The shopkeeper stared at the counter crowded with bottles of essence blood, the corner of his mouth twitching.
Exchanging essence blood was normal, but Jiang Lan had already come twice in such a short time.
The Fourth Tier had been fine earlier, but now...
The shopkeeper said with a miserable expression,
"Exchanging it is no problem. The usual rate is six to one... for you, it's five to one, but the problem is..."
Jiang Lan raised an eyebrow. "What's the problem?"
"The problem is... my little shop really doesn't have that much Fifth Tier essence blood... no, actually, there isn't much Fifth Tier essence blood in the entire Base City."
Jiang Lan froze, then understood.
Right.
Even the Military had some trouble killing a Fifth Tier ferocious beast. Although there were plenty of powerful martial artists in the Base City, Fifth Tier essence blood could never be as commonplace as Fourth Tier essence blood.
No wonder he had only needed one bottle of Fifth Tier essence blood to level up again after his previous upgrade.
After a moment of silence, Jiang Lan asked,
"How much do you have?"
"I'd have to gather it up. Probably... thirty bottles?"
Without hesitating, Jiang Lan nodded.
"Thirty bottles will do."
Although he couldn't exchange it all, having some was better than nothing.
Besides, another thirty bottles of essence blood would be enough for him to gain three levels in a row.
"All right, exchange it all."
The shopkeeper rattled through the calculations.
"Three hundred and eighty-one bottles of Fourth Tier essence blood, at five to one, comes to seventy-six bottles of Fifth Tier essence blood."
He paused, looking troubled.
"But, young man, my stock is limited. I only have thirty bottles of Fifth Tier essence blood in total. I really don't have any more."