Chapter 341: Chapter 198: Shadows Beneath the Holy City’s Radiance

“Oh.”

Li Ang took a look, no wonder it was marked as a special merchant by the system, it was indeed remarkable.

Each of these items was tricky; in the right hands, they’d definitely be good stuff, but they’re also quite expensive, some only accept things of equivalent value in exchange.

The young girls curiously gathered around to look. Seeing their youthful and fashionable appearances, the shopkeeper was about to speak but stopped, perhaps because he could estimate Li Ang’s Magic Power level, he said nothing.

“What’s so special about this?” Zoe asked.

The other three were also puzzled, unable to discern anything from the product list.

Li Ang whispered, “We’ll talk about it when we get back.”

In front of the shopkeeper, he felt that explaining openly would cause conflict.

To put it bluntly, the items on the list were clearly stolen goods, not the usual kind from petty thefts or robberies sold off, but likely from robbed great tombs, with some coming from areas with very strict rules.

Due to Nebis being vast, with many uninhabited zones and countless lost civilizations, people usually don’t criticize “adventures” in ancient relics.

However, contemporary prominent figures and some uninterruptedly inherited forces and kingdoms do care about the graves and burial offerings there.

The first line on the list reads: Two ritual artifacts from the Saintly Otherworld, Tier Five Divine Energy, newly initiated four days ago.

This clearly indicates that these were taken from a religious figure of high status’ tomb.

The majority of items on the list were related to religious figures. Religion is a very special force, often easier than regular Sky Knights to acquire High Tier items, as their faith allows Divine Power to be bestowed upon ritual artifacts. These artifacts have weak Spirituality but contain strong energy and are a type of special equipment.

Li Ang glanced at Dorothy, perhaps these items are a good source of special energy for the Demon-Born Flower Vine. She might be put off by grave goods, but the Demon-Born Flower isn’t.

Of course, Li Ang wouldn’t force or deceive her to absorb the sacred energy of the grave goods, if choosing, opting for the stolen loot is an option.

Li Ang thought there were a few items worth his attention.

A Cha’ain Clan ancient vase, decoration, Forest Elf Pattern. Value to be self-assessed.

A Demon Egg, produced in Huanwo Village on Mengze Island, Spirituality lost, rumored to be a Sea Dragon Egg. Value to be self-assessed.

An ancient Magic Core, performance unable to compare to modern products. Extracted from a nameless Ancient Tower on Olin Island. Perhaps a fine collection piece witnessing the development history of Magic guided Technology, waiting for a connoisseur.

Secret Spell Archer inheritance, Tier 1 to 5. Exchange for equivalent special Professional Inheritance or Excellence Realm Weapon.

Lupus Ancient Kingdom Battle Bow, acquired from ruins of the island’s destruction sixty years ago, Spirituality mutated, emits special Fire Refining Energy, Tier 6. Exchange for equivalent high-value Weapon.

An Etheral Magic Container. Produced by the Mage Tower of High Tower Scholars in Thousand Tower City. Price negotiable.

The first item involves the Cha’ain Clan, although it may not have anything to do with what Li Ang previously knew about the clan, it’s no harm to take a look.

Even if he gives the matter to the Order Knights, Li Ang himself is curious how the Fairy Dragon sneaked into the shield and what’s the connection with Yosain Cha’Ain.

The second item, Huanwo Village, Li Ang knows, is owned by a place in the Wetland Realm on Mengze Island. Local customs are said to be peculiar, and only in recent years have they opened to the public, hence becoming known.

The third ancient Magic Core Li Ang knows little about, he doesn’t even recall where Olin Island is. He merely thought it might be useful for Andasu in her subsequent development of the Mechanical Engineer profession.

The fourth is special Professional Inheritance, anyway, with points Li Ang can learn, the cost is low, maybe it can be beneficial.

The fifth battle bow isn’t connected to the above; Li Ang just thought since the Lupus Island Country is the location of the Molten Mountain Star Soul, and Mort’s hometown, whether or not to buy is another matter, but Li Ang intends to take a look.

