Chapter 104: Aoduo Li's Storm

Yinbu Tu's capital city is divided into six districts—Administrative District, Temple District, Embassy District, Magic District, Civilian District, and Industrial District.

Naimi Xisi was standing in front of a shop in the Magic District called "Aoduo Li's Storm".

Most passersby on the Magic District streets wear hooded robes, and Naimi Xisi has already noticed a faint magical aura on almost everyone who passes by.

Under those hoods are not only humans but also halflings, earth genies, elves, dragonborn, and so on.

In every large human city, the Magic District is the place where the most non‑human races gather.

Naimi Xisi pushed open the shop's glass door; the crisp chime of wind bells rang through the air, and a fresh sea‑scent wafted in.

"Ah la, new customer, welcome, welcome~"

On either side of the shop stand two massive shelves laden with a dazzling array of Magic Items; in the middle is a glass display case five meters long and wide. Behind the case, a blue‑skinned girl spots the newcomer and greets them warmly.

"The taste of fish! I want to eat!" Peng Peng drools on Naimi Xisi's shoulder.

Hearing Hu Meng's words, Naimi Xisi also sniffed; the dragon's keen sense of smell let him detect the constant briny scent emanating from the girl.

"Half‑Naga?" Naimi Xisi raised an eyebrow, surprised; Naga are an intelligent deep‑sea race that usually wield powerful magic, capable of controlling tides and storms.

The girl before him is clearly a Naga‑human hybrid, evident from the two tiny horns on her forehead.

The girl, who also sees Naimi Xisi's true form, covers her mouth and laughs: "No wonder you're a True Dragon; you saw Aoduo Li's nature at a glance. Those native humans always think I'm a Water Giant Spirit descendant—how boring."

Naimi Xisi chuckles lightly; descendants of Water Giant Spirits and humans often have blue skin like the girl and a strong sea‑brine scent.

However, a Water Giant Spirit descendant's hair is also blue, not golden as the girl's, and Water Giant Spirits lack the pair of horns unique to Naga.

Naimi Xisi looks left and right, intrigued, and says, "You have quite a few interesting things here."

Aoduo Li smiles, reaches toward a nearby shelf, and says, "Honored guest, please take your time selecting."

The youth walks to the shelf, picks up a white sea conch and toys with it; a rich magical aura continuously emanates—it is a rare‑level Magic Item.

"Good eye," Aoduo Li pushes enthusiastically, "I made this myself and named it 'Aoduo Li's Curse.'"

"If you sound it on the open sea, any ship within sight will be cursed by the ocean, and within seven days will be shattered by the waves."

"What if that ship reaches shore within those seven days?" Naimi Xisi asks curiously.

"Uh…" Aoduo Li chokes, then snickers, "Then the curse is lifted."

Naimi Xisi regretfully returns the sea conch to the shelf; he had thought the curse would be stronger, that even if the ship ran ashore it would still achieve its effect in various ways.

Destroy a ship with a curse? Please, Juan Ce Long thinks a single breath of flame dragon breath would be more convenient.

He picks up a slender golden needle; this time an even richer magical aura radiates—it is an extremely rare‑level Magic Item.

"Wah‑wah‑wah, congratulations, dear customer, you've again chosen a fine item made by Aoduo Li; I call it 'Aoduo Li's Blessing'!"

Naimi Xisi glances at her in surprise; Magic Items that grant blessings are exceedingly rare, since blessing abilities are usually the domain of priests, and most priests lack the Mage's ability to enchant items.

"If you use the golden needle to pierce the fingertip of the one you love, they will love you forever!" Aoduo Li, with a blissful smile, dances and draws a gigantic heart in the air.

"Forever?" Naimi Xisi scoffs, "An extremely rare‑level Magic Item that can grant an effect like Lady Shuni's blessing of love?"

"Uh…" Aoduo Li snickers again, "When her feelings for you reach their peak, she will forever sleep, cradling her strongest love for you—a Sleeping Beauty, isn't that loving you forever?"

Naimi Xisi, frightened, puts the golden needle back on the shelf, muttering that it's yet another useless cursed item.

He selects a few more and finds they're all oddly flawed cursed items; he concludes the shopkeeper probably only makes cursed Magic Items.

At that moment Aoduo Li becomes angry, drops her trademark sales smile, points at Naimi Xisi and shouts, "Hey! You've wasted my time for so long; not buying anything is just too much!"

Peng Peng bares its teeth and hisses, "Stinky woman! How dare you speak to my boss like that, you don't want to live!"

Afterward, it floats into the air and lets out a foul fart at Aoduo Li.

Aoduo Li's forehead muscles twitch, teeth clenched, "You've gone too far. You've gone too far!"

Naimi Xisi ignores the erupting Aoduo Li, as if he has seen something, his eyes light up and he darts to the glass counter.

"What is this?" Naimi Xisi asks curiously; Juan Ce Long's keen Magic Net perception lets him sense a different magical aura, ancient and profound, a power only legendary‑level Magic Items possess.

