“Welcome, esteemed guest, to the Hundred Weapons Pavilion!”
“What kind of magical artifact are you looking for?”
As Mo Fan stepped into the Hundred Weapons Pavilion, a woman in red greeted him with a smile.
A demon?
Mo Fan’s heart stirred as he immediately sensed the demonic aura emanating from her. Upon closer inspection, he noticed a faint gray tail subtly visible beneath her robe.
Not only was she a demon, but she was also at the Demon Ding Realm!
Mo Fan pondered this but responded, “I need a magical artifact suitable for demon cultivators.”
He paused, then added, “Preferably something simple and direct, not too complicated!”
“A magical artifact for demon cultivators…” The red-robed woman studied Mo Fan for a moment before smiling. “Fellow Daoist, you’re quite adept at hiding your aura. I almost mistook you for a human cultivator! To think you’re one of us. May I ask, what’s your true form?”
“Does my true form matter for the artifact I’m buying?” Mo Fan asked, his brow furrowing.
“Er… it’s just that I need to know your characteristics to select the most suitable artifact for you,” the red-robed woman explained with a wry smile.
“I excel in two areas: poison and strength!” Mo Fan said, withholding his true form. For demons, revealing one’s true form could expose weaknesses, and he wasn’t about to share his secrets with this unfamiliar female demon.
“Poison and strength?” The red-robed woman thought for a moment before spitting out a booklet and flipping it open.
Mo Fan glanced at it curiously. It was a catalog, specifically an artifact catalog, with tiny human characters beneath each illustration, likely serving as item numbers.
He didn’t interrupt as she browsed. Soon, a smile spread across her face. “Found it! We do have a few artifacts suitable for you!”
“Oh? What kind are they?” Mo Fan’s interest was piqued.
The red-robed woman infused a stream of spiritual energy into one of the catalog’s illustrations. A beam of light shot out, and a large halberd materialized vividly before Mo Fan.
Was this some kind of projection technique?
Mo Fan’s heart jolted with surprise as he glanced at the booklet in her hand. He hadn’t expected it to be a magical artifact itself.
“This artifact is called the Overlord Halberd, a low-grade artifact weighing eight hundred jin. It’s inscribed with domineering runes that, when activated, can double its power!” the woman introduced.
“Overlord Halberd? Nice name, but a mere eight hundred jin is too light. Even with doubled power, it feels limited and hardly lives up to ‘domineering’!” Mo Fan shook his head, clearly unimpressed.
The red-robed woman wasn’t surprised. With a wave of her hand, the booklet flipped rapidly, landing on another illustration. She infused it with spiritual energy, and a long-handled hammer appeared, its body shimmering with flowing light.
“Earth-Shaking Hammer, a mid-grade artifact weighing three thousand jin, inscribed with domineering and tearing runes…” she began.
“Too light!” Mo Fan interrupted, shaking his head. With his strength of twenty thousand jin, a three-thousand-jin hammer was like a toy to him. Plus, he wasn’t fond of hammers.
The red-robed woman’s brow furrowed, but she said nothing and selected another weapon.
This time, it was an axe, a full zhang long, wrapped in silver light, exuding an imposing aura.
“Mountain-Splitting Axe, a mid-grade artifact weighing ten thousand jin, inscribed with multiple runes. Its destructive power is astonishing, and most defensive artifacts can’t withstand a single strike!” The woman smiled, confident this axe would meet the demon cultivator’s needs.
Ten thousand jin…
Mo Fan’s eyes lit up with interest. He liked the axe but still asked, “Is there anything heavier?”
“Fellow Daoist, a ten-thousand-jin weapon may be manageable for Demon Ding Realm demons to lift, but wielding it is quite strenuous. Anything heavier might hinder combat, not to mention the price would be different,” the red-robed woman said, frowning slightly.
“Oh? So you do have heavier artifacts?” Mo Fan’s eyes brightened, his gaze burning as he looked at her, making her slightly uncomfortable.
“Of course! The Hundred Weapons Pavilion is the largest weapon shop in this market. There is one artifact heavier than the Mountain-Splitting Axe, and only one—a high-grade artifact!” the woman said gravely. “But its price is likely beyond what most can afford.”
Mo Fan raised an eyebrow and sneered, “Just tell me the price. Let’s see if I can afford it!”
The woman glanced at him, flipped to the back of the catalog, and stopped at an illustration. She infused it with spiritual energy to activate it.
*Buzz—*
With a humming sound, a massive, golden brick appeared before Mo Fan.
“This… this is really an artifact?” Mo Fan’s face twitched.
If not for its golden glow, he’d have thought it was a random brick picked up off the street!
“Er…” The red-robed woman looked embarrassed but explained somewhat awkwardly, “This treasure is called ‘Man-Feller,’ a high-grade artifact forged entirely from gilded silver mother. It’s not only incredibly durable but also extremely dense. It can change size, shrinking to palm-sized or expanding to over two zhang. It’s a versatile artifact for both attack and defense. Its greatest feature is that its weight changes with its size. Normally, it weighs twenty thousand jin, but at its largest, it can reach sixty thousand jin! That weight, combined with the force of deployment, is something even Demon Generals would struggle to withstand!”
Hearing this, Mo Fan forgot about the Mountain-Splitting Axe. This was practically tailor-made for him—a perfect rogue weapon!
Though the name seemed a bit too casual.
“You haven’t mentioned what runes are inscribed on it. You introduced runes for the others,” Mo Fan said, suddenly looking at her with curiosity.
“This artifact has no inscribed runes. To be precise, no one can inscribe runes on gilded silver mother because the material is too hard. Its extreme density is why it’s rarely used for forging artifacts,” the woman said with a wry smile.
“So, it’s essentially a half-finished product?” Mo Fan frowned.
“You could say that, but even as a half-finished product, it qualifies as a high-grade artifact!” The woman nodded, not hiding anything.
Hearing this, Mo Fan had no further questions. He looked at her and said, “I want this brick. Name the price!”
“Fellow Daoist, it’s not a brick—it’s ‘Man-Feller’!” the red-robed woman corrected, half-laughing, half-exasperated.
“I like calling it a brick. Just tell me the price!” Mo Fan insisted.
Seeing his stubbornness, she had no choice but to say, “This artifact is worth two thousand low-grade spirit stones…”
“Are you robbing me?!” Mo Fan rolled his eyes and sneered. “If I’m not mistaken, no one wants this half-finished product. You make it sound amazing, but aside from its weight, it’s useless! It’s so heavy that only peak Demon Ding Realm demons could wield it. Human cultivators, with their weaker bodies, wouldn’t stand a chance! And for Demon Generals or Foundation Establishment cultivators, an artifact without runes is pointless! I thought a place as big as the Hundred Weapons Pavilion would have fair prices, but it’s just another rip-off!”
Mo Fan snorted and turned toward the door, though inwardly he was frantically thinking, *Call me back, call me back…!!*
He’d pointed out so many flaws not because he thought the brick wasn’t worth the price but because he couldn’t afford two thousand low-grade spirit stones. After his spending spree at the market, especially the hundreds of spirit stones at the Spirit Beast Courtyard, he was left with only about one thousand five hundred.
As he neared the door, sweat beaded on his forehead.
Just as he was about to give up, the red-robed woman finally called out, “Fellow Daoist, please wait!”
