Zane Wang spoke with a hint of embarrassment, "I only have a few thousand mid-grade spirit stones on me. Such a small amount won't be of much help to Senior Brother Felix Zheng—it's like a drop in the ocean."
"I don't have any spirit stones." Compared to Zane Wang, Sherry Frost was much more direct, not even bothering with pleasantries.
Celia Qi lowered her head, having already pleaded once before.
"Let's go take a look first," Joe Di thought coldly to himself.
He had already guessed that these two were unlikely to offer up any spirit stones. He originally teamed up with Felix Zheng, who was decent enough. In this situation, to act as cold and indifferent as Sherry Frost and Zane Wang, he simply couldn’t do it.
"Alright, I'll lead the way." Celia Qi responded quickly and hurried to the front.
Perhaps because they were now a team, Zane Wang and Sherry Frost felt awkward staying behind. Seeing Joe Di and Celia Qi leave the room, they followed as well.
This spaceship had three levels. The lowest level had no trading post, while both the second and third decks did. The third deck was generally reserved for Golden Core cultivators, and the goods in its trading post were far superior to those on the second.
Felix Zheng’s accident occurred at a spirit herb materials shop in the second deck’s trading post. From a distance, Joe Di spotted the shop owner—a hefty fellow, likely weighing half a ton, with a cultivation level around Foundation Establishment Stage Three, probably practicing a special technique.
"What, you brought people to pay back the spirit stones?" The obese shop owner jiggled his fat and sneered as he saw Celia Qi approach.
Seeing the situation, Joe Di knew that things would not be resolved peacefully today.
Not to mention they hadn’t gathered a hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones—even if they did, there would surely be more trouble ahead.
"Senior Brother Zi Mo..." Celia Qi turned her gaze to Joe Di. She had seen clearly now—Sherry Frost and Zane Wang might make decent teammates, but they were not friends in times of adversity. At this moment, only Joe Di could help her.
"Where is our friend?" Joe Di didn’t ask for the reason directly but inquired about Felix Zheng’s whereabouts.
"Hand over the compensation spirit stones, and your friend will naturally be brought here." The obese shop owner continued to jiggle his fat.
Joe Di stretched out his hand and pulled out a pair of massive octagonal iron hammers, slinging them onto his back.
Seeing Joe Di’s actions, the obese shop owner sneered, his fat trembling, "What, planning to start a fight here?"
Joe Di replied calmly, "Which eye of yours saw me start a fight? I’m just carrying my artifact on my back—does that require your permission? As for spirit stones, I have plenty. But until I see my friend, you won’t get a single spirit stone from me."
"Bring him over." The obese shop owner snorted and waved his hand.
A shop assistant at the Essence Training middle stage dragged Felix Zheng out and casually tossed him to the ground.
Felix Zheng hung his head, seemingly still unconscious. Joe Di swept him with his spiritual sense—apart from both legs being broken, Felix Zheng’s meridians and cultivation were fine. For a Foundation Stage Two cultivator, these were only minor injuries.
This made Joe Di realize even more clearly—the fat shopkeeper was only after money.
"Celia Qi, take Brother Zheng aside," Joe Di instructed, deliberately blocking the path of the obese shopkeeper.
"What, you want to take him away without paying?" The obese shop owner had just finished speaking when he felt a surge of pressure.
It was as if Joe Di had always been standing in his way, blocking his movement.
Sensing that Joe Di was no ordinary person, the obese shop owner instead took a step back, glaring coldly. His expression showed he had Joe Di figured out—he wouldn’t dare take Felix Zheng outside.
"Junior Sister Celia Qi," Joe Di called out.
Celia Qi had already taken Felix Zheng aside and handed him a healing pill. Hearing Joe Di call her, she hurried over and bowed, "Senior Brother Zi Mo, I’m here."
"Show me the regulations for this spaceship." Joe Di said, his spiritual sense sweeping over as a Foundation Stage Nine cultivator approached.
Celia Qi quickly produced a jade slip and handed it to Joe Di. He scanned it with his spiritual sense, then set it aside and said, "Shopkeeper, since we arrived late, we don’t know what offense Brother Zheng committed against your shop. If it’s in line with the ship’s rules, we’re willing to pay spirit stones. Even if we don’t have enough, we’ll sell our artifacts to make up the difference."
While Joe Di was speaking, he noticed that the Foundation Stage Nine cultivator had stopped not far away, without saying another word. It seemed he, like the obese shop owner, wasn’t at all afraid of Joe Di causing trouble.
