Ten thousand times!
When Huang Xiaolong heard from Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi that the Cloudsea Mainland was ten thousand times bigger than Martial Spirit World, he was genuinely dumbfounded. How big was ten thousand times bigger? Huang Xiaolong found it hard to imagine.
Another thing that stuck in his mind was the fact that this Cloudsea Mainland actually had ten thousand spiritual energy gathering formations! No wonder even a small sand particle contained spiritual energy comparable to a low-grade spirit pellet.
But, didn't they need divine grade spirit stones as the core to lay out spiritual energy gathering formations? Merely the smallest scale spiritual energy gathering formation would require a hundred pieces of divine grade spirit stones. Ten thousand formations, how many divine grade spirit stones would that consume...?
If someone took away these ten thousand formations, just the amount of divine grade spirit stones was enough to make his wealth rival an entire galaxy.
"Take away these spiritual energy gathering formations?" Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi 'heard' Huang Xiaolong's thoughts and laughed, "These spiritual energy gathering formations have already been integrated with the entire Cloudsea Mainland by masters from desolate era using a secret technique. Even if an army of Highgod Realm masters comes, they wouldn't be able to take away a single part of these spiritual energy gathering formations."
As Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi explained, Huang Xiaolong flew toward the biggest looking city up ahead. From afar, Huang Xiaolong opened the Eye of Hell to check out the surroundings. Cities were everywhere on the mainland like mushrooms after rain, experts could be seen arriving from different directions, befitting the image of a prosperous and lively city.
Occasionally, Huang Xiaolong spotted patrol squads wearing pure golden armor. The weakest among the patrol squad guards was a Tenth Order Saint realm, while some of the squad captains' strength even reached peak half-step God Realm! Comfortingly, God Realm masters were a rarer sight. Along the way, he only glimpsed upon one or two.
Shortly, Huang Xiaolong reached the enormous city he saw earlier.
A dense wave of spiritual energy washed over him the moment he passed through the city gates. The density of spiritual energy inside the city was a few times higher than the outer areas.
Everything seemed more spacious here. The city streets were more than twice the width of imperial city streets back on Martial Spirit World, rows and rows of shops lined the streets, and each shop front was twenty to thirty meters wide. The biggest shop Huang Xiaolong saw was sixty meters wide. The traffic was quite heavy, with people and carriages hurrying to their destinations, yet the city did not feel crowded.
These carriages were pulled by beasts that were rarely seen in the galaxy, not to mention each one of these beasts' strength rivaled a high-level Saint realm expert, while the carriages themselves were made from some rare ores, with precious crystals mounted on the carriage body.
Of course, Huang Xiaolong had a purpose entering the city—beast cores.
But transactions in the Black Tortoise Galaxy were based on a common currency called Xuanwu currency, which turned the mountains of gold coins from Martial Spirit World into useless scrap metal in the Cloudsea Mainland. Therefore, Huang Xiaolong must first search for a trading firm to exchange for some Xuanwu currency.
A short while later, Huang Xiaolong walked into a seemingly large firm's shop.
"May I ask if Young Noble is planning to purchase or sell things?" Seeing Huang Xiaolong walked in, a young shop employee approached, inquiring Huang Xiaolong in a polite manner.
"I have some spirit stones that I want to exchange to Xuanwu coins."
The young shop furtively gave Huang Xiaolong a once over before smilingly saying, "May I know how many grade one spirit stones Young Noble has? Our Only One Firm only accepts grade one spirit stones."
Although all grades of spirit stones could be used in refining pellets, forging weapons, and cultivation, to Saint realm experts and above, only grade one spirit stones were of practical use. Which was why some larger firms only accepted grade one spirit stones.
A bright light flashed from Huang Xiaolong's hand as a piece of spirit stone appeared in the middle of his palm. This piece spirit stone was one of many saint grade spirit stones that he harvested off the rock walls after taking away the innate spiritual embryo.
The instant this piece of saint grade spirit stone appeared, its immediate surroundings lit up in resplendent light, causing the spiritual energy to ripple buoyantly.
The young man's eyes felt pain from the piercing glare and dared not look directly at Huang Xiaolong's palm. However, the other people in the shop did, with shocked expressions.
"That's a saint grade spirit stone!"
"Also, its quality is closer to a divine grade spirit stone!"
