Chapter 51: Chapter Fifty: Trade

This flood dragon is not as powerful as the flood dragon of legend.

However, a flood dragon is a flood dragon; its whole body is treasure.

Flood dragon blood can be used to make medicine.

Flood dragon meat is extremely nourishing.

Flood dragon skin can be made into armor.

The flood dragon's horns, claws, and bones can all be used to temper weapons. I just don't know whether the Lu family of the Cangyan Realm has the skill to forge flood dragon horns and bones.

Right, there's also the flood dragon's sinew; what good thing could such a long sinew be forged into?

The Mist Blade Chief Steward stood on the dead flood dragon's skull, facing Wu Tie and Lao Tie, smiling, and deliberately shouted criticisms.

Every part of the flood dragon is treasure.

This flood dragon is indeed not as overbearing as the legendary flood dragon, yet it's not something ordinary people can handle. Though Mist Blade seemed to slay it so easily, how much was consumed in the process?

Not mentioning anything else, just the deaths of those ten stone giants made the Mist Blade Chief Steward's heart bleed.

But as the leader of an organization, he must remain calm and act as if nothing happened.

He smiled, listing each benefit of the flood dragon's body, while the Mist Blade members around him continually shouted in unison.

Ho-ha!

Ho-ha!

Ho-ha!

The Mist Blade assassins all raised their straight blades, shouting joyously.

How much profit can one flood dragon bring? How much can it increase Mist Blade's strength?

Perhaps with this flood dragon, Mist Blade could truly run rampant across the Cangyan Realm, even break through it and expand its power outward.

The Mist Blade Chief Steward smiled, his gaze like a blade, firmly fixed on the fern thicket where Wu Tie and Lao Tie were. He could sense their presence, and even more keenly feel the faint threatening aura emanating from Lao Tie.

So he deliberately shouted out the flood dragon's benefits in order to lure out Wu Tie and Lao Tie.

More than ten Mist Blade senior members in cloaks were scattered here and there; they seemed to stand casually, but in reality, no matter from which direction Wu Tie and Lao Tie launched a surprise attack, they could always have three or five people join forces to respond.

They were a group of experts in killing techniques, equally skilled at defending against others' assassinations and surprise attacks.

"Lao Tie?" Wu Tie gripped his spear tighter.

"The clam and the snipe fight, the fisherman profits," Lao Tie explained the meaning of this saying to Wu Tie on the way here.

But unlike Lao Tie's estimate, although the flood dragon caused massive losses to Mist Blade, its overall strength was not greatly weakened. Especially the Mist Blade Chief Steward and those ten or so senior members—they were completely unharmed.

A group of wolf-tribe warriors excitedly surrounded the flood dragon, pulling out specially made large leather bags and hurriedly filling them with the flood dragon's blood.

The lizardfolk archers bustled about, laughing as they picked up the scattered flood dragon scales shattered by the explosion and neatly stacked them in a nearby basket.

Hundreds of Mist Blade assassins formed a crescent-shaped skirmish line, aiming at the fern thicket where Wu Tie and Lao Tie were.

Many Mist Blade assassins had various concealed weapons at their hands; any movement by Wu Tie or Lao Tie would surely be met with a storm-like assault.

Lao Tie snorted, a faint blood light flickering in his pupils. After a while, he nodded and slowly stepped out of the fern thicket.

Wu Tie stared blankly, then hurriedly followed beside Lao Tie.

"The strength of this little grass snake is indeed much weaker than I, Grandfather, estimated." Lao Tie walked out of the fern thicket, slowly approaching the Mist Blade Chief Steward, and said at an unhurried pace: "But, Grandfather, I roughly know what's going on."

The Mist Blade Chief Steward lightly drew an arc with his straight blade, then tapped the flood dragon's horn with the tip, producing a clear clink.

He tilted his head to glance at Wu Tie, then turned his attention to Lao Tie.

"Oh? Why is that? I had actually prepared for losing troops and generals, even for the subordinates I brought to be completely wiped out…… I didn't expect the losses to be far smaller than I estimated."

The Mist Blade Chief Steward chuckled lightly: "Although this is good…… I just feel something is off."

Lao Tie stood several dozen meters from the Mist Blade Chief Steward, while Wu Tie positioned himself at Lao Tie's rear side.

Lao Tie said calmly: "This little grass snake absorbed the life essence of the Heavenly Crystal Evil Demon…… that essence subtly remodeled its body…… During the bloodline transformation, its strength not only didn't increase, but actually weakened."

After a cold snort, Lao Tie said solemnly: "If the bloodline transformation were completed, this little grass snake's strength would increase at least a hundredfold. Especially its scale armor's defensive power…… you probably couldn't break through it."

