I once more arrived at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan. Having previously received a guest token from Ning Fengzhi, I could come and go as I pleased.
A maid escorted me to a waiting room and served tea while we awaited Ning Fengzhi's arrival. Serenity stood behind me in her usual silent guard mode, while the Nine Segment Jade serpent coiled around her wrist like a delicate yet deadly bracelet.
It didn't take long for Ning Fengzhi to arrive, though he froze momentarily upon seeing me. He was likely surprised by my adult form, though I could tell he recognized both me and Serenity.
"You are Ryan?" he asked, as Bone Douluo and Sword Douluo entered the room behind him.
"Yes," I answered, taking a sip of tea. "I heard that you and the Crown Prince were looking for me?"
Ning Fengzhi studied me briefly before nodding with a small smile and taking a seat. "The Crown Prince has been asking to speak with you."
Bone Douluo and Sword Douluo, meanwhile, had their own reactions. Though they hadn't seen me for a few weeks, they could now feel an overwhelming pressure from my presence. Their expressions betrayed their shock as they sensed my fluctuating spirit power—hovering around Rank 93. I hadn't fully controlled my spirit energy yet, so it still fluctuated slightly, but I wasn't particularly concerned with hiding it.
"I see," I said lazily. "Well, I'm willing to meet him. Also, I have some things you might be interested in and was wondering if you'd like to trade."
With a casual wave of my hand, about 30 spirit bones dropped from the Gate of Babylon, clattering onto the floor in an impressive display. Each one ranged from hundred- to thousand-year-old spirit bones.
Ning Fengzhi's eyes widened in clear astonishment. "Spirit bones?"
"Yeah. I'm looking to trade for precious metals, herbs, and any other rare materials you might have. These bones are just cluttering up my space, so I'd rather exchange them for something useful."
Ning Fengzhi took a deep breath before nodding. "Of course, we are willing to trade," he said, his voice calm but tinged with curiosity. "May I ask where you acquired them?"
"Had a task in Slaughter City. Ended up killing around 3,000 or so evil spirit masters."
The room fell silent for a moment. Even Ning Fengzhi, always composed, exhaled deeply before shaking his head. "I see… Well then, let's head to the vaults. Over the years, we've gathered several rare metals, gems, and other treasures. I'm sure we can find something to your liking."
~~~~
As expected, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's treasury held some truly valuable materials—Deep Sea Sunken Silver, Chilling Heart Iron, a small bead of Life Gold, and Purple Veined Crystal, among others.
They likely didn't recognize all the materials they had, but I sure did. These were all part of the legendary Tang Sect's inheritance.
"Go ahead and pick what you want," Ning Fengzhi offered generously.
He didn't mind parting with these materials. After all, while they had been collecting dust in the treasury, spirit bones could be used to strengthen his clan or win over talents. This was an easy trade for him.
"Then I won't be polite," I replied with a smirk. "Gem!"
The small fairy-like creature materialized in a flash of light. She had a crystalline body that shimmered with energy, her wings leaving behind faint trails of luminescence as she flitted about.
With a gleeful hum, Gem darted through the vault, grabbing pieces of rare metals in quick bursts of light. She needed only a single piece of each material to begin producing them on her own.
Ning Fengzhi watched curiously, clearly sensing something unusual about her. His own martial spirit resonated faintly with her presence, yet he also felt a strange sense of suppression.
After finishing her task, Gem fluttered back toward me. "All done, Master!" she chirped.
"Good. You can go back and play." With that, she dissolved into shimmering light and returned to my body.
She had plenty of entertainment waiting for her inside the pagoda thanks to the Ancient Stone Talisman. Since the talisman was capable of housing and nurturing soul entities, I had stored a vast majority of my martial spirits within it.
However, I kept a select few spirits bound to me directly—the Dark Devilgod Tiger, Hate Ground No Handle, Ten-Tiled Treasure Pagoda, and Golden Holy Dragon. The latter helped balance out the darkness and malevolence of the Devilgod Tiger while the others were just more intrinsically linked to my soul.
Even after purifying the spirits from the corruption of Slaughter City, merging redundant ones, and evolving several others, I still had well over a thousand spirits under my control. Housing so many spirits within my soul realm was incredibly taxing—it felt like trying to cram thousands of people into a single bus.
Thankfully, the pagoda alleviated most of the burden.
Still, with the materials I'd acquired today, my plans were progressing smoothly. I would also be able to make stronger weapons from the Tang Sect with such high quality materials.
With nothing else of value in the vault and due to me only taking a handful of items Ning Fengzhi gave me quite a chunk of money, around 100,000,000 gold soul coins and we called it even for the spirit bones.
"I've sent a letter to Qinghe, he should arrive here soon. How about I have someone prepare lunch?" Ever the gracious host and wanting to earn a few good points Ning Fengzhi offered.
"Sure, do you mind if I call my girls out?"
"Not at all! I was also hoping that I would be able to purchase some of those Qi pearls for my clan." Ning Fengzhi was short on many things but money wasn't one of them. He also had a saying that if you couldn't purchase something you simply aren't using enough money.
"Sure." I produced those passively, even more so now that the talisman had fused with my pagoda increasing the proficiency.
"Excellent!"