The Science of Cultivation [Xianxia]

Chapter 156: Buy Buy Buy!

“How much are they?”

In response to the question, the middle-aged store manager gently took out one of the space rings by wrapping it around a piece of cloth and laying it out before Li Lang’s group.

“This one is a rank one space ring. It can hold up to two hundred and fifty shi. This one is twenty red crystals.”

Li Lang quickly did the mental math to convert the units of measurement to cubic meters. It came to be around thirty cubic meters. He nodded, as it was quite sizeable despite being the most basic rank. It was comparable to a twenty-foot shipping container.

The shopkeeper, Tong Wei, continued to present the next space ring.

“And this one is a rank two space ring. It can hold up to five hundred shi. It is fifty red crystals.”

The group took a moment to appraise the two rings from a distance. They looked similar enough, but one of them had half the capacity of the other. Of course, it came with a heftier price tag.

Everyone stayed silent so that Li Lang could make the decision. As the person with the money, it was his decision to make. It didn’t take long for Li Lang to choose, as both were well within his budget.

Rank one space rings were just enough for one Skyrunner and some miscellaneous supplies, so Li Lang thought to get a rank two ring right away. At the same time, rank one space rings were more cost-effective. Faced with this dilemma, he simply chose to go with the best of both worlds.

“I’ll take two rank ones and one rank two,” he declared.

Only he needed to stow their Skyrunner away, so he decided he would purchase the larger ring while he planned to entrust his two companions with a rank one space ring each. It could help them carry around their weapons and craft materials, allowing them to travel light.

“Of course. Would you like us to package them in gift boxes?”

“No need. We’ll wear them directly.”

“Understood. If you could just provide me with ninety red crystals, you can take them away.”

The exchange of currency for products went through without a hitch. The group soon exited from the treasure pavilion with a new ring on each of the trio's fingers.

The first thing Li Lang did upon exiting was to test out his recent acquisition. They had parked their new Skyrunner just outside, but he decided to test it on something smaller first.

“So what should I do?” He asked the only woman and experienced space ring user among them.

“Simple. Just channel your Qi into the ring and it’ll automatically register it. Then, it will automatically listen to your will. Your intended target has to be near you, though.”

Li Lang did as instructed. The moment his Qi made contact with the ring, he felt as if something had grabbed onto his energy and violently pulled it in. While violent, it only lasted for a split second before everything returned to normal.

“Good. It should be bound. No one below the late stages of Foundation Establishment should be able to overwrite your ownership of the ring,” Sima Xue assured.

Seeing the scene, Wei Ping and Long Yi bound their rings too, and the trio began playing around with their new gadget.

One moment, Li Lang had his spear in his hand, the next it vanished. There was a short delay where he could feel the ring reach out to his intended target. When he tried to summon out the weapon, he experienced the same feeling, but this time, the ring reached out to find a place to spit the item out instead.

Like a child, Li Lang kept stowing and retrieving his spear. Sometimes he would make it appear in his hand while other times, he made it appear a small distance away. He found out that he could control the orientation of the object, but the range was limited.

Hmm, this has a lot of potential.

Before he could continue his tests, Sima Xue cleared her throat in an exaggerated manner.

“Ahem, come on, boys. It’s time to move on.”

Wei Ping and Long Yi, who had been doing the same thing, instantly stopped. While it was a novel thing for them, their thirst to unravel how it worked paled in comparison to Li Lang’s.

Forced to stop, Li Lang took a moment to test out his toy one final time, but with his Skyrunner. The large carriage, which could easily hold ten full-grown men, disappeared just the same way his smaller articles did. It did, however, take slightly longer due to its size, but it was just as effortless.

“Well, what have you guys decided for the afternoon?” Li Lang asked upon getting into the driver’s seat.

“Just go take a left there. Let’s check out the Pill auction next,” Sima Xue answered.

The venue they arrived at was the same one as yesterday’s artifact auction. However, there were noticeably fewer people.

Just as they entered the lobby, they happened to run into a group they’d rather avoid.

“Tsch, it’s them,” Sima Xue voiced in disgust. She didn’t care about being overheard, so the other party quickly noticed them.

