Chapter 981: Burial Amulet, Transparent Frame

Thinking this, the two walked near a stall, where the stall owner was a middle-aged man with a face weathered by the elements.

He wore a set of old leather armor that faintly emitted a magic aura, and apart from a short-handled dagger tucked at his waist, he had no other weapons.

Seeing the two mages lingering nearby for a long time and finally choosing to stand before his stall, the owner immediately began to greet them enthusiastically:

"My lords, these goods of mine were just sent over from the Kangqi Plain in the southwest. Pioneers are opening up new land there; they are absolutely fresh! First-hand!"

Kangqi Plain?

Hearing this familiar place name, Xia Duo could not help but reveal a playful smile. In the semi-plane, he had had more or less exchanges with other pioneers, whether regarding pioneering matters or the field of magic.

But he had never heard anyone mention that ruins had been discovered on their own or others' territories. If those pioneers were not intentionally concealing it, then the ruin items here were—

He swept a glance over the pile of miscellaneous goods on the gray cloth stall. Judging solely by appearances, there were various exquisite Elf-style amulets, rough and primitive-style stone carvings, rusted metal creations, and even something resembling a spellbook.

While Xia Duo was still considering how many of these things could actually be genuine, Niya was already picking and choosing at the stall and had selected an Elf amulet.

"What is the price for this amulet?"

"My lord, these goods of mine are all fresh and first-hand, 1000 Gold Coins each, no bargaining!" The middle-aged stall owner rubbed his hands and said respectfully.

However, Xia Duo noticed that while this fellow appeared respectful, he was actually acting with unearned confidence, and it was unclear whose influence he was relying on.

If he knew he was facing two Arcanists, one of whom was even a Princess's student, it was hard to say what kind of expression he would have.

Of course, without knowing the other party's background, Xia Duo did not want to rashly challenge the unspoken rules of the various streets in the Old City District, but—

Xia Duo stopped Niya's movement to pay and said to the stall owner: "If I am not mistaken, this amulet should be a Youth Amulet that was popular in the Kingdom of Yierlan hundreds of years ago. How could it appear in the ruins of the Kangqi Plain?"

"This, this—" The expression on the middle-aged stall owner's face instantly stiffened. "Perhaps an Elf Adventurer accidentally lost it in that ruin! Yes, that's it!"

"I didn't say this was an amulet used by a living Elf! Although this type of amulet is named 'Youth', it is used more as a burial object!"

In fact, upon seeing the style of this amulet, Xia Duo knew that probably none of the items on this stall were real, or at least they would not be from some ruin on the Kangqi Plain as the owner claimed.

After hearing Xia Duo's explanation, Niya let out an "ah," threw the amulet away, and then looked at the stall owner with an angry face; the meaning could not be more obvious—

You fellow are actually a grave robber!

In Netheril, although the faith in the Lord of Death is not widespread, it is at least officially recognized and counts as one of the mainstream faiths. One of the doctrines of the Lord of Death is "let the dead belong to the dead."

This not only means letting the dead not interfere with the present world, but also hoping that the living do not disturb the dead, specifically manifested in the respect for the deceased and their burial grounds.

At the end of every year, there is even a Moon Festival specifically for sacrificing to the undead and blessing the graveyards. On this day, related celebrations and rituals are held across Netheril under the guidance of Death Priests.

Therefore, in Netheril, a grave robber can definitely be called a rather wretched and unspeakable profession.

In serious cases, they might even be hunted down by some fanatical Death Priests.

As for robbing Elf tombs, in a sense, it might be even more serious than robbing human tombs.

Even if the current relationship between Yierlan and Netheril is not as intimate as it was initially, it can still be called a serious diplomatic incident.

In fact, after Xia Duo pointed out that this amulet was a burial object of the Yierlan Elves, the stall owner did not even want his stall anymore; he just hurriedly grabbed a few small ornaments that looked like Mithril and left in a rush.

It seemed that perhaps only those few were genuine, or perhaps they were only genuine in terms of being Mithril.

Xia Duo shook his head and collected everything on the stall. After all, even if they were fakes, it was not impossible to discover some useful things.

Knowledge is intangible; it can be embodied by genuine items, and naturally, it can also be embodied by fakes. Now that he had picked up a pile of things for free, Xia Duo was also very happy, which more or less dispelled some of the worries about the New Year Festival that had been weighing on his heart recently.

Perhaps he really could pick up quite a few bargains today!

Pulling the still-dazed Niya, Xia Duo came to a stall adjacent to the previous one and said calmly to the stall owner, who was a mix of surprise and joy—too much joy:

"Introduce them!"

"Oh, yes, yes!"

The stall owner, having come to his senses, stepped on a corner of the gray cloth stall, rubbed it while shrinking backward, and then said sheepishly:

"My lords, these of mine are all from different ruins, guaranteed to be genuine, but whether they suit your fancy, I cannot guarantee. 1000 Gold Coins each, no bargaining!"

The more this fellow spoke, the more fluent and firm he became. Xia Duo did not take offense; instead, he found it quite interesting. Having stayed in the Mage Tower for too long, he felt somewhat detached from the secular world.

Such a worldly atmosphere was indeed something the current Daxia Territory lacked; even the Savile Territory was not as good.

"Niya, have you picked one out?" Xia Duo asked.

"Not yet." Niya hesitated.

Actually, she had just picked out a burial object and was now a bit unsure, so she could not help but seek help from Xia Duo. "Help me look at those two!"

As she spoke, Niya pointed to something resembling a transparent frame in the corner of the gray cloth, as well as a small wood carving covered in various Fuwu.

Xia Duo took a look and found that Niya's choice was half the same as his guess. Besides that transparent frame-like object, that Fuwu wood carving was also one of the items he considered most valuable on this stall.

Of course, since it was Fuwu, it meant encryption; only after cracking it could one know what it meant, so it was still a matter of probability.

But compared to other things, this Fuwu wood carving at least had that probability. While other things might indeed be genuine, they were basically worthless to an Arcanist.

As for that transparent frame-like object—

Xia Duo could not help but frown. Netheril had glass and Crystal, but this was the first time he had seen one made in this shape.

Perhaps it was the first time Niya had seen it too, which was why she wanted to buy it.

Xia Duo reached out and lifted the transparent frame-like object from the ground. Once he held it in his hand, he discovered that this thing was not Crystal or glass, but something similar to metal.

It was only a palm-sized frame, yet it had a weight close to Iron.

Xia Duo checked it repeatedly; this thing was not a Magic Item, which meant that the weight of this thing was its own, not bestowed by Magic.

At this, even Xia Duo had a feeling of having picked up a bargain. Although he did not yet know what this thing could be used for, just as a material he had never seen before, it was enough to keep as a collection.

Besides, it was only 1000 Gold Coins.

To avoid complications, Xia Duo immediately put this thing away along with the Fuwu wood carving, then took out two 1000 Gold Coin Exchange Vouchers from the Arcane Union and handed them to the stall owner, saying:

"If you are not sure, you can also exchange them for Gold Coins!"

"Sure, sure!"

The stall owner smiled greedily, but still checked them repeatedly several times before putting them away. Afterward, he looked at Xia Duo with anticipation, hoping to sell a few more items.

"No rush, tell me about the origin of this thing first." Xia Duo took out the transparent frame again, hinting.

Regardless of whether this transparent material was ultimately useful, knowing was better than not knowing.