The Mist Blade Chief Steward gave an "oh," lowered his cloak's hood, and revealed his face.

This Mist Blade Chief Steward, infamous throughout the Cangyan Realm, was slender and refined; to Wu Tie he seemed just like Grey Master—leisurely, plain, with no sense of danger.

"Heavenly Crystal Evil Demon? I've never heard of it…… It seems you know something we don't." The Mist Blade Chief Steward smiled at Lao Tie: "I've never seen anything like you…… What are you?"

"I am your grandfather......" Lao Tie let out a "ka-ka" laugh.

"Si-" With a sound, a cloaked Mist Blade senior standing over two hundred meters away remained still, but a flash of cold light shot from his sleeve, instantly reaching Lao Tie's face and striking precisely between his eyebrows.

Ding!

A palm-sized short sword fiercely stabbed Lao Tie's brow, sparks flying; no mark remained on his brow, but the sword's tip chipped a piece and rebounded rapidly, spinning upward tens of meters.

The Mist Blade senior who made the thrust grunted, his body swayed, and with a gesture the short sword turned into a cold light that flew back to his hand.

The Mist Blade Chief Steward's face stiffened for a moment.

His gaze flickered as he stared intently at Lao Tie's brow, over and over.

Indeed, there was not a trace; Lao Tie's brow remained as clean as a mirror.

A pallid metallic skull, its surface immaculately smooth yet without any reflection—Lao Tie gave the feeling of being utterly eerie.

"Grandfather, I am your grandfather......" Lao Tie laughed "ga-ga": "At least by age…… being your grandfather, or me being the grandfather, I'm at a loss."

"Ancient relic?" The Mist Blade Chief Steward seemed to understand: "The Lu family supposedly unearthed a strange artifact from an ancient ruin, shaped like a human skull but cast entirely of metal…… It is extremely skilled at smelting alloys."

The Mist Blade Chief Steward said solemnly: "It is said that because of that ancient relic, the Lu family's annual output of fine weapons has increased by fifty percent, and their quality has improved greatly as well."

The blood light in Lao Tie's pupils flickered briefly, then dimmed again.

The Mist Blade Chief Steward laughed and said: "If you are a relic left from antiquity, then your words are correct age-wise…… but your words are unpleasant to hear, and I very much want to chop off your head with one blade."

Lao Tie laughed "ga-ga".

The Mist Blade Chief Steward also laughed loudly.

Suddenly, the Mist Blade Chief Steward's figure blurred; his form standing on the flood dragon's forehead did not dissipate, while another figure had already appeared before Lao Tie, a blade light sweeping like a silk banner and heavily slashing Lao Tie's neck.

A crisp crack rang out, and sparks flew in all directions.

Not a trace remained on Lao Tie's neck, and countless arcs of electricity burst from his big teeth, instantly covering a radius of dozens of meters before him.

The Mist Blade Chief Steward's form dissipated, the shape on the flood dragon's forehead shifting from blurry to clear, and extremely fine electric sparks continually sprayed from him, the Chief Steward's head of hair standing on end strand by strand, making him look rather disheveled.

"The power of lightning." The Mist Blade Chief Steward's body twitched slightly, an involuntary bodily reaction he could not control.

"However, its power isn't great..." he gave a dry laugh: "Just, your neck is truly tough."

"So, Grandpa is your grandpa." Lao Tie laughed 'gaga', the Blood Light in his eyes suddenly flaring intensely.

"Si—", a strand-thin ray of Blood Light shot from Lao Tie's left eye, instantly piercing the left shoulder of the Mist Blade senior who had just attacked him with a short sword.

Over two hundred meters away, the Blood Light arrived in an instant; the Mist Blade senior had no time to react, his left shoulder pierced by a thumb-thick transparent hole. The wound was clean, not a drop of blood, and smooth as a mirror, clearly showing the flesh, meridians, bones, and other bodily tissues.

"And then what?" Lao Tie calmly regarded the Mist Blade Chief Steward: "Grandpa still has a few tricks up his sleeve."

The Mist Blade Chief Steward stared, his gaze instantly landing on Wu Tie.

He laughed, pointing at Wu Tie and saying: "What if I kill him?"

Wu Tie said nothing, immediately activating his armor; his whole body was encased in tight-fitting armor, the grim-white armor shimmering with flowing light, looking extraordinarily divine.

He further aroused the Vast Righteousness Divine Ability, a vast and mighty, utterly strong and unyielding aura spreading out.

The Mist Blade Chief Steward's face stiffened once more.

The aura of Vast Righteousness was so vast and mighty that it faintly exerted a pressure not weak upon him.

