"The price?" Song Shuhang asked.
Not bad. The kid had some sense. That fit the Nine Provinces Number One Group's principle: you had to give something to get something.
But what could the kid offer?
Steel Hand was a skill he could use all the way through the late Fifth-Grade Realm. If Song Shuhang found Senior Phoenix Slayer and had him fire off a few rounds to shatter him into liquid, there was even a chance Steel Hand would mutate into something like Song Shuhang's current Steel Full-Body.
Set the price too low, and it would somehow cheapen the skill... Set it too high, and the kid probably couldn't afford it.
What a headache.
Being a wise old mentor at someone's side took skill too. Every trade among the three hundred and sixty-five had its own tricks.
"Then give me the most precious... no, the third-most precious thing you have," Song Shuhang said after a moment's thought.
Three was a fine number, much loved in China. For instance, the good fortune of three lifetimes, cutting three parts into the wood, agreeing on three rules, and finding a teacher among any three people.
Or the rule of never pushing your luck more than three times...
Besides, the third-most precious thing would be neither too valuable nor too cheap. Perfect.
"I understand." Scarlet Eyes nodded firmly, then pulled a small pouch from his pocket. "This is the Protective Scent Pouch my mother gave me. It's the third-most precious thing I have."
Song Shuhang: "..."
No matter how he looked at it, it was a sachet.
He was trading Steel Hand, a divine blacksmithing skill, for a protective talisman... No, for a pouch brimming with a mother's love.
Fine. A protective talisman it was.
After all, he hadn't sent his Primordial Spirit all