"Excuse me, sir, your功石 doesn't seem to contain any remnant souls. Did you perhaps give us the wrong one?"
A reminder from the staff member sent Li Chonglou plummeting from heaven to hell.
After Elder An prompted him to inquire within the bottle space, he turned to Mei Niang with a vacant expression.
She, in turn, asked with surprise, "You can't be telling me your 功石 didn't absorb any remnant souls? That has never happened before."
It was over. How was he going to explain this?
Li Chonglou's stunned look stemmed from embarrassment, but more so from helplessness. He couldn't find a suitable reason to explain why his 功石 was cleaner than his own face!
After all, Old Wang had personally witnessed him kill many beasts when they fought their way out of the beast tide. Not to mention, before they met, one was charging in while the other was charging out.
If he still couldn't absorb remnant souls after all that, who would believe him?
Li Chonglou's mind raced, while Mei Niang grew impatient, "Why aren't you saying anything? You're the one who asked me to bring you here, are you playing games with me now?"
Seeing Mei Niang's expression darken, Li Chonglou's eyes suddenly lit up, and he asked, "Right, if a beast is killed with a special weapon, can the 功石 still absorb remnant souls?"
Mei Niang frowned. This question stumped her, but as she had said earlier, in all her years, she had never heard of a 功石 failing to absorb remnant souls.
"How would I know that? Kid, I'm asking you, where are the remnant souls you promised?"
Was it possible she wouldn't even give him a chance to explain?
Just as Li Chonglou was about to concoct a story, a helpful staff member behind him chimed in, "Um, if the weapon you're referring to has innate attributes and is a special weapon that someone else has already claimed ownership of, it's possible that it wouldn't absorb remnant souls."
This was like a lifeline for Li Chonglou. He quickly turned around to confirm, "Are you telling the truth?"
Didn't this guy fail to absorb remnant souls? Why did he seem happier than if he had absorbed them?
Although the staff member was confused, he honestly recounted some similar incidents that had happened before.
Such occurrences were indeed rare, but not unheard of. There had been several such cases in the past decade. After hearing this, Li Chonglou let out a sigh of relief.
"Um, Mei Niang, my remnant souls might not have been absorbed by the 功石 because of this. My weapon was obtained from a treasure land and has innate attributes."
Li Chonglou didn't take out his black greatsword. Instead, he unfastened a round object from his waist.
Since Old Wang wasn't here, no one knew which weapon he had actually used.
Most importantly, this attribute sphere did have the ability to absorb remnant souls. He had used it to kill Captain Qing and his group, and the remnant souls of their two subordinates had been his first replenishment outside the safe zone.
But as he'd said before, if he didn't mention it, who would know?
Fortunately, Mei Niang's focus wasn't on this. She said unhappily, "I don't care about your reasons. You told me you could get blood crystals. You're not lying to me, are you?"
Mei Niang's face had completely darkened. Anyone could tell she was genuinely angry. Li Chonglou froze, unsure of how to respond.
Just as the atmosphere grew tense, the staff member behind them suddenly spoke, diffusing some of the chill.
"Um, friend, are you interested in selling your weapon to us? We can also exchange it for blood crystals."
Weapons could be sold for blood crystals?
Li Chonglou's eyes suddenly lit up. He quickly turned to Mei Niang and said, "Mei Niang, please don't be angry yet. There's still a chance for blood crystals!"
With that, he immediately turned around and looked at the staff member.
It was similar to the task handover area where Old Tie from the rogue cultivator organization had been stationed. A staff member sat behind a small window. The difference was that here, instead of task handover, the sign read "Exchange."
Li Chonglou leaned his head down and asked the staff member inside, "Besides weapons, do you accept other items here?"
This question baffled the staff member, who instinctively asked, "Friend, do you have other treasures?"
Li Chonglou directly reached into his clothes and pulled out a black dagger.
This was the first treasure he had obtained after leaving Xiong Da and the other. Although it was also a weapon, it was somewhat useless to him. Its quality was a bit too low; it couldn't compare to his black sword in terms of high-tier attributes, nor to the sphere in terms of low-tier attributes.
The staff member took the dagger Li Chonglou handed over with some bewilderment. He thought to himself, isn't this still a weapon? And it was also the attribute weapon mentioned earlier.
Despite feeling a sense of disappointment, the staff member gave an appraisal, "Friend, this one is a bit ordinary. At most, it's worth five blood crystals, and that's considering it came from a treasure land."
The person's eyes were undoubtedly professional. He could recognize weapons obtained from treasure lands at a glance. Li Chonglou had been worried that he might be cheated on the price, but now he was relieved.
Generally, professionals like these disdained such practices.
Five was acceptable; it was better than nothing!
Li Chonglou immediately nodded in agreement. However, as he reached into his clothes for the second time, his hand was suddenly grabbed.
Turning his head, he saw Mei Niang looking at him with a look of anxiety.
"What's wrong?"
Li Chonglou was confused. Mei Niang, with a tone of disappointment, said, "Before you do all this, can you ask me first? You're losing out big time!"
She had been in a state of confusion just moments ago and hadn't had time to react to Li Chonglou's actions. By the time she finally understood, he had already nodded to the staff member.
If she had been a second faster, this item wouldn't have been a loss!
Seeing Mei Niang's face filled with regret, Li Chonglou asked, "No way, was I cheated?"
The staff member behind them immediately retorted, "What are you talking about? I never cheat people. This price, you can ask around at any other camp. If you find anyone offering more, I'll give you triple the difference!"
Li Chonglou felt a bit embarrassed by his words, but Mei Niang unceremoniously said, "I didn't say your price was unfair, but you're buying it at the average price. If these weapons were sold to someone in need, do you think they would only be worth this many blood crystals?"
The staff member suddenly fell silent. Li Chonglou also realized, "Mei Niang, you mean you can help me find a buyer?"
Selling to someone in need would certainly fetch a good price; Li Chonglou knew this without Mei Niang having to say it.
But the problem was, where was he supposed to find such a buyer? And another thing, would others be willing to exchange them for blood crystals?
After receiving the blood crystals, Mei Niang directly pulled Li Chonglou out of the exchange area. The staff member seemed to realize he had encountered an old hand and didn't say another word.