Chapter 17: The Clash
Moluo Island, a dazzling pearl within the Star Mist Sea.
It was truly astonishing that a non-governmental force had managed to build a free castle for commercial trade and maintain it for countless years. Due to its low tax rates and advantageous location, countless merchants from the Infernal Realm gathered here. The number of visitors arriving at this free castle every day was incalculable.
The free castle had six floors in total. The first four floors were open to guests, and Linley and his group were currently in the first-floor hall.
“Fighting is strictly prohibited within the free castle, so it’s very safe. Let’s split up. Whatever you want to buy, go buy it yourself. After you’re done, we’ll gather here again,” Linley said, looking around at the others. This group had naturally come to regard Linley as their leader.
Everyone agreed. After all, each person had different wealth and wanted different items. Immediately, the group dispersed, leaving in pairs or small groups.
“Linley, I’ll go take a look around too,” Olivia said to Linley, then went off to explore the free castle on his own.
Only Linley, Delia, and Bebe remained together.
“Boss, where should we go first?” Bebe asked eagerly. He was now loaded with wealth and was most enthusiastic about spending money to buy things.
Linley glanced around and saw the price tags on the various counters along the edge of the hall. The prices were very low, most under one hundred inkstones. Linley remembered that when he was at the Violet Thorn Castle, that castle had three floors, each with a different price tier.
He guessed the free castle was the same.
“Let’s go straight to the fourth floor. I think the floors are divided by price. The fourth floor should have the best items,” Linley said. They weren’t trying to waste money, but they understood that in the Infernal Realm, the more expensive an item was, the better it must be.
Bebe immediately took the lead, walking ahead, with Linley and Delia following behind as they went straight up the stairs.
“There are quite a lot of island guardian warriors,” Linley noted, noticing that the free castle was filled with high-level god warriors clad in blood-red armor.
Delia smiled. “With so many guardian warriors, even if someone wanted to cause trouble, they wouldn’t dare, right?”
Linley nodded.
Bebe carefully observed those guardian warriors. “A group of high-level god warriors attacking together—how many people could withstand that? Of course, ordinary people wouldn’t dare to make a scene!”
“Even if a strong person could fend off a group of guardian warriors, more would probably gather. Moluo Island has stood for countless years—that’s no joke,” Linley said as they arrived at the fourth floor of the free castle.
The stairway entrance to the fourth floor was guarded. When the guards saw that Linley and the others were all demons, and that Delia was a high-level god demon, they were let through directly.
The spacious hall on the fourth floor had individual display rooms, each containing various goods. Every item’s price was extremely shocking—the lowest was in the millions, and the highest was over a hundred million inkstones. In a place like this, ordinary god-level experts wouldn’t dare to enter.
“Boss, they’re selling Deathgod Golems!” Bebe said excitedly.
“Deathgod Golems?” Linley immediately looked in the direction Bebe was pointing. Sure enough, there was a large display room with several Deathgod Golems inside.
Delia smiled. “Linley, you’ve finally found them.”
Linley smiled and walked over. He had long wanted to buy some Deathgod Golems. In critical moments, these golems could be used to entangle an enemy while escaping. However, these golems weren’t something you could buy just because you had money. Linley had searched in other cities before and had never found any for sale.
“Hey, how much are these Deathgod Golems?” Bebe was the first to ask.
The shopkeeper was a cold-looking youth with black hair and purple eyes. He was sitting in the shop with his eyes closed. Hearing Bebe’s voice, he opened his eyes and said indifferently, “The prices are clearly written on the counter. Look for yourself.” Then he closed his eyes again.
Linley couldn’t help but smile. Doing business with such an attitude was rare.
“This guy is relying on the fact that Deathgod Golems sell well,” Delia said with a laugh.
Linley nodded and looked at the price list. The Deathgod Golems were divided into three tiers based on their body hardness. The highest-tier Deathgod Golems had bodies as hard as high-level divine artifacts, making them extremely difficult to destroy.
Low-tier, mid-tier, and high-tier. The high-tier Deathgod Golems cost 150 million inkstones each.
The price was reasonable.
“I’ll take the high-tier Deathgod Golems. How many do you have?” Linley asked.
The cold black-haired youth opened his eyes again, frowned, and looked at Linley. “How many are you buying?”
“A hundred. Do you have that many?” Bebe said. Linley looked at Bebe in surprise—he hadn’t planned on buying that many. After all, controlling a Deathgod Golem in intense combat required focused concentration.
Normally, one person could only control one golem.
Of course, if precise control wasn’t needed, one person could control several.
Linley now had four souls and could precisely control four Deathgod Golems simultaneously. However, if his main body needed to fight an enemy, he could at most let his other three souls precisely control three golems. If precise control wasn’t required, he could control many more.
The cold youth shook his head. “I can sell you at most ten high-tier Deathgod Golems.”
“Ten is fine,” Linley said with a smile, satisfied with that number. “And give me two hundred mid-tier ones as well.” Linley planned to precisely control the high-tier golems, while the mid-tier ones would serve as cannon fodder in dangerous situations.
