Chapter 94
After the exchange, Arthur found some protective charms that were not bad so he took all of them, without exception .
Each time Albert saw Arthur pick a treasure, he felt like his heart was bleeding, he would hold his breath whenever Arthur gets too close to very expensive treasure .
But what was most terrifying is Lucy, she literally held nothing back and picked anything as if it was her own shop, be it a cool looking armor, a cultivation technique or whatever it was, she would take it .
She doesn't need them of course, but she had a hobby of collecting everything, just like when killing their enemies, she would be the first to check their storage ring . She always wanted to see what the items inside Arthur's storage were but it is impossible since she can't use Black Mana . Even when injecting Nether Energy, it won't open no matter what .
From the treasures she bought, there were some that may be helpful in fights and other occasions like these ones .
Mask of Truth (Mystic Ranked 1st Grade): effect; If used, the host can change his/her facial appearances however they like .
WARNING: Can be seen through by people who have: Heavenly eyes(skill), Godly/Demon eyes(bloodline/heritage) or individuals at the Godly Realm or above can also see through the Item .
Cost : 10 Top Class Spirit Red Stones .
Eradication Bell (Heavenly Ranked 1st Grade); effect : Each time the user rings the bell, it creates a strong outburst of energy .
Each time the user rings the bell, the next ring would cost 100% more Nether Energy .
Cost : 750 Top Class Spirit Red Stones .
These were only a few of the good things they found . Albert was even about to burst out and forcefully take the items back . Although he got the rare body-strengthening technique from Arthur for all of these items, it is absolutely not worth it, however, if he does really take them treasures back, he would have gone back on his word, not only would he lose a lot of face, rumors about him deceiving his customers would be spread in the city in less than a day .
"S-Sir Arthur . . . isn't that enough? M . . M-Miss Lucy took almost all the treasures on this floor . . "
Albert's face whitened and he appeared to have aged quite a bit when he saw the emptiness of the floor . Lucy was ruthless as she didn't spare anything, the more she took the more he felt pain and anxiousness .
"Oh . . . we're almost done Senior Bai, we just need . . . a good quality Spirit Boat . "
Having gotten more than they wished for, Arthur wanted to get Spirit Boat and be done with this, he knew that taking any more would anger Albert even more and perhaps he would try to seek revenge one way or another .
Hearing that they are almost done, Albert's face bloomed, with a wave of his hand, a fist-sized Spirit Boat appeared, it was red in color and didn't have anything special about it .
"If that's the case, I'll give you this Spirit Boat, it's called Blood Curl and it is one of the best out in our Treasure Pavillon, here! Take a look at it . "
The mini-Spirit Boat floated near Arthur as Albert gave it to him to check its quality .
All it took was a simply appraise to see the Spirit Boat .
Bloood Curl (Mystic Ranked 3rd Grade) : An ancient Spirit Boat that has a fast speed .
Consumes 100 Nether Energy Per second or 1 Medium Spirit Red Stones per day .
Normally, people would never waste their Nether Energy on their Spirit Boat, they would use the Spirit Red Stones to power it since it's better and less consuming for them, after all, you never know when a fight might break out in here so it is better to always have your Nether Energy full at any time .
"Indeed, as Senior Bai said, this Spirit Boat is really good quality, moreover, it's a Mystic Ranked . "
Arthur stored the Spirit Boat in his ring and patted his clothes while looking around the fourth floor . More than half of the treasures that were here have disappeared forever, they are now stored in Lucy's storage ring along with the items they were going to buy in first floors .
. . .
Finally, after taking whatever they liked and getting what they wanted, Lucy and Arthur left the 'Treasure Pavillon' accompanied by Azure Bai who, for whatever reason followed them .
"Hahaha, it's the first time I see people taking advantage of the 'Treasure Pavillon' like this, Friend Arthur and Miss Lucy are indeed very special and interesting .
Bai Lingyue was laughing as he said that, he walked with both of them and seemed he was going to follow them to the inn .
"It's nothing special, we just did a fair exchange, isn't that right, Lucy?"
Arthur humbly replied to Azure Bai as he added Lucy in his little scheme, it was obvious he was taking advantage of Albert but he didn't want to directly say it .
Azure Bai kept laughing for some time as he elegantly walked along the duo, his eyes were fixed on both of them and sometimes he would furrow his brows or chuckle .
Lucy wore the Mask of Truth, her hair turned black and her facial appearances transformed into an average looking woman . It was not like the breath-taking beauty like earlier . In public, she would wear it but if she's alone with Arthur, then she would not wear it of course as it is not needed .
"Friend Arthur, I have long since considered you and Miss Lucy friends of me, Bai Lingyue . I do have a lot of friends but not all of them have my respect, I would be lying to say I'm not curious about you two, especially after what happened earlier, so, I would like you to come to the Grand Banquet that will be held in 2 months . You can use this token to enter it . "
As he said that, Bai handed a simple white token to Arthur before even listening to his answer, by the time caught the token that Azure Bai threw toward him, the scholarly man had long since disappeared . Even Lucy who had been focusing on him didn't know what just happened, but that's to be expected as he was at the peak of the Divine Realm, so his strength must be unfathomable .
"It doesn't seem we'll be able to go to that banquet huh?"
Arthur was going to reject Bai Lingyue's offer as they were only here to search for Saly and not have some fun .
"Maybe if we find Saly and get rid of that woman, we can go there if we have some free time . "
Surprisingly, Lucy was the one who said that, she didn't have a negative impression on Bai Lingyue, apart from the usual disgust she feels from all men, there is no loathe or dislike toward him, moreover, he helped them a lot so it would fun to a banquet with Saly .
