CHAPTER 488: The Joys Of Being Ordinary

The duo had only been away for a while, but when they returned to the auction site, they had transformed into completely different people. One was a big, tall, sincere looking fat man, and the other was an average looking girl who seemed to have come from the countryside. As they walked along the busy street, they looked very ordinary. No one would have thought that they had been the centre of attention just moments before.

With the city's defence troops clearing the way, nobles from every city in the Kasi Empire, and even from other nations, entered the auction centre one by one.

"This thing is worth no more than three gold coins!" Sophie said firmly to a vendor, holding a crystal button in her hand.

The person manning the stall was a slight, middle-aged man. With a straight face, he replied in a professional manner, "Miss, this is a Blue Dream Crystal from the southern part of the Brut Merchant Alliance. There is absolutely no place where you can buy it for less than five gold coins!"

"Hahaha. Open your eyes and see. The colours aren't very clear, the workmanship on the button is so crude, and you actually dare to claim that this is a Blue Dream Crystal from the southern area of the Brut Merchant Alliance! You really have the nerve to make such an unfounded claim! Look, these crystal fragments on my necklace are genuine Blue Dream Crystals. See how different they are in luster!" Sophie pulled a crystal necklace out of her pocket and waved it in front of the vendor, forcing him to see what a real Blue Dream Crystal looked like.

Those who wore space rings did not usually appear in places like this. Therefore, before re-entering the region, Sophie not only put away her only space ring, but also had Han Shuo put away his as well. That way, there would be nothing on them that would distinguish them from any ordinary person.

When the vendor realised that he couldn't fool Sophie, his face fell and he said, "How about this, four gold coins. Take it or leave it!"

"Three gold coins! Only three gold coins! This button is badly made and only worth that much! Look here, the inlay between the button and the crystal, there's a fine scratch here. Also, here..." Sophie was suddenly an expert and went on and on, pointing out every single flaw on this crystal button.

Han Shuo stared blankly at Sophie, stunned. Listening to her absolutely unrestrained criticism of the crystal button for the price difference of a gold coin, he simply could not understand what was going on.

Finally, after a series of bombardments from Sophie, the vendor raised the white flag. He put on a forced smile as he handed the crystal button to Sophie and said, "I will take three gold coins. But why do you insist on having it when, as you said, everything about it is wrong?"

""Oh, its shape is still a bit pretty," Sophie said a kind word for the first time. After happily attaching the crystal button to the corner of her dress, she turned to Han Shuo with a smile and asked, "What do you think? Looks nice, doesn't it?"

"Not bad!" Han Shuo replied. After a short pause, he added, "Considering your appearance now, it suits you well!"

This kind of forged jewel, made of poor material and crude workmanship, didn't really have anything appealing about it other than the rather unique design. Then again, Sophie seemed rather mediocre at the time. Wearing such an ordinary and crude ornament, they actually complemented each other well.

Sophie obviously understood the meaning behind Han Shuo's words. She glared at Han Shuo before turning to the shopkeeper and said, "Shopkeeper, you can take the payment from him. Hmph, no one asked for your cutting remarks about me!"

Three gold coins were peanuts to Han Shuo. It's just that he found Sophie's attitude a bit funny and ridiculous. Without hesitation, he took out three gold coins and handed them to the vendor. He caught up with Sophie and asked, "These are just a few gold coins. Given your wealth, there is no need for you to waste time haggling, is there?"

Sophie was a sky rider, and her father was a renowned sacred knight in the Kasi Empire. Whichever way you looked at it, Sophie was by no means lacking in the wealth department. For such a character to argue with a peddler over a few gold coins, Han Shuo found it truly absurd.

"What do you know? It is only at moments like this that I truly feel like a normal person!" Sophie shot a glance before answering without thinking.

Han Shuo stared blankly and thought for a moment. When he looked at Sophie again and saw that the worry in her eyes was quickly fading, he immediately understood the meaning behind Sophie's words.

