Awakening the Divine Spark
Chapter 212: Haggling.

Chapter 212: Haggling.

"Are you alright?" Elder asked Mori after the guy froze in shock. His mouth opened and closed a couple of times, but no sound came out.

"It’s fine, no need to worry! You’re safe now." Elder said as if he was concerned about Mori’s state of mind, but Lee picked up on the faint ridicule in his voice.

"I’m sorry, Elder Ardent! The pain ..." Mori said, touching his broken shoulder with his other hand, but then gathered his willpower, and said, "I tried to protect them, even save them, but the bastard was just too vicious!"

"I see ... you do realize I was sitting on that boulder over there the whole time?" Elder said, pointing to the side where he came from.

Apparently this was something Mori did consider. He rushed few steps forward, and fell to his knees.

"I’m sorry, elder! I got greedy! I promise ..." He began to kowtow while spouting words of apology, but in the middle of it jumped to his feet, and like a fire bolt darted at the elder, thrusting with his sword to the front.

Lee was positive he would’ve never reacted to the attack fast enough. There were only ten feet at best between Mori and Elder Ardent, and it seemed that elder’s demise was inevitable, but then the strangest thing happened.

A small rift, probably in the size of six square feet, appeared in front of Mori’s face. From inertia, his upper body, his head, shoulders and the sword hand, rushed in, but then the rift closed, leaving the remaining hand and most of the torso outside.

Lee gawked at the bloody scene until a split moment later with a soft thud the upper part of Mori’s body fell on the ground nearby. By opening and closing the rift the elder not only protected himself, he neatly disposed of the inner disciple attacking him.

Lee didn’t notice whether it took much effort. He didn’t even see elder move, apart from raising his palms to the front, but the effect was incredible.

Cursing himself for swallowing the wrong sparks, Lee quickly analyzed the situation, trying to think of the best way’s out. This was the other elder, the spatial elemental lord he didn’t intend to meet. The man had recently fused his consciousness with the spark and, judging from Fubao’s words, didn’t seem to be too reliable.

Even thought he wore the enforcer’s badge, it didn’t look like he was playing by the book. Considering he had witnessed the encounter from the beginning, it was clear he never intended to let the sect’s disciples off. In fact, he probably decided it was easier to kill them off rather than bother with the formalities that would arise by bringing them back to the sect.

He surely wasn’t the righteous type. The question was – was he also after Lee’s artifacts? The most likely answer was yes. Obviously Elder Ardent had recognized the sword and knew Lee had a spatial treasure. That meant – the best chances to preserve his life was to directly gift the items away.

Without waiting for the elder to speak first, Lee stepped forward, and said, "Nice to meet you! My name is Armand. Please accept this sword and the ring as a sign of gratitude!"

Trying to not make sudden moves in order to not provoke the man, Lee openly presented the longsword with both hands. On his left palm there was also a silver ring, covered in runic markings. It was unnaturally thick for a regular jewelry and with a glance Elder Ardent could tell it was a spatial artifact.

The name Armand was the closest thing Lee could think of that resembled the elder’s family name. The intent was to create a closer relationship on intuitive level, but the last part didn’t work at all.

"What are you trying to pull, kiddo?" Elder smirked in return, "Do you think I’m a retard? Besides the fact that I have no use for that sword, even if I took it out anywhere, the Celestial Abyss would hunt me down!"

’Ok! Think!’ Lee said to himself, taking a deep breath, ’It’s possible he’s playing with me like he did with Mori. Highly likely he want’s to see how far would I go before taking everything he can. But in that case it doesn’t matter what I do. That means ...’

"I’m sorry if I offended you, Your Lordship!" Lee said, "I don’t have much, and thought the sword was an impressive weapon that would suit an incredible elemental master like you. I came across it ..."

"Cut the crap, kid!" Elder interrupted, and Lee immediately adjusted his speech in return.