Contrary to Lucy, Arthur was not very optimistic about this matter, he wanted to find Saly before everything else, it had been some time since she was abducted, was she tortured? Killed? Or even worse, no one knows what that woman would do to Saly, just thinking about this made him feel more anxious and worried for her .
. . .
The couple went back to their room in the inn to prepare and to try and find some information about Saly . The problem is that finding her just by asking is too hard in a world as big as the Underworld . The only clue they had is that the woman who attacked the Ma Clan is definitely a human, or more precisely, she looked exactly like a human .
If she had been an undead or another race, Anastassia would have noticed, so the only place they could search into is a mysterious faction in the center of the Underworld and the Monster Archipelago .
Arthur handed all the cultivation techniques he had in his storage to Lucy so she could pick whatever suited her, with her two new sabers her Extreme yin Body, with an appropriate technique, her prowess will increase by leaps and bounds .
After much pondering on what to pick, she decided to go with 'Nine Star Yin Technique' . It is only a 3rd Grade Spirit Ranked technique, there was even a Yin related technique at the Heavenly Rank yet Lucy chose this one as she felt it suited her much more than all the others .
Moreover, she also planned to practice 'Liberating Heavenly Fire', it's a Mystic Ranked technique which is so-so, but just like the first technique she chose, she felt it suited her a lot .
Normally, it is impossible to practice with two cultivation techniques, much less two cultivation techniques which are the total opposite of each other yet Lucy wanted to try it .
She is considered a genius in cultivating, whether it's her bloodline or due to the soul-link with Arthur, whatever it was, it made her absorb Nether Energy faster and better, advance in her skills at an unimaginable speed and add to that her Extreme Yin Body, it made her progress unstoppable .
Lucy could use both Fire attribute and Ice attribute without receiving a backlash, but what she aimed is to use them spontaneously and even try to fuse them, the result is unknown but that made it even more exciting for her .
. . .
Several days passed without them leaving the inn room, Lucy kept practicing in her two techniques while learning Saber Mastery from Arthur .
They did not even fight each other, she just imitated what he showed her whilst channeling her Nine Star Yin Technique .
She would use Twilight's vow with Nine Star Yin Technique and Burning Fate with Liberating Heavenly Fire Technique . Once she manages to merge the two techniques, she would try wielding dual sabers, but it is very early to do that . She just started practicing the two techniques .
Her Extreme Yin Body helped her a lot when practicing the Nine Star Yin Technique, her surroundings will freeze bit by a bit and she would emit a bone-cold chilliness then when she switches to the Liberating Heavenly Fire Technique, the surroundings would slowly become hot and purple fire would burn at the edges of her clothes . There was no contradiction between the two techniques, even the sky-blue orb in her Dantian had some purple-red strands in it .
As for Arthur, there was not much progress in his Realm, he can't absorb Nether Energy, no matter how match he wracked his brains, he couldn't breakthrough .
Seeing Lucy leaving him far behind, he started feeling a bit depressed, at this pace, he won't be able to help much in fights against people at the Divine Realm and he couldn't afford to be that weak that he can't even help or protect his wife, Lucy .
Since he couldn't forcefully absorb the Nether Energy, Arthur decided to calm down and focus on Zodiak and his powers, if he could unlock another portion of his powers, then he could possibly breakthrough .
He sat cross-legged next to the mediating Lucy and began remembering the Ancient Magic, Dark Magic, Zodiak's weird attacks and seals and so on .
He sat there for hours, Lucy didn't disturb him and kept mediating, even after five days, which was the time they agreed upon to go to the city and find some information about Saly, Arthur didn't wake up from that ethereal state .
Lucy took notice of this and didn't wake him up, this may be his chance to breakthrough, waiting a bit more would not hurt since they can't find immediate information about Saly .
. . . .
Another five days passed and by that time, a black and weird looking talisman had been conjured above Arthur, it started condensing above his head and it was about 25% done .
Although it was only 1/4 of the talisman, Lucy recognized this talisman as it resembled the ones Zodiak used at against the Holy Church Goddess .
The talisman was pure black with some black gold runes and symbols on it, what's more, is that very small black flames are burning on all of it, which made it look ominous .
Lucy didn't know what was going on, but she guessed that perhaps when the talisman is completely conjured, he would break through, but just as she was speculating on what might and might not happen, Arthur suddenly opened his eyes .
From the looks of it, it didn't seem that he broke through . Having been in a mysterious state for more than 10 days, one would naturally feel a bit of dizziness or numbness, however, Arthur felt relaxed and his mind was as calm and clear as the water .
" . . . Astrith . . . he just died . . . I felt it . "
Lucy was expecting him to speak about what happened these few days, when she heard him say that, her eyes widened for a second and a nervous look appeared on her usually expressionless face .
"Are you sure? Perhaps the connection between you two has been disrupted . "
Arthur nodded as he unconsciously clenched his fists .
"No . I'm definitely sure he just died, moreover, I received a message from him too . . . fortunately we came to the Underworld or else I wouldn't have received it . . . . "
Lucy kept silent as she could no longer remain calm, Astrith disappeared with Saly, they first presumed he died, but Arthur couldn't summon him so that meant he was still alive somewhere, but now, he had died . What if he died protecting Saly and she doesn't have much time left? Moreover, they don't know where he died, so that made things even more complicated .
"He only said two words . . . 'Grand Banquet' . . . "