1293 Who Profited from Whom

Darknorth Immortal suddenly felt a bit touched and shot a deep look at Tang Xiu. He didn't try to pretend to decline it and solemnly said, "Such a great affection from Great Tang Fellow Immortal will always be remembered in my heart. Please do notify me should you need me at any time. This Darknorth will definitely be ready to do everything through fire and water and even brave death for you."

After that, he took a token from his interspatial ring and handed it to Tang Xiu. Then, he spoke again, "This is the Command Token of my sect. If in the future you or your relatives and friends come to my sect with this Command Token, anyone who holds it can ask all the disciples of my sect to help with your cause once. No matter how grave the dangers and regardless of the terrible price we have to pay, the Aurelian Artificer Sect's disciples will never refuse the command."

Tang Xiu received the Command Token and calmly looked at it before solemnly putting it into his interspatial ring. Although he was sure that he would never ask this sect to help him in the future, it was a goodwill Darknorth Immortal had shown him, and he was unwilling to refuse it.

Shortly after, Tang Xiu collected the Earth Core and then gave two portions of Auric Profusion Source to the man.

Overjoyed, Darknorth Immortal said, "Great Tang Immortal friend, all the precious refining materials of my sect are in this secret room. You can choose three of them as a gift from us. Whatever they are."

It was a gesture of gifting a present to others after receiving a gift. Tang Xiu was perfectly aware that this was Darknorth Immortal's way of thanking him. However, he couldn't help but feel embarrassed inwardly since the value of Earth Core was far from being comparable to that of 2 portions of Auric Profusion Source.

Doesn't matter. I'll regard this as a favor. I'll fulfill their wishes once if this sect has any needs in the future.

Tang Xiu took a deep breath and re-checked over a dozen refining materials before he finally selected 3 of them. He then left the secret room with Darknorth Immortal and left the Scarlet Cliff Abode.

"Anyway, would you like to use the refining furnace I usually use or do you have your own furnace, Great Tang Immortal friend?" Darknorth Immortal asked.

"I'll be using my own!" Tang Xiu said.

Darknorth Immortal nodded and cast some immortal techniques, then refining furnace placed in the Scarlet Cliff Abode entered his interspatial ring. Afterward, he spoke, "Great Tang Immortal friend, please feel free to notify a disciple of my sect should you need any refining materials for the artifact you're going to refine here. I need to enter seclusion now. I'll be out to see you again when the immortal swords, armors, and other weapons are finished."

"Alright!" Tang Xiu nodded.

He wanted to refine the Versicolor Coral Garb. Although this sect had insufficient refining materials, he decided to buy them in the nearest city. He was confident that he would be able to make 20 Versicolor Coral Garbs during his stay here.

After some time, Tang Xiu had listed the auxiliary materials he needed to make some Versicolor Coral Garbs. As soon as he came out of the Scarlet Cliff Abode, he saw a burly and strong female warrior, looking down at him with a stern yet bashful smiling face.

"I've listed both the quantity and quality of the materials I need here. It's best to prepare them for me within 3 days. Your Sect Master just entered seclusion and shouldn't be out for some time. Tell your Sect Elders when they come back to manage the affairs in the sect later."

Tang Xiu handed the list to her and left without looking back.

The feeling of being looked down at by such a female giant made him quite uncomfortable. One's height, however, was one's natural shortcoming. Unless he used his Immortal Force to alter his bones' structure to increase his height, he would never be able to surpass the height of this 2.5 meters female giant under normal conditions.

****

Immortal Solicit City.

After coming to this city alone, Tang Xiu merged into the crowd on the wide street. It was easy for him to blend into the environs of a city full of cultivators and immortals, given his experience.

He didn't want to attract trouble since he came here to buy refining materials, so he quickly came to a monkey-like looking youth in an alley. At first sight, the teenage boy looked very smart given his intelligent eyes.

"What can I do for you, Sir?"

The teenager observed Tang Xiu for some time and was sure that the young man in front of him was definitely a fat sheep, so he asked with a smiling face.

"Are you a native and familiar with this Immortal Solicit City?" asked Tang Xiu indifferently.

The juvenile puffed his chest out, patted it with his hand and said confidently, "There's no corner in the entire 19,000 kilometers area of Immortal Solicit City this Dragon Broker is not familiar with. I'm a guaranteed perfect guide as long as you tell me what you need."

"I need to buy some refining materials, show me the way! Keep in mind I'll treat you better if your service is to my satisfaction," Tang Xiu said lightly.

Dragon Broker blinked and he immediately replied smilingly, "Well, we can go to the Cecum Street's emporiums if you'd like to buy ordinary refining materials, Sir. You can find myriads of shops with all kinds of refining materials there. Of course, Senior can also unearth some treasures from those heaps of low-grade goods with heaven-defying luck. But if precious materials are what Senior needs, we need to go to the Aromatic River Road. There are 360 stores there, all of which sell various fine materials, and we can buy any refining materials we need as long as we have the money."

"Then let's head to the Aromatic River Road," Tang Xiu said.

