Ten thousand spirit crystals. The number hung in the air like an executioner's blade, its edge pressing against Bu Lige's throat. Before him, the heavenly weapon Chi Xiao pulsed with an otherworldly glow, its blade etched with constellations that shimmered like trapped starlight. On the Azure Continent, even the finest spiritual armaments rarely surpassed a few thousand crystals. But this—this was no ordinary blade.
Bu Lige, heir to the Southern Protector's Estate, knew one truth with absolute certainty: Nothing in Origin Mall obeyed mortal logic.
He reread the inscription hovering above the weapon's display:
Chi Xiao – Heavenly Blade
Forged in the heart of a dying sun. Evolves with its wielder's destiny.
Evolves. The word seared itself into his mind. A weapon that could ascend ranks? Such power defied the heavens themselves. His fingers twitched, already phantom-gripping the hilt. But reality crashed back—the Southern Protector's coffers were ruled by his elder sister, Bu Shiyi, whose thrift was as legendary as her azure-scaled whip. Ten thousand crystals might as well be ten thousand moons.
"Boss..." Bu Lige approached the counter like a man marching to his execution, boots scuffing the colored glazed tiles. "I—I wanted to ask..." The words curdled in his throat. Bargaining? A Southern Protector's heir, reduced to haggling? His ancestors' portraits likely blanched in their gilded frames.
Luo Chuan, shopkeeper of Origin Mall, cracked one obsidian eye open. The man's stillness always reminded Bu Lige of deep-rooted oaks—unmoved by storms, yet disquietingly alive. "Speak."
"Might there be... flexibility? In the pricing?" Bu Lige's voice shrank with each syllable.
The oak stirred. "No."
Desperation sharpened Bu Lige's tongue. "But what of cultivators without dynastic fortunes? Are we to forever grasp at greatness we cannot afford?"
A beat passed. Then, slowly, Luo Chuan smiled. It was the expression of a fox who'd waited all night for the rabbit to speak. "Have you heard of installments?"
The word landed like a thunderclap. Bu Lige's spirit sense—flickered uncertainly. "Instal...ments?"
"Divide the cost. Pay over time." Luo Chuan conjured a scroll etched with living sigils. "The system judges your worth. Fail a payment, and consequences... transcend mortal debts."
Bu Lige barely heard the warning. His eyes locked on Chi Xiao, its blade now rippling with bloody light, as if sensing his resolve. He saw futures unfold: standing at the Summit, this very sword scattering celestial challengers; his sister's stunned pride; the Southern Protector's banner flying where no mortal standard dared...
"I accept."
As he grasped the contract brush, the air thickened with ozone—the system's approval. Somewhere beyond the Nine Stars, destiny shifted.
Luo Chuan leaned back, watching the youth's trembling signature bloom like a bloodflower on parchment.
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