaking the floor.
Even in the Cultivation Room, Ji Xinghuo was affected and spat disdainfully, deciding to simply leave the house.
He rode Qing Hong toward the central stone mountain of Sky Falling Cliff. Xia Qingyu’s home was not far from the base of the stone mountain, and soon they entered the Snow Ape Giant Tribe.
The Snow Ape Giants preferred to live in caves, but with the stone mountain being too short to carve out caverns, they built towering houses out of massive stones instead. Each house was only one story tall yet measured over a dozen meters in height and occupied a vast amount of land, complete with gardens and public spaces, creating a beautiful environment.
These stone houses surrounded the central stone mountain, rising with the terrain and guarding the palace at the mountain’s peak.
Approaching the tribe, one could see many Snow Ape Giants from afar.
There were adult giants as well as young ones, and regardless of age or sex, they all possessed formidable strength, with the average being at least a Second-Rank giant.
The elites among the giants were all Fourth-Rank.
Through his electromagnetic induction, Ji Xinghuo detected around thirty-plus Fifth-Rank giants, which were considered legendary.
There were also three at the Heavenly King Level!
He couldn’t help but marvel at how the giants’ natural gifts far surpassed those of other races.
The Snow Ape Giant Tribe of Sky Falling Cliff, with slightly over three thousand members, had produced three Heavenly Kings, reaching an astonishing ratio of one per thousand. Earth, with its 4.2 billion people, only had 49 Heavenly Kings, requiring an average of 850 million people to produce one Heavenly King—the disparity was immense.
As Ji Xinghuo entered the tribe, he was immediately stopped by a well-equipped Giant Patrol Team.
"Alien Species, halt."
The Snow Ape Giant called out loudly.
Ji Xinghuo took out the Sky Fall Order and showed it, "I request an audience with Chieftain Han Qiu."
The leading giant seemed to recognize the token, "Follow me."
The giant led the way, with Ji Xinghuo following behind. Standing on the ground, the giant was a half taller than Ji Xinghuo on Qing Hong, his every stride three meters long, causing the ground to tremble slightly, making the surrounding temperature even colder than elsewhere.
The Snow Ape Giants were born with the Ice Element Ability and were not as clumsy as many other giants; they possessed both strength and agility, with a very strong burst capacity.
Their armor was clearly not a product of the highlands.
"It must have been arranged by the Void Spirit Guest for the Snow Ape Giants, probably even custom-made," Ji Xinghuo, who had not understood before, now knew of the Void Spirit Guest’s existence and speculated about the situation.
Following the giant, he arrived at the foot of the mountain and entered a huge stone house.
"I will notify the chieftain," said the Snow Ape Giant, heading into the stone house, and soon came back out, "The chieftain allows you to enter."
Ji Xinghuo dismounted from Qing Hong, letting it stay outside, and entered the stone house himself. Within the spacious and tall hall, he saw a Snow Ape Giant whose aura was extremely formidable.
This giant was also dressed in Superpower Armor, immensely strong in build, with a body habitually slightly bent, long arms nearly reaching the ground. Just standing there, he was over six meters tall. White fur, dense and long, poked out from the armor, and his gray-blue eyes revealed an air of vicissitudes.
A Sixth-Rank giant, a Heavenly King Level powerhouse!
Ji Xinghuo, not daring to be negligent, quickly stepped forward to greet, "I’ve come to see Chieftain Han Qiu."