Chapter 410: Challenging the Battle Angel

"We need a special material called World Tree, which has the ability to accelerate decomposition. We searched for a long time but couldn't find it," said Silver Coin.

"That's easy. Let's check the House of the Departed," said Lutiyiya with a smile.

But Silver Coin shook his head: "The House of the Departed doesn't have any. We often go up there, and rarely see high-grade materials for sale."

Lutiyiya smiled mysteriously: "Few high-grade materials? Have you ever considered it might be because your Mark level is too low?"

Silver Coin widened his eyes and said, "Surprised": "Marks have levels?"

Lutiyiya didn't answer. Instead, she directly ordered someone to find information on the World Tree. Though she was human, with her wealth, keeping a few necromancers was effortless.

Soon, her mage subordinate reported: "My lord, there's just a listing for a World Tree log—it's being sold by a mercenary group called Cai Gutou."

"Cai Gutou? What a strange name. How much?" asked Lutiyiya.

"Two hundred thousand magic crystals. Attributes and functions as follows..."

"Buy it."

Soon, a palm-sized piece of wood was teleported over beside them.

Lutiyiya was deeply disappointed. A piece of broken wood worth two hundred thousand magic crystals? What special effect could a flame mark made from this possibly have?

"Hehe, nothing special really. Hey, the size is just right. How about this—I'll teleport the World Tree wood back and have our people process it. I'll stay here," said Silver Coin.

"Please," said Lutiyiya generously. Since Silver Coin had produced four finished and one half-finished flame marks, she wasn't worried he'd cheat her out of the twenty-thousand-magic-crystal wood.

Moreover, Silver Coin's voluntary offer to stay demonstrated sincerity, making her even more at ease.

Silver Coin gathered modeling clay, pressed it onto the hilt's mark placement to create a mold, then teleported it back along with the World Tree wood.

Half an hour later, the finished product was teleported over.

The finished product was a pair of wings folded into a heart shape, with a flame mark embedded at the center, and small depressions along the feather patterns.

There was one pair of these wings—perfectly matching left and right—to fit snugly over the hilt and blade junction, with the wingtips touching the blade. They looked quite elegant.

But the left wing had the mark embedded; the right wing was empty, just a hollow groove. This made Lutiyiya, who suffered from OCD, extremely uneasy.

Yet Silver Coin seemed not to notice her discomfort. He quietly worked on both wing pieces, coating their contact surfaces with black liquid, then pressed them tightly together.

Soon, the two wing pieces fused into one solid whole, tightly wrapping the hilt-blade junction, leaving no trace they had once been two separate pieces of wood.

"There. My lord, you may test it now. First, fill all the depressions with fire magic crystals," said Silver Coin, handing the sword to Lutiyiya with a smile.

Lutiyiya followed his instructions, filling the depressions, then channeling her aura and lightly swinging the sword.

The moment the sword moved, Lutiyiya's face showed shock. She clearly felt the sword was lighter, her aura more agile, her breath smoother—as if the sword had come alive, perfectly matching her movements.

"This..." What was going on?

Lutiyiya found it unbelievable. She swung the sword faster and faster, then suddenly slashed forward—a stream of flame erupted into the air.

Lutiyiya's eyes lit up. She swung again, pouring her aura into the blade. The aura and flame burst from the tip, extending two meters into a sharp blade of light, slashing fiercely forward.

The furniture and walls in front were struck by this flame blade like a whip, exploding into charred marks.

"Oh—!" Lutiyiya's mouth opened wide. Though she could produce blade auras too, hers were only one meter long and far weaker—completely different leagues.

This flame mark enhanced her power.

Just this alone made it worth it, not to mention the smoothness, as if oiled, when swinging.

"How much?!" Satisfied, it was time to negotiate.

But Silver Coin shook his head: "My lord, you haven't tested all the functions yet. Let's discuss the price after you've tested everything."

"There are more functions?" Lutiyiya asked, surprised.

"Of course. Channel your aura and tap the mark, then strike with full force," instructed Silver Coin.

Lutiyiya channeled her aura and tapped the mark. She felt a jolt of feedback, then noticed the magic crystals embedded in the wing depressions were rapidly disintegrating, their elemental energy sucked into the mark.

Seeing this, Lutiyiya exclaimed: "I understand! This mark converts the magic crystals' energy and resonates with my power—that's why it feels so smooth!"

