Devour

Chapter 259: Bad Wine and Good Wine

Gao Xu said, "There are many red-faced ghosts in the city. The Lord's Mansion has issued a call for recruits. Anyone who is strong and healthy can come and take part. The source of the divine ice iron is the seventh layer of the piercing glacier, which is rare in the Steel City. It is said that the Ice Demon Lord of the Floating Ice City has some in stock. You can go and take a look."

The old man in fancy clothes beside Cai Youling said, "Your Excellency the Lord has started recruiting soldiers, and we have settled this matter."

Gao Xu said, "Master Wu, please don't be anxious. According to the rules of the Iron City, the money must be put out first before the terms can be discussed."

Cai Youling smiled and said, "How difficult is that? It's just that we are not sure how much the Lord can provide, so please pay a partial deposit first."

Gao Li said directly: "You must pay in full in advance. The price is one million taels of black gold. Come here early tomorrow morning, and I will prepare a thousand red-faced ghosts for you."

Cai Youling gave the old man in fancy clothes a questioning look.

The old man in fancy clothes said, "The price offered by the lord is very high, but this is our first cooperation, so sincerity is the most important thing. How about 800,000 taels?"

Gao Xu sneered and said, "Absolutely not! Please go back, both of you."

Cai Youling lost his patience and shouted, "Wait a minute. One million is one million, I agree." He took out a Sumeru mustard seed and poured out a pile of black gold ingots.

Gao Xu said contentedly: "Come and lead away the Red-Faced Ghost Army at 9:00 p.m. tomorrow."

Cai Youling said goodbye and walked out of the Blood Demon Palace with the old man in gorgeous clothes, secretly transmitting his voice: "A good deal. Ghost life is as cheap as grass. They are also in the late stage of Wuwei Realm. Just one inner pill is worth more than ten thousand taels of black gold. Thousands of red-faced ghost soldiers are worth this price. Wu Hou, do you think Gao Lu is deceiving us?"

The old man in fancy clothes transmitted the message: "As a first-tier lord, he is in a position to mediate diplomacy and will not fall out with the Emperor Yan Dynasty. We will know tomorrow whether it is true or not."

Watching the two leave, the cunning Blood Demon summoned his subordinate Day Patrol and ordered: "Prepare a thousand old and weak green-faced ghosts who can't work. Tonight, peel off their skin, change their skin and fill their blood to become red-faced ghosts. This master is kind-hearted and arranged a great place for them, hiss, hiss, hiss..."

Ri Youxun took the order and left.

Gao Xu laughed loudly. The people behind him stopped silently, waiting for the blood demon, whose face was full of teeth from laughing, to catch his breath.

"My Lords, what do you think of my abilities?"

Gao Xu shook off his gorgeous red robe and turned around as if to show off. In front of him were Yong Yao and Xian Gen, and they seemed to have known each other for a long time.

Yong Yao said bluntly: "The Crown Prince of the Emperor Yan Dynasty is still inexperienced and may not be able to see it. But the Grand Tutor Wu Qiubai is not only his protector, but also one of the best masters under the Cai family. He is knowledgeable and experienced, and he may not be able to see that the fake Red-faced Ghost is weak in combat."

Gao Xu said, "It's enough that the appearance and bloodline appear to be correct. As for the combat power, we can only judge it accurately after fighting. Otherwise, how can it be worth only one million taels of black gold? I bet that Wu Qiubai will not embarrass his master in public. This price is still very cost-effective. We have to swallow it."

Xian Gen said: "Thank you for your help, Lord."

Gao Xu laughed hissingly, "I have repaid the favor of Dharma King Miaoyin for not killing me. We each get what we need. How about it? Do you want to take some gold and iron back to Mount Sumeru?"

Yong Yao and Xian Gen looked at each other and shook their heads.

Xian Gen said: "We have already collected enough magic silver for the World Honored One's teaching."

Yong Yao said: "If you need the divine ice iron, we will go to the floating ice city to find the Ice Demon Lord."

Gao Xu put on a smile and watched the two go away. After a long while, his face darkened and he cursed: "The prince of the Cloud Realm, you hypocritical bald donkey, it would be best if they all died."

……

Ju Gong took Cheng Bai and others to wander around the Steel City, moving between the cave buildings, stopping and starting, and seeing a lot of stuff.

"What's the price of luxury silver?"

"20 jin per ingot, priced at 20 liang of black gold."

"Too expensive, no."

"Why ask if you can't afford it? Do you want to die?"

The green-faced ghost boss glared with anger and raised the bone-chopping knife viciously to drive out the ignorant customer.

Small things like this happen all the time, and in the market this is considered a very amicable outcome.

Cheng Bai said dissatisfiedly: "All I see are ordinary goods, with many impurities, low grade, and inflated prices. Don't you have better sources?"

Ju Gong smiled and said, "Master wants high-end goods. I understand. Please follow me."

He led the three people to a neatly arranged hill that looked like a grave, and near the largest door. On the lintel were three large characters "Chu Mingtang" engraved crookedly and so ugly that they were difficult to look at.

Ju Gong knocked on the door and called out, "Boss Chu, it's me, Ju Gong, there are guests coming."

