The Lord of Void and Real
Chapter 1149

Chapter 1149: Chapter 1146: Leaf Sprite Mei Chapter 1149: Chapter 1146: Leaf Sprite Mei While Shen Luo was speaking to Wu Man'er, they arrived at a fork in the road and caught sight of a small shop that looked rather unprepossessing.

“Look, here we are,” Shen Luo nudged with his lips and walked towards the shop.

Wu Man'er immediately followed close behind.

The shop's facade was not large; it was much more understated than most shops one would see, and one might mistake it for a residential house if not for the old seal script characters for “Tianji” vertically inscribed on one side of the door frame.

As they entered, they realized that the interior was much larger than it appeared from outside.

At this moment, behind the counter directly opposite, a clerk in a black robe was explaining something to two customers.

Shen Luo noticed the clerk's robe was simply embroidered with the characters for “Tianji” in white thread at the cuff, with no other patterns, indicating a status of the lowest commoner in Tianji City.

As they approached, they heard the commoner clerk saying, “Customer, I'm not deliberately trying to sell you the Road Guidance Lamp, but it's indispensable when entering Yunmeng Marsh.”

“What do you mean by that?” a tall and burly bald man among the customers asked with a rough voice.

“Inside Yunmeng Marsh, the climate is vastly different from the outside. Once you enter, even if you are an advanced cultivator in the Mahayana Stage, you may still encounter illusion fog and lose your way. This Road Guidance Lamp is the only thing that can tell you the correct direction,” explained the Tianji City clerk.

The bald man listened intently, while a skinny man beside him, resembling a stick, seemed distracted and began toying with a pot of Welcoming Pine placed on the counter.

Shen Luo turned and saw, upon that Welcoming Pine, there sat a green little figure about the size of a palm.

It was entirely emerald green in color, resembling a human woman to a great extent, with an exquisite and beautiful face, but it had a pair of clever pointed ears on its cheeks and two pairs of translucent, cicada wing-like membranes drooping from its back.

“It's a Leaf Sprite charm spirit…” Wu Man'er frowned and whispered.

On hearing their conversation, the commoner clerk greeted them with a smile, then resumed his explanation to the bald man.

Shen Luo noticed that the delicate ankles of the Leaf Sprite charm spirit were shackled with a silver chain, just a bit thicker than a strand of hair, the other end connected to the Welcoming Pine.

One could clearly sense a faint mana fluctuation emanating from the chain.

The skinny stick figure kept teasing the charm spirit, but the spirit paid him no mind, listlessly sitting on the trunk with both hands propping up its head, refusing to even lift its eyes.

“Hey, half-dead and such a buzzkill,” the stick figure couldn't coax any reaction and suddenly seemed somewhat angry.

He raised his hand, ready to flick the Leaf Sprite.

“Customer, please, don't do that, you will need to pay double compensation if you damage it,” the commoner clerk hurriedly intervened seeing the behavior.

“How much can this little thing be worth? If I kill it, will I compensate you with three, is that enough?” the stick figure paused briefly, his tensed fingers gaining more force.

Just as he was about to flick at the charm spirit, a hand reached out from the side and firmly grasped his wrist.

“Who the f– dares interfere with… ouch…” The stick figure's foul language was cut short as his tone suddenly rose into a scream.

“I'll buy this little charm spirit,” Shen Luo said indifferently.

“Money makes you so great, huh? I'll pay double…”

The stick figure hadn't finished his sentence when he was once again interrupted by a scream.

The bald man by the side, upon witnessing the scene, suddenly emitted a layer of earthy yellow halo around his body and raised a big hand to grab Shen Luo.

Shen Luo snorted coldly, his cultivation at the Late Mahayana Stage was no longer withheld, instantly unleashing a formidable intimidation.

The hand of the bald man stiffened mid-air, and a look of fear was already evident on his face.

“I did not recognize Mount Tai and offended the elder, I hope the elder forgives my offense,” he said, quickly following his other hand to clasp together in a gesture of supplication.

“Scram,” Shen Luo uttered a single word.

That bald man immediately scrambled and stumbled out of the shop, not caring at all about his companion still in Shen Luo's grasp.

Shen Luo had no intention of stooping to their level. With a casual push, he threw the skinny man out of the door like a broken sack.

The latter tumbled to the ground, getting up without daring to let out a peep, and scurried away as fast as he could.

“Sorry for the disturbance, I've disrupted your esteemed shop's business,” Shen Luo said, dusting off his hands and apologizing to the clerk.

The clerk wouldn't dare to take issue with Shen Luo, hurriedly smiling awkwardly and saying, “It's alright, no trouble at all. Just two penniless thugs acting all mighty, haggling over a Road Guidance Lamp for half an eternity. If the honored guest hadn't sent them away, I would have to ask them to leave myself.”

“Before coming here, I had heard that to enter Yunmeng Marsh, one must first purchase a Road Guidance Lamp. Just now, you also mentioned the Road Guidance Lamp. I still don't know what specific wonders this object holds within Yunmeng Marsh?” Shen Luo inquired.

“Wonder might not be the right word. It's just that with a Road Guidance Lamp, one can discern basic directions in Yunmeng Marsh. Even if trapped by the Illusion Fog, one will not lose the ability to find the right direction and end up dying within it,” the clerk hurriedly explained.

“Illusion Fog?” Shen Luo asked, puzzled.

“Yunmeng Marsh is vast, with many kinds of Miasma, aside from various poisonous miasma, sometimes one may encounter miasma that induces hallucinations, which is known as Illusion Fog. Once a person falls into the Illusion Fog, relying on Divine Sense and magical instruments makes it very difficult to find the correct direction. In such times, a Road Guidance Lamp is the most convenient and efficient tool to guide the way,” the clerk continued to explain.

While the two were talking, Wu Man'er's attention fell on the petite and delicate Leaf Sprite.

She raised her hand to gently caress the little charm spirit, and the little guy, who had been unresponsive to the outside world, suddenly lifted its head. In that moment when it looked at Wu Man'er, a glow couldn't help but light up in its otherwise dim eyes.

“Ever since this Leaf Sprite was sold here, it's been like it lost its soul. This is the first time I've seen her react this way,” remarked the clerk, also feeling somewhat surprised at the scene.

“Perhaps it's fated to be with us. How much for it?” Shen Luo inquired.

He could see from Wu Man'er's eyes the sympathy she held for the charm spirit and thus had the intention to purchase it.

Upon hearing this, the clerk's expression turned contemplative, seemingly struggling with something.

“What's the matter, is there a problem?” asked Shen Luo.

“Well, to be frank, ever since this Leaf Sprite was captured, it hasn't eaten a grain of rice or drunk a drop of water. The manager came to check yesterday, saying that this kind of charm spirit, if bought, probably won't survive for more than three days. Since you, the guest, are of no ordinary cultivation, our shop wouldn't dare to deceive you. If you are truly interested, you could wait a period of time, and by then, I assure you we'll give you one full of life and vigor,” the clerk explained with a sigh.

“So it's because of that. Then there's no need to wait. Today's meeting is also fated. Since I've thought of buying her, I will naturally take good care of her. Besides this charm spirit, I'd also like to purchase another Road Guidance Lamp,” Shen Luo said, waving his hand.

“Honored guest, I hope you don't mind me asking, are you also planning to try your luck in Yunmeng Marsh?” inquired the clerk upon hearing this.

“That's the plan,” Shen Luo replied after a moment of thought.

“Then please heed my advice, even with a Road Guidance Lamp, it's best to only operate on the periphery. Do not cross the Pink Reed beach and go into the depths of Yunmeng Marsh,” the clerk warned.