Seeing this scene, the dozen healers nearby all breathed a sigh of relief. Almost simultaneously, they began approaching the stall. However, their cheeks flushed upon seeing each other's intent, and they halted.
"Good grief, this is a deadlock," Su Xiao muttered, unusually cursing. He realized that these thin-skinned healers wouldn't come forward unless he dealt with them one-on-one.
Grabbing the "White Lady" from his stall, Su Xiao walked towards a petite healer in a cream-colored dress.
Seeing Su Xiao's imposing approach and the item in his hand, the healer instinctively took two steps back.
"Um... I was just passing by."
"How much will you pay? No nonsense."
"T-twenty thousand Paradise Coins."
Su Xiao turned and walked towards another healer about ten meters away. This healer looked even younger, around twelve or thirteen years old.
The young healer looked up at Su Xiao, her face inexplicably red.
"How much will you pay?"
"Twenty-two hundred and twenty-two..."
"Twenty-two thousand?"
"No, twenty-one thousand."
She looked down, staring at her toes.
Su Xiao turned his head to the third healer present, who was more intelligent, holding up twenty-two fingers.
Su Xiao set the price at 280,000 Paradise Coins, with an expected selling price of between 240,000 and 250,000 Paradise Coins.
After a series of "auctions," White Lady was finally bought for 260,000 Paradise Coins by a tall healer. Her expression was conflicted because she knew she would need to spend more money to alter White Lady's shape without ruining its attributes. The thought of using it to heal her team leader was simply unbearable.
With 360,000 Paradise Coins, Su Xiao's assets now totaled 421,600 Paradise Coins.
With this sum, Su Xiao began browsing the trading market. His Sword Mastery Lv.39 couldn't be enhanced without a large soul crystal, which was impossible to buy. Even tiny soul crystals were rare in the market and were quickly purchased, if not overpriced.
Su Xiao has yet to make plans to improve his aura release ability. Conventional methods were ineffective, and unconventional ones too dangerous, like the blood-red hand he still vividly remembered.
Though 420,000 Paradise Coins seemed a lot, Su Xiao had already earmarked 130,000 for various purposes: 50,000 for making Potion No. 1 and 80,000 for creating Sun God Apollo. Without materials, Apollo's cost was 500 MP + a small soul crystal + 80,000 Paradise Coins as a substitute for materials.
With 130,000 earmarked, Su Xiao had 290,000 remaining, some of which he would use to replenish essential supplies like high-grade alchemical bombs, weapon maintenance kits, and various potions.
Three hours later, Su Xiao's usable Paradise Coins were down to 185,300 after a big shopping spree in the market. Here's what he bought:
Small Underwater Oxygen Equipment ×4 (Blue Quality), each lasting 128 hours.
Detoxification Potions ×2 (Purple Quality), effective against poisons below Lv.30.
Curse Detection Dust ×4 (Purple Quality), detecting traps below Lv.30.
T-35Mo Protective Suits ×2 (Blue Quality, single-use), shielding against nuclear radiation and potent biochemical gases.
Complete Set of Knife Maintenance Supplies (Green to Blue Quality).
After the big purchase, Su Xiao stopped at a stall displaying a short sword. It was about 50 cm long with a broad blade.
The short sword was named "Forest Tree." It is of light gold quality and has two skills: +5 Intelligence and a 9% chance to generate a tree when attacking.
Undoubtedly, it was a lousy short sword. A melee weapon boosting intelligence and summoning trees during combat? What use was that?
The weapon's attributes suited its original owner, but it was a burden for anyone else. Su Xiao picked up the short sword, and the stall owner's eyes lit up.
"Interested in this short sword? Its abilities are unique, offering healing potential."
The stall owner cleared his throat.
"Though its original attributes don't include healing, you could find a way to absorb tree energy to restore health. A 9% chance isn't low during rapid strikes. Imagine recovering HP while fighting—what a delight! And it's on sale now, not for 298,800, not for 198,800, but only 98,800..."
Su Xiao quickly interrupted.
"Uh, sorry, it's a habit," the stall owner said awkwardly. Su Xiao hesitated before making an offer.
"30,000."
"..."
The two stared at each other, and the stall owner grabbed back the short sword.
"50,000."
Su Xiao offered again.
"This..."
The stall owner hesitated. This junk had been with him for 16 derivative worlds, following him from Tier 3 to Tier 4 like an unwanted pet.
"Minimum 80,000."
The stall owner was desperate. A light gold short sword for 80,000 Paradise Coins? Considering its low attack and ridiculous attributes, 80,000 was reasonable. Light gold quality didn't always guarantee high value. This sword might exceed light gold power in the right hands, but such users were rare. In pricing gear, demand was crucial.
Su Xiao spent 80,000 Paradise Coins on the light gold short sword "Forest Tree" to enhance Dragon Flash's blade value.
After upgrading Dragon Flash's Supreme Blade once, the usable weapons expanded to swords, daggers, and short knives, significantly lowering the enhancement cost.
For example, "Forest Tree" was light gold but unwanted, finally selling for 80,000 Paradise Coins. Such discarded weapons occasionally appeared in the market. Others didn't need them, but Su Xiao did.
Su Xiao wouldn't yet use Dragon Flash to "devour" Forest Tree. He had discovered that devouring multiple weapons at once increased the blade value more than devouring one repeatedly.
After wandering the market longer without finding other attribute-lacking weapons for enhancing Dragon Flash, Su Xiao still had 105,300 Paradise Coins left. He decided to head to the Trial Field.
Welcome to the Trial Field, Hunter. Please select a mode.
Assisted Mode / Combat Mode
Su Xiao chose the Assisted Mode.
Assisted Mode selected. Please choose the mirror image level.
"Advanced."
Each hour of advanced mirror image costs 10,000 Paradise Coins. Please choose the summoning mode (Random/Specific Target).
"Summon... Dracule Mihawk."
Su Xiao planned to spend the remaining Paradise Coins on summoning mirror images, specifically Dracule Mihawk, to learn swordsmanship and meditation techniques from him.