Chapter 12: Instantaneous Refinement
Passing through the side passage, Linley and his group arrived at the third-floor hall of the Violet Thorn Castle, where a large number of goods were displayed. This hall was noticeably more crowded, with people gathering in small groups, walking from counter to counter, carefully examining each item.
"Boss, look." Bebe pointed toward the stairway. "There's no one guarding the stairway entrance over here. Anyone can come in freely, unlike the acquisition hall over there, where those violet-robed guys check everyone."
Delia chuckled. "Bebe, since a large number of goods are displayed here, naturally they have to let people view them. But I think... with so many people looking at the goods, the number of actual buyers probably isn't that high."
On the walls behind the counters throughout the third-floor hall, there were inscriptions. Linley was somewhat surprised. "Attack weapons, defensive weapons, medicines, materials, cultivation aids, divine sparks..." Clearly, the numerous counters along the edges of this third-floor hall dealt in various different trades.
"Linley, look, over there they're selling houses." Delia pointed to a corner of the hall.
"I've always heard that it's very difficult to establish a foothold in Prefectural City. Let's go see how expensive the houses really are." Curious, Linley led Bebe and Delia over.
Many god-level experts were gathered around, observing.
"You're all in luck. Right now, there are only three ownerless houses left in the entire Prefectural City! Seize the opportunity, or you'll miss your chance." The violet-robed young man behind the counter said calmly.
"Only three empty houses in the entire Prefectural City?" Linley couldn't believe it.
A bystander nearby glanced at Linley and said, "Brother, the houses in Prefectural City were all sold out over a hundred million years ago. The houses being sold now are ones whose original owners died. Then the Violet Thorn Castle puts them up for sale again. So there's no need to rush into buying. You know, Prefectural City has tens of millions of residents. After a while, someone else might die, and then there'll be another house available. Sigh, the prices are just too high. I'll wait until a cheaper one comes up."
Hearing this, Linley understood.
The houses in Prefectural City only became available when the original owner died, reverting to the Violet Thorn Castle, which then sold them again.
"That makes sense. Although fighting is forbidden in Prefectural City, with tens of millions of residents, they can't stay inside the city forever. For example, some demons... if they go out to accept missions and die, their houses return to the Violet Thorn Castle." Linley was just a bit puzzled about how the Violet Thorn Castle knew when a house became ownerless.
"Maybe it's through some blood-bonding method," Linley speculated inwardly.
As he thought this, Linley, Delia, and Bebe approached the counter to check the prices of the three houses. What they saw startled them immensely.
"Robbing people blind!" Bebe exclaimed. "The cheapest one costs sixty million inkstones!"
Linley was also shocked. Of the three houses, the most expensive was over three hundred million inkstones, another was one hundred and twenty million inkstones, and the cheapest was sixty million inkstones.
"Yeah, way too expensive. Why can't more of those cheap house owners die off?" the god-level experts nearby grumbled resentfully.
"The cheapest house in Prefectural City can be bought for just eight million inkstones, but once such a cheap house appears, it's snapped up immediately." A middle-level god beside them sighed. "When will I ever be able to afford a sixty-million-inkstone house?"
Linley nodded inwardly.
Houses varied greatly in quality. Some were outrageously expensive, but the cheapest he'd heard of was eight million inkstones, and that depended on luck. Since everyone wanted those cheap houses, the moment one appeared, it would probably be bought instantly.
"Becoming a resident of Prefectural City is really tough," Linley sighed.
He had thought he was relatively wealthy, but looking at the house prices, his high-level divine spark worth seven million inkstones seemed insignificant.
Linley, Delia, and Bebe left that counter. They had no intention of buying a house anyway. Linley was planning to set off for the distant Bloodpeak Continent, so how could he settle down in any city?
"Attack weapons!"
The three of them walked over to a long counter in that section. Business here was clearly booming, with many people gathered around. But when Linley looked, he was taken aback.
"These are called attack weapons?" Ordinary attack weapons didn't catch Linley's attention.
But he saw a special type of attack weapon—an arrow!
If it were a divine bow for sale, Linley wouldn't have been surprised. But selling a single ordinary arrow separately was enough to astonish him.
"And it's priced at fifty thousand inkstones per arrow. What, minimum purchase of ten?" Linley shook his head.
The violet-robed attendant behind the counter, seeing Linley staring at the arrows and shaking his head, spoke up. "These are God-Slaying Arrows. A single shot can kill an average middle-level god without fail. Even a high-level god, if hit by a dozen or so arrows, would likely have their soul scattered!"
"How is that possible?" Bebe's eyes widened. "These arrows are just physical attacks. How can they kill so easily?"
"Physical attacks?" The violet-robed attendant sneered. "If they were ordinary arrows, would we bother selling them? Each of these arrows is coated with a soul poison developed by high-level gods who study the laws of death. Hmph, these are specifically designed to attack the soul."
Linley's heart stirred.
Soul poison?
"Back in the Yulan continent, when I encountered that great witch, didn't he have Yale try to poison me?" Linley remembered drinking that wine, which had attacked his soul with soul threads. He had known about this for a long time.
Experts who studied the laws of death were sometimes skilled in soul poisoning!
That great witch had only been a low-level god.
Now, he was hearing that this was developed by a high-level god studying the laws of death. Its power was certainly not to be underestimated. Killing a middle-level god with one arrow was probably true, and killing a high-level god with a dozen or so arrows was plausible.
"Even if they're powerful, you still have to hit the enemy," Linley understood this principle. Neither middle-level nor high-level gods would just stand there and let you shoot them.
