Death... and me

Rean and Frandin were soon brought to a private room where the floor manager could be found. After explaining the situation, the manager quickly came out to receive them.

"Hello, friend. I heard that you wish to trade this sword for a map of our continent?"

Frandin nodded as he replied.

"I'm planning to travel soon, so I need the map. This is an exquisite Earth Middle-Level Sword. I'm highly certain that it should be more than enough to pay for a jade slip with the map inside."

The manager was all smiles after hearing that the offer was real.

"But of course! In fact, your sword here is worth more than the map, to be honest. How about this? I can allow you to go check the items on higher levels of our Shaz Treasures Hall and even give you a 10% discount on your first item on top of that."

Frandin pondered for a bit before summoning his Rank Two Bloodline Mark.

"I can already go to the fourth floor with this alone. Would it allow me to go any higher?"

The manager quickly nodded as he answered.

"Certainly. I'll give this young master access up to the 6th floor. How about that?"

Frandin then looked at Rean by his side before asking the manager.

"This human here is responsible for a few things in my family. That being said, he has some experience in treasures thanks to the display of items there. If you allow me to bring him together, then consider this a deal. Don't worry. I'll make sure to take care of him and not let his hands touch anything."

The manager pondered over it a bit. Sure enough, the higher levels wouldn't be accessible for humans. However, the sword was truly a good deal for the Treasures Hall. Although he said that the sword cost a little more, the truth was that they could definitely obtain a much higher price. In the end, the manager smiled again before saying.

"Very well. As long as this young master can guarantee that this human won't stir up any problems, we can allow you to bring him together. However, I should give you and your family a piece of advice. It isn't a good thing to let humans be so close to high-level items like him in your family."

Rean couldn't help but mentally sigh. Unsurprisingly, the Zasfin Race didn't have the least bit of intention of letting the human race ever obtain any footing in this world.

Frandin, of course, immediately accepted the offer.

'With that, you can now check if you want anything else from the higher floors.'

Rean nodded as the two went up. Of course, they already gave the sword to the manager and obtained a jade slip that had a map of the entire Palif Continent. The only problem was that, other than their country, the rest wasn't very detailed, only showing the main routes and cities. Nevertheless, it was still good enough since it at least told the right path to Tuvaro.

Rean didn't really have a reason to go to the floors above. He only wanted to check if he could find something of some use for them. They passed through the second, third, and fourth floors without losing much time. Although there were a few items that Rean didn't recognize, they weren't anything special after Frandin asked about them.

However, Rean finally found something good on the fifth floor.

'Hmm? What is this thing?'

Rean was looking at a blue box that exuded very cold energy. Or, to be more specific, Yin Energy.

[Oh! Quite a good item! Well, I guess it makes sense to find such a good Yin Energy Material on a planet as cold as this one. Rean, buy it and give me. I can use it in the Soul Gem Realm.]

'In the Soul Gem Realm? Would it be of any use for me and the others?'

[Well, not directly. What it can do is help me regulate the Yin and Yang Energies of the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm. You guys like to train inside here sometimes, right? It's quite annoying to keep it balanced since we have more Yin Energy users than Yang.]

Rean nodded, not minding it too much. The Soul Gem Dimensional Realm was just too important, so it was worth the price.

'Frandin, ask how much the item in this box is.'

Frandin nodded and immediately called an attendant.

"This customer has good eyes. This is a Soul Crystal Flower Petal. It's known for having very pure Yin Energy, which can be used together with Yin Energy Cultivation Techniques. Of course, it also has other uses, such as alchemy and crafting. Our Shaz Treasures Hall is asking for 200 Rank Two Spirit Stones for it. Since this young master has a 10% discount token, you can have it for 180."

Frandin couldn't help but take a deep breath. The items in this place were really expensive. As for Rean, he couldn't help but think about all the Spirit Stones that were consumed to go through that teleport. If he still had them, it would be a fortune on this planet.

'Well, it was also a very healthy amount on Sunkan Planet as well. It's just that they were worth a lot more here.'

Frandin then received another Spiritual Sense Message from Rean before saying.

"I want this item, but I don't have the Spirit Stones at the moment. Would the Shaz Treasures Hall be willing to reserve it for me?"

The attendant immediately nodded, replying.

"Of course. The token this young master received also allows you to save three items for two weeks. Would you like to keep this one?"

Frandin nodded as he said.

"Yes."

The attendant then called a servant on the floor and had him bring the item away.

"Remember that if the item isn't claimed in two weeks, it will be put for sale again. Also, failing to buy the things you reserved will result in your token being canceled. Make sure that you come back to take it so that you can reuse this feature later."

Frandin didn't mind it since he would have enough after the auction.

Rean and Frandin then went to the sixth floor, where Rean found another interesting item. It was a blue robe that had a few inscriptions on it.

'Now this is quite surprising. The level of the Formation Master who inscribed this robe was definitely high. It's the first thing I've seen on this planet that's above what I can make.'

Rean kept looking at it for a while longer before understanding what it was made for.

'What a peculiar arrangement of runes. It can draw the surrounding Yin Energy to oneself. The amount is very small and wouldn't be of much use in battle. But there's no doubt it could help with one's cultivation if they used a Yin Energy Cultivation Technique. With that, I'm pretty sure this robe was made by an Earth Peak-Level Formation Master.'

Rean was quite interested in the robe since he was already in the Peak of the Core Formation Realm. Just like blacksmithing, his much bigger Spiritual Energy Pool would allow him to step into the Earth Peak-Level Formation Master rank as well. He wanted this robe so that he could study it and replicate it later.

'Still, I thought only at the Heaven Level would one be able to use Equipment Formations. However, the runes on this robe seem to be quite sturdy. I don't believe the inscriptions would break unless the robe gets damaged.'

Rean pondered for a while longer until he finally understood why an Earth Peak-Level Formation Master succeeded in making it.

'I see... It's the environment. This planet is rich in Yin Energy. The Yin Energy of the surroundings keeps the runes in the robe intact even during movement. Back in Sunkan, Yin and Yang were very balanced, so the robe would lack Yin Energy to keep the runes running. It would only work if you moved to a place with a lot of Yin Energy. However, Sunkan Planet doesn't have many areas with one energy being dominant. Unless you were planning to live in a place like that, it wouldn't be a good idea to make a robe like this.'

Soon, Frandin called an attendant, who told him the price. It turned out that the robe was far more expensive. A total of 3000 Rank Two Spirit Stones were necessary.

Rean didn't think it was strange. After all, his Earth Middle-Level Sword would probably be sold for around 400 to 500 Rank 2 Stones. This robe was at the Peak Level, after all.

'Seems like I will need to put up one or two High-Level pieces of equipment in the auction. However, I haven't made more of them except for Roan, Malaka, and my equipment. I will need to find a blacksmith shop to craft them before the auction starts. Well, I still have three days left, so it should be enough. The only problem is to find a place where I can forge them without anyone watching.'

Rean then told Frandin to reserve the robe before the two of them left the Shaz Treasures Hall. Rean paid attention if they were being followed this time around, but it seemed like the Treasures Hall didn't try the same thing as the auction house.

'Frandin, is there a way to rent a workshop where I can forge a few pieces of equipment? It has to be an empty one where no one can see me doing it.'

Frandin pondered for a bit before nodding as he replied.

'It should be possible.'