It was as if the sword itself was generating force—even if she threw it aside, it could move on its own.

"Strike! Strike! Strike!" Silver Coin urged urgently.

"Oh oh oh!" Lutiyiya realized—the power inside the sword was becoming uncontrollable, about to burst forth.

She swung sharply forward. In that instant, a flame surged from the mark, racing along the blade toward the tip, merging with her aura as it erupted outward.

A flame bird, like a phoenix, shot out, slamming into the wall and blowing it apart—its power rivaling a Level Seven fire spell.

"This... this... this..." Lutiyiya was stunned. Even her full-power strike with full aura barely matched this—but this was a ranged attack!

Imagine fighting an equally powerful Sword Saint, locked in a stalemate. After a powerful clash, both of you recoil. At that instant, you activate this technique and strike the enemy, who has just pulled back and is still gasping for breath—how perfect would that be?

A killing blow!

Silver Coin rubbed his hands and said sincerely: "This technique doesn't have a name yet. If you're willing to pay a small fee, the mage who created it would be delighted to transfer the naming rights to you."

"Fine! I'll buy the naming rights. I'll call this technique 'Lutiyiya Slash'!" said Lutiyiya excitedly.

"A wonderful name. One more thing—this World Tree wood can only withstand five such full-power decompositions. There are four left," said Silver Coin.

"What? Only four left?" Lutiyiya exclaimed.

"Yes. Unless you get new World Tree wood, you only have four uses left," said Silver Coin.

"Alright. I'll keep an eye out for more of this wood. Now, let's talk about the price of this mark," said Lutiyiya.

Silver Coin named a number. Lutiyiya widened her eyes: "What? Two hundred thousand magic crystals? That's cheap?"

Not expensive—cheap. Too cheap. Even without the final "Lutiyiya Slash," just the resonance with her aura made her unable to let go. She'd prepared to pay a fortune—never expected Silver Coin's price to be so low.

Silver Coin internally grumbled but smiled sincerely: "With the naming rights included, it's three hundred thousand. The main material was yours. We only charge for labor."

"This... this is too much," said Lutiyiya, pretending modesty, but her hand behind her back quickly signaled. Her female guard immediately brought a tray with three magic crystal cards—each worth one hundred thousand.

Silver Coin accepted them without hesitation and smiled: "Payment and goods exchanged. Pleasant cooperation. Hope we can work together again. I'll take my leave."

"Wait! This—this empty slot here—what's it for?" Lutiyiya suddenly remembered something and called out to Silver Coin.

One side of her sword had the flame mark; the other side was empty.

Before the World Tree wings, the sword could only hold one mark. Now, with the extra wing, there were two slots. Why?

Was the empty slot meant for swapping marks back and forth? Was that necessary? If not, why make the slot at all? OCD couldn't tolerate this.

"Oh, this is the second mark slot. You can embed another identical fire mark and use both simultaneously," said Silver Coin.

"Oh my! Why didn't you say so earlier? Quick, bring me your Level Four flame mark... no, bring them all—I'll take them all," said Lutiyiya impatiently.

She sold all Level One through Four marks and received several more magic crystal cards. Only then did Silver Coin enter the teleportation array. Just before activating it, he suddenly remembered something and said: "Oh, by the way, our alchemist said if the flame mark, sword, and armor form a full set, the power will be more..."

Before he finished, the teleportation array activated. Silver Coin vanished in the light, leaving only his fading words: "... more..."

More what? More what?! Lutiyiya was frantic, as if she needed to use the toilet. Only then did she realize—Silver Coin hadn't left any contact information?

If she traded through the House of the Departed, she could contact Silver Coin anytime via the platform.

But some people, for secrecy or tax avoidance, prefer direct private deals—Silver Coin was one of them.

Now that he'd teleported away, Lutiyiya realized she had no way to reach him.

The shock of the flame mark had overwhelmed her. Lutiyiya stared regretfully at the empty teleportation array, muttering:

"More what? What exactly does 'more' mean? Stronger power? Why didn't you say so earlier? I'd have ordered the full set! I, Lutiyiya, only want the best!"

Back in the Shrine of the Fallen, Silver Coin presented eight magic crystal cards, each worth one hundred thousand, and recounted the entire incident. Huang Tong, Du Luo, and Luo Ke stared in disbelief.