As the daughter of the sacred knight Sulo, Sophie should have been the most cherished and loved child since her birth. Everyone had probably treated Sophie like a little princess all her life. Money, jewellery, treasures, whatever Sophie wanted, she could have it with little or no effort. It was precisely because Sophie had never experienced life as an average civilian that she had no interest in the auction where the wealthy and nobility gathered, preferring instead to hang around the booths of small merchants and traders.

In his previous world, Han Shuo lived an ordinary life in an ordinary household. And when his soul first arrived on the Profound Continent, he went through even more humble beginnings. He had been used to such a lifestyle for a long time, so he wouldn't be so passionate about such things. If it weren't for the presence of certain unique items, Han Shuo wouldn't have derived much pleasure from this kind of place.

Oh, right. Why did you come here?" Sophie suddenly remembered the question after walking for a while. A little surprised she said, "You like to have fun in places like this too, don't you? Hahaha, I should have realised it sooner. Judging by your clothes and your space ring, you must come from a wealthy family. It seems we have more in common than I thought!

After listening to Sophie's opinionated explanation, Han Shuo shook his head with a smile and said, "Unlike you, I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I've tasted all kinds of hardship since I was young. The reason I came to a place like this is because in places like this, if you know what's what, you can get some real treasures!"

"What? That can't be true. How could there be anything good in a place like that?" Sophie obviously wasn't convinced. She came to places like this just for fun and games. Deep down in her heart, she certainly did not feel that there was anything of real value to be found in such places.

"You don't believe me?" Han Shuo looked at Sophie with a smile, as if he wanted to prove it to her.

"I don't!" Sophie could not resist doubling her words when she saw Han Shuo's assertiveness.

"Come with me!" Han Shuo gestured for Sophie to follow him, turned around and headed for another area. It looked like he was determined to prove Sophie wrong.

Sophie was rather sceptical and hurriedly followed Han Shuo. She thought to herself, "Let's see what tricks you're up to this time!

After squeezing through the never-ending stream of people for seventy or eighty metres, Han Shuo stopped in front of a nondescript stall. He conveniently picked up a grey, average looking rock and smilingly asked the vendor, "Sir, how many gold coins is this rock?"

"Oh, five gold coins. If you really want it, I can make it cheaper for you!" the shopkeeper replied without thinking.

"Five gold coins then!" Han Shuo clearly did not share Sophie's unusual hobby. Unwillingly, he pulled five gold coins out of the space ring in his pocket and handed them to the vendor.

At this point, Sophie began to have some doubts in her heart, so she did not haggle endlessly over the prices. When she saw Han Shuo leaving the stall, she quickly followed him. As this was a rather deserted area, Han Shuo only walked a short distance before reaching a very secluded spot where he waited for Sophie to catch up.

Looking at the grey rock in Han Shuo's hand, Sophie asked in amazement, "This is the so-called good stuff you mentioned? You can go to any mine and there will be this kind of grey rock everywhere. Doesn't seem very valuable to me!"

Han Shuo smiled and shook his head, "Don't make up your mind so quickly. Give me your weapon!"

Sophie was clueless and yet she did as Han Shuo instructed, pulling out a longsword from her space ring and handing it to Han Shuo. With one glance at this delicate longsword, one could tell that it must be a priceless artefact.

Han Shuo felt the scabbard and touched the shiny smooth surface of the gems embedded in it. He smiled at Sophie, "A wealthy one indeed! No wonder you enjoy pretending to be poor!"

"Stop talking. I want to see how you are going to prove that this stone is good stuff!" Sophie said sarcastically, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she waited for Han Shuo's demonstration.

Han Shuo smiled and said nothing more. Right in front of Sophie, he pulled the long sword out of its scabbard and flicked the sharp end of the sword gently. Ding! A crisp, clear sound echoed from the longsword.

Under Sophie's attentive gaze, the grey stone in Han Shuo's palm was pulverised into grey dust as Han Shuo exerted force with his five fingers. With his hand moving back and forth, he gently scattered the fine powder. Layers of grey rock powder were evenly deposited on the edges of Sophie's longsword. Puff! A ball of enchanting flame ignited in Han Shuo's palm.