The last item is even more outrageous, the High Tower Scholars from Thousand Tower City, interpreted in earthly terms, are akin to university professors, and in this fantasy world, could common people just enter the Mage Tower constructed by figures of this caliber? How was this obtained?

To acquire so many items and sell them in the Holy City indicates that there is obviously a powerful force behind this.

At the bottom right of the list is an emblem of a boot and a coin, Li Ang pondered for a bit, recalling it matched a group he heard about before—the Yijie Association.

They are an active and vast organization that operates in the shadows, whose origins and purposes are unknown. It is only known that they engage in smuggling, tomb raiding, and commercial monopolization. Their monopoly isn’t achieved through commercial means but through seductive schemes, murder, and identity theft, seizing the assets of wealthy merchants.

These stories are told in a matter-of-fact manner; Li Ang previously doubted the existence of this organization.

Li Ang returned the list to the shopkeeper, “Where are your other goods?”

The shopkeeper made a gesture suggesting to follow him.

However, he was quite wary of the young girls following Li Ang, but after Li Ang assured him there would be no issue, he allowed them to go on.

The primary reason was still the intimidation of his power.

The shopkeeper had a woman help watch the front counter; only as she crawled out from under the counter did Li Ang notice the shopkeeper had a lounge chair beside him where she was sleeping.

Her appearance was weary, her attire disheveled, clearly indicating their lifestyle wasn’t very healthy.

Her demeanor made the young girls blush, avoiding further looks and quickly passing by.

After entering the basement, the shopkeeper directly led them into the sewer.

Hmm, the sewer really is a good place for illicit dealings.

Although there were early rumors of the Holy City sewers being a different world, by the time Li Ang came to the Holy City, The Soul Apex was already among the top three hundred teams and wouldn’t get involved with such dark sides.

If it weren’t for the system, he wouldn’t have come here.

Leading Li Ang and his group through a convoluted path, they exited the sewer and entered the interior of a building made of large stone bricks.

The young girls were a bit nervous, seeing this, the shopkeeper said, “Doing this kind of business, of course, you need to be careful.”

From his tone and attitude, he was quite confident in these thick stone walls.

Indeed, since it comes from underground, and the exit appears specially made by them with complex mechanism metal doors; once shut, no one inside the stone building would be able to leave.

Moreover, being confined here, without knowing the location, means there’s essentially no way out.

Unless he was a powerhouse of the Excellence Realm.

After passing through two prison-like iron gates, they finally arrived at the “Warehouse”.

This warehouse was indeed extraordinary, with its main feature being the richness of its inventory.

Seeing these things, Zoe stopped worrying about the environment and instead curiously examined each item.

Crafts, equipment, cultivation tools, materials, illicit drugs… produced in modern times, left over from ancient times, obtained illegally… all conditions mixed together.

The owner was also very nervous, fearing Li Ang might do something like rob the place.

Why would I do that? I’d just report you to the Order Knights, and in return, I’d get to pick things freely and even gain merits, Li Ang thought.

Generally speaking, those who come here are from the gray area and definitely wouldn’t have any dealings with the Order Knights, yet they might fail themselves and ruin their reputation in the underworld.

If not for the system, Li Ang wouldn’t have found this place at all. Customers here come through word of mouth, and the owner had no experience dealing with a Sky Knight like Li Ang.

The owner brought out several items he mentioned for Li Ang.

What Li Ang wanted most was the Ethereal Magic Container; according to the owner, they couldn’t price it and could only let Li Ang trade things for it.

He thought for a moment, realizing he really didn’t have anything suitable to trade for it.

Although it contained the optimized Magic Power that Dorothy needed, what Li Ang had simply wasn’t suitable to exchange.

The owner wouldn’t accept anything below Excellence Realm equipment for this level of item, but anything above that, the jar of ether wasn’t worth it. It’s good, but not worth that much.

