The Lord of Void and Real
Chapter 681

Chapter 681: Chapter 677: Lion Asks for More Chapter 681: Chapter 677: Lion Asks for More “Which bastard is pounding on my door! Didn't you see that we've already closed for the day? Come back tomorrow if you have business!” Some time passed before a rough, irate, male voice resounded from inside the courtyard.

“Boss Hua, it's me, open up quickly!” Sun Hai raised his voice a little, pounding even harder on the door.

With a “clatter”, the courtyard door was rudely yanked open, revealing a middle-aged man clad in grey robes. His face and body were rather plump, his eyes small, and his mustache resembling the Chinese character “Ba “. He looked like a massive rat.

“So it's you, boy. Who did you bring this time? Let's get this clear ahead of time, take them away if they can't afford Immortal jade. Don't keep me from my sleep.” Boss Hua glared at Sun Hai, his eyes then shifting to Shen Luo standing behind, and dismissively said.

“Rest assured, Boss Hua, I'll be satisfied as long as the magical instrument crafted meets my standards, and we can negotiate the price.” Shen Luo wasn't upset but greeted Boss Hua with a smile while marvelling in surprise in his heart.

The figure before him radiated a faint white light that separated Shen Luo from his Divine Sense and vision, preventing him from discerning his opponent's cultivation level.

Boss Hua, upon hearing this, wore a slightly shocked expression. Without uttering a single word, he motioned with his hand for Shen Luo and Sun Hai to enter the courtyard.

The courtyard enclosed a rather simple shed filled with a multitude of materials haphazardly strewn about. Next to the shed was a black stone house that seemingly served as a foundry. Bursts of red light and heat radiated from the half-open stone door.

“Boss Hua, this is Elder Shen, who came from the Eastern Great Tang. He has heard of your superb artifact crafting skills and has made a special visit to commission a top-grade magical instrument.” Sun Hai glanced at Shen Luo, then turned to introduce him to Boss Hua.

“Oh, from the Eastern Great Tang!” The expression on Boss Hua's face morphed into surprise as he looked Shen Luo up and down, his expression revealing a trace of curiosity.

“What kind of magical instrument would you like to have crafted?” However, he quickly regained his calm, walked over to a lounging chair in the courtyard, and lazily asked.

Instead of answering, Shen Luo flipped his hand and pulled out several earth-yellow items, broken mirror pieces. Despite being damaged, these shards still emitted powerful spiritual fluctuations.

Boss Hua took a sip from a clear cup of tea. Upon seeing these broken shards, he abruptly spat out the mouthful of tea and leaped off the lounging chair to grab one of the broken pieces.

“This is a Xuan Turtle Plank! You have so many, and they're of outstanding quality! But which idiot refined it into a mirror, incorporating the Xuan Turtle Plank in such a crude manner? It didn't even merge with the prohibition. Otherwise, how could this mirror be easily shattered!” Boss Hua carefully sensed the condition of the shards, then immediately cursed out loud.

Shen Luo finally understood. Back in the day, he had effortlessly shattered the bronze mirror filled with numerous Xuan Turtle Plaques and he had found it strange. So it turns out the reason was here after all.

Boss Hua picked up a shard and carefully caressed it, a look of obsession appearing in his eyes.

Seeing Boss Hua's behavior, Shen Luo secretly chuckled. However, he could feel that Boss Hua was the sort to obsess over artifact crafting. His confidence in the man increased a bit.

“Luckily, the one who crafted it was incompetent and didn't merge the Xuan Turtle Plank with the prohibition. Otherwise, when the mirror shattered, the spiritual nature of the Xuan Turtle Plank inside would have suffered great damage and it would be difficult to reuse.” Boss Hua furthered on.

“Boss Hua's insight is quite profound. I want to use these Xuan Turtle Planks to make a staff-shaped top-grade magical artifact, if that's possible?” Shen Luo first gave him a compliment, then put forward his intention.