The obese shopkeeper was also wary that Joe Di might really cause trouble and start a fight in his store. Even if Joe Di ended up bringing ruin upon himself, such a scene would be bad for business. Pointing at Felix Zheng, he said coldly, "This man came to my shop earlier to buy Bloodspike Grass. Although Bloodspike Grass is a third-grade rare spirit herb, it isn’t particularly expensive—just one hundred and fifty top-grade spirit stones per stalk. He wanted two stalks, but our assistant made a mistake and brought out a stalk of Soulglass Herb instead. Your friend recognized the Soulglass Herb and quickly snatched it up, putting it in his storage bag..."
"Soulglass Herb?" Joe Di repeated in surprise.
Joe Di was now quite knowledgeable and knew exactly what Soulglass Herb was. It was a precious fifth-grade spirit herb used to refine Soulglass Elixir, which could even restore the soul of a Soul Ancestor whose spiritual essence had been damaged. Its value far exceeded its grade—some ninth-grade spirit herbs weren’t even as expensive as Soulglass Herb.
If it really was Soulglass Herb, then even a hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones wouldn’t buy a single strand of it.
The obese shop owner put on a sorrowful expression and sighed, "Sigh, my shop is partly to blame for this. The assistant didn’t recognize the Soulglass Herb. Otherwise, even if you offered a million top-grade spirit stones, I wouldn’t have agreed to let it go."
Joe Di was even less convinced. Though Soulglass Herb looked similar to Bloodspike Grass, there were distinct differences. Soulglass Herb had a crystal-like white line in the middle, and once picked, it couldn’t be touched by hand—if touched, it would turn to ash. Alchemists refining Soulglass Elixir only used spiritual sense to handle it.
To claim that an assistant at a spirit herb shop couldn’t recognize Soulglass Herb—no one would believe it. Besides, could an assistant even access such a rare herb directly? The fat man’s story was full of holes.
The obese shop owner pointed at Felix Zheng again. "When he grabbed the Soulglass Herb, he accidentally touched it, and it turned to ash. Now, you tell me, is it unreasonable for me to demand a hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones in compensation?"
Felix Zheng woke up just then. Seeing Joe Di and the others approach, a look of defeat and regret crossed his face. "Sorry, I dragged everyone into this."
Zane Wang and Sherry Frost stayed silent, never intending to help. Celia Qi quickly said, "Senior Brother, ever since Senior Brother Zi Mo heard about this, he’s been helping nonstop."
Felix Zheng wasn’t stupid. With Zane Wang and Sherry Frost silent and Celia Qi saying Joe Di had been helping all along, he understood perfectly.
Joe Di walked up to Felix Zheng and asked, "Brother Zheng, are you sure it was Soulglass Herb?"
Felix Zheng sighed, "Yes, it was definitely Soulglass Herb. And I’m certain I didn’t touch it with my hands."
Joe Di patted Felix Zheng on the shoulder and smiled, "Looks like you fell for a honey trap. If I’m not mistaken, you came to buy Foundation Pill, but they said you needed two stalks of Bloodspike Grass as the main ingredient. So you came to buy Bloodspike Grass, saw the Soulglass Herb, and were tempted, right?"
Ruining Soulglass Herb and only being charged a hundred thousand—Joe Di could only chuckle. It seemed whoever set the trap for Felix Zheng knew that was the maximum they could squeeze from their group; any more would be impossible.
"Sigh..." Felix Zheng let out a long breath. "I already gave them a top-grade ore—a fourth-grade Celestial Blade Steel..."
"You mean you gave him a piece of fourth-grade Celestial Blade Steel?" Joe Di forced himself to suppress his excitement as he asked.
Joe Di wanted Celestial Blade Steel badly. It was the best material for forging blade-type magical artifacts, but it was nearly impossible to find.
Joe Di had seen in a tattered ancient scroll that Celestial Blade Steel was classified as a fourth-grade forging material, but it should really be considered grade-less. Its unique property was that, if combined with the ninth-grade forging material Violet Silksand, the blade artifact forged could potentially be upgraded.
Ninth-grade forging material Violet Silksand was even rarer and more precious, but no matter how rare, it couldn’t compare to an artifact that could be upgraded. Even if the upgrades weren’t limitless, such a treasure was still unmatched in the world.
"Yes, I really did have a piece of fourth-grade Celestial Blade Steel, and I’ve already given it to him," Felix Zheng said, looking at the obese shopkeeper.
Joe Di looked at the obese shopkeeper and said, "Return my friend’s item first, then let’s sit down and figure out exactly how much compensation is owed."
Joe Di was determined to get that piece of Celestial Blade Steel. So far, he hadn’t had a decent artifact; with Celestial Blade Steel, even if he couldn’t find Violet Silksand, he could still forge a fine blade.
......