Simon chuckled. "Why would I buy information when I'm not even sure whether it's true or false?"
Shaking his head, Simon wandered around with Fanny. As for Napote and the others, they each browsed separately, buying whatever they wanted.
Quicksand Castle was indeed very free. It only maintained the most basic order here. As long as no one caused trouble, nobody cared what you did.
"Simon, come look! This crystal is so pretty."
Fanny pulled Simon over to a stall and pointed at a stone radiating five-colored light. "Boss, how much is this crystal?"
"Heh, little miss, you've got a good eye. This Five-Colored Stone of mine is a special stone said to have been born when Hell first formed. Carrying it for a long time can noticeably improve your cultivation talent. If you wear it long enough, it's not impossible to cultivate all the way to the legendary Seven-Star Fiend level. I'm only asking one hundred million Inkstones for it. What do you think? Interested?"
The old man at the stall said with a smile.
Floating Shadows
Fanny did not care how many Inkstones it cost. Her Spatial Ring had plenty anyway. But Simon had no intention of being scammed for nothing. After studying the five-colored crystal for a while, he said to the old man,
"Setting aside whether this stone was truly born at the beginning of Hell's formation, if it really can improve cultivation talent and even help its wearer cultivate to Seven-Star Fiend level, then it should be worth far more than one hundred million Inkstones, shouldn't it? Also, when you say 'long enough,' how long is that exactly? And if I'm not mistaken, old man, you're a Midgod?"
Simon was not that easy to fool. One hundred million Inkstones was enough to buy a house outright in any city in Hell, with permanent ownership!
But if this stone could truly improve cultivation talent, even ten billion Inkstones would be a low price.
In Coiling Dragon World, improving one's cultivation talent was extremely difficult. The Earth Heart Milk Fanny had given him before was already considered remarkably effective, yet it completely lost its assisting effect once one reached Midgod level. Even then, it was something with a price but no market. There was nowhere to buy it.
This old man was only a Midgod. If the stone truly had such an effect, then as long as he kept wearing it, wouldn't he have reached Highgod level long ago? The lie was far too obvious, and his words were full of holes.
"Ahem, little brother, you can't put it that way. I only cultivated to Midgod because my talent is truly too poor. Without this Five-Colored Stone, I might not even have reached God-Level. I can tell at a glance that this little miss has outstanding talent. She's exactly suited for my Five-Colored Stone."
The old man continued making things up.
Simon was almost angered into laughter, but seeing that Fanny really did like it, he could not be bothered to argue further. He casually countered, "One hundred million Inkstones is ridiculous. Will you sell it for one hundred Inkstones?"
"Sold! As long as you name a price, I'll sell! Who told us we were fated to meet?"
The old man immediately agreed happily when he heard Simon's offer.
"Uh..."
Simon felt that he had still been scammed, but one hundred Inkstones did not matter. He would treat it as buying an ornament.
Simon took out one hundred Inkstones, picked up the five-colored crystal from the stall, and handed it to Fanny. "Here. Looks like we still got scammed in the end..."
"Hehe~ Simon, you actually know how to haggle? I thought you'd just drag me away."
Fanny happily accepted the five-colored crystal.
"Haha, I'm not an idiot. The only true thing in that whole story was the word 'Hell.' But since you like it, spending one hundred Inkstones to buy your happiness is worth it."
"Simon, you're so sweet. Hehe."
Fanny then pulled Simon around several more stalls. Without exception, most of the goods were fake, and the stories those crooked merchants made up became more outrageous one after another. Simon could barely stand listening to them.
"Looks like counterfeit goods are a huge problem everywhere."
Then Simon and Fanny went up to the second floor. The order there was clearly better, and most of the sellers were Highgods. The goods displayed at the stalls also looked like high-end items at a glance.
The goods here mainly included all kinds of Highgod Artifacts, materials, and specially made Metal Lifeforms.
They were fairly practical items, but Simon was not particularly interested after looking around. He went up to the third floor with Fanny.
Originally, one needed to be a Highgod or prove they possessed assets worth ten million Inkstones to enter the third floor. However, Simon casually displayed two Highgod Godheads, and the guard decisively let them in.
As expected of a place with asset requirements, the goods here were obviously good. There were basically no fakes, but everything was expensive.
For example, Death God Puppets were extremely useful, but Fanny said she had plenty in her Spatial Ring and had simply been too lazy to take them out before. Simon gave up on buying one.
After browsing for a while, Simon discovered a place that played Floating Shadows. A separate screening room had even been set aside, while the shelf in front was filled with Crystal Balls that recorded Floating Shadows.
Each Crystal Ball had an introduction in front of it with basic information about the combatants.
That piqued Simon's interest.
When he came to the stall, Simon found that the recordings here were mostly Floating Shadows of Six-Star Fiends battling.
The only Floating Shadow recording a battle between Seven-Star Fiends was placed in the most prominent position.
According to the introduction, the two combatants were the long-famous Silver-Blue Fiend and Thunder-Wing Fiend of Kaluosha Continent.
Simon had no impression of these two Seven-Star Fiends, but he was very curious about their battle.
After asking the owner, he learned that viewing it once cost five hundred thousand Inkstones per person. Compared to a battle between Seven-Star Fiends, that was not expensive.
Fanny was also very interested in the battle between the two Seven-Star Fiends, so Simon paid one million Inkstones and watched it with her.
In the Floating Shadow recording, the Silver-Blue Fiend cultivated in the Laws of Fate, while the Thunder-Wing Fiend cultivated in the Laws of Lightning.
Both were veteran Seven-Star Fiends famous for hundreds of millions of years, and the reason for their battle was unknown.
In the Floating Shadow, the two erupted into battle without saying a word.
