After a silent walk, they arrived at the [Seven Star Inn] Lady He owned. Once she approached the gates, many people greeted her with big smiles. Yasenia had been living here for almost two years, so nearly all the inn's residents knew her. After all, she had come down to eat in the past, and her appearance was effortless to remember.
When they entered inside, Lady He welcomed them with a smile. "Yasenia, you are back. How was it, did you find what you wanted?"
Yasenia nodded. "I also met one of the Four Kings; it was an eventful outing. Oh, this one here is Ayanduin, another one of the Four Kings. We will be up in my room for a while; try not to have anyone bother us."
Lady He froze. "Eh?"
Yasenia walked upward, and Ayanduin nodded at Lady He with a smile.
Lady He blinked several times, and then she smiled and continued walking around. A person asked. "Lady He, any news from Lady Yasenia?"
Lady He asked, with the same smile. "Yasenia? What Yasenia? I didn't see anyone like that." Then, she continued walking while humming.
Everyone looked at her retreating back, speechless.
Meanwhile, Ayanduin was looking around. He had an item in his hand, a small, inconspicuous bead that no one would pay attention to.
Yasenia commented. "My room is at the end of this hallway. Lady He was generous enough to give me this entire hallway for me and my maids."
Ayanduin grinned. "Yours? I thought Lady Kali was the leader of everyone here~."
The dragoness snorted. "You know my identity in Distancia. It is impossible for you not to know that they are my maids."
Ayanduin shrugged. "Perhaps I missed that information. Why reveal it?"
Yasenia sighed. "You are a powerful cultivator, Senior Ayanduin. As long as you give me respect, I will treat you back with the respect you deserve. In everything, I am less knowledgeable than you. You are probably a few tens of thousands of years old, right? You might even be in the second level of the Undying Monarch Body Realm."
While walking with relaxed steps, he chuckled. "Perhaps."
They reached the hallway's end, and Yasenia opened the door, entering first. "Come in."
Ayanduin walked inside and curiously looked around. "Oh? No formations? I really thought you were sending me into a lethal trap or something."
Yasenia looked at Ayanduin and sighed. "I am in the mortal realms. You are in the immortal realms. There is a distinction between those two large realms because of something, right? My mother has always told me that mortal cultivators are just ants in front of Transcendent Realm Cultivators. I trust her and believe her. I won't provoke you."
Ayanduin blinked. "Your mother seems to know quite a lot, right?"
The dragoness smiled. "If she was here, you would be lowering your head in fear."
Ayanduin's eyebrows raised. "Huh? What cultivation realm does she have? Fourth level?"
Yasenia guided them toward a table, sat on one of the chairs, and gestured toward another. "Sit here."
Ayanduin did so, and the dragoness answered his question. "She is soon going to enter the third level."
Ayanduin hummed. "Then, you are underestimating me."
The dragoness smiled, not answering. "I am really not. Regardless, let's talk about the most important thing before Kali comes. Do you have [Soul Anchoring Algae]?"
This question came as a surprise to Ayanduin. "Huh? You know about the poison's cure?"
Yasenia answered. "[Soul Echo Dissolving Poison]... Quite a mean one, if I say so myself. If my soul wasn't as strong as it is, I would've really died before we met. Which makes me honestly quite angry at you; I want to kill you and steal all your treasures."
Ayanduin's lips arched wryly. "I guess that is understandable."
The dragoness sighed. "Sadly. You are too strong. I can kill you, but in the process, this entire world goes puff together with your treasures. It is a thankless task. Also, I won't be able to get the Algae that I need, so I will die with you. Killing you is stupid regardless of how you look at it."
The immortal cultivator couldn't help but look at Yasenia for a few seconds. "You really think you can kill me?"
"Kill you?" Yasenia laughed. "I could erase your soul from the reincarnation cycle if I really wanted."
"... You are not bluffing." Ayanduin was baffled. "You truly believe that not knowing what treasures I have?"
"I do," Yasenia answered confidently. "However, we are not here to talk about whose fist is bigger. We are here to do something you love. Trade. I will properly buy that algae from you. I know it is a mid-level Transcendent plant. Oh, and don't worry about the storage method. I have my ways to store it, and if the algae dies because of my mistakes, I won't retaliate."
The man leaned on the chair and got thoughtful. He was looking at the dragoness with an analytic expression. While he somewhat trusted Yasenia's words, there was something that was missing. He spoke. "You didn't promise it."
Yasenia paused and looked at Ayanduin coldly. "Unlike you, a merchant, a promise is something very important for a Dragon, Ayanduin. I won't promise things easily because once I do, I fulfill them."
"Ho?" He smiled and asked. "So why can't you promise that you won't retaliate? Are you planning something?"
"Currently, I am not. I just don't know what you will do to the ingredients. I don't find you trustworthy, so I won't promise anything regardless of what you do, Ayanduin. Sadly, we are currently in a situation where both sides must trust each other, at least for a little bit." The dragoness crossed her arms. "And the same amount that you give is the same amount that I will return. So, no promises."
