Chapter 330: Counteroffer

Li Mochen did not answer. Instead, he opened two special medicine bottles one after another, inspecting the contents with his spiritual sense to verify the goods. After only a moment, Li Mochen gave a slight shake of his head.

"This is impossible. The goods you provided to me do not meet the standard. They are only at the legendary fourth level. I can only give you six million gold shields."

"That won't do."

The shop owner immediately frowned deeply: "Customer, although this is only legendary fourth-level blood, do you know how difficult it was to obtain? Your requirements are also very苛刻. If it were just ordinary blood, we could easily get our hands on it. But what you need is 'secret blood' containing their spiritual will and life core, and it must remain fresh. Do you know the price we paid for this? Unless under very special circumstances, no one casually gives their 'secret blood' to others."

"But you breached the contract, didn't you?"

Li Mochen remained unmoved: "According to the contract we signed, I even have the right to demand the return of my deposit. Since you couldn't deliver, why did you accept my order in the first place? I think you should understand. Although there is only one level difference between legendary fourth and fifth, there is actually a gap as vast as Mount Everest between them. If your price exceeds my expectations, I will have to choose another magic material shop."

"But you won't do that. I guess this blood is still useful to you, right?"

The shop owner's face had already turned pale and flushed by turns. He tried to struggle, but under Li Mochen's cold gaze, he collapsed in defeat.

"OK! OK! I can make concessions, but six million gold shields is too little. One million gold shields is the limit we can accept. Below that price, we can only return the deposit to you."

Li Mochen pondered for a moment before speaking again: "Nine million gold shields. I'll write you a check right now."

In the end, Li Mochen still walked out of this magic material shop holding the two medicine bottles.

After obtaining the items, Li Mochen sincerely asked the shop owner if he could collect demigod-level 'secret blood'—what Eastern cultivation circles call 'lifeblood essence.' Unfortunately, the latter gave him no good face and directly showed him the door.

Next, they went to a forge that blended Eastern and Western styles. When the shop owner saw Li Mochen, he directly took out a heavy sword case and placed it before him.

"You can try it first. This was modified by a legendary Eastern forging master according to your requirements. Without altering the main structure, he maximally strengthened its material, its power, and improved the arrays. I guarantee its sturdiness and armor-piercing ability meet your requirements. Especially in communicating with the stars, it can achieve at least three times the previous efficiency. I think if classified by Western artifact standards, it's definitely 20S-level, even can be listed as quasi-legendary. Using the materials you provided, that master even integrated some 'Truth' principles into the sword body. The problem is that its usage requirements have also increased accordingly."

The shop owner spread his hands: "I'm not sure if you can use it now, but according to our agreement, that's not our concern, right?"

Li Mochen opened the sword case, and inside lay the three 'Sun-Moon-Star Celestial Cycle Divine Swords.'

He guided them with his divine sense, and instantly the three swords flew into the air, then in an instant divided into three hundred sixty willow-leaf-sized tiny blades shimmering with cold light.

A flash of surprise and satisfaction passed through Li Mochen's eyes, but his brows furrowed even more tightly, and his expression turned cold as ice: "Seven of the flying swords here have been recast, haven't they? They are not the originals."

The shop owner immediately showed a look of surprise, seemingly very surprised by Li Mochen's keen perception.

"That's true, but their power will only be stronger. This does not detract from their value—"

"But the feeling is different. Eastern sword control emphasizes the unity of man and sword; a slight discrepancy leads to a vast error. I can sense that these newly forged sub-swords are somewhat different from the previous ones—they are no longer as coordinated as before."

Although Li Mochen didn't care about this so-called unity of man and sword, it didn't stop him from using this as a pretext to haggle with the shopkeeper.

"So, to be precise, this set of swords is essentially ruined. Didn't the master forger you hired have anything to say? After ruining the forging, you still want to cheat me out of money, right? I'm sorry, but I'll have to ask the Red Sparrow Club to arbitrate. What you've done goes against ethics."

The shopkeeper immediately wilted: "You can't do this, sir. We spent a lot of money on this sword set for you."

"Not necessarily. All the materials were provided by me. I think the master forger you hired should be too embarrassed to charge you—he used my swords for practice, didn't he?"

Li Mochen sneered. He himself possessed forging skills close to master level and knew the habits of such people all too well.

So he directly turned to Alisa and instructed: "Call the club and ask them to send someone over."

"Stop! Stop! Miss, please stop what you're doing, OK?"

The shopkeeper stopped Alisa from making the call and said with a grimace: "Sir, although this set of flying swords is indeed somewhat different from the original and not as coordinated, it is still a 20S-class magical artifact. How about this: I'll give you a 20% discount—four million in processing fees—and you can take it away, OK?"

"Sorry, I won't pay a single cent!"

Li Mochen directly snatched the phone from Alisa's hand: "But I can additionally buy the magical artifact displayed next to it for 20 million gold shields. If you're willing to sell, then this matter of you trying to deceive me can be dropped."

The shopkeeper glanced at the adjacent display case and then showed a look of understanding. That was a 20S-class quasi-legendary artifact, 'Thunder Dragon Wings,' made from the wings of a legendary Thunder Dragon. It granted the user powerful lightning and wind-controlling abilities.

The listed price here was 26 million gold shields, but his bottom line was 18 million. Since this forging shop didn't participate in the club's fixed-price order-based unified sales, the pricing was inflated.

If the other party bought it for 20 million gold shields, there would still be some profit.

"But this is a non-sale item! OK, take it for 20 million—"

Seeing Li Mochen already holding the phone to his ear, the shopkeeper groaned: "Mr. Li, I bet someone must have told you before—you're a devil!"

After Li Mochen led the group out of the forging shop, Alisa, Hazel, and the maid Isadora Wicks all cast sidelong glances at him.

"Can that set of swords really not be used?" Alisa asked curiously.

"It can be used. It doesn't affect me much."

Li Mochen patted the sword case behind him with a smile: "That master forger's craftsmanship is indeed quite good—he was conscientious."

This is like how a highly skilled martial artist can hurt others with flying flowers and falling leaves, while those with lower cultivation can only use weapons to threaten enemies.

For someone like Li Mochen, whose sword control had long reached the grandmaster level, there was no need to rely on the high coordination of swords to achieve unity of man and sword. They could already stand at a higher level, encompass all things, and turn every disadvantage into an advantage. Even if it were three hundred and sixty completely different swords, it wouldn't matter much to Li Mochen—he could highly unify them and bring out their respective strengths.