As for other items on his side, like Source Bone Crystals and Rune Stones, even Decaying Weapons, these far exceeded its value.

The past adventures were two extremes: either the gains matched the young girls’ power level, or Li Ang faced characters he found difficult to handle. He encountered either Artifact Materials or equipment like Divine Artisan’s Five Swords.

Li Ang eventually had to bring out a complete Fairy Dragon corpse from the Transcendent Realm.

The owner didn’t recognize the Fairy Dragon, a legendary demon, so the negotiation stalled.

Finally, with Li Ang’s consent, he took a small piece of Fairy Dragon material, saying he would have a “friend” appraise it, presumably an alchemist from the Yijie Association.

Secret Spell Archer inheritance, Li Ang proposed exchanging it for the Dragon Summoner’s inheritance. If it were when he first arrived at the Flashing Field, he wouldn’t have done this because Farina had given it to her. But she later mentioned that this profession was standard within the Bailong Sect, so it wasn’t rare to acquire and wouldn’t be a betrayal.

However, the Yijie Association had already collected the Dragon Summoner inheritance. As mentioned above, since it’s common in the Bailong Sect, it’s entirely possible for the organization to collect it.

Li Ang couldn’t bring out the Elemental Swordsman, so he could only wait until there was a suitable Excellence Realm weapon to check again.

When the Lupus Ancient Kingdom Battle Bow was brought out, Zoe reacted.

“What’s up?”

The hazel-haired young girl whispered a few words into his ear, and Li Ang nodded, as it was indeed imbued with the power of Star Soul.

Knowing this clue, there was no need to take the equipment; Li Ang placed it back.

When the Cha’ain Clan Vase was taken out, Li Ang frowned slightly.

Seeing his expression, the owner asked, “This customer recognizes the value?”

“Not really, just that the craftsmanship is unique.”

“It’s the Cha’ain Clan after all, with deep roots; they have all sorts of stuff.”

“Where did you get this?” Li Ang asked casually.

Usually, they wouldn’t reveal the origins of their goods.

Unexpectedly, the owner straightforwardly said, “Heard of the wastrel from their family? That’s when it was sold and changed hands several times before it came to us.”

Li Ang nodded, looking at the carvings on the vase.

It depicted a woman in an abstract ancient style, standing amid a garden with butterfly-like wings on her back, surrounded by fluttering butterflies.

At first glance, it appeared to be an artistic depiction, but because of recent events, Li Ang couldn’t help but draw associations.

The Fairy Dragon itself liked to live in forests, which spawned the tales of Nebis’s faeries and Forest Fairies, a fact that’s been confirmed.

Then, knowing this story and how Yusef brought the Fairy Dragon, this vase indeed depicted a figure reminiscent of a Forest Fairy.

He picked up the vase, discovering a string of unreadable characters underneath.

“I’ll take this. I think it has collectible value. I’ll trade it for a Tier Four piece of equipment.”

The owner was somewhat tempted but still haggled a bit.

In the end, it was settled for a custom Tier Four weapon meeting the owner’s requirements. This was a breeze for Li Ang, not troublesome at all.

When visiting the Dome Furnace Association, he could instantly craft the weapon.

After arranging to pick it up later, Li Ang looked at the last item today, that so-called Sea Dragon Egg.

The owner took out an ancient yet uniquely styled box and opened it in front of Li Ang.

Li Ang initially wanted to examine the box, thinking it itself had an extraordinary origin, likely a box Huanwo Village used specifically for this egg.

However, as soon as the box opened, its contents captured all his attention.

From a spiritual perspective, this Demon Egg indeed had lost Spirituality, like Salamander before.

Yet its Power of Dragon was astonishingly dense.

Besides Farina’s summoning and that Level 8 Fairy Dragon, it was the egg with the densest Power of Dragon Li Ang had seen.

Li Ang extended his hand, slowly perceiving the details of this “Sea Dragon Egg”.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep