Battle Through the Heavens (Web Novel)
chapter-171

With his turbid old eyes were intently locked onto the small jade bottle on the table, a long while later, Gu Te licked his lips, carefully extended his hand and grabbed the jade bottle into his hand. He put it under his nose and took a gentle sniff of the dense purple vapor. Instantly, he felt the fire type Dou Qi in his body, which was originally circulating at a tortoise like speed, become much more active.

“Tsk tsk. An excellent thing.” Feeling the change in his body, an expression of surprise appeared on Gu Te’s old face. He sighed in amazement as he smacked his lips. Musing for a while, he suddenly turned his body around and began searching through the garbage pile beside him. Finally, he took out a small crystal dish and a narrow hollow needle.

He placed the narrow needle into the jade bottle and gently pinched it, sucking up and filling the hollow needle with the purple colored liquid. After which, he carefully dropped it in the middle of the crystal dish.

As the purple colored liquid was dropped onto the crystal dish, Xiao Yan and Gu Te could faintly see a purple colored flame dancing within that drop of the purple colored liquid.

“This thing…” Pressing his eyebrows together, Gu Te thought deeply for a moment. He then suddenly turned around and took out a very thick book from behind the cover of a rock slab. After which, he flipped it open and quickly looked through it, appearing like he was looking for something.

Seeing Gu Te action, Xiao Yan could not help but feel a little puzzled in his heart. Could this old man with unkempt appearance really be able to recognise the ‘Amethyst Lion Birth Essence’?

Sweeping his gaze onto the small jade bottle on the table, Xiao Yan’s face twitched a little painfully. If the ‘Ice Spirit Cold Fountain’ was not so important to him, he would definitely be unwilling to take out his ‘Amethyst Lion Birth Essence’ to exchange for it. This thing was the best aid when training fire type Qi Methods. When training with it, one could save a lot of time needed for tough training!

Back then in the Magic Beast Mountain Rage, Xiao Yan had managed to obtain six bottles of ‘Amethyst Lion Birth Essence’. After consuming it drop by drop during his training, he had consumed slightly less than half a bottle. Thus, Xiao Yan only had slightly more than five bottles of ‘Amethyst Lion Birth Essence’ remaining. However, he had to take one out now in order to obtain the ‘Ice Spirit Cold Fountain’.

Each of these five bottles of ‘Amethyst Lion Birth Essence’ could be considered to be priceless treasures. If one were to compare the value based on rarity and uniqueness, it would not lose to the ‘Ice Spirit Cold Fountain’. After all, obtaining the ‘Amethyst Lion Birth Essence’ was not easier than entering any dangerous place. Just that Dou Huang level Amethyst Winged Lion would mean that many would not have the strength to carry out their desire.

“Found it, found it!” Gu Te, who was repeatedly flipping through the book suddenly shouted while Xiao Yan was feeling the pain in his heart.

Curiously shifting his gaze onto a page of the ancient looking book, Xiao Yan could vaguely observe that the page it was open to had a drawing of a huge animal with a body entirely covered in Amethyst with its mouth opened. This huge beast was the Amethyst Winged Lion.

“‘Amethyst Lion Birth Essence’, birthed from the Amethyst Winged Lion and is born with a baby beast. The chances of this happening are low and one may rarely appear in a hundred years. For those training fire type Qi Methods, this is a treasure that may not be found even with lots of gold.”

“Tsk tsk, boy, I really could not imagine that you actually got a hold of such a unique item like the ‘Amethyst Lion Birth Essence’...” After reading out loud the information on the ‘Amethyst Lion Birth Essence’, Gu Te could not help but exclaim.

“I obtained it by chance.” Xiao Yan smiled faintly. He lifted his eyes, looked at Gu Te whose gaze never left the small bottle and whispered, “So how is it? Grandmaster Gu Te, are you satisfied with the thing that I have taken out?”

