Chapter 81: Meritorious Service

  “How do I get to the bck market?”

  An Jing asked him directly. Iron Hand raised his eyebrows. “So you really io go… Kid, after buying two guns and other supplies, you hardly have a points left. What could you possibly do once you get there?”

  “Let me warn you in advance: although the bck market is oskirts of Xuay, it’s still within city limits. If you don’t have ary permit, fet about sneaking in—even if you’re a qi refiner.”

  He tinued, “Entry permits aren’t cheap. Most barbarians won’t earn that ma points in a lifetime.”

  “How expensive is it?” An Jing was not the least bit intimidated. “I think I give it a try.”

  “Oh?” Iron Hand’s eyes lit up at that remark. He g the bundle An Jing had yet to fully open. “Seems like you’re hiding plenty of good stuff… Ary permit costs 1,500 merit points.”

  After quoting the price, Iron Hand said, “What else do you have hidden? Bring it all out. Don’t worry—I, Iron Hand, pride myself on my good credit. And besides, since you helped A Qing, I’m not about to swindle you.”

  “All right.”

  An Jing was not worried Iron Hand would rob him or set him up.

  After all, Iron Hand was Huo Qing’s elder—someone he could at least tentatively trust. Even if Iron Hand turned out to be a high-level qi refiner supported by a formation, An Jing could simply retrieve his belongings and use the Subduing Evil Sword to open a Grand Void Passage to escape.

  With these guns, he could likely finish off the demonic sect’s Heavenly Fate holder on that flying shuttle. In other words, he already had a safeguard in pce.

  Still, An Jing was greedy by nature.

  Now that he had found a way to hahe matter in the Huaixu Realm, he po earn more profit and dig deeper into information oianyuan Realm.

  Obviously, the bck market was not a pce just anyone could enter. Much like this recyg hut, it likely required proof of eligibility or a referral.

  At the very least, one had to prove the ability to make purchases.

  Hence, An Jing brought out his real trump cards.

  He took out a number of pills.

  Iron Hand did not think much of them. Even the Qi Boosting Pills from the Huaixu Realm—though a bit unusual in appearance—were ultimately desperation pills; there was nothiraordinary about them.

  He also produced some leftover tusked pig meat and tusked pig fangs.

  Iron Hand eyed the tusked pig fangs with mild i. “Fangs from a wood-attribute spirit beast? A pity they’re low-quality. It’s only a Spirit Awakening realm beast. For both pairs, I only offer fifty merit points.”

  So he was ied in those? An Jing recalled the ivy outside the recyg hut. Iron Hand was likely a wood-attribute cultivator. His prosthetic limb tained wooden roots, and he had shown moments ago that he could cripple Daqiang’s cultivation.

  He robably ag friendly not only because of Huo Qing, but also because he sensed a treasure on An Jing that he needed.

  Yet what Iron Hand had sensed was clearly not these tusked pig fangs.

  After a moment of thought, An Jing brought out his “bck-jade skull.”

  It was the core of a vine-like demonic creature—the remains of a wood-attribute cultivator who had died in a ruined cavern years ago, having refined himself into a “Jade-Marrow Bone” Divine Marvel before succumbing to demonic corruption.

  The instant An Jing revealed that bck-jade skull, Iron Hand—who had been smiling—froze and blurted, “A demonie? And… the skull of a wood demon?”

  He stood up behind the ter, stunned. “You actually killed a demonic creature?! A wood demon?”

  That bck-jade demonie was An Jing’s trophy from defeating the vine-like demonic creature in the cavern.

  That creature was far from weak; it excelled at ambushing unsuspeg oppos. Even a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator could be toppled by its formidable psychic assault if caught off-guard—let alone someoill at Spirit Awakening.

  Although Iron Hand did not know the exact details of that wood demon’s abilities, he uood how challenging the battle must have been.

  Under normal circumstahere was no irit Awakening apprentice like An Jing could have triumphed.

  “This is meritorious service.”

  After his momentary slip, Iron Haled back behind the ter. He regarded An Jing seriously and said, “I never imagined you’d have something this valuable—and it’s even a wood-attribute demonie.”

  “Are you sure you want to trade it? You barbarians usually know how priceless these things be.”

  “Sword Spirit,” An Jing asked in his mind, “are demonic creature materials particurly valuable?”

  Instead of responding to Iron Hand out loud, he spoke to the Subduing Evil Sword Spirit in his Sea of sciousness. “Judging by his rea, it seems to have a special purpose.”

  “Any demonic creature touched by Demonic Qi leaves behind an essehat—once purified—offers high resistao Demonic Qi,” the Sword Spirit expined. “Long ago, there was one known by the honorific title of the Great Heavenly Demon who, after being sin, had His spiracted. A diviisan then fed it into the ‘Void Sword of Myriad Corpses.’”

  “That sword -tier demon-sying on. It never accumuted any demonic corruption. On the trary, it could absorb Demonic Qi for its own growth. The Heavenly Demons who faced it ofteroyed their own bodies before death, just to avoid leaving behind another formidable demon-sying bde.”

  “This world once suffered a demonic camity, and it’s still polluted by Demonic Qi. Demand for demonic creature materials is iably high—they’re essentially strategic resources.”

  “I see,” An Jing thought.

  He uood now. In a world so heavily tainted, materials that could prevent corruption were extremely valuable. No wonder Boss Iron Hand called it “meritorious service.”

  Yet from An Jing’s perspective, it wasn’t all that useful.

  His Heavenly Fate’s resistance was simply to. If even his Fate couldn’t shield him, typical demonic materials would do little, and any higher-grade demonic materials that might truly help were far beyond his reach.

  Returning his focus to the present, An Jing gave Boss Iron Hand a slight nod. “Yes, I know it’s meant for warding off demonic corruption… but getting into the city is more important.”

  “As long as you realize that… You barbarians typically pce a high value on this.”

  Iron Hand accepted the bck-jade demonie from An Jing. After a moment, he admitted didly, “This bone may not be high-grade, but I badly .”

  “At market price, it’s worth about 1,700 to 1,900 merit points. I won’t cheat you, though—I’ll calcute it at 2,100 merit points.”

  When Boss Iron Hand fell silent, An Jing worried he might simply pocket the item without payment—but her An Jing nor the Sword Spirit sensed any malice.

  Seeing An Jing’s cautious look, the burly man shook his head with a ugh. “I, Iron Hand, have made quite a name for myself in the Fu Pins because I keep my word. I don’t take what isn’t mine.”

  “You really are my lucky star, kid. You saved A Qing, then showed up with a Luofu military core I desperately needed, plus a wood-attribute demonie. If I weren’t sure you’re not… I might’ve thought…”

  He trailed off there, and An Jing did not press him. “So, about the entry permit?”

  Iron Hand waved dismissively. “I’ll handle everything.”

  “I’ll alse a bck market pass. If you don’t mind waiting, stay here until it’s done. Once I have it, I’ll take you there myself.”

  “If anyone asks for a reference, just give them my name—Iron Hand Zhang Gu.”

  “By the way, is there anything else you want to buy?”

  (End of Chapter)