The night passed and the furnace boys waited eagerly for Li Luo and Kong Xiang to show up in the forge. Unfortunately for them, after last night's fortuitous opportunities, both of them had no intention of experiencing the near slavery work ever again.
They attracted little attention as they walked down the street. Li Luo wasn't an angel like beauty, she had a clean unsmiling face. Her good features required one to look past her ordinary face. She had a tall build, strong arms, strong nose, strong chin and a flat nose.Her eyes were calculative yet decisive, and her body frame lacked the softness that gave an impression of feminity. Instead, her strong physique woman told one she was not to be trifled with. She had the bearings of a low-key war queen, not pretty at first glance but capable of exploding breathtakingly in a domineering kind of beauty.
Kong Xiang, on the other hand, also looked inconspicuous. He was of average height, easily dwarfed by Li Luo. His face appeared more kindly than handsome, and his features had the bearings of an honest farmer.
In front of them was the Gold Bars Pavilion. Female attendants welcomed visitors in. One of them detached herself from the main group and attended to them. Her eyes darted to Li Luo upon sensing origin energy from her, automatically assuming Kong Xiang was a servant. Kong Xiang smiled bitterly.
"We would like to see the mission list" The female attendant raised an eyebrow as she heard the word "We", taking a closer look at Kong Xiang to see if he had any cultivation at all. When she didn't see any, she looked confused and said.
"The mission list is only open to cultivators. One must obtain a badge that verifies your identity as a cultivator before you can apply to undertake missions" her eyes darted obviously to Kong Xiang. Li Luo didn't mind and asked.
"How can one's cultivation be verified?"
A while later, the attendant, who introduced herself as Dong Xiaolong presented a badge to Li Luo, after Li Luo had been made to reveal her cultivation base in front of a Cultivation Sensing Pillar. This was a precaution against those who cultivated techniques that could camouflage or alter their true cultivation base.
After she was done, Kong Xiang asked to use the attribute sensing pillar. Since he had to select a secondary cultivation Art, he had to know his innate attributes to select a matching Art.
The pillar shone with a light that segregated into greenish, bluish and white lights when he placed his hands on it. "Triad elemental attributes of wood, water and lightning" Dong Xiaolong shouted. Her eyelids fluttered in surprise. Having multiple attributes gave cultivators a huge advantage, as they would be able to utilize techniques of different elements. Normally, a dual attributed cultivator would be regarded as a genius, but this boy dressed in simple clothes possessed three attributes! Not to mention, it was a perfect affinity. Most dual attributed geniuses had, for example, major fire attribute and lesser wind attribute. Kong Xiang's elemental attributes were equally proportionate. She glanced at Kong Xiang, growing even more surprised when she noticed he didn't look impressed in the least.
Of course, Kong Xiang wasn't impressed one bit. After all, he had seen Li Luo breakthrough two realms with five elemental attributes, meaning she had a five elemental attributes affinity. His triad affinity seemed lackluster in comparison.
"Since you're testing your attribute affinity, does that mean you want to cultivate and need a cultivation Art?" Being observant and taking heed of the slightest details was a necessity in the merchant business, and Ding Xiaolong prided herself as an astute merchant. She couldn't detect any qi from him, and she correctly guessed his purpose here.
Kong Xiang inwardly applauded her observant nature. "Yes"
"Do you need me to introduce you to some of the cultivation Arts available then?"
Kong Xiang scratched his head helplessly. "I don't have money yet."
Ding Xiaolong realized that if he had a wealthy background behind him, he would have been able to get his hands on cultivation needs from his clan, and not from a cultivation merchant store.
"Can we just look through the Arts and techniques?" Li Luo asked simply. Ding Xiaolong acquiesced, and Li Luo whispered quietly to him"
Check out the Arts suitable for you and note the prices" Kong Xiang nodded, and walked to the Arts and Techniques section in search of a suitable Art that encompassed his attributes.