Linglong was a half-demon of human and dragon blood, so it was only natural that she bore some traits of the dragon race.
Originally, Hua Jian had thought that Linglong’s pair of golden, vertical pupils was the only sign of dragon blood in her. But now, with Linglong telling her there was more, she was stunned.
The scale in her hand— was it actually an Old Scale shed by the Saintess herself?
“Saintess Daren, where exactly does your Dragon Scale grow?”
“Many places, but Master taught me to use a Secret Technique to hide them.”
Linglong stretched out her arm. As a subtle spiritual light flashed over it, white scales, similar to the one in Hua Jian’s hand, appeared on her arm.
Seeing these scales, Hua Jian’s anxious little heart finally settled.
She’d thought this was something incredibly precious, but now it didn’t seem all that rare.
Just on Linglong’s outstretched arm, there were so many of these white scales. It seemed the Dragon Scale in her hand was the same as these.
“So that’s how it is. But your Dragon Scales are really pretty— like top-grade jade…”
“Dragon Scales do have effects similar to jade. You can think of them as higher-grade jade stones. But after all, I’m not a True Dragon. The Dragon Scales I shed are also different from a True Dragon Scale.” Linglong had finished inspecting Hua Jian’s Mirage Incense and returned the Storage Pouch to her.
But after giving back the Storage Pouch, she didn’t rush to take back her own Dragon Scale.
Instead, like a little teacher, she began explaining to Hua Jian the difference between her own scales and the True Dragon Scale in this Secret Realm.
“My scales are about as rare as some high-quality Lingcao, but a True Dragon Scale contains a trace of a True Dragon’s power. If I were to obtain one, perhaps it could help me take another step forward on my cultivation path…”
“Aren’t you the Saintess of the Yaoci Holy Sect? If Dragon Scales are so precious, can’t even the Holy Sect get them?” Hua Jian was puzzled.
In her eyes, the Holy Sect was all-powerful, possessing every treasure under heaven. Dragon Scales should be so common they could be packed by the boxful.
Linglong shook her head, not knowing why Hua Jian had such a misunderstanding about the Holy Sect and True Dragons.
“Not all pure-blooded dragons can be called True Dragons. Only those who reach the Saint Level, who undergo the tribulation and cleanse the impurities in their bloodline, can be considered True Dragons.”
Saint Level— this was already the pinnacle for cultivators in this world. Beyond that, one would need to undergo the Ascension Tribulation to ascend to immortality.
As for Hua Jian and Linglong, they were just little Spirit Masters for now, with the Spirit King-level, Ling Emperor, and Spirit Lord realms still standing between them and the Saint Level.
“My master may be at the Saint Realm, but True Dragons rarely appear in the world. Each one is hard to find, and even if you do, exchanging for a Dragon Scale is extremely difficult…”
“And it’s not even that helpful to me— like a chicken rib, tasteless to eat but a pity to throw away.”
Hua Jian more or less understood now. True Dragon Scales were extremely rare, but their effects didn’t quite match their rarity.
If you spent all the resources and effort required to find a scale on something else, you’d probably get much better returns.
“Then why are you here looking for a Dragon Scale yourself?”
“I’m out training, and I happened to see on the flyer that there were True Dragon Scales here, so I came to take a look.” Linglong felt Hua Jian was asking nonsense.
Not spending energy to deliberately search for it and just looking around while passing by— what’s the harm in that?
Hua Jian scratched her head and returned the scale in her hand to Linglong. “That’s true. Here, your scale.”
But Linglong pushed her hand back.
“Just keep it. Take it as a token from me.” She pointed at the scale in Hua Jian’s hand. “As long as we’re not too far apart, I can sense its location. That way, I won’t have to worry about you getting lost.”
A locator? Hua Jian was stunned. What do you mean, ‘afraid I’ll get lost’?
Are you treating me like a dog?!
“You and I still have a deal, you know. What if you run off and I can’t find you?” Linglong asked with a perfectly serious face.
We only made a verbal agreement, and you haven’t even given me a deposit.
Even if I do run off, it wouldn’t actually cause you any loss, would it? Hua Jian’s eye twitched, feeling her dignity had been insulted by this Saintess.
Do I look like the kind of shameless rogue who goes back on her word? I, Hua Jian, may be well-versed in trickery, but I’m a girl who keeps herself clean!
“You don’t trust me?”
“It’s a necessary precaution.” Linglong refused to be drawn in.
Hua Jian was so annoyed by Linglong’s words that her heart was set ablaze.
She stuffed the scale into her Storage Pouch with a fierce glare. “Fine! Then don’t even think about getting this scale back!”
This thing will be my deposit!
Once I get out of this Secret Realm, I’ll slap the title of Yaoci Holy Sect’s Saintess on this token and sell it to someone else.
Just for Linglong’s name alone, it ought to fetch at least a few hundred Spirit Stones.
You don’t trust me? I’ll show you how expensive trust can be!
Linglong, however, wasn’t annoyed at all.
After Hua Jian secretly pocketed the scale, she pointed at the Storage Pouch holding the Mirage Incense and said, “The Mirage Incense in there is pretty ordinary. If you sell it outside, it’ll fetch at most a little over four hundred Spirit Stones.”
“I know that, but four hundred Spirit Stones is still a lot, isn’t it?” To Hua Jian, that was a huge sum.
“But you’ll have to take a big risk bringing it out of the Secret Realm. That Storage Pouch is distinctive and hard to hide. At the Exit Point, you might be attacked by other cultivators working together.”
“Oh, so now I’m the one being ambushed instead of the one doing the ambushing? Interesting…” Hearing this, Hua Jian realized it was a tricky situation.
To successfully leave this Secret Realm, you had to stay within the Exit Point’s range for about the time it takes to burn one stick of incense.
If you were forced out of the range during that time, you’d have to start over.
With such a valuable treasure on her, heading for the Exit Point would definitely make her a target.
“Then I’ll just take out everyone who tries to ambush me! It’ll make for a nice extra meal!” Hua Jian smacked her palm, murderous intent rising in her heart.
If you want to block my Exit Point, then I’ll clear out the area first!
This train of thought left Linglong in deep self-doubt. This was not the advice she’d intended to give.
“Why don’t you just absorb it here in the Secret Realm?” Linglong pointed at the Storage Pouch in Hua Jian’s hand.
Spiritual items had another use besides being exchanged for Spirit Stones— or rather, this was their most essential purpose.
Absorbing spiritual items that matched your attributes to enhance your strength—wasn’t that what normal people did?
Hua Jian looked at the Storage Pouch in her hand, then up at Linglong, her cheeks gradually flushing red.
It seemed…she was right.
She’d never run into this situation before. The spiritual items she’d gotten in the past weren’t useful to her, so she could only exchange them for Spirit Stones.
Now that she’d finally gotten one that matched her attributes, she hadn’t thought of this at all.
Why risk taking it out?
Wouldn’t it be safest to just absorb it and turn it into her own power right here?
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