Hearing this, Gu Te rotated his eyes and laughed toward the sky. The narrow needle in his hand gently tapped on the crystal dish as he said with a smile “Little boy, I still don’t know your name.”

“Xiao Yan.” Xiao Yan replied with a smile.

“Hehe, Little Brother Xiao Yan, uh… that… since you are searching for the ‘Ice Spirit Cold Fountain’, you should be clear of its rarity, aren’t you?” Gu Te laughed.

“Haha. I naturally know about it. If I don’t, why would I take a unique thing like the ‘Amethyst Lion Birth Essence’ out?” Xiao Yan smiled but he skimmed his mouth while coldly smiling in his heart. Does this old man think he was a child?

“Ugh, I will put it this way. This ‘Amethyst Lion Birth Essence’ of yours can be considered a rare item but you should be clear that this thing is only useful to those who practice fire type Qi Methods. This restricts its value.” Gu Te glanced at Xiao Yan and said.

Xiao Yan smiled faintly but he extended his hand slowly and grabbed the small jade bottle in front of Gu Te. He then carefully capped it and raised his eyes to look at Gu Te who was giving him a dry smile. With a grin, he said, “Grandmaster Gu Te, please don’t treat me like a fool and deceive me. Both of us know what kind of huge effect the ‘Amethyst Lion Birth Essence’ has on those practicing fire type Qi Method. In order to obtain it, many alchemists are willing to lose their entire fortune. Haha, you don’t need to rush to rebuke me. As someone who has collected treasures for decades, you should be clear of its true value!”

“By trying to belittle the ‘Amethyst Lion Birth Essence’ that I have taken out, you are undoubtedly trying to raise the price. But I will also say this first, I only have a bottle of the Amethyst Essence. You can choose to exchange for it or not. Among the things that I am able to take out, it is the most valuable. If you still think that this is insufficient, then I will have to choose to give up even though I really need the ‘Ice Spirit Cold Fountain’...” Xiao Yan shook his head and sighed regretfully.

“Uh…” Looking at how decisive Xiao Yan had become, Gu Te opened his mouth slightly. He did not expect that after playing a bully for an entire life, he had actually met someone of a younger generation who was also not paying any respect in front of him.

The muddy old eyes did not blink as he stared at Xiao Yan’s smiling face. A long while later, Gu Te shook his head and also helplessly said, “Since it’s like this, I must regretfully inform you that this exchange may have to fail.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yan’s face did not change. He waved his hand while smiling and shook his head regretfully. With a flip of his hand, he stored the jade bottle into his storage ring. After which, he stood up, patted his backside and said to Gu Te with a smile, “I’m sorry to disturb you grandmaster. This is my last day staying in Black Rock City. Tomorrow, I may leave the Jia Ma Empire. Hopefully, we will have the chance to do business together in the future.”

After saying those words, Xiao Yan turned around and acted in a natural and unrestrained manner as he strided out of the room.

Upon hearing that Xiao Yan was about to leave the Jia Ma Empire, Gu Te’s palm on his long legs obviously trembled. However, he did not immediately open his mouth. His pair of eyes stared intently on Xiao Yan’s back as his lips shivered.

The room was totally quiet. Only the muffled sound of Xiao Yan heavy footsteps could be heard.

With his back facing Gu Te, Xiao Yan watched the room’s door becoming increasingly near. Cold sweat had also appeared on the smile that he had maintained on his face He really needed the ‘Ice Spirit Cold Fountain’. However, if he backed down in this situation, that cunning wolf-like Gu Te would definitely not give up the opportunity to make him pay heavily for it. When that time comes, his limited five bottles of ‘Amethyst Lion Birth Essence’ may have to shrink once again. This result was undoubtedly an extremely painful one for Xiao Yan.

Thus, in order to limit the condition for the exchange, he could only show such resolution.

“Dammit, isn’t this old man’s mental strength too strong? Don’t tell me that he isn’t attracted to the ‘Amethyst Lion Birth Essence’?” Xiao Yan could not help but scold anxiously in his heart. The room door was already in close proximity but everything behind him was still quiet.

