CHAPTER 90: CHAPTER 88: THE MERFOLK’S DEAL

"No wonder in so many stories mortals spend their entire lives trying to acquire an Immortal Treasure. Just this single local product can stir unknown waves in the Mortal World."

He rubbed the pearl, its moonlit coolness mingling with the salty sea breeze around his nose.

This sensation was familiar to him.

Moon Liquid Pearl.

He still has some Moon Liquid Pearls stored in the Storage Spirit box.

"Could it be related to Taiyin Moonlight?" He gently shook his wrist, causing the Sun and Moon Ring to automatically fly out, encasing the pearl within its loops.

The ring, made of Moonlight Spiritual Gold, combined with the advanced version of the Light Technique that Li Ye learned from the Jianmu seed, naturally absorbed the Spiritual Power from the pearl.

The pearl, originally about the size of a walnut, began shedding pearl powder as it was encased by the Sun and Moon Ring.

Each drop of the powder allowed a bit of Spiritual Power to be extracted by the ring.

Although this pearl powder was devoid of Spiritual Power, Li Ye still collected it to feed the Golden Red Dragon Carp in his pond—by the way, he also fed them the silkworm sand produced by the Qingsui Silkworm.

The advantage of fish is that they’ll eat anything.

As the Spiritual Power within the pearl was stripped away, his Lifebound Magical Artifact showed an obvious joyful reaction, evidently finding this Moonlight power to be quite a supplement.

Li Ye had anticipated this situation.

"Seems I’ll need to trade for more of these pearls." He put the Sun and Moon Ring, saturated with Spiritual Power, back on his wrist to continue nurturing it.

One cannot absorb too much Spiritual Power at once, especially this kind of Exotic Spiritual Power.

Otherwise, it might be impossible to convert, affecting the original Spiritual Power within, as it’s still merely an embryo requiring careful nurturing.

...

Although he had decided to trade with the Merfolk tribe, he didn’t expect them to come so quickly.

The next day, a rather beautiful woman came straight to him.

She wore an outfit seemingly made of fish scales and silk, her tall frame and extremely fair skin making her resemble a lively fish from the sea.

"Taoist Friend Li."

The woman introduced herself: "I am the envoy of Young Clan Leader Yang Ke, representing him for a trade with you."

"Oh?" Li Ye slightly frowned, meaning she represents only Yang Ke, not the Yangyao tribe, even implying a division.

In an instant, he imagined a power struggle drama but showed nothing, inviting with a hand gesture: "Let’s talk in the courtyard. May I ask how to address you?"

The woman followed him into the courtyard and sat down, then spoke: "You may call me Shu Yao."

"Alright, Shu Yao Dao You, here’s my spirit honey for you to see."

Without further pleasantries, Li Ye instructed the Transporting Locust Spirit to bring a jar of spirit honey, placing it directly in front of Shu Yao.

Upon seeing the honey, she dipped her fingertip to taste it.

Then nodded repeatedly: "This is indeed the honey containing the spiritual power of morning dew and sunlight."

"About its price, how do you intend to sell it?"

"The sect’s purchase price for me is one thousand Spirit Stones per pound. However, if your Young Clan Leader wishes to trade, I wish to exchange it for Merfolk tribe specialties," Li Ye said.

This price is not widely known, but with Merfolk cultivators in the sect, they could simply inquire.

Raising prices recklessly isn’t ideal.

It would be better to increase the price once the quality of spirit honey improves in the future.

Shu Yao didn’t expect Li Ye to quote a bottom price so straightforwardly. She had prepared for bargaining.

This made her feel relaxed, and she smiled: "We are willing to purchase it at twelve hundred Spirit Stones per pound."

"Dao You, please look, this is the list of our items for trade."

Clearly prepared, Shu Yao produced a Jade Scroll and handed it to Li Ye, who took it and examined it with his Divine Sense.

Indeed, it contained specialties of the Merfolk tribe.

Each item had illustrations and detailed descriptions, numbering over thirty, including the "local specialty" Yang Ke had gifted him earlier.

That item was called "Wangshu Pearl Tears."

A treasure produced from the Wangshu Shell in the Grotto Heaven of the East Pole Yang Sea.

According to the description, Merfolk women’s tears are placed into the shell, forming pearls slowly with the tears as the core.

The pearls are graded by nurturing time into one year, three years, five years—Li Ye’s piece was a Five-Year Pearl.

The price of a Five-Year Pearl...

Five thousand Spirit Stones per piece!

Truly generous, a gift of fifteen thousand Spirit Stones.

However.

Li Ye was puzzled upon seeing this: "Shu Yao Dao You... does Wangshu Pearl Tears require Merfolk women’s tears as the core?"

Could there be someone dedicated to crying?

Shu Yao had explained this more than once, hence she knew Li Ye’s words were quite tactful.

Last time, a cultivator bluntly asked: "Do you treat your tribe as pearl-producing slaves?"

It almost drove her furious.

"This relates to a special situation of my tribe," she explained, "but rest assured, to us, crying is a good thing.

Some tribe members even hope their tears get chosen to nurture pearls, as this means offering a tribute to Wangshu God."

Wangshu God...

Isn’t that another name for the moon.

And it seems that most of the specialties here are related to the Yin attribute and Moonlight.