In Naimi Xisi's view, a brown‑white feather lies quietly in the center.

The furious Aoduo Li, upon seeing his interest in buying, miraculously calms, shrugs, and says, "Ah, the things in the glass case are Magic Items I bought from others; their effects are unknown."

"How much?"

"Forty thousand gold coins!" Aoduo Li exclaims excitedly when the other asks the price for the first time.

"Too expensive! Five thousand gold!" "What nonsense! These are precious items I bought back at great cost; the cost alone is thirty thousand gold, at least thirty‑five thousand!"

"Ten thousand."

"Alright, alright, I'm scared of you, I won't make a profit, thirty thousand gold, can't go lower; lower and I'll lose money."

"Fifteen thousand gold, if not, never mind."

"At least twenty‑five thousand!"

"Twenty thousand, not even a single copper more!"

"Deal!"

"Uh…"

Naimi Xisi sees the other's eager agreement, suddenly feels he over‑quoted the price, but glancing back at the feather, he thinks it's worth it.

Twenty thousand gold for a possibly legendary Magic Item—very worthwhile! Any legendary‑level Magic Item either possesses six or more Spell Circles of magical power, or has a powerful magic‑optimizing ability.

For example, Naimi Xisi's legendary staff—the Obsidian Necromancy Staff.

This staff not only holds a seven‑Spell Circle Necromancy spell—'Death Light', but also enhances 'Animate Dead', doubling its effect! It truly deserves its legendary status.

Of course, the even stronger are Lesser Artifacts, which must be enchanted with eight‑ or nine‑Spell Circle spells, possess at least one freely usable spell, and have a massive spell‑optimizing ability; only when all three criteria are met can it be called a Lesser Artifact.

Granting a Magic Item the ability to freely use a spell requires extremely costly materials as the basis for inscribing Runes, and also a large amount of gold or lives to sacrifice to the Magic Net.

For instance, the Ring of Remote Mind Control that Naimi Xisi once obtained—a powerful Magic Item that can freely use the five‑Ring spell 'Remote Mind Control', forged after Drow noblewomen sacrificed hundreds of slave lives.

Naturally, such a bloody forging method is impossible on the surface; most Mages opt to sacrifice wealth, which makes the casting cost of a Magic Item that can freely release a spell far exceed its value.

The Ring of Remote Mind Control, as an extremely rare‑level Magic Item, sells for nearly one hundred thousand gold coins, approaching legendary status.

However, to keep the ring's constant free release of 'Remote Mind Control', one must sacrifice a magic gem worth 666,666 gold to the Magic Net, or 666 lives.

Therefore, Magic Items of Lesser Artifact rank or below that can freely cast a spell virtually never circulate in the world; only those extremely wealthy top‑level Mages forge them for personal use.

Ao Duo Li took out the feather and handed it to Naimi Xisi, who immediately swallowed the feather, causing Ao Duo Li to stare in surprise for a moment.

"It's so odd how a True Dragon uses a Magic Item," Ao Duo Li quipped.

Naimi Xisi produced a spatial pouch and poured out twenty thousand gold coins; he winced, and his reserve treasury instantly dropped from 240,000 gold coins to 220,000 gold coins.

"Fortunately, I still have that chest of magic gemstones worth a million gold coins,"

Naimi Xisi comforted himself in this way.

"So, what Magic Item is that?" Ao Duo Li asked curiously.

She had never synchronized any of the purchased items, because a synchronized Magic Item requires at least five years to break its binding with its owner; to ensure market circulation, she knows little of the specific functions and grades of most bizarre Magic Items, and can only sell them at a baseline of twice the purchase price.

"Yes, that feather cost Ao Duo Li only ten thousand gold coins when she bought it from a halfling,"

It is said that in regions where magic flourishes more, such as the Western Coast, the owners of magical shops possess a wondrous Magic Item called the "Curious Items Encyclopedia," which can reveal the grade and function of almost every Magic Item.

Ao Duo Li dreams of owning a "Curious Items Encyclopedia," but unfortunately this thing is monopolized on the Western Coast, jointly controlled by the Sword Bay United Chamber of Commerce, which forbids private sales to anyone.

Naimi Xisi closed his eyes, sensed for a moment, and smiled, "Not a bad thing."

The Magic Net silently transmitted a message to him: this is a legendary‑grade Magic Item that requires a week of synchronization; he guessed correctly.

Seeing his expression, Ao Duo Li felt a bit disappointed; she knew he had missed the mark, but she didn't mind much, after all she hadn't suffered a great loss.

"Any profit is profit; as long as you don't lose, it's a win!"

That is Ao Duo Li's life credo.

"Come to think of it, why is a True Dragon wandering around the royal capital of Yinbu Tu?" Ao Duo Li asked curiously.

"If you have nothing else to do, why not join me for a treasure expedition?"

Naimi Xisi raised an eyebrow; those two words struck his nerves: "Treasure?"

Ao Duo Li nodded vigorously, eyes shining, "The treasure of the Falling Star Sea."

There will be another chapter later.

(End of chapter)