Sophie gasped. She stared at the flame in Han Shuo's palm in horror and said, "You even dual cultivate in fire magic? Something's wrong, there's no fire element. What is going on?"

Han Shuo shook his head at Sophie with a smile. He did not explain why he could ignite a flame in his palm without using the Fire Element, but instead called attention to himself, "Watch carefully!"

Sophie did not ask any further questions but concentrated, her eyes fixed on Han Shuo's every move. Under the watchful gaze of Sophie's glistening eyes, Han Shuo directed the flame in his palm towards the edge of the long sword that was facing the ground. In the roasting flame from Han Shuo's palm, Sophie's longsword slowly became searing hot.

"Be careful! This was a gift from my father when I became a sky rider. Don't leave a scratch!" Sophie warned Han Shuo as her heart began to ache as she watched Han Shuo cook her sword with fire.

Han Shuo signalled to Sophie with his eyes, telling her to calm down. Then Han Shuo blinked and his demonic yuan began to work in secret. Through his hand holding the hilt, the Demonic Yuan flowed into the long sword. Under the double effect of the flame and the demonic yuan, the grey powder on the edge of the sword astonishingly melted into the blade.

"Wow!" Sophie was once again shocked by the sight before her eyes. She exclaimed in disbelief, "You're an alchemist too! I had no idea!"

Han Shuo did not answer. He continued to focus on dissolving the Densinium into the sword, watching the layer of fine dust slowly disappear into the edge of the sword.

Han Shuo had discovered this densinium rock the day before. It was an unusual ore that could increase the density of weapons and allow for greater energy circulation. In the canonical text of weapon refining for demonic arts practitioners, densinium was known to be a very useful rock. However, in this world, Han Shuo discovered that hardly anyone knew of its usefulness.

There was an awful lot of densinium in the place of extreme metal on Mount Silk. Han Shuo had long since mixed an appropriate amount of Densinium into the Demonslayer Edge. So when he saw the Densinium rock there the day before, he was intrigued but did not buy it. But to prove to Sophie that such a place was indeed a treasure trove, he went back and bought a piece of it.

By the time all the densinium powder had dissolved into the blade, the edge had reached an extremely high temperature. At that moment, the flame in Han Shuo's palm that was roasting the blade turned from red to purple. Aside from creaking sounds, slight puffs of smoke were released from the long sword. It was a natural phenomenon when matter at a high temperature was suddenly cooled.

"Be careful! Don't tell me you're using my longsword for some metallurgical experiment?" Sophie was still very worried about her longsword. As she reminded Han Shuo to be careful, she wondered if Han Shuo actually had malicious intentions.

"Take it. Inject some combat aura into it and see what difference it makes." Han Shuo did not answer Sophie's question but threw the long sword with the scabbard to Sophie.

Sophie hastily reached out to catch the sword. When she had it in her hand, she immediately let out a cry of surprise, "It's gotten a few kilos heavier!"

Looking at the rock the size of a clenched fist that was crushed to dust in Han Shuo's hand before dissolving into her longsword, she couldn't understand how some finely pulverised rock could actually increase the weight of her longsword by kilograms. It was a miracle.

"Try the combat aura," Han Shuo reminded her.

Still amazed, Sophie immediately poured combat aura into the longsword in her hand. As Sophie poured the combat aura into the longsword, it suddenly glowed with the silvery light of combat aura at a speed beyond her comprehension.

"I... impossible!" Sophie cried out. Looking at Han Shuo with shock and confusion, she said, "The longsword has greatly increased its responsiveness to combat aura!"

"That's right. That is the function of the stone! I think you should know what it would mean to be able to unleash the power when injecting combat aura into the longsword at crucial moments in battle," Han Shuo said grimly.

"I understand. This means that one could seize the decisive opportunity and perhaps even gain the upper hand in an evenly matched battle!" Sophie realised. Shortly after, her sparkling eyes turned to Han Shuo and she said, "This is incredible! How did you do that? This is truly incredible!"

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