Chapter 1351

In just three days, the Star Flame Giant chopped off five main roots, shot down seventeen Void-level Star Descendants, and then vanished, leaving the Ancient Man-Snake so furious it trembled, shedding many leaves.

It found Feinik and said: "Pheromone dye, give me more pheromone dye."

Feinik said helplessly: "It can be done, but the price now might be higher than before."

"What? Still need money? Didn't you say before that you'd keep going until I killed it? Why do you still need money?" The Ancient Man-Snake was stunned.

"I did say that, but that was over twenty days ago; the dye has expired." Feinik said.

"Nonsense, how could it expire so fast? You said the dye in the bottle expires after two months, and it's only been twenty-odd days." The Ancient Man-Snake shouted angrily.

Feinik said with a wry smile: "That was when it was sealed in the bottle, but we repackaged it."

While speaking, he took out a bottle identical to the one previously sold to the Ancient Man-Snake, but the dye inside was no longer clear, instead somewhat cloudy.

The Ancient Man-Snake quickly took it, extended a branch to probe inside, then ignited it with Star Flame; although it still emitted a green glow, both brightness and color were very faint.

Feinik continued pulling out bottles while saying: "Back then we just got a large barrel, repackaged it thinking it would expire in ten or twenty days anyway, so we said we'd sell until it was killed. Now twenty-odd days have passed, they've expired, so if you want more you have to buy again—but you know, when you think something is useful, profiteers often raise prices."

The Ancient Man-Snake opened each bottle to test, and indeed every one was the same—only able to produce a faint green light; at a distance, it was hard to distinguish the dyed Star Flame from ordinary Star Flame.

Feinik continued: "Your Majesty, the Tree God, you should have guessed where these come from—the Evil Tree will never miss a chance to raise prices. If you really want to buy, I can help you contact the Evil Tree, but you must prepare for a price hike."

The Ancient Man-Snake was silent for a while, then reluctantly said: "Contact it, see what price it offers—if it's truly too high, I won't take it."

Though he said that, the Ancient Man-Snake had already prepared to accept whatever it demanded, whether it accepted or not—refusing would mean death by the World Tree.

Feinik nodded, sent a soul message, and several hours later said: "The Evil Tree demands five units of Star Flame per bottle."

"What! It's gone mad, quintupled?" The Ancient Man-Snake roared in fury.

Feinik nodded: "It also said, at least ten bottles must be bought at once."

"Fine, let it send the dye over." The Ancient Man-Snake said.

Feinik slipped slightly, nearly falling headfirst: "Uh, Your Majesty the Tree God, won't you haggle a bit?"

The Ancient Man-Snake blinked: "Can we still haggle?"

"I don't know—maybe, just maybe it would agree?" Feinik said.

"Fine, you haggle." The Ancient Man-Snake said.

Feinik closed his eyes, waited a while, then opened them, shocked: "It refuses to lower the price, even says you disrespect it, demanding a hike—now six units per bottle."

The Ancient Man-Snake felt an urge to kill Feinik—what's the point of haggling? For beings of their level to haggle is indeed somewhat disrespectful.

"Six units then six units—no repackaging, I want dye that preserves quality for two months." The Ancient Man-Snake said.

Feinik closed his eyes to communicate, then nodded: "The Evil Tree agrees—ten bottles of dye, not repackaged, quantity equivalent to twenty bottles, the extra counted as loss, total sixty units of Star Flame. Since this time you're dealing directly with the Evil Tree, we follow custom and take a twenty percent handling fee—you pay half, I pay half—you need to pay sixty-six units of Star Flame."

The Ancient Man-Snake felt his whole body twist: "Handling fee? What does that mean? You want to charge me a handling fee?"

Feinik looked astonished: "No handling fee? Do you want me to serve you for free, Your Majesty? Do you want Empress Feilie, Lord of the Stars, to run errands for you for free, passing messages and delivering dye and Star Flame without pay?"

Feinik's words made the Ancient Man-Snake feel a bit embarrassed, and he quickly protested: "Last time, why didn't you charge a handling fee?"

"Last time the transaction model was different—we bought the dye first, then sold it to you, already adding a small amount as handling fee. But this time you're dealing directly with the Evil Tree, the price is what you negotiated, we took no fee, so naturally we must add the handling fee now." Feinik said matter-of-factly.

"Too expensive—last time did you add six units of price?" The Ancient Man-Snake said.

Feinik raised his thumb: "Your Majesty the Tree God is impressive—you've already learned to haggle. Well, I have a bit of authority—I can reduce the handling fee to five units; any more would require asking Empress Feilie. If she disagrees, the handling fee might even increase instead."

After hesitating, the Ancient Man-Snake decided not to risk it, quickly paid sixty-five units of Star Flame, received nearly twenty bottles of dye packed together, and completed the transaction.

As soon as the transaction finished, Nai Ge Li Si couldn't help but ask: "Why go through all this trouble? And you quintupled the price—aren't you afraid of messing up?"

"Relax, I had the little tree person ask the little fire person—it said it's been imprisoned these years, and the Ancient Man-Snake has plundered it eighteen times, each time about ten units, so even if the Ancient Man-Snake's Star Flame source were only the little fire person, it would have at least one hundred eighty units. And how could it possibly have only one Star Flame source?" Anthony said.

"How do you know it doesn't have only one source?" Nai Ge Li Si asked doubtfully.

"Because it agreed so readily—offering dozens of units of Star Flame without hesitation, no haggling." Anthony said.

"Then why raise its price? Why charge it a handling fee?" Nai Ge Li Si asked.

"That just proves it doesn't care about this bit of Star Flame—it accepted two price hikes, so it likely has more than one Star Flame source, and the amount is substantial; looks like we can squeeze it a few more times." Anthony said.

"What if this time it just kills Ge Bao—see how you keep squeezing then?" Nai Ge Li Si said sourly.

Anthony shook his head: "Unkillable—my lord said, with these current puppet snake clones, the Ancient Man-Snake cannot kill Ge Bao, unless its true body separates from the World Tree and acts personally."

As the words fell, the little zombie's head top, the little tree person sprang up: ya ya ya—

Ang tilted his head to listen for a while, then turned and said: "It says, the Ancient Man-Snake is moving."

"The Ancient Man-Snake is moving? Isn't it always moving?" Nai Ge Li Si said, then suddenly realized: "It means the true body? No way? Is the true body of the Ancient Man-Snake moving?"