Chapter 264 - 179: Spiritual Material (2)

As he spoke, Le Ti looked at him and said with a meaningful tone:

"On the former Land of Burning, after Fire Burners extinguished the Fires of Life of others, they could extract the residual Power and turn it into Spiritual Material to strengthen their own Fire of Life..."

"But you guys... you seem a little different. Hmm... I couldn’t possibly tell you why."

"You’ll have to go back and ask your Candlekeeper about that, you know."

"Here, take this. Consider it a little help from me."

Le Ti was even kind enough to give Storyteller a piece of Spiritual Material.

[Acquired: Unknown Item ×1]

He still couldn’t get any detailed information on it.

"Thank you," Storyteller replied politely. "I’ll be sure to ask."

Anyone else who heard what Le Ti just said would inevitably start to grow suspicious.

That, at least, was what Le Ti expected.

Other Fire Burners extracted Power and turned it into Spiritual Material after a kill, yet these Candle Spirits only got so-called "Wax Oil." Wasn’t there something wrong with that?

Wasn’t someone taking a cut and lining their own pockets?!

Was such an act right?

Of course it was.

’I’m just a damn gamer. If you don’t give me instant drops, what, you expect me to go through the trouble of looting the corpse myself after killing a mob?’

’Lining their own pockets? What lining their own pockets? It’s obviously just a game mechanic.’

If a game like Spirit Candle didn’t have Wax Oil as its "Game Coins," it would’ve been flamed into oblivion by players long ago.

So, from Storyteller’s perspective, it was all perfectly normal. He gave it a moment’s thought before dismissing it completely.

Le Ti watched him, his expression unchanged, and felt a flicker of suspicion.

’Something’s not right. This kid seems smart enough, so why isn’t he getting the hint?’

’If you don’t ask, how am I supposed to drive a wedge between you and the Candlefire Controller?’

’Or is the relationship between the Candle Spirits and the Candlefire Controller not what I imagined?’

Le Ti was filled with questions, but he couldn’t just voice them directly.

"If I don’t have any Spiritual Material for now, I should be able to barter directly with items, right?"

Storyteller asked.

"Of course, as long as they’re willing."

Le Ti shrugged, then launched into another sales pitch.

"If you don’t want to get ripped off, you can come to our stall. We provide fair and impartial valuation services..."

"Alright, is there anything else you can tell me?" Storyteller cut through the sales pitch, asking bluntly.

Le Ti clearly wasn’t a fool. He was willing to share simple information, but he was tight-lipped about anything important. That being the case, it was better to just ask directly.

"Hm, that depends on what price you’re willing to pay," Le Ti said, stroking his chin with a sly grin.

"In that case, I’m leaving. I’ll come find you if I need anything." Storyteller turned to leave.

"Hey, hey, what’s the rush?" Le Ti quickly grabbed him to stop him.

Hearing this, Storyteller thought Le Ti was about to give him some free information.

But Le Ti was clearly no Good Samaritan.

He just took the [Mockery of the Deceiver] from Storyteller’s hand and fiddled with it and his own badge for a moment.

"There. From now on, channel your Power into it and call out, and you’ll be able to send me a message."

"Of course, whether or not I’ll actually hear it... is another matter entirely."

With that, Le Ti walked into the shadows in a crevice between the rocks, a grin on his face, and disappeared.

’This must be the ’black market’ of a dynamic questline, right?’

Storyteller mused.

He had originally planned to leave and return to the Candlekeeper to turn in his quest.

But after some thought, he decided to look around first and get a better sense of the place.

...

"Friend, where are you from?"

"..."

"Are you a Firewood Gatherer? I know one of your colleagues."

"..."

"Why aren’t you talking? Don’t tell me you’re under some kind of Curse?"

"..."

"Friend, are you..."

"..."

"Are you buying or not? If not, scram!"

The cloaked stall owner, thoroughly annoyed by the guy in front of him, couldn’t stop himself from snapping coldly.

"So you can talk after all..." Storyteller muttered, then walked away sheepishly.

The stall owners here all seemed extremely cold. They had no desire to speak with him—or rather, they didn’t trust him in the slightest.

In other words, they only wanted to acquire Spiritual Material or trade for the items they desired. They wouldn’t say a single word more than necessary to a stranger.

Although Storyteller had no Spiritual Material, he could still barter. And while these stall owners couldn’t use a trading system, he could use the [Place Item] function to make an exchange.