“Four steps, three steps, two steps…”

His heart quietly counted the number of steps he had to the door. When he reached his final step, Xiao Yan slowly sighed. His palm trembled slightly as he touched the door handle.

Xiao Yan was quiet for a moment as he held the door handle. After that, he clenched his teeth violently, steeled his heart and opened the door, preparing to leave. However, at this moment, an old voice that took the weight off Xiao Yan’s heart appeared from behind him.

“Ugh, boy. Come back. You win… In all my life, I have not seen the ‘Amethyst Lion Birth Essence’. So, you are very lucky. If it was something else, you would really have left empty handed today.”

The old voice was like angry thunder, smashing the weight that had tightly pressed on Xiao Yan’s heart. While Xiao Yan was letting out a relaxed sigh, he was stunned to realize that his back had become drenched in a cold sweat unknowingly. If it were not for the good workmanship of the Alchemist robe, it was likely that Gu Te behind him would have discovered something fishy.

Without anyone noticing, Xiao Yan wiped off the cold sweat on his face before slowly turning around. Using a more relaxed gait, Xiao Yan once again returned to the table under Gu Te’s helpless gaze and sat down.

After taking a few ragged breath while seated, Xiao Yan lifted his head and smiled at Gu Te. His body weakly took out a small jade bottle from his storage ring and gently placed it on the table. He said with a smile, “Grandmaster Gu Te, thank you for your consent.”

“Ugh…” Helplessly shaking his head, Gu Te grabbed the small jade bottle. With a face filled with infatuation, he held it in his palm and took a deep breath of its scent. His entire face became intoxicated. “Back then, I heard some bastard tell me about this ‘Amethyst Lion Birth Essence’ but I had never seen it with my own eyes. I can be considered to be lucky today.”

Seeing Gu Te’s infatuated manner, Xiao Yan felt a little chilled. This old man did not have any interest in anything but he had an abnormal love for these unique items. His love was like that of a tyrannical and lustful king toward beautiful women.

“*Cough*, Grandmaster Gu Te… can you please take out the ‘Ice Spirit Cold Fountain’ for me to see.” Xiao Yan let out a gentle cough as he helplessly reminded.

Having his intoxicating feeling broken, Gu Te impatiently glanced at Xiao Yan and snorted, “Wait for me here. Don’t touch anything.” After seeing Xiao Yan nod his head, he took the Amethyst Essence, turned around and randomly knocked on a wall for a period of time. Following a muffled sound, a small hole appeared behind the wall.

“Sit there and don’t move!” Once again, Gu Te fiercely ordered again before bending his body and entering the hole.

Seated on the chair, Xiao Yan did not make any additional movements. With Yao Lao’s Spiritual Perception, that old man would not be able to try any tricks.

After waiting quietly for some time, Gu Te carried something in his hand and exited the hole.

He completely blocked the hole before turning around as he placed a white jade box that was the size of a washbasin on the table.

The white jade box was very well sealed. Other than the hole to open it at the top, there was not the slightest gap.

Although it was covered by a layer of white jade, Xiao Yan could still feel an iciness that was faintly seeping out from it.

Tapping the jade box in a manner that suggested he was unwilling to part with it, Gu Te carefully undid the tight seal of the cover. As the cover was removed, a cold fog immediately rose and shrouded the place. In an instant, the temperature within the room fell.

Ignoring the falling temperature, Xiao Yan’s gaze hurriedly shifted to the interior of the jade box. He found that a thick layer of ice was neatly formed within the jade box. In the middle of the ice, there was a small jade bottle that was normally used to store makeup.

The surroundings of the jade bottle was shrouded by cold air that appeared to be able to freeze people’s hearts…

Watching the cold air seep out of the small jade bottle, Gu Te sighed. He pushed it toward Xiao Yan and said in a faint voice, “Take it. This is the ‘Ice Spirit Cold Fountain’ that you wanted…”