The Thunder-Wing Fiend was clearly a Divine Beast. During the battle, he revealed his true form: a ferocious Twin-Winged Thunder Eagle. Surrounded by lightning, he moved at astonishing speed, turning into an unfathomable streak of lightning as he charged at the Silver-Blue Fiend.
His speed was so fast that even Simon, who excelled in speed, clicked his tongue in amazement.
The Silver-Blue Fiend, meanwhile, was an ordinary human. Facing the Divine Beast's thunderous strike, he merely smiled faintly. Divine light flashed in his eyes, and an almost transparent Soul Attack struck the Thunder-Wing Fiend, who was rapidly shifting positions in midair.
The struck Thunder-Wing Fiend clearly had not expected his opponent to lock onto his position so easily, and the strength of the Soul Attack also exceeded his expectations. His Innate Azure Light and soul defenses were pierced as easily as cardboard.
The struck Thunder-Wing Fiend convulsed all over before falling from the sky.
And with that, the Floating Shadow ended.
The Floating Shadow worth one million Inkstones had only played for a few breaths.
That was also because battles between Seven-Star Fiend experts ended extremely quickly.
After watching it, Simon recreated the battle in his mind. Under the review of his powerful soul force,
Simon discovered that the Thunder-Wing Fiend seemed to have used his Innate Divine Ability on himself as well, greatly increasing his speed. That was why he was so fast, so fast that Simon could barely catch his flight path.
But the Silver-Blue Fiend was clearly superior. He easily locked onto the Thunder-Wing Fiend as he constantly changed the direction of his charge, then killed him instantly with a single Soul Attack, ending the battle.
"Simon, this Silver-Blue Fiend is so strong. He killed the Thunder-Wing Fiend without even moving."
Fanny was deeply shocked by the Silver-Blue Fiend's overwhelming strength.
Although she was a Five-Star Fiend and was not considered weak in Hell, she was still far too inferior compared to the two people in the Floating Shadow.
Not to mention anything else, she could not even track the exact path of the lightning streak formed by the Thunder-Wing Fiend, much less hit him.
Yet the Silver-Blue Fiend had been able to lock onto the Thunder-Wing Fiend's movements so easily. He clearly was not as simple as he appeared, and the Soul Attack he unleashed afterward was even more instantly fatal.
"He really is strong. Either one of them could kill us easily. We're still not strong enough."
Simon estimated that his current Ice Wind Space would most likely be unable to restrain the Thunder-Wing Fiend. Even if it had some effect, it would be negligible.
The Thunder-Wing Fiend's Innate Divine Ability clearly amplified his speed, so he would be highly resistant to binding-type domains.
Therefore, if Simon faced the Thunder-Wing Fiend now, it would be extremely dangerous.
As for facing the Silver-Blue Fiend?
Even more dangerous!
Urgency
Simon's greatest weakness right now was soul defense. He would be fine against ordinary Five-Star or Six-Star Fiends, but facing someone like the Silver-Blue Fiend, who was exceptionally skilled in Soul Attacks, would be dangerous.
After all, against such an expert, Simon's Ice Wind Space was basically useless. He could only widen the distance in advance and avoid being hit as much as possible. If he was unfortunate enough to be struck, he could only endure it head-on.
Of course, Simon was only a Midgod now. Once both of his divine bodies reached Highgod level, and his Wind Space fully fused with Water Element Essence and Profound Mystery of Wind Element, its binding power would increase greatly. At that point, he should be able to greatly limit the Thunder-Wing Fiend's speed.
But Simon could not figure out how to deal with the Silver-Blue Fiend, because no matter how powerful a binding force was, it only worked against someone who moved.
If the other party simply stood still, what use would even the strongest binding force be?
The solution Simon could think of was to continue increasing his own speed and soul defense.
After all, if he was fast enough, the other party would not be able to hit him.
He also needed to fuse all the Profound Mysteries within the Laws of Water that enhanced soul defense and develop the strongest soul defense technique. Then, even if the enemy struck him, they would not be able to break through his soul defense. Naturally, that would make him invincible.
In his heart, he compared the gap between himself and them and considered methods of fighting them.
Simon realized that he was still far from being a true expert. The tiny bit of pride he had developed before scattered with the wind.
"There are countless experts in Hell. This little strength of mine is still not enough."
"I need to cultivate even harder!"
Simon silently reminded himself.
Before long, the owner came over to retrieve the Crystal Ball, indicating that the screening was over and the two of them could leave.
Simon and Fanny stood up and left the screening room.
This Floating Shadow had greatly affected both of them, and even Fanny felt a sense of urgency.
"Simon, we need to hurry up and cultivate stronger. Otherwise, if we run into experts like that, it feels like we wouldn't have any ability to resist at all."
"We really aren't strong enough yet. Don't worry, Fanny. Even if it costs me my life, I'll protect you. Believe me!"
Simon said firmly.
"Mhm! I believe you, Simon."
As always, Fanny trusted Simon.
The two of them browsed around a little longer and found that Fanny's family had long since prepared all those supposedly rare items for her.
Bored, the two went down from the third floor and found Napote and the others, who were still browsing on the second floor. After they finished buying everything they wanted, they left Quicksand Castle together.
They found a fairly good hotel and chose a high-class courtyard that included three small buildings, then moved in.
The hotels in Yanshan City were equally distinctive. Through the ingenious designs of master architects, the rocks had been hollowed out from within to naturally form individual rooms.
The courtyard was also elegantly designed, and everyone was very satisfied.
Simon and Fanny naturally chose the same room in the same small building. Lona and Napote did the same, while the single Elno and Hamut chose the remaining small building.
"No wonder it costs ten thousand Inkstones a year. The decorations here are much better than those little courtyards that cost two or three hundred Inkstones a year."
Simon said as he looked around the room.
Before you continue