The Lord of Void and Real
Chapter 1783 - 1779 Ban on Sale

Chapter 1783: Chapter 1779 Ban on Sale

In another shop, a graceful woman welcomed Shen Luo.

Upon hearing that Shen Luo wanted the Water-Fire Elixir, the woman showed the same expression as the previous middle-aged shopkeeper and informed Shen Luo that the Water-Fire Elixir was already sold out.

Though puzzled, Shen Luo did not ask further and turned to leave the store.

However, when he inquired at thirteen subsequent shops, the results were all the same: the "Water-Fire Elixir" was sold out and not a single one could be bought.

Arriving at the sixteenth shop, Shen Luo saw an old man approaching and directly asked:

"Shopkeeper, your store wouldn’t happen to be out of Water-Fire Elixir as well?"

The slumped figure of the old man paused slightly, then he smiled and said, "Our Bao Zhai Hall still has some stock, but it cannot be sold to the customer."

Upon hearing this, Shen Luo’s brows slightly raised.

"What does the shopkeeper mean by this? Clearly there is stock, yet you refuse to sell. How is that any way to run a business?" Shen Luo asked.

"It looks like the customer has come from afar and is not yet aware? Recently, the Southern Sea Dragon Palace suddenly sent envoys to the Great Ravine and purchased all the Water-Fire Elixir from the Ten Islands here, ordering that none may be sold to outsiders in the near future." The old man hesitated briefly and said to Shen Luo.

Upon hearing this, Shen Luo frowned tightly. It was one thing for them to buy up the Water-Fire Elixir, but forbidding shops to privately sell to others was too overbearing, wasn’t it?

"Why does the Southern Sea Dragon Palace act in this manner?" Shen Luo asked in confusion.

"Well... we are not aware of that either, perhaps it is related to the unusual phenomenon recently occurring in the Great Ravine." The old man shook his head with a deep meaning and said.

Seeing this, Shen Luo lightly brushed his hand over the counter, where several pieces of Immortal Jade appeared under his palm.

"Shopkeeper, indeed I am not from here and have just arrived, so I am not very familiar with certain circumstances. I hope you might help guide me a bit," Shen Luo said with a smile.

Seeing the Immortal Jade, the old man’s eyes immediately shone. He reached out a hand while saying, "Indeed, indeed, I have some information, not guidance, just hoping to assist the noble guest."

"Please, shopkeeper, do tell." Shen Luo did not rush to move his hand, but said.

"Well... although the Great Ravine is a scenic spot within the Southern Sea, besides Water-Fire Elixirs and Ink Jade Coral, there are not many other resources. Thus, the Southern Sea Dragon Palace has always looked down on this place and rarely interferes. Just recently though, for some reason, the Southern Sea Dragon Palace suddenly gathered a large number of shrimp soldiers and crab generals, while collecting Water-Fire Elixirs and temporarily sealing off the Great Ravine, forbidding anyone else from entering. Rumor has it that some rare treasures might have surfaced below." The old man paused slightly and said.

After hearing this, Shen Luo subtly moved his hand back and let out two pieces of Immortal Jade while still keeping several pieces pressed underneath, and continued to ask:

"Then, what is the mysterious phenomenon the shopkeeper mentioned about the Great Ravine?"

The old man first put away the two Immortal Jades safely, then beamed with a smile and said:

"The guest should have seen it too; never before has there been a situation of dark clouds covering the sky above the Ten Islands of the Great Ravine. At least while I’ve been here for nearly a hundred years, I’ve never seen it nor heard of such a thing. But several days ago, this place suddenly gathered dark clouds. No wind, no rain, only at the early hours each morning does thunder sound a few times, very punctual and very strange."

Shen Luo listened and felt somewhat disappointed but still let his hand go, giving the remaining pieces of Immortal Jade to the old man.

"I can see the guest is a generous nobleman. As long as you guarantee not to leak the information, I am willing to secretly sell the remaining Water-Fire Elixirs to the noble guest," the old man collected the Immortal Jade cheerfully, hesitated for a moment, and then said in a low voice.

"Really?" Upon hearing this, Shen Luo was suddenly overjoyed.

"How dare I deceive? However, things of rarity are precious, and now the price of Water-Fire Elixirs isn’t low. How many would the noble guest like to buy?" the old man asked with a smile.

"What’s the price?" Shen Luo asked.

The old man raised three fingers, shaking them, and said, "Three hundred Immortal Jade per pill."

Upon hearing this price, Shen Luo was first stunned, then did some calculations, needing about one hundred pills in total, approximately thirty thousand Immortal Jade, which was completely manageable for him.

Seeing Shen Luo pondering silently, the old man thought he found the price too high and explained further, "Guest, it’s not that I falsely reported a high price. The truth is, the item is now in scarce supply, and the price has surged several times. I truly haven’t asked for much."

After hearing this, Shen Luo returned to his senses, feeling somewhat speechless.

The price of these Water-Fire Elixirs actually was much lower than he expected. He initially thought that the Yulin Immortal would have him search for items of a value no less than the Nine-petaled Earth Heart Fire Lotus.

"Since the market price is as such, it does not matter. I need one hundred Water-Fire Elixirs. I hope the shopkeeper can prepare them for me," Shen Luo said.

"What? One hundred?" the old man exclaimed, his voice raising slightly.

"Is there... difficulty in that?" Shen Luo asked in confusion.

"The guest isn’t joking with me, right? The Ten Islands of the Great Ravine only produce less than eighty Water-Fire Elixirs a year. How can you openly ask for one hundred? Even if the Southern Sea Dragon Palace hadn’t bought them, you would need to order at least two years in advance to gather enough." After confirming that Shen Luo wasn’t joking, the old shopkeeper explained.

"Is the production of Water-Fire Elixirs so low?" Shen Luo was greatly surprised.

"The guest may not know, the Water-Fire Elixirs are crystallized formations from the Water Absorption tribe in the Great Ravine, gathered from the fire veins underwater which are hard to digest and form over years in their stomach before being expelled. When expelled, their stomachs make a sound like rolling thunder, giving them the name Water-Fire Elixir. As they live in the deeper Great Ravine and are very timid, most expelled Water-Fire Elixirs are in very hidden locations, making it difficult for pearl divers to find them, thus the production is extremely low." The old man continued explaining.

"I see..." Shen Luo slowly said.

"So, the guest seems to have made the trip in vain, one hundred Water-Fire Elixirs are difficult to gather." The old shopkeeper shook his head.

"I’ll take as many as your store has left," Shen Luo thought for a moment and said.

"We only have three here, if the guest wants them, I will fetch them for you." The old man said.

"Much obliged." Shen Luo cupped his hands.

The old man turned and left, but instead of taking from the shelf, he went into the inner room, and moments later came out holding a purple wooden box.

He came to the counter, opened the box, revealing three round crystals the size of watermelon seeds. Inside, their color was crimson like fire, covered in a layer of transparent crystal resembling ice, truly living up to the name Water-Fire.

Seeing there was no issue with the items, Shen Luo paid the Immortal Jade and collected them.

The old shopkeeper held the full purse of Immortal Jade, counted them with delight, and then stored them securely.

After bidding farewell, Shen Luo intended to try other stores and try his luck again.

Just as he was about to lift the curtain to leave, the voice of the old shopkeeper suddenly came from behind: "Guest, please wait."