Alex stepped off the road and entered the building. Inside, a bustling atmosphere greeted Alex. Dozens of people were on the first floor talking to one of the numerous attendants or perusing the various items on display.
A middle-aged man walked up to Alex and asked "How can I help you sir?"
"What is this place?" asked Alex.
"This is the Mystic Trade Hall. Well, a branch Trade Hall stationed in the Devontae Kingdom. How can I help you?" asked the man once more.
"Branch trade hall?" thought Alex. This building was quite luxurious, and was even larger than his own clan's trade hall, and yet it was just a branch building?
Realizing he had been standing there in silence, Alex quickly said "I'd like to sell some Qi Gathering level beast corpses. Also, if you have any sword battle arts or body arts, I'd like to look at those as well."
"Very well, follow me" responded the man before turning around. Alex followed him through a door in the back of the large room, at which point a large staircase was revealed to Alex.
The man led Alex to the third floor of the building before walking down the hallway and entering one of the many rooms available. Alex stepped inside the room and looked around. There were two comfortable looking couches with a table in between them. Many luxurious statues and vases were placed on small pedestals all around the perimeter of the room.
"Please be seated. Someone will soon arrive to attend to your needs." The attendant slowly closed the door and left.
Alex looked around the room for a while before sitting on one of the couches. He closed his eyes and started focusing on cultivating. Alex was close to the second stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, so he took every second to cultivate, so he could reach it quicker.
Five minutes later, the door slowly opened, and an attendant stepped inside. It was a woman who appeared to be in her early twenties. She had long black hair and large brown eyes. Her face was quite sharp, giving her quite an intimidating presence.
"Foundation Establishment?" thought Alex as he opened his eyes in surprise. Even an attendant for the Mystic Trade Hall had such a cultivation. And this was only one of its branch buildings.
The woman sat down on the couch opposite Alex and placed a tea set on the table in between them. She poured two cups of tea and slid one towards Alex.
"Just how powerful is the Mystic Trade Hall?" mused Alex.
"I heard that you have some beast corpses to sell. And you're also looking for some sword battle arts and body arts ?" asked the woman.
"Yes. I have many beast corpses, all at the First Stage of the Qi Gathering level. Please see for yourself" responded Alex as he handed over his storage ring.
The woman took the ring and inspected the contents inside. As she inspected all the beast corpses, her eyebrows raised slightly.
"Indeed, they are all Qi Gathering level beasts. I'll give you ten gold for all the corpses." The woman offered.
Alex thought about it for a bit before accepting. The woman transferred the corpses to her own storage ring before handing Alex his storage ring back with the ten gold coins inside.
"Now that this matter is settled, what type of battle arts are you looking for?" asked the woman curiously. She had already taken note of the boy in front of her. His robes clearly showed that he was from the Dracon Clan. As such, she had treated him with respect from the start and even attended to him personally despite being quite important in this branch location. She was curious however, as to why a Dracon Clan youth was so far from their clan, alone nonetheless.
"Well, my request depends on what you can provide," said Alex, his response causing the woman to raise her eyebrow slightly.
"I'm looking for any Qi Gathering level sword arts you have. If you don't have any, then I want to look at all your Qi Gathering body battle arts" responded Alex.
"Swords and Body techniques, huh? How interesting" the woman responded while rhythmically tapping the armrest of her couch.
"We do have a few techniques. One moment." The woman took out a small disk. It had many runes carved into its surface. Alex could tell she was channeling her Qi into the disk, but didn't ask what she was doing.
A few minutes later, the door to the room opened. A young boy entered the room and quickly approached the woman before handing her two storage rings. The woman inspected the rings before nodding to the boy, at which point he quickly left the room.
"Seems like she used the disk in her hand to contact the boy. I think I remember father using something similar once" thought Alex.
While Alex was deep in thought, many books and scrolls suddenly appeared on the table in front of him. Alex was quickly startled out of his thoughts.
"So many!" thought Alex in surprise. There were clearly almost a dozen books on the table in front of him, all regarding swords battle arts and body battle arts. His clan didn't have any body arts, but the mystic trade hall had almost a dozen of them.
"Well, I guess that makes some sense. No one in our clan is a body cultivator, and so there's no need for the clan to collect any body battle arts" thought Alex as he picked up the book closest to him.
"Steel Hands Arts! Pretty impressive name" thought Alex. He opened the book and read over the introduction of the technique. After reading for a minute, Alex put the book down and picked up the next one.
"Golden Ape Body Arts! Sounds domineering." Alex read the first page technique introduction before setting the book down and picking up the next one. He proceeded to do the same for the remaining books before his eyes widened in shock as he looked at an unfurled scroll.
The woman noticed Alex shocked reaction and narrowed her eyes slightly but said nothing.
Alex took a few seconds to compose himself before he reached out and picked up the unfurled scroll.
"This is technique..."
