Should I be here? I’m not sure. This place is awfully close to that damned foxkin, and since she took my Tomb Hunter’s Almanac, she knows the Despair God’s Tomb is opening soon. However, rewards are never gained without taking any risks, and I’ve paid an information guild a great amount of money to let me know about her movements. If she shows any signs of appearing here, I’ll flee.
“Treasure Finder, what are you thinking so deeply about?”
“She’s probably counting the riches she gained from the Slaughter God’s Tomb.”
“Hah! Haven’t you heard? She failed completely at the Slaughter God’s Tomb. All the treasures were taken away by a newbie.”
“Really? Well, that’s how inheritance tombs are. Some people are just destined to obtain the treasures inside. That’s why I don’t go to any of those.”
“Yet you came here today to discuss the Despair God’s Tomb.”
“Hmph. It gives out treasures freely. It’s only an inheritance tomb in name.”
I sighed. What would’ve happened to these two if they had encountered the foxkin, Lucia? Would they have died? At the very least, I’m sure they would’ve been captured and tied up like everyone else. They’re sky-realm experts, but there’s always a sky beyond the sky, a mountain beyond a mountain. Even that foxkin would be overshadowed by an immortal. “I think you two have to be careful this time around.”
“Why’s that?” Gold Seeker asked, raising his eyebrow. He was a bald man with an X-shaped scar cutting across his scalp. “When was the last time the three of us had to be careful?”
Money Grubber rolled her eyes. “Don’t you remember getting your ass kicked at the Shark Tiger Secret Realm?”
“That…, that’s only because a quasi-immortal bastard showed up,” Gold Seeker said and snorted. “Quasi-immortals don’t grow on trees. We were just extremely unlucky to meet one that time.”
“I met one.” No, that’s not right. “Actually, I met two.” My companions turned to stare at me. “At the Slaughter God’s Tomb, the foxkin that inherited the crown, she was a quasi-immortal, and her tamed phoenix was one as well.”
Gold Seeker snickered. “No wonder why you look like shit.”
I glared at him. But at that moment, I felt a vibration from one of my jade slips. Who was it? No, it can’t be. I suppressed the stifling feeling in my chest by swallowing and took the jade slip out of my interspacial ring. A line of text appeared on top of it: The Long family that Lucia is currently staying in is heading towards the Despair God’s Tomb.
“Hey, Treasure Finder?” Money Grubber sidled next to me. “Is something wrong? You turned pale all of a sudden.”
“Yes.” Something is terribly wrong. “That quasi-immortal I was just talking about…, she’s going to the Despair God’s Tomb as well.”
“What?” Gold Seeker asked. “Why? Everyone knows about the great conflicts between the three gods of Huang Country. There’s no way the inheritor of one of their techniques would be accepted by another. In fact, the tomb may even be hostile to her! What is she thinking?”
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“That’s the thing…. I firmly believe the foxkin is incapable of rational thought.” Her brain doesn’t work in a logical manner. I’m not sure what’s wrong with it, but there is definitely something not working as it should in there. “Most likely, she doesn’t even realize there’s a problem with trying to inherit both their legacies. She doesn’t realize anything!”
“I, I think you should calm down a little,” Money Grubber said and inched away. “Your jade slip is cracking. Anyway, if she shows up, what are you going to do? She’s listed as a hazard under the almanac, but is she really that dangerous? I mean, if she was, there wouldn’t have been so many survivors, right? You’re still here with us.”
“I’m giving up on this tomb.” Yes. Giving up is the wisest thing to do, especially since I’ve gotten on the foxkin’s bad side by deactivating the almanac I gave her. I thought I wouldn’t see her again, but I forgot she was an idiot that didn’t know common sense! Even novice tomb hunters know to take a break for at least half a year to digest an inheritance properly. Does this mean the foxkin will attend the opening of the Death God’s Tomb as well? If that’s the case…. “I’m going to Qing Country. If I leave now, I might make it in time for the Flower Lord’s Tower’s entrance ceremony.”
“But that opens in six months!” Gold Seeker said. “You can’t go! Didn’t you owe me one? You said you’d accompany me for one tomb hunt!”
“Come with me to the Flower Lord’s Tower. I’ll fulfill my deal there.” The Flower Lord’s Tower, there’s absolutely no way that barbaric foxkin will show up there. It’s a trial set for graceful people, granting graceful techniques and treasures to accompany them. That foxkin doesn’t even know the meaning of graceful!
“I, I can’t,” Gold Seeker said and shook his head. “I took out a loan. If I don’t obtain any treasures from the Despair God’s Tomb, I won’t be able to pay off my debt.”
“A loan? You, a sky-realm expert, needed a loan?” What the hell? He’s an experienced tomb hunter too! I have enough wealth to buy a city. Even if he had half my wealth, he’d be able to live comfortably for five hundred years. “What did you buy?” What could possibly be that expensive. Don’t tell me…. “You bought a sky-realm-ranked weapon?”
Gold Seeker cleared his throat and looked away. “I, uh…. I actually bought two of them….”
Even one sky-realm-ranked weapon is extremely rare. Where did he get two? “You didn’t get scammed, did you?”
“No! I didn’t,” Gold Seeker said. “Look.” He took out two daggers. He told us to look, but they didn’t leave his hands. They were that precious. “They’re the real deal. And they were extremely cheap too!”
“How much did they cost?” Money Grubber asked. She was staring at the daggers, but she tore her gaze away. As someone who used talismans, she wouldn’t be too tempted by those daggers.
Gold Seeker Puffed his chest out. “Ten million spirit stones!”
“What!?” That’s unbelievably cheap! Sky-realm-ranked weapons normally can’t be bought with spirit stones! Only connections with a good smith could get you one. “Why did you have to take out a loan?”
“W-well,” Gold Seeker said and lowered his head. “The, uh, loan is, um, the weapons.” He gritted his teeth and took in a deep breath. “I’m borrowing the weapons, and I had to pay ten million spirit stones as a deposit. Every month, I have to pay an additional five hundred thousand spirit stones. But! The thing is, if I pay on time for two hundred years, I get to keep the weapons!”
Money Grubber counted off on her fingers. “Doesn’t that equal a billion spirit stones?”
“It’s not too hard to earn a billion spirit stones given two hundred years of time and a little bit of luck….” In fact, if Gold Seeker manages to break through to become an immortal, a billion spirit stones would be nothing to him. And the sky-realm-ranked daggers would certainly increase his chances of becoming an immortal. “Where did you find a place willing to loan out sky-realm-ranked weapons?”
Gold Seeker furrowed his brow. “It’s a place called the Pentorn Armory. Shall I bring you two there as well? If I refer you two to them, all of us will get a discount.”
…The Pentorn Armory. How come I’ve never heard of this place?