“A staff?” Boss Hua responded with an “oh”.

“Yes. This staff needs to be as hard as possible and be able to withstand a strong influx of mana. The heavier it is, the better.” Shen Luo considered for a moment, then stated his requirements.

He had learnt the awe-inspiring Ape King Stick Technique within the Dreamland. However, he hadn't found a suitable magical instrument for it in reality so he couldn't use it in battle. During his last encounter when he summoned his Dream Cultivation to battle the demon wind, he couldn't display the true power of the Ape King Stick Technique because he hadn't had a good magical instrument. If he did, how could the demon wind have gotten away so easily?

“Tsk tsk, your requests are quite demanding. Even if this broken mirror contains a considerable amount of Xuan Turtle Planks, they cannot fulfill all your demands.” Boss Hua brushed his mouth and taunted.

“I realize my demands are a bit high. What other materials are needed to achieve these effects?” Shen Luo asked calmly.

“To meet your requirements, disregarding other supplementary materials for now, the main materials needed are Sky Mending Stone and Ink Crystal. Sky Mending Stone is renowned for its firmness while Ink Crystal can enhance the staff's mana wielding capabilities.” Boss Hua explained.

“Sky Mending Stone, Ink Crystal…” Shen Luo momentarily stiffened.

He had heard about these two materials before. Both were extremely rare and neither were inferior to the Xuan Turtle Plank. But where could he quickly find them?

Feeling a little depressed, he had initially thought that among the materials he had accumulated over the years, he could at least pick out some useful ones. But who would have thought they'd all be of no use at all.

Shen Luo gave a silent sigh. Just as he was about to suggest lowering the quality of the magical instrument, Boss Hua cut in:

“But you're quite lucky. I have a piece of Sky Mending Stone and an Ink Crystal in hand that I can provide for you to craft the magical instrument, but these two items are my ultimate treasures. You will need to buy them first using Immortal Jade and fees for the crafting process will be calculated separately.”

“Okay, may I know how much you will charge for both items?” On hearing this, Shen Luo, overjoyed, promptly asked.

“The quality of these two materials is remarkably excellent. In particular, that Ink Crystal is a Purple Heart Mo Crystal. Let's just say… it'll cost you five thousand Immortal Jade.” Boss Hua casually named the price after some thought.

“What! Five thousand Immortal Jade!” Shen Luo's face change instantly.

Even Sun Hai who was standing beside him was taken aback and almost bite his own tongue.

“What, too expensive? Humph! I've said before, if you don't have the Immortal Jade, leave quickly. Don't waste my saliva.” Boss Hua sneered, seeing Shen Luo's expression, threw away the broken mirror shard in his hand and lay back on the lounge chair.

“Boss Hua, while Sky Mending Stone and Ink Crystal are precious, they can't be worth five thousand Immortal Jade.” Shen Luo said, frowning.

These Xuan Turtle Planks that Shen Luo had were heavily fought over at the auction at Xuanyuan pavilion because of their extreme value. Even so, these planks only fetched two thousand Immortal jade.

“No haggling. Go elsewhere for that. I only have a firm price here.” Boss Hua didn't even give Shen Luo a second look.

Shen Luo's face darkened. Over the years, he had earned a decent amount from selling talismans and robbing other monks of their wealth, only managing to accumulate around two thousand Immortal Jade, far from enough.

Even if he had enough Immortal Jade, with Boss Hua opening his mouth wide like a lion, he didn't want to be the sucker here.

His current magical artifacts were still usable, and the staff-shaped magical instrument wasn't an absolute necessity.

“Let's go.” Shen Luo faintly murmured, putting away the Xuan Turtle Planks, and left the courtyard with Sun Hai.

“Elder Shen, my apologies. Boss Hua was asking for too much this time. He's never asked such a high price when crafting artifacts for others before.” Sun Hai apologized with an apologetic expression.

Shen Luo waved his hand, not saying a word.

Seeing his reaction, Sun Hai didn't dare say anything further.