He stabbed the sword in the ground, and said, "I came across a couple of things beside the weapon. There was this ring, and inside was a translucent artifact you might find useful."

Gravity step was an artifact of superior quality that allowed a cultivator to stand in the air. It was very hard to craft, and it’s value was mostly due to the time a master artificer had to spend crafting it. In the Midsummer auction only three such items were sold, and two were snatched by the sect master of the Celestial Abyss.

"I’m starting to dislike you." Elder Ardent said, "You do realize I’m an elemental lord, do you? Cough up some more!"

Lee stared back at the guy for a few moments, trying to comprehend the implications, but then laughed out laud, finally allowing himself to fully relax. This was Fubao’s former drinking buddy! And once a drunkard – always a drunkard!

He might have a quicker mind than his former friends, but he was still a commoner who unexpectedly became an elemental master. And then, a year later, he suddenly fused his consciousness with the spark turning into an elemental lord. He wasn’t an old monster like Elder Wang or Elder Luo, who easily played even a scammer like Lee. This was a normal person, a lucky normal person!

Elder Ardent furrowed brows when Lee laughed at his words, but before he could get angry, Lee walked over to his bag and began to fiddle with something inside.

"I’m sorry!" He honestly said, "I was used to all elemental lords being a bunch of snobs. I did get lucky and came across few interesting things, but you’re right – some are kind of too hot to handle. Here are two gravity steps. I put them inside the ring for your convenience. Also, I added a collection of wine – you might’ve heard of it. There are only thirty bottles, but a particular sect master was very much looking forward to enjoy them."

Seeing the elder’s expression slightly soften, Lee continued, "Your friends miss you. Fubao might occasionally badmouth you, but that’s not because of jealousy. He had always considered you to be his friend and longs to have another drink with his best buddy Kael, not Elder Ardent. Incidentally, he won’t have a clue that the thirty bottles of wine are essentially filled with Heavenly nectar, and you’ll have someone clueless to share it with."

"That’s it?" The elder said, taking the ring and inspecting the contents, "Do you think I’m some kind of a bum? Am I supposed to run around with only one ring?"

Lee already expected this, and said, "I’m sorry, I’m going to need it as a gift for Elder Qu Zhenhai. I’d like to trade it for his services of opening a rift to another continent for me."

"Didn’t you intend to trade the stones for it?" Elder Ardent said with a grin.

"Not really." Lee honestly said, "Those things were only meant as a friendly token upon our meeting."

"Tsk ... scamming an old man! Not cool, my friend, not cool!" Elder said.

"What would you do in my situation?" Lee shrugged in return.

"To start with, I wouldn’t swing around Stonerend, not openly." Elder said, "Alright. Give me the ring and your trousers! I’ll open a rift for you."

"Sorry, trousers are not negotiable." Lee shook his head, inwardly shocked that even that piece was recognized. During the last months he had gotten used to them so much that forgot he was wearing an incredible artifact.

"You’re pushing it, kiddo!" Elder’s look grew cold.

"Oh, you misunderstood me!" Lee faked a revelation, "It’s just that I’m not used to wearing any underwear and figured you might not want to put on something another man’s dingus has touched."

"Motherfucker!" Elder Ardent cursed, but then laughed, and said, "Alright, add something else then!"

"I doubt there’s anything in the world a man with your peculiar abilities can’t have if he wants, honestly." Lee said, "I really don’t have much ... I have this set of pills, though. From what I understand they can help a relatively talentless person to ignite a spark and become an elemental master. They are unlikely to go any further, but a couple hundred years of lifespan is nothing to scoff at."

Elder Ardent took the other ring, a thick golden one this time, inspected it, and immediately wore.

"Tell me!" He said, "How a smart boy like you can do something so stupid and absorb a beast’s spark? And three at that?"

"A series of bad decisions." Lee honestly said.

"Idiot!" Elder snorted, "Alright! Where do you want to go?"

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