Although Wu Tie's own strength was relatively weak compared to him, the Vast Righteousness was exceedingly marvelous, a pressure stemming from bloodline and soul.

This is a kind of supernatural power.

The Mist Blade Chief Steward exhaled, then said in a low voice: "Don't waste words... What are the Heavenly Crystal Evil Demons? This flood dragon... what do you want to obtain?"

Lao Tie laughed, saying calmly: "Well, that's right; let's discuss things peacefully."

The Mist Blade Chief Steward's face twitched.

"Peaceful discussion?" With you opening by calling yourself 'Grandpa' and taking advantage, what kind of peaceful discussion is that?"

His gaze like a blade, he fiercely glared at Lao Tie, the Mist Blade Chief Steward lightly tapping his long blade against a dragon horn.

Lao Tie nodded, speaking solemnly: "In exchange for the method to purge the flood dragon's body of the residual toxin of the Heavenly Crystal Evil Demons, I want two dragon horns and the two arms within that crystal."

The Mist Blade Chief Steward's face instantly darkened: "Dragon horns? They're excellent material for forging divine weapons..."

Lao Tie immediately turned and walked away, saying as he went: "Then try it—have your subordinates drink a couple mouthfuls of flood dragon blood..."

"Hold it!" the Mist Blade Chief Steward shouted, waving his hand at the same time.

Lao Tie laughed, turned around, and stared at the Mist Blade Chief Steward without a word.

The weakest lizardfolk archer was singled out, and the Mist Blade Chief Steward personally took a skin bag full of flood dragon blood and poured about a sea-bowl's worth into the archer.

After about a quarter of an hour, the lizardfolk archer's scales began to emit a white-crystal-like gleam, and the structure of the scales started to undergo subtle changes.

At the same time, all spirituality in his eyes rapidly dissipated, a cold, crystalline gleam surging from the depths of his pupils, and his aura turned icy.

The Mist Blade Chief Steward hefted the large skin bag, staring fixedly at the transformed lizardfolk archer without a word.

Lao Tie said calmly: "This is the malevolent power of the Heavenly Crystal Evil Demons... their aura contaminates all sentient beings, turning them into puppets of the Heavenly Crystal Evil Demons. No thoughts, no desires, no fear, unaware of pain... the sole benefit is a greatly extended lifespan."

Lao Tie chuckled, raising his claw and pointing at the flood dragon corpse lying on the ground: "This big guy, due to his huge size, merely licked up so much of the Heavenly Crystal Evil Demons' life essence, and is only on the verge of transformation."

"And this poor little fellow, his body is too small and his vitality too weak." Lao Tie said calmly: "You can try—how many chunks of flood dragon meat would you need to eat to become like this poor fellow... a demon puppet?"

The Mist Blade Chief Steward furrowed his brows, staring hard at Lao Tie for a while.

After a long while, he turned his gaze to the crystal, to the two arms and the large skull sealed within it.

"Is this the skull of a Heavenly Crystal Evil Demon? Then these two arms..." he asked Lao Tie.

"This is the skull of a Heavenly Crystal Evil Demon. These two arms... are my arms from back in the day." Lao Tie sighed softly: "These are my arms; taking them back is only fair, right?"

"One hand pays, the other delivers." Lao Tie said solemnly: "I'll hand over the method to dispel the Heavenly Crystal Evil Demons' residual poison in exchange for two dragon horns and my two arms."

Several Mist Blade seniors in cloaks walked over a few steps, and one leaned in to whisper something into the Mist Blade Chief Steward's ear.

The Mist Blade Chief Steward remained silent for a long time, and then finally nodded slowly.

"In that case, as you say... but I'll add one condition: from now on, this secret realm is the territory of my Mist Blade. You must not encroach upon it."

The Mist Blade Chief Steward recalled the large pit he had surveyed on-site, blown out by Lao Tie's mighty strike.

Although the Mist Blade Chief Steward did not fear the power of that blow, if he still had many assassins and slaves under him, and Lao Tie aimed a shot at the Mist Blade stronghold's center, the losses would be great.

Wu Tie and Lao Tie exchanged a glance.

After a long silence, Lao Tie said softly: "This place is cut off from the world; it was never a good place to begin with."

"We will not invade each other... when the little fellow has cultivated to a certain level and wishes to leave, you must not obstruct him." Lao Tie likewise set forth his own condition.

The Mist Blade Chief Steward fell silent for a while, then suddenly laughed, stepping back a few steps and clearing the path to that crystal.

Lao Tie let out a whistle.

In the Mist Blade Chief Steward's astonished gaze, a swarm of metal spiders shot out from the fern forest, swiftly swarming toward that crystal.

In just a quarter of an hour, the crystal was shattered by the metal spiders, and two tall metal arms were taken out.