Chapter Seventy-Four: Melted Golden Stone

  During the Beast Hunt Festival, when monks from all over Blackstone County gather here, both merchant guilds will carry out some promotional competition activities during the idle time after the riding competition, such as auctions and product displays.

  Zhao Xue and Guo Fei arrived on the day when Mingyuan Chamber of Commerce was holding a goods exhibition, and Tangchong Chamber of Commerce had an auction at night. So the two went to Mingyuan Chamber of Commerce to watch the goods display first.

  The exhibition area is set on three floors. The first floor has ordinary items, the second floor has a boutique area, and the third floor has a treasure area.

  On the first floor, a spacious hall is equipped with a circular display platform, where items are clearly priced and can be purchased and taken away.

  Guo Fei needed the jade vase on the first floor, the jade vase was big and small, the small one was full of hands, the big one was about several feet high, the color of the jade stone was high and low, the high-grade jade vase held in hand had a soft and smooth feeling, the low-grade one was a bit rough.

  These jade bottles were not simply polished, but had patterns engraved on them, which seemed to be used for sealing blood and elixirs. According to Zhao Xue's explanation, Guo Fei knew that the patterns were the basic elements of a wizard's spell-casting, containing the operating rules of the universe, the five elements of nature, and the mysteries of the heavens. Wizards spent a lot of time studying these profound patterns.

  So, these jade bottles are not cheap. If there were no runes on them, it's estimated that the demon beast blood collected inside would quickly dissipate and be unable to become materials for making talismans. Dan medicine also cannot preserve its efficacy.

  Guo Fei had only a few gold coins left on him, and his purse was almost empty. He took out the bright red staff and the mage's robe he had obtained as spoils of war, intending to have the shop appraise them and sell them off.

  "You want to sell this thing?" Zhao Xue looked at Guo Fei pulling out the staff and Taoist robe from his large sleeves, and suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

  "What's wrong with that?"

  "This is a top-grade Yuanling Pearl, it's probably worth 1,000 Spirit Stones. If you sell it here, they won't give you a good price, what a waste." Zhao Xue shook her head and said.

  "Hmm, or I'll need the items, County Master can pay me first and consider it as part of what you owe me. How about I pawn this Taoist robe to you?" Guo Fei said with a smile.

  "I've already paid back the money I owed you, so don't keep harping on it. However, I'm not a petty person either. If you're short of cash, I can lend it to you and you can pay me back later. Just pawn this staff and your mage's robe to me first."

  "It's really greedy, the staff is my only valuable thing now, can't give it. This robe can be given to you, today I bought things and you pay for them. People can't be so unkind." Guo Fei stuffed the dead man's robe into Zhao Xue, hiding the staff in his sleeve.

  "You're now famous in Heishi County, don't be so petty! It'll make people look down on you." Zhao Xue said with a frown as she watched Guo Fei's actions.

  "Haha, fame is worth a few bucks. I'm a poor man, and I know that every penny counts for heroes like us. Now my pockets are empty, and you, old man, owe me money but don't pay back, do you want me to go rob?" Guo Fei said with a smile.

  "I'm impressed. What do you need today, I'll pay for it, but don't be too extravagant, my expenses can't exceed the budget or I'll have to tighten my belt in the second half of the year."

  "Now that you've said 'I'm a princess', I can rest assured. It's absolutely not going to exceed the amount of gold coins you owe me... Hehe, plus interest!"

  After hearing Guo Fei's words, Zhao Xue's face tightened and she bit her lip fiercely at Guo Fei.

  Twenty jade bottles, ten large and ten small, five sealed spirit balls, two can seal the demon general level beast spirits, three can seal the demon guard level beast spirits. Total 50,000 gold coins.

  Zhao Xue's face turned green when she paid the money. However, these were necessities for entering Hei Yan Highlands and couldn't be left behind. So she had long been prepared to provide funds for Guo Fei. It was tolerable for her.

  After buying these things, Guo Fei had someone pack them up and slung them over his shoulder. In front of Zhao Xue, it wasn't convenient to directly put them into the military token space.

  "Shall we go back and rest for a while, and watch the auction tonight?" Guo Fei stepped towards the second floor, Zhao Xue's face looked a bit unsightly.

  "No rush, haven't even gone to the boutique area and rare goods area yet?" Guo Fei smiled as he stepped into the second floor.

  "I've had enough, I'm not paying anymore."

  "County Master, with your status, saying something like that is laughable!" Guo Fei said with a faint smile.

