Chapter 455: Transaction (3k)
Rice Town, located south of the Akans Mountain Range, was originally not a very large town. The houses were built by hunters and tourist groups together, and it was sparsely populated to begin with. However, recently, with the appearance of snow demons nearby, countless adventurers and hunters have been coming and going, injecting a steady stream of warmth into the pockets of the local residents, and their faces were always filled with smiles.
“Weren’t they supposed to be looking for snow demons now? Where are those people?”
Removing the crow feather shoulder piece, Su Jiu, dressed in a long black alchemist dress of an elder, had just left the inn. She stopped at the snow pavilion at the entrance of the town not long after. Looking at the people of different skin colors coming and going, she suddenly had an illusion of vibrancy.
“Clang! Clang!!” Suddenly, the sound of gongs and drums rang out.
“We didn’t find any snow demons, but we killed a Snow Hunger Beast. Is anyone willing to buy the pelt of this High-Rank Battle General Level Snow Hunger Beast?”
Accompanying the rough Bear Country language, several people in leather armor, carrying the corpse resembling a snow ape person on their huge Earth Dragon beast pets, galloped out from the distant coniferous snow forest with a wisp of white snow mist. This attracted envious glances from the surroundings. If it weren’t for an A-class or higher adventurer team, encountering this High-Rank Battle General Level Snow Hunger Beast could very well result in complete annihilation.
“There’s no need for me to kill ice-attribute monsters all the time; it’s fine to collect some from others. These people have been killing monsters in northern climates all year round, so they should have some stock of ice-attribute magic crystals.”
Su Jiu was also drawn to this scene. She muttered to herself in a low voice. Seeing that those people had not arrived, she reached out to block the swirling snow that occasionally hit her face and walked forward a few steps. Finally, she stopped in front of the tall, fair-skinned Bear Country person. She tilted her head slightly, looking at the burly man with a full beard in front of her. She took out her voice translator and hesitated for a moment, wondering how to ask for the price.
Her movements were naturally noticed by the tall, fair-skinned Bear Country person. The latter glanced at Su Jiu’s clothes, then inadvertently swept over her ring. A flicker of surprise flashed in his eyes, and the surprise quickly turned into a smile:
“Miss from the South, would you like this pelt? If you find a suitable alchemist, this pelt can be made into a very warm fur coat, which would match your noble demeanor.”
He paused, let the Earth Dragon lie down, and stepped forward slightly to pat the Snow Hunger Beast’s back, laughing heartily, “If you need it, I can sell it to you for one million rubles. Let’s be friends.”
One million rubles is about eighty to ninety thousand Long Guo Currency. This price is indeed very cheap for a Snow Hunger Beast pelt. However, ordinary people would not spend this money on a useless pelt.
Through the translator, Su Jiu could roughly understand what the other party meant. After some consideration, she used the translator again to inquire, “I have some ideas for this pelt, and I’m also very willing to be friends, but may I ask if the intermediate magic crystals from the Snow Hunger Beast are for sale?”
When these words came out of the simultaneous translator, not only did the tall Bear Country person freeze, but his companions also looked over curiously. They were also about two meters tall and wore black knitted hats. In comparison, Su Jiu looked like a doll. The latter also joked, “Little girl from the South, these magic crystals are priced differently from pelts. If you insist, you’ll need thirty million rubles per crystal.”
“Thirty million rubles?” Su Jiu heard this and began to ponder slightly. Just as he thought Su Jiu would be scared by this number, he found that her expression remained unchanged. A bit of curiosity immediately appeared on his face. This conversation also attracted other passersby who were trading, and they all showed expressions of schadenfreue.
“Let alone thirty million rubles… even one million rubles, I can’t take it out right now…” Su Jiu shook her head and replied quite seriously.
“You’re not joking…” The two tall Bear Country people were slightly stunned. The latter, wearing a black knitted hat, looked impatient and was about to wave Su Jiu away, but was stopped by the bearded man shaking his head.
“Little sister, these magic crystals are not for you to use. If you forcefully consume them, your body might not be able to handle it.”
“Hurry home while it’s still daytime. There are many Snow Hunger Beast packs roaming around here lately. We don’t know when they will attack the mountain village.”
“This little girl probably heard about intermediate magic crystals for the first time and just wants to see the world.”
The gossiping passersby showed happy expressions. Such minor dramas were a good seasoning for them, adventurers who were tense all day long. Facing the teasing from passersby, Su Jiu smiled slightly, not caring much. She then used the translator to continue translating, “What I mean is, I want to exchange some intermediate magic crystals of other attributes with you at an equivalent price. Doesn’t it seem like you two are not of ice attribute bloodline? I’ll exchange as many as you have.”
“Exchange magic crystals at an equivalent price? That’s no problem.” The voice from the translator came out. The bearded man was slightly stunned, looking at Su Jiu with some uncertainty. Then he joked, “However, with as many as you have, you probably can’t exchange them. We have accumulated five or six intermediate magic crystals over the years, and even one magic crystal that is about to transform.”
