Luo Li

After listening to the middle-aged merfolk man's account.

Chen Daoxuan fell silent.

"Senior, you mean you wish to purchase Magic Artifacts from our family?"

"Precisely."

The middle-aged merfolk man nodded.

After pondering for a moment, Chen Daoxuan shook his head. "Senior, I'm afraid this junior cannot agree to your request."

Before the middle-aged merfolk man could speak, Luo Li beside him grew anxious. "Why not? Do you think the price we offered is too low? If so, we can—"

Before she could finish, Chen Daoxuan shook his head with a bitter smile.

"This young lady, that is not the case."

He paused. "After all, your Merfolk Tribe and our human race belong to different races. If your Merfolk Tribe purchases Magic Artifacts from our Chen Family and uses them to slaughter our human brethren—

setting aside whether the Chen Family's conscience could bear it, the Qianyuan Sword Sect would never spare our Chen Family."

Upon hearing this explanation, both the middle-aged man and the female mermaid named Luo Li fell silent.

Different races—there was no room for negotiation.

"Are you not afraid that I'll kill you?"

Seeing this, the middle-aged merfolk man threatened faintly.

"Senior can naturally kill me, but like the Zhou Family, my Chen Family is an enfeoffed family of the Qianyuan Sword Sect. Should Senior commit such an atrocity, the Qianyuan Sword Sect will surely seek justice for my Chen Family in the future.

Senior, do not forget that this junior is an Artifact Forger. As long as Senior understands how highly the Qianyuan Sword Sect values Artifact Forgers and Alchemists, you will know that this junior speaks no falsehood!"

As he said this, Chen Daoxuan glared furiously at the other party, wearing the expression of a man who regarded death as home.

Seeing Chen Daoxuan suddenly become impervious to both soft and hard tactics, the middle-aged merfolk man immediately felt troubled.

From the depths of their hearts, the Merfolk Tribe absolutely did not wish to become enemies with the human race.

After all, the human race was the unquestioned overlord of this world. Their Merfolk Tribe could not even defeat the insignificant Zhou Family, much less contend against a colossal force like the Qianyuan Sword Sect.

But sometimes, even if you did not wish to be enemies with others, they would still insist on trampling upon you.

For instance, the Guang'an Prefecture Zhou Family.

In order to cultivate Spirit Shells, they spared no effort in capturing mermaid women in great numbers. They even imprisoned merfolk men as breeding stock, forcing them to produce descendants and serve as slaves of the Zhou Family for generation after generation.

For hundreds of years.

The Merfolk Tribe had rebelled countless times, but every time, they had ended in failure.

This time, the Merfolk Tribe's resistance had been on the largest scale, yet they had still been easily crushed by the Zhou Family.

Left with no alternative, the middle-aged merfolk man could only lead his clansmen in relocating the entire tribe to evade the Zhou Family's capture.

That was precisely why they had encountered Chen Daoxuan's Cargo Ship halfway through their journey.

After a long while.

The middle-aged merfolk man said faintly, "I can swear on behalf of my Luo Clan Merfolk Tribe that we will never use the Magic Artifacts sold to us by your Chen Family to slaughter a single human."

A Great Dao Oath!

Hearing this oath, Chen Daoxuan was moved.

In this world, a Great Dao Oath was one of the strictest oaths for cultivators. Another oath on the same level was the Netherworld Blood Oath.

However, the Netherworld Blood Oath was exceptionally vicious. Even without breaking the oath, one might suffer backlash upon oneself, so few people would make such a poisonous vow.

Seeing the middle-aged merfolk man make such an oath, Chen Daoxuan judged that the timing was about right.

If he pressed the other party any further, it might backfire.

After some thought, Chen Daoxuan asked, "Forgive my boldness, but since your Merfolk Tribe will not use Magic Artifacts against my human race, why do you insist on purchasing Magic Artifacts from our Chen Family?"

Hearing this, Luo Li said irritably, "Do you think every race lives as easily as your human race, without foreign enemies? My Merfolk Tribe dwells in the deep sea. There are countless Demonic Beasts and foreign races there!