"Someone wanted to buy a five-thousand-magic-crystal flame mark, and you sold a million-worth? Twenty times! Are you serious?" cried Na Ge Li Si.

"You told me to list the World Tree wood on the House of the Departed—so you profited from both raw material and labor. You're a merchant of the worst kind," said Du Luo with admiration.

"You sold a naming right for one hundred thousand magic crystals? This... I don't understand the rich, but I'm deeply shaken," said Luo Ke, her worldview shattered.

Her six hundred soul crystals, at their peak, could only be exchanged for eighteen hundred magic crystals. Now someone paid one hundred thousand for a name with no physical object.

Du Luo asked curiously: "Why did you leave that little hook at the end? Fishing? But why not leave contact info?"

Fishing? Experienced fisherwoman Luo Ke perked up, blinked, then realized Du Luo's "fishing" wasn't what she knew.

Silver Coin explained: "Only when hungry do creatures truly value food—and willingly pay far more than its worth. Starve her first."

Na Ge Li Si and Du Luo pondered. Luo Ke remained baffled.

One million magic crystals—twenty thousand of which were transacted through the House of the Departed, which took a twenty percent fee...

The merchant Silver Coin sighed: "Running a platform is far more profitable."

"Wait, are you talking about this?" Du Luo led him into the House of the Departed and used the highest authority mark to view a set of numbers—a figure with eight digits, continuously increasing.

"This... this is?" Silver Coin asked, stunned.

"This is the House of the Departed's handling fee. This platform is ours now," said Du Luo.

"Can... can we use it?" asked Silver Coin.

Du Luo shook his head: "No. We don't know where the magic crystals are stored. Even the highest authority mark may not be enough to withdraw them. We might need the Emperor's authorization or another permission."

Magic crystals aren't just numbers—they're physical objects. Since they didn't even know where they were stored, they couldn't withdraw them.

Silver Coin didn't care. He beamed. Even if he couldn't withdraw them, seeing so much money on the account—and watching it grow—made him happy.

Anyway, he already had enough magic crystals to spend. He gathered all information as fast as possible. A week later, he collected every material needed to build the teleportation array.

During that week, Ang recovered somewhat and took the chance to send over the little zombie.

Na Ge Li Si no longer demanded Ang send him over, because he now had a new body—a miniature copper dragon, no bigger than a palm.

"Ku Ba Da! Whoever calls me Embryo Dragon now, I'll fight him! I'm even less than an embryo now—what am I? Egg Dragon?" Na Ge Li Si grumbled, flying angrily around Ang's head.

Ang nodded and continued arranging the stone slabs on the ground.

Luo Ke's castle had been taken over by him. He built shelves, placed stone slabs on them, spread purified holy soil, sprinkled holy mushroom spores, then watered them with holy water.

Ang planned to regrow holy mushrooms to extract essence liquid. The small amount he'd captured before was only enough to grow a copper dragon the size of an egg.

"I know you're just making excuses to grow things. You could've sent me over first—but you sent the zombie instead. You just want it to dig for you!" Na Ge Li Si yelled.

Ang nodded.

"Oh come on, you keep nodding! I'm furious!" Na Ge Li Si's whiskers bristled with rage.

Its body had shrunk so much that it felt deeply uncomfortable, but it didn't want to return to the Huang Tong Book either—after all, a book had no hands or legs, and its original life form was vastly different, making it feel awkward.

Amid the noise, sudden hoofbeats rang out outside the castle.

Ang and the others went to the castle's fishing platform and looked out: across the river beyond the town, a group of riders in mismatched attire galloped past along the riverbank, kicking up clouds of dust—clearly one was chasing the other.

Seeing people appear on the platform, the fleeing side shouted urgently: "Help! Help!"

The people on the platform showed no reaction, watching silently.

Seeing no response from the crowd, the fleeing rider despairingly rode past.

The pursuers had clearly heard the cries for help; seeing that Ang and the others made no move, they assumed the onlookers were too frightened to act, and burst into laughter: "Good for you—don't meddle, or you won't live long. Go back!"

One of them even raised his bow, aiming it at the people on the platform.

The small angel, the small zombie, who had been sitting quietly and innocently, suddenly perked up, exchanged a glance, and simultaneously flashed excited expressions.

Nagelesi covered his face: "You're chasing someone—fine, just chase them. Ang and these guys couldn't care less about meddling. Why are you shouting?"

And you're taunting the Battle Angel?