The shop was buzzing with the gasps and whispers of the customers.
Recovering his senses, the shop employee felt a lump in his throat as he stared at Huang Xiaolong wide-eyed with shock. Never did he imagined that this black-haired young man in front of him would take out a saint grade spirit stone to exchange for Xuanwu coins.
In general, everyone treated this grade of spirit stones like precious treasures, not even the wealthy big families would take them out to exchange for Xuanwu coins.
"This Young Noble, kindly wait here for a moment, I'll go in and inform our Elder immediately." The shop employee said, his demeanor extremely courteous. Only then did he turn around, searching for the firm's Elder in hurried steps.
The shop employee's reaction was within Huang Xiaolong's expectation.
Huang Xiaolong didn't need to wait long before the same shop young man appeared again, following behind a middle-aged man clad in a fine fire-red brocade robe. Other than his slightly rounded figure, one would notice his spirited clear eyes. This middle-aged man was a mid-First Order God Realm.
When the middle-aged man saw Huang Xiaolong, a fleeting surprise flickered unnoticeably in his eyes.
"This one is Jiang Shangfeng, the Only One Firm's Elder. I heard from my subordinate that this Young Noble has a saint grade spirit stone for exchange?" The middle-aged man politely stopped in front of Huang Xiaolong, speaking with an amiable smile on his face. His palm courteously indicated Huang Xiaolong to the private room beside the open hall.
Huang Xiaolong proceeded without a word, and both people sat face to face moments later inside the private room.
Huang Xiaolong went straight to the point, "Yes, I have a few pieces of saint grade spirit stone that I want to exchange for Xuanwu coins."
A few pieces! Jiang Shangfeng eyes brightened. At first, when he heard the shop employee's report, he had assumed that there was only one piece. Jiang Shangfang did not expect this young man to actually have a few pieces!
With that said, Huang Xiaolong took out five pieces of saint grade spirit stones with a turn of his palm. Five pieces of saint grade spirit stones were sufficient for him to buy a hundred half-step God Realm beast cores with some money left over to tide him over a short period.
As for the remaining hundred over pieces of saint grade spirit stones and a few divine grade spirit stones, he would have to gradually exchange them over a period of time. Exchanging too many at once would inevitably attract unwanted attention.
Jiang Shangfang stared at the five pieces of saint grade spirit stones laid out before him. A hand reached out to pick one up, his eyes brightened even more as he checked them carefully from every angle, "It is indeed a saint grade spirit stone, close to transforming into a divine grade spirit stone."
After Jiang Shangfang checked all five spirit stones with care, he exhaled deeply to calm himself. Looking over at Huang Xiaolong, the smile on his face was blinding, "According to the market price, one piece of this grade of spirit stone which is infinitely close to divine grade spirit stone is four hundred and fifty thousand, deducting one-tenth processing fees, it amounts to four hundred and five thousand. I'm willing to give Young Noble four hundred and ten for each piece, five pieces come up to two million fifty thousand. What does this Young Noble think?"
Four hundred ten for one piece? Huang Xiaolong was secretly astonished. Didn't the Old Dragon say this quality of spirit stone generally fetch about two hundred seventy, two hundred thousand? Did the price go up?
Subsequently, Huang Xiaolong did not waste time negotiating with the other side, agreeing to transact at four hundred and ten thousand per piece.
Because the Only One Firm did not offer beast cores, Huang Xiaolong exited the shop after receiving two million fifty thousand from them and came to a shop called Windstorm. This Windstrom shop specifically catered to buying and selling demonic beasts, and beast cores.
Entering the Windstorm Shop, Huang Xiaolong decisively bought one hundred half-step God Realm beast cores. An average half-step God Realm demonic beast' core was two thousand Xuanwu coins each, whereas ancient species demonic beast' cores were priced at five thousand Xuanwu coins each. One hundred pieces of half-step God Realm demonic beast core ate up three hundred and sixty thousand Xuanwu coins.
After he took care of the beast cores supply, Huang Xiaolong went searching for some books related to the Black Tortoise Galaxy and a detailed map.
In regards to the Black Tortoise Galaxy, despite learning some things from Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi, it was only the tip of the iceberg. To Huang Xiaolong, that extent of knowledge was still too shallow. That was why he wanted to learn more about the Black Tortoise Galaxy through these books.