Another World Trip: Journey with My Cat and an Otaku Loli Goddess Chapter 318 - Mad Sword Haoran

She then turned to the salesperson with that same smile. “I had no idea that your shop engaged in such disgusting business practices.”

Xiong Weizhe finally realised that something might be wrong, and he then asked. “What are you talking about?”

****

“It’s simple,” Xiannu Liang took centre stage. “The Phoenix Feather’s Roost is a special tree that grows in the land near the divine Phoenixes. Whenever a wayward feather falls from a Phoenix, this special tree has the ability to host this feather and not be burned to cinders. Instead, the tree undergoes a special mutation, which then allows it to contain a trace of the divine flame energy of the Phoenix’s feather. Because of this, the heart of the tree, which is where the essence of its energy is concentrated is transformed into one of the few treasures that have both wood and fire energy, the Phoenix Feather’s Roost’s Heart.”

“We know this! Get on with it!” Xiong Weizhe ordered.

“Patience,” Xiannu Liang stated. “Now, a quasi Phoenix Feather’s Roost is one where the feather only has enough flame energy to cause a mutation. Its most striking and evident characteristics are its dark red and gold colours. That’s the flame energy of the Phoenix at work. However, this cannot be considered a true Phoenix Feather’s Roost. A low-level mutation occurs when the feather has greater flame energy combined with a stronger roost to withstand that flame energy. If it is strong enough, the bark would be consumed by the trace of divine flame within the feather while still standing upright. In essence, it would appear like a divine treasure ensconced in flames. The difference between the two is so massive that one is heaven while the other is earth. A quasi Phoenix Feather’s Roost’s heart goes for around one thousand spirit stones, while a true low-grade Phoenix Feather’s Roost’s heart can be purchased for around 50,000.”

“!” this price shocked everyone! Who the hell could afford that!?

When Xiannu Liang finished explaining, Xiong Weizhe glared at the salesperson. This person shuddered under his gaze, but he forced himself to remain composed and said.

“So what!? Just because you said something that sounds smart, that automatically means you’re right? Who are you that you think you know more than the appraiser of our store?”

When he put it like this, it really did seem like Xiannu Liang was overstepping her bounds. Based on her voice, it was obvious she was quite young. Appraisers were normally very experienced experts who spent their life studying whatever subjects they were experts in.

For Xiannu Liang to go against what these people said did seem a bit presumptuous on her part.

Suddenly, Xiannu Liang turned her attention to Long Di. He stared back at her for quite a while before saying.

“I am here.”

This was all he had to say and just like that, Xiannu Liang pulled back the cowl covering her features.

Once this was done, everyone’s eyes widened in shock.

Emerald hair fell free down to her lower back. Intertwined with her locks were green vines that peeked out in some places. Not only that, her emerald eyes shimmered against the backdrop of her jade-like skin. It made for a stunning complexion that stole the breath of many away.

“Y-You’re a Nymph…” Xiong Weizhe was speechless when he saw her features unhindered.

Not only Xiong Weizhe, but everyone who accompanied him was the same as well.

The salesperson was shocked as well before he was overcome with dread. Before this, he used Xiannu Liang’s age as a means to discredit what she was saying. However, her being a Nymph changes everything.

Who would dare to say that they knew more about herbs, trees and essentially all plant life than a Nymph?

They were one with nature in more ways than one and were even more-so intrinsically linked with its perennial rhythm. If Nymphs claimed to be second in their knowledge to plants and trees, no one would dare claim to be number one.

The salesperson knew this, and when he saw Xiong Weizhe’s gaze land on him this time around, he knew he was found out.

He then fell to the ground with his head to the floor.

“Young Master Xiong Weizhe, please forgive me! I was told to do this by the store head!”

“I will take care of you all later!” Xiong Weizhe said, trembling with anger. He knew that happened here.

The store pedalled this as a hairpin made from the wood of a low-grade Phoenix Feather’s Roost’s heart. Their plan was to tell the initial price to inexperienced young masters and get them to fight over it by bidding after seeing the ‘low price.’

By making the price so much lower than what it actually was, they would more or less get away with it. After all, if they started selling it for a couple thousand from the very beginning, they might attract unwanted attention. It was even worse if they thought about selling it for anywhere near a low grade’s true value. Keeping it low, made the commotion relatively small and easy to contain.

They had done this with other wares, and it worked.

However, now that the most talented disciple of Golden Lion Gate, the sect that rules over Cang Bian City knew of this, they could no longer avoid responsibility.

“Let’s talk outside,” Xiong Weizhe advised Long Di and the others.

Once Xiong Weizhe’s group and Long Di’s group were outside, the former chose to speak first.

“You exposed something quite distasteful in my city,” he said after a while.

“Keep your city clean and I won’t have anything to expose,” Long Di retorted.

“You!”

One of the lackeys standing behind Xiong Weizhe spoke up before he was stopped by the latter.