“Well, well. If it isn’t the demonic vixen, Ling Xue,” a young man in green robes hastily said as he unfolded a fan. “You’re lucky our sect has decided to ignore small fries like you for now, but don’t you dare step foot in our territory or I’ll make sure you regret it!”

Sima Xue didn’t even spare a glance at Lu Hong, choosing to ignore his presence entirely. It made the man further enraged, but he directed it to Li Lang instead, as he was staring at him.

“And you, traitor number two! Don’t think I’d forget about you,” he said with gritted teeth.

“Hmm, we may have had a misunderstanding here,” Li Lang tried to placate. “I plan on explaining myself to Elder Cao after the auctions are over, but I can explain myself to you now, too.”

Lu Hong turned to the side and raised his open fan to block Li Lang from view.

“No need. I won’t give you the chance to deceive me with your insidious speech techniques.”

Before Li Lang could try to defuse the situation further, two new people entered the scene. One was tall and lanky, while the other was short and round. They were Pei Fong and Zhang Bai, Lu Hong’s two companions.

“There you are, Young Master Lu. Do you need assistance confronting these villains?” the taller of the two asked, while the other stepped forward protectively.

“How dare you demonic cultivators gang up on our fellow disciple within Polarity City. Are you disregarding the rules set forth by the City Master?”

“Zhang Bai, step back before they cast their illusion Qi arts on you. We’re leaving.”

Fluttering his sleeves, Lu Hong led the charge up the stairway to the second floor. During the entire time he walked away, he fanned toward Li Lang’s group furiously, as if to keep their stench away.

“Well…That could’ve gone worse,” Li Lang muttered.

He glanced back and found Wei Ping tightly holding onto Long Yi’s arm while Sima Xue continued to look in the opposite direction from where the three stooges had gone.

These guys are almost full-fledged adults now. Why are they still so temperamental? Let’s get into the venue quickly before their mood sours anymore.

The day quickly went by after that. The Spirit Grove disciples no longer bothered them, but it wasn’t like they had the chance. Li Lang’s group wisely chose to remain as spectators when they knew they were attending the same auction.

The group of four went around various auctions, experiencing what they had to offer. Unlike yesterday, there were a few events for Mortal-grade items, but none of them bid for anything.

For Li Lang, it wasn’t that he couldn’t afford it. It was just that he chose to save his money. His plans required a lot of funding, so only a fool would splurge it all away now on materials that had questionable uses in his immediate future.

Despite not having any gains, they managed to broaden their horizons. They saw various artifacts, pills, talismans, Qi beasts, craft materials, techniques, and even properties.

Very soon, night approached, and the party went toward the last scheduled event for the day. It was the one Li Lang marked as a must-go because it sold an item that he needed for his plans. He had thought about buying this item ever since he made a discovery within the pocket realm, and now he finally had the chance.

“Greetings everyone. For those who have never seen me before, I am Xia Gao Mei. For those who do know me, hello again. I will be your auctioneer for tonight’s Mortal-grade artificer auction!”

Unlike the artifact auctions, the artificer auction focused on the equipment and materials required in the profession instead of just artifacts.

As always, the auction started right away, and Xia Gao Mei brought out a short wooden hammer that was covered in moss.

“This is the Lushfall Hammer, and as you can see, it is a peak Mortal-grade round hammer with great affinity to both the Earth and Wood elements. For those of you planning to work on artifacts with these elements, it will definitely be a huge boon to you! Starting bid, fifty Qi stones!”

With Mortal-grade items, the auction dealt with Qi stones instead of red crystals. With items meant to be used by Energy Gatherers, it was too much to ask for red crystals from them.

“Seventy Qi stones!”

“Eighty!”

This auction was especially popular with independent cultivators. They didn’t have the same access to resources as those from sects and organizations. This was one of the few chances they had to procure treasures. Otherwise, they would have to luck out in treasure pavilions, make a deal with sects, or venture into ruins to uncover left-behind valuables of the past. The last method was especially popular owing to the culture of leaving behind inheritances when a cultivator was close to the end of their life.

One item went after the next in a relatively short amount of time. Just as the auctioneer got started on its final leg, the item Li Lang had been waiting for appeared.