Storyteller figured that if he traded with these NPC stall owners more often, he might be able to change their cold attitudes, get them to open up, and obtain more information.

Of course, during this time, Storyteller also went to check out the stall Le Ti had mentioned—the "official flagship store" of the Shadow of Deceit. It was indeed stocked with many items, some of which he found very interesting.

It was just that he could neither afford to buy them nor trade for them.

His best things were stored in the Spirit Candle, but these NPCs didn’t accept Wax Oil.

’I should head back for now.’

Having more or less figured out the situation in the Shadow Cave, Storyteller took out the Returning Candle Spirit Wax.

...

"And that’s more or less the situation..." Storyteller recounted the events in detail.

After listening to Storyteller’s account, Luo Ge nodded calmly, though he seemed lost in thought.

’As expected, it wasn’t their main base. Le Ti had just led them to a black-market-type area run by the Shadow of Deceit. The stalls there also served as contact points.’

The Spirit Candle’s Power had difficulty reaching that place, so Luo Ge could only rely on Storyteller’s verbal report to understand the situation.

Even so, Luo Ge had obtained a great deal of useful information.

First, there were quite a few people like Le Ti and the Firewood Gatherer who could maintain their sanity in this chaotic world.

The reason they had encountered so few before was likely because there were too many "tributaries" of these chaotic regions.

After all, it wasn’t just space that was chaotic, but time as well.

Another point concerned Spiritual Material.

Luo Ge had heard the term from Burton Mage before.

[Small Residual Ash Spiritual Material]

[Type: Consumable]

[Effect: Used to maintain the operation of one’s Fire of Life, or to slightly raise its Temperature.]

[Explanation: A substance extracted by another Fire of Life within a certain period after one Fire of Life has been Extinguished. It is the basic fuel that sustains the burning of the Fire of Life.]

After tossing it to the Spirit Candle, Luo Ge quickly received feedback.

It could be converted into Wax Oil and vice versa; there was no significant difference in their essential nature.

Of course, there were some subtle differences. Acquiring Spiritual Material was less efficient than getting Wax Oil. At the same time, Wax Oil could only be circulated by Luo Ge... NPCs like Le Ti and the merchants in the Shadow Cave would have a hard time using it even if they managed to get their hands on it.

Approximately five drops of Wax Oil was equivalent to one piece of Residual Ash Spiritual Material.

Fifty drops equated to one piece of Ember Spiritual Material. By quantity, Embers were worth ten times as much as Residual Ash. However, if this was meant to represent the value of a life with two Ignition Points, the gap was clearly much larger than that. The math didn’t seem to add up.

The subsequent Molten Slag Spiritual Material wasn’t 500 drops, either; it was far less.

Luo Ge guessed this was a result of the "Burning Fire" process.

After all, a being that had achieved Burning Fire would naturally have greater control over its own energy. When its Warfire was Extinguished upon death, its energy would dissipate much faster...

All in all, the trip to the Shadow Cave had been quite fruitful.

Furthermore, judging by what Storyteller had said, many stalls had items worth purchasing.

Thinking of this, Luo Ge raised his hand, a pile of Spiritual Material condensing within it, and gave it to Storyteller.

[One stage of the Special Quest "Establish Contact Point" has been completed.]

[Acquired: Wax Oil ×50]

The first thing Storyteller noticed was the special quest completion—though it was only one stage of what was clearly a long-term quest.

In addition to that, he received the Spiritual Material Luo Ge had given him.

[Acquired: Small Residual Ash Spiritual Material ×10]

[Acquired: Small Ember Spiritual Material ×10]

[Acquired: Small Molten Slag Spiritual Material ×10]

[Acquired: Small Scorching Charcoal Spiritual Material ×10]

"I need you to purchase some information about the Shadow Cave and some related items. The rest is yours."

"You can also give me your Wax Oil to exchange for more Spiritual Material."

Luo Ge gave him a slight nod.

This was no small amount of Spiritual Material. It was enough to buy everything in the Shadow Cave that Luo Ge was interested in, with plenty left over.

Luo Ge felt confident entrusting it to Storyteller.

He knew that Storyteller was very interested in the world’s lore and character information. Even if he were to squander the funds, he would likely spend them on just that.

When Storyteller learned something, Luo Ge would learn it, and by extension, so would the other players.

No matter how you looked at it, it was a surefire investment.