Dragon Broker squinted his eyes and his smiling face turned brighter. He then nodded and unctuously fawned. "You really are quite an outstanding person given your majestic appearance, Sir. The other Immortals are just not comparable to you. By the way, of those 360 material stores, the Precious Hall and the Immortal Materials Emporium are the best stores there are. However, the Precious Hall only does business with Immortal patrons while ordinary people who go there can only look around. The Immortal Materials Emporium is not a store with patron limitation although its name does sound so lofty."

"To the Precious Hall, then," Tang Xiu added.

Dragon Broker's scrawny figure violently shuddered and he dumbly looked at Tang Xiu before he hurriedly said with a deferential face, "Yes, yes. I'll take you to the Precious Hall right away, Sir. But since you're a respected Immortal, one thing that should be kept in mind is that the Precious Hall doesn't entertain any bargain. Each refining material has its own price tag and you'll be left out once you bargain."

Tang Xiu slightly nodded in response. With Dragon Broker as his guide, he spent half a day to get to the Precious Hall. The large classical pavilion was 100 meters high and covered an area of several kilometers. The richly ornamented building looked majestic, and just by standing outside, it was enough to tell that this material store was an upscale store that provided quality goods.

"Welcome to our store, Honorable Patron."

A young man in a servant martial garb approached and greeted with a smile. His sharp eyes only glanced at Dragon Broker and no longer looked at the youth again.

"I'd like to buy several types of refining materials. This list has the name and quantity of the materials I need." Tang Xiu calmly said, "We can trade immediately if you have any of them."

The youth servant quickly read the list for a moment after receiving it. But he immediately looked surprised and said, "We do have the Lucid Sky Sand and the Red Pure Gold, but their prices are very expensive, Sir. As for the Indigo Peng Tendon, we have one for sale. This treasure is an item that is always a target for everyone's bid once placed in our store."

"Do you know where I can get this material, by chance?" Tang Xiu nodded and asked.

"This one has no idea about the specifics because our Precious Hall hasn't sold this material." The youth servant shook his head and then added, "However, there's a material in our store which is actually similar and even slightly better than Indigo Peng Tendon. Would you like to see…"

"What material is it, exactly?" Tang Xiu asked in surprise.

"It's a Serpent Dragon Tendon," replied the youth servant.

Tang Xiu immediately looked happy and nodded. "The Serpent Dragon Tendon is indeed much better than the Indigo Peng Tendon while also having the same effect when used in refining. Alright, I'll buy Serpent Dragon Tendon. How much do I need to pay for the given materials and quantity, then?"

The youth servant inquired. "May I ask how are you going to pay, Senior?"

"Immortal Crystals," answered Tang Xiu.

The youth servant quickly cast a technique to send a message. A few minutes after, three ordinary Immortals came with the three materials. The leader, a burly man, said, "These three materials are of top quality with a total value of 560,000 Immortal Crystals."

Tang Xiu inspected the three materials first and, after confirming that they were genuine goods, he put Immortal Crystals from his interspatial ring to another empty ring. Afterward, he handed it to the man and said, "Please take these 560,000 Immortal Crystals."

The burly man smiled after checking it. "Thank you for your patronage, Sir. Please come again later."

After receiving the three materials and securing them, Tang Xiu didn't stay any longer. Although he still wanted to buy more refining materials, he only had 240,000 Immortal Crystals left which were needed to pay for the spatial teleportation array's fare for the Great Tang Empire's warriors later.

After going out, Tang Xiu took out an Immortal Crystal and threw it to Dragon Broker while asking, "Do you know some interesting places in this city?"

Dragon Broker looked excited. He was just a nobody here who had yet to reach the Nascent Soul Stage. Working as a guide usually only earned him a few Immortal Stones. It was his first time getting an Immortal Crystal. It must be noted that one Immortal Crystal was equal to 100 Immortal Stones, but Tang Xiu already gave him 200 Immortal Stones in one go!

This man is definitely a money bag!

After giving Tang Xiu such a label, Dragon Broker's monkey-like small face grinned from ear to ear and he fawned. "Yes, there are many interesting places in Immortal Solicit City, Sire. May I ask what kind of interesting place you'd like to visit?"

Tang Xiu thought for a moment and asked, "Does this city have a Convict Arena, by chance?"

A Convict Arena?

The boy couldn't help but shudder. He hesitated for a while and then forced a wry smile. "Yes, but that place is kind of… too… bloody. So, where would you like to go, Sire?"

"Figures. This body has been short of followers recently, so I'm going to buy some of them before going back. Let's go there! I'll give you a handsome reward as long as you take me to some places that make me happy, got it?"

The moment the teenager heard the promise, he was shocked again and quickly said, "Then please follow me, Sire. This one knows the most fearsome Convict Arena in Immortal Solicit City which has countless fierce people. I guarantee that it will be to your satisfaction."

"Any Immortals confined there?" asked Tang Xiu.

"That place sure has it. Senior can even have those mortal combat gladiators at the Golden Immortal Stage as long as you have the money," Dragon Broker answered.

"Lead the way, then." Tang Xiu's eyes immediately lit up and he happily said, "I still got many things to deal with, so I don't have much time."