343: Chapter 343 Gathering Information

Nie Ning walked around the shop, but in the end, he was defeated by his own poverty.

There was no helping it; things were simply too expensive.

Even though he had earned a lot of money recently, this wasn't the way to spend it, and most of it would be on unnecessary expenses.

He already had Fifth-Order defensive wizard tools, and in fact, he didn't really rely on such items.

After all, he possessed the incredibly high defense of an Exotic Beast; an attack capable of breaking through his physical defense would most likely also break through the defense of the xielin turtle shield.

Of course, for an ordinary wizard, having an extra layer of protection was still somewhat useful, as it could indeed prevent injury at a critical moment.

However, Nie Ning had High-speed Regeneration, coupled with a massive amount of magic power to maintain it, so he didn't have much dependency on such things.

"How much is this robe?"

Nie Ning waved over the nearby Shop Assistant and asked.

What lay before him was a black robe, but it possessed the functions Nie Ning required.

By linking it with Spiritual Power, it could be stored within the consciousness sea.

Being able to achieve this was mainly due to the special material, and it also required the engraving of a specific Runic Formula.

Upon hearing this, the Shop Assistant's eyes immediately lit up, and she stepped forward to introduce it to Nie Ning.

"This is the Fifth-Order shadow robe. It has the effect of concealing one's figure and aura, and it can also amplify Flight Spells. It is valued at 15 high-grade magic crystals."

Hearing this, Nie Ning nodded. "Is there a new one? Get me one."

The Shop Assistant didn't seem to expect Nie Ning to be so straightforward, and a look of astonishment couldn't help but appear on her face.

After all, 15 high-grade magic crystals was no small sum; in this era where one earned much but spent much, most Fourth-Order Wizards couldn't save that much money.

Once she regained her composure, the Shop Assistant bowed slightly. "Please wait a moment, I will go and ask."

"Hurry up, I have other things to attend to."

After Nie Ning finished speaking, he sat back down in his chair.

At that moment, the assistant who had gone to get the beast-taming bag earlier also returned.

"Sir, here is the beast-taming bag you requested."

The Shop Assistant handed the beast-taming bag to Nie Ning.

Nie Ning took it and looked it over; the beast-taming bag was actually a small cloth bag shaped like a pouch.

The beast-taming bag in his hand was green overall, embroidered with some flower and grass patterns, and it looked quite nice.

Nie Ning tried putting the egg inside; it was quite smooth, and he didn't feel the slightest abnormality.

However, the inside of the beast-taming bag was pitch black; most of the time, pets could only be kept in a state of sleep, otherwise, they would eventually be driven mad by the environment inside.

"Fine, I'll take this one."

Nie Ning didn't bother picking a style; it was all the same to him anyway.

"Does the master need anything else?"

The Shop Assistant asked.

"Nothing else, but I have some questions for you. If you can answer them, this is yours."

Nie Ning took out several mid-grade magic crystals and placed them on the table.

Seeing the mid-grade magic crystals, the Shop Assistant, who was only at the First-Order cultivation level, began to breathe rapidly.

She had just seen her colleague go inside to get the goods; she couldn't imagine how wealthy this young-looking wizard must be to buy a Fifth-Order wizard tool.

"Please ask," the Shop Assistant said after calming her emotions.

Nie Ning pulled on Xiao Guang, who was looking around, gesturing for her to sit still, then spoke: "I've heard there's a place in the city that sells nether spirit gold. Do you know where I can buy it?"

This was the purpose of his trip.

nether spirit gold, that special soul-type material.

Also known as Korda Nether Spirit Gold, and Korda was precisely the name of the material's creator.

In the Transcendent world, things named after ordinary people were rare.

nether spirit gold was said to have excellent mental conductivity—so good it was explosive, in fact—and it was already suitable for most items that required soul-type materials to craft.

Even the material used for the function of storing the shadow robe in the consciousness sea could be replaced by it.

It could only be described as incredibly impressive.

"So, you are here to buy nether spirit gold."

The Shop Assistant showed an expression of realization, then continued: "But if you want to buy nether spirit gold, I'm afraid it might be a bit difficult."

Nie Ning raised an eyebrow slightly. "How so?"

Because it was a recently discovered Transcendent material, they didn't know much about it, only that its mental conductivity was superb.

"Originally it could be bought, but recently the person who created the nether spirit gold sold the formula to the Earth Dragon Guild. The Earth Dragon Guild not only raised the price but also designated it as a restricted-purchase item."

"Even locals find it hard to buy. If you want to buy some, it might be a bit troublesome."

The Shop Assistant explained very tactfully.

Hearing this, Nie Ning knew that buying nether spirit gold probably wouldn't be that simple.

Especially with this kind of monopoly; there wasn't much you could do against them, as those who could pull this off were likely not easy targets.

Under Nie Ning's questioning, he also learned about the background of the Earth Dragon Guild.

In reality, the Earth Dragon Guild was The Federation formed by several local wizard families, led and founded by someone with the strength of a Sixth-Order Wizard.

After all, this could be called the golden age of wizards.

Although the threat of the Corruptor existed, the incredibly high elemental concentration had given birth to a large number of Transcendents.

Now, various Transcendent forces were beginning to rise, and those family Transcendents naturally wanted to find a way to break through the situation; uniting was one of their few ways out.

Under the leadership of the Sixth-Order Wizard, the Earth Dragon Guild monopolized many industries in the city.

Their control over rare materials was even more strict, and among them was a Transcendent material like nether spirit gold.

For a moment, Nie Ning fell into silence.

With his current strength, he had no way to confront a Sixth-Order Transcendent, and he couldn't even handle a slightly stronger Fifth-Order one.

The gap in strength only grew larger as one progressed; challenging someone at a higher level was not as easy as imagined.

If someone broke through to the Seventh-Order, it would result in a dimensional strike; even if Nie Ning himself reached the peak of the Sixth-Order, whether he could win would be a question.

Therefore, if he wanted to buy nether spirit gold, a direct confrontation was clearly not a good idea.

Nie Ning sighed inwardly.

If it were a Fourth or Fifth-Order guild, at worst he would just snatch it and run.

For such a force, even if they were robbed, they most likely wouldn't make a fuss about it.

After all, people need face like trees need bark, especially in the world of Transcendents; speaking out about it would only make them a laughingstock.

When the time came, if he left behind some magic crystals, the other party probably wouldn't pursue the matter too much.

But a Sixth-Order...

He'd probably be instakilled the moment he arrived, and everything he owned would belong to them; maybe that was how they made their fortune in the first place.

Nie Ning rubbed his temples, feeling quite a headache coming on.

"Sir, your shadow robe has been brought."

Just then, another Shop Assistant came over carrying the shadow robe.

Nie Ning stood up and directly put the shadow robe on Xiao Guang.

Xiao Guang was clearly very dissatisfied, pulling at the black robe from side to side and muttering about how ugly it was.

So annoyed was Nie Ning that he gave her a flick on the forehead.

"Did you really think you were here to pick out clothes?!"

If he weren't afraid of Xiao Guang's clothes bursting during battle, he wouldn't have bothered spending so much money to buy her clothes.

...