  "You little rascal!" Zhao Xue burst out laughing and then giggled, saying: "I'm treating today, what do you want to eat? But, the county lord's money isn't easy to spend, be careful not to choke on it."

  "Haha, choking to death is better than starving to death!" Guo Fei joked and quickly walked up to the second floor.

  Such a large Chamber of Commerce should have good forging materials. Guo Fei's current top priority is to purchase materials for forging the axe gun. The first material for forging does not necessarily need to be the best, but at least it must have the hardness of Xuan Tie and Wu Gang, and most importantly, only neutral materials can be used.

  The second floor is not bad, it's a high-end area with many high-quality goods on display. There are even several bottles of second-grade elixirs. This greatly broadens Guo Fei's horizons. However, looking at the prices also shocks him. Moreover, they require spirit stones to purchase, and although gold coins can be used, the price is too high, not something Guo Fei can afford.

  The Ling Stone in the military symbol space was not convenient to show up, so Guo Fei had to dispel the idea of buying it. There are such things here, and I think they won't be too scarce on the mainland. There will be opportunities to buy them later.

  In the corner of the second floor, a huge black hard stone attracted Guo Fei, which should be an iron ore, and it faintly emitted a very strong metallic breath. Guo Fei's eyes lit up and he walked over.

  "Hey buddy, how much does this thing cost?" Guo Fei asked, pointing.

  "This piece of iron ore is extremely hard, it's the best material for refining equipment!" The man naturally recognized Zhao Xue and also recognized Guo Fei. After the selection tournament, almost no one didn't know Guo Fei, and being with Zhao Xue made people even more certain of his identity.

  "The hardness is very high, unfortunately it can't be melted, so it's also a waste product!" Guo Fei said calmly.

  That fellow's face turned red as he smiled awkwardly and said, "So the master is a connoisseur!"

  Guo Fei smiled, and with a wave of his hand, he touched the iron stone. The metal contained within was no ordinary metal, but rather a rare and precious "Yaojin". It had been mentioned in the "Qidao Lianfa" technique, but unfortunately, these metals were not found in large chunks, but rather scattered throughout the iron stone like stars. And this iron stone was no ordinary rock, but rather a "Fire-Resistant Stone", extremely difficult to melt and refine. As a result, the Yaojin was hidden within the stone, impossible for ordinary people to extract or use. In the "Qidao Lianfa" technique, such stones had a special name: "Meng Jin Shi", meaning "stone that buries metal".

  Such a stone is just a "chicken rib" for ordinary refiners, which looks appetizing but can't be eaten.

  However, the book "Qidao Lianfa" has mentioned that such a "Yanjinshi" is an excellent material for refining tools for practitioners who have practiced Jin Yun Jue. The metals hidden in Yanjinshi are not ordinary products, otherwise they would not be combined with such high-temperature-resistant and hard stones. The method of extraction is to use the "Jin Yun Jue".

  Jinyun Jue is an excellent technique for extracting and refining metals. According to the book "Qidao Lianfa", this technique is a necessary skill for becoming a great alchemist.

  Guo Fei didn't know his own five elements attribute, but from Wen Shu's words, it can be inferred that there is a 90% chance he belongs to the metal element, and should be able to cultivate the Golden Ember Technique obtained from the underground world.

  So, Guo Fei wants this piece of nephrite jade.

  "How much is this ironstone?" Guo Fei asked casually.

  "Sir, you want this piece of iron ore?" The shop assistant seemed disbelieving and asked in surprise.

  "There's a missing piece of horse hoof stone at home, I want to buy it back." Guo Fei said with a smile.

  The fellow was momentarily speechless when he heard this, and thought that using such precious ironstone for the upper grindstone was truly a sign of being rich to the point of excess.

  The fellow hastily went off and called the shopkeeper in charge of this floor.

  "Sir, this iron stone looks like a treasure, but it's actually unusable. We do business based on reputation, so I have to tell you the truth. If you buy it back and can't use it, you can return it, but we'll deduct some gold coins." The shopkeeper seemed to have encountered such situations before, and reminded him in a low voice.

  "How much?" Guo Fei knocked and said lightly.

  "Twenty thousand gold coins!"

  Kuo Fei heard this and was delighted in his heart, but he shook his head and said: "It's too expensive. I'm going back just to fill a gap and look good, your price is too high."

  "I'll take 20,000 gold coins!" Just then, a voice came from the side. Guo Fei looked up and his face suddenly turned gloomy.