But the living quarters are in a region full of Yang Qi like the East Pole Yang Sea?

Li Ye felt puzzled but didn’t ask, just nodded and continued to look carefully.

After looking for a while, he had an idea in his heart. First, these pearls, beneficial for his Lifebound Magical Artifact, are a must-have.

Next is the "Spirit Spring Pearl" sold by the Merfolk.

These pearls contain a Spiritual Spring equivalent to the corresponding level of Spirit Vein’s Spiritual Power, and they can be merged and stacked, which is very useful for farming.

As for the last item, he hesitated a little, and outright asked: "I see that in your inventory, there is a kind of Spirit Beast called Snow White Deer.

Does it truly, as described here, have the ability to transform Moonlight into snow, creating a snow scene in the middle of summer?"

——Previously, Li Ye had inquired about the Flint Fire Crystal Insect and Silver Moon Grass with the Spiritual Mechanism Vine.

The response was that even outside of winter, awakening was possible, though it couldn’t produce Moon Liquid Pearls.

But that was already enough.

Long-term hibernation is actually a last resort to slow down the consumption of Spiritual Qi, and even if they wait until the next winter, they would become very weak.

But if they could be awake, he could fetch some beneficial Spiritual Objects to nourish them well.

This matter has always been a concern for him.

"Snow White Deer?" Shu Yao replied:

"Yes, that Spirit Beast can indeed condense Moonlight and cold air into winter snow in a small area, but it requires the help of an Array.

And it demands a large amount of Moonlight."

"Then that would be acceptable." Li Ye said without hesitation, "I see that the selling price here is a thousand Spirit Stones for one, I want ten.

Locust Spirit, bring ten jins of honey."

Upon hearing his command, the Locust Spirit immediately came from the inner courtyard with ten jins of honey, and upon Li Ye’s indication, placed it in front of Shu Yao.

She looked at the ten jins of honey, the clear light gold honey contained in a jade bottle looked like it mixed morning dew and sunlight.

That color was extremely enticing, and even with the stopper tightly in place, there seemed to be a faint floral scent.

"Since you are in such a hurry, Taoist friend."

"Then I will send the Snow White Deer through the Upper Sect’s channel upon my return."

Shu Yao accepted all the honey:

"This ten jins of honey is equivalent to twelve thousand Spirit Stones. After deducting the ten Snow White Deer, there are still two thousand Spirit Stones. Do you have other needs?"

Two thousand Spirit Stones?

Li Ye thought for a moment, "Then bring some Gathering Spirit Coral Trees. I see they have an effect of stabilizing Spiritual Qi."

"Sure." Shu Yao nodded in agreement, then very earnestly said, "We would like to establish a long-term trading contract with you.

At a minimum of ten jins of honey per month. If there’s more, we’ll take as much as you can supply. In the future, if the honey quality improves, we would even increase the price.

How does that sound to you?"

"Naturally, that’s acceptable." Li Ye also intended to enter into a long-term contract and agreed directly, "How will future trades be handled?"

"You can use the Upper Sect’s transmission channel for it, and if you happen to have some free time, you’re welcome to visit the East Pole Marketplace, where the Young Clan Leader will show you the scenic beauty of the East Pole Yang Sea."

After she and Li Ye signed the contract, she stood up, "Then I shall take my leave first. The Spiritual Deer and Coral are expected to arrive in one day; I hope you will be prepared."

"Take care."

Li Ye got up to see her off, then quickly went to the Mo Family Mechanism Workshop.

Initially, he just wanted to buy an Inch-Sized Mountains and Rivers Box and leave, but unexpectedly, the Ink Master in the workshop stood up to greet him as soon as he saw him, "Taoist Friend Li!"

"You know me?"

"Haha, I indeed know of your great name, Taoist friend."

This young Mo Family cultivator came closer and said, "Thank you for the reminder about the Earthquake Worm issue, which allowed us to handle it swiftly and avoid disaster."

After speaking, he took a step back, his tone enthusiastic: "What does Taoist friend wish to purchase? I’ll give you a discount."

Li Ye felt helpless. He just wanted to buy something and didn’t expect to run into someone familiar.

However, he remained calm: "I see, I came to buy an Inch-Sized Mountains and Rivers Box that can contain snow Qi."

"To contain snow Qi, it needs to be sealed and have the function of circulating Spiritual Qi..."

The Ink Master thought for a bit, then led Li Ye into a quiet room and took out four or five boxes, "Please have a look and see which one you like."

The four or five boxes placed in front of Li Ye varied in size, and the complexity of the array mechanisms inside them differed, so the prices naturally varied greatly.

In fact, the most extravagant one was valued at a hundred thousand Spirit Stones, with a complete Spiritual Qi circulation and space-folding array, also controlled by an Artifact Spirit.

One could preserve Spirit Beasts or Spirit Plants inside without worrying.

Of course, Li Ye definitely couldn’t afford something so expensive.

So he bought a box around ten feet in size, spending over three thousand Spirit Stones, and then took his leave.

He needed to prepare at home for the arrival of the Snow White Deer tomorrow so he could awaken the Flint Fire Crystal Insect and Silver Moon Grass.

They were indeed his old contributors and deserved proper care.