***********
I apologize for not posting; I was busy with college exams and didn't have much time to write. I'll start posting more frequently once my exams are finished; for the time being, I'll update every 2 or 3 days.
Please vote with power stones to support this story. The more, the better.
***********
Like it ? Add to library!
Like it ? Add to library!
Alex quickly realized that his expression was quite exaggerated. Trying to cover his shock, Alex quickly asked the woman "What is this? Do you know what this technique says?"
The woman looked at Alex in silence for a moment. His exaggerated expression almost seemed to indicate that he could read the scroll, but that should be impossible. From what the woman knew, the language was an ancient language as it came from one of the ancient ruins. No one knew how to read the language. She decided to test Alex and see what his shocked reaction was about. This matter was too important to leave alone.
"I do not unfortunately. By the way, why were you so shocked to see this scroll? A scroll in a foreign language shouldn't be too shocking should it?"
Alex quickly realized that the woman was onto him. He racked his brain for ideas before finally thinking of something.
"I was shocked because my clan has this exact same scroll in its martial library. The Elder in charge told me that it's written in a language that no one understands but didn't elaborate further. I didn't expect to see it anywhere else."
The woman looked at Alex but didn't respond. "I suppose that does make sense as to why he would be shocked to see it here. How foolish was I to think this boy could read this scroll" thought the woman while slightly chuckling at herself.
"Your Clan Elder is right. This scroll is written in an ancient language that has long since been erased from this world. This scroll is one of the few remaining items that have withstood the test of time. What we have here, and what your clan has as well is just a copy."
Alex finally understood why this scroll was in another language, truth even though he didn't know what was written on it, luckily he has the system.
****
[Astral Body Art]
[Rank: Star]
****
"So it's just a copy huh? I wonder where the original is?" thought Alex.
Alex wanted to ask if there was more to the technique than just this single scroll, but he stopped himself at the last moment. "Asking that question would raise some flags. Why would I be interested in more than just this page if I didn't know how to read it?"
Alex looked back at the woman and said "Thank you for the information. In regards to the Sword and Body techniques, I'll take this scroll then as I like collecting them. Oh and I'd like to look at your swords techniques as well."
"I'm already proficient at the Sword Slash technique, so while I'm learning the ancient technique, I should have a powerful sword technique just in case," thought Alex.
"Of course, we have over one hundred Sword Arts. Please take a look inside the ring and pick out the one you want" responded the woman as she handed over one of the storage rings.
Alex sent his mind into the storage ring, his eyes widening in shock. "So many. Just their sword arts collection is as vast as the entire Dracon Clan library."
Alex perused the many Sword Arts before picking one that caught his attention.
He took it out of the storage ring and opened the scroll. "Ok, I will take it." "This is perfect for now," thought Alex as he stored the sword art away.
"How much for the ancient scroll and the sword art?" asked Alex.
"The sword art is twenty gold, while the ancient scroll is thirty gold" responded the woman.
Alex was prepared for a high price but still sucked in a breath of cold air. "That's half of my gold coins," thought Alex as he only had 100 gold with him, but he decided to accept anyway.
"I need both of these things more than I need the money. Besides, money is only good when it's used to buy things I need."
"Is there anything else you need?" asked the woman, snapping Alex out of his depressive thoughts regarding his money situation.
Alex thought for a moment if he needed anything else, but couldn't think of anything in particular that he needed.
"I'm all set for now. Thank you" responded Alex with a smile on his face. He was quite happy with today's transactions. The two things that were weighing heavy on his mind recently had been solved, making him feel much more at ease.
"Great. If you need anything else, please come again" responded the woman with a smile. Alex got up from the couch and said his goodbyes to the woman before leaving the room. After leaving the building, Alex stood on the side of the road and pondered his next move.
"I've taken care of my urgent needs for now. I really am curious about that Astral Body technique though. I should find an Inn and study it tonight" thought Alex as he stepped back onto the road and started walking.
A few minutes later, Alex stopped in front of a cozy-looking three-story building. "The Noxus Inn? Sounds like a good place to stay while I'm in the kingdom."
Alex walked into the building and was greeted by a boisterous atmosphere. Men and women were eating, drinking, and laughing. Alex smiled before walking up to the main counter.
"Excuse me, I'd like a room for the next few days," said Alex as the approached the innkeeper.
The fat middle-aged man turned around with a smile on his face. "The rate is ten silver coins a night."
"Ten! This kingdom sure is expensive" thought Alex. "No matter though, I have enough money."
Alex accepted the offer and followed the innkeeper to his room. It was quite large and far more luxurious than the other inns he had stayed in on his journey.
After settling down and washing up, Alex sat down on the floor and cleared his mind. Soon after, a small page made of animal hide appeared in his hands.
"I couldn't read you before but I can now. Let's see what secrets you're hiding."
Alex looked at the page and read the technique.
"Astral Body Arts"
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