Still...
There were those skilled in the art of archery.
Also, for example, if an army of thousands used bows to shoot volleys, even someone fast would be done for.
Linley, Delia, and Bebe continued browsing the various goods. They realized just how useful money was. Many items had effects that could only be described as terrifying.
They kept walking.
"Medicines!" When Linley reached this counter, he was even more shocked. "No matter how severe the soul injury, as long as the soul hasn't scattered, it heals instantly, and mental energy is fully restored. This is meticulously crafted by high-level gods who study the laws of life."
Looking at the description next to the crystal bottle containing the pills, Linley couldn't help but be tempted.
Using soul attacks consumed the most mental energy.
But when he saw the price, Linley winced.
One pill cost one million inkstones!
"Let's go. Don't look at these anymore." Linley felt a chill in his heart. Many items were good, but the prices were simply too terrifying.
After browsing many goods, Linley and his group left the third-floor hall. The prices there were too steep. They went to the second-floor hall.
This second-floor hall had even more people and a wider variety of goods. There were even soul gold beads. However, soul gold beads weren't considered particularly valuable in the Infernal Realm because—
In the Infernal Realm, although the number of god-level experts was large, there were even more saint-level beings!
Many native races of the Infernal Realm reached the saint level naturally upon adulthood. With such a vast number of saint-level beings, using their souls to refine soul gold beads was not uncommon.
"One soul gold bead, about the same size as the one I got back then. The price... one hundred thousand inkstones. Hmm, pretty expensive," Linley mused.
At that moment, the violet-robed attendant behind the counter said with a smile, "This soul gold bead is made from a powerful soul itself. It can be absorbed very easily without needing refinement."
"There's also a type of crystal here, called violet crystal! If fully absorbed, its soul-nourishing effect is about the same as that soul gold bead, but it only costs ten thousand inkstones," the attendant added.
Linley was a bit surprised.
Bebe spoke up, "Oh? You say the soul-nourishing effect is about the same, so why is the price ten times different? That's too exaggerated."
The violet-robed attendant smiled and explained, "That's because refining and purifying this violet crystal is troublesome. For someone who doesn't know how to refine it, probably eighty percent of the soul energy in the violet crystal would dissipate during absorption, leaving only twenty percent absorbed. Plus, the process is extremely slow and time-consuming. That's why the price is only ten thousand inkstones."
"Difficult to refine and purify?" Linley's heart stirred.
In fact, for god-level experts who studied the laws of death, whether refining souls or this 'violet crystal,' it required a great deal of effort.
But Linley was different. He had the Coiling Dragon Ring!
"Let me buy one and see if the Coiling Dragon Ring can refine this violet crystal the same way it refines souls," Linley thought to himself.
So Linley spent ten thousand inkstones to buy one violet crystal.
The violet crystal was semi-transparent, with a blurry purple mist inside, looking quite beautiful. Linley flipped his hand and stored the violet crystal into the Coiling Dragon Ring.
"Sizzle, sizzle~"
In the blink of an eye, that violet crystal turned into a small piece of waste residue, while a large amount of golden mist swirled inside the Coiling Dragon Ring.
Refinement complete!
Linley's eyes lit up. "Doesn't that mean I can buy violet crystals, refine them, and then sell soul gold beads?" With this one transaction, buying for ten thousand inkstones and selling for maybe eighty or ninety thousand...
That was a profit of seven or eight times!
With a principal of one million inkstones, after a few rounds, he could have tens of millions of inkstones in assets.
"No, wait. The Coiling Dragon Ring refines things into golden mist. How do I get it to condense into a gold bead?" Linley had no idea how to make the golden mist coalesce into a solid form.
This golden mist was actually soul essence. Linley couldn't compress it himself. His divine power couldn't touch it, but his mental energy could. However, once his mental energy got close, it would automatically absorb the golden mist, strengthening his own soul.
"Too bad. Even though I have this way to make money, I don't know how to condense the golden mist into a gold bead," Linley sighed inwardly.
The refinement, purification, and compression of soul essence were all techniques belonging to the laws of death.
Linley also thought about storing the golden mist in a crystal ball.
He believed that a crystal ball containing golden mist would still be bought by someone. At most, the price would be lower than a soul gold bead, but he could still make a huge profit.
But—
"This golden mist, even though I can release it from the Coiling Dragon Ring, once it leaves, it will dissipate. I can't control it once it's outside the ring, so naturally, I can't guide it into a crystal ball." Linley felt helpless.
He had no way to handle the golden mist.
He didn't understand the laws of death, so whenever his mental energy touched the soul essence, it automatically absorbed it. Perhaps someone who understood the laws of death could handle it, but they wouldn't be able to control the Coiling Dragon Ring.
"Forget it. Being able to strengthen my own soul is good enough." Linley wasn't too bothered.
He had come to the Infernal Realm to grow and break through.
As for money? Having enough to get by was fine.
"Give me ten of these violet crystals," Linley said. The stronger his soul became, the faster his cultivation speed would increase, and his soul attacks would also grow more powerful.
Linley naturally wouldn't be stingy with this bit of money.
"Violet crystals?" The violet-robed attendant was puzzled. Refining violet crystals was troublesome. Buying one was enough, so why buy ten?
But the attendant didn't think much of it. "Maybe he's too poor and would rather spend time slowly absorbing violet crystals than buy soul gold beads." Little did he know that Linley possessed a divine artifact and could instantly refine violet crystals, extracting the soul essence within.