The mid-tier Deathgod Golems cost 15 million each.
“Two hundred?” The cold youth shook his head. “I can only provide a hundred.”
“That works too,” Linley said, happily paying for the ten high-tier Deathgod Golems and a hundred mid-tier ones. The total cost of 2.7 billion inkstones was nothing to Linley now.
Just their cash alone amounted to over two hundred billion.
And the countless violet crystals Bebe had collected were an even more astonishing fortune.
The actual total was three billion. But because Bebe had the Ten-Win Battle Token, all purchases were ten percent off!
After selling the ten high-tier and a hundred mid-tier Deathgod Golems, the cold youth finally had a rare smile on his face. He waved his hand, storing all the other items in his shop into his spatial ring, then turned and left the fourth-floor hall.
“He’s leaving?” Bebe’s eyes widened.
“He probably sold off all his major goods. The low-tier golems left behind are just a small part,” Linley guessed.
Deathgod Golems were hard to make.
Even with money, they were hard to buy. Linley had visited other cities over the years but had never found any. That showed how rare they were.
“Come on, let’s buy more treasures!” Bebe said cheerfully.
Walking through the individual display rooms on the fourth floor, Linley felt the benefits of wealth. He could directly buy many coveted treasures. After all, these treasures were likely obtained by countless experts risking their lives.
Linley only needed to spend money to get them.
“Should we head down now?” Bebe said. “We’ve almost finished the fourth floor.” The only area left was a row of clothing shops in the distance. At least Bebe had no interest in clothing shops.
In his opinion, buying clothes was boring!
“Wait, let’s check out those clothing shops,” Linley said quickly. “What do you think, Delia?” Linley had noticed that Delia kept glancing in that direction. Women always had a passion for clothes.
Delia snorted and walked over.
Inside the clothing shop, some women were trying on clothes. But seeing the prices, Linley was shocked. “These clothes are ridiculously expensive—over a million inkstones each.” Still, since Delia liked them, Linley didn’t mind.
After browsing three clothing shops without finding anything she liked, Delia went to a fourth.
This shop had many customers and was doing good business.
“Not bad,” Linley said as he entered. Every set of clothes felt pleasing to the eye, like works of art. But the prices here were even more shocking. Elsewhere, each set cost a million inkstones. Here, each set cost tens of millions, with only a few in the millions.
“Linley, what about this one?” After much deliberation, Delia picked out a pink-themed outfit. Linley’s eyes lit up. “Not bad.”
Delia’s face lit up with a smile, clearly fond of this outfit. But its price was terrifying—
Just one set of clothes cost over 80 million inkstones!
It was the second most expensive item in the shop. The most expensive one cost 100 million inkstones.
The shopkeeper immediately said enthusiastically, “This outfit is made from the feathers of the most beautiful Persian Swan clan in the Light God Realm. Each feather comes from a high-level god. The cost of materials and transport alone is staggering. Its defensive capability is comparable to a high-level divine defensive artifact!”
“Oh?” Linley was somewhat surprised.
Combining practicality and beauty, the price was reasonable.
“Buy it,” Linley nodded.
The shopkeeper was pleasantly surprised by Linley’s calm agreement. He also secretly noted that appearances could be deceiving—Linley looked like a mid-level god, but buying an outfit worth nearly a hundred million inkstones didn’t faze him at all.
“See this?” Bebe said, pulling out his Ten-Win Battle Token.
“Uh…” The shopkeeper was stunned, then smiled. “Alright, alright, ten percent off! You only need to pay 76 million inkstones.”
Linley smiled and paid.
Delia, wearing the pink outfit, looked at herself in the mirror, clearly delighted. Linley watched her slightly flushed face, framed by the pink dress, making her look incredibly radiant.
Linley had to admit—the clothes were worth it!
At that moment, six people were standing outside the shop. The leader was a cold-looking youth with red hair, over two meters tall. He was staring at Delia in her new clothes, a smile spreading across his face.
“Young master, caught your eye?” an old man with silver hair behind him said softly.
“Mm, not bad,” the red-haired youth nodded slightly, then said loudly, “Shopkeeper, do you have another set of the clothes that woman is wearing?”
The shopkeeper glanced at Delia and shook his head. “Sorry, the materials for that outfit are too rare. We only have one. Most of our outfits are unique!”
“Only one?” The red-haired youth frowned, then glanced at Delia.
The silver-haired old man immediately walked over to Linley and Delia, saying directly to Delia, “Our young master has taken a liking to the clothes you’re wearing. Sell them to us.”
Linley was taken aback and turned to look at him.
“What did you say?” Linley found it amusing.
“Give us the clothes. We’ll pay you. Double the price,” the silver-haired old man said indifferently. The shopkeeper looked somewhat regretful.
“Double?” Linley laughed, glancing back at Delia. “Not even ten times the price would make me sell!”
The silver-haired old man’s face darkened.
“Hey, is that guy your young master?” Bebe said, squinting at the red-haired youth. “Young master, that outfit you’re wearing looks good. I’ve taken a liking to it. How about you sell me your clothes? I’ll pay double too. Would you be willing to sell?”