After leaving the Alchemist Guild, under Au Tuo's guidance, Xiao Se arrived at a strange, secluded building near the southern part of Black Rock City.
"This is the residence of that guy, Gu Te. Although he has decent alchemist talent, he's obsessed with collecting rare materials and treasures. As a result, his alchemist rank has stagnated at Tier 3. It's really hard to understand him.
But speaking of which, he's probably the most likely person in the entire Jia Ma Empire to have the Ice Spirit Cold Fountain. Just a reminder, before you go in, you'd better be prepared to spend a lot of money," Au Tuo said, his mouth twitching as he looked at the strange building, then smiled at Xiao Se.
Hearing this, Xiao Se smiled wryly and nodded. He wasn't sure if Gu Te actually had the Ice Spirit Cold Fountain. If not, he might have to try his luck with Medusa.
Xiao Se vaguely remembered that in the original story, Medusa had collected a large pool of heavenly flames to break through to the Dou Zong rank. Since it was still early by several years, he wasn't sure if Medusa still had it.
Following Au Tuo, as soon as Au Tuo pushed open the door, Xiao Se felt a strong gust of wind carrying white dust.
"Master Au Tuo, get away from the spot," Xiao Se said, frowning at the sudden dust and jumping back while warning Au Tuo.
"Just a little trick!" Au Tuo said, rolling his eyes as if he had seen this many times before. He waved his large sleeve, creating a stronger wind that blew the white dust back.
"Let's go, be careful. This old guy is quite tricky," Au Tuo said with a smile and entered the building. Before he could be happy, the wooden floor suddenly collapsed, revealing a bottomless pit. Au Tuo stepped into thin air and fell directly into the pit with a scream:
"Aaaaah!"
Seeing this, Xiao Se twitched his lips and used his system's X-ray vision. When he saw the pit was filled with dirty water, he sighed with relief. It was disgusting, but Gu Te knew his limits and hadn't crossed the line.
Taking a deep breath, Xiao Se used his X-ray vision to survey the traps throughout Gu Te's building. After deliberately triggering and avoiding several traps, he finally reached the top floor of the building.
"Heh, not bad, kid. You managed to avoid all my traps. Come in, there are no more traps here," an old, strange voice suddenly came from the room at the end of the top floor corridor, sending a chill down Xiao Se's spine.
Xiao Se nodded slightly but remained cautious. After confirming there were no more traps, he entered the room and was greeted by an extremely unpleasant sight: an untidy old man, barefoot, was picking his nose.
Suppressing his disgust, Xiao Se kept his eyes open, and when his gaze inadvertently swept over Gu Te's crotch, his lips twitched again.
Good grief! To hide his items, he actually tied the spatial ring to that thing.
"Senior, I'm here to trade for something," Xiao Se said, bowing slightly.
"Don't give me any of that nonsense. I only let you in because you seemed to understand traps. Want to trade? I have nothing here that interests me, and you don't have anything that would make me tempted," Gu Te said, flicking his messy hair impatiently.
"That's a shame. I even got a bottle of Amethyst Lion Birth Essence from my teacher. Since you don't have it, I'll get it somewhere else," Xiao Se said, pretending to be troubled, and turned to leave.
Amethyst Lion Birth Essence ? Hearing these words, Gu Te seemed to have been injected with adrenaline. He jumped from his dirty seat and appeared in front of Xiao Se in an instant, shocking Xiao Se a little.
"Hehe, little brother, don't be in such a hurry to leave. I just heard you have a Amethyst Lion Birth Essence . Is that true?" Gu Te said with a greedy smile, rubbing his dirty hands.
Seeing Gu Te's reaction, Xiao Se's lips lifted slightly. He feigned caution and said, "It's indeed true, but as you know, the value of the Amethyst Lion Birth Essence is quite high. To trade for it, I need the Ice Spirit Cold Fountain. Do you have it?"
"Who says I don't? Uh!" Before he could finish, Gu Te quickly covered his mouth. After a pause, he scratched his head and said with an embarrassed smile, "Little brother, although I don't have the Ice Spirit Cold Fountain, I have other valuable items. Look at the fire-type Seven Leaf Flower, Blood Crystal Grass, and Blue Rock Heart Stone on the shelves. Each one is a rare treasure!"
"Since Senior doesn't have it, I'll take my leave," Xiao Se said after examining the precious herbs in the room. Though they were rare, he had an ample supply of herbs from his time in the Warcraft Mountains. He had plenty of year-old herbs, including those for Dou Ling Dan and Emperor Grade Dan, with only the magical cores left to find.
Gu Te's real valuable items were hidden in his spatial ring in his pants. Seeing Xiao Se really about to leave, Gu Te couldn't contain his longing for the Amethyst Lion Birth Essence any longer and called out, "Wait!"
Xiao Se turned around and said calmly, "What's the matter, Senior? Have you found the Ice Spirit Cold Fountain?"
"I want to ask you, do you really have the Amethyst Lion Birth Essence ?" Gu Te was struggling internally. He had only recently acquired the Ice Spirit Cold Fountain and didn't want to trade it away. However, the Amethyst Lion Birth Essence was too rare; even he had never seen it before. Missing this chance might mean a lifetime of regret.
"Naturally, I have it." Xiao Se waved his hand, and a jade bottle emitting a warm aura appeared in his hand.
He opened the bottle, and a wisp of purple mist emerged, raising the temperature in the room slightly.
"This is the Amethyst Lion Birth Essence ? It really is just like that annoying guy described," Gu Te said, his old eyes gleaming with gold as he reached for Xiao Se's bottle.
Xiao Se smiled and covered the bottle, using the first layer of the Misty Step to instantly appear behind Gu Te.
"Hey, Senior Gu Te, you haven't shown me the Ice Spirit Cold Fountain yet. If you don't have it, I'm leaving right away," Xiao Se said without courtesy, preparing to retract the Amethyst Lion Birth Essence .
"Wait... I have it, I have it." Seeing Xiao Se's determination for the Ice Spirit Cold Fountain, Gu Te finally gave in to his desire for the Amethyst Lion Birth Essence and agreed to the exchange.
Gu Te, carefully holding the newly acquired Amethyst Lion Birth Essence , looked at the Ice Spirit Cold Fountain in Xiao Se's hand with great reluctance. He pointed angrily at the door and shouted, "Get out of here with the Ice Spirit Cold Fountain. I never want to see you again."
Xiao Se smiled, said nothing further, and left. His goal had been achieved, and staying any longer would be pointless.
Soon, Xiao Se walked outside the building and saw Au Tuo, who had managed to crawl out of the dirty pit, and smiled, "Master Au Tuo, are you alright?"
"That damned bastard dug the pit right into a cesspool," Au Tuo said, furious and cursing loudly.
Suddenly, curses from the top floor of the strange building echoed down. Au Tuo, slightly stunned, asked in confusion, "Did you really get the Ice Spirit Cold Fountain?"
"Yes, I got it by a stroke of luck," Xiao Se said with a slight nod.
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