A section of the door panel was opened to reveal a gap. A huge, red eyeball turned behind the door, and a dull voice came out: "Keep your voice down. Insider information, the lord is recruiting soldiers and catching green-faced ghosts everywhere."

Upon hearing this, Ju Gong looked around and dared not say a word.

The heavy and old door panel was completely open. The big ghost in front of him had a red face and fangs, dark red skin, and was seven meters long. Simple fur clothes made his physique look even stronger. A distorted and ferocious human face appeared from time to time on his thick shoulders, chest muscles, and thighs. It was actually a mutated red-faced ghost.

Ju Gong bowed his head and said, "Boss Chu, they are the guests, and they are all powerful bosses."

Boss Chu turned his eyes around and stared at Cheng Bai and the other two, looking them up and down, and said in a low and hoarse voice: "Come in."

Stepping into the house converted from the mine, you will see a spacious venue with numerous shelves displaying a variety of ore and ingot samples. There is also a larger warehouse at the back, which exudes a faint smell of earth and wine.

Cheng Bai glanced at the huge wine barrels piled up in the corner and asked curiously, "Does Boss Chu sell wine, too?"

Boss Chu said with a smile, "We only sell gold and iron! Wine is a personal hobby. Are you three like-minded? Would you like to have a barrel to try? Friends have come from afar, so please feel free to enjoy it."

After that, he leaned over and picked up a barrel of wine, lifted the lid, and drank it. The barrel, which is large for ordinary people, looked like a giant wine glass in his strong hands.

Cheng Bai knew it was bad wine after just one sniff, and shook his head, saying, "The wine is too low quality, not worth mentioning. Let's talk about business. I want to burn iron."

Boss Chu handed a bucket of wine to Ju Gong. After hearing Cheng Bai's disdain, he decided not to use it to entertain guests. He smiled and said, "Although the Iron City is big, my family has the most in stock of burning iron! More than 50% of the entire continent is here. All the mines on display are rich ores with extremely high gold content. Each pound is sold for one penny of black gold. Just take your pick."

Cheng Bai picked up a piece of iron ore and examined it carefully with the Six Virtues Magic. He immediately frowned and negotiated the price: "It is indeed a rich iron ore, but the price is wrong. One penny of black gold for every thirty-five kilograms is about right."

Mr. Chu said, "No. Mining pyroxene ore is time-consuming and laborious, and the risks are huge. How can you bargain so much? For the sake of our friendship, I will give you one penny of black gold for every two kilograms. When you refine it into ingots, there will definitely be surprises."

Cheng Bai picked out a few pieces of ore, weighed them, observed with his spiritual eyes, judged with the Six Virtues Technique, and calculated with the Deduction Technique. There was no secret left in the mine, and the gold content was about one thousandth. It was estimated that the amount of iron obtained after refining would be pitifully small.

If you buy it at this price, you will not only lose all your money, but you will also lose everything! God knows how this hideous and rough-mannered red-faced ghost calculates the price.

Cheng Bai thought about it, shook his head and said, "It's not worthwhile to refine it into ingots. Do you have refined iron ingots to sell?"

"Have."

Boss Chu brought the guests to the warehouse at the back. The dim light illuminated the mountains of iron ingots, which reflected a red luster. The number of ingots in stock was exactly 100,000, which was a shocking amount.

Cheng Bai picked up a piece of ingot and examined it carefully. It was dark red with bright ice cracks. Its purity was quite good, much better than the ingot refined by the Iron Bull King. He asked, "How much are these?"

Mr. Chu said: "The large ingots are 20 jin each, and the price of one ingot is taels of black gold. The price is very fair."

Cheng Bai smiled and said, "The price of ingots is much cheaper than ore, but it is still ridiculously expensive."

Boss Chu laughed and said, "Sold directly from the place of origin, the quality is top-notch, there is no second price in the market, it is genuine, friends can rest assured."

Cheng Bai put down the ingot and bargained, "One ingot of burning iron for fifty taels of black gold. I want them all."

Boss Chu shook his head like a rattle and shouted, "You're bargaining too much. No, no, no."

Cheng Bai guided him with the secret art of communication: "Boss Chu, you have drunk too much inferior wine and have not tasted good wine. Would you like to try my treasured Ice Flame Thunder God Wine?"

Boss Chu asked curiously, "What good wine do you have? Take it out and let me see it."

Cheng Bai said: "Put down the wine barrel and I'll pour some for you."

Boss Chu placed the wine barrel in front of Cheng Bai. The wooden barrel was huge, almost as high as an average person's shoulder, and only half of the wine was left in the barrel.

Cheng Bai took out the wine god gourd, opened the lid and slowly poured out a drop of ice flame thunder god wine.

The crystal wine drops were like dazzling gems, flashing three colors of light. The wine in the barrel where they fell seemed to be ignited, tumbling like boiling water, and the amount increased rapidly to fill the barrel. Between the white and blue ice and the orange-red flames, golden electric light like a swimming dragon appeared, which was very interesting.

Boss Chu opened his mouth in surprise, lowered his head and sniffed it, and felt that it was refreshing and wonderful. He couldn't help but pick up the barrel and drink it, shouting: "Good wine, good wine, peerless fairy wine!"