Su Jiu’s words made him a little tempted. Although he wasn’t sure if it was a storage ring, Su Jiu’s confident words gave him some recognition. This person could make them earn some money. Magic crystals of different attributes can be absorbed, but converting them is extremely difficult. Going to the adventurer’s guild in a farther city to exchange them, if you are lucky, it costs hundreds of thousands of rubles to exchange for something similar. If you are unlucky and exchange for something of inferior quality, you can only silently admit your loss.
At this moment, a passerby said with a smile, “Old Gregory, the young lady just wants to see what magic crystals look like. Why don’t you fulfill her wish and let everyone broaden their horizons?” They clearly took Su Jiu’s words as an excuse to see intermediate magic crystals. After all, no one would believe a girl under twenty who claimed to have a pile of intermediate magic crystals. Beginner magic crystals drop from Battle Generals, but intermediate magic crystals are dropped with a probability by monsters of at least High-Rank Battle General Level.
The bearded man couldn’t resist the passersby, so he had to reluctantly take out two prism-shaped magic crystals emanating a cold aura from the storage bag at his waist. Under the winter sun, they glistened like gems.
“Are these the magic crystals from the Snow Hunger Beast? They look much better than those mineral gems.” Everyone looked over with some longing in their eyes. If they didn’t know the strength of the bearded man, they would have couldn’t help but step forward and snatch them.
“Then let’s exchange six magic crystals.” While everyone was gazing at the two intermediate magic crystals, Su Jiu smiled, understanding that the other party had the intention to trade with her. She immediately stopped talking nonsense, flicked her ring, and six magic crystals floated around Su Jiu, with three in a prism shape and the other three emanating different colored streams of light in a monster shape.
“Haha, exchange six… are these real intermediate magic crystals?!”
“Holy crap, there are three that are almost humanoid in form. Those only drop from Battle King Level monsters!”
“Whose young lady is this? She’s so extravagant with one move!” The surrounding people who were sure Su Jiu just wanted to see intermediate magic crystals turned their heads to look. Just as they were about to mock her a few more times, they saw the six magic crystals in Su Jiu’s hand, and their eyes almost popped out. They immediately put away their contempt. Of course, many people’s eyes flashed with a hidden light. They glanced at the bearded man, then at Su Jiu’s delicate appearance, and those figures lowered their heads and disappeared…
The bearded man glanced at the magic crystals floating around Su Jiu and was slightly stunned. His gaze fell on two earth-attribute magic crystals, and even one that was almost humanoid in form. He pointed at the magic crystal with some uncertainty and asked, “Are you sure you want to exchange these humanoid magic crystals with me? I only have one humanoid magic crystal on me… the value difference is quite large.”
“Exchange.” Without much hesitation, Su Jiu immediately sent the six intermediate magic crystals of other attributes forward to the other party with external qi. After the exchange, she could still exchange another two. These were almost all her wealth.
“Little girl, since you trust me so much, I won’t beat around the bush…” Hearing Su Jiu’s words, the bearded man laughed heartily, grabbed the magic crystals of different attributes into his large palm, and put the two ice-attribute magic crystals back into the storage bag, handing the storage bag to Su Jiu.
“I don’t have any other equivalent items. There are a few extra beginner ice-attribute magic crystals inside, which I’ll give to you as a compensatory difference.”
“Thank you.” Taking the storage bag, Su Jiu checked inside. There were indeed a few complimentary beginner magic crystals, so she thanked him. Next, she would go out with the people from Huainan University to find the snow demons. There was no need to keep looking for monsters to kill. Now, she probably needed about five more intermediate ice-attribute magic crystals.
“This pelt is also for you, little girl.”
Just as Su Jiu was contemplating the next journey, the bearded man smiled and handed over a snow-white pelt. He glanced around the crowd again and said sincerely, “Judging by your appearance, you also want to go out to find snow demons as beast pets, right? It’s better not to go out for now. There’s an old saying in the southern ancient country – do not flaunt your wealth. Many people are eyeing you.”
Waving her hand, Su Jiu scanned the covert glances from the surroundings as people peeked at her. She smiled faintly, her voice ringing out in the crowd, “It’s alright. Since I dare to take it out, I have no reason to be afraid.”
“Good, as long as you know what you’re doing.” Seeing that Su Jiu looked unafraid, the bearded man had no choice but to give up. Just as he was about to get up and leave, he paused again, turned his head, and warned Su Jiu, “Then let me give you some useful information. There are three roads to the Akans Mountain Range. Never take the road on the far right…”
“Over there… we found footprints of many humanoid monsters, and they don’t seem like snow demons, but more like intelligent man-eating monsters like frost phantoms.”
…
“Frost phantoms… judging by the name, they should be ice-attribute monsters, right?”
Watching the Bear Country people leave with their Earth Dragons, Su Jiu pondered for a while, then bought some breakfast. While eating, she waited for those senior students. About twenty minutes later, she saw them arrive fully armed, looking more like they were going to war than exploring.