If we do not have martial strength to protect our clansmen, the only path awaiting our Merfolk Tribe is extinction."

After saying this, the eyes of the exquisitely beautiful mermaid dimmed.

Having been forced by the Zhou Family to relocate the entire tribe this time, they would inevitably wage war against other races in the underwater world. Who knew how many more brothers and sisters would die then?

At this thought, Luo Li's expression grew even more despondent.

Chen Daoxuan could not understand the hardships of the Merfolk Tribe, but the Demonic Beast upheaval in Changping County back then had taught him that this world was far from free of danger, especially in the deep sea.

Pretending to ponder for a moment.

Chen Daoxuan nodded reluctantly. "Very well. Since your Merfolk Tribe is not purchasing weapons to deal with my human race, then this business can naturally be done. But the specific prices still need to be discussed properly."

As he spoke, Chen Daoxuan took out two flying swords from his Storage Bag, one a First-tier low-grade flying sword and the other a First-grade Medium Flying Sword.

"Have a look."

Chen Daoxuan handed the flying swords over.

The two accepted the flying swords and examined them carefully. Luo Li frowned. "You really are something. Each of these two weapons is worse than the last. Neither compares to the one you showed us before."

Chen Daoxuan smiled. "Naturally. Magic Artifacts of different grades come at different prices."

As he spoke, he looked at the middle-aged merfolk man. "For example, the Magic Artifact that injured Senior was simply astronomically priced!"

Hearing this, the middle-aged merfolk man recalled the flying sword Zhou Mubai had used and nodded deeply in agreement. "If it is that weapon, then it truly is a priceless treasure."

Luo Li's beautiful eyes lit up at those words, and she asked expectantly, "Does your Chen Family have treasures like that for sale?"

"Cough, cough."

Chen Daoxuan coughed awkwardly. "Young lady, you jest. Besides, even if my Chen Family had a Magic Artifact of that level, I fear you could not afford its price."

"That's true."

Luo Li's voice gradually softened.

Seeing that the other party had led the conversation astray, Chen Daoxuan hurriedly brought it back. "You two, these three Magic Artifacts are respectively First Grade Lower Rank, first-grade medium rank, and High-grade First-tier Magical Artifact.

Their prices are respectively 500, 1,000, and 2,000 Spirit Stones. At present, the only Magic Artifacts my Chen Family can refine in large quantities are First Grade Lower Rank Magic Artifacts—the kind priced at 500 Spirit Stones."

When Chen Daoxuan named a price of 500 Spirit Stones for a First-tier low-grade flying sword, he nearly could not hold back his breath.

Just as he prepared himself for the Merfolk Tribe to haggle, Luo Li said with delight, "This weapon can be bought with just 500 of those worthless stones? That is far too cheap!

And this weapon only costs 2,000 stones. Could it be that you are afraid of us and deliberately quoted such low prices?"

Upon hearing those prices, Luo Li immediately developed a favorable impression of Chen Daoxuan.

She felt that humans were not all the same. Compared to villains like the Zhou Family, the youth before her was simply an enormously good person.

Hearing this.

Chen Daoxuan felt that he might have underestimated the wealth of the underwater world.

Not only him—perhaps every cultivator in the Myriad Star Sea had overlooked the immense wealth of the Deep Sea World.

But on further thought, this was unavoidable.

Cultivators were said to soar through the heavens and burrow through the earth, capable of anything, yet Chen Daoxuan knew clearly that low-level cultivators did not possess such great abilities as to travel to the underwater world to mine.

According to Chen Daoxuan's understanding, this world was clearly unlike the spherical world of his previous life. In terms of vastness, it surpassed Earth by an unknown number of times.

Likewise, the depth of this world's seas exceeded those of his previous life by an unknown amount.

As a result, the pitiful true qi of low-level cultivators simply could not withstand the terrifying pressure of the deep sea.

Thus, developing the underwater world was nothing more than empty talk.

The Merfolk Tribe, however, was different. They possessed a unique racial talent that allowed them to live freely in the underwater world, something other land-dwelling races could only envy.

At this thought, the way Chen Daoxuan looked at Luo Li suddenly became incomparably fervent.