“Here,” Xiong Weizhe offered something to Long Di’s group.

When Long Di saw it, he was surprised to find it was Phoenix’s Hairpin. To be more specific, he offered it to Xiannu Liang. However, she didn’t accept it, not without Long Di’s say-so.

Xiong Weizhe saw this and then subtly turned it towards Long Di.

Long Di looked at it for a hot minute before responding with, “So you’re not gonna have me get down on my knees and call you daddy?”

Xiong Weizhe’s cheek twitched upon hearing the word daddy from Long Di’s mouth. “If I continued with the bet and paid so much money for a quasi Phoenix Feather’s Roost’s Heart, then I’d be an idiot. However, the shop has given this to me as a form of apology so the bet is off. I would like to offer this to the Nymph–”

“Her name is Xiannu Liang,” Long Di inserted.

“To Miss Xiannu Liang,” Xiong Weizhe didn’t mind being corrected by Long Di on this. “Please accept this as a token of my apology.”

“Then I’ll accept it for her.” Long Di didn’t stand on ceremony anymore and directly took the Phoenix’s Hairpin.

When Long Di took it, Xiong Weizhe sized him up once more before stating, “I hope to see you in the tournament.”

“I shall be a filial child and listen to daddy,” stated Long Di.

Xiong Weizhe’s skin crawled when Long Di called him this again. The latter’s expressionless demeanour creeped him out to no end.

Before long, he and his entourage turned around and left.

Long Di watched him leave before he turned around to Xiannu Liang with the Phoenix’s Heart.

“I thought something like this would have been worth way more even if it wasn’t authentic,” he said as he affixed it in Xiannu Liang’s hair.

Xiannu Liang blushed since Long Di was in such proximity to her. “It has both wood and fire energy in symbiosis with each other, which is a type of energy that is useless to many. So even though the condition for its creation is strict, its value isn’t much due to not many being able to make use of it.”

“Except you,” his eyes slid to hers.

“Except me,” she agreed with a smile.

As soon as he was finished a stream of divine flame energy overflowing with powerful wood energy flowed into her body. The heat wasn’t overbearing, but was instead warm. This was a treasure to her in more ways than one and she never thought she would have gotten her hands on it even if it wasn’t at the low-grade.

However, through this, she would slowly build resistance to flame energy to a certain extent and her own attacks would now contain a small trace of this divine flame energy.

Shen Ling grew a little jealous when she saw this and took a deep breath before she took a few steps towards Long Di.

Naturally, Long Di saw this and grew curious. “Shen Ling?”

Before he could say anything more, she grabbed his arm and hugged him tight.

When Long Di saw this, he looked up at one of the rooftops to see Pebbles the Wondercat atop Lord Whiskers smirking at him.

“You’re not gonna let go are you?” Long Di asked.

Shen Ling simply shook her head to express her stance on it.

“Well, I don’t mind. It’s not like I hate it,” said Long Di.

When Shen Ling heard this, a smile immediately appeared on her face.

Before they could move off, a gallant and lively voice rang out.

“Sir Long is quite lucky to have someone by his side.”

Long Di and his group looked over to see two people heading towards them. One was a woman who appeared noble and humble. Her hair was tied up in an elegant bun, which elevated her grace.

Her porcelain skin exuded a soft glow, and her eyes were both intelligent and shrewd. She was demure but not detached. Cherry red lips were upturned into a gentle smile that stole the hearts of anyone present.

The azure dress she wore set her off even more, making her appear like a true banished immortal.

As a result, many female cultivators in the crowd immediately felt inferior to her.

The other person was a young man. His bearing was heroic and confident. His chiselled features made him appear like a capable general meant to take charge in the heat of battle. At the same time, his mien painted him like a dependable friend, a partner in life and death, an unusual combination that he somehow pulled off.

His long hair was pulled into a ponytail and kept in place with a simple hair ornament in the shape of a sword. He wore red dao robes that made him appear especially dashing. There was also a treasure sword on his back.

His eyes were calm and clear, however, much like the sword that was sheathed on his back, they hid a terrifying sharpness that couldn’t be concealed.

“That’s Mad Sword Haoran, one of the Seven Heroes!” An expert blurted out.

“Thank you, miscellaneous expert.” Long Di said to the person who spoke.

That person was surprised that Long Di acknowledged him. He had always been one of those people who just spoke whenever someone powerful or kind of important arrived but never had he been recognised for it.

It felt good.

Nevertheless, Mad Sword Haoran was not someone to be taken lightly… unless you’re Long Di.

He was one of the Seven Heroes. This was an exemplary set of younger-generation experts who stood out from the masses. Their cultivation, talent and prowess lauded them as some of the most gifted sets of cultivators within the human race.

There were countless human cultivators in the world. For anyone to stand out in such a mass showcased how incredible they were.

Now one of them wishes to speak with Long Di.