After she said that, she added. "Also, be hasty in your decision. Once Kali arrives, I will support my wife in whatever she wants to do and believe me, if I don't like you, she probably hates you enough to want to chew your bones as a toy… while you are alive."
Ayanduin's lips twitched quite severely. "That's honestly quite terrifying. Okay, yes. I do have that thing that you need. So, what are you willing to give for it?"
The dragoness waved her hand, and the table got filled with peak-level Heaven-ranked weapons, armor, scrolls, and even a few Heaven-ranked Spiritual Cultivation techniques.
The merchant's eyes shone, and he could see that the value of some items here could somewhat rival the ingredient. Although the algae was a Transcendent Realm ingredient, it was just that, an ingredient that would be gone after one use. Therefore, its value would not be as high as, let's say, a mid-level Transcendent Realm sword.
Ayanduin asked. "Are you telling me to choose? It is honestly quite hard."
Yasenia snorted. "Choose? All of it."
Ayanduin was stunned. "Huh? You are giving me all of this for that ingredient?"
The dragoness crossed her long and plump legs and nodded. "I indeed am. Will you take it or not?"
Ayanduin looked at the table and squinted. 'It is indeed more than enough to buy the ingredient in a normal situation. However, isn't she in dire need of it? If I push a bit, I might get a bit extra.'
"Well…" Ayanduin hummed. "While all of this is very tempting, I wonder, what else do you have?"
Yasenia looked at Ayanduin for a few seconds and sighed. "I tried, Ayanduin. I tried giving you a chance. However, your greed seems to be higher than expected."
Ayanduin's eyes flashed, and he quickly crushed the bead in his hand. However, nothing happened. "Huh?"
Yasenia looked sideways and shrugged. "It really didn't work. Up to you now, Kali."
"Good. It would've been a disappointing result."
Ayanduin looked sideways and was stunned to see a four-tailed fox woman appear from a hidden door, followed by a very tall, green-skinned woman with a figure proportional to Yasenia's.
The Undying Monarch Body Realm cultivator asked. "How did you hide from my spiritual sense?"
Kali looked at Ayanduin and spat. "Shut up. You were offered more than enough for that plant, but you refused it. Do you want to take advantage of my lover even after making her suffer for three years straight? Is the color of your soul black?"
Ayanduin squinted, and his aura began leaking; the pressure in the room increased hundreds of times, making walking problematic for Kali. However, Kali's facial expression remained the same, cold and indifferent as she looked at him. "Ayanduin. Don't be stupid. If I dare insult you to your face, do you honestly think that you are in a position where you can counterattack? A situation where you have a chance?"
The Fox woman sneered. "Your little escape bead didn't work. Your body is feeling sluggish. Your spatial ring is disconnected, and you can't communicate with it. Moreover…" Kali took a step forward and continued to walk until she arrived at Yasenia's side. "Your spiritual pressure doesn't work anymore."
Ayanduin had been trying to increase his pressure using his Undying Body Realm Cultivation. Sadly, Kali walked as if his pressure was just a gentle breeze around her. Yasenia explained. "You are in the [World Suppressing Formation]. It is a formation that's predominantly used to restrain Transcendent Realm cultivators. They are not perfect. And your strength is still much higher than that of a peak-level fifth realm cultivator. However, it is not high enough to make you untouchable."
Ayanduin crossed his arms. "Regardless. You can't hurt me. My body is too strong and resilient for your attacks. Even if I stood here and didn't defend myself, you wouldn't be able to kill me."
Yasenia nodded. "You are correct. If you were a Transcendent Realm cultivator instead of an Undying Monarch Realm cultivator, we would have a chance of hurting you. Your body is probably stronger than the core of a planet."
The merchant smirked. "So, this was to lower me to a similar standing with you? What if I just refuse to sell you the algae? You can do nothing about it, and in a few months or years, you die, and I get out of here. Waiting a few years is no problem for me."
Kali smiled coldly. "Ayanduin. I told you, don't be arrogant. You are not a threat right now. I recommend you look at your chair."
Ayanduin blinked and quickly stood up, moving away. However, when he looked down, he saw the chair wiggling. "Huh?"
Kali's smile widened coldly as thick killing intent oozed from her like a lethal poison. "You are infected by parasites, Ayanduin. They are peak-level Blood Essence Realm parasites. The pretty darlings inside of you are called [Devil Horned Worms]. It is already inside your body, so don't expect it to leave soon or be able to get rid of it. "
Ayanduin snorted. "Parasites are the worst thing you could've used. I am a body cultivator." His aura burst out and the pressure inside his body increased several times over. If any parasite were inside of him, it would've been crushed by the sheer raw physical power.
However, Kali's face didn't change, and her eyes, which shone with maliciousness, remained as cold as before. "Ayanduin. You've made Yasenia suffer for three years. Three years of constant pain. I won't let you go easily, and those that you are trying to crush… They are not even physical."